Massage 101

Baby class was about massage tonight. First, it was a breath of fresh air to have a new person present over the normal nurse. He was funny at first but started to get a little off track a few times with his stories but considering there was a spark of life, change in tone of his voice, and humor, I will take it. He gave us some facts (of course the older couple that have reached the end of the internet knew everything when he asked a question) and then demonstrated the four basic techniques of massage. Then we headed next door for a few minutes of "practice."

Again, if there is a moment when I thought we would get kicked out of baby class, tonight was another night. For those of you that know Ryan and I, we aren't touchy feely. I hate being touched (ticklish and too uptight to know how to relax) and Ryan frankly is too rough for my little twiggy tendons. I would say muscles but I am pretty sure there aren't any. So we started out serious but started laughing and picking on each other half way through. I know from personal experience, that we are not good at massaging each other. I don't know if he will ever take this to heart and practice before or after the baby is born but the shoulder and back area is all that I want to have attention. I don't care about my achilles tendon. Give my shoulders some love!

Interesting Tidbits

The title might be a little misleading but here are a couple interesting tidbits I have learned since being pregnant.

1) Comfort is essential-beauty is a thing of the past.
2) When the doctor tells you to take your iron and poo softener-listen to her.
3) Swimsuit season when pregnant is not as scary as it was when you were just plain ol' fat. I felt better in my Shamu state than my normal pastey white overweight state. Is that normal?
4) When I pass up a concert (Bon Jovi) you know I don't feel well. Yes, I passed up Bon Jovi tonight to get some extra sleep and rest my sore pelvic area. This pregnancy is really putting a damper on my social concert schedule.
5) Sleep deprivation begins before the baby arrives. In my case, I think it has been natures way of telling me to take a chill pill and quit worrying. I will never have a spotless house again, I can't predict or control things like I used to, and no matter how much I want to accomplish, my list will never be completely finished. With that said, I wonder if Ryan will like his new wife. It seems to me the old model has been retired and replaced with a new, less spicy version.

Work Baby Shower

Last night Ryan and I went to my work hosted baby shower. I have to say, I was really impressed and touched by it. (Jess, your shower rocked too.) Here are the details.

They hosted it at a restaurant/bar near work. Approximately 40 people showed up! They put up balloons and had a nice cake. We had a ton of food, beer, and wine. Since work doesn't cover alcohol, a coworker who didn't even attend gave a ton of cash for the liquor tab. Then, when that ran out, another coworker chipped in and order a ton of beer for everyone (more than everyone could drink!). I also made out like a bandit with some loot and have gift cards to cover the few essentials left to round out the preparation work.

It was also fun because many of the people I work with sit on the same floor but don't know each other. Remember I work with the academic teams and the technology teams. That's like oil and water sometimes-they speak different languages. Also an interesting side note was that most of the tech team is all guys. So, to get them to go to a baby shower was impressive to begin with.

Ryan didn't suffer too badly. He had met some of the people before and mingled nicely. I felt like a rockstar since everyone kept telling me I had to come back to work after the baby is born. For the days that I hate my job (which is most), I am really going to miss everyone when I am out for 3 months.

Thanks again to all that attended, planned, and contributed. It was a great evening.

Happy Birthday To Jess!

Happy Birthday to Jess! She's an official adult now even though she may not act like one or look like one.

The Big 3-0! Way to go. Hopefully Jerry made you yellow cake with a side of yellow cake ice cream from Cold Stone.

Happy Birthday!

Amazing Bowling

Last night we headed to the bowling alley for a friends birthday. It was a night full of surprises. First, he is always late. We anticipated him being super late because less than a half hour before we were supposed to meet him, he called to say he was on his way but stopping for dinner. He surprised us! He was only about 20 minutes late whereas normally we are talking hours. Must have had some super fast food!

Second surprise, Jerry bowled 6 strikes in a row! I can barely do that on Wii. It was awesome to see.

Third surprise, the bowling alley had some "masters" qualification round that started at 10pm. The boys were bowling next to them and of course, we aren't a very serious group of bowlers. Ryan's lane had 2 frames left and they made us move! Now, if they had made us move down to the middle or other end, that's understandable but they literally moved us one lane. That's not much of a buffer. Plus, who schedules a qualifying round of bowling at 10pm on a Saturday night during open bowling? Why wouldn't you let the boys finish their last 2 frames? Silly.

Fourth surprise isn't much of a surprise. It's a realization that staying up late gives me the same feeling I get when I drink too much (minus a little upset tummy). This proves to me that lack of sleep is the main cause of a hangover, not what you drink. So, with my hungover feeling today, I think I will lay low, and take a few naps. It cures me when I drink too much-should cure me when I am just plain ol' tired.

Semi-Famous and the Weekend Already?

I was nominated for an award at work (the first year they are doing them). I am pretty honored because it is a big deal but I am also a little embarrassed. We have a "Roadshow" where they do a mandatory company wide meeting at all campuses/offices and travel to them with this big production. They hire an outside firm to create video and do all kinds of crazy things. Yesterday was my "interview." Oh god! Put me in a skimpy outfit with skates on and send me out on the ice alone to perform in a spotlight-no problem. Stick a mic on me and start asking me questions about myself and work-NO! By the end I was a sweating machine and hated myself. Not a good interview. I hope they catch one or two lines and that is all they clip together. Then they came back and taped me at my desk, walking the halls like a politician (who wants to see an 8 month pregnant lady trudging down the hall?) and then talking to coworkers and hosting a meeting. It was fun but nerve wracking. I hope it turns out ok. Best/worst part-depends on who you look at it-I will be on maternity leave when they have the roadshow here.

The week seemed to drag on but now it's the weekend already.

Ryan picked up the house and did most of the laundry yesterday before I even got home. He did discover the washer is on the fritz so we might be purchasing a new one today. Lucky us. He just fixed the stove so knock on wood, no more appliance repairs are needed for a while.

We went out for dinner and then picked up a movie last night. Watched it (No Country for Old Men) and then went off to bed early. I slept pretty good for once, only 3 trips to the bathroom. Annie let us sleep in and now we are up to finish a few cleaning chores. I have some errands to run but I think it is going to be a pretty low key weekend.

I want to go buy some final baby things but I have a shower planned at work on Thursday. Rumor is they raised a lot of moola so I don't really want to purchase anything until after the shower.

Lab Results Back

I went to the dr. today for my follow up appt (which was the original one I had scheduled for this week). I have no faith in that office anymore. My appt was at 8:15. You would think that as the first patient of the day, I had a pretty good chance of being in and out of the office. Wrong!

1) Get in elevator with nurse who helped me Monday-she says "Why are you going to the 4th floor. No ones going to be there this early."

I said, "Because I was told Dr. X was taking appts in that office this morning."

She laughed and said to follow her into the 3rd floor office. I walk in and ask the other lady working and she points upstairs. I head upstairs.

2) Walk in and the one person there says the computers are down but to leave a urine sample. She will be in the back using another computer and to tell everyone else that comes in to sign in. (no one else came in EXCEPT the nurse I met in the elevator!)

3) Proceed with weigh in, blood pressure, and heart rate for baby. All good. All same as Monday.

4) Waiting begins. Hear her call the dr. and ask her how long she will be (left voicemail). Continue to wait. Hear other lady working at the desk call the dr. and leave the same message. Still waiting. Nurse tells me the dr. will be another 20 minutes (that puts me at 9am by the way with my appt starting at 8:15).

5) Dr. finally shows up and gives me the line "Normally I am late because I am always late but today it wasn't my fault. There was an accident at the entrance of my complex."

6) She reviews my labs (everything checked out fine except I still anemic and need to up my iron pills to two a day rather than one. Add in some Colace to counter act the constipation it is going to cause and I am set). Then she starts to rush me a little. HELL NO! I just sat on an exam table for 45 minutes when I could have either been in bed or at work. My turn to waste someones time. I start asking questions. Some could have waited for another time but I figure she took up my time, I am going to take up hers. Sorry to everyone who also had an appt today with that dr. but I figured she need to spend a little time with me for what I am paying her.

The worst part of this is that I have spoken to other parents to be or recent parents who used other doctors and had the same problem. How do they get away with it? Why isn't there someone out there kicking butt with reasonable hours, timely appts, and a coherent office staff?

Mama and Baby Class Update

I felt a little better today but still experienced numb arms and a dizzy spell. At least it didn't continue (the dizzy spell) all day long like yesterday.

As for baby class...It might be best to list this in list form with a little commentary.

Pro's/Good Things:
1) Easily found it and the hospital is only a 15 minutes away via the expressway. Only note to self is to keep the sunpass loaded with some money.
2) Nice instructor but not a quality/engaging instructor.
3) Lots of handouts and a good book included in our package for the course.
4) The instructor mixed up powerpoint slides, ramblings, and other visuals to keep us semi-awake.
5) We cover the birth process, breathing and relaxation techniques, basic childcare (diapering and bathing), breast feeding, and massage. Also a visit from the neonatalist or the anethesiologist (spelling?).

Con's/Bad Things:
1) Time commitment (two times a week for three weeks and from 7-9:30pm).
2) Instructor is monotone and repeats everything at least 3 times. She could speed it up and cover the content in a much shorter time if she would quit repeating herself. Also, she isn't the best "engaging" speaker. For an uncomfortable first night, there wasn't much of an ice breaker. We had even prepped for the uncomfortable round robin we thought we would have to participate in.
3) Powerpoints are old and not well put together (that's just my personal gripe since we use it all the time at work).
4) Relaxation...first of all, I have no desire to practice breathing in front of strangers in a well lit room. Yes, I know it preps you for labor but still. Second, I felt like poo yesterday and it was past my prime time for stripping down into pjs and getting in bed. Practicing "relaxation" techniques with strangers when neither Ryan or I were in the mood was almost impossible. I glanced around the room and most people seemed into it. I was tapping my fingers, brushing my hair out of my face, twitching, etc. We KNOW I can't relax and this was not the time or place to learn it. Plus the instructor just kept "counting" and talking us through it. I noticed Ryan was getting impatient too when this just kept going on and on and on...I think we both thought about getting up and leaving during it.
5) Room full of preggos means there should be more than 1 planned bathroom break in a 2.5 hour span after dinner. Enough said there.

Ryan is harping on me to come listen to a new Motley Crue song on Rockband. That is much more interesting than practicing breathing.

Thanks for the concerned comments. Hopefully nothing is wrong with me or baby and I will be back to normal very soon.

Mama's Baby Drama

I am sure I will have more to post after our baby class tonight but I am not feeling the love of being pregnant. This is after another night of uncomfortable stints of what some people call sleep.

I get these dizzy spells in the morning where my arms go all tingly, I start to lose my balance, sweat, etc. I eat breakfast when I first get up so am surprised this happens about an hour later. Anyhow, they happen every so often but usually go away by the time I get to work or eat a second breakfast. Not today. I seriously didn't think I was going to be able to go to work and they didn't get better once I got there. So, I called the dr.'s office. You guessed it, stellar service again. Took three tries to get to talk to a human (which confirmed their damn answering service says nothing about OB patients not leaving a message). Then I spoke with a craptastic nurse who told me I should come in but when I asked if I should just come in now she himmed and hahed over whether to make me an appt for today. In the end, she made me an appt.

I got there, waited 45 minutes, had the usual blood pressure taken, weigh in (5 lbs less than last time...what the hell did I have on for shoes?!?!), and baby heart rate checked. The dr. spent time listening to me and basically said since both arms are numb and my reflexes are working and my pulse is strong, she's not sure what it could be. So, she told me to go do some blood work (check thyroid and electrolytes) and see her again on Thursday. Basically unless part of me goes numb or I lose sight due to blurred vision, I am ok.

Anyhow, Ryan and I are about to leave for class. He is pissed off because he had to miss basketball tonight. I am far from thrilled and if I have to put up with a crabby husband on top of my own ailments I am going to be an even grumpier person come morning.

No Sun Sunday

Today looks like a rainy day so I am going to take full advantage of it and be lazy. My only tasks for today:

1) Write out three more thank you cards
2) Convince Ryan to get groceries and stamps so I can mail all of them
3) Do some laundry
4) Read a book, some magazines, and watch tv

This is probably my shortest list ever yet I bet it will be my most challenging. Wish me luck.

Packages

This has been an exciting week. 3 nights in a row I have come home to something other than junk mail on the table. Packages. Yes, packages! It is so fun to try to guess who they are from and what's in them. If you haven't guessed, they are baby gifts. Sorry Jess, your birthday presents aren't being delivered to my house.

The bad thing about packages is that means more thank you's to write out. I had finished mine from the shower 2 weeks ago but didn't have any stamps. That's on Saturday's chore list. Sorry to all that haven't received them yet.

Also, I think I have had 3 or 4 voicemails from people this week. I am not ignoring you...I am just too exhausted to chat. Yes, you just read that I, Erin Froyd, is too exhausted to speak. Mark it on your calendar. It is a very rare stitch in time that you will ever hear me say that. I will try to get a marathon session in over the weekend while I am sitting at home in comfortable (read that non binding) clothes.

I keep stating I am going to cut back on work but I don't think I have left before 6:45 once this week. Couple my brain being tired with a very uncomfortable body that wakes up every two hours to pee during the night and you probably have more info than you needed to know. I know my bodies prepping for the feedings and sleepless nights coming but c'mon mother nature. Can't you pick one way to torture me?

Social Calendar

Ryan and I usually keep a pretty low key social calendar with impromtu dinners and gatherings. Yesterday, we had been invited to a work party (mine) so we actually had it planned in advance. Before we went, Jon and Shannon invited us along to try out a new Chinese restaurant. Always up for not having to cook we jumped at the chance to give it a try.

The food was good but the ambience and service was nothing to write home about. It did give us a few laughs though. We joked about the restaurant decor missing some staple Chinese decorations (you know, the lighted wall art, fake flowers on the table). Our waiter was very overwhelmed and had a tough time taking our order and delivering our food. We had more dishes placed on our table that we didn't need and here was a lot of shuffling of stuff. We also had to remind him of certain food items that came with meals. He was very befuddled.

Now, I don't know about you but I would assume that dinner at a Chinese restaurant shouldn't take an hour and half (no wait, we aren't talking PF Chang's here). It did! I felt so bad because we were almost a half hour late meeting our other friends to carpool to the work party. We kinda rushed the waiter and Jon and Shannon. In the end, we paid up and bolted while they ate their ice cream. I am not sure how Jon managed since they brought him a fork rather than a spoon but hopefully he was able to shovel some to his mouth before it melted. That was the other item to pick on. It was hot as hell in that restaurant. We were sweating before our food came and the table to 8 old people (they probably arrived at 4 for the early bird special and aged 30 years while waiting) were also complaining it was too warm.

Fast forward to work party. We arrived in Boca (I forgot how far that drive is-up by my old office) and quickly set up Rock Band. We played for a bit until some crazies took over. They made us look bad so we immediately took to not liking them. The funny thing is they were really good. It's mainly that they hogged the game and didn't look like they were having an ounce of fun while rocking out. I would rather play on easy or medium and have fun than be on expert and be so serious. Before you know it, it was 1am and we still had to drive home! Ryan and I went to bed after 2am and all I can say is today will be spent on the couch. I feel like I have a small hangover and I only drank 1 juice last night!

It was a good time but Boca is too far to drive for a party. The crew was tamer than expected. I did call out Twister positions for them. I started out nice actually spinning the spinner but after a while that was boring so I called out items to knot them up. That my friends is funny. If I didn't mention this earlier, it was an 80's game night party. We stuck to Rock Band and drinking/socializing.

Time to start my Sunday sloth routine.

Sizzlin' Saturday

No, it was not a sizzlin' Saturday with bacon frying. Rather, Ryan and I both did some outdoor chores this morning and it was HOT. I trimmed a few of my out of control plants and weeded them. He painted the downspouts to match the new house color. I did a little picking up around the house (wanted to vacuum and mop but LBF really makes it tough). Then we showered and headed to Sawgrass to buy Ryan some new clothes. He was quite successful. Even LBF got 3 new outfits. I didn't purchase anything for myself. We then hurried over to Broward to get my mother a birthday present. Of course it will be late but it's the thought that counts, right?

With all the hustle and bustle, LBF was not behaving. He brought tears to my eyes today so Ryan let me stop and get a Blizzard. Once home, I addressed the present, paid some bills, and sent Ryan on his way to mail them. I am going to take a nap and hopefully start to feel better. I have an 80's Game Night to attend this evening up in Boca. I gotta be on top of my game! I can't let the drinkers beat me.

Week 30 Dr. Visit...Check Check

Today was the 30 week check in at the doctor. I passed my glucose test (yay on two accounts, one, no gestational diabetes and two, no extra syrup to drink). Weigh-in went ok. I am up a total of 15 lbs and after a quick trip to the bathroom at Walgreens, I bet it is only 13 or 14 lbs. Uff! That's a whole other story.

My blood pressure, good like normal. LBF's heart beat is where it normally is. The doctor measured my uterus (didn't see what she wrote down this time). We chit chatted quickly and I asked about my upper tummy/rib pain. She said it is probably a combination of all things being pushed, stretched and moved along with acid reflux. She then asked me if I take any Tums. I said yes but I limit my intake to no more than 4 a day. (recall, she told me my limit was 4 or 6 a day.) She proceeds to tell me I can take as many as I want they aren't harmful and asked me if I wanted a prescription for Pepcid. I said no thanks but I will try the over the counter. So, I just finished supper and think I am going to give it a whirl. If that works I am going to become addicted because this pain is out of control.

Oh, my only negative thing was I am a little low in the iron department now that I basically have given up eating meat. (not by choice, just a weird preggo texture thing.) I also picked up some iron tablets at Walgreen's today. I will start those tomorrow and hopefully between those and a little rest this weekend, I will be feeling a little better. I am in the home stretch now. Bi-weekly visits to the doctor, birth classes start on the 14th, and before you know it I will be spitting out LBF.