one4theroad

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:08:35 GMT

Am I the only person who's not peeing my pants in anticipation of finding out whether Sprout's a boy or a girl?
Partly I think this is because I'm already relatively sure he's a boy (sperm donor seems to mostly produce boys, and lots of them, plus certain aspects of artificial insemination make male babies more likely), but also largely I think it's because the sex really isn't that big of a deal to me.
All that finding out really means to me is being able to choose a name, and picturing us raising a son or daughter several years down the road when the child is presumably (though not necessarily) going to be less androgynous than a newborn. But even then, the sex of my fetus doesn't really tell me much about him or her at all.
Maybe it's because I know so many girly boys and boyish girls, or the fact that I myself am nestled somewhere in between. Or maybe it's the experience of having transgendered friends & family, and knowing that what is between someone's legs can change and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with who they are inside.
Whatever it is, I'm simply not jumping up and down with excitement about finding out. We probably will find out in the process of the mid-pregnancy ultrasound and/or anatomy scan, and we could find out sooner if we wanted to, but I don't think it's really worth a separate trip to the hospital, and I'd like to expose myself and my baby to as few unnecessary tests and procedures as possible.

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:49:57 GMT

medicare, why are you being such a douche?
refusing to pay for a pregnancy test?
how is that even a good IDEA?

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:05:14 GMT

Sheila & I went out to dinner tonight with my mom, dad, and Alice to celebrate the end of the first trimester. We went to Red Robin and I had a mushroom & swiss gardenburger that was pretty rad. I haven't had much of an appetite this past week, even with the nausea decreasing, but I was surprised at how much I ate tonight. I had the entire burger, two slices of melon, and nearly half of Sheila's fries. And I'm not uncomfortably full.
I'm having a hard time knowing how much to eat right now. I mean, even when I'm not pregnant, my whole concept of how much is enough and how much is too much when it comes to food is pretty skewed, what with all the eating disorderliness in my past. But this past week I haven't been hungry very much and I think I've actually been eating less than I was before I got pregnant, which really can't be right.
I ate more often than I wanted to during the 6 weeks or so when I had the worst morning sickness, just to avoid feeling ill on an empty stomach. And I got really tired of needing to eat all the time, because I was nauseous to begin with and didn't want to eat, but knew the nausea would only get worse if I didn't. But I still didn't eat enough to cause me to gain any weight (which is good, but I certainly did feel like I was overeating a lot of the time so I was kind of surprised).
I'm not complaining, just over-analyzing.

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:33:52 GMT

i'm so sick of christians that are so narrow-minded, self-centered and ignorant that they get offended when someone says "happy holidays" instead of "merry christmas".
seriously. i can't even begin to express how pathetic that is.
for one thing, NO ONE RELIGION owns the holiday season! in fact, no one religion even invented the holiday season! if it weren't for the pagans, christmas wouldn't even be on dec 25th. and then what about the people who celebrate hanukkah, winter solstice, nothing at all, kwanzaa, yule, etc etc? you have to be seriously fucked up to actually be offended that not everyone in the world shares your same exact belief system.
and for another thing, even if the phrase "happy holidays" is said between two christians who both celebrate christmas, it's probably because there's more than one holiday in the season. thanksgiving + christmas + new years = MORE THAN ONE HOLIDAY.

so, HAPPY FUCKING HOLIDAYS, regardless of what you believe.

x-posted from doingwithout

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:35:08 GMT

There is no catch. Tickle is giving away free $25 gift certificates in order to attract new customers. If you are interested in ADULT PRODUCTS, check it out. They also have candles and other stuff if you are not interested in adult... supplies. Your gift card arrives in your e-mail instantly, so you don't have to wait on the mail. You can shop right away!

http://myticklespot.com/

i just ordered totally free foot lotion. i didn't even have to pay s&h :)

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:54:49 GMT

i'm almost through the first trimester! nausea has been letting up quite a bit, but fatigue and bloating are still hanging around.
i realized just the other day that i probably come across as a huge whiner, and i think the reason for that is twofold. for one thing, i didn't have to hardly *try* to get pregnant. i got knocked up on the first cycle that we caught. so i might be taking it for granted more than most people (not that this is a good thing) and focusing instead more on my physical grief rather than how cool it is that i'm actually pregnant.
and for another thing, this is my first baby. i honestly believe that one of the reasons why most women have an easier time of things during their second pregnancy is because they know ahead of time how awesome the result of all that misery is going to be. see, i won't experience the BIG "reward" until he or she is born.
a few weeks ago, when i was in the throes of my first trimester symptomology, i was honestly having a hard time figuring out how the human race has survived so long, what with pregnancy being so miserable for so many women. and i knew i didn't even have it half as bad as some women do. i was swearing up and down that if we have a second kid, it will be sheila's turn to cook it! then i realized that it must all be worth it at some point (i know, DUH, right?).
from what i've read, it's actually not all that uncommon for women who have given birth (especially if they have experienced a natural, empowering birth) to want to do it all over again right away. that's how grand the payoff is.
so anyway, i want to take this opportunity to say that i really am so very grateful for our little sprout and happy to be pregnant! and i truly do realize how lucky i am to have been able to conceive so quickly. we certainly weren't expecting an easy road of it, but have been very fortunate.

in other news, we may be switching midwives soon. that's an entirely different rant, one which i may or may not even get into here. i posted about it in the natural birth community, but i don't know many people on my flist who would be too interested in the politics behind hospital-based midwifery services who aren't already in that community, so i probably won't repost the specifics here.

in other OTHER news, i did make a little bit of an update to my profile page. a lot of it was out of date and i took a good chunk of it down several weeks ago, but just this afternoon i wrote a little blurb to replace it and fill people in on my life who might otherwise not be so enlightened :)

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:50:47 GMT

so, i'm not showing yet, which is normal, but i was actually surprised yesterday to find out that i haven't gained any weight yet either because i really feel like i have.
then i realized that i haven't actually outgrown any of my pants... i just can't tolerate wearing the more form-fitting ones anymore because i've found that tighter waistbands make the nausea seem worse.
i do feel bloated though, and like i'm retaining water in all sorts of weird places (basically every inch of my abdominal cavity).
things are going good though!
oddly enough, i've been much less stressed and worried since developing a healthy dose of morning sickness.

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:05:02 GMT

i feel better today than i have all week. even though i've been nauseous nearly 24/7, it makes a huge difference when i am able to sleep through the most intense nausea, which occurs in the morning. normally sleeping all morning wouldn't be a problem for me, but i'm awakened more easily lately, despite being constantly fatigued. go figure. pregnancy is weird.
today i had enough energy to walk down the street to the chinese restaurant for an afternoon snack and some hot tea. i also did a couple loads of laundry and sat out in the backyard with the dogs for a while.
the weather is so nice today, in the mid 60s, unseasonably warm. i opened a bunch of windows to air the place out.

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:05:51 GMT

photo from our first ultrasound today is in my facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/photo.php?pid=3088777&id=588321937
everything looks good, one healthy little peanut, 6w 3d gestation due june 27, 2010!

'You are being shagged by a rare parrot' - Last Chance To See - BBC Two

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:30:23 GMT

sorry if you had to see this on my facebook as well, it was too good not to share both places! LOL

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:10:19 GMT

My period is due today. I'm trying not to think about it. I've decided that I'm not going to torture myself with multiple, expensive, before-your-period-is-due pregnancy tests that may or may not be accurate. If I still haven't gotten my period by Monday night, I will buy a test to take on Tuesday morning (the logic here is that I have a therapist appointment on Tuesday afternoon during which I can discuss the results ad nauseam). Of course, I say that now... it's only Friday.

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:20:16 GMT

we're going to start getting down to business with the sperm donor this month :)

Tunak Tunak Tun

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 09:40:39 GMT

oh yeah.

Is The Government Spying On Schizophrenics Enough?

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:44:37 GMT

my new #1 favorite onion news video! :D

shamelessly soliciting donations for a good cause

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:15:44 GMT

http://www.active.com/donate/kazoodogwalk/emilycutler

what: sponsor me & bella at the annual dog walk to support the kalamazoo humane society.

love you if you can, understand (and still love you) if you can't.

thanks!

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:50:26 GMT

so yesterday i had a total stranger crying on my front porch, begging me to take in her cat. she said someone in augusta (like, three towns away) gave her my address?!?!?!
THIS IS NOT A DROP-IN CENTER.
i'm royally pissed at whoever gave out my address.

just some stuff

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:37:28 GMT

for anyone keeping track:

1. we traded in the p.o.s. 1996, 198k monte carlo for a silver 2004 dodge intrepid with 38k on it. so in love!

2. we had a gas leak yesterday. everyone is okay. gas company had to be called, they came and found the leak (behind the stove) and shut it off. now we can't use oven or stove until it's fixed. not like we ever used it anyway. now at least we have an excuse to eat out 7 days a week!

3. i haven't seen my therapist for about a month, and it's okay. i'm on hiatus. it's kind of nice to not spend so much time focusing on my problems.

4. we currently have 6 foster cats. a litter of 4 that is 8 wks old, a 6mo old girl with cerebellar hypoplasia, and a 5yr old 18lb tabby with infected eyes. lots of work, lots of love.

.

trampoline dog :)

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:38:03 GMT

GUARANTEED TO MAKE YOU LAUGH!

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:11:51 GMT

oh grow up, mccain.

.

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 03:18:34 GMT

i just saw this guy on the news.
how in the world does he ever get taken seriously...
with that mustache???

in other news, the bruises from the dog bite on my upper arm are fading, but now there are a couple big, hard lumps under my skin where the bruises were. anyone know what this might be? it still hurts. i hope i don't have to go to the doctor.

.

from yesterday

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:12:15 GMT

L to R: emma, my mom's service dog puppy in training; daisy, 15y/o family dog; and bella, my 2y/o pibble mix.

.

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:47:34 GMT

proof that peta does something useful now and then

i'm glad that video like this makes it out to the mass media to shed some light on the inhumane practices in slaughterhouses and factory farms. kicking, beating, and raping animals does not need to be done in the process of sending an animal to slaughter. but even if the animal is handled "humanely" the whole time, killing is still the worst form of abuse there is.

.

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 09:09:39 GMT

dear mr & mrs average pet owner:

thank you, whoever wrote that.

.

Frederick & Bella

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:59:48 GMT

Frederick is one of my foster kittens.
And of course, Bella's my FIGHTIN' DAWG!!!

.

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:52:54 GMT

what movie should i rent tonight, and why?