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Shower #1

This last Saturday was a fun day. The folks at Lena's work (Dad's Garage Theatre) threw her a baby shower. It was just a lot of fun. Great food, people, weather, and, of course, cake! HA, you thought I was going to say gifts, didn't you? Well, there was that, too. Excellent gifts all around. A bunch of them pooled together and got us the car seat and an extra base for it--which will be useful if we ever get around to buying another car. There was a bunch more stuff there, and I'm blanking now just as I did with my carpool on the way in to work this morning. Anyway, a big THANK YOU to everyone who came to that shower. It was a nice time and great break in the middle of the day.

Week 30 and Beyond

Before recapping the somewhat strange doctor appointment we went to today, something funny happened.

So, a few nights ago, perhaps Saturday or Sunday night, I had this very strange dream where the baby girl was pushing a foot against Lena's stomach. She pushed so hard that her foot became completely visible against the skin. I'm talking detailed. I would compare it to stretching a balloon over a bunch of grapes and then sucking the air out. I could see five little toes and even the lines across the bottom of her foot. Very strange.

This morning, Lena told me of this dream she had last ngiht that sounded almost exactly like the one I had. The odd part is that I never told her about my dream until she told me about hers. It was genuinely bizarre.

Okay, so the doctor's visit. This was the last of the every-four-weeks visit. We go back in two weeks, then two weeks, then two more, and then once a week until the baby girl arrives. There was no blood drawing (YEAH!), but we were caught just a little off guard when the doctor said she had some questions to ask us. They started easy -- Do you want to have an epidural? Do you have a car seat? -- and then threw us for a loop: What about birth control? Wait, what? Hadn't even crossed our minds, really.

I was glad I didn't have to go back to work after that. My mind was just a little preoccupied with that one. No decisions on that yet, but, as I keep saying, we still have a little time.

In other news, I'm flying to Illinois in two weeks for my cousin's wedding. It'll be my first time back there since my great-grandmother's funeral two-and-a-half years ago. I don't think anyone will recognize me. HA! So, I'm sitting here typing and watching Miami Ink on TLC and wondering if I'm going to have my brother give me a new tattoo while I'm there. Lena actually asked if I was going to come home with a new tattoo. It hadn't crossed my mind, but now I'm thinking about it. I just don't know what I would want to get. I mean, I have ideas, but nothing concrete enough to stick. Maybe some Chinese characters on my wrist. Or maybe I'll get sleeves done, or something across my chest, or a nice Howl (face) tattoo from "Fable" (if you've played the game, you'll understand that one). My guess, perhaps I'll get something simple if he has time, but I'm not sure what, if anything, I'd get.

Insurance

Just a quick note to say how much I hate insurance companies. All of them in general, not individually. UnitedHealthcare gave us great service, but Coventry's customer service people are jerks and their coverage (as in number of doctors) is dismal. Ugh! No details, just Ugh!

Here's to another Monday.

Pediatricians

I never in a million years thought I would say what I'm about to say: shopping for a pediatrician is tough. Especially when the one we went to the other day was extremely disappointing. I won't name the practice or the doctors who practice there, but I will tell you, it was uncomfortable. I would go so far as to call the place dingy and out-dated. It was the second pediatrician's office we'd seen and it was hard not to compare this one to the first. Ugh! I can't talk about that visit without getting worked up. It was terribly impersonal. Let's just say, not going to take my daughter to them...ever. We're going to another office on Monday. They were great over the phone, and even their website was exceptional, as it relates to what information was there and how it looked. They were also recommended to us by several people, so crossing fingers that they live up to that in person on Monday.

Officially

Okay, so yesterday was officially the beginning of week 29. That gives us anywhere between 8 (hopefully) and 13 (oh God, no!) weeks. I think we're pretty prepared. The nursery is newly refinished--wall paint, ceiling light, closet doors, curtains, trim--and even has a few pieces of furniture. Here I will give a Public Service Announcement about Craigslist: Don't let anyone tell you this is a bad thing. It's an open marketplace, people. We found a $450 crib (three years old) and paid $100 cash for it. The condition is really good. Of course, there is some wear, it's a three-year-old crib, for crying out loud! But it looks good, easy to assemble without instructions, and it works. Plus, as should be obvious, it was cheap. Anyway, back to my original thought. If you ask me, the room is pretty much done, with the exception of some wall art and a nice rug.

Well, my carpool is going to be here soon and I have to take care of a few things first. I will update later on all the fun and exciting things we've been up to.

Happy Monday! (Read: Ugh!)

Week 29 Picture

Okay, here's the Week 29 picture. I thought I had a Week 20 picture on my laptop I could put up for comparison, but it's not there. Oh well. Doesn't she look great?!

A Late Start

So, as the title description of this blog suggests, this should have been started a long time ago. Tomorrow marks the beginning of Week 29 (for the unschooled, that's within the third trimester) of Lena's pregnancy. As the description also states, we're having a girl.

Okay, catching up the last 29 weeks. Nursery's been done for a while, as far as painting goes. There are a few pieces of furniture, two dressers (one tall, one short and long) and the crib. I'll get a picture of those up later. Hmm...what else to really say? We're not telling the name that we've chosen, for personal reasons, so deal with it, okay?

I'll update more later when I finish the design of this page. Until then, enjoy, and come back and see us!