Ugh!

So, today I went for my 38 week check, a growth ultrasound, and my non-stress test.  First, let me just tell you all right off the bat - there has been no progress since last week.  I'm still 1-2 cm dilated and 50% effaced.  He's still head down, and somehow, he's managed to get his foot up by his face.  Don't ask me how.  Apparently, both of his feet are right up there.  Maybe we should've nicknamed him Bean this whole time instead of Munchkin if he's going to be all curled up like that.

Now, and this might be the *best* part (that's sarcasm): the u/s tech was taking the measurements on the ultrasound and when she measured his head, she says (and I quote): "Wow."  Excuse me, what?  Apparently, our son has quite the dome on him.  She said that is the major reason why he's measuring 7 pounds 2 ounces.  Yikes.  So sometime in the next two weeks (please GOD!!!) I'm going to be pushing a 7+ pound kid with a large dome out of my body.  Great.

Speaking of, since there were no new changes in the cervix, induction talk has been tabled (not that I was really considering it - I haven't heard many positive experiences of it).  And it's grey outside right now and apparently we're supposed to get enough snow tomorrow and Thursday to pretty much snow us in.

Oh, and I got my H1N1 vaccine today, which means tomorrow I can look forward to not just snow but a bruised and sore upper left arm.

In the words of Pepe Le Pew: Le sigh.

It's been an age!

Yes, yes, I know.  It's been an age since I've written - get over it!  LOL

Let's see - well, I guess the most exciting news for me: I'm currently 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced (this is as of Tuesday, which was three weeks from my EDD), so that's definitely good news.  The doctor said I could go at any time, but more realistically that I won't make it to my due date.  She also said that they would consider inducing me at 39 weeks if I was interested and my cervix continues to cooperate.  HOWEVER - I do not plan to be induced.  I have not heard many pleasant experiences from people who have been induced, so I'm more inclined to let nature take its course.  Don't get me wrong - I am SUPER uncomfortable and would like to no longer have a time-share situation occurring with my body.  BUT - I would like to let Munchkin come on his own.  (Hahahaha - are you all getting sick of hearing Munchkin?  Want to know the name?  Well, soon, my friends, very soon!!  Hahahahahaha)

Meanwhile, it's been great having Chad home again this week.  I hate it when he has to go away - thank God we're now looking at closer to February for the next time he will be gone (6 mos.).  Other than that, there are 11 days in December when he'll have some kind of training to go for, but it's looking like my mother-in-law will be here during that time, so I'm not too worried about wrangling the baby all by my lonesome then.  Speaking of my mother-in-law - she went to the outlet malls by her house last week and bought a bunch of baby clothes.  Now, let me clarify here - by bunch, I mean that the box that arrived in the mail yesterday weighed 15 lbs.  FIFTEEN POUNDS!!!  It took me almost 20 minutes to cut off the tags and remove the size stickers.  But we needed the clothes, so I'm VERY VERY grateful!  She also bought us a 7-pack of pooh bibs (super cute!) and some socks and hats.  Speaking of hats, anyone have a simple (and I want to emphasize simple) but cute knitting pattern for baby hats?  I think I'd like to buy some baby yarn just knit up a few hats for him to wear - so many of the hats we have now are part of an ensemble - it'd be nice just to have some general-looking ones, you know?  Like maybe a taupe-colored one, a light blue one, a white one, etc.  She also bought us a CD of AC/DC tunes reconfigured as lullabies.  I have yet to listen to it, but I almost died when I saw it.  I showed it to Chad and he cracked up as well.  I guess our son isn't going to be stuck listening to "The Wheels On the Bus", lol.

My mom also bought us a ton more stuff (God bless Grandmas!!), most notably one of those Bundle Mes to keep the little man warm on his way home from the hospital.  She also bought us more of the breast pump supplies, so I'm hoping that we get the breastpump!  LOL

I'm really looking forward to my parents coming out here to visit.  Chad just finished painting the spare bedroom this week, so the guest room is completely finished now!  Although, I think I'm going to need to find a new lamp to put in there as the one that is in there now kind of hums.  I'm not sure why, but it would get annoying, so that's something I'll need to look into doing and soon.  And after my parents, Chad's mom will be coming out for a week before his dad comes out and joins us.  It's going to be nice to see everyone and to have help with the baby as well.

Mostly, at this point, I just keep thinking about the baby.  I can see him in parts of our lives, but I know that I have NO IDEA how much our lives are really going to change.  It's weird - I have the pack-n-play set up next to the bed (it's currently loaded full of my craft bag and pillows to keep Hobbes from laying in it - I felt bad for that because she looked so cute, but I didn't want her thinking that she could lay in there - it's for the baby, afterall), we have the swing all set up, though it's currently in the formal living room because we don't really know where else to put it.  But it's hard to imagine him actually being here.  I wonder all the time how the cats are going to react.  I wonder how sleep deprived we'll actually be.  I wonder how long it's going to take Chad to get used to changing a diaper (he's never changed one before!).  I wonder if our little man is going to be a quiet little guy or if he's going to be a world-class screamer.  So many things to think about!  And (hopefully) only 3 weeks or less left!!

Oh, and in case you're wondering, we're probably not going to call anyone while I'm in labor.  It's not like anyone is coming up to the hospital to visit while I'm there, so you'll all probably just wait to hear until after our son is here.  And frankly, we'll call my parents and Chad's parents - they will be responsible for disseminating the information from there.  Okay, I think that's a pretty fair recap for the last week (or so).  Mostly, it's jumbled and garbled just like my mind lately.  Enjoy!

Maybe it's the hormones...

But I can't believe how selfish some people are being.  I'm on babycenter.com's community boards and I got involved in this one conversation thread on changing hospital visitors policies, due to H1N1.  Most hospitals in area with infection are changing their policies to limiting adult visitors and eliminating any visitors under 12 (or even 18 in some cases).  There are all these women on this board saying that the hospital can get over it because they are bringing their kids in to see their new brother or sister.  They're saying that the hospital should just trust that parents have taught their kids good hygiene.  W T F?!  Are you kidding me?  I can't believe how selfish these women are being!!!  Yes, I understand you want your kids to be part of this and to meet their new sibling, but seriously?  You're going to risk my kid's health because you're a stupid Witch?!  We already have a chance that our son is going to have to spend time in the NICU, but I swear to God, if some pushy, dumb WITCH causes my son to get sick because she demands that her kid be allowed up to the MBU, I'm going to go Witch-slap her.  I'm not even joking.  If some selfish woman causes my son to have to stay at the hospital when I'm being discharged, I'm going to lose my freaking mind.

I really hope that Memorial enforces this with an iron fist.  The last thing I want to hear when I'm up in MBU is going to be someone else's snot-nosed brat screaming at the top of their lungs and coughing and smearing snot everywhere.  Just leave your little one at home and deal.  You're not special.  You don't get to break the rules just because you're you.  ARGH!!  This is what's wrong with society today.  This is why I wind up with students in my classroom who don't think the rules apply to them - because they learn from their parents at an early age that rules are for other people, but never for them.  QUIT RUINING SOCIETY YOU SELFISH WITCHES!!!

Doctors' Appointments and IDIOTS

So today I had my doctors' appointments (more to come on the idiots).  Munchkin is head down, which is a good thing because it seems like lately, every night, he moves down into my pelvis, only to return in the morning to kicking me in the ribs.  I'm not joking - I feel like a little kid who has to pee.  You know the kids I'm talking about.  They stick their hand between their legs, cross their legs, and proceed to do the pee-pee dance.  That's exactly how I feel every night.  And it's not like I've been standing all evening when this happens.  I'm usually hanging out on the couch with my feet up!  Oh, and I may have reconsidered my stance on the epidural - considering that I've had a few actual painful contractions in the last couple of days.  Sure, I've been feeling the Braxton-Hicks, but last night I had two that were eye-opening.  LOL  So anyway, I brought these two things up to the midwife during my OB check today, and she says, "Good."  Good??  Excuse me?  Good??  I feel like I'm literally going to sit on my son's head.  Oh well, I guess, thinking rationally, or as rational as my pregnant brain will let me be, it is a good thing because my body is doing what its supposed to, but DUDE.  IT'S SOOO WEIRD.  Anyway, things are still looking good on the ultrasound (CCAM is still present but does not appear to be growing), and Munchkin is starting to fatten up nicely.  Hahahaha.  Little chunky monkey.  I can't wait to see him!!  Well, see him outside of my stomach and not on an ultrasound screen.

If you look closely in this one, you can see that he's sticking his tongue out just a little bit.  :)

Okay, those are my warm fuzzies.  :)  Now, onto the idiots.

Idiot #1: The hospital valets.  I had to wait 10 minutes in line behind a ton of cars; I tried to pull up and park it so that I could get out and get inside to my appointment.  I get the car parked, and turn it off.  Then this dumb blonde, after watching me sit in my car and then finally pull up and park it, comes over to me and asks me to move my car.  Uhm, hi.  YOU COULDN'T HAVE ASKED ME THAT BEFORE I MANEUVERED MYSELF OVER HERE????  ARGH!
Idiot #2: An entire family in the MFM waiting room.  I come out to sit in the waiting room after my ultrasound while they prep the room for my non-stress test.  The waiting room is full at this point, with the exception of two chairs.  This entire STUPID family is spread around the waiting room, talking to each other.  I had to sit next to the slow adult who kept exclaiming loudly that he wanted spaghetti and next to the matriarch who turned the tv to Roseanne.  Really?  Ew.  I felt like I needed to wash.
Idiot #3: A woman in the waiting area talking loudly enough on her cell phone for the people of Cuba to hear her.  Oh, and she cut in line, in front of me, to turn in her valet ticket.  She also STOOD in front of perfectly empty seats to sit in in the waiting area.  She stood there blocking seats that people, like me, could have sat in while waiting.  I had to listen to that stupid woman talking on her cell phone, excuse me, I meant YELLING on her cell phone, for 15 minutes while I waited for my car.  She was talking about how her husband had just gotten orders for here at Fort Carson (they must have just PCSd here) and how if he went to one unit he would be leaving for Afghanistan in a week but if he went to another he would be leaving for Afghanistan in a year.  And God help me for it, but I hoped that her husband was leaving for Afghanistan next week.  I know that's terrible of me.  But I was THISCLOSE to shoving her cell phone down her throat.

I swear, I can pinpoint the decline of American society on politicians.  You see, politicians mistakenly see idiots as an endangered species which needs to be protected by legislation.  Take, for instance, seat belt laws.  What is the point of seatbelt laws?  Why, to save lives, you answer.  Yes.  But really, as a literate and learned adult, do you really need a LAW to tell you that you should wear your seatbelt?  Probably not.  However, Bucktooth Billy does need a seatbelt law to tell him to buckle up.  So he puts his seatbelt on when he climbs behind the wheel of his '91 Ford pickup, drunk.  He crashes into a tree on his way home from the local bar, harming no one.  Since he was wearing his seatbelt, he didn't go flying through the windshield and crack his head open, killing himself.  Now, he's a death-defying hero, and, well, Sally Jean can't help but adore him for being a "hero" so Bucktooth Billy knocks her up, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle of stupidity.  See what I mean?  These people are everywhere you look.  We literate and learned adults would be much better off without all of these freaking idiots walking around.  I urge you - survey your life and see how many people you think would still be alive if it weren't for Idiot-saving laws and norms in society.

Sorry, that's my rant against idiots.  As a more pleasant parting thought, I just wanted to show you proof that my little furry boy, Calvin, is trying to cram in some last-minute quality time with his "Momma".  It's almost like he knows his world is going to be turned upside-down inside of a month.

My poor Pooh Bear.  I think he's really going to miss being a Momma's Boy when the Munchkin makes his debut.  Hopefully  he adjusts well and doesn't hate me afterward.

LIES!!

I just saw a lipstick ad for Colorsensational (I think it was that one).  And the colors look soo beautiful and the lipstick looks so smooth, and I'm ALMOST tempted to go buy some (I have a thing for lip products).  But then I think, it's lipstick.  No matter what kind of honey you put in it, it's still going to DRY AS A DESERT!  But this commercial - it's taunting me, you guys.  You don't even understand.  My lips are so dry and the lips in the commercial look so moisturized!  I have to fight temptation.  I wish I could get a little  sample size.  But I want to buy some.  Stupid ad people.  I don't even like lipstick.  It's always waxy and feels good at first but then feels like someone taped toilet paper over your lips.  GAH!!  Must....stay....strong!

Anyone else see ads for things they know they don't like but are tempted by anyway?

Where's My Receipt?

So, I've read all about the nesting instinct going into overdrive.  I believe mine is broken or defective.  Or maybe I'm simply too tired.  Sure, there's lots I want to get done around the house, but I'm having a Terrible Time trying to find the energy to get it all done!  I would totally exchange my nesting instinct for a new one.  LOL

Meanwhile, I recently started commenting and reading in the babycenter.com community.  Wow.  I think that's almost as big a problem for me as facebook!  Maybe I just have a total internet addiction.  Of course, it is an inexpensive way to connect with other people, and considering the weather lately, it's way safer than driving (still have icy snow on the ground here).

My cousin has recently started batting around the idea of coming to visit after Munchkin is born to help out with the baby and just give me some support here.  Frankly, I'm completely Ecstatic about this.  I'd get to see my two baby cousins (her sons) and she may even bring another one of our cousins with her.  So I would get to spend some quality time with my family (who I miss dreadfully right now) and get some help with the boy-o.  My mother-in-law also asked today if they (she and my FIL) could come out for the week of Christmas (duh! Of course!), then she mentioned how she might come out a week before that just to spend some time with me and the baby (she also wants to take us shopping to buy more stuff for him - she LOVES to shop), so that would be awesome as well.  I love my MIL and get along with her really well.

So, again, I guess this is another one of those mysterious ways - I've been feeling so alone lately and now I have people who are asking to come help out after the baby is born.  I am truly lucky to be so loved by my family and friends!

The Blame Game?

Going back and reading over some of my previous posts, as well as having more than enough time to myself to think, I'm trying to figure out what I did to put myself in my current isolated situation.  Sure, I still have my friends and family back home, and I still have Chad, who is wonderful.  But when I moved out here, I knew no one.  When Chad came home from Iraq the first time, I started to make friends who understood (i.e. other wives of the guys on his team).  I also made friends at work.

We went out together, went to each other's houses.  We emailed, texted, facebooked, etc.  Then I got pregnant!  I was so excited.  A couple of my friends were pregnant at the same time, though they've already delivered and I thought to myself: Awesome!  I have friends who are traveling this road right ahead of me; this is going to be great.

I made plans to travel back to Michigan to visit friends and family at the end of June/beginning of July.  And suddenly, when I came home, it was like I was a leper.  Right about this same time, we received the prospective diagnosis (which was later confirmed) that our son may have a CCAM (if you've been reading a long, this is no longer may-he does).  I called some of my friends and left messages for them.  No return calls.  I texted them - no response.  I commented on some of their posts on facebook and emailed them.  Most usually, I got the same response - none.  Now, I know that sounds like I was being a crazy-stalker friend - I wasn't.  These are all over the space of the last few months.  I understand that people get busy.  But so busy that you can't reply to an email or facebook message or text in 1 to 3 months' time?  Don't think so.

So now I find myself trying to figure out what to do.  I've joined some mom's groups online, but most of the women who post there seem kind of neurotic and not really like the kind of people I'd like to have knowing where I live or what my cellphone # is.  Some of them only meet at member's houses - again, not quite ready for that.  One article I was reading on babycenter.com suggested meeting moms at playgrounds - great, when my son's able to play on playgrounds.  Meanwhile, I'm just supposed to what?  Wallow in self-pity and loneliness?  Don't get me wrong - Chad is great at listening and talking to me, but I'm alone all day at the house.  And he does occasionally have to go away for work trips - those are usually so frenetically paced that he has time for a quick chat at the end of the day.

I just don't understand what, if anything, I did wrong.  I don't know why suddenly, these women who I thought were my friends, decided that they had enough friends and that those numbers didn't need to include me.  It's not even the fact that some of these women have infants - they still make time for other girlfriends.  I would understand if they were simply consumed by caring for their newborn, I promise.  But more and more it just seems like no one makes time for me.  I spend more time with Chad's friends now than I do with mine.  Unless, of course, you count the cats as my friends.  Then, since I'm at home all day, I obviously spend the most amount of time with them.

I don't know.  Maybe they just didn't like me all that much to begin with.  Maybe they just don't know what to say since the CCAM diagnosis so they say nothing at all.  I really don't know.  But I do know that this really, really sucks.

Quick Vent

I just watched an episode of A Baby Story on TLC and I wanted to reach through the tv and strangle this woman.  It was the mom-to-be's mother.  The woman was having her second child via induction and her mother and in-laws were walking up to the room and her mother was freaking out about not being able to find the L&D room (they were like 10 feet down the hall).  That was annoyance #1.  Then she gets into the room and gets all emotional because she simply sees her daughter lying in the bed.  It wasn't even a dramatic induction - she was only at like 2 cm.  Then they decided to do a c-section because the baby didn't want to be induced and the mother sat in the waiting area and all she could talk about was how she wanted to know what was happening and she didn't like this because she didn't know what was going on.  Seriously lady, SHUT UP!

Sorry - got really annoyed and had to share.  LOL

HOLY COW!!

Totally unbelieveable!  I was watching an episode of Mystery Diagnosis this evening that I had DVR'd earlier this week.  The very first case on there was about a little boy, a toddler, who had severe trouble breathing.  It turns out he had a CCAM!!  How weird is that?  I just couldn't believe it when they got to the part where they reveal the diagnosis.  I about choked on the Gatorade I was drinking.  Crazy, insane coincidence.  Of course, this little boy didn't have the benefit of having been diagnosed en utero.  He started having breathing issues when he was about 4 mos. old and the pediatrician took an x-ray which showed an air pocket but otherwise nothing.  She continued to diagnose him with respiratory infections every two weeks for the next 4 months or so.  Then they decided that he must have asthma, so the prescription was nebulizer treatments which helped for a while, but soon those stopped working too.  They finally had to take him to the ER one night and the doctor took more xrays and wound up sending those to a pediatric surgeon for another consult.  He scheduled a CT scan and discovered it was a CCAM.  Watching that ordeal and seeing those parents talk about how terrifying it was not knowing what was wrong with their son and why he couldn't breathe just makes me infinitely grateful that our son's CCAM was diagnosed en utero and will be closely monitored.  That poor couple must have been terrified.  So I find myself, tonight, giving thanks that we were lucky enough to have doctors who were cautious and wanted to have a second look when the bright spot first showed up on the 20 w ultrasound. That they then sent me to Maternal Fetal Medicine to see a perinatalogist to confirm the diagnosis.  That they then transferred my care to ensure that IF our son needs to go to the NICU after birth that we are right there next to one of the best NICUs in the state.  That the doctors I see at MFM are so vigilant in monitoring our son that my file there (mind you, I've only been going there since the beginning of September) is housed in a three-ring binder.  And I already know what I'm going to say when it comes to my turn on Thanksgiving to state what I'm thankful for: I'm thankful for today's medical advances that will prevent Chad and I from experiencing abject terror if our son's breathing were to be so critical because no one had caught this CCAM while our son was still growing in the womb.

Meanwhile, I had my triple-threat appointment on Tuesday (I know, I'm just now writing, sorry!): ultrasound, non-stress test, and OB check.  The sonographer was actually able to find the CCAM again (read: the CCAM was never gone, it was just not being found easily on the ultrasound) - this sonographer cranked some setting waaay up (he said that essentially this made it like an MRI or something like that) and he was able to find it.  It hasn't grown (still the same size it was when it was found), so that's good.  The non-stress test went well, and my blood pressure, which had read high the last few times, was finally back down where it should be.  My OB check also went well (at the time I was 35 w 1 d and I measured 35.5 w, so basically right on track), and fun of all fun, since it was my first OB check at MFM I had to have a fun pelvic.  Oh joy.  But everything is good to go (no effacement or dilation yet).  I've recently started to feel the random Braxton Hicks contractions and that's, well, weird.  Also, hooray for me, I've gained 15 lbs. throughout the pregnancy (right within my range of acceptable weight gain).  I'm super excited about this!

Finally, I toured the Birth Center at Memorial today - it's really nice!  Large labor and delivery rooms as well as large rooms in the Mother/Baby Unit.  It was really comforting to get a look at where we'll be spending a few days in just a few very short weeks (please God!).  There's free wi-fi in both the birth center and the mother/baby unit and cell phones are allowed (notification phone calls will be as follows: My parents and Chad's parents - if you'd like notification, you'll have to talk to them about who they contact after they get the call; or you can wait for the facebook status update, lol).  Also, since none of you know the name yet, we'll be posting as soon as we remember/get around to it.  Okay, this seems pretty disjointed to me now, so I'm going to end my entry here before I wind up talking about completely irrelevant topics.

Photo-riffic!

So, living so far away from family and friends, I know that there is going to be great demand for photos - lots and lots of photos!  I recently decided how I wanted to solve this dilemma: I started a photobucket account.

I chose photobucket because you can choose photos from the site that you like and order them to be printed at your local Target.  Then you would go to your Target store's photo department and pick them up just like regular photos.  This will be especially helpful for us to get some pictures to our not-so-computer-savvy relatives.  It also means that you don't need to have a photo printer to have nice photos of our little boy!  Obviously, there aren't any photos uploaded right now - those will come when the baby does.  But I will definitely pass along the information to the photo albums once we start posting some up there.  :)

I'm Totally Unoriginal - And I'm Okay With That!

First, I was reading archived copies of one of my favorite blogs and I found the MOST HILARIOUS entry I have read yet.  Please, please, go read it.  My stomach is killing me - I feel like I did 1000 crunches I was laughing so hard.  And the pictures!

Anyway, I like the format, so you may see it start to appear here randomly, especially considering that I've already done one post in a similar format.  Maybe I will experiment with it here.  Ok, official first run of the Quick Takes post format...

ONE: Pregnancy hormones suck.  I woke up in a good mood this morning (despite the fact that my alarm went off at 7:15 am so I could take out the damn trash and recycling).  It was sunny out, it was pretty balmy, considering that it was foggy as can be just east of where our house is, and the Peak looked awesome.  This afternoon, I was tired.  Early this evening I was Depressed.  Then, I read through some blog entries (see above, re: hilarious post), and now my stomach hurts from laughing so hard and I keep chuckling to myself.  Also, I just talked to Chad and so I'm in excellent spirits.  But I still think pregnancy hormones suck.

TWO: I want to know why, when I sit in the SAME EXACT PLACE, my cell phone service suddenly switches towers so I drop a call mid-sentence FOR NO REASON.  It's not like I was walking around my house and went down into the basement and was surrounded by concrete so my cell service suddenly dropped to like 1/4 bars.  I mean I was sitting in my bedroom talking to Jarvi on Saturday with four full bars of 3G service and then the call dropped and I looked and I only had 1 bar of E service.  WTF universe?!

THREE: Why is it that the creepiest people in the mall are those skincare-product people?  They always chase you around wanting to squirt lotion on you.  Do I look all dry and patchy??  (Wait, don't answer that.  Because of the aforementioned pregnancy hormones, I actually am currently dry and patchy.  But at least be polite and don't call attention publicly to my shame, thankyouverymuch!)  And really, that's like buying people scented bath products for other people.  Unless you know that I really like the Moonlight Path scent line or the Lavender Chamomile aromatherapy line from Bath and Body Works, please don't buy me bath products.  Unless, of course, you're trying to tell me I have B.O.  In which case, please be a Good Friend and pull me aside privately to tell me.  Otherwise, you're just trying to mask B.O. with perfume, which I found to be a vast problem in large European city crowds.  Also, P.S., in case you're just trying to be nice and buying me some bubble bath (which I wouldn't take as a "You have B.O." hint, because frankly you would be encouraging my mental health), please don't do so unless you remember that ANYTHING with VANILLA scent in it will make me violently ill.  Seriously.  I had a student in my first year teaching who wore vanilla perfume and I had to get another teacher to watch my room so I could go throw up.  Not kidding.

FOUR: Twitter.  I do not understand Twitter.  At all.  I looked it up on Wikipedia.  Go ahead and laugh at me, Internet.  I do not understand.  I update my status on Facebook.  Do I really need to tweet too?

FIVE: **Disclaimer** This is my personal opinion.  I think Jon and Kate Gosselin are terrible.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's super organized, etc.  But can I just say that I wasn't really surprised when he started stepping out with other women.  Have you ever watched an epidsode of that show?  Every time they were sitting on that little couch, she was ridiculing and belittling him.  Frankly, he lasted longer than a lot of other people would have.  Does that excuse his current douchey behavior?  Absolutely not.  I'm just saying, it takes two....

SIX: Those Duggars are crazy.  Eighteen children?!  Holy canoli.  Who would want to birth 18 kids?  Obviously, Michelle Duggar.  But what motivates them to keep procreating?  Seriously?  Who would even have the energy to procreate at the end of the day with that many kids running around.  Sure, they just married the oldest one off, but still.  Wouldn't you be sick of changing diapers after 21 years?  Twenty-one years' worth of diapers.  Holy crap.  Pun intended.

SEVEN: My neighbors are idiots.  Not necessarily the people on my immediate cul-de-sac, but there are definitely some idiots in the neighborhood.  We have an abundance of wildlife here.  Coyotes, foxes, racoons, rabbits, mule deer, bear.  BEAR.  Not to mention the vermin like mice, chipmunks, etc.  SOMEONE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD IS FEEDING THEM!  They do not need your help.  How many dead animals I have seen on the road right outside the neighborhood I can't even begin to tell you. These idiots are messing with Darwinism.  If the damn animals aren't smart enough to scrounge in the trash cans in the 45 minutes they are out and full before the garbage man comes, then so be it.  They're not cute - they're destructive.  They poop in my yard!  There is a reason I don't have a dog - I don't like having to walk around my yard to scoop the makings of some animal.  It's bad enough having to scoop the makings of the cats from the litter box (shut up RIGHT NOW about toxoplasmosis.  I don't want to freaking hear it!!).  They eat through the camp chairs we have on the back patio to sit on while the kitties wander around the yard eating grass.  They pee on the back door!  They get trapped in the backyard when the gate doesn't lock properly and I'm scared completely skinless to try to fix the problem because I do not see deer as Bambi - they are Wild Animals and are not cute and harmless (Bambi's mom would tear you a new one if she felt threatened).  If I go out into the yard and try to prop the gate open, I risk being hooved to death by an enraged and frightened deer or startling the deer who then destroys our lovely CUSTOM fence which would be impossible to replace (and no, we couldn't replace the fence with vinyl because our HOA voted that down in May).

EIGHT: Grammar.  Seriously?  There is a difference between your and you're.  There is also a difference between there, their, and they're.  Same with for, four, fore, and to, two, and too.  None of these are interchangeable.  Please people, take the time to figure it out.  I will forgive you the usage of who/whom.  That one is slightly more complicated.  But for the love of God, I may scream the next time I read someone using you're (you are) in place of your (possessive).  GAH!!!

A few things on my mind today.  First, I go in for another non-stress test today - yay!  That's kind of sarcastic - I have these tests twice a week now from here until the beginning of November.  I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that I don't go so far past my due date (42 weeks gestation - someone will be dying at my hands if I have to go that far).  I'm so uncomfortable as it is right now, just the thought of having to go two more weeks makes me want to tear my hair out and run screaming down the hall.  So yeah.  Could be cause for a descent into madness.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

Okay, next on my mental docket: an epidural.  I was very adamant that I did NOT want an epidural, but I've been watching an awful lot of A Baby Story on TLC and after talking to the doctor on Tuesday and having all my questions answered, I'm not really so scared of it anymore.  More or less, I'm more comfortably operating on the "I'll try it natural first but leave my options open to an epidural".  However, I'm kind of starting to think about what time of day I go into labor too - for instance, if I'm exhausted and it's been a long day and then I go into labor, I may go for the epidural a lot sooner than I may have originally.  I don't know.  Just at this point, I'm not as opposed to it as I was before.  That's all I'm saying.

Okay, this one is a rant about facebook.  I recently accepted a friend request from someone I went to high school with.  I didn't really know the kid - it was more like we had some of the same friends.  Well, this kid is the HEIGHT of annoyance.  He's still a flipping idiot, just like he was in high school, except now he feels like he can actually talk to me.  I have no idea what gave him that impression, but there you have it.  So a little while ago, I had what I like to term My Own Personal Nuclear Meltdown.  I was posting status updates befitting my emotional state on facebook, and this kid, he has the nerve to comment that maybe I should meet with him while he's in GR that weekend to discuss pharmaceutical options for improving my quality of life.  I almost reached through my computer to choke him.  A) I don't live in GR anymore, thankyouverymuch.  B) I'm pregnant.  C) PEOPLE HAVE BAD DAYS.  That does not mean they need to be medicated.  It's a part of life.  A few days later, one of my friends who has four kids (she also went to my high school) was also having a bad day and he said much the same thing to her.  Seriously, this guy works from some pharmaceutical company and is obviously COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS.  Anyway, the straw that broke my back yesterday: I posted a link to the breast cancer site on facebook and mentioned that it was a free option for those who wanted to support breast cancer awareness and research.  He opened a chat window with me to suggest that I try his mother's juice company because it supports breast cancer research.  I told him that I wasn't interested as I have plenty of avenues on my own to support breast cancer awareness and research.  I signed off of facebook and stewed about his impertinence and then I signed back into facebook, un-friended him, and then blocked him.  I couldn't stand it anymore.  I'm angry all over again just thinking about it.  WHAT AN IDIOT!  But taking such a small childish step really did make me feel better yesterday, lol.

Finally - the doctor's appointment yesterday.  It was a consultation with the pediatric surgeon who will be doing the surgery to remove the cyst, provided that it is still present after birth.  We discussed questions and outcomes and whatnot.  The cyst is a type 1, meaning that it is made up of large nodules (easiest to detect, remove, etc.), rather than type 2 (many small cysts), or type 3 (different sizes and composition).  So this is good (if you can call having something wrong "good".  It's like when people try to comfort my cousin, who was diagnosed this past spring with thyroid cancer, that at least she has a good kind of cancer.  If you are a person who says things like this, don't be surprised if someone hits you.  This doesn't make someone feel better - in fact, it makes me want to stab you.  Don't say I didn't warn you.).  He said that when the baby is born, they will do an Xray to determine the presence/prominence of the cyst.  From current indications, he predicts that they won't be able to see the cyst on this X-ray (good).  At that point, we will go about our business as usual and let Munchkin grow for about 6 months to a year before performing a CT scan. That will serve to give us a better picture - if the cyst isn't visible then, we will leave it at that.  If the cyst is visible on the CT, we will discuss surgery options.  He said that surgery, should it be required, will mean the removal of a small portion of lung.  This shouldn't impact Munchkin's ability to participate in athletic pursuits later in life, as long as he listens to his body (i.e. just like someone with asthma - listen to body cues, take it easy if he needs to), but that there is no reason he wouldn't be able to lead an active life.

All right, I do believe that is all for now.  So, consider yourself updated.  :)

A Brief Pink Post

In honor of the first day of October, and the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness month, I'm just going to post real quick (I have a consult with the pediatric surgeon later, so I'll be posting again when I'm back from that).

This month, several stores and companies will be promoting their Pink products.  My personal viewpoint is that if you were going to buy the product anyway, purchase the pink version - every little bit helps.  However, I don't think you need to break your bank buying products you don't really need/want.  But, I do have a super easy solution for those of you who are strapped in today's economy.  If you visit the Breast Cancer Site and click (that's it, no buying, no giving out your email, no signing a petition), you help contribute to making free mammograms available to women in need.  There are also great links to Pink Products should you be in the market for it, as well as other free ways in which to help promote breast cancer research and awareness.