Busy Week #2, Test #2, and Travel to CA

Coming back from my last conference before baby, to AZ, I was exhausted all weekend. So thankful for daylight savings! Every night, I fell sound asleep at 9pm (since it felt like 10pm) but still slept to my normal time in the morning.

I spent the weekend studying, again, for a Certified Meeting Professional exam. I took it originally in July but failed. Normally, I'm a very fast studier, fast learning and good test taker. I studied using an online study program, with pre and post chapter tests and a mid test and two end tests, from February through July. I spent at LEAST 60 hours of studying and felt like I had a good grasp on the information and tested well on the modules. But because of this study program and the questions it asked, which were not from the exam, I spent a TON of time studying really specific information, like how many servers are needed for a dinner, how much sq footage per person to plan for with a classroom-style seating assuming 75-100 people vs 100+ vs 50 or less, the max height of the gap between the elevator and floor for ADA requirements, and exactly how video broadcasting work. On the actual exam, there was maybe two questions (of 165) pertaining to this. I actually had thought I'd done well on the exam so I was shocked, and really embarrassed, when I found out I'd failed. Plus the exam is $450, and I still don't yet know if I'll be reimbursed to take it a second time. My bosses didn't seem too concerned; I'm the first person in our office to ever take this exam so in that way, it was a little bit of an experiment for them. My boss/friend is also studying for the exam but she'd always intended to take the November exam. I figured I'd better retake it as soon as possible while the information was still somewhat in my mind, and before baby comes.

Studying is very stressful. I liked being an English major in college because my grading was on essays; I like reading and researching then bringing all that information together. I don't like having to memorize crap that mainly doesn't have to do with my job. There was some helpful information for my position, but a lot of it is just helpful to know in a general sense for being in the meeting industry. Generally it's my clients who are the meeting planners (picking the conference site, negotiating contracts, ordering F&B, managing the hotel block, planning special event, programming, etc) and my area of involvement is limited since we are a subcontractor (registration, exhibits management although I don't have anything to do with that, speaker support which does entail some knowledge of A/V and room sets). Anyhow, I spent another 30+ hours re-studying the material, re-reading the three different books, reviewing my notes. And I didn't feel any more prepared the second time than the first.

But... I passed! I have to wait 3-4 weeks to receive the "official" results. Apparently when one fails, they say results will be sent in 6-8 weeks, but when one passes, they report that immediately upon conclusion of the test, but then still say it'll be 3-4 weeks to "officially" be told. Annoying. So the first time, I waited over 8 weeks because they were late mailing results only to find out I failed. Why not just tell me that right away? Anyhow, I'm relieved; it's been on my mind for 9 months. Elizabeth passed too, which I'm glad she did but I would've felt a little more justified if she'd failed the first time too; of course, because of my first attempt, she did put much more time into studying, and she had studied for much longer than I had the first time. Soon, though, I'll get to go by Gretchen, CMP. Ooh la la. I thought it would maybe interesting, maybe challenging, probably good for my reputation/status in our industry to have the designation, and maybe one day beneficial for me to leverage for a pay raise in my current position. We'll see.

My cute husband took me to lunch to celebrate

So, Tuesday, Matt felt baby move for the first time! Baby moves quite a bit now and of course I feel it. It used to feel like bubbly-ness, like a gassy stomach, but now it definitely feels like twitching muscles deep inside to pokes/jabs. It's a very strange sensation, though exactly what I imagined it feels like, and it's really surprising. He catches me off-guard. But I kept trying to get Matt to feel it and baby either stopped moving as soon as Matt tried to feel, or he'd kick what felt to me to be strong but Matt couldn't feel it. Tuesday night, we were lying in bed about to go to sleep and baby started messing around, pretty hard a few times. Matt had the cutest look on his face; he looked like a kid on Christmas morning.

22 weeks: At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. Fine hair (lanugo) covers his body and his skin has deep wrinkles, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

I still haven't had a hunger surge, but I have noticed my desire to eat. I feel like I have the munchies. In the first trimester, most foods seemed gross to eat; now I just want to keep tasting things, though I'm not really feeling hungry. Problem is lately though I've had heartburn. It's not as bad as I know some have suffered with, but it's still really uncomfortable and all I can do is take Tums. They recommend not drinking too much with meals and eating small amounts, and avoiding certain foods. I swear it doesn't matter. It's just like every other day, everything I eat gives me heartburn. Alas.

I suddenly look pregnant! I've heard women just "pop" and that must've happened because it's obvious now that I'm pregnant. Yay! It's weird though, looking in the mirror and seeing the changes.

So this week, I took my last work trip before baby. I needed to go on a site visit to San Diego, for the conference in March that I'm very involved with but will be missing since our due date is the day before the conference. My boss/friend E and I flew down Thursday morning, again first thing 5am, then had a jam packed day of meetings and walking around the convention center. Mainly our objective was to think about sign placement and registration setup... but with my new CMP knowledge, I did ask some good questions about room sets, translation equipment, etc. We also got to be part of the menu tasting for a celebration dinner they're doing one of the nights. It went well enough but was really tiring for me, walking around all afternoon, no nap, with such an early morning. Still, I love being in San Diego, even if it's the convention center, and it's mostly cloudy and only 65'.

Funny, I thought- here I was back in San Diego, when the last time I was here was RIGHT before I found out we were pregnant. So *technically* baby was on that trip too ;)

My ankles were so swollen that night (it starts!!). The next day, E and I had a nice breakfast and got to talk shop, etc, while our clients toured some venues for their annual party. I'm bummed I'll miss it all. This conference, while it is exhausting for me in the preparations and the amount of my onsite involvement/responsibility (more so than any of my other conferences), I enjoy it because I've been on the project for many years and most of the association staff know me and say hi. I feel known and appreciated; plus I get to strut around with a clipboard and radio and make some decisions onsite. Oh well. Birthing my first child will be better :)

On my way home, the woman next to me on one flight said as she was getting up to leave "good luck with your baby." I'm pretty sure I hadn't rubbed my stomach on the flight or anything so it must be noticeable now. Yes!

I came home to snow last night, and a little more today that melted off when the sun came up. It was a beautiful crisp, cold day here. Now that my trips are over and the exam is over, I have a growing to-do list of various things. Time to finish my baby quilt that I started in, oh, January. Time to hang shelves in the baby's room. Time to put in the recessed shelves in his bathroom, for which I've already started cutting a hole in the drywall. Time to plan our babymoon (we're thinking Portland and some Christmas shopping). Maybe I'll even get around to actually working on the wedding scrapbook I meant to put together.