congrats
although this post scared me a little
and no, I have no intention of liveblogging labor. I hope mine only takes 6 hours though.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
where in the world is rew marty?
Today is my third day in the lovely city of Lansing, Michigan. Oddly enough, it reminds me a lot of Omaha. Very small airport, street lights that go blinking red at 11 pm on weekdays, in fact, if I couldn't see the capital building a block away, I'd swear I was back in my childhood home.
Traveling in mid pregnancy is much better than the first trimester, with hardly any nauseousness (ok, it would have been none except that I was talked into fried artichoke hearts with Horseradish sauce - totally delicious and instantly regrettable). I was able to pick up my traditional traveling children's book yesterday:
The bads on this trip -
Noise: I don't know when I became the grumpy old fart, but there's a soccer team that moved onto my floor today, and neither the kids nor the parents seem to have any interest in not running up and down the halls screaming and slamming doors. Plus, like almost every Radisson room I've ever stayed in, the toilet is broken and runs every 7 minutes for no particular reason.
My phone broke: I've learned that no phone store will actually do anything with a broken phone (I'm pretty sure the charger came lose inside, but they won't open it, even at a TMobile store). So now I have a "loaner phone" with no internet, no speaker, and are really annoying ring I can't figure out how to turn off.
The Goods -
Localized air condition: I have the room set at about 60 degrees at night. This server two purposes - I can finally be cool while I sleep, and the running air covers the noise from the toilet.
The cabbies: Lansing has no actual cabs except for the ones at the airport. So I called a cab to take me to a tmobile store from my hotel. The cabbie brought me there, waited with me for 15 minutes while I waited for the store to open (no stores in Lansing open at the same time - instead of a 9 am open for everything, one strip mall may have one store that opens at 9 while the one next door opens at 10:30 and the one next to that at 10), another 20 minutes while I got my loaner, and took me back to the hotel all for a total of 20 bucks because "he had nothing better to do." And he chatted presidential politics with me the whole time (he's a Clinton man).
So, all in all, not so bad. Other than the fact that I've picked up a 10 dollar a day bottled water habit, and the Buddha has discovered kicking me hard at 5 am is fun, life is pretty good.
But I can't wait until early Friday so I can fly home...
Traveling in mid pregnancy is much better than the first trimester, with hardly any nauseousness (ok, it would have been none except that I was talked into fried artichoke hearts with Horseradish sauce - totally delicious and instantly regrettable). I was able to pick up my traditional traveling children's book yesterday:
The bads on this trip -
Noise: I don't know when I became the grumpy old fart, but there's a soccer team that moved onto my floor today, and neither the kids nor the parents seem to have any interest in not running up and down the halls screaming and slamming doors. Plus, like almost every Radisson room I've ever stayed in, the toilet is broken and runs every 7 minutes for no particular reason.
My phone broke: I've learned that no phone store will actually do anything with a broken phone (I'm pretty sure the charger came lose inside, but they won't open it, even at a TMobile store). So now I have a "loaner phone" with no internet, no speaker, and are really annoying ring I can't figure out how to turn off.
The Goods -
Localized air condition: I have the room set at about 60 degrees at night. This server two purposes - I can finally be cool while I sleep, and the running air covers the noise from the toilet.
The cabbies: Lansing has no actual cabs except for the ones at the airport. So I called a cab to take me to a tmobile store from my hotel. The cabbie brought me there, waited with me for 15 minutes while I waited for the store to open (no stores in Lansing open at the same time - instead of a 9 am open for everything, one strip mall may have one store that opens at 9 while the one next door opens at 10:30 and the one next to that at 10), another 20 minutes while I got my loaner, and took me back to the hotel all for a total of 20 bucks because "he had nothing better to do." And he chatted presidential politics with me the whole time (he's a Clinton man).
So, all in all, not so bad. Other than the fact that I've picked up a 10 dollar a day bottled water habit, and the Buddha has discovered kicking me hard at 5 am is fun, life is pretty good.
But I can't wait until early Friday so I can fly home...
Monday, July 23, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
It's all good
We went in last night for the level 2, and everything is fine. Although I may not have gained any weight in the first half of the pregnancy, the baby itself is up to 12 ounces, and very long. We're still spot on for a due date, with maybe a three day fluctuation. Head is normal sized (and big), limbs long and perfect, baby active (and often rolled up in a ball to avoid pictures), heart beating fine even if we can't hear it at the appointments thanks to my slightly misplaced placenta (I never was good at putting things away in their proper places). The baby did a few "no pictures, please" and covered its face a lot. And yes, it is hanging out on my bladder, so we will have to have a discussion about what it and is not a proper place to sit one of these days.
Full ultrasound pictures (including a pretty good profile - the baby appears to have my nose and Smartie's lips)over at the powerbaby site.
Oh, and for those who are wondering, we picked this up afterwards...
Full ultrasound pictures (including a pretty good profile - the baby appears to have my nose and Smartie's lips)over at the powerbaby site.
Oh, and for those who are wondering, we picked this up afterwards...
Monday, July 16, 2007
20 weeks
Not the best appointment. Was told not to get too worried about things right now. Have the Level 2 ultrasound tomorrow, which should clear some things up. There was a bright side, as they whipped out the mini-ultra to check things out, so I got to see a little wiggling and such. Couldn't see too much since the screen was twice the size of my cell phone, so again, more, clearer news tomorrow.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
An Auntie!
Smartie and I have learned that we are now the proud Aunt and Uncle of Chloe Katherine, a beautiful 6 lb 2 oz baby girl born in Omaha to my brother and his wife. It was a couple of weeks early, but there appears to be no issues, and they had just finished their last birthing class on Monday. I guess Chloe figured they'd learned everything so there was no point in waiting.
Hoping to have pictures to show off at the next DL.
On our side, today is officially the halfway point. Unfortunately, I keep hearing that was the easy half...
Hoping to have pictures to show off at the next DL.
On our side, today is officially the halfway point. Unfortunately, I keep hearing that was the easy half...
Thursday, July 12, 2007
DC and other fancy things
Well, I intended to put up pictures of the fireworks on Capitol Mall, but I had my phone set to video instead of photo, so not so good. Instead, I'll steal a pic or two from one of the folks I watched the spectacle with:
As an ex-Nebraskan, the fact that they evacuated the Mall because of a tornado watch made me laugh, but it made for excellent seats in the end.
So that was the highlight of the trip, as well as being called in last minute to serve on a blogger panel for the New Organizing Institute. Lowlights? Being away from home is starting to not be very enjoyable, and the novelty of hotels has warn off. And stay away from Vegetarian Sushi in DC - trust me.
I did pick up a copy of this book, which I am told is the one book every DC mom buys.
No, it doesn't rhyme.
At this point, just happy to be home for a couple of weeks before I take off again. Next week is the 20 week ultrasound, and we finally find out what we are having. If it's a girl, I hope she's half as powerful as this one.
Of course, she's already halfway to being an evil genius since I started taking fish oil supplements a month ago. A good thing, too, since Tom's been telling me what not to eat...
See you all at Drinking Liberally tonight at 6!
As an ex-Nebraskan, the fact that they evacuated the Mall because of a tornado watch made me laugh, but it made for excellent seats in the end.
So that was the highlight of the trip, as well as being called in last minute to serve on a blogger panel for the New Organizing Institute. Lowlights? Being away from home is starting to not be very enjoyable, and the novelty of hotels has warn off. And stay away from Vegetarian Sushi in DC - trust me.
I did pick up a copy of this book, which I am told is the one book every DC mom buys.
No, it doesn't rhyme.
At this point, just happy to be home for a couple of weeks before I take off again. Next week is the 20 week ultrasound, and we finally find out what we are having. If it's a girl, I hope she's half as powerful as this one.
Of course, she's already halfway to being an evil genius since I started taking fish oil supplements a month ago. A good thing, too, since Tom's been telling me what not to eat...
See you all at Drinking Liberally tonight at 6!
Saturday, July 07, 2007
I was wrong
What I had hoped to keep a relatively private disagreement has become somewhat public now. Having had a chance to calm down a bit and rethink my position, I will say some surprising words.
Swiftee was right.
I took the wrong approach with that email. I had flagged his blog, and others had begun to tell me they were doing the same. I was concerned he would lose his archives without warning, so I sent the email he has posted on his site. But I have no right to state what I believe is beyond the lines of decency, especially as he sees it as an attempt to squelch his freedom of speech, versus my intention, which is to make the internet a safe place for debate without worries that our children will be attacked and used as political pawns, in this case, before he/she is even born.
So I apologize for that aspect of the letter. However, that leaves me with one issue: as any who have been through a pregnancy knows, it is a stressful time, especially when having your first. When the goal is to minimize your stress as much as possible, how do you deal with the worry you have that pictures of your child, either ones you have already posted, or ones you plan to post later (after all, for anyone who has not seen this site meter lately, this is a site visited only be a few family, some friends, and a whole lot of googlers) will continue to be used randomly as cartoons, some with inherent steaks of violence implied?
Some advised me to simply ignore it, and go to a happy place. Others told me to stop ignoring it and try and fight it.
I have decided to do both, and turn something I previously found stressful into something that makes me feel good.
Starting today, in honor of his 4th of July post, I am making a donation to Planned Parenthood MN every time the picture shows up on Swiftee's blog. For each donation I make, I will post the receipt onto the site, a receipt that includes a special message:
Hence, a group I care about greatly is profiting, and I get to continue contributing to what has always been my goal at this site -- to ensure that every woman has the same opportunity I had - the ability to have a child at the time that is best for myself and my family.
On behalf of Planned Parenthood and myself, Tom, we thank you for, what I am sure will be your continuing support of reproductives health.
Swiftee was right.
I took the wrong approach with that email. I had flagged his blog, and others had begun to tell me they were doing the same. I was concerned he would lose his archives without warning, so I sent the email he has posted on his site. But I have no right to state what I believe is beyond the lines of decency, especially as he sees it as an attempt to squelch his freedom of speech, versus my intention, which is to make the internet a safe place for debate without worries that our children will be attacked and used as political pawns, in this case, before he/she is even born.
So I apologize for that aspect of the letter. However, that leaves me with one issue: as any who have been through a pregnancy knows, it is a stressful time, especially when having your first. When the goal is to minimize your stress as much as possible, how do you deal with the worry you have that pictures of your child, either ones you have already posted, or ones you plan to post later (after all, for anyone who has not seen this site meter lately, this is a site visited only be a few family, some friends, and a whole lot of googlers) will continue to be used randomly as cartoons, some with inherent steaks of violence implied?
Some advised me to simply ignore it, and go to a happy place. Others told me to stop ignoring it and try and fight it.
I have decided to do both, and turn something I previously found stressful into something that makes me feel good.
Starting today, in honor of his 4th of July post, I am making a donation to Planned Parenthood MN every time the picture shows up on Swiftee's blog. For each donation I make, I will post the receipt onto the site, a receipt that includes a special message:
Donor Name and Address
Robin Marty
XXXXXXXXX
Minneapolis , MN XXXXX
Email Address: XXXXXXXXXXX
Gift Date: 7/7/2007 7:52:41 AM
Gift Amount: $ 35.00
Is there something you would like to tell us about your gift?
This donation is being made in the name of Tom Swift from St. Paul, MN (ie: Swiftee). May he appreciate it as much as I appreciate his attention.
Hence, a group I care about greatly is profiting, and I get to continue contributing to what has always been my goal at this site -- to ensure that every woman has the same opportunity I had - the ability to have a child at the time that is best for myself and my family.
On behalf of Planned Parenthood and myself, Tom, we thank you for, what I am sure will be your continuing support of reproductives health.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
The power of your convictions
Along with the rest of the crowd, I was pretty bothered by the Libby fiasco yesterday. But what bothered me most wasn't that it happened -- we all assumed it would at some point -- but that the president didn't have the courage to really stand up for what he saw as an injustice. If he truly believed the sentencing was so inappropriate, convert it next week. Or even do it early Monday. To send a release at 5pm shows that you are trying to miss the news cycle and bury as deep as you can without actually putting it on the 4th, where everyone knows it's being buried. Stand up and state your beliefs. You are the CEO president, of course you think that paying a fine is punishment enough and should get you out of jail. Prison is for folks who don't have money to pay restitution, right?
At this point, I don't even care that your convictions are not my convictions, I just want you to actually have some.
At this point, I don't even care that your convictions are not my convictions, I just want you to actually have some.
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