Enjoying the Summer

It seems to take awhile before it really feels like summer in Central Oregon, but it finally feels like we're in the midst of it. Our garden and vegetables are coming right along; we haven't really harvested anything except rhurbarb, which is going crazy this year (finally! Not that I like rhurbarb all that much).

Last weekend, we had quite the eventful time. Friday, Matt was in a golf tournament of one of his customer's. I had considered playing too, but given this would be my first game of golf, I didn't really want to spend $80 to look like an idiot in front of a lot of people. Maybe I'd do it for $30. So Matt talked them into letting me drive the cart, which I did very well, thank you. That was fun, except I had my first touch of "morning sickness," I guess; I felt a little hungover all morning. Fun. Matt did pretty well with his team and it did make me want to give it a swing, sometime.

The next morning we drove with my parents to my Aunt Kathy's wedding in Cottage Grove. It was a beautiful day and a lovely ceremony in their yard. Par for the course, I cried. They seem very happy together and the whole thing was just very sweet. Yay for love!

On Sunday, we took our time getting home. The men did some shooting then wanted to stop at Cabella's on the way home. While in the mall, we discovered a batting cage, which, naturally, they had to try. Two peas, I swear.

Then, Sunday night, because apparently my parents have a very busy summer schedule and this is the only time they could fit us in, we took Mom and Dad on a starlight canoe tour with Wanderlust Tours. Okay, so, I'm sure we could've rented our own canoes, being locals. But from where? And where would we go? And how would we transport them there? And when would we actually ever get around to doing it? A few years ago, I took my friend Jen Lippy on this tour when she was in town and we had a blast. I always wanted to take my mom on it so as a belated birthday gift, and belated father's day gift, we did this tour.

They took us to Sparks Lake at sunset and we paddled around as the sun went down. Bats were swooping to catch bugs. The stars all came out. It was chilly (high 30's) but it was beautiful. Dad acted a little... tired... at first but I think he eventually enjoyed it. At one point, we stopped on a little beach and made a campfire and had hot chocolate; that helped the shivers. The guide was pretty good too, WAY too soft-spoken/quiet but he had a lot of interesting geographical and biological information. It ended up being a late night, but it was fun. It only strengthened Matt's desire to buy a canoe though ;)

Mt Bachelor at sunset

 

Broken Top

 

South Sister

This week, we had our first OB appointment, or rather an appointment with her nurse to receive a bunch of information (most of which we already knew) and to give a bunch of medical history (most of which I'd already written down on the form they asked us to fill out prior to our appointment but then obviously didn't read). And I had a bunch of blood drawn for tests. Pretty uneventful. Matt was disappointed because he was hoping we'd get to hear the heartbeat. Guess that's next time when it's a bit stronger.

Our official due date is March 10, 2013. Not that this matters too much as apparently only something like 20% of women give birth on the due date. We want to start a sex/due date pick-em soon. We won't know the sex until between Weeks 18-22 when the genitals can be seen on an ultrasound, which will be late October during our appointment in Week 20, I think.

We also found out, which I hadn't exactly realized, that the OB's clinic rotates who is on call and, according to the nurse, there's a 30% chance that our OB will be on call when I'm in labor and will deliver our baby. So likely it will be one of the other five OBs in the clinic, who I may or may not meet. Which is fine with me as long as the person honors my birthplan, assuming that it's medically safe and possible, and doesn't push to toward unnecessary procedures. I'd be more inclined to seek out a midwife, and I think there are some in town that have facilities so it's not a home birth, but it doesn't look like our insurance covers midwifery.

Here's what's happening with Baby Heb at 7 weeks: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point. Technically, baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of the tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry. 
Inside the womb, developing are eyelid folds partially covering her eyes, which already have some color, as well as the tip of the nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of baby's brain are growing, and the liver is churning out red blood cells until bone marrow forms and takes over this role. Baby also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in baby's growing intestines is bulging into the umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from the tiny body.
Pretty adorable pic huh?

We made our first real baby purchase and Matt bought a bassinet from a customer. It looks like it's in nice shape and it's small enough to fit in our already cramped bedroom for the first few weeks or months.

So far, I'm feeling pretty good, just tired. Every other day is hard and tiring. And I'm not sleeping well, partially due to the 5x I have to pee and partially due to... restlessness? I'm not achy but I'm wakeful like I am after I've done a hard workout and my legs are crampy and achy, except I wake up and nothing actually hurts, just a general sense of discomfort, I guess. And it doesn't feel as good to lay on my back, and it definitely feels awful to lay on my stomach. Plus it's tough to quiet my mind. Before we got pregnant, I'd been taking Biotone, which was prescribed by my naturopath, to help me sleep and it was AMAZING! I've never slept so well in years (I've noticed that since my car accident, I don't sleep as soundly, etc, as I did before). So I'm bummed I can't take that anymore, though I did find out I can take melatonin. Still, I've just been trying to keep it pretty natural and not expose baby to any drugs at this important developmental stage if I can stand it. But, every other day, I just feel really tired, like I'm behind on my sleep, but then it's hard to nap. And 12-3pm is a tough time of day to get through, not sure if the summer heat also contributes. I could see though, at this stage, that if you had a reason not to necessarily expect you were pregnant (like friends I've had who got pregnant while on the pill, and I never had my period while on the pill), you might not know you're pregnant. Things are growing, not just internally, (and HURT) but I'm also not exercising much (need to get better at that and start walking regularly if I'm not comfortable with the idea of running, although nurse also said it was probably fine in moderation). It just feels like I'm getting chubby and tired. I don't have any sense of the baby so it still feels really surreal, like playing house, to say I'm pregnant. Although, in my opinion (because I am noticing some changes in my body), I definitely look a little different, but as I said, mostly just like I'm getting chubby :(

At the end of the week, I went to my office for two days for a bunch of meetings, which was great to see everyone. Of course, it also spurred me starting to think more seriously about work life, etc, after baby is here and what we'll do and what's realistic and what we can afford. Not the fun part of the process. But more on that later.

For now, Matt found a cheap canoe on Craigslist and we're going to FINALLY go camping! First time for me in a few years at least. So it's to the great outdoors for us!!