who we lovingly refer to as "the bean." we often joke on this blog about how much we can possibly take on in as short a time as possible...the wedding, the move, the changes in career. i'm sure in jest we've gone so far as to say that all we need to do now is have a kid to round out our impressive list of life stressors...in just a few short months we can check it off the list! jokes aside, we are incredibly excited to welcome the little one into our lives, and are fortunate to have an excellent support system in place to ease us through the transitions as gently as possible.
i will now answer the ten most common questions we seem to get about the baby in order of popularity so everyone who is interested can get up to speed:
1. i am 21 weeks, 2 days today, due date is right around our first anniversary.
2. yes, we are finding out gender, and are thrilled to be having a girl!
3. yes, we have a few favorite names picked out. no, we are not telling you (or anyone), no matter how much you beg or how good you are at keeping secrets. there are too many stories about parents who picked the perfect name only to be talked/shamed out of it because of other people's gut reactions. plus, it's fun to have one secret! you will have to wait and see.
4. we have always "planned" to have kids, but did not expect to have one quite so soon. however, we prefer to think of her as a very pleasant and welcome surprise, and neither of us have ever had an "oh sh*t" moment...at least not yet! and what's it to ya, anyway?! amazing what people will ask without a second thought...kinda like complete strangers rubbing your belly. how is that acceptable?
5. i am not sure what's going to happen with school, but am very committed to finishing my degree, regardless of how long it takes. fortunately, the faculty and staff at my school have been incredibly supportive and promise to be as accommodating as possible...the plan is to take it how it comes an hope for a quick recovery.
6. i am feeling pretty great these days...but believe me, i paid my dues (as did david and anyone else who interacted with me between weeks 5-17 or so). fortunately, maternal amnesia has already erased much of what were the worst few months of my life...essentially, my entire existence suffocated under a shroud of nausea and vomiting 24 hours a day for that period, so pervasive that i was incapable of even maintaining a brief conversation with anyone. i focused all of my attention on getting through school without anyone noticing how ill i was, and spent most of my time on my back trying to study in the apartment. i could not eat, i could not cook, i could not even read about food...it was a pretty bleak time for somebody who relishes in food and physical activity. fortunately, my husband is very patient and the cats took good care of me when he was away:
remarkably, the nausea is totally gone now, and after a couple of weeks of pretty limiting hypotension, i'm feeling good, energetic, and very positive. i'm appreciating the comfort while it lasts!
7. she moves around often now, but i've noticed that she only gets really excited around david, particularly when he is watching football. i will sit there trying to study while david is screaming things like " NO FLAGS!" or "FACEMASK!" and his daughter is thrashing around in solidarity in my abdomen. conversely, i share my body with her, read her stories, and sing to her without so much as a nudge. the first strong kick i got from the bean was during the final moments of a charger's game (to which i certainly wasn't paying attention), and david first felt her during penn state's winning drive over lsu. it appears as though david will finally have better company to watch games with, since i can't even stay awake through a full four quarters (even in public).
8. i don't have any specific cravings or aversions. the first several months i was averted to literally everything (see 6)...i got by on random things i ate as a kid, like super sugary cereals, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. while it definitely blew to not be able to put much in my mouth, now that i'm finally getting my appetite back, it's nice not to be turned off by any specific thing (unlike my mom, who still cannot eat ginger or onions since her pregnancy with me). i've noticed i eat a lot more dairy and citrus products now than i used to, and i'd never go out of my way to eat chicken. other than that, i eat everything these days, and my tolerance for spice seems to have increased...i surprised everyone by eating an entire raw jalapeno with dinner a few nights ago, and it was delicious.
9. yes, david is very excited! and yes, i agree he's going to be, like, the best dad ever. yes, our parents too are head-over-heels already. honestly, i expected at least a comment or two about how i may have timed this better, but i underestimated the sway of first grandchild. they are overjoyed and standing by to help as much as possible--we are very lucky.
10. NO, we are NOT declawing the cats! EVER. don't even get me up on this soapbox, which is now even more militant with pregnancy hormones coursing through my veins. next person who asks is getting *their* distal phalanx chopped off without consideration of how it might affect their life.
now you are all caught up. here's hoping for an uneventful completion of the pregnancy, a smooth labor and delivery, and most importantly, a healthy baby girl in 20 more weeks. everything seems to be headed that way so far, so send us your positive vibes and we will keep you posted!
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there's not a whole lot to report regarding this holiday season...david had a particularly poor schedule as i mentioned in the last blog and had no time off, and i spent almost the entire 6 weeks i had off lying in our bed or on our couch. i did not read a book, i did not watch tv, i honestly can't tell you what i did day in and day out for that many weeks...i just totally zoned out and regained some of the life force that had been sucked out of me over the previous weeks. it was wonderful.
however, there are a few highlights that i'll mention for posterity's sake:
our first real christmas tree! well, real in size...it's fake. but we did buy a pine scented candle so we could pretend it was real. i insisted upon getting an absurdly large tree to go in our smallish apartment, and because i'm pregnant, i get whatever i want (decorations courtesy a generous donation from aunt isabel!). for the record, our tree is still standing proudly in the entire half of our living space it occupies. i cannot have my arms over my head long enough to disassemble it, and the taller one of us with more normal blood circulation has developed an attachment to this tree so profound that we need to discuss daily why it's not appropriate to keep the tree up all year round. for now, it's still standing (and lit).
somebody really loved hanging out under the christmas tree, and i think my little christmas princess looks so beautiful!
i went back to michigan in early december for the first time since moving to chicago to celebrate my mom's 37th birthday and for our cousin liz's wedding. if you're doing the mental math and trying to figure out the age difference between my 37 year old mom and i, you can just take a look at this photo from the weekend in which i'm obviously ten years older than her.
a highlight of this trip was the return to chicago, during which my niece lupe and i shared the backseat. imagine having this precious face in your lap for four hours...so sweet!
shortly after returning to chicago, jeannette left 75 and sunny san diego to get a wintry blast in the midwest. she spent a few days in chicago hoping to catch a few glimpses of david...here we are at a german christmas festival scarfing potato pancakes:
jeannette and i then parted ways with david to head up to northern michigan and celebrate christmas with my parents and the sneeds.
cristy did an amazing job decorating the house and stuffing us full of cuban delicacies. if you keep up with the blog, you remember the sneed dogs, lily and sophie:
we spent a great few days relaxing, stuffing our faces, and showering princess sophie with all the love and attention she deserves. say what you will, but nobody can resist her charms:
and perhaps most shockingly:
i'm sure some of you are thinking david must have been very lonely this holiday season, but on top of the relatively useful job of saving the lives of sick babies in the picu, he also had the vital responsibility of caring for our neighbor's bunny, louie. the two became very good friends and apaprently spent a lovely holiday together.
so, now it is back to the grind. i just finished up my second week of school and am enjoying the trade of classroom time for time in the hospital. after several weeks in various intensive care units, david is happy to be back in the emergency room, where he'll be almost exclusively for the next 2.5 years.we hope everyone had a restful, safe, and fun holiday season...until next time!
ash&david
