Sunday, September 27, 2015

Current Name Prospect: Avocado Dill Pickle Truebe

September 27, 2015

It’s a strange phenomenon, this thing called pregnancy. Time both creeps and flies. I feel energetic and great one minute and then feel exhausted and gross the next. I am absolutely starving any given hour, but then can only eat a few bites and end up being disgusted at what I ingested. And I experience such strong, overwhelming feelings of love and gracious adoration for Adam -- and then feel like I hate every stupid smirk on his face and word out of his mouth. It is a GD rollercoaster! For the record, I always go back to loving him – he just really pisses me off sometimes. Like when he leaves huge puddles of water on the bathroom sink, and I set my phone, makeup brush, etc. right in them.
I bought a chalkboard for easier "bump" photo documentation. 
And I told Adam if he made a snarky comment, I'd throw it at him or break it over his head. 
I'm joking - but I honestly can't be held responsible for what Hormonal Annie might do. 

Needless to say, I’m pretty sure he’s always thought I was a little crazy – but it’s on another level at this stage in our lives. But just as I have promised to try to rein it in sometimes, he’s vowed to work on his sensitivity to my over-sensitivity right now.

And speaking of crazy, I have several of these ridiculous, but quite interesting and informative apps on my phone that give daily updates and send major hoopla to my inbox with each passing week. According to several of them, the baby is the size of an avocado in Week 16 and is the length of a dill pickle.  Ummmm…. what?! Come on! Most of these make us laugh, because it’s really hard to imagine and quite comical to compare – but I still read every damn word.  I feel like it’s extremely important to soak up every tip, trick and to-do list possible right now – because most days, I honestly feel overwhelmed.  I finally bit the bullet and shared our news into the viral world of social media. I’m actually just glad it’s done and out now – due to the “announcement” being so overhyped these days, I was spending far too much time thinking about it, looking up ideas and stressing out over it. And Adam was (again) pissing me off about it. But it is so nice how many friends and family are sending their well wishes.

It only took about 38 takes - Murph's a pro.

Overall, we’ve had a good couple of weeks – I’m trying to sign up for short 5K races every few months to keep my exercise on track. There’s been quite a bit of traveling with weekend excursions here and there, and I’ve reached the point where I no longer have to demonstrably hide the fact that I’m not my usual, old self, so that’s a plus. What I am attempting to still do at this point is what I’m calling “conceal and carry.” As in – until it’s completely and totally noticeable that I have a bump that is directly tied to a human growing in my stomach, I’d prefer it not look like I have put on some pudge or let the beer gut get out of hand.  So, I’m more purposeful with my wardrobe choices and am looking forward to wearing more clothes and layering as the seasons change. I had to take the plunge and pull the ol’ hairtie through the buttonhole trick to get some jeans on yesterday. But in my defense – they were a high-waisted pair that didn’t have a lot of “give”!

What’s currently both exciting me to no end, and stressing me to the max is attempting to execute my packing plan of attack for Jenn’s Jamaican wedding.  The guest room is a total disaster with piles of clothes and shoes (I’m nine days from departure, mind you) – and I’m ordering last minute items that I think I might need like a wild woman. Today’s purchase: three new (larger) strapless bandeau bras. Exciting stuff, folks!

It's gonna get way worse...

I’ll wrap up this post with a quick summary of the pros and cons of life as I know it right now.

Pros: Way more energy, better appetite, Fall is here (it’s my favorite season), and I found out that I officially have 3 other friends expecting at the same time as me (Cynthia, Kallie and Miranda).  My current favorite foods are most desserts, peaches with a little dusting of sugar and milk (something my mom always used to make), white cheddar Cheetos, anything with peanut butter, and yogurt with blueberries and granola.

Cons: Sporadic, debilitating headaches (luckily only had 2 so far), Charlie horses in my legs and feet that come on in the middle of the night and lead to difficulty falling back to sleep, some lower back pain/discomfort, just a few bouts with crying and moodiness (Adam might disagree), and feeling large and in charge and bloated.

Prepare yourselves... it's about to get schmaltzy.

However, even with all of my whining – I pray every night that everything is okay and he or she is healthy and growing; and every day, I’m so thankful that I get to experience what I am – and we have such an exciting adventure to look forward to.  It’s totally nuts and magical and exhilarating, yet overwhelming to think that in under six months – we’re going to have a child to take care of. There’s going to be something in the world so much more important than either of us (or Murphy) – and for all the trouble the first three months have been (and it hasn’t even been that bad compared to what I’ve read about and heard from others) – I am just straight-up grateful and thrilled. And as Owen Wilson's character from Armageddon says “I’ve got that excited/scared feeling. Like 98% excited, 2% scared. Or maybe it’s more – it could be two – it could be 98% scared, 2% excited, but that’s what makes it so intense – it’s so confusing!”

And I am not blind to the fact that I just associated my pending childbirth and parenting role to an outer space shuttle takeoff towards a destructive, world-ending asteroid.

Totally comparable, right? :)

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Week 14... here I come!

Since we last conversed via the blog, my dear friends and family, I have entered a new stage of life known as the 2nd trimester of pregnancy – and although many people PROMISED me it would be… I have to say it’s not all sunshine and roses… not yet anyway. I will say that I have WAY more energy – and it’s one of those things where I don’t totally notice that I feel that much better, but I look back on the day and think, “Wow – I didn’t desperately feel like I needed a nap at 1pm today. That’s gotta be good, right?”

Unfortunately, in nausea and exhaustion’s place have come headaches and dizziness – which aren’t as bad, but aren’t what I’d consider to be a fair and even trade at this point either. In addition to those pleasant ailments, I have horrible seasonal allergies that have attacked with some serious punch as Fall blows in – and the number of used Kleenex’s in every trash can in the house and violent sneezing that can be heard from 2 houses down is out of control. Fortunately, I’ve been given clearance to take Tylenol for the head and Claritin for the nose by my lady doctor, so I’m medicated when I need to be – although it rarely helps. Okay -- enough complaining!



 So – right after I last posted, AT and I took a celebratory one-year anniversary weekend trip to good ol’ Wisconsin Dells. It was great. Many pros and cons – one major PRO was the B&B/room that we rented – it was lovely and cozy. CON = very hoosh tourists at every turn. The town itself is quite hilarious with it’s likeness to Branson and being the #1 waterpark capital IN THE WORLD – but we made the best of it and dutifully divided the weekend into an Adam Day and an Annie Day. Adam’s Day consisted of hiking, kayaking and going to an affordable Wisconsin supper club dinner, where the clientele ranged in age from 65-90 years, and we walked to Dairy Queen on the way home. Annie’s Day involved a trip to the spa for massages; some lounging and reading at the pool, and a fancier sunset dinner cruise to close out the weekend. We both agreed that my day won. Boom!


But I did forget to pack my selfie stick.

First trimester symptoms were still in full force while we were away, so my bedtime came and went each night around 9pm, and I couldn’t eat as many cheese curds as I would have normally liked – but overall, it was a fabulous time. And I should really show more appreciation to Adam for it, because he planned the whole thing.  And he didn't get to take full advantage of the beer and nightlife since he had the ol' sleepy, fat bag lady to take home after dinner each evening. He’s a good egg, that Truebe kid! J

Upon our return, I had my 12-week doctor’s appointment – and thankfully, everything is looking great! We got to hear the baby’s heartbeat, and the doctor (and of course the student accompanying her – which ALWAYS happens to me) agreed that both Truebe Tyke and the gal housing him or her seem to be making wonderful progress. Phew! I don’t go back to the doctor until the very beginning of October, so I guess I’ll just plan to keep on keepin’ on at this point. My belly’s got nowhere else to go but out, right?!



Unfortunately, I have not gotten my appetite back on track quite yet… I have actually ingested a couple vegetables – steamed broccoli seems to smell great (very odd, because it usually does not) and taste delicious right now, once I load it up with some butter and S&P, of course. And I’ll still skip a meal here and there – mostly because work is absolutely freakin’ crazy and terrible right now, and I have to talk to clients and schedule meetings over the lunch hour – but Adam would be very proud of me today because I had a ½ grapefruit, some type of natural nut/honey/oat bar and cup of coffee for breakfast, some Goldfish as a snack, and a leftover hamburger, cottage cheese and a banana for lunch. Yes – these are the things that I brag about to him and ask for gratification.

Truebe Tyke sucking his/her little baby thumb


We had a very low-key and super productive Labor Day weekend that involved a hike to a local national state park near Muskie called Wildcat State Den (which was kind of awesome), a visit from my mom, major cleaning, and me bringing out the Fall decs (Adam loves the accumulation of 18 pumpkins to the home décor he sees every day), a trip to see Lena/BK and meet some of their QCA friends, and the purchase of… wait for it… a new stove and dishwasher!! I’ve been nagging the ol’ ball and chain about the need for these upgraded appliances since I moved in a year ago – so this is a very exciting milestone! Next up – new countertops and carpet for the living room upstairs J

Peach on board

We’ve been slowly but surely disseminating the news to a broader audience – Adam’s telling his work peeps, I’ve clued in a few of my colleagues – but the question remains about how we make it totally public and official…. Yes, the elusive Facebook announcement! Now, I have plans for this occasion (obvi) – BIG PLANS -- but as we all know Adam, he’s against each of my ideas, 100%. He has even threatened to “out me” with a rare status update of his own that just says “We pregs” – with Annie Truebe (via the tag). IF this happens, please be aware that a reign of terror will come down on him, and if you expect to see him at any upcoming family gatherings or trips to the brewery, he may NOT show up, because he will be black and blue from the beating I will give him. Hormonal Annie has strength beyond her means!! But really – I’m usually pretty smart, tactful and tasteful with my social media actions – and Adam claims that he loves me for it – so I’m torn between doing something girly/typical and finding something cute/unique that Adam doesn’t want to crawl in a hole and die over.

Jenn sent these to me via Etsy - and it didn't let her leave a gift message, so I literally opened it, got teary-eyed 'cause I love them, and then almost cried again 'cause I didn't know who to thank. 
Mystery solved though - Ghorms is the best.

So – more to come on the Facebook debacle, and many other topics as I continue on this adventure of growing a human – and hopefully you’ll see something come out via public service announcement before the next time I write a blog post.


XOXO