One in a million

By kate on July 30th, 2005

When we confirmed that I was pregnant, Steve presented me with a very light cardboard box. The inside was filled with packing peanuts and a few folded index cards, with a point value written on the outside of each. He explained that whenever I needed cheering up, I could reach into the box and open a card with a point value that corresponded to the severity of my mood. The points varied from 1 to 10, and the cards would be replaced as they were used up.

It was such a thoughtful gift! I’ve opened a handful of cards so far, even though things haven’t been too bad, because Steve was excited for me to get going. Inside each card is written a location in the house, and that’s where the gift itself is located, if it’s tangible (a new kind of tea, cheddar crackers). A couple of times I’ve gotten a coupon for back scratching, which is one of my favorite things.

Anyway, one index card boasted a one million point value. My inclination was to save that for a REALLY rainy day. However, Steve had encouraged me not to wait forever, so earlier this week when I had a very stressful workday (the culmination of a month of the same), I decided to bite the bullet and get the one-million-point gift.

To tell the next part of this story, I have to take a few steps back.

First, when I was growing up, my parents had a pram. Short for “perambulator”, this was an expensive British baby carriage in navy blue with white and chrome accents. It’s what you might picture a very proper nanny would use to take an infant Prince to get some fresh air. I’m not sure what prompted the purchase, really, or where they even knew to buy such a thing in the days before the internet. In any case, it was a unique fixture of our childhoods until we got too big to ride in it, at which point it was suspended on hooks from our garage ceiling along with outgrown bicycles. (Postscript: now that my parents have graduated into grandparenthood, the pram has been refurbished and spit-shined for new little visitors.)

A month or two before we were trying to get pregnant, we walked by a closed consignment store and I saw something I didn’t know existed: a stroller-sized version of the pram! Because of the store’s limited hours, it was a few days before I could get back, and by then it had been sold. I was crushed! I knew I would never encounter another one so easily.

You’re probably guessing what comes next. When I opened the door to our attic (the location on the million-point card), there was the very same stroller! Steve had snuck back to the store in the intervening days and bought it. I was thrilled and amazed. It needs a little cleaning and shining, but it’s sturdy and as classy as ever. The handle even folds flat for transport (although it will probably stay at our house most of the time).

Not only did it cheer me up a million points’ worth that day, it makes me smile every time I think of it.

Filed under: pregnancy, relationships | 3 Comments »

The afternoon wall

By kate on July 28th, 2005

I’m finding a consistent pattern in how I feel in the afternoons. A little while after lunch, my energy goes down and I want a nap. The feeling sticks with me all afternoon, pretty much, even if I have a pot of tea. (I tend to have low-caffeine tea in the afternoons.)

I keep saying to myself that one day I’ll leave early and actually take a nap at home. So far, it hasn’t worked out with my workload.

Filed under: pregnancy | Comment now »

Met a midwife

By kate on July 27th, 2005

Steve and I had a preliminary appointment with a midwife today, to get to know her a little and see what we thought. She was knowledgeable, experienced, and straightforward. Steve and I realized afterwards that we were expecting someone charismatic, but she was more laid back than that. She answered our questions, and we generally liked her, although not so very much that we’ll go with her without interviewing anyone else.

We’re still leaning heavily toward the birth center / midwife route, I think, and specifically toward the Montlake Community Birth Center. It’s a very nice, clean, spacious facility that makes one feel comfortable. I’m fairly confident I’ll have a healthy birth, so we’re most likely to go that route. We just need to find the right midwife. It may be the one we met today, or maybe someone else.

Next up: An appointment with an OB (for contrast).

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Biding time

By kate on July 26th, 2005

When I was little, and my birthday or Christmas was coming up, I had trouble waiting through what seemed like an impossibly huge number of days. My parents came up with a cool idea that really got me through the anticipation.

They had me create a linked chain of paper loops, one loop per day. (The loops were made by cutting strips of paper and gluing one end to the other.) Every day, I’d rip off a loop. It really helped my perspective – even when it seemed like there was still a really long time left, I could see the tangible difference between how long the chain had been at the beginning, and how long it was a week (or whatever) later. The usual time frame was about a month.

Now, I’m again waiting impatiently for an event that seems an impossible number of days away. So, with a little sheepish silly feeling, I turned to my old reliable coping mechanism and pulled out scissors and glue. The past couple of nights I spent some time cutting up 220 strips of various multicolored wrapping paper, writing a date on each, and gluing them in a chain.

It turned out quite long (probably over 40 feet) and garishly festive-looking. Steve said it wasn’t too obnoxious, so we decided to put it along the back of the mantel – visible, but not right in front of the eyes. As he predicted I would, I giggled with self-consciousness and delight as I ripped the first link.

Filed under: handiwork, pregnancy | Comment now »

Looking for Linux gurus!

By kate on July 26th, 2005

My team at Jobster needs a Linux expert. Know anyone good?

Jobster is looking for a Linux System Engineer

View job

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Are you my Mommy?

By kate on July 22nd, 2005

I’ve been giving some idle thought to what I’ll be called as a parent. The default is “Mom” – what my own mother was called, and I think the majority of people in this country use Mom. I’d be OK with Mom.

“Mama” has gotten a bit of hip cachet these days (from Hip Mama), and I could see being “Mama” as well.

I kind of cringe when I think of being “Mommy“. I don’t know why, I just don’t like it. It sounds like the whine is already built in. Oddly, I don’t have the same problem with “Daddy”.

“Ma” is a name I want to like. Steve and I sometimes joke about being Ma and Pa: “Storm’s comin’, Ma.” “Tomatoes’re gettin’ big, Pa.” I think it would be fun to be Ma and Pa, but I’m not sure we could pull it off.