18 weeks old - Orange Seed, you are growing so fast! Only two weeks now until we will find out if you are a boy or a girl. We can't wait! Our hunch (yep, we are unanimous) is still boy. We will apologize profusely if, in fact, you turn out to be a girl!

18 Weeks - 5 1/2 inches long and about 5 ounces in weight. The "Fruit of the Day" update now compares Orange Seed to a large mango. For the meat lovers out there, What to Expect is now comparing baby to a chicken breast (though it does emphasize that the baby is FAR cuter). I won't update you on how much it verifies my boobs have grown (sorry for even bringing it up, male readers). That statistic is too frightening to say out loud.

This past week has been wonderful. The Maternity Sale turned out to be a huge success. Way too successful actually. This may be one of those "lessons learned" that I note post-pregnancy. But for now, I am just trying to let go of my buyer's remorse and to tell myself that I really will need all these things in the coming months. I think the problem was that the sale was equivalent to a trip to Target. Everything seems so comparatively cheap that you wind up buying twice as much and totally negating the savings. Ah well...let's blame it on the hormones, shall we?

The BigCityMoms event was likewise super successful. They have a really great set-up and everything is done in such a way as to make you feel comfortable, even if you have come completely alone. They seat you at a table with other women who are due in the same month/couple of months as you, which is great, because it gives you a chance to meet other women who are sharing your immediate experiences/feelings/concerns/etc. Everyone was extremely friendly and I even left with one e-mail address, so maybe this will be a friend-making endeavor after all! It is strange to be trying to "pick up" other women, but hey, when you move to a new city and are lacking an immediate social outlet, you have to put yourself out there. It was actually a real relief to talk to the other women. So many of them also expressed that they were attending these events primarily to meet other moms-to-be and to make social connections. I know the fact that there might be other lonely girls in Manhattan is a shock only to me, but still...it was nice to know that I'm not really alone.

The other wonderful part of last week was that Chris and I FINALLY got to take our surprise trip out to Chicago for Miss Anna Sharp's 30th birthday party. We've been anticipating the trip for months now and especially since Anna accidentally found out about Orange Seed before we got a chance to tell her! Not being able to explain to her why she wasn't one of the first people we called (which she normally would have been) was torturous! It was so nice to finally surprise her and explain "We really do still love you, we just wanted to tell you in person and that is why we were waiting and we couldn't tell you because we couldn't tell you about our surprise visit and....". The explanation went pretty much like that. I think I babbled for a solid 5 minutes just trying to get the whole apologetic story out. Needless to say, the trip was a huge success. It was so nice to finally see the Sharp family again - Anna, Brad, and little adorable Allie. Even Orange Seed was excited and kicked around in my belly all weekend.



Thank you Sharp Family for a wonderful wonderful weekend!! Hopefully we will all be able to be together again soon.

Orange Seed and I head down to DC again this Wednesday. I think I'm going to beg my way out of a December visit. Too many things going on between now and the holidays. We have Grandma and Grandpa Duck coming into town for Thanksgiving next weekend, then visitors a couple of weekends in December, our trip down to Williamsburg for Christmas and a big ski trip with Suzanne and Tim over New Years. No, I will not be skiing, at least not downhill, but I'm hoping rather to get in some good spa time, relaxation time, and maybe some cross country skiing if I can still fit into my ski pants at that point. In the meantime, we're just enjoying the fact that it is now mid-November in NYC and it is still 50-60 degrees outside. I think the city is just faking us out, but I'll take it for now. As long as I can keep running along the water, NYC fall/winter is alright by me.

Maternity Sale Fears

So help me, if this turns out to be one of those crazy Running of the Brides type events, Big City Moms is going to get a nasty gram from me saying that they should really warn a person ahead of time.

Mylo Dweck Maternity Sale

That said, I think I might brave it. Just trying to decide how dedicated I really am. Maternity clothes are so overpriced that honestly, if it is as good as it sounds, it may be well worth the effort. Of course, I already have the Expectant Moms Dinner tomorrow night, so a full days worth of pregnancy events might be overkill. Decisions, decisions...wait, that said half-priced designer jeans, didn't it? SOLD! ;)

Photo Time

Visual update - 17 Weeks and Counting

I really need to start doing my hair before these pictures. Aside from the loveliness that is my first-thing-in-the-morning-look though, check out that belly! Still pretty small and, admittedly, smaller some days than others (blame it on all the good New York food), but I am definitely looking more and more pregnant as the days go by. Guess that means this all might be real after all.

Can It Be? A Baby Factory?

First of all, Happy 17 Week Birthday to Orange Seed!

And now onto the heart of the matter...

Earlier this week, I went to my 16 week appointment. As usual, it was an hour drive round trip to/from the doctor's office and I was in and out of the actual appointment in under 15 mins. I remember reading posts back when I first found out I was pregnant and was looking for doctors. People repeatedly talked about how much they had disliked the fact that their doctor's office felt like a baby factory and I thought, "Ah, okay, this is similar to the 'I am the only bride in the world and you will recognize just how special I am, goldarnit' craziness that some women go through." But, the reality is, now that I'm experiencing it for myself, I do understand how those women feel. There is something so special (and frightening, and exhilarating, and confusing) about being pregnant. You can talk to other moms, you can talk to other pregnant women, you can talk to other parents, but the reality is that, especially as a first time mom, you are putting a lot of faith in the person you choose to be your OB. They are supposed to be your guide through 10 months of strange and new experiences. They are supposed to steer you toward the right path and protect you and your baby from all the dangers that are out there, from Swine Flu to undercooked meat. So when you go into the office and they rush you into an examination room, slap you down on the table, whip around doing the three or four things they need to get done without any explanation and then start backing out of the room while asking in a hopeful voice "So, no questions this visit?", you do feel a little put out.

My doctors are fine. They are friendly. They haven't done anything "wrong" per se. They just also haven't taken any extra time to do anything right. I feel like I have been a super easy patient so far. I haven't had too many questions, I'm not calling them at all hours of the night double checking what I can and can't eat. I'm a pretty easy case - young, healthy, easygoing. That said, I do wonder if I'm not getting shortchanged by not having doctors who are willing to take the time to sit down and provide me with some guidance. After all, I am no expert at this. I am open to some advice and guidance since otherwise I'm just winging it and going by what I've read in the books.

I remember during my first yoga class the instructor told us "All that you need to know about being a mother is already within you." I do believe that. If you were lucky enough to be raised in a healthy, happy home, I think you come into a pregnancy with the distinct advantage of already having thought about what you would do when your day came to be a parents. You have already identified the traits/approaches you like, the things your parents did which you most appreciated or which most affected you. You've thought about the things you would and wouldn't do once you had children of your own. Most importantly, you have already learned what it means to be loved unconditionally and so that love is already inside you, waiting to come out and be presented to your own child in the form of hopeful, motivated parenting, even if not perfect. I think children, though they have obvious basic needs, are highly unpredictable and you have to be ready to go with the flow to a great extent. That said, when the baby is in my belly, there are all kinds of random things I am/am not supposed to do. Plus, things change daily. Another piece of wisdom from the yoga instructor: "Listen to your body. Every day is different. Every day your body will need/want something else." That is the truth. I remember internally rolling my eyes a little at the beginning. The changes seemed to come so slowly and since I was lucky enough to feel pretty good during the first trimester, I really didn't feel like a whole lot was changing. Now, going into month 5, I can better see what she means. Things change. One day your jeans are perfectly comfortable, the next your stomach wants nothing to do with a non-elastic waistband. One day you can sit happily in your desk chair for hours, typing away like normal. The next day, your lower back is achy and your stomach doesn't like being bent over, and you just feel like you're suddenly having to adjust your position, attitude, life around this new body that doesn't always feel like it belongs to you. I can only imagine how much stranger things get once you are carrying around a full on beach ball stomach.

I don't know if I'll wind up changing doctors or not. We're definitely considering it. On the one hand, it seems so easy to just stick with what you already have/know. On the other hand, I do want to be with a practice where I feel like if I have questions, I don't have to feel guilty interrupting their schedule to ask them. We're scouting for other options right now and we'll just see how it goes. Either way, I will not be missing my Dec. 3rd appointment when hopefully Orange Seed will cooperate and let us see whether we are waiting on a baby girl or a baby boy. Even just hearing his/her heartbeat yesterday was so exciting. I haven't felt the baby move yet, so hearing that reassuring thump thump thump is the most wonderful feeling in the world. Hang in there Orange Seed. We're waiting on you!

Weekend Warriors

Well, it was a somewhat sad Halloween this year, as it was the first time in 7 years that we couldn't host our annual Spatz-Duck Halloween Extravaganza. You don't realize how attached you've become to a place and the traditions that go along with it until you leave it all behind. We missed you on October 31, D.C.!

That said, it was a pretty eventful weekend for Chris, Orange Seed, and I. For Halloween, we decided to take in both of the NY/NJ Halloween parade extremes. We started out the day by watching the Hoboken Annual Ragamuffin Parade. I knew there were a lot of little kids in Hoboken - seriously, every other person you see is either pushing a stroller or clearly pregnant - that said, there were more kids at this parade than seemed possible. The costumes were impressive and we're definitely planning to dress Orange Seed up and walk him/her in the parade next year. There were some brilliant family costumes. For one family, both parents dressed as doctors and their little boy was dressed in a big green germ costume labeled H1N1. In another, both parents dressed in NASA caps and jumpsuits, while pushing their little one in a stroller that had been remade into a shuttle, with their little boy dressed in an astronaut suit riding front and center. Chris and I are already plotting how to outdo them all next year and win the coveted Ragamuffin Costume Contest Ribbon.

That night, we went to a slightly different kind of parade. For those who don't know, NYC has one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) Halloween parades in the country. It runs up 6th Avenue from Spring Street to 21st and it is AMAZING. This is a huge deal and though anyone in costume can walk, there are some big floats and a lot of "professional" parade groups who come fully decked out with themes and puppets and stilts and theater-quality costumes...it is really something. Few highlights below:



Overall, though the Halloween decorations stayed in the box this year, not a bad Halloween night at all. I even got a little dressed up since skipping a year of costumes just didn't seem right.


The other exciting thing Orange Seed and the parentals-to-be got to experience this weekend was the NYC Marathon on Sunday. 42,000 runners and over 2-million people lining the streets to watch, it was really the most amazing thing to witness. The energy was incredible. Now that I know the "Bob" running stroller is strong enough for "marathon distances", I'm thinking...goal for next year? Who's in?

The Winners:



and Those Who Inspire:

I'm so glad we went. It was such an incredible thing to watch. So much excitement, so much emotion...If you haven't been, definitely join us next year. You can come just to watch, don't worry. :)

Dharma and Greg

So, funny story about Chris and I and the little differences in our potential future parenting styles.

A couple of years ago, we're standing outside baggage claim at an airport waiting for our ride to arrive. As we stand there, a mini-van pulls up and out hops a kid who's probably around 16. He has a crazy black Mohawk (might have been a couple green spikes in there too), fingernails that are painted black, and he's wearing one of those spiky dog collars around his neck. The rest of his outfit is typical punk/goth - black concert t-shirt, ripped up jeans, etc. He walks past us toward baggage claim, where he meets a little old couple who he swoops up in two of the biggest, warmest hugs I've ever seen. After the hugs are finished, he takes both people's large suitcases and starts back toward the van. They all walk up to the van and he rushes to drop the suitcases back near the trunk so that he can get back to the couple. He opens the back door and helps the woman climb up into the seat, then he does the same for the man, who gets in on the front passenger side. He then checks that they're both okay before closing the doors. After that, he walks back around to the trunk and lifts the two gigantic suitcases in, before coming back around to get behind the wheel. Then he drives off.

The follow-on conversation between Chris and I goes something like this:

Chris: Our kid is NEVER dressing like that.
Me: Are you kidding me? That was what you took away from that scene?
Chris: Um, yeah. Did you see his hair? And the collar? No way.
Me: But did you see how considerate and loving he was with his grandparents? He seriously came across as the nicest kid in the world. If we can teach our kid to act like that and the worst thing he wants to do is dress a little funky for a few years while he's going through teenagerdom, then so be it.
Chris: Yeah, but no. Kids don't dress that way for no reason. There's something wrong with him.
Me: You do realize that when you first met me I had all kinds of piercings - 6 earrings, belly button. I even had a tattoo.
Chris: Yeah, but you got rid of them pretty quickly.
Me: Would you not have dated me otherwise?
Chris: No...I mean, I would have...but you weren't goth like that. You were just a hippy.
Me: Seriously, if the worst our kid wants to do is dress a little bizarre, but he's still kind and nice and overall good, I say we just go with it. All kids have their phase.
Chris: Yeah, it's called I smoke pot when my grandparents aren't looking.
Me:...oh wow. You got that from his hair?
Chris: I'm just saying...

The reality is, do I know how I'll feel if our kid decides to go full-out Goth some day? No. I don't. The idea doesn't exactly thrill me, but I do feel like all kids go through a period where they are struggling to figure out who they are, where they are struggling to express themselves, and where they are trying to fit in somewhere, anywhere...that's what middle school and high school are about. So, if our kid stays a happy, healthy person, but wants to dress a little strangely, well...is that really the biggest concern? I think not. I say if having green hair keeps them from dropping out and sinking into depression then so be it. Chris, on the other hand, might not know what to do with a kid who decided to go that way. This actually gives me great hope that we will, in fact, be able to switch off in terms of the Good Cop, Bad Cop roles. I can be the easygoing parent when it comes to how they decide to design themselves over time and Chris can be the easygoing parent when it comes to them throwing a tantrum, which will likely make me totally insane. It's all about balance...I think we'll find it. Even through a Mohawk period.

Mommy's Muscles

Today Orange Seed and I swam for 40 minutes. (No, I did not take pictures of myself doing it. I am cheating and using an old photo from my first - okay, and only - triathlon)

Other than the fact that I now feel like my arms might fall off, it felt really good. I was out of commission for two weeks with a nasty cold and sinus infection (Apparently being pregnant also leads to a swelling of the nasal cavities, making you more susceptible to sinus infections. The fun never ends.), so after the miracle Z-pack, I am just finally starting to get back into some sort of workout regimen. I've been trying to stick to a regular workout schedule throughout the pregnancy. Before I got pregnant, I'd been planning to train for a marathon and was working on upping my mileage while scouring the Internet for training groups I could join. Needless to say, that plan died with the arrival of Orange Seed, so now I'm setting my sights on smaller goals. Despite what some of the women on Running Mamas might tell you, running long distances while pregnant isn't all that easy. It's been hard to realize that I can't quite do all that I could do pre-pregnancy. My beautiful 7 mile average has taken a major nosedive and 4 seems to be about the going rate nowadays. That's definitely partially due to how tired I was during the first trimester, but I think it's also just my body's way of saying that now is not the time to be ramping up my activity level. In all honesty, I really can't complain. I'm still running 3-4 times a week, going to yoga 2-3 times a week and, now that I've joined a gym, I'm back to weight training and now swimming. So really...Orange Seed and I are doing pretty darned good. I like to think that Orange Seed enjoys the exercise as much as I do. We have little talks while we run - "Okay, now you know that mommy wants to make it 4.5 miles today, so you just hang in there and if you're REALLY unhappy, okay, let me know, but otherwise, just enjoy the ride. It's probably not as bumpy as riding in that jogging stroller I'm getting you will be!" The baby seems to get it. I think we're on a level.

I don't know how other people feel, but I know I would go crazy if I didn't feel well enough to get outside and stretch. I have so much respect for all these women who are horrendously ill throughout their first trimester or who wind up on bed rest for months at a time. God bless them for learning how to make it through that. Myself, I get bored watching two TV programs in a row - too much downtime - so I am very grateful to Orange Seed for letting me feel well enough to keep up my active lifestyle. Fingers crossed that I can do it all the way through to Week 40.