Pregnancy Thoughts

This coming Wednesday I will be 32 weeks otherwise known as 8 months. I would like to take a few minutes to reflect upon these past months. I promise not to get too graphic but there are something that just have to be said...

I am not shy when telling people that we had some medical help to get pregnant. It can be such a lonely process that I refuse to be silent about it. Therefore, if anyone else who reads this blog ever has trouble and needs to talk or ask questions, I am always open to it. If it were not for my friends and family, I'm not sure if I would have stayed sane throughout the process of getting pregnant. However, now that I am, I cannot imagine anything better! Even with all of the oh so fun side effects.

First trimester during this pregnancy was not so terrible for me. Luckily, I did not get the traditional morning sickness of running to the toilet every few minutes, but I would get this horrible sense of nausea if I did not keep my tummy full. This proved to be difficult because I was student teaching at the same time. Eating and teaching do not really go together. Furthermore, and contrary to popular belief, I was not eating for two during this stage. Only an extra 300 calories per day needs to be consumed. Thanks to student teaching, I did not gain any weight because I was so stressed with everything. Gaining some weight in that first 14 weeks, yes 1st trimester is 14 weeks, is needed but not too much as the little guy/gal is only around the size of a lemon. It's so weird because you know you are pregnant, but there's nothing to show for it! I mean I felt awful, exhausted, and oh yea, had a superhuman sense of smell. I have to say I could do without that heightened sense of smell as that is what would make me feel nauseous most of the time because I could smell everything...

Among all of those annoying side effects, there are many wonderful aspects too. The first time we saw the baby's heartbeat was at 6 weeks. At that time we did not know he was indeed a he, but it's easier to write out his gender. He looked like that thing hanging down from the back of your throat with his heart no bigger that the tip of a ball point pin just flickering away. Michael teared up. I think I was just in shock that we had actually gotten everything to work! The next ultra sound my mom came with us and the little guy decided to show off by squirming around and waving at us. Mom cried because his hand was up by his head waving and that was how I was born with my hand up by my head waving at the world. I believe we had one or two more ultra sounds before I graduated from my RE to the OBGYN. Usually, pregnant women do not have this many ultra sounds in the beginning. I could be wrong, but since we had some roadblocks during the path of getting pregnant, we had a few more than the typical pregnant lady.

Second trimester, brought a relief of some of the more annoying symptoms. In both trimesters, I could still sleep just fine and would actually feel "rested." I really enjoyed this trimester as this is when I could actually tell there is a little human in me. We heard the heartbeat, found out his gender, and felt him move. This first time I felt him more was around 18 weeks. I was laying down on the couch trying to take a nap. When all of a sudden, I felt something that I originally thought were gas bubbles. However, these "gas bubbles" were much to regular and not really in the right place. So I went to the toilet thinking that was the case, but when I returned to the couch and the bubbles had not stopped, I realized I was feeling the baby move! It was the coolest feeling ever! Only I could feel the little life that I was growing. Pregnancy has so many nasty side effects, but this was something that was all mine for a few weeks and a wonderful feeling. Finally, a few weeks later, Michael felt him move. It was a little pop like a bubble under my skin. In reality, it was my little alien/leech practicing his movements. Little did I realize those alien movements were just the beginning... I've discussed the ultrasound about finding out the gender in the blog post prior to to this one, thus I will not repeat those details.

Third trimester has been interesting thus far. My superhuman sense of smell has returned along with the worst constipation ever. I know that's rather personal information, but I think it needs to be said. Fiber and bananas are a pregnant lady's best friend during this trimester. Everything on the inside is so squished because of the baby that the intestines need as much help as they can to function properly. In my experience thus far, not enough fiber to move everything around has caused many sleepless nights because of the added pressure on my bladder. There just isn't enough space on the inside to be constipated too! So eat your fiber ladies!!!! Other than that, the baby moves all of the time at the moment. 11:00pm is his favorite time to pull out the blue gymnastics mat to start practicing. He's still not big enough to bother me so much that I can't sleep. In fact, I have a hard time sleeping when I do not feel him move. A moving baby means a happy and healthy baby. He has started to do a few more flips though and those are not comfortable. All of a sudden my belly is lurched forward with the wind knocked out of my for a bit. Then he goes back to whatever game he was previously playing.

Overall, I love being pregnant. It is so cool to think that I'm growing an actual human inside of me. Sometimes I do get overwhelmed by the enormity of it all that I am going to responsible for raising a responsible and productive member of society. The best part of it all is that sometime in September, maybe even October, I am going to be the mother to a little baby boy :-)

Updates

I have no idea where I left off with the home improvements. So, to give a quick recap... We've been painting, cleaning, and repairing. Michael ventured into the crawl space to inspect the state of our insulation which lead to reinstalling much of the insulation. Thus, he spent about a weekend under our house. Occasionally, he would make some banging noises which would excite Manga, and she would run around the house trying to figure out from where the noise was coming. Needless to say, it was very entertaining.

We finally finished updating the kitchen. Back in January, I got this great cabinet painting kit to help refresh the look of the kitchen. The cabinet doors came down in February, and everything, including finishing the cabinets, painting the walls, installing new hardware, and reorganizing was completed this past weekend on July 24, 2011. Let's just say some home improvement projects are not quick especially when you learn how to live with the construction site! The urgency to finish magically disappears... The kitchen looks wonderful, much larger, and no where near as scary to be in!

Outside of the home, I finished student teaching which means I am now a certified teacher! That was certainly a process, and I am going to leave it at that.

I should also mention that we are expecting our first baby. We are having a boy and are very excited! His room is nautical themed and is quite cute, if I do say so myself. Preparing for this baby has been one of the best few months of my life. Not all things about pregnancy are awesome, but the best part is when I feel him move except when he finds my ribs and/or bladder. Those movements not so great, but otherwise, feeling him squirm/play is wonderful because it is something that only I can feel all of the time, and it means he is doing well. When we found out the gender of the baby, he let us know what he was as he was spread eagle lounging around in his cozy jacuzzi. Plus, he was being difficult and wouldn't let us see his face! Shocking, my child difficult. No one ever would have thought of that... Anyway, he finally settled in a comfy position where one arm was up above his head with the other resting on his forehead. Well, I was getting uncomfortable during the sonogram and needed to adjust, and how did I adjust. Yup, just like the baby! I didn't even realize it until I looked back up at the screen and noticed we were in identical positions. I'm so excited to meet him!

Somewhere between moving and remodeling, The Christmas Extravaganza Happened...

One week after we moved into our new home Christmas came and went like a whirlwind. The year 2010 meant it was time for another Metcalf/Lutfi/Miller/Daniels reunion. By chance, we all got together in 1990 where my dad's cousins, Greg and Alex, played airplane Barbie with me and Legos with Joey. It was also the year we received knitted hats from Grandma Ruth and cat or dragon sweatshirts for the girls and boys respectively. Then 2000 rolled around and we all got together again. Except for this time, Joey, Erin, and I were not the young ones in group. Greg had gotten married to Suzanne and they had 2 kids with a third on the way. My Aunt Toni/Uncle Dave Metcalf and Aunt Elizabeth/Uncle Dave Miller each had on baby boy. My Grandpa Joe was still around and it was a wonderful Christmas. We had gravity defying pancakes, a beautiful Christmas, and we Metcalf children got to see our friends the Rawsons who live nearby.

Of course in 2010, we all had to get together yet again. However, it began with a reminder during the 2009 Thanksgiving. I put the idea into everyone's head that we all needed to see each other as it was about to be 10 years, and it was kinda becoming a family tradition. Some how, it all played out well. We had so much fun. The 26 of us for a Christmas whirlwind: my mom and dad, Joey, Erin, Julia, me, Michael, Grandma Ruth, Aunt Toni, Uncle Dave, Jack, Sam, Maggie, Aunt Elizabeth, Uncle Pat, Aaron, Caroline, Nathan, Uncle Aaron, Aunt Judy, Alex, Greg, Susanne, Haley, Owen, Charlotte, and Maya.

The weekend began when my siblings and parents arrived in DC on the 23rd. My siblings and Julia (Joey's girlfriend who really should be part of the family now...) stayed here with Michael and me. That night we made the family drink called Thompson's Cure. Started off the weekend great! On the 24th, we opened presents except the ones from Santa of course. That night the first 26 person gathering began at Maggiano's. It was a blast! Family stories were told, the food was wonderful, and it was a perfect start to the whole weekend.

Christmas day was the busiest Christmas day I have ever experienced in my life! My siblings, Michael, and Julia would agree! I mean, we've taken hikes on Christmas but those were between a few naps and waited until 1 o'clock in the afternoon to open Christmas presents because my dad was on-call, but those were tame years compared to this. It's a tradition in the family to have a pancake breakfast. So, all 26 gathered at my Aunt Elizabeth's for a wonderful meal. My father dressed up in his usual Christmas insane outfit that I love! Greg and Suzanne brought Nerf guns for the younger cousins for a fantastic Nerf gun war in the backyard. After that feast, we had 3 hours to get ready for and drive to the Army and Navy Club for Christmas Brunch. The meal was wonderful. We had a back room all to ourselves and looked quite dapper if I do say so. We then returned to my grandmother's for family Christmas presents for the young ones and White Elephant/Nasty Christmas/Yankee Swap for the adults. It was a wonderful evening! I never knew that Christmas Day could be that full, but it was so much fun.

I think in a few years we are all going to go out to CA for an LA Christmas because as Owen said, "We really shouldn't wait ten years before seeing each other again!" I couldn't agree more.

First Phase of Home Improvements

As soon as we moved into our house, home improvements began... Closing on the 13th to moving in on the 17th does not leave much time for house preparation for family visitors arriving on the 23rd. Thus, we began the cleaning and improvements in the areas that would be the most immediate and quickest to complete.

Our walls were filthy. It was almost as if someone took their dirty feet and rubbed them against the wall to clean them. Gross! Then the previous residents had an artist amongst them, so the drawings had to be cleaned off the walls too. And last, but not least, dried snot could be found on the walls as well. Yea, I didn't take the last part off but delegated the task to Michael. You might ask, why not just paint over all of this? Well, paint doesn't stick very well to dirty walls; therefore, we had to clean before painting.

We have also done lots and lots of yard work. The fallen foliage from autumn littered the ground which meant raking for us. Leaves cannot be left on the ground in the winter because they kill the grass, and if it snows, the grass gets killed even faster as there would be two layers on top of it. Our next big steps are weeding and trimming back our trees which appear to be taking over the yard!

One thing we did which really helped the look of the home was to replace several light fixtures. Many of them were originals from when it was built in 1979. My favorite replacement was the hall light at the top of the stairs. The original looked like a lazy-susan with 3 bulbs attached to it. For those who do not know what a lazy-susan is, it is a corner cabinet with 2 turny things inside to be able to get to everything in the cabinet. I personally think they are really cool, but not as a light fixture. No, the light did not turn, but it may as well have. Needless to say, it was replaced as well as the kitchen, guest bath, front door, and foyers lights to something much prettier and modern.

Our biggest purchase for the home thus far has been a new HVAC. The week between closing and moving I had many work men come out to fix things up while the house was empty. We cleaned the air ducts and had the old HAVC's coils cleaned to help everything run better. However, the coil cleaning led to something bigger the complete demise of the heater. So, what did we have to do 3 days after moving in? You got it, replace the HVAC which is a couple thousand dollars. We could have just replaced the old part, but would have cost a third of a new one. Plus, there could have been more things wrong since it was not properly taken care of by the previous owners. As my mother says, "The joys of homeownership!"

Well, I'll take it because we love our house!

Welcome 2011!!!

I know I've said this before, but this time I mean it. I'm back to blogging! We have so many exciting things going on in our lives that I think everyone should know about.

First, at the end of 2010, Michael and I bought our first house at 4321 Silas Hutchinson Dr. This house prompted our entire house hunting back in May and was the first home I seriously considered when I drove around our new neighborhood with my Aunt Toni. We put on a contract on our home in August of 2010 and went to closing in December. The home was a short sale which is why it took so long from contract to closing.

Our home is two levels with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and a double car garage. Downstairs is our kitchen, dining/living room, and family room. We have a wonderful deck with an excellent backyard. We joke that we have bought Manga the most expensive present ever because she is loving her yard! Squirrels be warned if they enter our yard as Manga chases them right out. We are so excited for warmer weather to get a grill for outside parties and BBQs! Now, to the upstairs. Our bedroom is basically a suite with a sitting room/den area, a double sink bathroom, and plenty of closet space. The remainder of the upstairs consists of 3 bedrooms and a hall bathroom.

The home was built in 1979 so it is lead-paint free! That does not mean we haven't had our full share of home improvements. Many of those details will come in the following blogs along with the Metcalf/Lutfi/Miller/Daniels Christmas Extravaganza!