Childbirth Class #1

It took me a full hour to get to the first childbirth class (thanks to 3 different wrecks on the way). Derek had to meet me there, and we were JUST in time! We were not on Derek-time, but we were still not late. Our instructor is an RN and Lactation Consultant. The best part is that she’s from England. Without that interesting quirk, it would be very easy to fall asleep during class. Most of the class was boring anatomy stuff – if I had a dollar each time she said “pelvic floor” I’d have… well at least $20.

In the class, she passed out ziploc bags with some jelly-type substance in them and tubs of lard representing amniotic fluid, water retention, etc. The husbands then carried all this around in a laundry basket. I didn't care for that part too much - I'd rather them ACTUALLY carry a laundry basket at home! (I can't complain - Derek does our laundry 90% of the time).

We shared the "best" and "worst" parts of pregnancy - Derek said his favorite part is eating - shocking, huh? The weirdest part of the class was the group kegels exercises. Seriously. Have you ever been in a room full of people and you KNEW they were all doing kegels?! So weird.

All in all, we had a good time. We kept whispering to each other to keep ourselves entertained (and make fun of some of the other couples, of course). I suppose we should have stopped that and our giggling when we all did breathing and relaxation techniques, but we didn't.

Update: New bedding!

We spent several hours on Sunday pulling together our bedroom. Derek hung the curtains while I ironed everything in sight. I still need to sew a seam in each valance - they were too long for these insanely narrow windows, so I cut one in half.

On Saturday, I got a little crazy at the Container Store - but I love the end product!

We also got our new couch on Saturday! I guess I'm in full nesting mode.

Lesson 1 - Don't wake a sleeping baby

Quick funny story -

Friday (snow day), Derek and I were both home from work by like 2pm. I've got my laptop with me in bed while he's trying to take a nap. I guess I was a little chatty - he said not to wake him unless there was a fire (or for sex).

So I get on JCP.com and order some stuff for the house - some of which we'd talked about and some of which we hadn't. When he woke up, I told him I ordered new bedding for us. He didn’t seem to care. Then on Monday, we get the email that the items are being shipped and his reaction is "How much stuff did you order?!" (I got the bedding, curtains, valance, curtain rods, pillow shams...) Everything was on clearance though!! And I reminded him that he didn't want to be woken up. I can also blame this on nesting right?!

So today, 3 boxes of stuff came in from JCP. I'm super excited to see it all!! I think this will look great with our orange walls - http://www5.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6E.aspx?DeptID=59474&CatID=59514&GrpTyp=ENS&ItemID=168f19d&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CMID=59474%7c59483%7c59514&Fltr=&Srt=&QL=F&IND=165&cmVirtualCat=&CmCatId=594745948359514

I'll update later with the results!!

Let the countdown begin... 96 more days!

I had a little fun today with this completely nonsensical survey. http://pregnancyandbaby.sheknows.com/pregnancy/baby/Madame-Zaritska-predicts-your-birth-experience-1.php. Here are my results:

"The day you deliver, outside will be cold. Your baby will arrive in the early evening. After a labor lasting approximately 20 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 5 pounds, 11 ounces, and will be 22-1/2 inches long. This child will have dark brown eyes and a lot of red hair."

Interesting... so it will be cold... in Texas... in May. And my child will have red hair even though his parents don't. I think if our baby is born with red hair, Derek would leave me. Not because he wouldn't be the father... that he could get over. No - he'd leave me because he could never love a child with red hair.

In other news, Dallas had record snowfall on Thursday of last week (Feb. 11th). The city was so pretty. I got to the office on Friday late (10ish) only to find that no one else was here. The roads were not icy at all - I think everyone was playing in the snow.

This weekend was very productive. We said our final farewell to Derek's great grandpa's wife, Jo, so several new sets of hands got to molest my belly at the funeral and festivites. We sold all of our "old" living room furniture on craigslist and made enough to refurnish the room. We bought a new couch that we hope will be more "playroom" worthy. We also got a first coat of paint on the nursery. Step one of about 100 to get the room ready. We still need to get the second coat on, paint the closet and the trim bright white, change the blinds, put up the crib, etc. Our final act of the weekend was finishing off Season 3 of Dexter. It sounds unproductive, but I collected all the addresses for my showers while we were watching Dexter slice and dice.

I still need to find a daycare, a pediatrician, and some time to see a chiropractor! A rib is out of place (from my back - my doc thinks it's not related to pregnancy since it's fine in front). This means incredible amounts of pain, which should supposedly be "better" after Derek puts me through more pain by "mobing" my rib. Mobing is not as "fun" as it sounds... just ask Derek. But hopefully I can get all of that done by the end of the month.

Baby Update!!

I got to see Baby Hicks again today - it's thrilling everytime. My 20 week sono showed an inflammed kidney, so they want to keep monitoring it - the doctor isn't concerned at all (she gets concerned if it's 10mm or more - and today one was 4mm, the other was 5mm), but she still needs to monitor. For me, it's just a great excuse to get some extra pictures!! It looks like Baby Hicks is practicing to be a QB!

Today they did the glucose test. I was anticipating something terrible, but the orange stuff didn't taste too bad. I was a bit frustrated because I had the test calendared for my NEXT visit, thus I hadn't fasted or told work I'd be awhile (since it takes 1 hour of waiting to finish). But it worked out well - I got done at 11:30, so got to join Derek, my mom, Gaumy and my sis for lunch! I stayed up late on Monday making a ton of soup, and Gaumy just raved about my soup!! I'm hoping to get one more batch in during "soup season".

Back to the doctor's visit - I have gained 15 pounds so far! I asked how big he was, but the tech said there's no way to measure him now. I guess we won't know until he makes his debut!

What a week

I'm pretty sure Baby Hicks was making noise this morning... ok - I know it's not possible, but there were strange noises that made me think otherwise. I'm sticking with the theory that it was Baby Hicks saying "I don't wanna go to court today!"

I'm 24 weeks now - and our son is supposed to be 12 inches long. I'll find out on Wednesday how big he really is. I've been telling Derek that I need his mom to teach me the song she used to sing to him that starts out "Big feet, big feet..."

Since my last blog, I've been working like crazy. This pregnant woman billed 209 hours in January - a feat I hope to never repeat. More importantly, since my last blog, my grandfather passed away. He was a really special man, and the only grandfather I really felt that I knew (I was too young when my Papa died). I am 100% confident that it was this man's hard work and sacrifice that gave me the opportunity to go down any path in life that I wanted. He laid a foundation for his family's success.

• 55 years ago, he was turning his 1 room house into a house with a several rooms and a bathroom (including digging his well with his own hands), and now his family lives comfortably in homes with more rooms than I care to count.
• 42 years ago, he made a huge leap of faith in starting a business, and that business now provides a livelihood for 30 or so people (including my father, 3 uncles, brother, sister, 2 cousins and husband).
• 61 years ago, he finished his education by completing the 9th grade (at age 17), and now most of his grandkids have a college degree (and 2, including myself, moved on to graduate school).

It's truly amazing what he has set in motion - I think very few people are capable of leaving such a mark on the world. God bless him, my grandma and Russ. I'm sure they are together in that 3 bedroom apartment in the sky.

Game on

We woke up this morning with Lola barking like crazy - the DirecTV guy was here... early!! What a surprise! He fixed up our DVRs and was on his merry way in about 30 minutes. Derek was walking out with him when he saw toilet paper in the yard and the two neighbor girls (with two friends) running away. They had decided to TP our house in broad daylight. It was a pretty pathetic attempt since they were caught in the act. They also used fancy 3-ply paper - they must be rich! We told them it's on now! We'll be brainstorming for neighborly pranks and getting ready to strike when they aren't looking!

We also found out this week what we kind of already knew - it's a boy!! We've started playing the name game. Baby boy Hicks was NOT shy at the sonogram - very eager to show his stuff! The second shot is taken from the "foot" of the bed, if Baby Hicks were laying in a bed. You can see his feet (in first position) and the family jewels in the middle!

I can't wait to see the little guy again!

Christmas Post

We had such a great Christmas! I "finished" the stocking on the 22nd... It's not quite finished, but it was time to put the back and tag on. There are supposed to be presents in front of the snowmen. I'm just telling on myself though because no one else would ever know. There will be presents next year!

On the 23rd, we cooked dessert (s'mores bars) and Gloria's stuffing.... and cleaned the house like madmen! Everything was ready for us to host the Hicks crew on the 24th.

This was super easy - Joe Pat smoked us a turkey, so we had to throw a few things together, and Derek's mom brought pies, pea salad and deviled eggs. It was probably easy because his family is so small! Thankfully, Marie and Doug were able to stop by, too.

It snowed almost all day on Christmas eve - it's been a LONG time since Dallas had a white Christmas. The pictures show the snow at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. Lola was outfitted in a new Santa suit!

She also destroyed the new toy that her grandma gave her in about 10 minutes! Derek did manage to lose $20 to Kennedy when he told her "I'll give you $20 to go put your face in the pool." She jumped on the offer so quick that she didn't even put on her jacket. She went out in the snow in her t-shirt, laid on the ground, and...

Here's a few shots of the Hickses:

On Christmas day, Derek and I exchanged gifts, then house-hopped. Derek had already gotten me a sink and a shower door. The shower door was a real surprise! On Christmas, I opened his final gift - a pregnancy massage at the Crescent. He already had the appointment set up and everything. I can't wait! He also seemed to enjoy his presents. He got 2 books: "Humpty Who?", for parents who need to learn nursery rhymes (he needs help with that), and "A New Dad's Survival Guide." He also got a GPS and a web-cam so that we can Skype with his grandpa! I think he was surprised. Santa filled the stocking with a new toy for Lola (the indestructible type), coffee, gum, mittens, and for Derek, a new deck of cards (presumably because he can't win with any of our current decks).

We started at Steve & Gloria's for breakfast. We got so full that we didn't eat a full meal for the rest of the day. Next stop was Gaumy's where we got to the "Just Married" couple - Morgan and Tyler. Then we were on to Donnie and Susan's in Lewisville. We stopped by to see Paul & Julie and joined in their family Taboo game. Derek says I took the game too far. With the clue "Tiger Woods lacks this," I answered "SEMEN!" The correct answer was Honesty. Apparently, Julie's family is pretty conservative.

We came home to pick up Lola and pack our bags, then stopped by Gaumy's one last time before heading to Red Oak. I got to see Jacob and Andrew over there.

On the 26th, the entire Paxton family went to Kaufman for lunch. We were there early to set up with my parents and the Motos. We ate a hearty meal, played our white elephant game, and then headed to the graveside to spend some time remembering Grandma and Russell. It was a nice day.

The final stop was back to Red Oak for Christmas with my immediate family. Santa still fills our stockings there, and it was so much fun to watch my nephews open their gifts.

My parents also exchanged gifts. For the past few years, all of us kids have gone in together for a "big" gift for the parents. They seem very excited about this year's gift - tickets to the Cowboys vs. Eagles game on January 3rd. They've been saying it's essentially the "first playoff game." I hope it is a good game!

Other than that, I've been working alot. We are set for trial February 15th, and I will be super-busy until then. Yuck. Lola did give us a Christmas present on Tuesday - she found the lizard that we had brought in with the Christmas tree. We saw a lizard when we first brought in the tree, but then we had to leave the house, and we didn't see it again. Lola started barking Tuesday evening, so Derek went to see what she was up to, and she had found the lizard in the kitchen! Derek trapped it under a cup (it was big, so not sure how he managed that), and saved it for me until I got home! Merry Christmas from Lola!

Tonight we are heading out to Matt and Erin's to spend NYE with the family. It should be great. On Saturday, we have New Years Brunch with my "adopted" family (the law school crew). I'm looking forward to all of it. In between all of that, I will be working. Happy New Year!

Let the stranger-fondling begin

I was feeling adventurous today and went to the post office. To my surprise, there was a very friendly man, Nash, at the automated machine helping and talking to everyone... ok - so really he was just talking to everyone and flirting with the girl in front of me. He asked when I was due, touched my stomach, and told me I was having a girl. I'm still in denial about "showing", so I had a minor heart attack. But I AM wearing a maternity top and had just finished off Chipotle. Nash is the first stranger to touch my belly.

Are you pregnant?

Yesterday was the first time someone asked me that based on appearance alone (i.e. no facebook status updates or prior discussions). It was John at my nail place. I hadn't been in there at all since I found out I was pregnant 3 months ago. Gotta love John!