Home Stretch

I am just a few hours from my last day of work for 12 weeks and 3 days from full term: 40 weeks. I can't believe how the time has flown! I am feeling great. I am not uncomfortable when awake almost ever. Sleeping is a bit more challenging but not nearly as painful as it was when my ribs still hurt. They magically ceased to hurt about 3 weeks ago. It was a great discovery, suddenly no pain! I think my ribs (alternating with my back for the first 2/3 of the time) ached for 16 straight weeks.
I survived, and know there are worse things. But I'm very happy to report weeks now of pain-free existence. The exchange was having to get up at night to use the bathroom. I had escaped that little annoyance for 36 or so weeks, now it is nightly. Sometimes it is twice nightly.
We've moved some of Rob's things to the basement for a pseudo office. Half our basement is finished and I use that term loosely. It is drywalled and carpeted, while the other half is cement walls on cement flooring. It was his idea to move a desk and bed down there, so we cleared out our boxes, steam cleaned the carpet, and put furniture in the room. It became a remarkably cozy little living space. Since it was hot, and since our air conditioning does not reach the second floor well, we started sleeping in the much cooler basement area. The temperature is wonderful, even keeping the AC on a relatively high temp kept the basement nice and cool. The down side is the urge to pee that hits me about 3 am every night now. Our only bathroom is on the second floor. I have to REALLY need to go before making the half asleep trek up two levels to the bathroom. What usually goes through my mind first is that I could hold it, sleep a while longer, and sometimes I do that. Then I wake 30 or so minutes later having to go even worse. Then I think of the unfinished half of the basement, just a few steps away and how there is a drain in the middle of the floor. It tempts me most nights. But I also go through the details in my head and squatting is not that easy anymore. Then there's no toilet paper, what if a cat follows me in? And really, I can just upstairs, right?

So I do. I have yet to wet the bed or succumb to the temptation of the drain. And yet I admit to pondering it.

37 Weeks and a Wedding

Lynn at full term!

August 8 has been this milestone anticipated since sometime in late January. That is around the time that my sister picked her wedding date and I got on a calendar for pregnancy and realized that I'd be 37 weeks that day. Thirty seven weeks is considered full term, or when the baby is about as developed as it can be. No medical professional will try to stop your labor after you hit this magical 37 week point. It was also the date I set for myself to have a glass of wine. I figured I'd be just ginormous and it would be scorching hot and I would have deserved a beverage after 9 months of no wine or beer. In the end, 37 weeks seemed to come quickly and I'm not that ginormous. The scorching hot prediction came true with a vengeance. As the wedding party posed for outdoor photos after the 1:30pm wedding, the heat index was 105 degrees. There was no shade in the park where the photos were taken. I participated in about 2/3 of the photo shoot, then hung it up and went back to the air conditioned bus to cool off.

The wedding was a lot of fun, it was a weekend of activities that mostly went off without a hitch except for my parents having a flat tire on the way to the reception and ending up there almost an hour late. Selfishly- and of course I'm writing selfishly, this is my blog after all- one of the best parts was the opportunity to swim in my sister's new inlaws' in ground pool. I submerged myself on Friday night before the wedding when guests at the post rehearsal dinner party jumped in and again on Sunday during the post-wedding brunch/pool party. It was heavenly. I stayed in the water for hours, and it was totally worth it even though for some odd reason I have become allergic to sunscreen (every brand I've tried, even the all natural stuff!!) and have itched myself into a rash for the rest of the week following my layering of the stuff on Sunday. It was worth it.

I did have my wine!

Hilarious (Oh, and Beautiful too)

This is what Rob called me tonight. I was trying on some shirts, I think, as a few no longer fit and a few more are very close to not fitting. He was amused. I have to agree about the hilarious part. This giant ball of a belly is attached to my body and its f-ing weird. And hilarious. I'm not too sure about beautiful. Hiroki, my 18 month old nephew, saw me this weekend and his mom told him that there was a baby in my belly. I patted my belly and invited him to do that too, if he wanted to. Hiroki said "Ball ball". Yep, pretty much.

New York - Long Overdue Post...

It has been a long time, yes. One month and one day since last checking in here. Many things have happened, lots of great travel and then lots of working on our house. New York was wonderful, as usual. Rob loved it which was good for me because I have always loved that city and find it crucial that he at least appreciate it and my expectations were far exceeded. We had a perfect place to stay in Brooklyn, about 3 houses away from a subway stop. We walked and subway-ed all over Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn and even made a trip to Staten Island one day for lunch. I held up just fine, walking on average probably 4-5 miles a day. It was the first time (I think anyway) that I looked visibly pregnant and New Yorkers gave up their subway seats for me every single time I got on the train without exception. It was kind of unbelievable. I lived there for a year and saw people carrying groceries, small children, boxes, people with disabilities, the elderly, and rarely saw anyone offer up a seat. But for me, they jumped up as soon as I got on the train and motioned for me to take their place. One man actually apologized for not having seen me sooner- and I had just walked onto the train!

I appreciate it, but for the most part I could have stood up. But who am I do deny them their good deed for the day? Way to go, New Yorkers.

Some photos from the trip:

Rob hearts public transportation (really, who doesn't?!)

Lynn and Rob under the Brooklyn BridgeGround Zero as it is now...
Historic Battery Park is totally transformed. It used to be a lawn and I once saw Ani Difranco play there. Now it is a sculpture and walking area, very fancy!






This is the photo that looks like we are at Sears and someone pulled down the "sunset on the water" cheesy background for our photo. It is really the Hudson River and that big pirate ship in the background? It is a bar. We had a great night out with some of Rob's friends.

30 Weeks

This is it, the final stretch! TEN more weeks, and summer has hit St. Louis. Heat indices are over 100 daily and everyone who sees me now has to make some comment about how poorly I planned for the heat, or how I have so much further to go in the summer. I am visibly pregnant, no doubt about it. No stranger has even had to ask, they just assume. And they are correct. Yes, I am aware of the heat and the pooor planning and how much further I have to go to get through a hot summer carrying an extra 25-30 (or more!!) poorly distributed pounds around. Yes, I know. The thing is, I am fine with it! I really enjoy having 10 weeks left, I don't feel ready for having a baby yet. The baby is certainly not ready to be here either. A co-worker has a friend who is just 2 days ahead of me according to due dates and who began pre-term labor a few weeks ago. She held off delivery until this weekeend, and at 30 weeks had a 2lb, 9oz boy. I do NOT want a preemie, I don't want months in a NICU, and I want to be giant and fat and still healthy with a large healthy baby inside.

There are no 30 week photos of me for two reasons. First, and primarily, because until yesterday we were without a camera. My nearly 6 year old Canon bit the dust, I helped it along a bit in March by leaving it out in the rain. It had a short revival and functioned moderately for another couple of months before mostly petering out. The time has come for a new camera, hopefully one that will last another 6 years. So I spent the last 2 weeks researching and asking for advice and checking sales. My deadline was yesterday and I ended up with this camera:

The camera has come just in time, as I am leaving for New York City tomorrow! Actually, I am leaving in just a few hours, I am blogging instead of sleeping. I could not visit NYC without a camera, especially when Rob has never spent much time there. He's been there a week already and reports that his research is going better than he'd imagined and he may have time to hang out with me and explore the city. It will be good to see him and the best news of all is that the average temp over the next week in NYC is 10-15 degrees cooler than it is here.
I am so looking forward to getting back to the city I love. This will also be my last flight before being grounded by pregnancy, and the last vacation unencumbered by baby gear. To remind me of this, here is a photo of the corner of our living room. This is just about all the baby gear we have acquired in the last few months. Most of it came as gift or hand-me-down, the swing was a bargain purchase. This is the first photo taken with the new camera.

It will be a reminder of how things will be changing.

So on that note, it is off to New York!!!!

Don't Rent this Place!!

The crazy landlord has placed an updated ad for her accomodations!! This must be posted, it is too good to pass up. The photos would indicate that some cleanup has been done, but this is still a good representation of the bedroom where Rob had to stay. There was more clutter, but the bedding remains. By remains, I also mean that it is unlikely to have been washed since Rob left. Also, please enjoy the description of the apartments and the offer of "high tea". I fear this post may be taken down so I may be doing some cut and paste soon.



For now, though, check this place out. The best part of the whole ad (and there is much to enjoy!!) may be that it is on a bed and breakfast website:

http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6367

Travel (Now Updated and Finished!)

Its been a while since I've posted, but travel has been keeping me from writing and its time for a brief update. Rob was accepted to present at two conferences in June, one in Chicago and one at Notre Dame. He did not anticipate that both proposals would be accepted and in hindsight wishes he'd only done one, but he was accepted and when this happens you don't turn the opportunities down. He left for Chicago on June 2 and did research in Chicago for the 10 days in between conferences, then went to Notre Dame to present. He'll only be spending 4 nights in St. Louis during this entire month.
I went to Chicago the first weekend Rob was there to visit, then went back last week to drive him to South Bend. I tried to helpfully find Rob a place to stay in Chicago a month or so in advance, as hotels for 10 days are out of our budget and we don't currently know anyone who lives in Chicago proper who could host a guest for 10 days. I located a place on Craigslist in Wrigleyville that was affordable and showed a decent one room apartment with a private bathroom and a kitchenette. We reserved that and Rob set out for Chicago with a plan for long hours researching and quiet nights in this small rental space.
It turns out that we found the nut house. If the Craigslist ad had not expired, I'd post the photos of what Rob expected. It was quite a misrepresentation. The photos showed a small place with floor to ceiling Cubs decor, not bad even if you dislike the Cubs. The reality was a filthy little place that was barely private as the door leading to it was glass. The private bath had a temporary shower stall in it that appeared ready to fall over at any time, with a shower curtain balanced precariously on the top. The "decor" the landlord had bragged about on the phone actually appeared to be others' used household items- half empty bottles of lotion, dirty wine glasses with plastic flowers in them, several dirty towels draped around the bathroom. The landlord herself was quite a trip. We learned from some friends in the neighborhood that she is a fixture around Wrigleyville and is commonly assumed to be a homeless or mentally ill woman that parking lot owners hire during Cubs games to collect parking money. It turns out she OWNS the building and parking lot where she collects money and is not homeless. Mentally ill is a strong possibility, however. The junk in the room Rob rented included what is obviously to someone else some art installation. What it really resembles is a Cubs fan in a casket at a funeral.

This decor was unique and what happened on the Saturday of my visit was even more, well, unique. Rob's rental space was at the back of the first floor of this three story building. The rest of the first floor is zoned for commercial space, so the only entrance into the building that he had access to is an empty storefront with all glass looking into it. The space is yet unused, though one of the tenants of the second floor (also rental space) said he has plans to turn it into a bar. The man, Marcos, was doing construction much of the time we were there, and during the days there was a table saw going most of the time. Marcos was friendly and he and Rob became casual pals even though the table saw also started up sometimes at night, (once as late as 1 am which Rob appreciated very much.) The Friday evening before this unique incident, Marcos said that the next day a photographer was coming to use the storefront space for a photoshoot. The walls in the storefront area are painted a deep red and Marcos said the photog wanted that color as the background for his shots. We didn't think much of this.

Rob and I went out to breakfast the next morning and then wandered around the neighborhood on Saturday for several hours. The weather was cool and overcast and Wrigleyville is a great walking area with plenty of eclectic little places to shop and eat. There, of course, is also Wrigley Field but there were no games while I Rob was in town, which is probably a good thing. The place moves from "eclectic" and "pleasant" to wild and drunk when the Cubs are in town.

So we returned to the apartment to shower and nap before going out for dinner with friends. When Rob went to key into the storefront entrance, we noticed there was a sheet up over the glass door. I said to Rob that this must be due to the photographer working inside. When Rob turned the key, a man's voice called out "Just a minute!! Just a minute!" and immediately came to the door. When he saw that we had a key, he backed away, and said "Oh, sorry, come on in". The man had a large camera with a long lense attached. A few feet away was a young woman who was wearing nearly nothing. Rob and I averted our eyes, apologized to both of them while trying to keep our eyes on the floor and hurried to the back of the room and into Rob's rental apartment.

We shut the door and Rob said "Was she wearing pants?!" I said I had no idea but I did not think so, I did not pause for a good look. As I have mentioned, the door to Rob's apartment was glass and we had hung a sheet over that when I arrived. As I have not mentioned, I am very nosy so of COURSE I had to sneak a peek through the door of his place. I watched as the photoshoot resumed and the answer is, yes, the young woman WAS wearing pants but just barely. She wore sheer lingerie and as the photoshoot continued, it came off in pieces. The walls of the apartment are paper thin and we could hear the photo encouraging her "Be sultry baby!!" "Yes, you look so turned on, that's it!" and then his splashing water on her "to make your nipples hard". I watched for a while, then got bored and took a nap.

What I want to point out is that supposedly they wanted to use the red walls as a backdrop for the "shoot" but there were white sheets taped up both behind the young lady and on the floor where she stood/laid/kneeled for her poses.

I wish I'd had the chance to take even a discreet, distanced photo of the scene since it just caps the weekend in Chicago, but I thought that would be rude. The woman obviously now has quite a portfolio anyway, so perhaps the photos can be found elsewhere on the internets.

And that was my trip to Chicago. Rob had to stay there for 5 more days, poor guy. The house of crazy gave us many good stories but we would not recommend it for lodging purposes to anyone we care about in the least.