Our first CSA pick up of the summer!

This was the first year that Billy and I signed up for a CSA (community-supported agriculture) share.  We received an invitation from Christy to go to a CSA meeting, where we got to meet tons of local farmers that were trying to sell shares.  We were immediately drawn to Tagge's Famous Fruit's stand because, honestly, it had the word FRUIT in it and they were giving away a jar of peach jam if you signed up for a share.  I LOVE fruit more than I like vegetables, so this seemed like the way to go.  We paid $250 for a share of produce for the summer (July - October). 

We were especially looking forward to all the fresh fruit and vegetables while we were in Copenhagen, since we subsisted on mostly pre-cooked meals.  We counted down the days until we got our first share; I picked it up on the corner of 5th East and South Temple (right by The Wild Grape (go there for brunch and order the beignets!  They come with melted chocolate and raspberry dipping sauce!))  We received a little thing of raspberries, some romaine lettuce, 5 zucchinis, a whole bunch of basil (which I turned into a deliciously yummy pesto for dinner tonight), and rainier and red cherries:

The Rainier cherries are the yellowish ones.

This bowl was half full last night; Billy and I kept on eating them and eating them until we got stomachaches.  I think Nacho really enjoyed them, though.  

By the way, while I'm on a delicious food kick, if you live in SLC, please go to Ekamai.  It's a Thai food place on 3rd South, right in front of Pioneer Park and next to another delicious place, Bruge's Waffles.  Anyhow, they have really great curry, but the killer is their dessert: sticky rice with mango.  The first time I put it into my mouth and the warm rice and coconut milk sweetness melted all over my tongue, I about passed out.  Add to the really fresh mango slices that are slightly cold and you're in dessert heaven (one of my favorite places to be).

Billy's first interview (by me) OR Questions every girl has about what guys think of pregnancy

Billy was sort of hesitant to do this interview.  I was going to allow him to type his answers, but he's been so busy and he wasn't really looking forward to it, so I got him while he was in bed and looking up his World Cup bracket info, so the answers are pretty much verbatim. 

These questions were all ones I had been interested in in general about what men thought when their girlfriends or wives went through pregnancy and birth. 

How did you feel when you first heard (saw) the news that we were pregnant?
I wasn't surprised and I was really excited.  I was sad that you didn't wait (to take the pregnancy test) for me.   (Background: I had been peeing a lot for the past week.  I knew that I was pregnant.  I wanted to make sure that I had missed my period before I took the test.  We decided to take the test on a Saturday.  The night before, Billy, his brother, and his mother all went to Wendover to go gambling.  On the ride home from Wendover, I could tell that Billy was not going to be coming home that night (i.e. he was more than a bit tipsy) and it upset me because I had told him that I was going to take the test first thing in the morning (morning urine has higher concentration of hCG, the hormone that you release when you're pregnant).  So, when I woke up and he wasn't there, I decided to take it anyway and I left the stick out for him to see in the bathroom when he got home.)

You used to go out.  A lot.  How has life changed for you since finding out?
First of all, I didn't go that much like you think I did.  And also, I haven't gone out for a while since before I knew that you were pregnant.  So, once I knew, um, that I lost my best drinking partner, I had even less reason to go out.  And, um, yeah, and we don't even drink...I mean, I don't even drink anymore.  Like we have a full liquor cabinet, full of unopened bottles. 

I used to be fun, sexy, and funny.  In what ways have I changed?
None.  With an exclamation point.  I actually think you're a lot nicer to me since you've been pregnant.  I mean, you were nice before, but...

How have I been nicer to you? 
You've um...I don't know, you're just really sweet.

What is the most interesting thing you have learned about pregnancy?
Oh my God.  To me the most interesting thing, I think me and most every other guy thinks of, uh, birth as like, um, water breaks, rush to the hospital, lays down in a bed, there's lots of screaming and pacing, and then it's done.  So to me, the concept of a birth plan was for sure the most interesting thing, because it was really interesting to learn interesting philosophies and realizing that women do have or should have a choice in how they give birth.  And really that there's different camps, you know...just the fact that your aunt says, Love you, epidural all the way, and you're like, yeah not doing that.  Or the Thai food guy who says, oh yeah, my wife had a planned C-section.  It's interesting that other people have different ways of doing it.

Tell me the truth.  How do you really feel about the changes my body has undergone? 
Look, I really don't mind.  I tell you that all the time.  I think your belly is cute on you and it's by far not big.  You barely gained any weight, you still look beautiful, I don't see what the big deal is.  Plus, even if ... people who do care, it's your kid in there.  How could you not love that?

How do you think you'll feel about my breasts when I start breastfeeding? 
I'm still gonna like them.  I probably won't have my mouth on them very much, but they're on loan to Nacho.  It's ok.

How do you think you'll feel if sex postpartum doesn't feel the same as it used to?
You really wanna ask me that? (yes!) I'm sure it will be fine.  (But what if it doesn't feel the same?) I'm sure it will be fine!

What part of labor/delivery are you most worried about? 
Seeing you in pain.  And, like, the lack of control because problems aren't that bad if you feel that you can do something about them, but just sort of being a cheerleader will be hard and I'm hoping that you don't say some things you don't mean to me, but I'll understand if you do.

What about being a dad are you looking forward to the most? 
I think the toddling, because I honestly am still a little bit scared of babies, but when they're toddlers and they start talking and you can teach them things and they want to play with you and do the same repetitive stuff over and over, I like that.  I'm also excited to take a ton of photos and be like the people I used to hate who took a ton of photos of their kids.  I want to be that person.

What about being a dad scares you the most? 
I don't know if it's really "scares," but I know that I'm going to have to tell our kid not to do things that I know I did and I'm going to feel really hypocritical.  If we have a daughter and she starts dating, that's gonna be scary.  And I think that probably the first time I'm alone with Nacho, it will be exciting, but after that it's going to be a little bit like, "I hope I don't eff this up."

What has been the weirdest change you've seen in me (physical or emotional)? 
I don't feel like you've really changed that much, to be honest, or if you have changed, it's been so slow that it couldn't be noticed.  It's actually weird to think back to what you used to look like; I'm more used to this.  When you weren't pregnant seems like a long time ago.  It's kind of weird to think of the first belly bump pictures we took; that seems weird to me now because it's kind of like an actual transition, but it still seems like a very long time ago.

What advice would you give to your male friends who just found out their girlfriends/wives were pregnant? 
Shoot, I don't know.  Be nice.  I would hope that they would be happy about it and we could give high fives or a hug or whatever guys do.  But if they were scared about it, I'd tell them that they have 9 months to come to terms and be mentally prepared about becoming a parent, so by the time the baby's born, you'll be ready.

We both never wanted to have kids when we first met.  What changed within you to want to have kids with me?
I think it was the combination of me and you being together because I for sure never wanted to have a kid with anyone else.  I mean, back then, having a kid was a consequence, like an AWFUL consequence.  With you, it was different.  It was like an exciting thing, I wanted to create something with you, you know?  And so, um, what changed within me was finding someone that I actually wanted to be with.  Maybe people who don't wanna have kids need to find the right person to be with.  But then again, I think it's good for people to not wanna have kids.  Because like, I'm excited that we're having a kid, doesn't mean that I think, "oh my God, everyone should go have kids."

 

Scarlett's Growing Gut Timeline: 36 weeks

Preconception: This is when I was working out pretty much everyday.

Yay!  Definitely 2 lines on our first test!

 6 weeks and bloat

8 weeks and LOTS of bloat

12 weeks

16 weeks

20 weeks

24 weeks

28 weeks

 32 weeks

36 weeks

By the way, has anybody EVER thought about fetuses' comfort factor when they're just hanging out, face down, all scrunched up?  I wonder if they find me as uncomfortable as I find them :)

I woke up at 6am this morning after only about 5 hours of sleep.  I'm getting really anxious about everything and have a hard time with the fact that these last few weeks are all I have left as me.  In about a month, I'm going to be some little creature's entire world and, sometimes, I get absolutely terrified.  Sometimes, I still feel like I'm 16 years old and not old enough to be having a baby.  But then I take a deep breath and watch an online episode of America's Got Talent and it goes away.

P.S. My little brother John and I used to geek out every week while growing up by watching Star Trek: TNG (The Next Generation).  The guy you see on my TV is Geordi La Forge.  I wish I would've caught Capt. Picard on the TV instead...he was my favorite ("Well done, nomba won!")

Ancient History: Childhood

Billy wanted so badly to be a basketball player.  That was his big dream, to play for the NBA.  I told you all how Billy's dad bought him a basketball hoop and told him, like it was the most serious thing in the world, that Billy had to practice everyday or his dad would take away the hoop.  And Billy did.  Everyday.  But as Billy grew more and more and then stopped growing (sometime in junior high school), his dad informed him that his dreams of being a basketball player were pretty slim-to-none.  Even nowadays, when I ask Billy what would be his dream job if he could have it, he still says NBA basketball player.  :)

This is the guy, Thurl Bailey, that Bill's mom would say was Billy's dad when people asked who he was.  Look at how big his hands are!  And doesn't Billy look exactly like that little kid from Jerry Maguire? I love this picture...it cracks me up :)

Me in 1st grade.  Interestingly, as I grew older, my hair got darker.  Don't know if it was all those Miami summers out in the sun.  Also notice the missing front tooth :(  At this point in my life, I refused to wear pants because pants were for boys.  Imagine the embarrassment I endured when my mother, a 6-foot-tall-short-haired-pants-wearing mother, would come and pick me up from school :)  Mom, you were hot and I'm sorry that I was embarrassed of you. 

Ancient History: Pre-adolescence

I promised a long time ago that I would post pictures of me and Billy as kids.  So, here are a few that I thought were worth sharing (and laughing at).

We both went through kind of an awkward phase:

You really can't tell in this pic, but I have really little bangs with the whole "fan-wave" on the top.  

 That's Billy with a Jazz basketball player.  Yeah...pretty awkward phase.

Awkward phases are fantastic!  I barely even knew I was going through one when I was younger (thank God) and only realized it as an adult when I looked back at all my pictures from the 90s.  Nacho will undoubtedly go through an awkward phase and I can't WAIT to document it all.  I'm going to be the most obnoxious mom, the kind that takes way too many pictures of her kid.  I can't WAIT to pick out his clothes and then have him tell me that he's old enough to do it himself.  It's so funny how kids cycle through the same steps (utter devotion to complete embarrassment of you) today as they did several years ago.  They're so predictable, it makes me laugh.  I'm totally looking forward to all those awkward hormonal changes (only if it's a boy...if Nacho's a girl, that's something that I'm definitely not looking forward to because other boys will be undergoing hormonal changes at the same time AND I was such a little brat to my parents when I was going through puberty.) 

First meeting with my doula

On Wednesday night, we had our first real meeting with my doula April.  We went over my birth plan (definitely going to leave that for another post) and talked about things that I was comfortable/uncomfortable with during labor and delivery.  One of the things we talked about is whether or not I wanted music during labor. 

I've read in several of my pregnancy books that music may help some women through their labor.  Most of the women say that classical music or background music (softly running water, whale sounds, etc) helped the most, but I think this playlist seems a lot more fun and timing appropriate than whale sounds:

Get the Party Started by P!nk

Sweet Emotion by Aerosmith

Waterloo by ABBA

Hurts So Good by John Cougar Mellencamp

I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles

Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

I Can’t Stand It by The Velvet Underground

I Wanna Be Sedated by The Ramones

Everything’s Just Wonderful by Lily Allen

I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor

Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon

Push It by Salt-N-Pepa

Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash

I’m Coming Out by Diana Ross

Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley  

Beautiful Day by U2  

Taken from a post on pregnancy and newborn magazine. 

In all reality, I'm probably not going to be in the mood to lip synch to Jon Bon's living on a prayer and will opt for the classical/yoga/putumayo CD playlist, but Billy and I have decided to make several playlists and see what kind of works the best.

Did any of my mom friends use music during their labor?

Being pregnant in the summer...

sucks.  I'll admit...everybody was right (still doesn't mean they had to rub it in my face). 

Yesterday was 98 freaking degrees out!  Do you know that means for my sanity when I'm carrying 15 extra pounds and climbing into a locked car that's been sitting out in the sun all day?  I whine sooooooo much every single day. 

So, if you're pregnant in the summer and as miserable as I am, I recommend you do the following things:

WEAR A BRA.  You don't want to have to explain the line of sweat that forms right below your boobs that enhances your belly from the sweat that drips down from the underside of your breasts. 

SLEEP NAKED.  preferably with a fan blowing right at you. 

EAT COLD APPLESAUCE.  It really helps to cool you down. 

TAKE A SHOWER.  A cold one.  And stick your head under the water even though it will literally take your breath away and you'll pant from the shock. 

INVEST IN ONE OF THESE:

Kiddie pool bought at Smith's for 10 bucks.  It's a godsend.  Bill and I enjoyed the pool.  Pirate wasn't having it.  

WEAR LEGGINGS or BIKER SHORTS if you're wearing a skirt.  Trust me...the minute you start walking, the minute you start getting inner leg stickiness and that's when your inner thighs start rubbing together and that's when you start chafing.  

DON'T BOTHER DOING YOUR HAIR.  Especially if it includes heated materials.  Just the act of lifting your arms over your head is enough to make your forehead pour beads of sweat.  Just pull it back in a ponytail and be done with it.

DRINK LOTS OF WATER.  This goes without saying, but here, in the desert, you can dehydrate pretty quickly.  I know it will be difficult to even want to move from your couch to the kitchen, but make sure that you have some water near you at all times.  You'll feel a lot better.  

Happy dog days of summer...and for all those of you thinking about getting pregnant anytime soon, plan for an anything-but-the-summer birth if at all possible.