Memorial Weekend 2007

Life could not be better at the Bright house! We stayed in most of the holiday because Dallas was totally under water for the 3-day weekend. Ellie is still the best baby ever. I am so thankful we were given such a wonderful little gift. She's waking up more now so after she eats, we play for about 20-30 minutes on her exercise mat before she naps. She has her 2 week weigh-in at the pediatrician tomorrow morning so it will be interesting to see how much she has gained. I think a lot because I finally had to break down and buy the carpal tunnel wrist guards. I was trying to wear them most of the day, but it's too hard to pick her up with them on so I just sleep in them. They've helped a lot.

We may have to loose the swaddle soon. After Ellie ate this morning at 6am, I swaddled her and put her back to bed. After a few minutes, I heard her grunting and moving, but didn't go check on her because she wasn't crying. When I woke her up an hour later, this is what she looked like:

Houdini had completely freed her arms from her baby straight jacket. Looks like she'll be wearing footed pajamas in the near future.

One thing is for certain - I definitely did not wear a swimsuit this Memorial Weekend. Sunday marked a big day because I headed back to the scales at Weight Watchers. Uuuuggghhhh. I was "lifetime" before I got pregnant and now I'm back to square one plus some. Well, plus a lot. I knew I had gained, but actually seeing the final damage in black and white was hard. To add insult to injury, the girl trying to sign up in front of me was 5'5" and a size 4. They wouldn't let her join the program because she was within 3 pounds of her lowest acceptable weight. I think the long line of fat women behind her were waiting for her to walk outside so they could beat the crap out of her. I'm going to try to loose 20 pounds before I go back to work full time, which is scheduled to happen the day after Labor Day. I think that will be do-able once I can start working out again. I hope to get "the rest" off before Christmas. I've just got to work hard and not stop until I'm back to my goal. I'm a little upset that I'm this big, but all I have to do is look at my little Ellie and realize my life could not be better and that I'm not the first new mother who has felt like this.

I have a new fashion accessory - a sling. I thought that since Ellie likes being held so much she might enjoy being worn. She loves it. It's like a dark little cocoon. I put her in it and she stayed by my side - through laundry and other chores around the house - blissfully asleep. We had our first outing today. We went to a few stores and she stayed asleep in her carrier the entire time. Ellie also tried out her swing, but I think she's still too small for it. She needs a little more neck control before she can fully enjoy it.

The Stork Has Landed

In case you're coming to visit us, just look for the 12-foot sign in our yard:



Lee's mom was nice enough to order us a stork so everyone on our block knows that Ellie is here!! We were going to go with the billboard, but thought it was too flashy. It's very cute and we get to keep the plaque with all of the details on it.


I don't know how it's already Thursday. I hope the days slow down, but I feel from here on out, life will be speeding by at an uncontrollable pace. Ellie has had several visitors at the house this week. Our friends Shanon and Mike came by on Sunday, Anne Marie visited from Shreveport Wednesday and Thursday and Debbie visited from Houston on Thursday. Anne Marie has 3-month old Alex and Debbie has 2-year old Molly. It was fun to see all of our children together.

Ellie and I have been having a great time. She has been so good - there's a part of me wondering when my luck is going to run out on her being so good. She's been a little more alert lately, but I still have trouble keeping her awake with it's time to eat. Must be rough. She is a great baby and loves to be held - which works out for Lee because he never wants to put her down. I don't either, but I think I'm getting carpal tunnel in my wrists, so I'm going to get a sling so I can wear her while I do things around the house. Here's more of Ellie doing what she does best.

Brando's Baby

Look at the picture and say the following line in your best Godfather voice:

"Leave the gun. Take the cannolis."

That's right. My baby wears a pink skull cap.

Home With Ellie

Lee wanted me to call this blog "My Kid Is Cuter Than Your Kid", but I thought that sounded a little cocky. This is our second full day home with Ellie, and we've been having a great time with her. She doesn't do a lot - mostly sleep and eat, but it's fun just to watch her do that. So far, the highlight of her days include being swaddled and sleeping in her Papasan. If you've been keeping up the past few months, you know that we could never get a 3D picture of her because her hand was always right up by her face. Nothing much has changed with that...

I bundle her up, but somehow she always gets that hand free to be by her head. She looks like "The Thinker" sometimes which is really funny. The first night we were home was a little rough. I think Ellie was making some adjustments from the hospital. There she had constant care 24-7 from the night nurses, but her mom and dad have to sleep and she didn't want us to. At all. So last night, we had a different plan of attack - feed before we go to bed, Ellie sleeps for three hours, BOTTLE, Ellie sleeps three hours. The bottle was so much faster and less frustrating for both of us. We'll see how it works tonight.

She also had her first pediatrician appointment yesterday and he thought she looks great. She was 7 pounds 6 ounces when she left the hospital on Friday and that's what she was 24 hours later. They said that they'll loose a little weight after birth, but she is already maintaining her weight after 3 days, which is a good sign.

We also tried to wear her out a little before she went to bed with her first bath. She was shockingly good through the entire thing. She doesn't really like to be unwrapped, but we kept her pretty covered so she didn't get cold.

So that's it from the Bright house. Until I can actually get out of the house, I'm sure the blogs for the next couple of weeks will consist of more Papasan and bath pictures. Such is life. I'm feeling better by the day (I'm not even on pain medicine!) so hopefully that shouldn't be too long from now. I am a little weepy, but I think that's just the hormones; however, Lee is starting to think I'm undiagnosed bi-polar. I'm so thankful for all of the visitors, well wishes, cards, and phone calls from so many of you. I would love for you to meet her so just let me know if you'd like to stop by for a visit! I'm excited that Debbie and Anne Marie are coming in town this week. Hope to see you all soon!

Welcome Ellen Elizabeth

Please welcome the most wonderful miracle we could have ever asked for:

Ellen Elizabeth

Born May 16, 2007 at 12:33 PM

7 pounds 13 ounces

21.25 inches

If you've ever had a hard labor or delivery, then you may not want to read this because I probably had the easiest one in history. Ellie made it one day longer than I did, but barely. I started having some cramping on Tuesday afternoon and then on Tuesday night I started having some contractions that were unevenly timed. I didn't know if they would stop or slow down so I went to bed. Around 1am, I woke up with stronger contractions so I got up and started timing them. Around 1:30, I woke up Lee to tell him that I thought it was time to go to the hospital.

When I got to the hospital, I was 1cm dilated and since I had NEVER been dilated before, I was very excited about that. The contractions became more regular and stronger so I decided to get an epidural... mostly because I was about to barf from the pain. Literally. But first I had to get the IV so they had a line. This was by far the worst part of the entire process. First I gave blood samples which went okay. Then the nurse tried to give me an IV. Trust me - I told them all about the horrible veins I have and nobody listened. She didn't get the vein. So they sent in Nurse #2 who failed and then Nurse #3 who blew out a vein in my hand. All the while I'm contracting so 4AM was sort of a low point that involved mild profanity. Nurse #4 got it in there. Once I got the epidural, I went to sleep.

Lee can remember more then I can, but I do know that I went from 3.5 cm at 9AM to 9 cm at 11:30. Around 12:20, they decided that I should try to push. If you read above what time she was born, you might be clued into why this was so easy for me. I pushed through the first contraction and she crowned so they told me to stop so they could call the doctor up (by the way - Darth Vader did not wind up delivering my baby and don't act like you're not secretly disappointed). As soon as the doctor came up, I pushed once and most of her head came out, pushed twice and the whole thing was out, pushed the third time and the rest of her popped out. So my total push time equaled about 45 seconds.

When she came out, she cried a little, but didn't fuss much as they cleaned her up. Lee was the first one to hold her while they worked on me and I really thought he'd never put her down. I finally got to hold her and these two huge eyes stared up at me. I knew she knew who I was and she also knew who Lee was because she would look over at him when he talked. I couldn't believe how alert she was. She also looked a little confused because I'm sure she had planned to spend the day swimming again. After we had some time with her, my mom and dad as well as Lee's mom came in to see her.

She's only been here 36 hours, but I can't believe how easy she has been. She's so agreeable. And she's beautiful. I can't believe how perfect she is. She's asleep in my lap right now. We get to take her home tomorrow and I'm very excited for her to see her new home. And for those of you who are interested in me, I'm fine. I have been walking around all day and think I'll be back to my old self in 2-3 weeks. I hope.

Here are some more pictures... there will be more to come!

Mother's Day 2007

You may have guessed - Ellie is not here yet. At least I know I'll be a mother next Mother's Day, and on the bright side, I know that Lee will be a dad for Father's Day. Again - it's just as well because I had some stuff I needed to finish at work on Monday, and I had a big meeting at Junior League last night I didn't want to miss. When I was born, I was six days late so maybe she's trying to beat my record. If she makes it till midnight, she'll do it. My next appointment is tomorrow and I'll have a Biophysical Profile (BPP) then. Based on that, we'll see if she can go another week. I'm interested to see how much they say she weighs. She's still kicking around in there, but I can tell room is pretty limited.

When I got home on Friday, the Baby Rock CD's we ordered had arrived. Now Ellie has Coldplay, U2, The Cure, and Bob Marley in her collection. I think this may be Lee's favorite thing in the nursery. We met our friends Mike and Shanon for dinner at Zushi Sushi and then came home and sat in Ellie's nursery and listened to some of our new CDs. That baby has the most comfortable nursery. Walking in there makes me want to go to sleep - which is the idea.

On Saturday, I went Katy's house for Lauren's baby shower. Lauren is having a little girl too so there was a ton of cute little girl things there. It was there that I met Buzzkill while standing in the buffet line.

BK: So when are you due?
Me: I was due on Wednesday so I'm 3 days overdue.
BK: OHMYGOD. Are you miserable? You must be miserable.
Me: No. I'm fine.
BK: Are you sure you're not miserable? Because you look miserable.
Me: Really - I'm fine.
BK: Wow. I don't know how you're holding it together because I'd be miserable.

Thank you for the pep talk, Buzzie. And rest assured, I will not call you if I ever need to be talked off a ledge.

We celebrated Mother's Day at our house with the Rogers and the Brights minus Elizabeth who had to work. I don't think people wanted me to cook, but I was voting on staying at our house because that way I wouldn't have to wear shoes. I never thought that developing Smurf-like feet would play a role in my decision to stay in or go out, but here I am. We had a good time and Lee gave me a nice gift - some pajamas to wear after the baby gets here. They're so comfy!

More news tomorrow!

Overdue

For the two of you who have not called or e-mailed me in the last 24 hours, I am still pregnant. It's just as well because I had a ton of work I had to wrap up this week. That's made the week go really quickly, so it's a blessing in disguise. I celebrated my due date by having my annual review on Wednesday. No pressure. Lee thinks that my work involvement is keeping me from going into labor, but if the threat of an annual review doesn't throw you into labor, I don't know what will. I've decided that if she doesn't come next week, my absolute last day of work will be May 18. I was really hoping that it would be today, but who knows.

On Thursday, I was in the elevator on the way up to my office with a lady I'd never seen before. She turned to me and said, "When are you due?" Without trying to look bitter, I smiled and said "yesterday". Based on the look on this woman's face, I figured out that people you don't know do not want to hear that they are suspended 12 floors above the earth in a tiny steel box with a woman who is past her due date. They would rather hear that you have head lice or the bird flu. At least they'd have a chance to recover from that. If the elevator gets stuck, delivering some random girl's baby is not on their "Top 100" list of things to do. So from now on, I'm going to tell people I'm due "next week" to avoid mass hysteria.

That's all the news I have. My Branch Davidian baby remains holed up in her uterine compound. Ellie, here's a piece of advice for you - come out. I have never been a part of a standoff, but based on what I see on TV, they never end well for the person standing off. Most of the time they involve tear gas and a SWAT team; however, in your case, it will involve Pitocin and a team of doctors. So do yourself a favor, listen to the hostage negotiator (your father) and walk out of there peacefully because if you don't, we will come get you. Love, Mom.

Groundhog Day

So I went to the doctor yesterday. I'm still the same as I was last week. They could induce if I was dilated at all, but I'm not. In order to decrease my odds of having a C-Section, I'm opting to wait as long as possible to induce, but there's a chance I'll still have to have one since she's right at 8 pounds or just over now. I go back next Wednesday for the doctor to do a big ultrasound to make sure she's still okay and to measure her. If she's not under any stress and I make it that long, I'll check into the hospital at 5pm on May 22 and deliver her on May 23 - that means she'll be 42 weeks. I'm going to make her get a summer job if she waits that long. Of course, all of this may not happen if I go into labor naturally, which could happen at any time. If I have her on May 23, I keep on picturing that SNL skit where Will Farrell is delivered and he comes out a giant man and says "WOW! I am RIPE!". Lee thinks this means she'll be tardy the rest of her life.

That is the baby update. I'm still working and I will until I go into labor or else I'll be sitting at home by myself burning vacation time. I am still working out. I didn't teach it, but I went to my step class last Tuesday and I'm going to go again tonight. I'm keeping it light. If something happens, I'll post on here before going to the hospital... so keep checking the blog for the latest news!

Other than that, I'm starting to enter that "holy crap, I'm having a baby" mode. I was watching videos on Babycenter this weekend and saw a video of a mother giving a baby a bottle. It suddenly occurred to me that I don't have bottles. Seriously - what mother doesn't have bottles? Well, that would be me. Then I started wondering "What else don't I have"?!! I thought we had the big stuff with the crib, car seat, and diapers, but if I'm forgetting bottles, what else am I forgetting? Ellie is going to arrive and freak out because she'll know I'm totally clueless. Babies are like dogs. They can smell fear. Anyway, I went out and bought bottles so now I have a boob backup.

I'm also going a little schitzo and hording food. "Preparing for a nuclear winter" sounds a bit extreme, but I know that's what everyone thought I was doing at the grocery store on Sunday. I don't think our pantry will fit any more food. Why I'm afraid of Lee going hungry, I don't know. I walked through the aisles dumping food into the cart like I'd never see a grocery store again. I seriously have enough food to cook about 15 different meals. I'm a little afraid I'll have to have the C-Section and then I won't be able to leave the house for 6 weeks or something crazy.

We also got a few more things for the nursery. Mom and dad brought over Ellie's toy chest and Lee assembled it. We needed a place for all of the toys and stuffed animals she's already acquired. We also bought a CD Player/Clock so she can listen to her music. My friend, Amanda, gave me a CD of lullabies that are set to Coldplay songs. Lee and I liked the music so much that we found the Baby Rock Records website and bought lullaby albums from The Cure, Bob Marley (Lee's picks) and U2 (my pick). We're hoping Ellie will learn the classics early.

Looks like I amy not be a mother for Mother's Day after all! Hope everyone has a good week!

CSI: Dallas

WOW WOW WOW. The final days before my maternity leave have not been without excitement because today, I am playing the part of James Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller "Rear Window". I am so mad I don't have my camera with me right now because I just watched Dallas Police pull a dead body out of the extended stay motel behind my work. You read it right. Dead body. All morning, we watched the crime scene people taking pictures and there were three cop cars outside the room. I don't think it was anything too horrific because they had the door wide open, but we couldn't see anything. And then a few minutes ago, the pulled out the gurney and hauled him out of there covered with a blue tarp. I know it was a "him" because I called the motel as they were taking out the body. It went something like this:

Me: Hi - I work in the office behind your motel and I'm watching them remove a dead body from one of the rooms...
Man: Uh-huh.
Me: And I'm just wondering - what's going on down there?
Man: I'm not sure.
Me: Did you know there's a dead person out there?
Man: Yes.
Me: Is it a man or a woman?
Man: It's a man.
Me: Did you see him?!!
Man: No.
Me: Was it a murder?
Man: I'm not sure. They're investigating right now, but I don't think so.

POOR. That's a man for you, isn't it? I need more information. It couldn't have been that bad because right after they hauled him off, the cleaning lady went in there with her little cart. This is why I love my window seat.

Week 38 and 5 days

I had a blog all written up last week and then never took the pictures to post with it. There's not much to say. When I went last week for my 38 week checkup, I was 50% effaced and 0 cm dilated. Today, I'm 50% effaced and 0 cm dilated. Are you having deja vu? No, that's what I was at 37 weeks too. So see? You didn't miss much by me not blogging. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and write the blogs for weeks 39, 40, and 41 - 50% effaced and 0 cm dilated. Done.

I know that the ticker on the side of the page says 9 days, but there is a very real possibility that I could be pregnant another NINETEEN days. NINETEEN! (that's me screaming) When I got the news that there was no progression again, I started to wonder "How long can this go on?". My doctor assured me that she won't let me go ten days past my due date. TEN! (me screaming again). Hence, I could birth as late as May 19. She actually said she'd induce around May 16 if worse came to worse. At this rate, Ellie is going to come out walking and talking. Lee keeps trying to coax her out of there, but she's already not listening to him. Since I've stopped teaching, I've increased the amount I'm walking. According to some, that brings on labor. We'll see. I'm having a pregnancy/reflexology massage on Wednesday. I'm hoping massaging my"trigger points" will get things going. My doctor also suggested castor oil, but I'll see how the massage works before I voluntarily give myself irritable bowel syndrome.

We didn't do much this weekend. I got my stroller from Babies R' Us. I was really starting to get a little anxious about that because I knew it had been discontinued, but I hadn't gone to get it yet. I was half expecting it not to be there, but I got one of the last two the store had left. The thing is enormous. It even has a place for Trudie to sit. I also got a car seat base for Lee's car. He told me he's going to install it "later". Apparently, it's not really cool for him to drive around with a car seat base installed in his car as I have done for the last 4 weeks. I may get him a "Baby on Board" placard to complete the new daddy look.

Speaking of, the father-to-be had his "Daddy Boot Camp" class this weekend at the hospital where we're delivering. It was a three-hour class for dads only. He didn't really get into the specifics, but from what I can gather they went over all of these statistics of how kids brought up in two-parent households do better than kids brought up in one-parent households. Sounds like that took a prison-style "scared straight" approach. Oh and get this - the teacher asked the class to state their greatest ambition for their future son/daughter. So what is my husband's ambition for our child? Maybe a world-renown doctor? To follow her mother and be an environmental engineer? I would have been really proud if he'd said he just wanted her to be happy. No, he told that whole class that he wanted to "keep her off the pole". As in the stripper pole. I'm sure they all thought Ellie was the result of a bad night at Baby Dolls. I know he was trying to be funny, but I'm so glad I wasn't there because I would have kicked him under the table. Then I would have kicked him again.

We did get some artwork in that I ordered. How cute is that? That's Ellie's changing area. We're a little short on space so her diapers hang from the ceiling.

Lastly, on Sunday, I was thrilled to learn that my friend Meg is engaged! I'm so happy and excited for her and Ruben. Meg, if you're reading, let's do a destination wedding. Maybe in Mexico. I've never been to Cabo... but you know, whatever. Playa comes in a strong second. I'm just saying if you're looking to pick a place that not everyone has been, I'd LOVE to go to Cabo. That will be great motivation for me to diet and workout. Of course, if I want to go, I'm going to have to NOT be 50% effaced and 0 cm dilated. (Ellie, I'm talking you YOU. Get out of there.)

Happy Birthday, Lee

Lordy, lordy, he's almost 40. Well, not really, but those were his exact words on Friday morning. In the back of my head, I was hoping that Ellie might come on Friday. Since I was born on my mom's birthday, I thought it would be cool it Ellie was born on her Dad's birthday, but it didn't happen. She's still in there. She's pretty strong now so if you push on her, she'll push right back. Lee engages her in that activity more than I do. My two Tauruses are already fighting it out. Great.

We celebrated Lee's birthday on Friday at Cafe Pacific with his mom, dad, and brother. About halfway through the meal I decided to slide my shoes off to get a little more comfortable. I wouldn't normally do this, but I was in a corner against the wall so nobody could see. When we went to leave, I couldn't get them back on and blew a strap out walking. Nothing says sexy like huge feet and no ankles. It's fairly stunning. When we got home, Lee opened his gifts. It was pretty easy for me to shop for him this year since he dog-eared the Brooks Brothers catalogue when it came in the mail and starred everything that he wanted. I used to do that with the Best catalogue at Christmas. I was 6. When he opened one of the shirts he said ,"Oh great! This is the exact shirt I wanted!". Yes, I know. I picked up on that. I gave him a pair of shorts, a linen shirt, and a seersucker sports shirt.

I made him swear that he wasn't going to wear any of the new clothes out in the yard. He swore. And he didn't. He woke up on Saturday morning, put on his new duds and headed out to the nursery to buy plants. Later on that day, he tried to fix our grill in the seersucker shirt. I'm honestly surprised he doesn't mow our yard in his tuxedo. I mean, why not? It totally makes sense. Why wait for a special occasion to wear your best clothes when you can make pulling weeds a little more festive by accenting with a tie or a new Cole Haan belt? I try not to be a nag, but my head would explode if I didn't say something.

We didn't do much this weekend, but we did go to a crawfish boil on Saturday afternoon. At a bar. I was a good sport for about 30 minutes, but then I just wanted to go home. It's hard for me to stand for too long. That afternoon our friends, Mike and Shanon, came over for some wine and cheese and they brought their 3 year-old nephew, Ian. He has red hair and is cute as a button. We told Ian that I was having a baby. He asked where the baby was. I pointed to my belly and told him the baby was in there. He eyed me suspiciously and said ,"Did you eat the baby?". No. "Then how did it get in there?" Um... yikes. "We're totally kidding. I'm just fat." No need to go there.

While we were all outside, another couple stopped by with their 10 month-old little girl. Lucy walked over and laid down on her back so the little girl could pet her. She was in heaven - laid there wagging her tail. I think she was even a little upset when the baby left. Meanwhile, we had to keep Morgan, our Golden Retriever, inside because she loves kids. Loves them. In fact, she loves them so much that most children scream in terror when she's around because they're afraid she's trying to eat them. Poor Morgan. She can't help it - she totally looses her mind when she sees kids. Hopefully, she'll learn how to contain that excitement around Ellie.

Doctor appointment tomorrow - we'll see what she says about being induced. I'm ready for baby - mostly because that would mean I could go on maternity leave one week earlier. I think I have sleep apnea now which is making me a zombie. Not much longer!

Week 37

Full term! Ellie is now fully-baked and ready for her grand appearance. Here's what I learned at my Monday appointment - I'm 0 cm dilated and 50% effaced. She's going to check again next Monday to see if I've made any more progress and to determine if I'm a candidate for induction. I'm so schedule-oriented that it would be nice if I could color code "Deliver Baby" and put it into my Palm Pilot. My guess is I'm not going to be that lucky. I'm pretty tired this week because like clockwork, I wake up at 2:30 am every night. On Monday night, I never went back to sleep. No sleep = cranky and unmotivated Tiffany. I feel like Mariah Carey when she went crazy on TRL and started handing out popsicles telling everyone all she needed was "one long nap".

My co-workers gave me a really nice shower at work last Friday at lunch. We ate lunch, had cake and punch, and played games. Since my office mostly consists of men, I'm not too sure how excited they were to play "What candy bar is melted in the diaper?", but they were good sports and did it anyway. They also gave me a gift card to Babies R' Us so Ellie will be getting her stroller soon.

This weekend was pretty low key. We were going to go to go see Blades of Glory on Friday night, but the hail and threat of tornadoes kept us at home. We saw it Sunday afternoon instead. It was pretty good - I tried not to get my hopes up, but being a big Will Farrell fan, I wasn't as impressed with this movie as his others. We also went to the pre-Baptism class for Ellie. We only have to do the one class so I thought it would be better to do it before she got here than after. I have no clue when she's going to actually be baptized. That will probably be something we figure out when she gets here, but I'm thinking September.

I also went to the JLD Spring Market and bought a bunch of stuff I didn't need and made a trip to the stores for Lee's birthday gift. He's got a birthday on Friday so we have a weekend of birthday celebrations planned. Poor guy - last year his birthday was the day before my PE Exam so we kept it low key and this year I'm pregnant so it will be low key again. Next year I'm promising fireworks, honey!

I retired my high tops today. This was my last week of teaching aerobics. Yes, I've still been hanging in there with my stepping and lifting. I think I could have gone all 40 weeks, but I didn't want to go into labor over a weekend or something and leave my classes without an instructor, so I gave up all of my classes at Week 37 just to be safe. I'm a little sad because this will be the first time in almost 9 years I won't have regular classes, but I don't know how I can balance a baby, a husband, my 9-5 job, my volunteer work, and everything else along with teaching. So I guess it's more jogging and workouts at the YMCA from now on. I may get back into teaching one day, but the more likely scenario is that I'll just keep on attending group exercise classes annoyed that the instructor is stepping on the down beat, can't hear the 8 count, and queues 1 second too late. I'll miss teaching, but I'll miss all of my participants the most. I gave some of them my blog address so I hope they'll still visit me. Thanks for all of the fun classes, everyone!

Week 36

Just 28 days left. I can't believe that Ellie will be considered "full term" in 7 days. I had my 36 week check up on Monday and from here on out, I'll be going to see my OB every week until Ellie makes her appearance, which I guess could be any day now. I will keep everyone updated with weekly progress reports (without all of the gory details) via the blog. As it turns out, there's a chance that my OB will not be delivering my baby since her day to deliver is Tuesday and every 5th weekend. She assured me that all of the other doctors in the practice have delivered lots and lots of babies and not to be concerned. I wasn't until she got serious and said ,"I want to warn you that one of the doctors in the practice has a tracheotomy so he has to push a button on the side of his neck to talk. It sounds a little robotic, but I wanted to give you a heads up in case he's on call your day". I'm sorry - WHAT? So you're telling me that in addition to the fact that there's an 80% chance you're NOT delivering my baby, there's a 20% chance that Darth Vader IS delivering my baby? This is why Katie Holmes had a silent birth - it's because her doctor had a trach and she didn't want Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto to be the first thing Suri heard. Maybe it won't be that bad and he'll just sound like the guy from Moviephone.

The good news is that I am past the point where I am worried about giving birth to a midget or transgendered baby. The bad news is that last week I read an article on CNN about a boy who was born with a port wine stain on his face and wrote a book to educate other kids about his condition so they won't make fun of him, and now I'm afraid I'm giving birth to Mikhail Gorbachev's mini-me. I really feel that out of all of my fears, this is the most likely one that could come true. Did you know there's a 1 in 2000 chance that she could be born with a port wine stain someplace on her body? ONE IN TWO THOUSAND. That's pretty high. I'm trying not to think about it.

This weekend Dallas is hosting the American Baby Faire. I thought this sounded like a really great idea until I researched it on-line. I had a panic attack looking at the pictures. It's basically a Babies 'R Us but TEN times as big because it's at Dallas Market Hall. I like babies and kids and all, but not that many jammed in with strollers in one area. Everyone knows that registering at Babies 'R Us nearly sent me on a drinking binge, so I can only imagine what would happen if I went to the American Baby Faire. After days of frantic searching, Lee would probably find me holed up in an opium den. If you're in Dallas this weekend, the Junior League is hosting a great event (also at Market Hall) called Days of Spring Market. Stop by and shop!

He drank the Kool-Aid

Happy Easter, everyone! I can't believe that this time next year I'll have someone to hide eggs for! Ellie may not understand, but I'm sure I'll try anyway. Maybe next year it won't SNOW the day before Easter. I was amazed when I looked out the window on Saturday morning to see flurries coming down. It didn't accumulate, but burr - it was freezing. We'd been using the AC for about a month, but had to switch back to the heat on Friday night. I had planned on wearing the dress I wore to my shower to Easter services, but since it was 40 out, I went with a wool coat and scarf instead. Turns out this is the first April snowfall since Dallas has been keeping record. Let's hope it's the last.

Saturday was a big day because... Lee is now a bona fied Catholic. He's been taking classes since September and the big conversion took place on Saturday night at Conversionathon '07. That's not what they call it, but it felt like it since we were there for three and a half hours. If you ever do something really bad and feel the need to repent, get yourself about 36 weeks pregnant and then go sit on a solid wood pew at for 3.5 hours at the Easter Vigil mass. There were seven readings, an epistle, a gospel, homily, baptisms, confirmations, and finally Eucharist. We didn't get home until about 11:30 PM. Lee's friend, Mike, was his sponsor. I think Lee felt he might finally be taught the secret handshake or be forced to participate in idol worship, but it never happened. At any rate, I'm very happy for him and Ellie doesn't know it yet, but she is too. Katy wonders if now that Lee has converted if he will be consumed with the crushing guilt that comes with being a Catholic. I told her that I didn't think he feels the crushing guilt yet, but give it some time. We've only been married for 3 years.

On Tuesday, I went to the Catholic bookstore to get Lee a greeting card and some prayer cards for St. Joseph, since that's the confirmation name he took. I was looking for a "My First Hairshirt", but there must have been a run on them because it's Holy Week. When I walked in, the lady behind the counter asked if she could help me. "My husband is going through RCIA right now and will be confirmed on Saturday night, so do you have any "welcome to the club" greeting cards?", I asked with a chuckle. My attempt at unholy comedy was met with an icy stare. Apparently there's no joking about sacraments and there's no laughing in the Catholic bookstore. I missed the sign on the door. If I'd known I was walking into a hotbed of Catholic hilarity, I would have left my wedding rings in the car and referred to Lee as my "baby daddy". As I was picking out the prayer cards, Sister Mary Serious was telling one of her co-workers how she's not a good flosser so she has to use a water pick on her teeth because there's a spot near her molars that collects food. I lit a candle for her on Sunday, and I'm sure she lit 50 for me.

On Easter morning, I made waffles for the first time ever. That's what Lee requested so I figured out how to make them and used one of our yet-to-be-used wedding gifts. He actually requested blueberry waffles, but let me off the hook since I served him breakfast in bed. The Brights and the Rogers met for lunch at the Grape on Sunday afternoon and then everyone came back to our house to see the completed nursery. We finally got the sofa in Saturday. Now all we need is that baby!

I want that.

It's all happening. I have made great strides putting the nursery together so I'm feeling much better about what would happen if Ellie came early. As seen above, we purchased the freakishly bizarre "Symphony in Motion" mobile for her...

Personally, I'd be scared as hell if I woke up and saw that hanging over my head, but this is the mobile that so many people are crazy about. It plays Mozart and Beethoven so hopefully our tiny genius will like it. I know who already really likes it and that's Morgan. The other night, I was working in the nursery and I told the big girls to come over to the crib because I had something to show them. I turned on the mobile and Morgan sat down and was mesmerized by it. She then got up on her hind legs and put her front paws on the side of the crib to get a better look. I don't want her to start hopping up on the side so I told her to get down, but she was happy to sit on the floor and stare at it with her tail wagging. I can't tell if she likes it or if she thinks it's so strange looking that she wants to grab it and bury it in the backyard.

The bigs have been really good about not running off with any of Ellie's stuff, but then again it doesn't smell like her yet. Lucy likes to "baby" and nest with whatever she can find of mine (socks, my digital camera, hand lotion), but hopefully she won't start to baby my baby's things. Lucy is particularly fond of the teddy bear that hangs from the baby papasan, which is only velcro fastened on, so I'll see how long that lasts. Right now they seem interested but confused by all of the recently acquired items in the new nursery.

We were supposed to have the sofa for the nursery delivered this weekend, but our guy flaked out since his assistant didn't show up to help him deliver. On Sunday, I washed a full load of Ellie's things (sheets, blankets, towels, washcloths, layette) so I could start putting them away. We're using the same chest that was in my room as a baby, but we've switched the top knobs and spray painted the others. It will double as her changing table. Lookin' good now!! I've created a spread of items that people have sent to Ellie:

I already feel bad for kid #2 because s/he will probably be wearing and using all of the above items after Ellie does and be sleeping in the top drawer of our dresser. I mean, would little Ricky Bobby really know that he's sleeping in a shoebox and wearing a dress? No. Pink or blue onesies? Who cares because they can't see color for a while anyway. Everything has to be perfect for the first one, but by the time the next one rolls out, we'll probably be using the "what doesn't kill him makes him stronger" method out of sheer exhaustion and give him a bag of glass to play with. And Lord help us if there's a third one. Morgan's mothering instinct had better be pretty good because that's who's going to be raising it.

My friend, Veronica, also had a shower this weekend - a wedding shower up at Leslie's house. It was very nice. I'm afraid I may miss her wedding since it's 10 days after my due date. I hate to say that I may be busy, but I may be! Mom and dad came over on Saturday to do some shopping with me and helped hang the "Ellie" letters over the bed that mom made. I also purchased the Fisher Price Rainforest swing with gift cards from the shower and set it up . By next weekend, I want to make a 360 video of the nursery and figure out how to to post it to the blog. I have to keep up with the Erwins.

Shower Me!

The big weekend has come and gone and it was fantastic. This past weekend was Ellie's baby shower and I received so many cute things! I've been a little behind on the blog because I have been marathon thank you note writing - 46 notes in 2 days. I'm up to my oygs in thank you notes. Oyg is Yiddish for eyeball. More on that in a bit.


My baby shower was on Saturday afternoon at 2pm the Dallas Country Club, and it was spectacular. About 35 guests traveled in from East Texas and the surrounding area. All of the tulips are blooming right now so the club looked really beautiful. Ellie got some really great gifts and it makes me want her to be here even sooner. We had tea sandwiches, strawberries, macaroons, and lots of other yummy pastries. I'm arranging all of the gifts so I can take one big big picture, but here are the highlights for now:


A going home outfit from Mom and Dad













A redneck-in-training outfit from Cousin Nicole













A personalized lambie blankie from Amanda



















A Jeep jogging stroller from the Brights so I can get my fat butt back into shape
















A baby video monitor that Lee will probably still be using in 16 years to watch Ellie and her boyfriend on the sofa watching movies (it has night vision)



After the shower I was completely exhausted so I came home and relaxed, right? No. I felt compelled to open and assemble EVERYTHING while simultaneously writing 46 thank you notes. Lee went to a concert and when he called to check on me at 8:30 pm, I was down in the garage hunting for a Philips Head screwdriver so I could put the Baby Papasan together. I continued the insanity on Sunday until my eyes felt like they were going to burn out of my head. I'm in the baby zone right now, and I'm probably going to work this up-coming weekend washing everything that she was given and all of her bedding. She's coming in 6 weeks and I have to be ready. Last weekend, we picked up her rocker, a gift from mom and dad. So comfortable. We're getting the sofa-bed recovered right now and it should be done within the week so we're almost good to go.

Other than that we've been relaxing. Barely. Last weekend, mom and dad were out of town so at the last minute, our house turned back into the Bright Dog Ranch since we wound up taking care of their dog, Abbey. She got sick at the kennel on Friday so Lee went and got her. We've seen some good movies lately - on Sunday night we watched "A Beautiful Mind" with Russell Crowe and last weekend we watched a movie called "The Prestige". We really liked it, but I'm partial to Christian Bale. Make that really partial to Christian Bale. If it wouldn't be weird at age 30 to have posters of movie stars on my wall, I'd have posters of him, Clive Owen, Vince Vaughn, Kirk Herbstreit, and a Corey Haim circa Lost Boys for old time sake. I'm not a huge fan of blonds, but for what Kirk is lacking in hair color, he makes up for in his quarterbackiness. Maybe Lee will let me put up posters in the closet?

My latest drama has been with Ellie's daycare situation. I'm going back to work when she's about 4 months old, and I thought I had it all figured out. Registered at a great place close to me so I could go see her at lunch and last week found out I'm #7 (SEVEN) on the waiting list for the day I want to get her in. Apparently people who really want to get in this place get their kids registered before they're conceived. I registered Ellie when she was 6 weeks in utero and that was too late. The director told me she'd get in eventually, but I'd probably need alternative plans for a month. So I started calling around and I've started looking for other arrangements. Today I "interviewed" my first alternative - a day school attached to a Jewish temple. I liked it, but it's $400 MORE a month that my #1 choice. Yikes.

I go check it out and the director of the school, Linda Richmond from Coffee Talk (not making that up), was my guide. I told her I wasn't Jewish and she said that was fine and told me that the school was closed on all Jewish holidays and Ellie would be observing Shabbat with the other kids and Rabbi Shlomo on Friday. That's fine. I pictured her singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" at daycare, but "Hava Nagila" will be okay too. Then I met the women who worked in the infant room. I walked in and both of the ladies were 70 year old bubbies from Eastern Europe with thick accents. The theme from "Schindler's List" started playing in my head. They were really nice and I could tell that the kids loved them. One other difference - since we're in Texas, everything in the day schools is usually labeled in English and Spanish, but here it was labeled in English and Hebrew. Then one of the three-year olds called me a schmuck. Kidding.

So it was interesting. I don't think the school is for me because it's an all-year program and I really want to have Ellie at my #1 choice so I may start hunting for a temp nanny. Oy vey. I'll keep you posted.

3D Round 3

I'm going to have to tone it down on weekends or else I'm going to have to take off Mondays to recover... which may not be such a bad idea.

I had my 32 week appointment today and snuck in to try for another 3D sonogram. This was the final shot. Since the last two attempts have been unsuccessful, this time I tried to make Ellie move by jacking her up on a Coke before my appointment. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had a real Coke (maybe I split one with my grandmother 3 years ago?), but I haven't had any caffeine since I found out I was pregnant. "The Experts" say it's okay two have up to two cups of coffee per day so I figured she'd be okay with one dose of caffeine in nine months. But even with all of the caffenation and desperate pleading from her mother, she didn't move. Still one hand is in front of her face and since she's pretty big now, the other side is smashed against the wall. I'll just have to wait to see here when she gets here. The sonographer did get some profile shots. She's got my lips.


All is still going well with the pregnancy except for the swelling in my feet and legs and massive calf cramps at night. And by massive, I mean I'd honestly rather have a steak knife shoved into my leg. I feel like I'm walking around on big tree trunks. In part two of our childbirth classes yesterday they told me I can't start working out until six weeks after I had the baby. What?!! It may be earlier if I get cleared by my doctor, but that seems like so much down time. Maybe I'll sneak in some "light" exercise before the six weeks are up depending on how I feel.

On Fright night, we met our friends Lloyd and Amanda for dinner at Stephan Pyles. It's so great to get out with friends. I'd never been there before, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it was one of the best meals I'd ever had at a restaurant and probably my #1 favorite restaurant in Dallas now. Outstanding. I can't say enough good things about it so if you live in Dallas or are coming to visit, I'd definitely make reservations and give it a try.

On Saturday, I helped with the shoreline cleanup at White Rock Lake, and then mom came over to take me shopping for a maternity dress for my upcoming baby shower. Actually, it was more like a four-hour long public humiliation fest. I never thought the area north of my waist would be so cartoonishly large that nothing would look good on me or fit me, but here I am living in Toon Town. All of the dresses I tried on were short and low-cut showing off Porky and Petunia Pig. And for the record, I heard "this is so cute on" from the salesgirls three times. I'd so much rather them tell me something won't make me look like a knocked up dime store hooker because at this point, that's really the only thing I'm hoping for. There are a lot of pregnant girls much bigger than me and I have no clue where they shop. So the quest for the dress is still on-going...

As mentioned above, we finished part two of our childbirth class on Sunday. They taught us infant CPR and gave us information on breastfeeding and post-partum care. I have this sinking feeling that breastfeeding is going to feel like having a cinderblock dropped on my nipple from a 20-story building. But I know that I am probably wrong and that it will actually feel a lot worse. It's weird to go to the childbirth class and see films on babies because most of the time I'm sitting there thinking "What are we doing here with all of these pregnant women? It's not like we're having a baby or something". It'll be even stranger when the nurse hands me my newly-delivered baby and tells me she's mine. Maybe the next 58 days will help me get used to the idea.

A Complaint Free Blog

It's Friday, and it's time for another public service announcement. Yesterday afternoon, I got my haircut and while I was waiting, I read an article in People Magazine. It was about a pastor at Christ Church Unity in Kansas City, Missouri who has challenged his parishioners to try to go 21 days without complaining. He's started giving out purple Lance Armstrong "Live Strong"-looking bracelets to wear as a reminder. To begin, you wear the bracelet on either wrist. When you catch yourself complaining, gossiping, or criticizing, you move the bracelet to the other arm and start the 21-day count again. I was so inspired by this idea that I ordered myself a bracelet. You too can have your own free bracelet by ordering one at acomplaintfreeworld.org. Since I'm entering my last 2 months of pregnancy, I think now is a great time to be positive and complaint-free. I feel like I probably complain less than the average person, but the recent swelling of my ankles and trouble sleeping have left me a little cranky. Plus, getting into the habit of not complaining now will set a great example for Ellie to follow.

I started my blog book on Blurb last night. At first, I thought "do I really want to have a written record of all of my rantings?", but I think it'll be great to have a yearbook of us. Plus, the program on the site is so easy to use, it would be a shame for me not to do it. It pretty much does everything for you - transfers all of the text and pictures with one click. I would love to have a week-by-week account with pictures of my great-grandmother's or grandmother's life. In 50 years, how cool will be for us to have a weekly written account of everything that we've done? My first book will run March 2006 through December 2007 and then my plan is to compile a yearly one every year after that. The book I'm working on now is already over 60 pages! I can't imagine how much longer it'll be once Ellie gets here when I'll really have something to write about. We'll see how motivated I am though. I'm a scrapbook dropout, so this may be my best chance to have a record of our family. I need to get better at taking pictures to make this long-term project a real success.

That's all for now. More baby classes are in store for us this weekend and maybe a 3D sonogram will happen Monday during my 32 week appointment... if Ellie isn't trying to hide. Let's make it a complaint-free Friday!

Post #50

I can't believe that this is my 50th post on my blog or that I've actually kept up with a blog. I really enjoy writing and this is a great way for everyone to keep up with the Bright's world so here's hoping for another 50 more! I found a place on the web where you can upload your entire blog and make a book of it, so I may do that at the end of this year.

This was our Childbirth Class weekend and the participants were not as I had secretly hoped. They were all pretty much like me and Lee - Type A future parents wanting to know all about baby before the little one appears. Lee made a good point that this class isn't mandatory or free. It's something that cost money so not everyone does it. The irony is that the people who probably need this class the most were not in it. At any rate, I'd bet that I was labeled the weird one because I asked the most questions. I can't help myself. It's sort of like the time that my former roommate, a pharmacist, invited me along to a discussion on how psycho-pharmacal drugs interact with male enhancement drugs since the drug company was hosting the discussion at one of my favorite restaurants. So who knows all about depression and male impotence now? It's me because I couldn't stop raising my hand to ask questions about penises and Paxil.

The class was good because we toured the hospital and saw where all of the action is going to take place. In the labor and delivery rooms, this panel in the ceiling opens up and a huge light drops down. It's seriously as big and bright as one of those spotlights that they use during a new club or restaurant opening. I can't wait. The hospital where I'm delivering also has these awesome suites where you can stay for an additional fee. Lee liked them because they have a real bed, living room, and flat screen television on the wall. Because Lee's comfort and his ability to watch Mavs playoff games in high definition during my delivery is priority #1.

I was not so comfortable with two aspects of the class. The instructor thought it necessary to pass around the 18 gauge needle that will be inserted into my back when I get my epidural. If you're unclear on my thoughts on needles, please revisit my "Valentine's Day Massacre" blog from last month. I don't need to see the needle, thank you. When we first started the class, we all had to introduce ourselves and say if we were going "natural" or having an epidural. Can I tell you that half of those women said they were still undecided? These women act like they're going to go old school and bite down on a stick while they push the baby out. Liars. The other mildly uncomfortable part of the class was when we had to watch a real birth. I'd seen live births before, but this video was more porno-rific because the lady was buck naked. I would never let myself be videotaped giving birth for educational purposes, but if I did somehow loose my mind and agree to it, I'd sure as hell throw on a tee shirt and wear a little lipstick.

The most exciting part of the day happened on the way home from the hospital when we witnessed a man and a woman having a physical fight in a parking lot. Lee pulled into the lot, called 911, and gave them a play-by-play. I felt like I was watching a dashboard camera from a cop car while listening to a Tyson/Holyfield fight. Very exciting. The rest of the weekend was spent getting Ellie's baby book together and mom and dad took us to dinner at Grotto on Saturday night.

Last night, Lee put his head on my stomach to talk to Ellie before we went to sleep. I think he must have ticked her off because every time he spoke, she kicked him in the head. He thinks it's cute when she does it, but when I do it? It's "assault and battery". So unfair.

March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

This is my first ever blog about poop chutes. I met my friend Renee for dinner last night and she reminded me that March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. This is important to her because she lost her husband to colon cancer a little over two years ago. Michael was not even 40 when he was diagnosed so it happens to the young as well as the old.

It's something that's easily preventable and treatable if detected early, so today I encourage everyone to click here to read the symptoms of colorectal cancer at the Colon Cancer Awareness website. It just takes a second! Have a great weekend.

The Kenophobic Dog

Kenophobia is really a fear of voids or empty spaces, but it's the closest thing to describe the newest affliction that Trudie has developed. After moving through the house with great gusto and navigating rooms with ease, my sweet, blind dog has developed a paralyzing fear of... hardwood floors. I know that sounds crazy, but trust me - it's even crazier to watch. This is troublesome since our entire house is hardwoods. She doesn't have a fear of hardwood floors so much as she has a fear of not being on a carpeted surface. I'm pretty sure this is my fault because every time she exits the carpet in the living room to go into the dining room, I clap my hands for her to come back. In her dark little world, she has translated me not wanting her to leave one side of one carpet in one room to me not wanting her to leave all carpeted areas. On Saturday night, we were watching Babel when I realized I hadn't seen her for an hour. She had gotten hung up on the hallway runner. Tried exiting all sides but couldn't get off. Short of rubbing down all of the hardwood floors with meat, I don't know how to correct this problem. So now in addition to having a dog that requires shock therapy, we also have one who needs confidence building exercises so she can walk on wood.

We didn't really do a whole lot this weekend. We met our friends Mike and Shanon for dinner on Friday night and I had to go shopping for new spring maternity clothes on Saturday. I had a meltdown on Wednesday morning because all of my clothes are getting tight. I don't like shopping for maternity clothes because the girls in the shops (who are not pregnant) bring you clothes to try on with promises that it'll be "so cute on". And like a sucker, I believe them every time. In my head, I'm thinking that the next outfit will not make me look like I swallowed a watermelon, but alas, it's not true. I was in Ross a few weeks ago and came across some big girl muumuus. I may try to bring those back into style.

Lee did a lot of work outside in our storage area on Saturday because it was so nice. We also had a new fridge/freezer delivered for the storage area. I figure we'll need it as we keep expanding. My latest project is making and freezing as many meals as I can ahead of time. Last night, I made one King Ranch Chicken Casserole and froze the other one. My goal is to get 8 entrees made and in the freezer by the time Ellie gets here. That way for the first couple of weeks she's home, all I'll have to do is pull out a meal and heat it up. It really doesn't take that much work to double casseroles and I know I'll be glad I did come May. I'm also collecting recipes for entrees using "pantry" or frozen ingredients. I hope to have another 8-10 meals on hand there. Everything I'm making is Weight Watchers. Don't think I won't be back at meetings the first week after Ellie gets here because I have some lofty weight loss goals I intend to keep. If you have any good recipes that freeze well, send them my way!

I went back for my 30 Week appointment this afternoon and no dice with the 3D. Ellie's hands are planted to the side of her head and she's added a foot to the mix. The sonographer tried one 3D scan, but it looked like a scary alien (not one for the scrap book or the blog). I also told my doctor about Harry Potter's "25% chance blond" comment and we had a hearty laugh about his Mendelian science. Am I a giant dork? You're damn right I am.

Next Sunday, we have our first of two "childbirth classes" at the hospital where I'm delivering. I'm anxiously awaiting the classes and not because I'll learn a lot, but because if it's anything like our "Engagement Encounter" retreat was, there's going to be some total weirdos there. My favorite couple from the pre-wedding retreat dressed like each other the whole weekend. I am anticipating that there will be the couple that's uber excited so he'll be wearing a "World's #1 Dad" shirt and hat set while she wears a "Bun in the Oven" tee, the couple trying to bridge the racial divide, the couple so young their parents had to drop them off, and the couple fighting so much you wonder how they're not going to get a divorce before the baby arrives. We'll strike pre-natal gold if there's a K.D. Lang "couple" there. Lee isn't good in these situations because he'll reach over and pinch me when he sees something strange like I'm not looking at the exact same thing he is. Actually, I'm usually already staring because I have a problem with that. This has never gotten us into trouble before, but I'm not sure how long our luck will hold with hormonal women. I'll give you a full report next Monday.

3D or Bust

Bust. We were supposed to have our 3D sonogram on Friday, but they called us and asked us to reschedule for today so we did. If you've seen a 3D sonogram, it's a pretty clear three-dimensional image of the baby's face. The kicker is that nothing can be in front of the baby's face. When we started the sonogram, Ellie's hands were directly in front of her face and there they stayed the entire time.

The sonogram technician poked at her and rattled her as much as she could, but Ellie wouldn't take her hands down from her face. She was probably trying to shield herself from the attack. Then Lee got in on the fun and he poked me in the stomach on the left side as the technician did from the right side. Poor Ellie. I bet she thought we were having an earthquake.

We did get some black and white 2D shots. Here are the best two:



This is a picture of her face... the head is on the right side and arm is on the left.


This picture is the best one. It shows her foot in the top left and her toe is touching her wrist. You can also see the bend in her elbow and her head on the right. If you flipped this picture 180, that's how she be inside me.

I have my 30 week appointment on Monday so the technician said that she'd try to work me in for a quick 3D look then. We did have her confirm again that Ellie is in fact a girl. She is. And for the record, she's a girl who can't be bothered by 3D sonograms.

Dan and Pam's Wedding (Punnett Schmunnett)

The weekend started off with some fantastic news on Friday night that my friend Anne Marie and her husband Brett had given birth to their first child, Alexander James. I can't wait to see him. He was two weeks early but is very healthy and weighed in at 8 pounds 5 ounces. I attended her baby shower in December and talked about it in my "Pregnant, Pregnanter, Pregnantist" blog. I guess I'm next!

We spent Saturday morning buying MORE items for Ellie's nursery. We went into one store and they had a little elephant already monogrammed with her name so I took it as a sign and bought it. We ordered the glider (so comfortable) from USA Baby. Since we're keeping the sofa bed in the nursery, we're reupholstering it and picked out the fabric. It's going to be done in green ticking so it could eventually fit in a boys room or a sunroom. All of this probably won't be in the nursery until late March or early April.

On Saturday night, we went to a really beautiful wedding for one of Lee's soccer friends, Dan. When the judge said "You may kiss the bride", Dan kissed Pam and the nine year-old boy in front of me screamed "SICK!". Classic. Dan's son, Alex, was the ring bearer. He's seven now, but I first met him when he was two or three. He's the reason I love little boys so much. And I don't mean "love" in a way that I have to say at least 1000 feet away from churches and schools. I just think they're funny. He was pretty worked up so I told him that if we took one good picture together:

Then we could take one picture where we're both screaming:





Not to be outdone, Lee followed suit...


I hit a new dork low at the wedding when I got into a science debate. Lee and I were talking to this guy and Lee made the comment about how Ellie will probably have brown hair since both of us have brown hair. The guy said ,"Well, if both of you have a recessive gene for blond hair then there's a 25% chance that your daughter could have blond hair." The bunk science alarm went off in my head. I said , "Are you talking about the Punnett Square?". He said that he was. I said ,"That's actually just a theoretical representation they teach high school students to introduce genetics. In real life, it doesn't really doesn't work out to a 25% chance if both of us are carrying a recessive gene." Here we go. Why God? Why must I wear my nerd science skills like a badge of honor? I admit that Ellie could have blond hair, but DNA sequences are so complex, it's not as easy as just tagging it at 25%.

But this guy wouldn't let it go. Apparently he thought I was the one who was confused so he tried to explain it to me. "You see - if you both carry a dominant and a recessive gene then that would make both of you 'big T' and 'little t' carriers so there would be a 25% chance that your offspring would be 'tt'. " Oh, I get it. What's next? The world is flat? There are pots of gold at the end of rainbows? Bigfoot? This guy seriously thinks that researchers have unraveled the genetic code, but there's still some scientist sitting in a lab churning out Punnett Squares? Then Lee gave me that one eyebrow raised "knock it off" look. With that, I smiled and nodded as if I had been utterly enlightened because I knew this guy probably believed in unicorns too, and I didn't have the energy to get into a mythical vs. magical creatures debate with Harry Potter.

Lucy Update: Many of you have asked how Lucy is doing. She's still crazy. This morning I walked into the living room and found her big, hairy, black body on our cream sofa. I didn't say anything - I just got the remote to her collar. I told her to get off the sofa and shocked her. She jumped down, but I didn't think it was on because she didn't react so I hit the button again and her eye twitched a little. Lesson - Level 6 is not high enough. Will try 7 next time.

75 Shut Down!

I sit next to a windown and usually, there's nothing to see, but today there was a huge accident!

I-75 northbound was totally shutdown. Just look at that backup. It went all the way to downtown. I would be going crazy in my car. At least it's not 105 outside.

Valentine's Day Massacre

Happy Valentine's Day! It's a big day since today I hit Week 28 which means it's the start of my third trimester. We're on the homestretch. My sweet, sweet husband tried to give my Valentine's Day gift last night because he was excited about it, but I made him wait until this morning. So promptly at 7:00 am, he pulled out a little box wrapped all in pink. He gave me some really beautiful John Hardy earrings. I had made a photo book on Kodak Gallery of our San Francisco trip for him. Better late than never!

I also had my 7 month checkup this morning. At 28 weeks, they make everyone take a blood glucose screening test to check for gestational diabetes. You have to drink this syrupy stuff that tastes like Hawaiian Punch and then an hour later they draw your blood. All went well until the "draw your blood" part.

Wendy is my usual nurse and can find a vein blindfolded. Wendy was sick today. Since my veins are the size of a strand of hair, I always have a bit of a problem with letting let people stick me. The first nurse (read: first) came in and gave it her best shot. And after she tried once, it looked like I'd been shot. Thank God nothing got on my clothes, but I'm not amused. She tried again and even though I'd never met her before, I'm pretty sure she was trying to punish me. With that failed attempt, she said "Let me go get someone else". Good idea.

I'm a little stressed out now. I jumped off the table to walk around to calm down and turned around to see the table that the nurse hadn't cleaned up. Then I loose it. Nurse #2 walks into me having a nervous breakdown and practicing deep breathing. I feel really bad because what conversation must Nurse #1 have had with her? "Hey - could you draw some blood from the girl in room 2? I've tried twice and now she's freaking out and having a panic attack. P.S. - I didn't clean up the mess. You're a pal!".

Nurse #2 starts in on my left arm. She sticks me and there's silence for about 10 seconds. Then she said "there's no blood coming out of your veins". That's when I start laughing. And it's not a sane "wow! that's really funny!" laugh. It's more like a "I'm one more poke away from being admitted to the psych ward" laugh. The good news is that she got it the last time. So four sticks, three bandages, two nurses, and one nervous breakdown later, I had completed my blood glucose screening test and I'll probably be having my baby at home.

Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do

We had quite the interesting Sunday at the Bright house. And my "interesting" I mean we "purchased a shock collar and conducted electro-shock therapy experiments on our dog, Lucy". Lord help me if the SPCA gets a hold of this blog because we're going to jail. Lucy has some behavioral problems... she loves people and loves meeting people, but she is the most stubborn dog in all of history. This has been coming to a head for a few months, but she got in a LOT of trouble on Sunday for peeing on the floor. It's not that she can't hold it because we were gone 30 minutes. She gets mad when we leave and she pees.

So we went to Petco and got her a new friend, Mr. Shock Collar. The PDBDT-305 Deluxe Big Dog Trainer is for "stubborn" dogs, which is what we have. Lee hooked it up and sent her outside. She started barking at someone one the street so Nurse Ratched (that's Lee) sent her an audible buzz to make her stop. No response. More barking so it was time for electroshock. Nurse Ratched set the collar to Level 1 "stimulation" and shocked her. No response. Here's the next thing I heard from the backyard: "Arf! Arf! Arf! YYEEEOOOOAAHHHH!". I looked at Lee and said "What did you turn it up to?!!". "Well, she wouldn't respond to Level 1 so I tried Level 10".

For those of you keeping track at home, there are EIGHT other stimulation levels he could have tried before hitting Level 10. I think it realigned some neurotransmitters because she laid in the hallway sort of paranoid crazy-eyed and very quiet the rest of the night. If we did an MRI of her head, we'd probably just see a bunch of pudding where her brain once was.

Speaking of brains, Lee and I saw an interesting exhibit at The Science Place on Sunday afternoon. It was called Body Worlds. It's an exhibit of real human bodies that were donated to science and have been plasticized. It sounds a little morbid, but it was totally intriguing. I've seen plenty of anatomy books depicting what the muscular system, heart or kidneys look like, but I've never actually seen them up close. They also had a 8-month pregnant woman who had died and had been plasticized as well as fetuses that were 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, and 33 weeks old. They had died from natural causes. It was really interesting to see the 28-week old fetus since that's how old Ellie is. I think anybody would find it fascinating to see the different stages of development. If you're in the Dallas area, I highly suggest going to see it. The only downside was that it was packed and since I can smell everything now, stinky people in close quarters freak me out.

We get to "see" Ellie again on February 23 since we're having a 3D sonogram. I haven't decided it I'm going to post it or not. If I do, everyone will know what she looks like when she comes out. You'll just have to act surprised when you meet her. She's pretty still most of the time so I hope we can get some good shots.

Goodbye, sweet youth

I'm making baby steps toward becoming a mother and one of those steps happened last night. I took out my belly button ring. Without you, belly button piercing, I feel that I am now headed for a lifetime of front-butt jeans and flats. There may also be an appliqué Christmas sweater in my future. Because I'm not a woman anymore. I'm a mom. Believe it or not, I got my piercing in 1998 - nine years ago so I've had it nearly 1/3 of my life. My stomach looks naked now. I just didn't want Ellie pointing at it, asking me what it was and if she could have one. Because the answer is NO - she can never have one. She'll be lucky if she's not still wearing clip-on earrings when she's 18. It's bad enough that he-who-will-remain-nameless has TWO tattoos. I hope she doesn't follow our examples because I really don't want her to wind up one of those girls with a piercing through her lip and a tattoo on her forearm of Mickey Mouse giving the finger. Of course, the bird-flipping Mickey would much be preferred to the initials, and I think Lee's dad can vouch for that.

I've been having the strangest dreams lately. The one I had on Tuesday night kept waking me up during the night. I dreamed that my doctor came into my hospital room to give me an epidural. She showed me the needle and it was the size of my pinky finger. I told her that I thought about it and on second thought probably didn't need one. She started chasing me and then jammed it into my back. I had the baby and they took her away. I said to a nurse "what does she look like?". The nurse said "she looks just like you". They brought her over to me, pulled the blanket back and sure enough - she looked exactly like me. It was my adult head on an infant's body. At least she got the good nose. Lee had a dream the same night that he was pregnant and couldn't get comfortable while he was sleeping. So I guess he had a dream that he was me.

Lee has also informed me that I'm going to have to be Johnny Law for the household. He said "I will never be able to discipline or punish Ellie because that's my little girl. That's my sweetheart". I'm sure he'll forget about making this statement when she comes home with that Mickey Mouse tat. I'm documenting this because I know that Ellie will one day read my writings and think "what the hell happened to that idea?!!".

I got some yarn this week so I'm going to start knitting Ellie's baby blanket. I'm 27 weeks so hopefully I'll have enough time to knock it out and maybe something else before she gets here. I'll keep you updated with pictures!

I write good

It's Thursday and I feel like I'm just now recovering from last weekend, but at the same time, I can't believe it's almost next weekend. That's one thing I'm starting to notice - 26 weeks into Project Ellie, the old gray mare ain't what she used to be. I hate to admit it, but I may have to consider slowing down a little. On Friday, I flew to Houston to take a technical writing seminar. I really liked our instructor because she's a grammar freak like me. I'm all about English rules - not necessarily when I write my blog because it's sort of a free-flowing consciousness, but when I'm writing at work, I'm the Hitler of the English language. She did say one thing that upset me... it's "okay" to end a sentence with a preposition. It most certainly is not. She lost a little credibility with that one.

I think Ellie is going to be a lot like her mother and here's why: I had to take a really early flight, so I ate breakfast at 5:30am. I got to our Houston office right in time for the class to start at 9:00 and by 10:30, I was starving. That's 5 hours of no food. Ellie is usually pretty quiet and just hangs out, but when that baby didn't get fed for 5 hours, she started violently kicking me like she had never kicked before. She kept ramming me until I had a bagel. At least I know this before she's born - always have snacks available.

On Saturday, I registered at Target and Beatings 'R Us. Okay so it's really called Babies 'R Us, but they might as well come clean and call it what it is: a baby megastore designed to make new mothers think that they need everything under the sun. Pregnant women roam the aisles of Baby Wonderland with glazed eyes. I knew their game so I took two veterans, Kristine and Leslie, with me to help me weed through all of the options. Since I was already tired from Friday, I would have scanned everything just to get out of there if I didn't have them with me. I didn't take Lee with me so he'll never know how grateful he should be that he didn't have to spend 5 hours with all things baby. There is so much crap there - I found myself missing wine again, but it's probably frowned upon for me to walk in with a giant stomach and a brown bag around a California Cab.

I did find something useful at Beatings - a new bedtime companion. I don't know how in my whole life I ever slept without this thing. I think I actually smile when I sleep now. Last night, I didn't move at all. It takes up half the bed, but that's okay. I think Lee's a little jealous of the Snoogle, but he wants one at the same time. He's torn. He tells me he's taking it after I have the baby, but he is sadly mistaken.

If you'll look to the right, you'll see that I have a new addition to my blog - a baby counter. I can't decide if I like it because the floating baby is sort of weird looking. Trust me - she does not float. What I need is a pictorial of a baby throwing a right hook at me when I bend down to tie my shoes shoved into an area the size of a soccer ball. I wanted to call it "Rosemary's Baby", but didn't know if anyone would get the joke.