Beach Ball Bump

This is my belly at 29 weeks. Everything is still growing smoothly and steadily. I'm getting used to being bigger, but I still open doors into my big bump. The other day, I turned sideways to get through a narrower area and realized the turning was pointless. I'm at least as wide front to back as I am side to side now.

The baby moves what seems like all the time. I love it. Hearing the heartbeat is also amazing...whoosh, whoosh...it's like ocean waves. Today, the doctor and I heard mine and the baby's heartbeats together.

Fruit is still the most delicious thing I could eat these days...strawberries, kiwi, pineapple, blueberries, plums, raspberries, mango...yum! Just writing those words makes me wish I had one to pop in my mouth at this moment, but I'm in the dorm supervising study hall, fruitless.

I have a new hospital to deliver at after a scare about the original one. I was firmly told, "do your research" by a co-worker, so I did. I talked to friends and read reviews by the health commission. There were four ratings a hospital could receive:

Best Performing
Better Performing
Fair Performing
Least Well Performing

My original hospital received Least Well Performing. That was not very encouraging, but I found one in the area that received Best Performing and was so relieved after I talked to my midwife and found out I have a choice. Now I'm going to what I'm confident will be a better hospital. Phew!

Finished!

May 23...

We finished our mysterious puzzle...but still have no idea where it came from. The starred center is where my parents' house is located.

I'm Puzzled

Yesterday, I checked my mail box after work and found a package. I was excited, since my birthday's coming up and thought that perhaps it was my first birthday gift. As soon as I opened it, I became very puzzled. It was a puzzle. I haven't put together a puzzle since I was in elementary school. Who would give me a puzzle? I have no idea because there was no sender's name, no return address other than that of the puzzle company. Weird. Even weirder, this puzzle is not just any ordinary puzzle, but a very special one. It is a puzzle of San Clemente with my parents' house, where I lived most of my life, in the center. Now, that means whoever sent it must know me and know very specifically where I am from and where I am now.

Puzzle 1: fit the cardboard pieces together
Puzzle 2: find out who sent the anonymous puzzle

i should not have woken up...

...this morning.

It's 11:00 a.m. and I've been awake two hours. I had a terrible craving for pancakes and just enough ingredients to make some. After I added the milk, I decided to have a glass. I gulped down three gulps before I realized it was bad, rotten, stinky, pukey milk. I spit it out, started gagging and got rid of the rest in the toilet. EW! YUCK! I brushed my teeth, gargled with mouthwash, drank some water, and ate some skittles to try and get the putrid taste out of my senses. I was finally okay and still wanted pancakes, but had no more eggs or butter. I drove around the corner to the P.O. and bought some. "I don't need a bag," I told the lady. I thought I could manage carrying two items. I got in the car and was carefully placing the egg in a safe place when my hand suddenly twitched, knocking the egg into the shift stick. Egg splattered everywhere and created a pool of yellow and clear goop at the base of the shift. Fortunately, there was a small towel in the trunk that I put over the pool so it wouldn't slop around as I drove home. I got home, cleaned up all the slime and broke my nail in the process, which usually isn't a big deal except I just painted my nails last night and they were perfect. I finally returned to the kitchen to finish my pancakes, experimenting without an egg. It wasn't until I poured the first pancake batter onto the pan that I realized the consistency was all wrong. I think it's a combination of no egg and the newly noticed fact that I had used self-rising flour. I tried making one pancake and it definitely did not work. Nobody's home and I needed to vent, so here I am. I've given up on making pancakes today and still have to figure out what to eat for breakfast two hours later than I should be eating breakfast.

I wonder what else will happen today...