The Rollercoaster. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I often say pregnancy has been quite a rollercoaster ride both physically and emotionally. I really don't like saying it's because of hormones because I picture little hormone elves taking control of my body like I'm a puppet and I'm at their mercy without really knowing it. For example, a friend forwarded me the following video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESe-AysF9mw, and instead of it making me laugh, I cried. I don't even know exactly why, it just freaked me out.

I'm not that great at striking up a dialogue with Stetsi but I do catch myself singing a lot more. I get a kick out of listening to Nate talk to her. Last night he was telling her about the game of Basketball while watching the Blazers play.

There are signs of Stetsi's behaviors emerging. She moves the most at night and after I drink hot chocolate in the afternoon. If she's in the middle of a tumbling routine, singing "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles gets her to be still immediately. We've tested this quite a few times and hasn't failed us yet. Unfortunately, the moment we start singing that song, the cats disappear with an annoyed look on their faces. The moving doesn't hurt at all but after about 15 minutes of pretty regular movement while I'm trying to fall asleep, it can get a bit annoying. I actually jolt sometimes with how strong she can be.

Stetsi has already helped me with keeping things in perspective. In the past, I have let work stress me out way too much or let it dwell in my mind too long but Stetsi has truly helped me just turn it off. I feel like it's much more of a choice to just not hang out in situations or with people that irritate me or stress me out and make more of an effort to hang out with people that I enjoy and admire. Sounds so easy but it hasn't been for me.

We're excited for our Dr's appointment tomorrow. We're going to get a 3D Ultrasound so stay tuned for some more pics this weekend.

I'll leave you with a couple pregnancy pictures Nate took tonight while I was unpacking the groceries. There is a noticable difference in my belly size from morning to night and at what angle the picture is taken at, illustrated nicely below

The Weekend Routine

Sitting here on a Sunday morning as the weekly laundry is underway, pondering what our weekend routine will look like this summer. Probably a lot different than this weekend, which has been pretty social and active. We spent Friday and Saturday evenings dining with friends, catching up with friends at a park, and plan to watch the Oscars this evening with friends too... that will probably become a lot less frequent. We really enjoy spending time with friends and hope we're able to keep it up one way or another. We went for a nice two hour urban hike yesterday from our place up into North Portland. We did notice a couple walking with their baby in a backpack, but it's hard to see how we could walk for a two hour stretch without needing to stop and feed or change or who knows what.

At least a couple of things will probably stay the same. Reading the Sunday paper in bed will probably still be do-able, though we probably would rather keep sleeping at that point. And we did enjoy seeing a young couple out for dinner Friday night with their two month old baby and they seemed to have it together. As long as we're able to spend some good time outside in the summer sun I think we'll manage just fine.

In a way, our routine has already started adjusting to Stesti. We now regularly Skype with family and I'm able to hit more winners off of Nicole on the tennis court. And we're waking up earlier as Nicole gets tired earlier than she used to. At least two of those three things are fun for me.

Target - Welcome to the Jungle

We did something today that neither of us have ever done before. We went to the kids section of Target without a printed gift registry in hand. Our goal was to walk up and down the 7 aisles of baby stuff and become better acquainted with what we need to embrace as our new world. Keep in mind, this venture did not include the toy section. I am still so grateful for online shopping because I no longer have to visit the "enter at your own risk" toy section, what I used to call the "birth control section."

We spent ~20 minutes walking around at a pace equal to what you'd probably do at a museum. I wouldn't have minded an audio guide set to help me understand what I'm looking at better, "if you look directly to your right, you'll find convertible car seats, no they're not meant for convertible cars but rather xyz." A few things we noticed on our target tour:

- A whole wall is dedicated to bottle tops. I had no idea there were so many different sizes. I guess I'll try to find the size that matches my own nipple the closest. :)
- There is such a thing as a "rain forest bathing experience. " Just give me a darn tub, I'll even do pink.
- Instead of seeing the hands free headset I am accustomed to, I saw a hands free breast pump. Now, I'll be able to drive, talk on the phone, and pump all at the same time. Now that's what I call multi-tasking
- I was really happy to see slings available at a more affordable price, <$40. I couldn't find one in a solid color, yet, but we have made progress.
-Nate also showed me the type of Baby Bjorn he'd be ok with wearing.
- I now know what an umbrella stroller is and know the difference between a bouncy seat and infant seat swing.
- We don't need a changing table as much as we need a changing pad for the first few months.
- A rocking chair would probably be a good investment.

All in all, we did well. There were only 3 crying babies and we only gave each other the "freaked out/annoyed" face once. We're making progress. Keep the advice coming, please. We have so much to learn.

In 18 Years...

We figured that having a baby was a big enough change that it warranted visiting a financial planner to make sure we had our heads on straight. We had our last meeting with her tonight and as it turns out our heads are just fine. What I thought you might find interesting was college costs for Stetsi projected forward to 2027. Assuming 5% annual tuition increases, a higher-end public university would be almost $140k. A private college comes out to a hair under $400k. Crazy stuff.

We told Stetsi about this cost and she flipped out. Or flipped. Or kicked. Whatever it was, we caught her moving on video. It happens around 15 seconds in. Hope you think it's as cool as we do.

2nd Trimester Coming to an End

I thought I was starting my 3rd trimester today because I'm now at 26 weeks but sources seem to differ on the topic so I'll just stay in my 2nd trimester a little while longer, I don't mind. I can still see my feet when I look down and I don't have any swelling causing me to buy bigger shoes or take off my wedding band. Only my sleep pattern and balance has taken a turn for the worse. My dreams are not only much more vivid but I have many of them in one night because I wake up more. I have a much harder time doing core balance exercises standing up now, I have become more of a one legged pogo stick with flailing arms. I even fell down the other day while I was bending down to pick up Pepe. I just fell backwards right on the floor, glad I can keep Nate entertained.

I hope to post a video of Stetsi dancing in my stomach soon. I think she's right handed because most of the movement is on that side. I know it makes no sense but I imagine her sitting on a little chair looking out as she kicks her right arm and right leg because it's her stronger side. Nate is a lefty so we'll see. What's annoyingly cute is when Pepe is purring against my stomach, Stetsi moves more.

I am thinking about Stetsi more; it's pretty rare now that I get into a zone where I forget I'm pregnant for a little while. I even catch myself thinking about Stetsi as a teenager because most of my memories are from that time versus as a young kid. If she turns out to be tall, I really do hope I set a positive example of tall is something to be proud of. I had a hard time in my teenage years and I just hope she isn't as self conscious about being tall like I was at that time.

Our Sunday routine has been tennis and swimming for a while now. Nate is especially loving tennis these days because he can hit more winners past my slow ass. I still find the most constant strength and inner peace swimming. I listen to my waterproof music player and just go. Here are a couple pics of us doing what we love to do.

PS We posted some more cat pictures to our album in case you want to check 'em out (click on "check out more pictures here" in the upper right hand corner).

Contradictions

So much contradicting information out there about anything to do with pregnancy and kids. Is caffeine safe or isn’t it? Is there a certain heart rate you shouldn’t exceed while working out or isn’t there? Is deli meat ok to eat? What is the cutoff for flying? Does daycare make your kid’s brain rot? You think there would be pretty consistent agreement about these things among doctors, but there really doesn’t seem to be. Even with alcohol it seems some doctors will say on the side that a half glass here or there is fine. We're not messing with that one though. Anyway, when you have two data-driven personalities like Nicole and me, it is a little frustrating that there isn’t a clear cut answer to some of our questions. So we’re left to listen to all the sources and make our own call. Like many things in life I guess, listen to everything and figure out where you stand.

And then there’s everyone’s advice on what will happen when Stetsi arrives, how this or that will change, and this is how to deal with this issue and you should never use or always use XYZ. We’re more than happy to hear everyone’s advice and stories, but the only common thread they seem to have is that we'll be zombies for a couple of months. I guess what we’ve taken from all of this is that you just never know how easy or difficult your baby is going to be until you’re in the thick of it. And when you’re in the thick of it you’ll just need to figure out what works best and what you’re comfortable with.

We’ve talked about general plans and desires as far as who will do what and how we want to handle things like feeding, but it’s clear that we’re just going to have to be flexible and go with the flow. I think we’re pretty good with rolling with the punches, but this will probably take it to a whole new level. I guess we’ll find out in about three and a half months…

Boobs, Butts, and Names

I was excited to redeem a prenatal massage gift certificate yesterday, thanks Eric and Jill. I assumed I'd lay on my side but they had a "stomach toilet bowl" pillow that was very comfortable. I considered it a real treat just being able to lay on my stomach and on my back for an hour. She asked me the standard question "Do you have any problem areas?" I answered very truthfully "boobs and butt." She only massaged one of the two, you can guess which one. I went to NW Dosha and had Sarah; I would definitely recommend her. She was a huge improvement from the last spa gal I had when I went in for a facial; she chewed gum loudly and like a cow. I'm surprised she didn't blow a bubble and pop it right in my face.

I'm getting more uncomfortable and my 3rd trimester doesn't even start till next week. Rolling over in bed is more difficult and requires occasional grunting. Even tying shoes while standing is becoming a concentrated acrobatic act for me now. The only place I still feel really strong is the pool; I just imagine Stetsi doing the crawl along with me as we glide through the water.

We've made progress on names. We now have a short list. They are Zoe, Mikayla, Lilly, Ramona, Amelia, and Cameron. We would have added Rinn (my mom's maiden name) to the list but if the person we're trying to honor has a look of disgust when hearing Rinn Mather, we will take it off. Feel free to comment on it though and maybe she'll change her mind.

I included a picture of me from over the weekend wearing the really cute pregnancy shirt Sonya got me. This is for you W-.