baby shower

wow. we had such a great time! so many people came and we got so many presents that it was difficult getting them all home in one go. we are so blessed to have such great family and friends. that was awesome!!! we got the changing table we wanted and a pad and covers and clothes and bottles and diapers and diaper bags and things to clean bottles and racks to dry bottles and diaper rash stuff and blankets and kev and den redid a rocking chair for us and chase drew us a picture and we got gift cards and pacifiers and all kinds of awesome stuff. it was so much fun and donna went all out with the food and i think we're gonna be eating bruschetta for a week (that is in NO way a complaint, lol). it was fabulous! the only think i wish we had was more pics - gotta get dad and donna to email 'em to us :) i've put up the ones we have though.

bend over

so, someone just asked me, "what's the first thing you're going to do after you have the baby?" and my immediate response, without thinking was, "bend over and touch my feet".
i miss touching my feet without grunting like a pig, lol.

ick to pregnancy

i think it's high time i finally bitch about being pregnant. since this blog is more for myself than others to read, i want to remember not only the good things about being knocked up, i want to remember the bad things - so that when lola gets pregnant and asks me something, i'll be able to remember that "yea that happened to me" or "no that didn't". so.... without further ado:
why pregnancy sucks ass
while i don't hate the actual pregnancy, i hate everything bad that
i've gotten that goes along with it. i didn't get morning sickness, but
in return for that little miracle i got MASSIVE swelling in my lower
extremities. i can't bend my knees without pain, i have to actually
think about whether it's worth getting up or not. getting in the bed is
ridiculous b/c my knees feel bruised when they're touched too hard and
to get in my bed i have to crawl over to my spot so i'm on my knees for
about 5 seconds which is 5 seconds too long, i can't touch my feet, i
can't put on undies or pants without sitting down b/c i can't lift my
left leg higher than about 6 inches off the ground without searing back
pains, i can't wear shoes that aren't house shoes 2 sizes larger than i
would normally wear (from the swelling) - the vaginal discharge is more
than i ever expected and is SUPER gross - b/c of it, i've become a baby
powder-aholic and nick almost chokes on baby powder when i come
to bed b/c i sit down on the bed and there's so much powder in my
crotch that it puffs up like a cloud from my nether regions. in addition to the discharge, the baby puts pressure on my bladder and i leak pee all day long as well. i'm sick of having to use pantiliners, i was hoping to not have to buy any of those things while i was pregnant - this was a big shock to me, i didn't think i'd be the unlucky one to pee myself all day. i've
suffered constant congestion since i got pregnant, which has caused
super loud snoring (i wake myself up i'm so loud) and now nick has to wear earplugs. the heartburn is atrocious, i wake up literally
choking on a pool of stomach acid - and a new thing (as of last night)
i can't eat too much b/c i'll wake up choking on VOMIT multiple times
thru the night. so i'm going to have to switch to multiple tiny meals
throughout the day and see if that helps.if it doesn't then i've got
about 6 more weeks of this crap to deal with, NOT TO MENTION the fact
that i'm 34 weeks along and have gained 50 lbs, even though i really
haven't been eating that much more! my throat is raw and sore and no one can tell me if it's from the heartburn pooling at the back of my throat or if i'm actually sick. i think i'm actually sick, but that still doesn't help me b/c since i'm pregnant there's pretty much nothing i can do about it. i don't want to be sick when i give birth, but if this shit doesn't pass soon, i very well might!
i love my baby, i love her moving, i love carrying her and talking to her and nick rubbing my belly and talking to her and it's a wonderful thing, but there are shitty things about pregnancy too. i can only hope that when lola gets pregnant, that she gets an easy pregnancy.

well... ice

34 weeks, only about 6 more to go if i go on my due date. it iced here last night and i'm too scared to try to get to work. i know the roads aren't terrible, but i don't want to take any chances. even a 5 mile an hour fender bender could cause damage - and anyways, nick had to take the car b/c his windshield wipers broke on his way to work (so he came back and got my car). but that means we're super broke now b/c i'll be short like 12 hours at work.
yesterday was probably one of the worst days i've had at work. a sales rep was an asshole and refused to apologize and thought i was crazy for being offended at his rudeness and i tried SO hard not to let it get to me but it did and i ended up in the bathroom, crying so hard that i threw up all over myself. i haven't gotten that needlessly upset since i was like 7.
and now i just noticed we're overdrawn at the bank and b/c the bank sucks they didn't take 1 fee, they took 2 - wow, what a fucking day.

the room is done

seriously. it's done. all we gotta do is move nick's furniture up there, which ithink he and his dad are gonna do tonight/this afternoon. i'm worn outand i haven't done anywhere NEAR as much as nick and kev have today.
lola keeps rolling around, and it's quite uncomfortable.
once we're done moving the furniture upstairs we just gotta do the nursery!

maternity leave

Wow. So work is trying to screw me out of 6 weeks of my maternity leave. According to the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) of 1993 I am entitled to 12 weeks unpaid leave for the birth and care of a newborn child, adopting a child, medical leave for myself, caring for a family member that has medical need – but for some reason our HR lady only sees the “medical” aspect of that and says that I only get to take 6-8 weeks depending upon the type of birth I have. How that’s right is beyond me especially considering that adoption is in no way medical for the adopting parent, so how would they say that works? Anyways, they tried this on me when I first found out I was pregnant and I thought I got ‘em cleared up on this issue and then this morning I send in my FMLA paperwork to our HR lady and she says AGAIN that I only get 6-8 weeks off b/c that’s what the doctor said was MEDICALLY NECESSARY and if Bobby or Chris want to “approve” me taking more time off they can, but they don’t have to and if I take longer than they approve that they can fire me for being absent or whatever. So I called the fucking Federal Department of Labor (they then referred me to the TN Dept. of Labor since I’m in TN) and they cleared it up for me that I’M RIGHT! So I sent our HR lady the following email:

Ok, I’m sorry - I just can’t let things die without knowing the exact specifications, the why’s, the how’s, the who’s - so just FYI (in case you run into another me in the future, LOL) - I called the Department of Labor (I called the federal number and they had me contact the TN office in Nashville since I’m in TN) and asked them to clarify: is the FMLA only for the allotted recovery time of 6-8 weeks after birth or am I allowed to take 12 weeks total under the act regardless of the time it takes to recover? They said that I get the full 12 weeks regardless of medical necessity b/c it’s for Family leave AND/OR Medical leave (not just medical leave). The number of weeks my doctor determines is medically necessary for me to recover has nothing to do with the leave as it applies to childbirth and FMLA b/c the remaining weeks in the leave would then be considered Family leave – I’m allowed to take up to 12 weeks leave (or shorter if I determine I would like a shorter leave) to have the child and care for the child.

So her only response was “Cool, thanks” and I’m sure that was short for “You’re an irritating bitch that refuses to take the answers given to her and I hate to be proven wrong” but whatever – I refuse to allow them to cut short my time with my child. They’ve done that to 2 other employees here and I’m not going to be one of those b/c while it might have been OK for them, it’s not for me. Granted, pointing out where mistakes are made on the part of the company is a surefire way to get on the shit-list here (and is how a warehouse worker who’d been here for 35 years just got forced into retirement), but I’m still not bending on that issue. They have to abide by federal law, damnit, and I want my time off with Lola. She’s far more important than any job.

good times...

alrighty!! some excitement - the crib is in!!! we gotta go get it, but it's in and that's awesome. have a dr. appointment today and nick is gonna get to come. he hasn't been able to make it the past few visits, so this'll be his first time to hear her heartbeat (YAY). we got upstairs finished - well all the hard stuff is done. now all we have to do is mud a couple small holes/gaps in the sheetrock on the outside facing wall (to keep air from getting in/out/etc) and hang carpet on the walls and put it on the floors. i think we'll do some of that today. kev's been such a great help in getting it done and jimmy helping out with the electrical and eddie helping frame that door and the wall around the water heater - awesome. yay for ppl helping out! i'm so glad den and kev let us use their home depot card (which we should be able to pay them off at the end of this month), without it i don't think we woulda gotta this done - and once upstairs is carpeted (or at least 1 wall and the floor) we can tear down the furniture in the downstairs room (which is all that's left down there as the rest is in the attic on the other side of his room) and get it upstairs so we can start on the nursery. after that the only thing we'll need to make sure of is that we get a hole cut in the wall and a window unit put in and a vent thingie in the roof to ensure proper air circulation and to keep it from getting so hot that it ruins nick's stuff this summer.
we've been doing our birth class on mondays - we've gone to 2 so far. we're learning breathing techniques, and there's a free class offered in february that i think nick and i are gonna go to and it's for more relaxation/pain relief stuff for ppl that want natural birth (like us).
so exciting :) she's not kicking anymore, she's run out of room. now she pokes and rolls, it's quite uncomfortable, but still awesome. i love watching my stomach randomly move, lol :)
especially when I explain that not even mom is going to be in there. I do feel a little bad b/c I was so excited to have mom and her in the room with me and Nick this whole time, but as I get closer to term I find myself rethinking things like that. It’s like it’s seeming more real now and it’s seeming like less of a group event, if that makes sense.

who's on first?

Well, I’ve changed my mind again (after talking with Nick last night). We only want me and him to be there when the baby’s born. Mom and our friends/family can visit during labor and after delivery, but for the actual birth, we want just me and him. It feels much better to me to know it’ll just be us. We’re the ones that created this little life, I want us to be the ones that welcome her first and so does he. He also said that he doesn’t like to show his emotions to anyone other than me (I’m sure he’ll forget that there are doctors and nurses in there). I’ve told mom which was the hardest thing to do b/c I was terrified she’d be upset, but she was surprisingly encouraging about it. She said she understands that it’s an intimate time and that it’s best to be shared with just me and him – so that’s a load off. Now I have to tell Lucy, I haven’t talked to her in a couple weeks so I gotta call her and maybe go for coffee or something so I can tell her. She’ll be fine with it, especially when I explain that not even mom is going to be in there. I do feel a little bad b/c I was so excited to have mom and her in the room with me and Nick this whole time, but as I get closer to term I find myself rethinking things like that. It’s like it’s seeming more real now and it’s seeming like less of a group event, if that makes sense.

31 weeks today

wow, 9 weeks to go. i slept the day away on the couch, just got up about 15 minutes ago. nothing new to report. v8 splash tropical blend rocks my socks, as do lemon poppy seed muffins - i'm sure that'll change in the next coupla days, lol. well, there is one kinda new thing - i think i felt her head today. i was laying on the couch watching tv and i had my hands on my belly and, as usual, she starting rolling around and making me feel awkward and stuff (like rolling things in your belly does), and this gigantic mound of baby just moved across my belly under my hands - kinda like a freaking bowling ball moving across my stomach. absolutely the weirdest feeling EVAR (but cool)!
maya's worrying me (our big dog). she's all of a sudden started growling at lulu when she never did or would have before. we had lulu first and then got maya in '03, so they've been together for almost 6 years now - it's weird. like, lulu will walk by maya while maya has a treat and maya will seriously growl at her and i'll mack maya and tell her no and she stops (which when she was a puppy all it took was one good time and she was never aggressive again), but it's like it doesn't do any good now. lulu is a shih tzu, all it would take would be one bite from maya (rott mix) and it'd be over for her. just now maya was in her kennel hanging out and there was a toy bunny NEAR her kennel, so lulu walked over to sniff the bunny and maya growled at lulu for being NEAR her kennel. i don't know what to do. it's not like her at all. she's always so gentle and kind and sweet, but the past couple weeks it's like she's becoming mean or something.