Red Pencil Diaries

Lilypie : Baby due-date countdown

I found this cool thing on the LilyPie web site. It’’s free.

Well. Dave (and I, but mostly Dave) had a big cookout. Several of our friends showed up to try out the new grill. And although I have the baby induced queasies, there was a lot of really good food.

Thanks to all who brought goodies. Argon Man and DuranFan brought veggie skewers and chicken. Yummy! And Chili had some good cole slaw. It was a great feast. And then we watched some Invader Zim. Played Uno Attack and Fluxx. And then of course, the PS2 was broken out for some racing games and a game of basketball (afterall, it is March).

I feel asleep somewhere during the PS2 gaming. I should have gone to bed much earlier. I tried to be all party-fun like. But being pregnant and queasy sometimes puts a damper on fun. (And I hope my slow, sluggish demeanor didn’‘t offend anyone. I really wanted everyone to have fun. I just don’‘t have the energy right now.)

Overall it was a nice time. I hope everyone else enjoyed themselves.

So today, Dave came home from work early. At around 2:30 we drove over to the Sam’’s Warehouse on Preston Hwy. On the way up the ramp to i-65, I noticed a bunch of democratic protestors with Vote Kerry signs near the Kye’’s buildings near the indiana side of the 2nd st. bridge. I didn’‘t think much of it… until… After visiting Sam’’s and Liquor Outlet, we drove down Fern Valley hoping to get on i-65 north. But traffic was backed up all the way to the Papercone factory. So we turned around and headed down Preston toward downtown (figuring that by now, it was typical Friday rush hour, or maybe a wreck). Well, we got stuck on Preston, made it down to Gilmore Ln., turned on to it, and drove over to Poplar Level Rd. We continued heading toward downtown.

At Eastern Pkwy, we heard on the radio that i-65 had been shut down b/c Vice President Cheney was in town (in Jeffersonville, Indiana) for a fundraiser. (Hence the protestors…) We continued on, figuring we could cut through downtown and eventually make it across the 2nd st. bridge. We figured by the time we go downtown, he’‘d be long gone. NOOOOO! Oh NO.

We were travelling down Muhhamed Ali Blvd, and right at 1st St., the cops block us off. We were first in line at the light when they blocked off the entire intersection. Then they came and told us they were blocking it off b/c the VP was coming through in about 30 minutes. Well, by then, we’‘d already been in route to home for 3 hours.

It ended up taking 45 minutes. But we did get to see him speed by in his motorcade of limos and cop cars and ambulances (which at the time, I told Dave reminded me of that Saturn commercial about having On-Star—you know, the one where the lady’’s car is followed by the cop car, the ambulance, the firetruck, and the tow truck?). Not actually impressive, mind you. But makes for a helluva story. I mean, it took us 3 hours and 50 minutes to get from Sam’’s to our house. It would normally be a 20 minute trip!

As I sat munching on a huge vat of Utz Cheese Balls (which we’‘d purchased at Sam’’s), I told Dave this would be a fun story to wow the baby with when it gets older. LOL… Ok. Not really, but don’‘t all parents have some stupid story they like to tell about when Mom was pregnant with you?

Could We Have Prevented 9/11? – Slate tells you what Richard Clarke’’s book reveals about the Bush and Clinton administrations’’ war on terror. By Julia Turner

I was reading this sort of condensed version of Richard Clarke’’s book on Slate. It seems like it might be worth reading. I’‘m often skeptical of such books b/c of all the hype, but I think I might check this one out.

MSN Groups – More Useful Everyday

I recently joined the MSN group for Incompetent Cervix Support. So far, it’’s been nice to hear stories from other people who’‘ve been through what I’‘ve been through and who already have cerclages and are waiting on their babies. It seems that an awful lot of them have been put on bedrest, though. Which kind of freaks me out. But I’‘m willing to do what I have to do.

I had my third and final HCG level blood test today. My levels were great (at 8,185). I have my first OB appt. in two weeks and my first ultrasound in four weeks. Everything is moving along so quickly.

Today was the first day I actually got sick. I’‘ve felt queasy and had food aversions, but today, I threw up twice. Not fun, but again, it goes with the territory. I just hope it doesn’‘t last that long. But I’‘ll deal with it as long as I have to. It’‘ll be worth it.

It’’s not quite time for American Idol to come on, and I don’‘t feel like helping Dave put together our new grill down in the basement (even though he made me little pancakes for dinner b/c I felt queasy and everything else in our pantry sounded icky). So I thought I would just bs for awhile.

I’‘ve been kind of feeling left out lately. I guess I don’‘t hear from many of my friends anymore. Although, I guess they may not hear from me much either. I usually try to make some effort. Being at home all the time isn’‘t bad. But I definitely don’‘t get much socialization. Maybe I need a new hobby. I was considering taking a belly dancing class, but now that I’‘m PG, I don’‘t think that’’s a good idea.

I was considering planning some kind of girls’’ night out, but now I don’‘t feel much like being out. I can’‘t drink. Smell of smoke makes me ill. I feel too queasy for dinner. And I’‘m not much for dancing. Guess I should rethink that idea.

I think maybe tomorrow I will give Pebbles a bath. She smells doggy.

AI is on now. I’‘m gonna go pretend to watch it while my brain wanders.

I had my blood test this morning at the fertility doctor’’s office. The nurse called this afternoon. I’‘m officially pregnant. My HCG levels are at 395 now. I’‘ll have another test on Thursday to make sure they’‘re doubling properly. This is all so amazing. Sometimes I’‘m overjoyed, and sometimes I’‘m a wreck. But I’‘m feeling positive overall.

Today I’‘m also feeling sooo tired. And I’‘m extremely queasy today. It’’s hitting me earlier than it did last time. But they say all pregnancies are different. Let’’s hope this one is very different.

So Duranfan made a cool purse, and I’‘ve been inspired to try my hand at it. I bought a cigar box like hers, and I’‘m considering some Indian sari fabric, maybe scanning it and printing it out and adding some bindis and other such stuff. Might be cool. Of course, she is a nifty, talented designer type, so I’‘m sure mine won’‘t come close to the cool factor of hers. But I’‘m gonna give it a try…

Well. I had an ultrasound on Friday. Two very good sized eggs were ready. I got my HCG shot. And on Saturday morning, we had the insemination. Now we get to wait two weeks and see if it all works. Fingers crossed. Prayers being said. Hoping hoping hoping.

Yesterday we went down to Dave’’s granny and papaw’’s birthday lunch. I got to meet a lot of his dad’’s family that I hadn’‘t met before. It was a nice day overall. Except for the fact that I had about two dozen hot flashes while we were there b/c granny kept the house at 79 degrees inside and no windows were open! I kept baking!

On the way home, we stopped off to visit my mom and dad. Mom gave me a nice desk/table that I’‘m going to put in my bedroom and a bench/stool for the foot of the bed that was my sister’’s. I’‘m going to recover the seat of the stool and maybe paint it. It’’s actually kinda cool. I might go search through my fabric today for inspiration for the seat cover. Maybe I’‘ll cover it in some left over fabric from the pillows mom and I have been creating.

hmmm.