appointment overload

It was inevitable that I was going to accidentally miss an appointment given my current rather intense schedule of midwife visits, GD consults, ultrasounds, childbirth classes, etc. but why did it have to be the once a month pediatrician meet and greet? I know it's silly, but in order to be released 'early' from the hospital our pediatrician has to give the ok, and I want to talk to him about it in advance ... all of which could have been discussed yesterday night. Or sometime after my due date. Argh!!!

And why couldn't I have accidentally forgotten my GD consult today? Since they actually forgot to enter me into the computer and thus made me wait 2+ hours to be seen even though I had a signed slip from the receptionist with my appointment time on it ...

In which the absurdity of my life is highlighted yet again

JD started a new job last Monday. He had a week of orientation so today was his first full day in his division. It apparently started with a meeting with one of his bosses, who told him that 'there are a few classes we'd like you to take this spring if you want to stay in this division' (which he does). The guy then gave him what I presume was meant to be a sympathetic pep talk about how hard it will be to take classes in addition to working full time 'with a new wife and baby' and suggested he might consider switching foci.

I heard about this at about 8 pm when JD called from a bar. He was clearly more than a bit nervous about my response. But honestly and truly I just laughed. If JD and his boss somehow think that a couple of hours of night classes are going to make the difference between sanity and chaos in our lives, they have to be kidding. Between adjusting to a new baby, working a full-time job in addition to being a full-time graduate student, commuting to a city 4 hours away for said job, preparing to leave the country again in May ... really, I don't see this as our greatest challenge.

Needless to say, JD sounded much relieved that I do not plan to stomp my feet and insist that he switch divisions. And the two friends I bumped into tonight were both horrified that I had not 'stood up for myself.' But really, looking at the list above our life is just so out of control I don't see this as pushing us over the tipping point. We're long past said tipping point.

Pure bliss

I feel like I've been a bit too whiny on my blog recently. Really, I'm doing fine. I just tend to turn to the internets (and my faithful readers) when I need support.

But 3 absolutely lovely things happened on Sunday:

1. I got a half hour massage from JD during our childbirth class.
2. We finally took our wedding photos to be framed.
3. I went with JD to buy coffee and convinced the poor, baffled high school kid serving us to give me 4 (exactly 4) dark-chocolate covered coffee beans. So delicious. Add those to my list of January binge foods.

Now if only I could finish my work for the day ...

peanuts?

Did I just miss this? Is it really standard U.S. practice to tell pregnant women to avoid peanuts? Because I've discussed my diet with all 3 of the ob/gyns/midwives I've seen as well as my GI specialist and GD specialist (ah yes, a new fab 'medical team' as if it didn't take enough people to get me into this state ...) and everyone has recommended eating nuts as a healthy snack ...

And I eat a lot of tablespoons of peanut butter now that I'm trying to gain weight again. I find it the easiest way to add protein to a snack of apple slices or carrots when I'm out and about in the city.

Anyway, this is the article that made me think of it: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27596933/. It's another article pro-early exposure to nuts.

Please, someone with a tasteful sense of humor

I need some help. Of the literary/creative/googling type. To be precise, I need help writing the text of our baby shower invites, which I probably need to send out Tuesday at the latest. Yes, I'm behind on everything this week ...

JD's good friend is hosting our shower. But it'll be at our apartment because it's in an easier location for people to get to. And I'll be posting the invites. I already bought clearance blank templates at Target, and they're super-cute but I can't find a decent wording online. We're having a casual, coed brunch on a Sunday - think bagels, lox and bloody marys for those who can consume those types of things and whole wheat blueberry muffins for me.

I don't want any of the following:
- A poem about how sweet babies are
- Anything in verse
- Anything mentioning 'Jack and Jill' even though it will be coed

JD wants to go with the totally boring 'Come help celebrate the arrival of Rachel and JD's baby ...' I want something slightly more creative. Any suggestions are much, much appreciated. Thanks!

Venting, venting, venting

I am a bit peeved at my family at the moment. Not so much my parents, but more siblings and extended family. And really just the particularly vocal people. Such as the person who called tonight to tell me ... exactly how rude I am.

Now, in principal, I agree.

Thank you notes ought to be sent promptly and they ought to be sweet and heartfelt and handwritten. And that is precisely why mine are late. I just haven't had time. Between schoolwork (yes, I have more than ever now because I need to 'get ahead' pre-December), grant deadlines, moving on a couple of days notice, 3 doctors appointments a week, junking our car and trying to be a decently available wife, well ... my thank you notes are late. And I do feel guilty about it. But I am also annoyed at those people (definitely plural) who bothered to call and tell me I was rude. And awful as it sounds, they are for the most part the women in the family who never had children or got advanced degrees and seem to have no idea at all why I can't just spend an afternoon writing thank you notes. And really, I just want to tell them to piss off and that things will only be getting significantly worse in a few short weeks and if they are offended that I can't write punctual thank you notes then please don't send me presents. And yes, that goes for one particular sibling too (your guess who) who just doesn't get it that she can't just chose the date she wants to avoid. To start with, I'm busy. And commuting to another city every week. And leaving the country in a few weeks. And JD is busy too, so she cannot just buy plane tickets to visit without asking me, and no, I will not be visiting her on the Pacific Coast anytime this spring, I'm too busy and loathe to travel even more than necessary.

Ok, done venting. If you made it this far, you deserve a delightful little nugget about just how far things have fallen chez long-distance-infertility. The week that started with sending my husband off to his first day of work in his newly pressed suit and no socks ended when I totally forgot about daylight savings time and shabbos and in a total rush at 4:15 pm decided to serve my husband the following absolutely delicious and lovingly-prepared Friday night dinner: cold grilled cheese on whole wheat bread. Several hours cold, to be precise. In retrospect, I could have just called and told him to grab something on his way home from work, but well, I didn't think of that. And JD decided he 'just wasn't that hungry' after all and went to bed with no dinner at all ...

weird

It is becoming increasingly apparent that other people's bodies gain or lose weight by total calories in and total calories out. My body seems to exclusively count carbs. I am definitely still eating carbs, but no more than 3 servings at a meal and no more than 1 serving per snack. Which is to say that I lost another 6 lbs this week.

Maximum weight gain this pregnancy: 30 lbs.
Current weight gain: 19 lbs.

I am so relieved that I am monitoring my blood sugar and doing growth scans at this point. Thus far the baby continues to grow normally (and on track to be an exactly average-sized American baby). And I guess I really do look a bit small at this point because at 2 different social events in the past 2 days people were a bit incredulous that I was due in mid-December.

Next growth scan 10 days.