#15

I find that it's hard not to focus on 'baby stuff.' I wanted to do an entry about other things and all of my thoughts about 'other things' are so intertwined with 'baby stuff.' So, I'll do my best.

Work. I really do love my job, I love working with my clients. The things I don't love seem to be taking up a lot of my time recently, like doing tons of paperwork, so it makes it harder to love my job. One of the best things about my job is the flexibility of my schedule. I've thought about changing positions, there was an opening for a Training Coordinator, but that would require having a set schedule and working from the office everyday. I like that I can work from home some days and leave the house later on other days and work later evenings. I like that I can pretty much make my schedule however I want as long as I get my work 'mostly' done. I've come to the realization that getting my work totally done is not possible, so I'm happy with mostly. Anyway, all of these thoughts are def. connected to baby stuff, as I like having the option of staying at home maybe one day a week with the baby. We'll see how it all pans out.

Related to work, is licensing. I have been studying with Livier pretty much every weekend for the past two months...I was hoping to be ready to take the test by the beginning of January, but that doesn't seem to be a realistic goal at this time. I'm not doing as well on my practice tests as I'd like to be doing and I've really only made a dent in the reading materials. I wish I had more energy and time to dedicate to studying, but by the time I'm done with my work day I am BEAT. I've thought about trying to flex a day at work to study, and I might start doing that...as long as I can continue to be 'mostly' caught up at work. I would really love to get licensed before the baby is born, but if I don't pass the first test, i can't retake it for six months. It's stressful thinking about it...but I'll continue to work towards it and I will be licensed someday.

Anyway, I'm hungry now so I'm going to go eat something. I've learned not to wait too long to eat or I get even more emotional than I used to get. It's great, I cry at least once a day...usually about something i hear on the radio or see on the TV...usually things that shouldn't make me cry. Anyway, I'm off before I start crying. :)

#14 Baby stuff

Well, I'm 17w6d today...basically 4.5 months. Everything seems to be moving along. We had a minor scare at the Dr. on Friday, she couldn't find the heartbeat with the doppler even though they had found it a month ago. I had a mini heart attack, but then we got to have a quick ultrasound and saw our little merht. He/She seemed bigger an his/her heart appeared to have a strong heart beat. My dr. commented on my strong heartbeat because that's all she could pick up on the doppler. I'm guessing it was difficult to find the heart beat because the baby is higher now and in a more padded area.

I have felt some movements, more like twitches in the belly. The Dr says I can look forward to feeling more consistent movements after 20w. I'm just worried that feeling more movements will completely spark up my ADHD and I'll loose all of my attention span, I guess we'll see. I have lost about 10lbs since I found out I was pregnant, four lbs were in the past month. I may be following in my mother's footsteps, she lost 25lbs with each pregnancy. Something about having an alien in your belly jump starts the thyroid or something. Even though all of my clothes still fit, I have succumbed to maternity pants because my regular pants would just push on my belly when I sat down (which is painful, i had to keep unbuttoning my pants), and slide off when I stood up. I must say, maternity pants are super comfortable, and I may just switch to wearing maternity pants for the rest of my life. LOL, jk.

We've been trying to figure out our finances for before and after the baby comes. All I can say is, day care and diapers are freakin' expensive. It appears we would be able to save money if we used a cloth diaper service. My parents used cloth diapers and are big proponents. I would love to be able to use my own cloth diapers and not have to use a service, but we don't have a washer/dryer in our apartment so that's a no go. Figuring out daycare is going to be stressful, so I really don't want to think about it too much at the moment.

Here are some things that I've been looking at that I really like:

Magnetic baby clothes. It seems like a fantastic idea, just not sure if they would stay securely fastened.

Granola Babies. A shop in Costa Mesa. I will probably register here. They have this carrier that I think is a great idea, the Beco Gemini. I think Justin and I could both use it.

And of course I love Lil Devils in Long Beach. I just wish they had a website so I could register online for my non-local friends (which is pretty much everyone).

Finally, the diaper service that makes the most sense to me. Luludew Diapers.

Oh, another thing that my mom and I have been searching for are Front Snap Onesies. They are so much easier than crotch snap onesies but they are pretty difficult to find. I found a few places that carry them. Yay!


Anyway, Just some updates on babyness so that I can also remember and keep track. I'll probably do a non baby entry next. :)