The nerve of some people.
Oh my goodness. I just had someone come into our office. He wanted to speak to the insurance company that was in our office over three years ago. He knew that they had moved to the city, but he said "They're really hard to do business with in the city", and wanted me to call them on his behalf so he could make a change on his policy. I told him I couldn't do it from my phone because I get incoming calls. He asked whether there's another spare line somewhere. I said no, and that we couldn't help him. Seriously, the only tie we have with this insurance company is that we shared an office three years ago. I'm not going to let some stranger just come into our office and use our phones for his personal calls, just because he couldn't be bothered calling them from his house, or going into the city to see them. What is up with that?! After I said we couldn't help him, he said, really sarcastically, "Thank you SO much!" and left. Wow.
The challenge.
We had our Substation (Home Group) Challenge last night. Our Home Group was called the 'Shanghai Mafia'. My sister and I were traditional Asian women, and the boys were Ninjas. We looked great - we got the prize for best costumes!
Our skit for the night consisted of my sister and I approaching each other and "talking" (moving our mouths while the guys over-dubbed our voices with English conversation that made no sense {but it wasn't supposed to}), then we pulled out lightsabers and started fighting each other in slow motion. We then both dropped our lightsabers, and fought each other with chopsticks from our hair. Then my brother came in, wearing his Ninja costume, and said "I am Milky Bar kid. Here Milky Bar for you." My sister and I held the bars up, and said "Mmmmm! Nestle Milky Bar!" (all in Asian accents, by the way). The end. Sure, it made absolutely no sense, and there was minimal preparation, but it didn't matter. We had fun.
Guess what? We WON!!! We have never won the Substation Challenge before. The first time we were in it, we came last. Then we came 2nd-last. Then we came 3rd-last. So we were expecting to either lose, or come 4th-last at the most. But we WON!!! It was very, extremely strange. A new experience, that's for sure.
There was one kind of scary part, though. The first game was a Bible trivia game, where each group had to link arms in a circle (facing outwards). There would be a question asked, and two options given. If your group thought the first answer was right, you all had to run towards the yellow wall without coming unlinked (and towards the blue wall for the other answer). Any group that came unlinked, got an answer wrong, or was the last to reach a wall, received a letter. When your group spelled out 'GEEK', they were out.
Anyway, on the first question, our group ran towards the yellow wall. In the midst of everything that was happening, I fell over. Lucky for the baby, I only slid onto my bottom and grazed my elbows. But it was then that I thought "Hey, maybe it's not such a good idea for a pregnant woman to participate in a game that's so hectic, and involves lots of people running around frantically." I can't believe I didn't think of it before. Seriously, that was so irresponsible. Obviously, after that, I swallowed my pride and went back to my seat. The baby was moving around shortly after that incident, so I wasn't worried about that. I was more worried about what COULD have happened. It could have been WAY worse than grazed elbows and a broken shoe. A quick lesson in thinking before acting. I may think I can still do all the things a non-pregnant woman can do, but I'm wrong. I'm so adamant that I can do everything myself. Sometimes I just have to sit down and realise that, for the sake of my unborn child, I should take it easy.
Okay, everything's good now. Crisis over.
I'm making quiche and creamy cheese potato (aka potato bake) tonight for dinner. Yummy! Then hubby and I are doing some more nursery cleaning. Our nursery was formerly a storage/junk room, so we are in the process of going through all the boxes and throwing out a whole heap of things, to make everything awesome for the baby. I am getting the nesting instinct. For the first time in my life, I am excited about cleaning!
Okay.
Do you see my pregnancy ticker up the top of this page? People, we're almost down to double-digits. This is either really exciting or really scary. I haven't decided which.
I've been working out how pregnant I'll be at different important dates. It's fun.
On my brother's birthday, I'll be 27 weeks (13 to go).
On my first wedding anniversary, I'll be 29 weeks (11 to go).
On our Youth camp weekend, I'll be 32 weeks (8 to go).
At our church Christmas Carols, I'll be 36 weeks (4 to go).
On Christmas day, I'll be 38 weeks (2 to go).
On New Year's day, I'll be 39 weeks (1 to go).
Then I start freaking out.
I wonder how it will be, going on a 3-day camp at 32 weeks pregnant. With all young people doing young people stuff. I'll be hobbling around, and will have to sleep on a camp bed (with those really thin mattresses they always have at campgrounds). I'll just take LOTS of pillows. And water. And snacks. It should be okay, shouldn't it? At least we won't be in tents!
Somthing worked.
It was either the water or the pillow. I didn't drink a banana Nesquik before going to bed, because Nesquik has no potassium. Apparently 'banana flavoured' doesn't necessarily mean 'filled with all the good stuff bananas are filled with'. That's a really awkward sentence, but you catch my drift.
So I guess I'll keep drinking lots of water, and sleeping with a pillow between my knees (which is surprisingly comfortable). Forever. Or until the baby's born, anyway.
Random.
Oh, last night. How wonderful was last night?! We had a Youth leaders’ meeting, and almost the whole time, the baby was moving heaps. At first it wasn’t really kicks, but more like swishing, and little twitches all around my belly, first one side, then the other, then up, then down.
Then came a few huge kicks! My husband saw one of them, and he laughed out loud in the middle of the meeting. He told everyone why he was laughing, and they all stared at my belly. Nothing happened. The baby lay very still… until they turned away. Then it started moving again.
After the meeting, Jalane was staring for a while, and nothing happened until she left. Katarina put her hand on my belly for a while, and nothing happened until she left. It was like the baby knew the second they turned away, and decided to start moving again in that instant. :o) Looks like my baby has stage-fright! My husband, my sister and I have been the only ones the baby has allowed to witness its aerobics.
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I just ate a whole packet of Mentos in under ten minutes. Probably not a good idea.
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I was so intent on walking today at lunch-time. But I didn’t. Tomorrow! Really! I get so frustrated at my inability to commit to exercise. Or, my unwillingness to commit.
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Babyfit says “Your baby this week is about the size of a household telephone.”
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For the last couple of nights, I haven’t been able to sleep very well. This is primarily due to the fact that I wake up after a couple of hours with
aching legs. So I turn and face the other way. That hurts, too. I’ve been forced to grin and bear it. According to the internet and my mother, I have three possible solutions for this problem:
1. Sleep with a pillow between my knees. I had been doing this previously, but had stopped before the problem arose.
2. Drink more water. I already drink heaps of water on weekdays (over 3 litres today!), but admittedly slack off a bit on the weekends. And yes, the achiness happened on Saturday and Sunday night. Coincidence?
3. Have a banana before bedtime. Apparently one cause can be a lack of potassium in my diet, which could be true. Does banana
Nesquik contain potassium? We don’t have bananas at home, but we have Nesquik. Maybe that will work.
So, I’m going to try all three remedies at once, and see if they work.
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I’ve gained about 8kg during pregnancy. It’s weird. This is, by
far, the most I’ve ever weighed. But I’m not feeling any effects. I still feel completely normal. Sometimes it takes a bit more effort to get up out of a chair, but that’s about it. All of the baby development emails say that I’m probably feeling like I’m about to tip over from all the extra belly-weight. Nope, wrong. I still jump around at Youth and everything (much less vigorously than before, though), with no effect on my sense of balance.
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I’ve lost my hair brush. I haven’t brushed my hair for 3 days. Somehow, I’ve managed to make my hair look presentable, even ‘groovy’ (according to my husband). You know, it’s the style, having deliberately messy hair. Except mine wasn’t deliberate, but no-one has to know that! :o)
Bleh.
I am so tired. And cranky. I wish I could go home right now and sleep. But work doesn't finish for another 2 1/2 hours, and then I have to get ready for my friend's birthday party, then go to the party. Hopefully it won't go too late. I say this because I don't have a car tonight (my husband's driving to a guys' camp for the night. I will be husbandless again! D'oh), so I have to get someone to drop me home. I hate getting lifts from people. I'm used to being the lifter, not the liftee. When you're the liftee, you're under the lifter's power. You have to go when they go. I can't just say "I'm pregnant and tired and want to go home NOW!" That would be rude.
The baby has been fully kicking as. Like, totally kicking and stuff. It's getting very strong. I've felt more force behind the kicks lately. It's very cool. I love my baby.
You know, I am really tired. That's why I'm just yabbering on and making no sense. Tired Alyssa = yabbering. Or rambling. Ha! Like my blog name. That's funny.
So different.
Examining the different ways males and females react to a pregnant woman. Females:1. "Are you expecting?"
2. "Are you having a bubby?"
3. "Since when have you been pregnant?"
4. "Boy, you've popped out all of a sudden!"
(Imagine if I wasn't pregnant! I would be in tears!) Males:1. "Are you keeping healthy?"
(This was said by the petrol station attendant as I was buying a chocolate milk and some chips. So either he was appalled at how much weight I've gained in such a small amount of time and was trying to convict me of my gluttony, or that was his way of saying "Is your pregnancy going well?" without having to actually say it. I choose to believe the latter.)2. "Are you getting excited?"
(This was definitely in relation to the pregnancy, as he followed that up by telling me that he has two kids, and they love you to begin with, then hate you as they get older. Encouraging words indeed.)3. "Are you excited?"
(I don't know if this was about being pregnant... In response, I asked "About what?" and he said "Oh, just anything. Life in general." I have a feeling he was trying to cover it up just in case I wasn't pregnant, though. That is quite a strange question to ask someone you're meeting for the first time, isn't it?!)
Flintoff and Pieterson are the bane of my existence.
You heard what happened, didn't you? England won the Ashes. I take solace in the fact that it's the first time they've won since 1987, but still. The first year I take an interest in cricket, and we lose. Oh well, there's always next year. We'll kick their butts (figuratively)! We've done it every other year, for SEVENTEEN years in a row! So we can do it again. :o)
Oh, Flintoff is a bowler, who got lots of our batters out (the English version of Shane Warne, except much more annoying). Pieterson batted in the last test and got 158 runs. So that's why they're the bane of my existence. Shane Warne rocks. He got so many English batters out. If only our fielding was better, and we didn't drop like 50 balls, we may have had a chance.
One of my favourite things is falling asleep on the couch while my husband and I are watching cricket.
Okay, enough sport talk. Oh, one more... Adelaide Crows THRASHED Port Power on the weekend. Yay! Crows are so going to win the final.
My work people are all going to be away next week for our conference. I'll be all alone! :o) I love it.
Comparisons.
I saw my pregnant friend on the weekend, the one who's due within a week of me. I really struggle not to compare myself with her. Who will be a better mother? Whose baby will be cuter? Whose child will be better behaved? I know comparisons like that are futile. We're both completely different people, with different goals and different life experiences. Our parenting styles will be different, not better or worse than the other. Our children will be different, because that's how they're made and shaped. I know all this. But still, I question my competence in light of how great a mother she will be. I doubt myself. That's normal, right? I guess it is. Pregnancy brings enough paranoia as it is, I can imagine it will only increase after the baby's born.
My problem is, I care too much about what other people think. I could be on top of the world, thinking I'm doing such a great job, and all it takes is one throwaway comment from someone to completely bring me down. Or less than a comment, maybe just a thought in my head, 'So-and-so is doing it another way... maybe I should be doing it that way too! Maybe the way I'm doing it is completely wrong! Maybe I'm a bad wife/mother/friend/daughter/sister...' See? Paranoia.
Or, 'I try my hardest, and I'm sure I'm doing really well, but I don't get the opportunities that so-and-so gets! What am I doing wrong?' That's a difficult one to work through, because if I don't know how to fix it, I get frustrated. Frustration + pregnancy hormones = bad.
But happy happy joy joy! Only 17 weeks until the baby's due! And only 15 weeks until I stop working (hopefully for good)! I'm so very excited.
Growth.
Did I have a major growth spurt yesterday, or something? I was at the bank, and the counter chick asked "Are you having a bubby?" So that's three people in the last 24 hours who have asked me! I'm happy. :o)
And I got some good deals on fruit this afternoon (1kg oranges, 2 punnets strawberries, 4 passionfruit and 2 large avocados, all for $10), so I'm happy about that, too.
And I got paid for two pay periods (because the next one falls in the middle of our conference), so the credit card is half paid off! I also just got some sub-accounts, to save up money each week to pay bills, and there is now some money in there. I think we're going really well with the whole finance situation. We keep asking God for wisdom, and I really believe he's giving it to us. It's awesome!
Have a fantastic weekend!
I look pregnant!
Last night I went to the supermarket, and the deli chick asked "Are you expecting?" That was the first time anyone has said anything like that. I must be getting big. It's cool!
Then this morning I went to our stationery suppliers, and the lady asked "Since when have you been pregnant?!" I said "Since April", and she said "You've just popped out all of a sudden!" I left with a huge smile on my face. It's so awesome that people are noticing! Yay! I feel loved.
Another happy thing - I get a raise today! My award rate has gone up. How awesome is that?!
Today rocks my world. Tonight my husband is going to make dinner for me. And we have nothing planned (for a change). Then tomorrow morning my husband and I are sleeping in! He isn't waking up at 7:00 to go to tennis like he usually does, because his tennis buddy is going to a wedding.
And today I'll send off the final things my stockbroker needs to sell my shares! So in about three weeks, I get free money!
And I'm changing over my credit card to one that's exactly the same, but just has much lower fees and interest!
As you can probably tell, I'm very happy today! Today is awesome. I love life!
Finally.
I'm finally posting the ultrasound photos from our 20-week scan. Yay! Man, our baby is
so gorgeous! Just look...
Aaargh.
Me: {company name}, Alyssa speaking.
Her: Hi, can I speak to Nicole please?
Me: There’s no-one here named Nicole.
Her: I’ve got N-I-C-O-L-E, I’m assuming it’s Nicole, who’s called me from your firm, regarding {blah blah blah}.
Me: Well, there’s no-one here by that name…
Her: Someone from your firm has called me, I’ve got the number here!
Me: What was it regarding again?
Her: This is the {so and so} bank. What company have I reached?
Me: {company name}
Her: Totally wrong number. Okay bye.
How my husband told people.
Husband: Ask the baby what it is.
My sister:
(with hand on my tummy) Baby, what are you?
Husband: Goo goo ga ga! I'm a little boy/girl!
Husband: What goes "Waaaa! Waaaa!"?
My brother: A baby...
Husband: What goes "Waaaa! Pink/Blue! Waaaa!"? A baby girl/boy!
He is one strange fellow. :o)
Our child, the squirmer.
Last night was so darn awesome! My husband and I were on the couch watching TV, and I started to feel the baby move. Hubby put his hand on my stomach, and was so rapt when he could feel it kicking and moving around for about 20 minutes, non-stop! It was the most I've ever felt the baby move. Our kid's such a squirmer. :o) If the baby's still like this in a couple of months, I am going to be in for it! Oh, my poor internal organs!
