Behold, the Gigantic Tummy!

Okay, so it seems like everyone wants tummy pictures. Well, here you have it! At 33 weeks and 1 day I am officially about to POP! Interestingly, for the last day or so my poor, shallow belly button has been really sore, and I'm wondering if parts of me are going to literally start popping soon.

At this time I can only stuff my feet into flip-flops and one pair of slides, my ring occasionally cuts off my circulation, I get leg cramps on such a regular basis they don't even faze me anymore, I've developed an extra chin, all my shirts hike up and all my pants fall down, my arches feel bruised, and people treat me like I'm made of glass (that's a good thing!).

On the other hand, I've been feeling very affectionate towards my tummy. I'm constantly rubbing the thing with lotions and cradling "the baby." I've had everyone from my brother to my husband lean down and talk to it, and we've been enjoying the "alien moments" at work when random pieces of the thing bulge out. Travis and I have been feeling the baby more and more. It's awesome and exhausting!

I alternate between feeling fine and wanting my life back. I've been in denial--playing tennis, walking all over, rough-playing, bike-riding, etc.--and that attitude recently rewarded me with my first contraction (when I hopped a curb on the bike). I've also had moments where I am so overcome with love for our unborn baby, and tender feelings for my own tummy, and during those moments I am very serene and gentle with myself and our baby.

At this point I am eager to kiss and cuddle our baby. I want to meet this little person that we've been entrusted with! I know that things will be much harder with our child "on the outside," but I can't help it--I desperately want to begin the next step. 7 more weeks! (Although we all know it's really 6 weeks because I'm having the baby on July 10th).

I'm thinking it's a boy...

Ok, well, for so long I've been telling everyone that I'm having a girl, but I'm starting to think it might be a boy!
I figured our first baby would be a girl since both sides of our family seem to produce girls first. Also, some of the wive's tales seemed to point to a girl (the motion of the ring on a string over my stomach, my craving for sweets--although I also crave salty!--the heart rate, etc.), but now I have evidence that it's a boy!
The strongest evidence is that I had my first dream about our baby last week, and it was a boy. (The baby also looked slightly Chinese in my dreams, but we won't worry about that!). Another strong wive's-tale related piece of evidence is that the baby's heart rate has dropped significantly over the last 3 weeks (and according to the old wives a heartbeat below 150bpm is a boy and anything above is a girl!). Our baby has had a heart rate of 148bpm through the whole pregnancy, which I thought was borderline enough to be a boy or a girl, but at my prenatal appt on Friday the heartrate had dropped to 136bpm! Wow!
Plus, my mom says that I've seemed like I'm carrying a boy, if my pregnancy can be compared to hers at all. (And of course she's guessing boy!).
Anyhow, another piece of very strong evidence is that after I dreamed that I was having a boy, and decided that it means I'm having a boy, I felt something "click." It suddenly seemed right! It's funny too how my attitude automatically changed. I went from feeling very overprotective and mushy towards the baby to sort of stoic, and feeling like he'll be a "tough little guy."
Maybe I'm just having a really tough little girl?
Haha, we'll see!

The "Betting Pool" (no money involved!)

So, I've started collecting everyone's guess as to when the baby will arrive, the sex, the weight, and the length! If you're guess isn't on here send it to me as a comment or via email and I'll add it! The information that seems to help people form guesses is as follows: I'm due on July 18th. At 30 weeks pregnant I had gained 21 pounds. I mostly crave watermelon, sandwiches, popcorn and icecream. My siblings and I were all between 7--8lbs. My mother and her mother all had their babies early. Neither Travis nor I are tall people (Travis is 5'10", I'm 5'4"). We're both an average weight (well, I'm not anymore! Haha). Guess away!
........Guesser....Sex.....Weight......Length.....Birthdate

• Aida.........Girl......7 lbs2 oz...15".............7/20
• Jodi..........Boy.....8 lbs1 oz....16.5" ........7/12
• Lorie........Girl......7 lbs4 oz....17"...........7/22
• Jennifer...Girl......7 lbs5 oz....17.5".......7/10
• Sureshi....Girl......7 lbs...........17"...........7/17
• Paul.........Boy......8 lbs6 oz....16"...........7/20
• Carmen...Girl......7 lbs11 oz...19"..........7/16
• Kilee........Girl.......7 lbs7oz.....17"...........7/11
• Julia.........Girl.......7lbs3oz......18"........7/19
• Ruth.........Girl......7lbs 15oz....19.5"....7/15
• Mom.........Boy......7lbs14oz.....20"......7/16
• Dad...........Girl......7lbs 6oz......18".......7/14
• Robert B...Boy......7lbs12oz.....20+"....?
• Chris.........Girl......6lbs8oz.......?...........7/11
• Sky...........Boy......8lbs..............?...........7/20
• Mesa.........Boy.....8lbs2oz........?...........7/14
• Amy S.......Boy.....8lbs3oz........19.5".....7/13
• Travis........Boy.....7lbs2oz........19"........7/04
• Sandy........Girl......7lbs14oz.......19"......7/14

The Odd Couple

Aren't they so cute??? We are so happy that Casey is working out so well! Casey and Charlie get along fabulously. They spend almost all day curled up together in the indoor kennel (coming outside only to bark at strange dogs, of course!) and they are so cute when they come out and play together! Charlie bites Casey's legs and Casey bites Charlie's neck. :)

We took them for a walk last night. Walking Charlie has been difficult since we got him a year ago, because he barks and goes so crazy when another dog approaches (he doesn't want to play; he wants to kill it!). Last night I tried walking with a spray bottle for the first time. Between getting a squirt of water and a firm "NO" whenever he lunged for another dog and having Casey stand there quietly, Charlie seemed a lot calmer! He would actually stop barking and freaking out and would pay attention for once! Yay.

And, come on, are they not the cutest couple? We love our big, beautiful golden dog and our little, one-eyed mutt! They are the funniest--and it seems like they're really good friends already. That was the point!

30 weeks and thoughts on being a mom

Okay, so it's not a very quality picture...I snapped it really quick before I headed out this morning! But, you get the idea: I'm MASSIVE!!! I wonder how much bigger I can get in the 10 weeks that are left? I'm very excited to be 30 weeks pregnant!

Some thoughts on being a mother in this country:
As people who are close to me know, I have been very stressed out throughout my pregnancy by the lack of support that this country gives families. I vacillate between feeling like I hate this country and how non-family-friendly it is, and feeling like I'm wrong to expect a "handout." Today is one of the days when I am very angry with our country. Here's why:
This morning NPR did a little segment in honor of mother's day. The segment discussed a recent study that some NGO did on which countries are the most family-friendly. Number one? Sweden, where you are guaranteed 1 year of paid maternity leave (which is at least 80% of your full salary) and domestic help is tax-deductible, among other things. Guess where the USA ranks? #27.
Are families really so unimportant to this country?
I love how the talking heads love to say that "our children are our best resources." I love how you always hear that "our youth are our best hope" and all that other junk.
I wonder, if our children were really our best resources, then maybe would we consider taxing another great resource (oil companies) in order to support our "best resource." Maybe we could just tax all of the big companies in general. Maybe individual people could even handle a little more taxing...I think , if we love and believe in children so much, then maybe we could support a few things.
As a list-lover, here are a few things that I think we should do to support our best resource:
1. Since we know that health is something that our best resource vitally needs, maybe health insurance should be SOCIALIZED so EVERYONE can get healthcare.
2. Since we know that time with family is important then maybe we could give everyone maternity leave...regardless of how long they've been with their employer and whether or not that person was working full-time.
3. Maternity leave should be longer than SIX WEEKS. A six week old infant does NOT belong in daycare! If Sweden can afford to give new moms 52 weeks then can't we do better than 6?
4. PATERNITY LEAVE, MAYBE???? In such a "forward-thinking" and "equality-loving" country you would think we'd be smart and progressive enough for that one. Our country is incredibly sexist when it comes to fathers' rights and privileges!
5. What's up with "sick time?" Are we supposed to work even if we or our children are sick?
6. How about some vacation time so we can actually be with our families? Since we know that having dinner together every night is so important how about some opportunities to do even more amazing things together than share a meatloaf? Like travel to other countries or go for a roadtrip or go camping? I do not think that 96% of my weeks out of every year should be work-weeks. That's the same as saying that 4% of our weeks every year should be spent with our children...is that good for our best resource? Not good enough, I think.
Okay, I'm going to stop there...for now.
In honor of mother's day I think it's important to think about the fact that our country...which is the "superpower" of the world and truly one of the richest nations...is 27th on the list of family-friendly countries. I think it's important to think about all the ways that we fail to support families. It's important to keep in mind what our best resources and those things that are most important to us are, so that we can constantly be striving to move up that list. We could at least shoot for top-10. :)

More Casey!

Check out his fancy tail! His tail is down when he's mellow, and curls up when he's feisty. :)

Meet our new dog, Casey!

So on Friday we finally got a new friend for Charlie. Casey is BEAUTIFUL. He's a retriever mix (husky?) and has a beautiful face, and these gorgeous long feathers on his back legs and tail...he looks like a show-doggy! At 50 pounds he outweighs Charlie by about 20lbs, but Charlie's still the boss! They are getting along really well--they play like crazy and cuddle at night and are the cutest little "couple"...it's so funny to have a little mutty one-eyed black dog and a big, beautiful golden dog. We've noticed on our "family walks" around the neighborhood that the kids get a real kick out of our "doggy couple!"
Of course, since he's from the Humane Society Casey does have some kinks to work out. Here's what we've noticed so far:
1. Casey is really afraid of men. He actually LOVES Travis (after the initial fear of him), but every time Travis changes his clothes Casey acts wary and won't come near him until he's sure it's Travis!
2. Casey doesn't do well in open space. When we put him outside he'll play in the big, fenced yard for a little while, and then he inevitably kennels himself. Not only does he go in the kennel, but he goes through the doggie door into the garage kennel, so he's double-kennelled! And in the house he tends to run in circles and won't lay down and be still until I close him up in a small space using the baby gate (as pictured above).
3. He's had one accident, but he was whining to go out...I just didn't let him out fast enough! He has a lot of hair and seems to overheat easily, so he's always panting and drinking water, which means that he has to pee a lot!
4. Casey has a BIG bark! He actually barks more than Charlie! When we got Casey he was quiet as could be, but now he's become very vocal! We'll have to work on that...
5. Casey has separation anxiety. ESPECIALLY indoors. When we get to a point in the house where he can't see us anymore he whines and whines! Fortunately he doesn't do this at night. Maybe because he realizes we're "trapped" in our bedroom and the only way out is through the
"dog pen."
Casey (who was named Whiskey at first--I still love that name but Travis had a dream about the name Casey and Travis and the dog seem more attached to each other so we decided to change it!) is a wonderful dog. He's gentle and friendly and gets along well with the dogs and people--and gets along ok with the cats--I think he will be such a sweet, cuddly family dog! We're very happy with this new addition to our family!