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    2 weeks and 2 days of work left

    July 31st, 2008

    … before I go on my leave. But who’s counting?

    Don’t get me wrong — I like my work. I genuinely love working. As a matter of fact, I need to work! I’ve just never taken any time off before to just do “nothing”. There are always trips involved such that by the time you come home you need a vacation from the vacation. So for two potential blissful weeks I am looking forward to the possibility of sleeping in late (or as late as the cat will let me), watching day-time TV ’till my brain rots, working on some photo albums and making appointments without any regard for meetings and production deployments at work. I’m sure as I say this, mothers right now are smirking and shaking their heads thinking “You have no idea what you’re in for!”

    At the same time, as refreshing as the thought of time off is, it’s a two edged sword: each day of work less is also one day closer to labor. 2 weeks of work? Sweet! 4 weeks before life changes as I know it? Scary!


    Who wants some pictures?

    July 28th, 2008

    Last week S and I had professional pictures taken with Augie Chang. They turned out simply amazing!!!

    I didn’t want the traditional maternity “half-naked pics standing by a window, draped in a sheet” photos. Don’t get me wrong — I think those pictures are beautiful, but it’s not what I wanted for us. I wanted something outdoors… something fun. Augie did a great job, and I love the fact that S is in just about all of them. Augie called this his “bun in the oven” shoot. Love it!!!

    You have to check out the slide-show at: http://augiechang.com/GALLERY/AvaShanePrego/, but here are a few of my faves (and I say “a few” because it hurt having to trim this down to just these):

    Cool, huh?

    Augie and I have known each other for years (I even had the pleasure of calling him “boss” for a whole month before he left to become a photographer full-time) and he does amazing work. He’s been documenting our life for years (starting with our engagement shots) and I hope he’ll be doing it for years to come.


    Flip flops are not a fashion choice!

    July 28th, 2008

    Apparently they’re mandatory in later stages of pregnancy.

    Why, you might ask? Because, quite frankly, your feet don’t fit into anything else 🙂

    I don’t like flip-flops! Unless I’m going out somewhere nice in a high-heeled pair of sandals, I don’t even like wearing shoes without socks. I remember looking at pregnant ladies wearing their flip flops wondering “Why?”. Now I understand.

    I just think it’s funny. 2 weeks ago, the OB checked my feet and they were fine. Now less than 14 days later I feel like I’m walking on slightly inflated pillows.

    Although I haven’t 100% admitted defeat (aka de-feet) I am wearing my flip-flops more (good thing I actually own a pair). Luckily I work in a very casual environment, but I feel like I’m about to really push the limits with my modified foot-wear.

    All this means is that now my toes have to look pretty all the time. Great! Has anyone else tried applying nail polish (on their own) while X number of inches of belly are hanging out? No? O.k., assignment: take hardest pillow you can find, or bowling ball, or melon and stick under your shirt. Now bend over forward reaching for your toes. Working? I didn’t think so.

    This aside though, and it is very minor, and some of the other items creeping in here and there, I’m still loving being pregnant. I feel good… very good to be honest and G’s being the perfect baby.


    Infant + vaccinations = pin-cushion

    July 24th, 2008

    You mean there are more shots in our future? Oh yeah! But this upcoming set is all on G 🙁

    My poor baby is about to be turned into a pin-cushion!

    I’ve spent some time over the last few weeks researching vaccines and the vaccination schedule normally prescribed to newborns in the US. Considering some of the risk associated with some shots, I’d like to delay and space out as much as possible, while at the same time considering two big things:

    1. G will be in day care around other kids, and
    2. by the time he’s 1, G would most likely have made his first trip over-seas to visit his European family.

    Both of these factors equal germs, and although I’d like to be cautious around the vaccine schedule, I also need to be sensible around what he could be exposed to as well.

    Luckily, living in the area we do, delayed vaccination schedules are not uncommon, and our pediatrician is happy to work around our needs. As a matter of fact, during our interview with him, following our discussion around vaccines we (mutually) agreed on the following schedule for G’s first two years:

    Birth: no vaccines
    Month 1: no vaccines (yey! spared another 30 days)
    Month 2: Pentacel (an IPV, DTaP, Hib combo) + Rotavirus
    Month 3: Hep B + PCV
    Month 4: Pentacel + Rotavirus
    Month 5: Hep B + PCV
    Month 6: Pentacel + Rotavirus
    Month 7: Hep B + PCV
    Month 12: Hep A
    Month 15: Pentacel + PCV
    Month 18: Chicken pox + Hep A
    Month 20: MMR (joined since no longer made separately). Moved from 24 months, since traveling abroad.
    4-6yr: DTaP + IPV + MMR + Chicken pox
    11-12yr: Td + MCV

    Interestingly enough in Bulgaria they immunize infants against TB immediately at birth. Here we do Hep-B, there’s it’s TB. I need to look into this a bit more and understand if that’s because TB is actually active out there, or if it’s just their normal procedure. If it is active, I might be reconsidering when G will be making his first trip out there. Arg — more research. When does it all end?


    Does this pregnancy make my butt look big?

    July 23rd, 2008

    I was in the gym today working out with my personal trainer, wearing my reasonably tight sweats. At the very end as we were doing some stretches I saw myself in a lunge position. I’d like to think it was just the angle of my body, but MAN did my rear look big!!!! Now… my trainer on the other hand is a little twig of a thing — almost impossible to imagine she has two kids of her own. Maybe it was just the jarring comparison between us two. Or maybe I just need to think that for awhile to make myself feel better 🙂


    G gets his Name Wall

    July 20th, 2008

    Posted by S.

    We’ve been working on the nursery lately and it’s almost done. It’s turning out to be a great room — that’s our opinion which is a good thing since most nursery decorations are for the parents and not the infant.

    From an earlier post you know the colors are green and brown and that we’re going with a modern geometric pattern.

    The focal wall has Baby G’s name in large wooden letters. We then used Wall Words to print out a quote in vinyl letters. The quote is “mythical animal with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle”. The contrast of the thickness of the wooden letters along with the vinyl letters applied to the wall surface is great (yes, we’re biased). The two fonts work well too.

    I find myself glancing into the room as I leave in the mornings and again when I get home in the evening.


    Our kid is slacking on the job

    July 15th, 2008

    Seriously!

    11M+ for pics of the Jolie/Pitt twins? They’re not even a week old and already bringing in the dough!!! G needs to get a move on — he’s got some heavy competition by his peers.

    Oh, and PS — G’s parents are obviously already a failure, since we won’t be bringing home 11M any time soon.


    Wanna win 50 bucks? Here’s how!

    July 13th, 2008

    In the spirit of keeping our months ahead fun and exciting, we are opening up a fun little game for you all: Our baby pool.

    How does it work? You guess the date of birth, weight and other fun facts for our baby. You don’t have to get them all right — the person closest across all categories wins!

    And what do you win? $50 and bragging rights 🙂

    Hmn… that’s it? Are there any rules? Yes, sadly there are, but it’s only to keep it fair

    • one entry per person
    • once you enter in your vote you can’t change it
    • you have until 8/1 to submit your vote

    How do you play? Go here (http://www.polldaddy.com/survey.aspx?id=2b9158907d5849a0) and fill out the survey. Then sit back and wait to find out who the winner is.

    Good luck and have fun!


    Uhmn… no thanx! I’ll wait.

    July 11th, 2008

    Last night one of the women on my online pregnancy board went into labor. I wish her and her little boy well and hope that everything went well.

    However, as I was reading her post and scanned down I noticed how far along she was: 36 weeks and a few days! This Saturday I’ll be 33 weeks. She’s only about 3 weeks ahead. The thought of going into labor in 3 weeks honestly scares me… a LOT! I’m not ready. 38-40 weeks I’ll at least be expecting it, but not at 36.

    So here’s hoping that G will inherit his father’s patience and schedule anal-ness. I need at least another month and a half before he can make his appearance.


    Do you know what you’re having? Why, yes – a monkey!

    July 10th, 2008

    I’ve noticed a very interesting pattern of conversations that I’m having lately with complete strangers. First of all, I’m definitely approached a lot more frequently by people I’ve never met in my whole life who try to make small-talk. Everyone is super nice, but there is most certainly a trend in how the conversation proceeds. It generally goes something like this:

    [stranger] When are you due? (or sometimes a variation of, by asking how far along I am)
    [me] 7 months
    [stranger] Do you know what you’re having?

    This is the one that I find amusing. I know they’re curious if it’s a boy or a girl, but the question itself is funny. I should say “A baby! DUUUUH!”, but every once in a while I get a crazy urge to say something like “a monkey”, or other random animal that comes to mind. However, realizing that my normal smart-assedness should be reserved to people who wouldn’t be offended, I just smile, giggle on the inside, and give the proper gender answer.

    It’s experiences like this that make me wonder if I used to ask the same thing. And now that I’m going through this experience, I wonder how it will change how I interact with other pregnant women.

    … at the very least I’ll probably change the question above to “Do you know the gender of the baby?” And if I don’t — please, feel free to tell me you’re having a monkey of your very own.