To the Beach! Part 2.5--The Diaper Cake

The presents were opened, the story was read, but where was the cake?

hehehehehehehe.

ohhhh man. figured it out.

What's a baby shower without some shameless poop references! Pudding, whipped cream, oreos, animal crackers and raisinettes make up this charming (and delicious) cocktail of crap. Those guys thought of everything lol.

To the Beach! Part 2: The Surprise Shower

So after a long night of playing Cranium, eating baked goods and drinking Stewart's Key Lime Soda, I woke up to a very unexpected treat!

Amongst all of the Orioles decor, you may notice the one traditional sign of a baby shower in this photo, the "It's a Boy" sign.

 I had no idea this was going to happen, but it did, and it rocked.

Accessories befitting of a mother-to-be and/or new baby.

Popeye shirt! Awwww

Baseball outfit! Awww

Oooooh, bath toys!

Awwww BABY SOOOOCKS!

Ooooh, what's thiiiis? RAVEN BIB!

Mom dons accessories. Noice.

And to finish things up, mom reads a short story to the little duckies from her new story book!

YAAAAAAAYY!!

We got spoiled and loved by our super traditional friends :) What a lucky baby!

To the Beach! Part 1: the Boardwalk

I went to the beach in Ocean City with some awesome friends this past weekend. Due to a scheduling snafu, Frank was unable to go, but luckily, these weren't just any friends--they were tried and true college softball buddies. When you spend 20 hours a week with certain people for 4 years, and you're not all slaving at a desk, you kind of learn to take care of each other.

They were all super nice to me--I forewarned them ahead of time that I would need to stop and rest on the boardwalk at fairly small increments. They were unbothered and happy to oblige. As a bonus to all, we were able to sample all kinds of healthy treats at most stops. Polish Sausage, fried candy bars, lemonade, funnel cake, popcorn and french fries!

Here's a super-flattering picture of me with an easily-shelved Thrasher's French Fry cup:

 Betwixt all of our snacking, we found ourselves embarking on yet another adventure together. One that required voluntarily forsaking ones pride, and succumbing to fierce peer pressure from one relentless, very tall and very excited team member, who continually reminded us that "It's only like 12 dollars a person, and we're making memories."

 I can't say I've ever before participated in one of these fool pictures, but I daresay it was worth what we paid for these priceless family snapshots. It was hilarious, really.

The photographer had this super cute idea at the end of our 7-photo session--here's what it turned out like:

"Awww look at the polka-dotted basketball!"

Love it, love it, love it. In addition to enjoying the generality of this keepsake, I think bloomers may become a pregnancy trend someday--they're wildly spacious.

The Glucose Test

So I'm at 28 weeks at this point, and was given the paperwork ahead of time from my midwife group to head to Quest Diagnostics to take the dreaded glucose test, which checks for gestational diabetes. You're not supposed to eat before you go, because the more sugar there is in your body already, the more likely it is to look like you're not processing it correctly.

I however was informed by my midwife of the month that if you have a strictly protein breakfast--like eggs and cheese with water (no milk--still has sugar), it shouldn't throw it off, and then you won't feel so miserable while you let the sugar soak in you for a whole hour. I had 2 thick slices of colby-jack before I left, and brought snacks with me to eat immediately afterward.

I showed up to a relatively empty office, and was given my orange sugar-potion fairly soon after arriving.

It tasted kind of like one of those Huggy-Barrel bug juices, but not really in an enjoyable way, if those things are enjoyable to start with. Could've been worse, and the bottle was small.

I then waited impatiently for an hour in the waiting room, watching cooking segments about healthy foods, and praying that I would still get to eat candy when the results came back.

When the hour was up, the nurse took 3 little vials of blood, which I took like a champ, using my yoga breathing to keep me calm. That was it. Not as annoying or harrowing as I had originally thought.

(A bun in the) bun in the oven

I'm about to head to Annapolis to hang out with Maria and Kate, so I figured I'd make brownies. Unfortunately, when I opened the oven door, I was met by THIS:

WHAT THE--?



After an expletive or two, I tried to figure out what happened. I realized that I had not added half the sugar, but after resourcing Grammy O., the source of the recipe, the verdict is that, while it's stupid to add only half of the sugar, it shouldn't have caused a baby bump to rise on my brownies.

Maybe the eggs didn't settle right...maybe I didn't spread them out enough...maybe pregnancy is contagious. I'll let you know if there are tiny, pre-cut brownies inside.

Frank's Alien Encounter

So there we were, lying in bed, settling in for the night--when the baby starts his nightly routine of actively kicking and rolling around for a half hour. We were both feeling my stomach, laughing and being impressed with how strong and active he is already, speculating what it'll feel like two or three months from now.

Before I know it, Frank has drifted off to sleep with his hand on my belly.

While I marvel over/think jealous thoughts of how quickly and easily he gets to pass out, Theo thumps me again, and Frank springs awake as if from a very short nightmare, startled and panting. I am laughing at this point, half at the strange spot the baby kicked me (sometimes it kind of tickles, like when someone pokes you in your side), and half at my husband.

"JEEZE, he is really kicking in there. Ohhh my gosh, that scared the crap out of me."

My guess is he was expecting to wake up to something like this:

Luckily, not the case--just another restful night in slumberland.

Creative pain relief

In addition to transplanting the mattress and going to the chiropractor, here are a few other things I've been doing to alleviate my body's misery:

I found this at Target for 15 bucks. Looks like a dog toy, meant for working out (ha), but actually very handy for being comfortably sedentary. Comes with its own pump and can inflated to your liking and shoved behind the back or butt while driving, sitting or leaning on stuff. Great at filling "that empty space" in annoying chairs. Also fits well behind or in the crook of the neck. It's got a rubbery grip to it, but I don't find it terribly uncomfortable if it touches my skin.

The weight of my growing belly now leaves the top-side of my belly achy from stretching after a few hours of sleep without proper cushioning. So next, this is what I have historically called my "bean" pillow (I think the why is pretty obvious.) It's tempurpedic, and has great structure, so much so that I stopped using it for my head and neck months ago. It is, however, a fantastic belly wedge!

Here's what it sort of looks like in use, for scaling reference:

It's tapered, so it's great for a wedge, and also firmer than most wedges I've seen. I'm also not worried about it getting matted down as I continue to use it and get heavier. Also, because of its size, I get some support for my hip and chest as well, depending on how severely I'm spooning it that night. Because of the level support I get in the front with this, I can keep my back from twisting and getting more uncomfortable throughout the night. Fab-oo!

Next, we have a Gabrialla Maternity mini support belt. I'm modeling it over my dress so you can see where it goes, but it's usually discreetly worn under anything you want. It puts a bit of good-feeling pressure on your low back, and lifts your belly a bit to take bad-feeling pressure off of your low back.

Honestly, jury is still out on this one. New York was a horrible, extreme litmus test for this thing, and I'm not quite back to a point where I can tell if it really helps or not. I will say that it makes a lot more sense for when I'm standing and walking. When I sit, it can roll a bit (though the band itself stays in place), and puts a lot of pressure on my bladder. Also, if the baby moves while I'm sitting, it feels kind of intense--like I trapped him there with a giant rubber band, and he's working on his underwater Houdini act.

They have way more elaborate belly harnesses than this all over Amazon, but I figured I'd try this one first. It was also about 15 bucks. The competing band only had three sets of eye-hook fixtures on it, and this had velcro, which is better for all those in-betweens. I got a large, which fits, but it may not for long. The underside of my belly around my back measured about 40 inches when I bought it, and I'm already at the end of the velcro patch.

Lastly, I'm proud to say that I found a new purpose for my rolling cooler:



The path to our door is long, and pushing (NOT PULLING) this thing to and from the car was a LOT nicer than making more trips putting more weight on my back and legs.

Pain creates a necessity to find relief; necessity is the mother of all invention. I may just hatch a million-dollar idea by the time I hatch this kid.