Thirty down, ten to go!

I promised I'd update this weekend, so here I am. We're officially at the 30 week mark today! Ten weeks to go (and eight weeks left of work... woo hoo!). We went to the doctor on Thursday and she let me know that everything is looking good. My stomach is measuring at 28cm, my blood pressure was nice and low (coma-style) and other than my ridiculous weight gain, I'm doing good. My sister informed me that I now weigh more than my 6 foot tall brother-in-law, Eric, which isn't really helping my self esteem out, but everyone keeps telling me that the weight will fall off come December and I should stop worrying (or I should stop eating the mint M&M's... so good... damn you Joel).

Since we have reached this milestone, I thought I'd take you on a walk down memory lane. Really, this is just an excuse for me to post some of the WORST photos from my pregnancy because for many of you who have just had kids or are in the land of the pregnant, any excuse to laugh is a good one. Kelly, these should make you feel about a MILLION times better.

Let's rewind back to April 1. Yes, April Fools Day. A great opportunity to thrust upon my husband the biggest life-changing news imaginable and let him decide whether or not I was playing a cruel joke. This was the day I found out I was pregnant and when he finally came home from work, I snapped this picture of my then pretty buff belly. Ah, if I only knew then what I know now...

Fast forward two short weeks. I'm about six weeks pregnant in this picture and for the next 13 weeks or so, this would be the most common position that Joel would find me in. He decided it would be funny to document this. He's pretty lucky I was sick... I would have kicked his butt otherwise.
At Heather and Chris' Lake George house, I decided it would be fun to don the most form fitting item of clothing possible. A wet suit. The water was about 60 degrees so it was an attempt to not shock the baby. I'm about 15 weeks here:

At 20 weeks, I had finally stopped getting sick and was ready to venture back out into society. Joel was heading to a bachelor party in the city and I was going out to dinner with Thalia. Since Joel hadn't seen me out of PJs in three months, we thought it was a good time to capture a photo .

In just 10 short weeks, I've really filled out. I promised photos of the baby's room with the new glider, so here's me at almost 30 weeks, enjoying my new favorite seat in the house.

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, here is a photo of the tummy, taken just moments ago (please note, I haven't showered and am recovering from baby-sitting my niece/Lila's first sleepover). Word to the wise, kids, if you are thinking about getting a tattoo, consider the ramifications that severe stretching will have. Sixteen years ago, I would have never thought that my cute butterfly would so closely resemble a scary bat wing. Eeek.

So, 70 short days to go. I'll try to post weekly belly updates because at this point, I figure the growth will be at ludicrous speed. Enjoy and please send photos so I can post!

Update: Glider is Built!

We got the glider that I ordered off Target.com. Joel and I put it together last night. So far, it has been the easiest piece of furniture to assemble! It only took about 15 minutes. We put it in baby boy Harvill's room and I immediately got comfy. It is SO WORTH IT and it looks great. Then Joel sat in it with Shamus. Joel was back on his feet in about a minute but Shamus was right at home. Lucy joined him. I snapped a couple of photos of them gliding away and I'll post them tonight when I get home. I think they believe that we are furnishing the room for them. They've been spending an awful lot of time in there these days and I have to believe that once the baby is born, they will no longer sleep with us.

Weekend plans: pretty much nothing. Joel needs to buy a blue suit for Constantine and Allison's wedding, so I guess we should check that off the list since their wedding is in 4 weeks. Christine's baby shower is Sunday, so I'll be headed to that while Joel catches up on his Formula One action. Our association is throwing its annual "Oktoberfest" party on Sunday as well, so I figure we can stop by for a bit to sample the food and beverages. Oh yeah, the Pats play the Dolphins which means warfare between the Harvills and the Greifenberger/Juviler clan. We'll have to watch that.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Pooped... literally and figuratively

Warning: Poop will be mentioned (frequently) in this post. If you know me, you know that I love to talk about poop and pee regularly anyway, so this is probably no big shocker.

Joel and I are sick. He's got some crazy congestion and I've got a stomach bug. We've been sick since Sunday night. This isn't the first time we've been sick together, but somehow this illness is different that previous instances.

The poop-issues started for me Monday night. At first, Joel and I laughed pretty hysterically about it. At one point, during Monday Night Football, I passed gas (loudly) for an entire play. For the people who don't follow football, that's about 45 seconds. We laughed so hard that it actually made me pass gas again, but this time little bits came out as I was laughing... sort of a toot, toot, toot, toot kind of thing. I know this is too much information for a lot of people, but you have to understand that when I was about 5 weeks pregnant, Joel was at the airport waiting to fly to London. He called me from the bookstore to tell me he was reading a passage in Jenny McCarthy's book on her pregnancy and wanted to know it I truly would have what she coined "swamp gas." At the time, I didn't know what he was talking about. Now we're both aware of how true Jenny's book really was.

What actually happens is, as the baby grows, your growing uterus smooshes (yes, smooshing is a technical term) all of your lovely internal organs up into your chest cavity. Lungs, small and large intestine, etc. are all now hanging out in your upper rib cage. This slows down the digestive process and is why so many women complain of cramps and breathing issues. Similarly, the bladder is shoved downward. Hence the frequent peeing issues.

So anyway, by Tuesday morning, I could tell that something was really wrong. There was no way that I was going to make it to work when I was having problems making it out of the bathroom. I stayed home from work and by noon, Joel was on the couch next to me, box of tissues in hand. I called the doctor to inform her of this "situation." I guess I was expecting some magical cure from her so that I could go back to work. She responded by telling me that in these situations, they would rather let the stomach bug run its course than treat it. Basically, she told me to get comfy, because I was going to be spending a lot more time in the bathroom that week.

By Tuesday night, I was exhausted. Joel could no longer breathe through his nose. By 10pm we were in bed. By 10:02 Joel was sound asleep, thanks to a cocktail of NyQuil and Chloroseptic spray. The dogs were snoring. I was wide awake. And pooping. I tossed and turned until 2am when I finally retreated to our guest bedroom downstairs, figuring that perhaps a bit more space might help the situation. It didn't. Between the baby moving, back pain and frequent trips to the bathroom, I was awake when the sun came up.

Finally today, I'm starting to feel better. Joel is still feeling pretty bad. In a way, I'm thankful to have had the stomach bug portion of the illness because at least it came and went pretty quickly. On the other hand, I've now realized how badly we need to re-do both bathrooms in our house, as I've spent countless hours this week staring at the walls there, analyzing all of the things about them that I don't like. Man, I'm pooped!

2 down, 1 to go

Today marks the first day of our third trimester. I cannot explain in words how ecstatic I am. Partially because I know that we're almost in the clear... if something should happen and baby boy should come early, chances are he'll be just fine.

The other part of me can't lie and thinks that in 12ish short weeks, this science experiment will be over with. Yes, our lives will be changed forever with the birth of this kiddo as we begin the cycle of feedings, changings, nighttime checks, hysteria, dating, football, college graduation and the infinite beyond. The one thing I will have is my body back (and trust me, I plan on waving hello to all those places that I can no longer see). For those of you who have never been pregnant or are early on in your first pregnancies, let me give you a little taste of what's going on these days.

The nausea has subsided and I am thankful for that. Now begins the random pain portion of the pregnancy. Starting at approximately 9pm nightly, all of the food consumed over the course of the day somehow migrates its way back up into my chest. I wouldn't call it heartburn. I'd call it, if someone poked me with a stick, I'd probably explode. Honestly, it feels as if I can't catch my breath and there is simply no more room for my skin to stretch. I complain and usually Joel asks me if I want some Pepto or some water and while I realize that he is trying desperately to be helpful, I want to tear his face off with my bear hands. I love my husband, but the other day I seriously thought about duct-taping the dogs to his chest so he could feel for a moment what I'm going through. I think he gets it but is afraid of admitting it so he just sits quietly on the couch hoping that I'll just go away or shut up.

At about 10pm I migrate up to bed. I'll get up every hour on the hour to pee from this point until about 6:30am even though I've only had like one glass of water all day. I have no idea where all the liquid comes from since I also have about 35 hotflashes during the day and pretty much sweat perpetually. Yum.

When I'm actually sitting still in bed, I have pain in my lower back and legs, probably due to the 30 lbs of baby weight crushing my vital organs. I've learned that the best method for dealing with this pain is to roll onto my side (imagine those videos of marine biologists attempting to free a beached whale), prop a pillow under my belly to hold it up, and finally position the dogs behind me so that I can lean on them. Its my own Westie body-pillow. The dogs love it. I swear.

Here's what I've realized. Instead of teaching about the birds and the bees, schools should bus in 30 women in their 3rd trimester and let them talk (complain) to kids truthfully about how NOT FUN it is. Topics of discussion could include hemorrhoids, snissing (the sneeze/pee conundrum) and what to do when you can no longer see you private region (fog-resistant mirrors are the way to go for any lady-scaping activities).

In all seriousness, I know that the second this baby is on the outside, I will forget all about the aches and pains associated with the last almost year of my life and just love baby boy Harvill with all of my heart. But for right now, can anyone tell me what color shoes I'm wearing?

Your Weekend Update

First and foremost, a big congratulations to Don and Claire on the birth of their son, Winston. I'm waiting for Claire to share her labor and delivery experience but from the sound of things it happened quickly and all are doing well. I'm just glad that Baby Harvill will have a proper British "cousin" because everyone knows that Joel and I have no class.

During last night's "tropical storm" (read: overkill) Joel and I built the crib. It took us longer to locate the instructions than it did to put the thing together and once again, my husband showed his natural abilities with power tools. Thank you sweet baby Jesus for giving me a husband willing to assemble baby products. Today we put up the second shelf in the baby's closet and dealt with some rogue wires in our bedroom. The house is looking better and better. Oh, and we had no storm related damage... our lights only flickered once the entire night.

This week I have far too much going on at work. Honestly, I'm really starting to look forward to maternity leave because somewhere in the naive part of my mind, I believe it will feel like an extended vacation. I'm sure all of the moms are laughing at me right now. Humor me, mkay?

A friend sent this to me. I'd love to see how others would respond.

i am: avoiding watching Formula One with my husband
i think: I should live somewhere warm year-round
i know: very little about babies
i want: my husband to ask about having some bookshelves built
i have: two dogs following me around the house… constantly
i wish: that I could truly tell the difference between baby kicks and gas
i hate: selfish people. You know who you are.
i miss: my waistline and sleeping on my stomach
i fear: the pain of labor
i feel: a baby sitting on my bladder
i hear: the fan
i smell: like hummus
i crave: an ice cream sundae with a cherry on top
i search: for stories of pain-free child delivery… wishful thinking?
i wonder: what my parents are doing right now
i regret: leaving DC too early…maybe another year?
i ache: when I sleep
i care: about my dogs so much. I’m going to be a dangerous parent
i always: look both ways before crossing the street. Thanks mom.
i am not: good at math
i believe: that war is always wrong
i dance: in front of mirrors when nobody is watching
i sing: in my car like a rockstar
i cry: rarely but purposefully
i don't always: brush my teeth for as long as I should
i fight: like Mohammad Ali… but I get over it quickly
i write: on my blog for my own amusement
i never: send food back in a restaurant
i stole: a banana from A&P on a dare
i listen: to the advice of my family and friends. Who knew they were so smart?
i need: to be hugged daily although sometimes I’m bad about hugging back
i am happy about: the obvious

Deleted Post

You may notice that a post is missing. My wonderfully conservative (sorry bubba, I'm throwing out the c-word) husband has asked that I remove the political post from our blog. Yes, he has a point. This blog was meant to be about us, our growing family, etc. It is perhaps not the appropriate place for my political banter (even though most of you know that I love republicans and democrats alike) and the reason for its presence here was simply to spark conversation. Thought. Interest in the political system. Perhaps to prove too that I don't just think about my pregnancy every minute of the day and that I actually have a brain that sometimes begs to be used for things other than picking nursery furniture or writing press releases.

I think a lot of us are quick to bucketize. I'm Jewish, you aren't. I'm an east-coaster, you aren't. And so on. Ultimately, what I'm trying to do with this blog is kick start conversation... try to get us to think outside of our collective buckets. Sometimes it will be on child (or dog) rearing techniques and I'm sure I'll get feedback from people with far differing ideas. At one point I will probably complain about sitting at home with a finicky baby and I'll hear from both sides of the aisle on this as well.

Here's what I'm trying to say. I'm in the communications business. It is my job to gain perspective. To understand what's going on outside of my own world. To understand that while your thought process and mine may differ greatly, we can still be right and have a good strong point. 'Nuff said. So, shall we discuss Hurricane Hanna?

Saying it in the living time

Some of you knew my mentor, Leroy Sievers. Some of you saw his appearances on Nightline, NPR, The Discovery Channel. Some of you read his blog on NPR. For those of you who don't know, Leroy was a producer at Nightline when I was an intern there, back in 1998. I'm not sure why he took me under his wing. Maybe it was because he and his wife had no children. Maybe it was because my parents lived far away and I was an orphan in DC. Maybe it was because he saw my potential. I'm really not sure what his reason was, but I do know that at the end of my internship, when I had decided that I wanted to stay in DC and was looking for jobs as a waitress or bartender, Leroy walked me into the office of the News Director and asked if he would give me a full-time job. Pat Cullen, a former Bucknellian himself, gave me a job as a Desk Assistant and so began my career at ABC.

Three years later, after we had watched the twin towers come crashing down, I decided that it was time to leave ABC to try something different. I wanted to move to California and work in San Francisco. I was a lost soul and I wanted to find myself. I talked to Leroy and he called Tony Bonilla at KTVU. Leroy had been the News Director there years earlier and knew the scene. When I arrived in San Francisco a couple of weeks later, an assignment editor position was waiting for me.

Leroy and I would get together from time to time when I returned to Connecticut. I took Jill into New York to meet him when he was covering the DNC back in 2004. He was just recovering from Colon cancer and was rockin' and rollin' as Executive Producer of Nightline. He used to invite me and Joel to his Halloween parties at their house in Potomic. The idea was to dress as the best news story of the year. One year, Joel went as Dan Rather and I went as a steroid raging baseball player. Leroy, at 6'5" was dressed as a dodgeball.

Then, one night around Christmas about three years ago, I was engaged in a political debate with my boss from Thomson. Neither one of us could remember who spoke at what convention in what year. I called Leroy because I knew he would have the answer. When he picked up the phone, he sounded funny. I asked him if he was drunk. He laughed his big, booming belly laugh. Then he replied, "I'm at Johns Hopkins. They found a tumor in my brain. They're going to try to remove it."

From that moment, Leroy began a long, arduous battle with cancer. It attacked his spine, his lungs, his life in general. They gave him weeks. He took years. Leroy passed away in August - in his sleep. The loud booming laugh was silenced. The advice that he had always given would come no more. The stories of mai tais on the beach in Hawaii, flying kites on the mall and rollerskating on the boardwalk in Santa Barbara would live on in my memory.

His wife has been keeping up with the blog on NPR. Her post today, titled "Saying it in the living time" really moved me. I've posted it below and would welcome your comments and more importantly, your time to talk to the ones you love.

Saying it in the living time

It was a good old '60s love song. The kind that took you back to those last perfect days of summer.
When it was over, the DJ on the radio said, "It's so important to say it in the living-time. So there are no regrets."
The "it" is "I love you."
Say it in the "living time."
How many of us get so wrapped up in the chemo sessions and doctors' appointments and care-giving, that the "I love you's" get lost in the demands of the day?
What I wouldn't do to say that once more to Leroy -- in the "living time."