Nat and I don't get out nearly as much as was typical for us, now that I'm constantly exhausted and did something wack to my hip/sciatic nerve about a month ago that gives me a nice limp after I walk half a mile or so. BUT, now that we have the car, we can get to places like the East Bay hills and the Oakland Zoo without a killer bike ride. We decided to check out the zoo yesterday, after hearing good things about it from friends and a friend-of-a-friend who works there. It's okay. I've never been a big zoo fan, but can usually talk myself out of becoming overly depressed if there's a lot of hands-on education and an overt focus on conservation. Neither seemed overly represented in Oakland, but there were some cool exhibits. Nat and I both liked the insects, we got an inch away fro the underbelly of a black widow...wicked! But I liked the fruit bats the best. Bats are just so cool - like little foxes dressed in vampire costumes. These were all outside hanging under shade cloth, so we could really check them out up close. Heck, every zoo has elephants and monkeys, but it's not often you can get close enough to stoke the underbelly of a 2 foot. bat.
The zoo was a also a great place to observe baby gear and parenting tactics. The entire place was carpeted in infants and toddlers. Nat and I only saw one other childless pair. It was a little overwhelming. I've always been a child-watcher, but these days I tend to watch with a much more critical eye - both for the gadgetry and the parental psychology. I got some good research done on strollers, and also some sweet athletic tactics for scooping a toddler on the run. A spider monkey couldn't have done it better. Maybe I'll practice with Oliver. Oooo...we could make Oliver a bat for Halloween.
Oliver in all his glory...
As some of you know, Nat and I are really fond of our cats. We have a lot of routinized games we play with each of them (Maize loves hide-n-seek and magic carpet ride, Oliver does lion tricks with his sparkley cat dancer and a tube), Oliver gets a chair pulled up to the table for him at dinner (he likes to watch us eat), Maize has a special box at the foot of the bed and Oliver is usually in the bed, I often find him under the covers between us with his head on the pillow in the morning.
Though we appreciate Maize for her bravery and reckless cat-ness, for cuddles and laughs Oliver is sort of the star of the cat show around here. We adopted him at about 4 weeks from an over-run foster home and because he was so small he bonded pretty hard with us...especially with me. He would curl up by my head and try to suck on my ear, which was pretty crazy, but eventually he settled on my hand. He'll still grab my hand with his paws and try to suck sometimes. Let's just say he's a bit "needy." He's also very, very sweet and "lovey" (as we say around here.)
Yet, as a pregnant person, I'm supposed to be very wary of my cats as all cats are apparently suspect as carriers of toxoplasmosis, a crazy little parasite that can cause brain damage for fetuses. But, if the mother has been exposed before, there is pretty much no chance that she'd contract and pass the parasite to her baby. Cleaning the litter box is out (yay!), but so is (supposedly), excessive cat cuddling, sleeping, and cleaning. I've pretty much ignored the last three rules, while also asking my doctor for an immunity test. I've been around cats and cat poop all my life, and toxoplasmosis is pretty common, especially in barn and outdoor cats who like to catch little fuzzy things and leave their heads on doorsteps, a common population for me. And yet, I'm definitely a bit nervous. Though the risk of transmission seems pretty low, I still feel like I'm choosing my current babies over my almost baby. I've known people who've locked their cats out of rooms to keep them away, or kept them inside so they won't pick up anything. I'm being pretty laid back about it, besides taking the excuse to make Nat clean the litter (again, yay!)
But I foresee this cats vs. baby thing as an ongoing issue. There's not much likelihood Oliver and the baby will gracefully share the same place in the family bed. Nor do I want an infant covered in excess fluff and fuzz, as it is sure to be if the cats are allowed in and around anything baby. It'll have to work somehow, let's just hope there's no damage!
Welcome to my new blog! Hopefully you won't have to look at anymore leggy blonds and can actually send me comments. The luxuries...
The last months have been filled with a lot of becomings. I finally became fully employed in May. I have become a real resident of California, now that we've been here for a year. I found out in July that I am also becoming somebody's mother. Just yesterday I became the partner of a "real car" owner (thank goodness I'm not on the registration, I don't know how much more responsibility I can handle.)
The baby is the big one, obviously, so I have a feeling this blog will have a lot to do with this particular becoming in the next months (and years, presumably!) The car is also a big one, since we haven't had a car for over a year and we never in a million thought we'd buy one so new, so far from my usual $2,000 budget, and from a dealer, no less. (I feel more and more American - in debt and lazy - with each passing hour.) But I still don't think the car will give me quite so much fodder for contemplation as this motherhood thing.
It is so wild...really wild...to be pregnant. I still can't quite wrap my head around it, even though I've had 2+ months to get used to the idea. The first bit was categorized by bouts of extreme excitement and paralyzing anxiety. Then came the puking...lots and lots of puking. But as the weeks go by, I seem to be settling more and more into the role of expectant parent. It definitely makes it more real to start telling people. For awhile there, it seemed like a secret than Nat and I had made up for our own little world. I'm sure it'll get even more concrete when I can actually feel the wriggles and kicks. Right now, i'm just starting the get comfortable with the idea that there's someone else in my body who needs a ridiculous amount of protein every day and who really likes to make me puke up my prenatal vitamins.
My coworker is less than thrilled that I insist on calling the baby "the fetus". "Gotta feed the fetus," I quip as I rummage through my ever-expanding snack bag for an apple or a snack bar. "Man, me and the fetus had a rough morning," as I bike into work half an hour late. I figure this kid deserves respect for reaching the fetal milestone. For the most formative weeks the poor thing was just a little embryo. It doesn't help that my ultrasound 2 weeks ago seemed to show a big headed fishy worm with bumps for arms and legs. Where were those teeny finger-and-toenails that were supposed to be developing on the sweet, skinny limbs? The NP swore the fetus looked perfect, just turned away from the probe, but I'm having a little trouble bonding with my limbless, wriggling offspring.
It is really amazing how much technology impacts my whole experience. Any little question or new turn in the road and I've pulled out the laptop - my google drop down goes something like this: "doulas - berkeley, CA", "limb deformities - 12 weeks", "maclaren stollers", "ultrasound images - 14 weeks", "Sciatica", "chiropractors, berkeley, CA", "vegetarian pregnancy", "beans vs. meat - protein", "co-sleepers", "hypnobirthing", "sleeping with cats","toxoplasmosis." For awhile there, even though nobody else knew, I was still able to share in the joys and the worries with bazillions of expectant mothers all over ivillage, yahoo, and other such sites. I haven't gone too crazy with the books, since most of the pregnancy books out there bug the hell out of me. I figure I have anough practical background as a forever baby nanny and enough medical knowhow after teaching women's health for a couple of years. I definitely gravitate towards the biography and natural childbirth, oh, and cookbooks. But between the books and the research, I can definitely see how enlightenment itelf can be a little nervewracking. There is so much that can go wrong (though it often doesn't), and so much beyond control (though staying calm and focused and happy and well-nourished and active and positive and...is all in my power) And there's a lot to learn, as always. I just can't fathom that less than a century ago women would have no clue they were expecting until they figured it out themselves - no tests, no exams, no ultrasounds to date the term. No monthly doctor's visits, no comparison of midwives and obs, no weighing insurance coverages, no hospital vs. homebirth choices, no worry about the brain stem formation in week 5 or the heart monitoring in week 11... it almost seems as though ignorance may indeed be bliss sometimes when I lie in bed and hope to anything that this kid has legs.
But all sarcasm and quips aside, I am thrilled to be begining my journey and adventure becoming a mom. I can't wait to share and teach and grow and play and enjoy this life. I think I am already!
Nat and I don't get out nearly as much as was typical for us, now that I'm constantly exhausted and did something wack to my hip/sciatic nerve about a month ago that gives me a nice limp after I walk half a mile or so. BUT, now that we have the car, we can get to places like the East Bay hills and the Oakland Zoo without a killer bike ride. We decided to check out the zoo yesterday, after hearing good things about it from friends and a friend-of-a-friend who works there. It's okay. I've never been a big zoo fan, but can usually talk myself out of becoming overly depressed if there's a lot of hands-on education and an overt focus on conservation. Neither seemed overly represented in Oakland, but there were some cool exhibits. Nat and I both liked the insects, we got an inch away fro the underbelly of a black widow...wicked! But I liked the fruit bats the best. Bats are just so cool - like little foxes dressed in vampire costumes. These were all outside hanging under shade cloth, so we could really check them out up close. Heck, every zoo has elephants and monkeys, but it's not often you can get close enough to stoke the underbelly of a 2 foot. bat.
