Did he just call me fat?

I'm sorry I have been a slacker again. Sometimes I feel like I have a million things to write about and other times I don't. Please keep reading anyway!

So I went to the doctor today, and I want to start by saying I love the OBGYN practice that I go to. I haven't met all of the doctors, but I especially love my doctor. That alone makes it worth it to me. My doctor is pregnant as well and due not that long after me. So, I am kind of going into this with the assumption that she won't be delivering my baby which is totally fine. I'm not one of those "I have to have this" and "I have to have that" and "everything has to be perfect" kind of moms to be (shockingly).

Today I met another doctor that could or could not deliver my baby, and I want to start by saying he was incredibly nice. I also want to say that I actually admired his up front nature due to the fact that he is talking to highly emotional, already feeling bigger than a house, pregnant women on a daily basis. He came in all business and ran through information he had to tell me first and then asked for my questions/concerns. His very first question to me was, "are you a big carb person?". I immediately thought, "oh God someone has found me out". My reply was, "I wasn't until I got pregnant". He then began to laugh.

That is the truth folks. I LOVED vegetables. I won't say I was the perfect eater by any stretch, but my tastes have changed dramatically. Before getting knocked up I ate a lot of vegetables and salads. I didn't care much for fruit and tried to watch my carb intake probably more so in regards to weight than anything else. However, I didn't want them all the time either. After getting pregnant my diet has consisted of more carbs than I think I realized and tons of fruit. I NEVER want vegetables or salad and meat is kind of a take or it leave it thing. So, after I replied to the doctor he told me that I had gained 4 pounds in two weeks. Honestly, I hadn't noticed. He quickly said I need to up my vegetables and proteins and cut way back on the carbs and then he moved on to something else.

When it got to be my turn to ask questions or make comments my first statement was about the back pain I have been having. He then replied that quick weight gain (along with the sheer fact that I am pregnant) can cause back pain because the body is adapting to the new weight. He said a whole bunch of other stuff too, but overall the message I got today was if you would just eat better you would feel better. It's not rocket science. I am aware.

I just kind of found myself wishing someone else had been in the room because it really did border on being called a fatty. I am positive he did not mean to make me feel that way, but it was almost comical to me how nonchalantly the conversation occurred. I kind of found myself wondering how he handles women who have gained/weigh double or even triple what I have/weigh...

At any rate, I promptly drove myself to Kroger and bought some veggies. I'm not worried about it, but I do see the point he made. I am oddly humored by the whole appointment.

By the way, he claims that baby Burrow is now head down too. He even tried to show me how I could feel for myself. Only time will tell...

Whiny baby

That's me. I have hit the realm of pregnancy where I believe no one should have to be subjected to me. Yesterday I could have drop kicked my dogs, agonizing back pain and all. I'm pretty sure Seth came home last night and for the first time (well, I'm hoping for the first time) truly saw the bitch that lies within me. I would say I am a pretty laid back person. I have tendencies of sheer irrational irritability that I believe I get outright (thanks dad), but this pregnant person is a totally different animal. I've never even seen her before and she is SCARY. This whole time I have thought to myself, pregnancy is easy! I could totally do this four more times in four years. Mark my words...Seth said he wanted five kids in five years on our second date and that was the moment I fell in love...if he even breathes such nonsense in my direction now I will not only be shocked but I will be forced to run in the other direction.

Seriously though, I feel like a wind up toy. Someone is winding a screw into my lower back that pulls the muscles that lead to my shoulder blades. This in turn sets off a signal in my brain to allow sheer frustration to come oozing out over something like putting on my socks and shoes, which then opens the floodgates. I decided today that I am just no longer bending over. If I dropped something at work I would ask the nearest kid to pick it up. Yes I got a lot of confused looks, but they did it and didn't say a word, God love 'em.

Also, if one more person sees me and they get the deer in headlights look I am going to look at their rear end or something similar and give the same look back.

On the up side, I would imagine being pregnant is like being bipolar. How is that an up side you ask? Well, I think I have mentioned this before, but there are many moments of extreme excitement and joy. I mean, wouldn't you be excited if you ate an entire box of samoas and you didn't feel bad about it AT ALL? No really, the sappy and lovey side of being pregnant makes up for the back pain and psychotic tendencies. I simply cannot wait to see ninja baby up close. Just the thought of hearing "it's a girl!" or "it's a boy!" makes me teary eyed (in the not psychotic way). I know this post makes it sound like I will never want to get pregnant again, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I just feel that brutal honesty about how I am feeling suits me better than sappy sugar coating :-)

Penguin story update

I heard from the mom of the student who told the penguin story and she said that he heard the story from his neighbor (an adult). She said she didn't know if it was true or not, but she was glad I got such a kick out of it. As it turns out from the comments this is a bit of an urban legend and my student took it to be true because the neighbor told it to him like it truly happened to someone in their family. OR it could have been that he thought that's what she meant. Either way, it did not happen to his cousin! Entertaining story though!

Random

PS - I know PS goes at the end...I just quickly want to say thank you to those who comment and who become followers...I love it!

1) I just finished watching Oprah instead of grading the mountain of papers I swore I wouldn't let pile up, and I just have to share. Three chefs from the food network were on helping three families spend less and make better meals. Usually when I see these types of things I react one of two ways. I am either overly eager to do exactly what they say or I think the whole thing is a crock. Luckily, today afforded me feeling number one. If you struggle with what to eat/make in general you should check it out....http://www.oprah.com/menu/food/menus/20090227-tows-celebrity-chef-recipes
SIDE NOTE: Seth and I eat the exact same meals every week and almost everything is grilled. However, we eat out A LOT. We eat out more so because we have this fabulous second job of cleaning doctors offices which requires one of us to not be at home one night a week (so two nights dinner gets tough). Anyway, I got in the habit of trying to go to the farmer's market every week and it has astonished me how much I save and how much better we eat. We are lucky to live 10 minutes from the market, but that doesn't mean it's "easy". The DeKalb farmer's market is one of the busiest, craziest, most amazing places to me. I don't know what half the stuff is, but the produce and meat alone make me feel like I am getting healthier every step I take in the place. I typically buy a crapload of fruits, make a huge fruit salad, and we eat it all week. I also buy our favorite meats, steak and chicken, marinate it when I get home and we grill that all week. I haven't ventured much further than fruits, meats, and vegetables because like I said, I don't know what a lot of the other stuff even is. Then, once a month I try to go to Publix to get things like toilet paper and such. AT ANY RATE (I am rambling), I find it hard to find recipes without random stuff I don't already have or typically buy. The Oprah show today gave me some GREAT ideas and when I made a grocery list from the recipes I had 80% of it already at my house.
SECOND SIDE NOTE: It is amazing what you can get accomplished when you don't want to work or get off the couch.

2) I try very hard to stay away from talking about my job on this blog because I just don't know who is reading and all that nonsense. HOWEVER, I have to share this little story because it truly made my day. My class has PE at the very end of the day and there is about a 15 minute mad dash back from PE to get everything packed up and everyone out the door so no buses are missed. At the very beginning of last year I realized quickly that I had to have a very specific, very enticing system for this 15 minutes or I would lose my mind every day at 2:15. I got the idea from another teacher in a learning college (aka, trailer) to turn off the lights and require no talking so the necessities can be done. I tried that and even I got bored. I did stick with the lights off, but I added a few things. Last year I decided that to keep the kids quiet and interested while some packed up and some sat still, we would play the game high/low. I call one group to pack up but it must be quiet enough to hear the high/lows being shared at the same time. Then I call the second and third group in a similar fashion. If you don't know what high/low is, it's a game where you simply share your high and your low of the day. I think it came from a movie....anyway, the kids LOVE it. This year, another aspect has been added to this 15 minutes and I honestly can't remember how or why. Basically, it's a super speedy version of show and tell. If the student tells me first thing in the morning that they have something to share, they can share it during that 15 minutes instead of doing their high and low. NOW is where the story begins:

Today, one of my students said he had something to share but it wasn't anything like a toy or something he could show. It was a story he wanted to tell. This particular child knows A LOT about A LOT of things, so usually his stories deal with how an explosion created Earth or the inner workings of an airplane. We were all in for a surprise today. His story goes something like this (my attempt at truly verbatim telling the story):

My cousin, who lives in Tennessee, came to visit and his grandparents took him to the Georgia Aquarium. They were having such a good time and when they got to the shark tank he kept telling his grandmother to keep a close eye on the sharks. She turned around a minute later and he was gone. They looked and looked for him and someone that works there finally said, "we found him!". To their surprise he was found in the penguin room hanging out with the penguins (Mrs. Burrow interjects and asks how old the cousin is to which the student replies "four"). His grandparents were so relieved! So they got in their car and decided to head back to Tennessee. The entire time my cousin looked very upset and nervous in the backseat of the car. Finally, his grandfather pulled the car over and turned around and said, "Ok, you aren't in trouble and we aren't going to tell your parents, but I just want to know how you got into the room with the penguins". My cousin sat there for a minute and then all he said back to his grandfather was, "I have one in my backpack". Somehow my little four-year-old cousin had a baby penguin in his backpack and they had no idea! (At this point the class is losing their mind with fits of laughter and never once thinking maybe this story isn't true). So my grandparents call the aquarium and they were told to drop the penguin off at the Tennessee aquarium. THE END.

This particular student is a fabulous storyteller but not in the sense of telling stories he makes up. He is very truthful and factual because he just knows so many facts. I am still awaiting an email back from his mother telling me if all of this did in fact happen. Until then, I am choosing to believe that somehow it did.

are we ready?

Last week we went on the hospital tour of Northside. Saturday we did an all day birthing class. I think that means we are supposed to be fully informed and ready to go. The hospital tour was really great. I left thinking I couldn't wait to come back and stay there for a few days. I mean, the labor and delivery rooms have flat screen TVs. The birthing class could have been a lot better, but it really had nothing to do with the class. I think it was just one of those things where they could have just given me the book to read and I would have been set. We watched a video made in 1972 of five births. I think the only things Seth took away from the whole day were the following:

1) He wants to have a long 70's style mustache and no beard when we go to have this baby.

2) He also wants me to be wearing glasses that are cover half my face (even though I don't wear glasses or contacts right now).

3) He wants to locate the slow motion music from the video where right after the baby comes out it is ever so slowly brought up for the mom to hold. If you see him, ask him how the tune goes. He'll probably sing it for you.

So needless to say we could have saved the money and just asked for the book. BUT, it was worth finding that out I suppose. Let's say that we are about as ready as we can be mentally.

Physically, I AM READY. This baby already weighs 4 and a half pounds. I still have 7 1/2 weeks to go! We also had another 3D ultrasound on Sunday and found out that the baby is breech. The kind of breech (called Frank) where the baby's legs are up basically straight up in front of it. Therefore, all we saw on the ultrasound was a jumble of hands and feet totally covering the face. We got one shot of the face and some insanely chubby cheeks. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed that our plump little ninja gymnast does another flip around before the big day. Mommy doesn't want to have a c-section. Of course, I just want a happy healthy baby. So whichever way it happens I will be fine with it.

Customer service is dead

*Disclaimer* What I am about to vent about is going to make me sound like a lazy snob who is your typical psycho pregnant lady. I don't care. I am the customer.

Yes, I am venting. This will be a quick one though (I always think that and eight paragraphs later I feel like a moron). At any rate, I went to the gas station and had a bit of an altercation with the guy behind the counter. I pulled up to the pump, got out, slid my card, and began to pump. Nothing happened. I honestly never in my life have done this, but I decided to push the "help me" button or whatever it's called. Nothing happened. Backing up a little bit, I rarely go to a gas station that is not QT. You could say I am a gas station snob. This is because all other gas stations seem to have problems every time I go there...case in point.

So I march (waddle) myself into the station, credit card in hand. I ask the guy if the pump is not working and he very rudely says it won't take a credit card. I then hand him my card and ask if I can just prepay. He says (again, in a tone that makes me want to hop across all of the worthless CRAP he is selling on the counter and strangle him) that I can just move my car to another pump. Now, if you are in this situation what is your first thought? Mine was that this guy is too lazy and preoccupied with God knows what to just run my card right then and there. I again say, "I'm already in here. Can't you just run my card in here?" He says that I have to know how much I am paying so I tell him $30 and hand him the card. He laughs (strangling images have turned into all out burning down the place at this point) and then says he needs my ID. Of course, in my haste I just came in with the card and he can tell that by now. SO, it's clear that he is just being an ASS to a fat pregnant lady. I look at him and say "seriously?" and storm out of the store. I mean I'm sure there are unidentifiable, crazy, gas stealing, fake identity pregnant ladies out there, but I am also 99% sure I do not appear to be one of them.

In my rage many thoughts go through my head:
1) Get in the car and passionately drive directly across the street to the other CRAPPY gas station.
2) Go back in and give him a detailed rant about customer service and marketing in an economy like this (in other words, if you want people to buy your gas don't be a total prick).
3) Go to another pump, pretend it doesn't work either, and go in and demand free gas.
4) Be a normal human being, go to a different pump, get the gas, and leave.

You may be shocked, but I chose the high road (option 4). HOWEVER, if you live in Tucker or you are ever in Tucker to visit me and you need gas, please forgo the Texaco on Lavista Rd. next to Scholtzky's. Just asking you to do that makes me feel a tiny bit better about the whole thing, hence the necessity of venting.

Dog baths and baby showers

I got home on Friday to find our electrician at our house. No surprise there. I knew he was coming on Friday to change out our beyond ancient breaker box. The house was pitch black and it was raining, so I let the dogs out and while the electrician was working I may have fallen asleep on the couch....dogs still outside. I think I only nodded off for ten minutes or so, but I looked out the window to see two very wet, very muddy dogs. I left them out there thinking I would let them in when the electrician left and give them a bath. This may seem like cruel and unusual punishment, but my dogs are not the brightest berries on the bush. Molly BEGS to go outside when the weather is bad. So, I may or may not have fallen asleep again on the couch. I awoke to the electrician asking me a question from the kitchen. I very quickly sat up and realized I had been asleep for longer than planned...or not planned really but you know what I mean. So as it turns out, I was in the dark sleeping with wet, nasty dogs outside for close to two hours (sleeping off and on mind you...not the whole time). The lights came on, the electrician left, and I prepped myself for the task at hand.

Since I have become more large and in charge, Seth has been the one bathing the dogs. I just felt really bad that they had been outside in the rain so I decided I could do it. I know Molly is harder because she's large and hates getting in the tub, so I decided to get her out of the way first. We got a removable shower head a few months ago to make it easier to bathe the dogs so I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing. Woody got shut in the laundry room and Molly and I headed to the bathroom. While it wasn't as hard as I expected, it took freaking forever. Molly was shockingly cooperative. If you can imagine, it's just slightly exhausting to be in a tub/shower with a lab for 20 minutes....pregnant. Molly absolutely refuses to shake off in the tub so I also knew cleaning the entire bathroom was in my future. So out we go both of us soaking wet along with the walls, door frames, sink, and toilet. Molly also hates being dried off. She thinks it's a big old game instead of a necessity so she charges back and forth at the towel like a bull. I'm sure that sounds funny but after two or three charges and very little drying I AM OVER IT. But, I'm already too far in to end this process now.

Next comes Woody who is a five minute cake walk when it comes to baths, but I am feeling REALLY tired now (yes I know I just took a nap). Since my clothes are mostly wet anyway, I decide to sit on the back of the tub while I bathe Woody. He promptly walks up to me and rests his sopping wet head on my belly looking at me like he's at the spa. He seems genuinely disappointed when I turn off the water and hoist him out of the tub.

This is about the time that Seth calls. I explain the situation to him and he tells me to leave the bathroom a mess and he will clean it when he gets home. Thank God for small miracles.

Little did I know we would have a blizzard today and everything you just read would occur all over again. I have to say at least I got the pleasure of watching my dogs go to town in the snow. The video may seem boring, but it really made my weekend!

Lastly, I can't leave out the baby shower/cookout we had on Saturday. Seth's friends have been trying to get together for a cookout about once a month and this month they decided it would be a baby shower for us. I only took one picture, but I know other pictures were taken so when I get those I will post them. At any rate, the one picture I took has a story behind it that is in no way meant to offend anyone. You have to know that Seth's sense of humor relies on two things...making people uncomfortable and pushing the limits. A couple of weeks ago we went to dinner at Adam and Michelle's house and told them this story: At our last doctor's appointment we were seeing a midwife we had not met and Seth tried to convince me to ask her if we could come up with a contingency plan in case the baby came out black. AGAIN, not meant to be offensive in any way and no I did not let him ask her that. Adam and Michelle thought it was pretty funny though and they were in charge of the cake for the shower....