Yesterday the mailman brought two really cool gifts for Joe.
From Matthew (by way of his lovely wife, Alecia): Joe’s first camel, all the way from Kuwait!
And from Patrick’s folks, a super-snuggly Superman outfit! It’s for 6-12 months, so it will be just the right size for Halloween and cold-weather crimefighting.
What a lucky boy he is, and what lucky parents we are!
I’m getting behind on these updates!
My sister, Amy, came to visit last weekend. We had a whirlwind tour of children’s consignment stores and then Patrick met up with us to see Ira Glass at the Modlin Center.
Ira Glass is the host of This American Life, a great NPR show that we’ve all been listening to for as long as we can remember. It was very strange to hear his voice and see him at the same time, but the show was great! He explained a bit about how each show is put together and gave the background on some of the more memorable stories. Here he is on Letterman, to help you put the face with the voice:
He even showed a clip from the new This American Life TV show, which I’d never seen. It was a story about Haider Hamza, an Iraqi who was traveling around the U.S. to talk to Americans about how they felt about the war in Iraq. He sets up a sort of lemonade stand that says “Talk to an Iraqi” and waits for people to come up and say hello.
In some places he was pointedly ignored, in others he was met with instant anger and in some he had some really thoughtful conversations with people. I remembered that Hamza had been to our hometown of Fayetteville and I worried that the clips from that stop would be among the most contentious. Instead, he said that of all the people he spoke with, the military families (whose loved ones were there or had been there) were the most understanding of his worries and the most pleasant to talk with. Whew!
After the show, Amy and I went to a few more shops and then had dinner at Panera before coming home to collapse. The next day we got up early and went to do the baby registries at Target and Babies R’ Us. It was great having her along because she gave me the scoop on what we’ll really need vs. what will just take up space, and she knows what we’ll inherit as hand-me-downs from her. (Speaking of hand-me-downs, did I mention she arrived with five huge tubs of baby-boy clothes for us? Sweet!) Anyway, even with her guidance it turns out there is a lot of stuff that one tiny person needs. And that doesn’t even include furniture, which we’re starting to learn our way around now …
Once the registries were all set, we went to see “The Business of Being Born,” a documentary about how childbirth has been medicalized over the past century in the United States. The C-section rate here is up to 40-something percent, about four times the rate recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO?) In Europe and the rest of the world, most births are attended by a midwife and result in healthy moms and babies. Here, with all our shiny equipment and through-the-roof medical costs, it’s handled by doctors — but our newborn death rate is the second worst on the planet. So, more money + more intervention = more deaths. Super!
I went into the movie knowing that I wanted to avoid a C-section (I’ve never had major surgery, and the day that I become a mother hardly seems like the time to start), but I walked out with the realization that so many other things (the beloved epidural, for example) can lead me right into one.
Long story short (too late!) … I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but I’m going to try to have Joe as naturally as possible. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll go to a hospital (I’m not brave enough for a home birth!), but I’m going to be much more wary of all the “standard procedure.” If a medically necessary (i.e., not because the doctor is impatient) C-section happens, it won’t be the end of the world — I will be glad to know I didn’t just get hustled into it.
Wow, that was a long update! Some other small things, just to wrap up:
If you’ve ever seen James Lipton interview an actor on his show (or seen Will Ferrell do a spot-on impression of him), you know that he always asks the same questions. Here they are, with my answers. (This was a co-worker’s idea!) Put your own answers in the comments.
1. What is your favorite word?
Defenestration (the act of throwing someone or something out of a window). I just love that there’s a word for that!
2. What is your least favorite word?
Moist. I just hate the sound of it.
3. What turns you on?
Humor, candor, optimism
4. What turns you off?
Arrogance, putting on airs
5. What is your favorite curse word?
This is a family blog! (But if you ride in the car with me as I make my way around idiots, you’ll probably hear it.)
6. What sound or noise do you love?
The dryer humming away after I’ve cleaned the house, or Patrick belting out a song while he works on something in the other room.
7. What sound or noise do you hate?
The vacuum cleaner, unless I’m the one running it. Also, squealing tires. And the phone ringing at inopportune moments.
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Maybe something in healthcare; it interests me but I don’t know how good I would be at it. Ooh, or librarian! That I would be good at.
9. What profession would you not like to attempt?
I would be terrible in the military. I’d make Private Benjamin look like G.I. Jane.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
“Well done!”
Just saw this update on the death of Heath Ledger. The last sentence almost made me spit applesauce on the screen:
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Ruling: Ledger died of accidental overdose
By Amy Westfeldt
The Associated Press
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NEW YORK — Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs that included painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication, the New York City medical examiner said Wednesday.
“Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine,” medical examiner’s spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said in a statement.
The drugs are the generic names for the OxyContin painkiller, the anti-anxiety drug Valium, Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, and the sleep aids Restoril and Unisom. Hydrocodone is another name for ibuprofen.
———-
Walgreen’s is going to have to lock up all the ibuprofen now!
Maybe it’s the hormones, but this made me cry. In a good way!
(Plus John Legend is in it.)
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics…they will only grow louder and more dissonant ……….. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea —
Yes. We. Can.
Here’s what Joe looks like in there at 23 weeks. He has eyebrows already, can you believe it?
I’ve been enjoying some really crazy mood swings lately. Tonight at the dinner table, I burst into tears for no reason at all. Patrick took me to the couch and hugged me until I felt better, and managed not to laugh at me until I had cried it all out.
Later, when I felt Joe kicking, I pulled my shirt up and stared down at my belly for a few minutes. I noticed that my belly button is turning inside out, but somehow it came out, “My umbrella is turning inside out.” This caused me to laugh so hard I thought I was going to hurt myself. Hormones are fun!
The nursery is all painted now, and it’s so cute! Patrick noted that it matches the cover of Joe’s first book, which Patrick went out and bought for him as soon as we found out we were pregnant:
Patrick found a Web site that will help him get ready for being a dad: Do’s and Don’ts with Babies.
I might print some of these out and post them around the house, just as a reminder.
Here’s a fun challenge for you. This site lets you see short video clips of 20 different people (some of the oddest looking people you’ll ever see, incidentally) breaking into smiles. You have to guess which ones are real and which ones are fake. I got 14 out of 20 right!
Joe cooperated fully with the ultrasound tech this morning, letting her get all the shots she needed of his little heart and kidneys. His heart was pumping away in there and I could see all four perfectly formed chambers. What an amazing thing to see!
Once all the organ-examining was over, the tech got a few fun photos for me to take home. Here’s his baby face in profile — you can even see a little eyeball!
He’s looking to the upper left of your screen. Look at that sweet nose!
He was quite the wiggle worm, moving all over the place. He yawned twice (who knew they yawned in there?) and at one point had the back of his hand draped dramatically over his forehead, like “Enough already!”
Oh, and I do believe he’s developing his father’s feet:
More than a week since my last post! Sorry about that.
We spent the weekend in chore mode, running to Lowe’s and Home Depot for various little projects. Patrick has started painting the nursery (a lovely apple green, to go with the green dots in the bedding) and can be heard in there at night with the doors closed, singing at the top of his lungs as the brush goes back and forth.
As for me, I’ve been getting organized by starting our taxes, laying out the year’s budget and getting rid of old files. Sort of a beginner’s nesting phase.
Ooh, I’ve also found a new favorite Web site. Paperback Swap lets you list any old books you have lying around (they don’t have to be paperbacks, despite the name) and other users can request them from you. When someone requests yours, you drop it in the mail (at the super-cheap media mail rate) and get a credit to request one from someone else. I listed 20 books or so on Friday night and this morning I’m headed to the post office with 10 of them. So that’s 10 books I get to order in return. I’ll never pay for a book again, at this rate!
Speaking of books, last week I finished Water for Elephants, which was set in a 1930s traveling circus. What a lovely book — I highly recommend it.
Now, I’m the last person on Earth to finally read The Kite Runner, a story of two boys who grow up together in Afghanistan in the 1970s. On Saturday morning I came to an incredibly heartbreaking scene and had to put the book down and have a good cry. It’s supposed to get happier toward the end. It better!
On Saturday night, I was on the couch reading next to Patrick when Joe suddenly gave me some fierce kicks in the belly. I pushed my waistband down to see if I could see it from the outside, and I did! I grabbed Patrick’s hand and put it there so he could feel. Of course, Joe immediately stopped. Then as soon as Patrick took his hand away, BOOM BOOM, Joe kicked me again. It’s happened every day since and while I love staring at my belly and seeing the little lumps pop up, I wish Patrick could see and feel it too. Soon!
This morning I have an ultrasound, a follow-up to the one we had two weeks ago (was that just two weeks ago?) so that they can get a better look at Joe’s heart. I hope I’ll come away with more photos to share (of the cute profile variety, not the scary Skeletor kind).
Joe Tremblay 