Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Scarlett Joan Goulding has arrived!

Scarlett actually arrived last Tuesday, March 23rd at 4:33am, but I've been a little busy since then. It feels funny to type her full name, since we're calling her Scout and it seems to fit her perfectly. She is a little replica of Rob, so another nickname is Roblett. She is thus far a champion among babies--a good eater, a sound sleeper, and a very sweet observer of everything that goes on around her.

The labor was intense, and I won't get into details here, lest I frighten anyone. Suffice it to say it was all well worth it, and we stuck to our birth plan, with much help from our incredible doula, Angelika (below, holding Scout in her lady bug blanket.) The plan was to have the baby with no interventions (induction, pain medication, serious talk about rehab, etc), and oh my god it hurt worse than anything I have ever experienced in my life. I think Rob is probably still traumatized from watching me go through it, but he did an amazing job of helping to keep me calm and focused. And now we have our beautiful baby girl, and we are completely content just staring at her all day long.













Friday, March 19, 2010

It's my last day of work and this is what I want to blog about

Ok, in the interest of pushing my Devito picture further down the page, I am sharing with you today the preview for the upcoming film Eat, Pray, Love. I have a few friends who couldn't stand the book (sorry, guys), but I really liked it.

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I also enjoyed this talk that Elizabeth Gilbert gave on creativity.

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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Whatever Devito

Clearly my vanity abandoned me somewhere in my ninth month of pregnancy.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Why?

A conversation with my three-year-old neighbor, D:

Me: D, the baby is moving. Do you want to feel?

D (with a cursory hand swipe at my stomach): Why is the baby in there?

Me: Because she's still cooking. And when she's ready she'll come out.

D: What is she cooking?

Me: Oh, hmmm...maybe cooking was not the right word...

D: Why is she cooking?

Me: Well, I mean, she's still growing. She has to get bigger before she comes out.

Silence.

D: Why is she cooking?

Me: Because she's hungry. She's making a snack.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Things You Need to Know

I drove Rob to work today, and I'm so glad I did, because otherwise I would never have known about these new chickens that are split down the middle, half male and half female. And then what would I have to show for my day?

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

A Perfect Match

Here's something that happens a lot: Rob gets compared to celebrities. He's been told he looks like Brett Favre, Richard Gere, Ben Affleck, John Corbett...recently his sister even told him he reminds her of Jim Carrey. Do any of those people even look alike? It doesn't matter--apparently Rob resembles them all.

Feeling left out, I scoured the web to find my celebrity lookalike, and the results are in.



I'm Danny Devito.

Monday, March 8, 2010

The Oscars

Well, Hurt Locker. I guess you pretty much stole the show. I have to say, I think you deserve the awards and accolades, though there probably was something to that whole "the academy wants to punish the insufferable James Cameron" rumor. Note that I don't personally know James Cameron and that the word insufferable was in quotes.

Liz and Rob came over for the show, which was on at the blissful west coast time of 5:30pm. Perfect for a person who can barely keep her eyes open past 10pm. Among other things, we ate tomato tartlets (super easy to make) and dirty potatoes (also easy, which is a new requirement for any food I cook). Liz and Rob brought a fancy salad in a fancy salad bowl, and cupcakes, which they LEFT HERE and I am going to throw them out. Soon. Maybe. After I lick the icing off.

They also brought adorable gifts for the baby that they picked up at the Alameda Flea Market yesterday. If I told you the baby's room was all ready to go, it would be a big, big lie. But we're getting there.





Thursday, March 4, 2010

37 Weeks

Our baby education continues. 6 weeks of childbirth class culminated in me eating bunches of cookies while we listened to a couple talk about the birth of their adorable, massive-cheeked 5-week old AND in a horrific video of a woman with hemorrhoids the size of large grapes giving birth to twins in her bathroom, during which I did not eat cookies. We are heading to Breastfeeding class tonight and Parenting class on Saturday. Yes, Rob is attending the breastfeeding class. Yes, I suppose this might be one example of the ways in which I am slowly but steadily emasculating him. But these people are the experts and they recommend that partners attend class. What's a chubby girl to do?

We're also still reading, although I admit I have been way more into reading the stack of books my friend Mark sent me from his company than the stack of parenting books that continue to pile up around me. I just finished Men and Dogs, a novel by Katie Crouch that comes out next month. And I am currently reading a thriller by Michael Koryta called So Cold the River. That comes out in June. Both are recommended, even though I'm only halfway through the Koryta. I am driven to distraction by the book and would much rather curl up on the couch with its creepiness than read about ways to get my baby to sleep better. I realize I am likely making a mistake with this decision. Later, when I'm up all night with a crying baby, maybe I'll reread these books. Or maybe I'll just cry, too.

I'm still going to prenatal yoga, and feeling an almost desperate need for it at least twice a week. There's something so reassuring about sitting around with other front-heavy gals, talking about our situations. And some of these women are going through much tougher times than I: jobs lost, big moves ahead, abnormal sonograms, swollen ankles. It puts things in perspective and gives me a sense of community.

My latest addition to the pregnancy curriculum is Acupuncture. As I type this, I have four needles in my ear that are working on making my back feel better (I see you rolling your eyes, Mom.) I spent 90 minutes with the acupuncturist yesterday. She lectured me on staying warm--I told her I can't help it if my hands and feet are icicles, but she disagrees and says that, in fact, I can help it. When I asked her how, she said "STAY WARM." She then covered me with blankets, turned a bunch of heat lamps on me, stuck me with needles and let me take a nap. I now love her and am going back next week. Her plan is to use the needles to help make my contractions stronger, while reducing the pain I feel. (I see you rolling your eyes again, Mom.) Except instead of "help", she pronounced it "harp" so it took me a while to figure out what she was saying.

Ok, I guess this is enough boring information about the last few weeks of someone's pregnancy. See why I don't blog more often? I'm only thinking of you, people.