Last night, Michelle & I went to bed around 11pm. I started falling asleep very quickly, but was awakened by Michelle. She was having "contractions". Most likely these were the Braxton-hicks type - the body getting some practice in for the real deal, but those are supposed to only happen every now and then. She was having them minutes apart (timed some at 45 seconds, 85 seconds, 2 minutes, etc.) She was concerned becuase she hadn't experienced them this way so far. So we got up and started looking through the 3 or 4 pregnancy books we have. Each one had the same basic info but a little different parts on special circumstances. All of them said if you have more than 5 or 6 in an hour, you should call your Dr. Well it's 11:30 at night and they weren't 'painful' contractions - just regular. Should we go to the hospital? Should we call her Dr. at home? None of the books really addressed what was going on - it was somewhere in between the scenarios they talked about.
I don't know how many she wound up having, but in the end, they were getting farther apart and there were no other signs of premature labor, so we went to bed. Usually, after 10pm my awareness falls fast and hard (I 'start' getting up at 5am every day). I was wide awake for about an hour there with that going on. We recently had some friends sadly lose a baby at right around where Michelle is at now (on her 28th week) so we were not taking anything lightly.
Also today, someone is at our house taking measurements so we can install new carpet. Hopefully we can get that done quickly as we have been waiting to put up our Christmas decorations.
Good food last Thursday. Got to meet lots of new people too. Sean's girlfriend seems nice and her daughter too. You can tell alot about a person through their children. If you want to know what Sean is like, spend some time with Kassidy. Kim? Lauren. Me? You'll have to wait on that one.
Michelle is still working through sickness. Lots of coughing. We've alomst got our kids room clear and the living room isn't in bad shape either. We plan on replacing the carpet in both room in the next week or so. Also, need to paint our baby's room soon too. Might could use some help moving furniture into the garage this weekend (not fully sure on timing yet).
Found a really cool freeware program on the internet last week. Helps you to combine pictures to make panoramas and the like. Here's one I did recently. The first pic is me overlapping the pictures myself. The second is using the GUI program (called Hugin). This is a cathedral and library in Switzerland. Amazing structure, so tall I couldn't get all in one shot. I wanted to get a large print of it (in B/W) to frame.
Not much to speak of this week. Michelle is still job hunting, though it's basically futile now (except for unemployment checks). There's no way she can go to an interview and it not be obvious she's pregnant. Of course not hiring on the basis of pregnancy is illegal, but very difficult to prove, and there actually are times that pregnancy can be taken into account (though nothing Michelle would be applying for).
I know I have definitely learned some things during the pregnancy that hopefully I can keep in practice even after the baby arrives. I've had a friend or two say they were so emotional during parts of their pregnancy that they locked themselves in the bathroom and cried over something they knew was ridiculous (paraphrasing there). Online, they say pregnant women can cry over just spilling a glass of water. My wife hasn't done any of those things, but emotions are still volatile. The best thing either of us can do (and have been doing) is reminding each other we still love.
Work has been somewhat challenging. I am learning new things and trying to get into a routine which has been hard. Also, so many things have been done basically by hand and they need not be. The challenge though is automating things (much of the reporting I am required to produce) and still have it look like it did before in the end. I can get the same data produced in the end, but to get it in the same format can be agitating. In any case, I know that the possibility is there for 95% of what I currently do to be turned into the push of a button and that makes all the tedious stuff I have to do right now very frustrating.
We are going to Tyler for Thanksgiving. Hopefully the Cowboy game will be viewable. I look forward to meeting some new relatives, but Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without the Cowboys.
There are two new Red Light Cameras (RLCs) in my area. One is on Rufe Snow Dr. and Western Center Blvd (also known as Mid-Cities Blvd or Watauga Rd.) The other is in Davis Blvd and MId-Cities Blvd. This morning, I went through the Rufe Snow intersection while it was yellow. I made it through in plenty of time, but I still was thinking about that RLC. When I got to Davis (driving on Mid-Cities), the light turned yellow as I was approaching the intersection. Since this intersection is so wide, I started second guessing whether I would get through it before it turned red. Also, since the light turned yellow when I was so close to the intersection, I was unsure how hard I would have to stop. I decided to stop, but the guy behind me was intending on going through the yellow. He may not have known about the newly installed RLC. Fortunately, he swerved into the next lane and stopped in time. The Rufe Snow intersection is normal and I'm glad there is a RLC there. The Davis intersection is a very wide one. (see pic, I drive from left to right on Mid-Cities) So I am thinking today that this RLC might cause more accidents than it saves because more people will have sudden stops because they are second guessing the RLC timing. This morning I had no questions whether I would get through before cross traffic even started moving, but I did question whether I would get a $75 ticket in the mail. A co-worker made a good point that it might cause more accidents, but those accidents would be less severe than any red-light running ones. Do you have any thoughts? leave a comment under this posting.
Nothing special during this visit. Just regular charting and a Q & A.
If I had anything add I would, but I don't. Next visit will include another sonogram and hopefully we can get it taped this time.
We had our second sonogram on 10/08/07. We wanted to take video, but didn't receive a cue from the woman there as to when we were allowed so we missed the window. They were very helpful in trying to get us scheduled back in the room again to take some video, but it didn't work out. According to the people there, the sonogram showed that our baby is a girl. They weren't 100% sure, but they felt very good about the 'diagnosis'.
We will have another sonogram in about 5 weeks. All of the measurements from the sonogram came back in the normal ranges. She's about 1 pound right now. I felt her kick for the first time on 10/08/07 - Michelle has been for a while.
I just finished writing a long letter here about Michelle and I and of course the computer locked up and I lost it all. Hopefully I can portray below what I wrote in a more concise version:
Michelle & I have had a hard time recently with our relationship. I want to chalk it all up to pregnancy hormones, but I know I'm not good at communicating my feelings or saying I'm sorry. During conflict, I can really shut down - which makes things worse.
Anyways, we met with some friends a week ago and that helped. We got with another couple last Saturday. It was very encouraging to see friends who had similar experiences as us and could give helpful advice. A major root issue with us was that we weren't reading the bible (together or separate) or praying. Although you can learn alot by going to church services and absorbing what is being taught, you learn so much more by reading and praying on your own and putting it into practice, or seeing your spouse put it into practice. Michelle and I have been doing this during the past week and there has been a huge change in our relationship. The best scenario is when both of you are humble towards what the bible has to say, but even one person can make a huge difference.
So this week has been full of less T.V., less friction, and more reading and smiling. An added benefit is that we are growing closer to the friends we have let into our lives and been honest to about how things are with us.
Other notes:
My sister is going to start nursing school.
Michelle is continuing job hunting.
My new position is all numbers which can really drain me some days.
Michelle is up to about 10 pounds gained.
Spinach/gouda cheese stuffed chicken breasts are really really good
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