Swaddling practice

I'm in labor!

You might be surprised to hear this, especially since I obviously took the time to blog about it, but it's true. Now, to be clear, labor might take a week or four, but I learned today at the doctor's office that I am one centimeter dilated and 50 percent effaced.

For those who don't want to be TMI-ed, stop reading now. For the curious, I found this from ncnc.essortment.com:

As the cervix thins to what is necessary for delivery, 100 percent, the cervix starts dilating and progressing in one centimeter increments. Prior to 5 centimeters a woman is considered in the early stages of labor. From 5 centimeters to 7 centimeters is the beginning of active labor. From 7 centimeters to 10 centimeters a woman is in transition and near to having her baby.

That said, the nurse practitioner said she expects my due date to be about the same -- Feb. 20 (or Feb. 18, when her daughter was born!)

C'mon spring!

The good life...

Sunday nights at Barnes and Noble with a stack of cooking magazines, hot chocolate and my hubby.

C'mon Rami!

Sure you've got the pecs, but have you got what it really takes to win Project Runway? So far I've only seen the same (albeit beautiful) draped dress week after week. I'm pulling for you in the Project Runway Pool, but you're making me nervous.

So put those braids back in your little sewing box and come out with something creative tonight, kay? Five bucks is five bucks, after all, and I didn't put my money on you just because you're pretty.

Hiccup! Hiccup! Snore. Snore. Swish. Swish.

Baby M.'s got the hiccups.

I, personally, hate the hiccups, but I love when Baby M. gets them. It's a neat feeling that is something like a light kick that happens repeatedly in my lower left abdomen. And it's a gentle reminder the baby is in there and (hopefully) doing well.

I can't hear the hiccups, but I sure can hear Addy's snoring. Let me just say that Patrick will get a big elbow in the middle of the night if he's snoring in my ear. But I can't think of many sounds I love more than a cat snoring. As gentle as Baby M.'s hiccups are, the sound of Addy's snoring is just as gentle and sweet.

It's a lovely addition to symphony of sounds in our wee apartment: the jazz playing on NPR, the sliding of Patrick's mouse across the floor, Phoebe's occasional sigh, the tapping of my fingers on the laptop or the swishing of pages turning in my latest book or magazine. If we're lucky, it's all punctuated by the periodic meow from Clarkey, who thinks he lives with the people upstairs now.

When the baby comes, we'll add a whole cadre of new sounds and will be a veritable orchestra.

The Man from Plains

Over the weekend, Patrick and I went to the Detroit Film Theater and saw the Jimmy Carter documentary following the book tour for his controversial best-seller, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” The movie reviewers were more kind than some of those reviewing his book, but not by much.

I, however, really liked the film -- even if it didn't delve enough into the actual controversy which prompted Carter's provocative title. Here's why: we don't often hear a lot of deep debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I mean, yes, we see photos and video footage of suicide bombers (or freedom fighters, depending on who's talking), but we don't often tackle the political debate or discuss the longstanding political history behind the conflict.

Yes, this documentary may have too-lovingly painted Carter as a persecuted, God-fearing do-gooder, but at least it showed that there is an actual debate on which side is right in the Palestinian-Israeli fighting. Maybe it'll do what the book did -- get people talkin'.

No better time for ice-cream

Apparently no one wants to buy ice-cream when it's negative six degrees (with the wind chill), so it's really cheap!

Best New Yorker caption submission ever!!!!

June 27, 2005 - Cartoon Caption Contest # 9



“Try telling that to the Kansas Board of Education.”
Bob Schwartz
Cincinnati, Ohio

Drawing by Alex Gregory

(Greg linked this to my comments section. Wow! And it's supposedly by someone we know!)

Week 35 -- look at that belly!

From Babycenter.com...

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

As for mom: Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs, too.

Funny moment sidebar: I chastise Patrick all the time for not taking pictures of me, so he said, "I was just thinking about taking some because you're so huge now."

Heh. Heh. I'm sure he meant that in a nice way.

Do-Do-Do-Slide-Swish-Turn-Do-Do-Do!

That's me doing the maternity leave dance a little early. Once it's midnight, we will officially be eligible to be paid during part of the maternity leave because we'll have been with our company for a year. If I give birth in the next 45 minutes, it's all unpaid.

(Truly, I just want a healthy baby! Getting paid is a nice bonus, though.)

Do-Do-Do-Slide-Swish-Turn-Do-Do-Do!