Rose coloured glasses

Getting pregnant has done wonders for my outlook on life. After seeing my baby at the first ultrasound, it was like something just clicked. All of the sudden, everything was put into perspective.

The small stuff? I really don't sweat it anymore.

Case in point:

Some projects at work have been running a little bit "less than smoothly", shall we say. Now, I could get super-frustrated and vent and argue and feel my face getting all red for everyone to see. Or, I could try to come up with the best solution possible to make the client and the team happy, laugh it off, and move on my merry way.

I've been consciously making an effort to try the latter.

And what I've noticed? Is things don't get all big and blown out of proportion. People smile at me more. I don't have to have those awkward, "Look, it's not you, it's the project that makes me frustrated" conversations.

It's pretty nice.

Funny how in one day, in one moment, my whole entire world changed. And it really, truly affected how I look at life.

Thank you, Baby Mango.

Obsession: it's not just a perfume, folks

I didn't get a seat on the train this morning. And I'm a little ashamed to admit that I unzipped my jacket in hopes that someone would notice my belly and offer me their spot.

No such luck.

On a side note, I wonder how many people look at me now and think "That girl shouldn't be wearing that shirt. It totally accentuates her fat stomach".

Anywho. As I stood there, glancing through the morning paper, my eyes were instantly drawn to a headline that read "Sometimes, you've just got to cut the cord." And at that moment I realized something.

I'm obsessed by all things baby.

I see babies everywhere. (Imagine that in a creepy Sixth Sense whisper...) I see them on TV, at the grocery story, on billboards, when I'm going for a walk. And I secretly think to myself: my baby is going to be cuter.

Anyway. Back to the point. The newspaper article. It had nothing to do with babies. It was simply using a common phrase to get the point of the article across. And yet, because I saw the term "cut the cord", my mind instantly started exclaiming: "What's that? Is that something I should know? I should read it. It might be information I need to know. Is it about my baby's cord? Oh my goodness... I NEED to know."

Ah yes, I have turned all sorts of crazy.

Mind you, now is probably the only time in my life that I have a valid excuse for this. An excuse that people will readily accept, anyway.

I have Baby Mango to thank for this. (New fruit reference! Cute!)

Oh, and on another side note: in less than one week, Andrew and I get to go see Baby Mango again. So. Excited. I can't wait to get another glimpse at him or her in all his or her cuteness.

Until then, I'll just keep on obsessing. Don't mind me.

Hello

Having a bit of a frantic day at work. Unfortunately, the blogging goes by the wayside.

So, in lieu of a blog, I leave you with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E63ExmhOk8g

Watch it with the sound on. Trust me.

Another confession

Friday!!!!!!! Woo it's Fridaayyyyyyyyy!

(I'm excited. Can you tell?)

Not much going on for me this weekend... but I'm happy for the break nonetheless. I got up early today. Got into work bright and early. Got my steaming cup of hot chocolate right here beside me. Ready to tackle the day.

And............. now I'm running out of things to say. So! Another installment of "Confession Friday", coming your way! (You lucky kids).

I confess:

• I have not yet consumed an alcoholic beverage... but I'm still considering it. (I'm so baaaad!)
• I try very hard not to play the neurotic pregnant lady role. But I can sometimes see myself leaning in that direction.
• I won't pick my cat up or snuggle her if I'm wearing black because I don't want her cat hair all over me.
• The above point makes me think I might be a bad Mom.
• See point two.
• I don't mind sushi burps. (After a sushi lunch, when you're all full and stuff and then burp, you can kinda taste sushi all over again.) Disgusting. I know. But also kind of satisfying.
• I think I might be OCD about the mess/dirt/stuff you can't see on my kitchen counters.
• My floors, on the otherhand... they nasty. Don't ever come over and eat off of our floors.
• Oh! This reminds me. I've never cleaned our baseboards in the 4 years I've lived at our house.
• Nobody is ever going to come over to my house again, are they?

Hmmm. Yep. That's all I'm willing to admit for now. Your turn.

(If you choose not to participate, I understand. Have a good Friday, anyway!)

18 week update

Well, technically I'm 18 weeks and 5 days. But who's counting right??

And now, for your reading enjoyment... some fun stats from my midwife appointment yesterday!

How far along: 18 weeks

Symptoms: Feeling pretty good! I've had some major acid reflux lately... but once I stopped intaking mass quantities of lemonade each day, the acid reflux magically stopped. Who wouldda thunk it? I be real smrt.

Weight gain: 14.5 lbs. I asked my midwife if this was something I should be concerned about. She said that as long as I'm eating mostly healthy and getting some exercise, I should be okay. I really don't want to gain more than 35lbs. max. But I guess it's out of my hands to some degree.

Current food descriptor for baby: Sweet potato. When you really think about that, a sweet potato is pretty darn big. Mah wee one is growing! No wonder I'm at 14.5lbs. weight gain already.

Progress on preparation for baby: We've... started. One evening, Andrew and I emptied out all non-baby related items from our spare room so we could prep it for a nursery. We ripped out all the trim (as it was old and hideous and we've decided to put new stuff in there) and we cleaned the floor a bit. That's as far as we've gotten. Not a bad start though.

Maternity clothes situation: I fully refuse to wear anything but maternity pants now. These jeans are SO comfy, folks. Do you know how nice it is to wear elasticized waist bands all day at work?? Nice. Verrrry, very nice.

Pictures: Here they are. Me at 18 weeks with my hair down, and me at 18 weeks with my hair up. Couldn't decide which one I liked better.

One thing is for sure - I'm getting a BIG belly.

On worrying and sweet potatoes

I'm going to see my midwife again tomorrow. (FUN!) I love these appointments. Even despite the fact that it's time to find out just how much weight I've put on since my 2-week romp out east. (I still don't regret all that seafood. At. All.)

Apparently it's around this time, at 18 weeks, that the experts say you can start feeling your baby move. So far, I haven't felt much of anything but gas. So I'm hoping the midwife will pull out the doppler again so I can hear the heartbeat, just to calm my neurotic nerves.

(By the way, baby is now the size of a sweet potato! Adorable much? Yes... you're very cute, sweet potato. But it's time to start moving around for Mommy a little. Help Mama calm her delicate nerves and just give her a little nudge here and there, m'kay?)

I also hope to get the opportunity to show my midwife just how truly neurotic I am when I pull out my long list of questions for her. Questions include:

• Is my face wash safe?
• What vitamins are safe to take if I'm getting a cold?
• Can I take Cold FX? (I think I already know the answer to this one)
• What's this cord blood banking business all about?
• What can I do about the INTENSE acid reflux I'm getting?

And so on and so forth. (I won't bore you with all the details).

Anyway. As you can clearly see, I am fully involved in the "worry" stage of pregnancy. Many Moms tell me this never goes away. Hurrah! Years and years of nothing but worrying to look forward to!

Although, I must admit, I'm already experiencing the "wicked awesome" stage of pregnancy. This is the one where people tell me I'm looking fantastic, my face is glowing and my little bump is adorable. The one where people I've known in the past have come out of the woodwork to chat about everything and anything to do with pregnancy (because they're also pregnant or are Moms). It's also the one where people suddenly become incredibly generous. I've already received a few gifts... the last one was from a co-worker who bought me an adorable little Sleep Sheep that she swears by.

I think it's safe to say that the worry is worth all the benefits.

Tired. But happy.

Excuse me while I try to stop drooling on my keyboard due to the near catatonic state I'm in.

I'm tired.

Very, very tired.

Had a busy week. Then a busy, busy weekend. Now I'm feeling unrested and slightly overwhelmed. (Unrested because I didn't get enough sleep. Overwhelmed because I haven't had a chance to work out AT ALL in a week and it makes me freak out a little.)

Anyway, enough about that. On to more exciting things.

Like the adorable baby shower I went to yesterday. It was for a friend of mine, and a bunch of my other girlfriends came by. Three of them showed up with their babies. So, needless to say, it was a giant baby fest. And I LOVED it!

I got to hold the babies. Got to make goo-goo noises and funny faces at them. I took note of all the cool stuff my friend received at her shower. I ate the little triangle sandwiches with no crusts. And then I went home very happy and excited for my turn.

I probably sound like a big, huge goof right now...

But I'm just so happy.