Babymoon??

So, there's this term out there: babymoon.  You've heard of it, I'm sure.

I looked it up on Wikipedia, because don'tcha know, Wikipedia is a fantastic reference tool (*wink*) in our modern era, and it said:

A babymoon is a related term and refers to a vacation taken by a couple either soon before, or soon after, the birth of their baby, like the honeymoon which follows a wedding. The concept was first popularized in the 1990s as a period that parents spend bonding with a recently born baby. In the 2000s, it also described a vacation taken by a couple that is expecting a baby, in order to allow the couple to enjoy a final trip together before the baby is born. 

Well, I guess we sort of went on a babymoon this past weekend.  Sort of. 

But let's get one thing straight: it was NOTHING like our honeymoon.  We had a great time just being in the company of each other, but everything else seemed to flop a bit.  It was comical really.  And will make for good memories.

I was soooo looking forward to getting away with JT, even if only for a weekend.  Last week was full of anxiety for me...pregnancy hormones, life, overwhelming-need-to-nest-this-whole-dang-house anxiety. 

The week started off great!  On Monday (I guess not this Monday, but the last...June 23rd) I got to see our favorite little guy.  He's looking so cute and is measuring right on track.  His heart rate was 125, but then the tech retook it because she didn't like it that low and got a reading of 142 which she said was much better.  He weighed in around 1lb 8oz and I was measuring right around where I should be too.

I took my mom to the appointment since JT couldn't be there, and that ended up being pretty special.  We got to see Ziggy open and close his mouth and stick his fingers in.  We also got to see his legs crossed at the ankles again, just like in the 10.5 week ultrasound photos...that endearing quality that I fell in love with immediately! 

The only complaint I have about the appointment (because, come on, I've got to complain a little bit) is that Monday morning at 8:00 was probably not the best time to schedule.  I think I showed up for my appointment before half of the office showed up for work.  Many of the people I encountered seemed like I remember feeling on Monday mornings in May and June..."Do I really have to be here?"  They were cranky and tired.  ANNNND I had to wait 35 minutes with a full bladder before getting called back.  They couldn't have been behind because I was the first appointment.  I actually spoke up to the receptionist at 8:25 and asked, "How much longer...I didn't want to be obnoxious, but I was getting pretty uncomfortable."  I didn't expect to, but I actually had to fight through some tears it was beginning to hurt so bad.

When they finally did call me back, the u/s tech said, "Oh, you're far enough along you wouldn't have needed a full bladder."  Nice.  Thanks for sharing that with me NOW.  So, when I asked if I could go then she said, "Well, no...let's look at the baby's position first...it might be good that your bladder is full."

So then I had to go another 10 minutes on the table with her pushing on my bladder.  I couldn't even enjoy that part of it I was trying so hard not to cry or pee.  She got a good look at his heart (which is one thing they didn't get to see so well last time), but said his spine looked funny because they (Ziggy and Mega-bladder) were fighting for space.  So...she let me pee.  And then we got to see all this cuteness (plus a spine that was looking much more "baby" and much less "snake").

I kind of had a little freak out moment, but tried to play it cool and said something like, "It looks like he has a black eye," hoping she would chuckle at me and placate me and give me some explanation to calm me down when really I was thinking, "Oh my gosh!  Is something wrong with his eye?!? Did I do that?!"

Instead (maybe we can blame Monday) she ignored me and from that point I stopped trying to interact with her and just talked with my mom about how adorable and loved this little guy is.

Woops.  This started as a babymoon post...

So, the week started off great. Healthy baby = happy mommy.

Then I had to take my car in to the shop because the service engine light had been on awhile and none of the normal, simple tricks made it go off.  There weren't any symptoms though, so I figured they would just be able to reset the light and everything else would be fine. 

I ended up being carless for a couple days, but ran around with my mom shopping for bedding and a dresser for the nursery.  The first day was fun and exciting.  I had a couple different ideas in mind and found a few bedding options that would work.  I spent a lot of time looking at stuff online and getting more ideas than I needed.  I couldn't sleep that night because I was so confused about which route to go.  I know.  About bedding.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Dresser shopping was less thrilling.  One day was a complete bust.  We went to a half dozen furniture stores and nothing seemed right.  So we scheduled another day to go out looking on the other side of town.

Meanwhile, I got my car back and it cost way more than I was expecting.  Some valve was stuck open and was interfering with emissions and would eventually...honestly, who cares.  It just sucked to pay for that on the same day I planned to try my luck again with dressers and bedding.  In addition to that, I had also just written a big fat check to the guy redoing our sprinkler system.  Same day.  It put me in a rotten mood because spending lots of money in little bits of time freaks me out!  I saw a couple dressers that might have worked...but they were too expensive.

By this point in the week my anxiety was mounting.  I felt like I had this long list of things to do and to get and I hadn't accomplished any of it after nearly a week of fruitless outings...and I had managed to spend lots of money with (what felt like) little to show for it.  Yay, new sprinklers and the light on my dash isn't on anymore!  Important stuff, but not fun stuff to spend money on. 

Long story shorter...I eventually found a dresser and got a banging deal on it, which turned my whole week around.

However, by the time Friday rolled around I was definitely ready to get the heck outta dodge and have a romantic weekend with my husband.  I happily hopped in the car, dropped the dogs at the kennel, and made the three hour drive to where he is doing his cadet duty this summer. 

Friday night we had pizza and watched a movie in his apartment.  The place itself is pretty nice, but it is very bare-bones.  He's only really there to eat and sleep.  And he's only really there for the summer before he heads to academy.  So, he has a chair, a twin mattress on the floor, a TV (that only plays movies), and a TV tray.  And a box that he uses as a foot stool. And that's about it.  Pretty romantic setting, right?

He ended up sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor that night and let me and Ziggy have the mattress.  In the morning our plan was to drive up to some of the places he could later be stationed and just get a feel for them...walk around, check out the neighborhoods, parks, etc.  The drive was beautiful, but about 1 hour in it started raining.  About 2 hours in (maybe our second rest stop??) we received a call from our credit card company that there had been some suspicious spending with our card.  Sure enough, the spending wasn't ours, so we had to freeze the card.

We had expected to be at our first destination in 3 hours and do lunch and some sight seeing there.  But that leg of the trip took longer than expected and it was still raining like crazy, so we decided to press on to the place where we planned to spend the night and just have an early dinner. 

We ended up getting stuck in traffic/construction and tacked some more unexpected time onto our trip.  Eventually we made it to destination #2 (my husband's hometown growing up) and had dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant there.  After dinner we visited his old neighborhood and elementary school.  We even went to Babies R' Us so I could show him what I'd been up to all week.  He found a little tuxedo onesie that he really wanted to buy, but we refrained and left empty-handed.

We moseyed our way to the hotel we normally stay at and they were completely booked.  So we checked some other hotels...also booked.  We decided that even though it was getting late, we'd head to destination #3 and just stay there for the night instead.  Sure, that meant cutting out the botanical gardens, but we could hit those on the way back if we really wanted. 

So, we got back in the car and headed north.  Blizzards from  Dairy Queen were the new priority.  That and finding a place to stay.  We did find a Dairy Queen.  At 10:08.  Pretty sure they closed at 10:00.  So we got McFlurries instead, which were okay, but are not the same.  We started checking hotels to no avail.  Everywhere around there was booked too.  In fact, one of the ladies at one of the hotels filled me in on the events of the weekend and asked where we were headed.  I said," Anywhere we can find a room" and she basically told me we were out of luck...unless we headed much further north.  At another place I asked if I could at least use the bathroom and was told, "Sorry, I'm not supposed to let you."  That made me mad: clearly pregnant woman, late at night, been looking for a place to stay...come on lady!

The only real options we had were to sleep in the car.  Ummm, not happening.  Or to go back to JT's crash pad...we had taken the scenic route and some detours to get where we were, but it would still be another 3 hours in the car...and it was already 11:00.  By this point I was getting VERY uncomfortable.  My belly was sort of cutting off circulation to my legs and I was tired of being bent at a 90 degree angle.  We hadn't gotten nearly as much walking in as planned and we had spent way longer in the car than originally anticipated.  I wasn't drinking as much water as usual because I didn't want to have to use the restroom as frequently as I normally do.  The part of the trip I had been looking forward to most was just cuddling up in some luxurious bed.  3 more hours in the car sounded like hell.  But, what else could we do?

When we finally made it back, all three of us slept on the twin mattress.  It actually wasn't too bad...we were so tired, I don't think we moved much.  Except for when a terrible leg cramp woke me from my sleep.  The next day we were good and lazy.  Nothing had really worked out the way we had talked about, but we were okay with it.  We had lots of good conversation and laughs and just enjoyed each other.  I spent one more night there...again all of us on the twin mattress...and drove home the next morning after dropping JT off at work.

Some babymoon, aye?  All in all though, it was a wonderful weekend hanging out with my best friend: reminiscing about the past, laughing about the present, dreaming about the future.

25 weeks

 

Love this guy!