Okay, I’m totally exhausted so a quick one today…

Was up all night with the cat, doing the fretting mama thing. But after a trip to the vets he’s really perked up and looks much better. He’s finally eating, which is a big YAY. He’s even purring and nuzzling our hands. I’m so glad to start getting my baby boy back. Only problem is that he’s “leaking” urine everywhere he goes… especially if you pick him up. Yeah, umm… oops. Heh. He’s still pretty sick and far from out of the woods, but… it’s definitely looking up.

I nearly started crying at the vet’s office. First they examined him, which was obviously very painful for him, he was growling (which I have NEVER heard him do), then they took him in the back to give him fluids and I could hear him meowing sadly, like he was crying for mama. :cry: I was sitting in the treatment room trying to hold back tears, my poor little boy. Gosh, is this what it’s going to feel like when it’s my human baby getting shots or whatever? In the past I’ve dealt with very scared pets at the vet, and very pissed off pets, but I don’t think I’ve ever had to take in a pet that was in so much pain before. I felt like I was betraying him, letting them do things to him that hurt. *I* know it was to make him better and it needed to get done, but you can’t explain that to a cat. (Though I tried. I was telling him all about how we’re going to make him better.) But yeah. Very upsetting. :(

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The human baby is certainly getting stronger kicks every day. This morning in between the vet appointment and work I layed down for a quick nap, and again there was kick after kick as I layed there trying to sleep. It used to be I’d feel a random kick, then nothing, then another one 10 minutes later. Now there are times where I get a flurry of activity… Kick kick kick! Like he/she is trying to make a point or something. It’s kind of funny.

Tomorrow is the big day! I’m excited… but the excitement has kind of been brought down several notches due to worry over my kitty. But tomorrow we could actually know who is in there! We’re very very excited to name him/her and quit this “it” and “him/her” thing. I can’t even put into words how I feel…. nervous and excited and wondering if it’s even going to feel “real” to me. It’s not sinking in right now.

Sorry to keep you all waiting! My appointment was at 3, we didn’t get called back until 3:30, and then traffic SUCKED getting home. But I am home now! And I have ultrasound photos!

Our kiddo was NOT at all shy…

I think we both teared up when she said boy. I just knew from the start…. so it looks like mother’s intuition was right in this case! His name is/will be Devin Alin!

His sweet little face

Proof it really IS an alien in my belly ;)

Baby’s first footprint :D

And the money shot! It’s a BOY, baby! And it was like every time she tried getting a photo of his spine… PENIS…. PENIS…. oh there it is again! LOL!!! Absolutely NO doubt about it, we have a little boy.

After the fact I started feeling sad that I won’t get to paint the walls pink and go all girly-girly – but I think I would have had that reaction if it was a girl! But I certainly can’t say that I’m disappointed, I got SO giddy when I learned it was a boy. Little boys are awesome!

I’m going to be a mommy to a BOY! Holy shit!

::

Okay, added later, a full recount of the day:

I finished up at work earlier than expected, and I was starving. When I had arrived at work I was starved and ate two small bags of chips (Lays) and shortly threw them all up. So I went to Dunkin Donuts before my appointment and ordered a bagel with strawberry creamcheese. I figured on eating half of it – my usual – and bringing the rest with me. Instead I ended up wolfing down the entire thing. o.O

I got to the hospital a little early – probably 20 or so minutes before my appointment time. I went there straight from work, and was meeting Den in the lobby. Before he came I quickly ran to the bathroom to pee (they had told me that I did NOT have to drink water beforehand), then sat on a bench to wait for Den. I glanced up just to see the reflection of his SUV glide by on a big glass window (I couldn’t see outside from where I was sitting, just a big glass window on the side), and sure enough it was him.

We “registered” – which is a process I still don’t understand. They call me the day before my appointment to “pre-register”: to confirm my name, date of birth, insurance, doctor, blah blah blah. Then the day of the appointment I have to go to the registration desk and “register” – which is basically saying “yes” or telling them my date of birth and stuff. It seems very redundant to me.

After registering we went back to the waiting room, where we checked in (yet another seperate process – this one just saying “My name is __ I’m here for an ultrasound.”) and sat to wait. Our appointment was for 3:00. We didn’t get called until 3:30. In that time the TV was on (news, bleh) and I was getting seriously irritated by some older boys who were there with their mother and grandmother. Older as in around 8-10 years old. They were knocking on the fish tank glass (to which I was sitting there in horror, you should NOT be doing that to the fishies), they were playing with their little action figures on the lampshade (I was sure they were going to knock over the lamp), they were fiddling with the combination locks on the cabinet under the fish tank. All the while their mother was reading a magazine completely ignoring them. I am just flabbergasted sometimes. Do people think this is appropriate behavior? Or are they just too tired of correcting them all the time? I was seriously irritated.

Shortly before we got called in a mother was leaving with her two little ones. Her boy was around 2 or 3, walking behind her. So cute!! I leaned over to Den and said, “See!! I want one of those!!” :D

Then our name was called! The tech led us back to an ultrasound room (the same one as for my first tri screening) and asked if I needed to use the washroom. Den answered, “Yes!!” for me as I made a beeline for the washroom, as I had been wimpering in the waiting room about needing to pee. To be honest I don’t know if I had to pee or if I just had an upset tummy.

When I came out I hopped up on the sheet-covered bed/table and pulled up my shirt a little. The tech tucked a towel into my pants (I wore my yoga pants for just this reason – easy to tug down a bit, and very stretchy), squirted some gel onto my belly, and got started! She asked first if we wanted to know the sex, and we both said, “Yes!!” She asked what we thought it was, and I confessed I’d felt that this was a boy from the start.

The first glance was the baby curled up in a ball, which made me worry, but he didn’t stay there for long. For the first 10 minutes or so she was measuring the baby’s head, arms, heart, etc, in addition to checking on the position of my placenta and how my cervix was doing. I was trying to enjoy it, but at the same time I really wanted her to hurry up and get down to the important part. lol We kept seeing the baby’s hand all outstretched, all five little fingers. Looks like long little fingers, just like mama. :mushy: It was hard to get my bearings straight, as she was moving the U/S wand around so much to get the best angle for pictures. Baby was definitely constantly moving though… she was kind of talking to him, “Come on baby, move a little…” She’d wiggle the wand around a little as if trying to convince him to move around.

Then she goes to move down to measure the legs and says, “You wanted to know right?” Then she started checking the legs. I couldn’t see anything at first, my heart was pounding a little bit in excitement, then she says, “Looks like it’s a boy!” Sure enough baby had his legs wide open, and his little “bits” were dangling around. We got two photos of that – I only scanned the better one. But both show the two little bulges on top of one another like a snowman… the little balls and the little penis.

So then she started measuring the legs, got a photo of a foot sticking out, measured the spine. And every time she scanned back and forth his legs were wide open, showing off his boy parts. The tech actually apologised, “Sorry! Can’t help it, he has it all on display!” I just laughed.

I looked over at Den to see how he was feeling, and he wasn’t all excited like I expected him to be. I reached for his hand and said, “You’re getting your boy!” He pointed to his eye and then I realized why he looked so solid – he was trying desperately to hold it together and not start crying in front of the tech! His eyes were all teary.

When the ultrasound tech finished up she said that the doctor was going to come in to take a few more measurements of his own and she’d be sending him right in. She sat down at the table and I guess did a few quick calculations and said that the estimated weight of the baby was 9 ounces! :D She also said that everything looked perfectly fine. And she left.

In walked a male doctor. He introduced himself brusquely and shook our hands, then sat down and started scanning me. He pressed hard – much harder than she did. And he didn’t say much of anything. He asked if I had any questions, and I said, “Oh – what was the heartrate?” I know I’d seen her take a look at the heart, but she never said what the rate was. He blinked. “Why?” “Uhhh… I don’t know. I just like keeping track of numbers,” I shrugged. He didn’t say anything. A little bit later he checked the heartrate and measured it at 150bpm. “Any other questions?” I said no. Not like he was expecting any.

He asked me my age, I stumbled a bit trying to remember how old I was. He said everything looks good based on the ultrasound, though it can’t tell everything, but with my age and the fact that my screenings all came back negative that there’s a very low chance of anything being wrong.

He left. Den shook his fist at the door. I don’t know what it was, but he was just… snotty. It’s not like he said anything outright that was rude, but the guy’s whole attitude was one of an air of disdain… like Den said, “Like he was bestowing upon us his precious time.” And Den said the guy looked pretty offended by my question of what the heartrate was. LOL I find that hilarious. The doc certainly looked taken aback, that’s for sure. But I was in such a good mood I was just laying there laughing about how ridiculous it was. At least the tech was super nice – I’d ask for her again any day! Den commented afterwards about how quick and skilled she was, that she obviously had been doing ultrasounds for a very long time and knew exactly what she was doing. And she was just very friendly and polite.

As soon as we got out of the hospital Den text messaged his brothers, I text messaged Kel (though she never GOT it!!), my SIL, and my coworker to let them know the news. I called my mom but no one answered, so I just left a message for someone to call me back to find out the news.

Traffic sucked getting home – by then it was after 4:00 and it took way longer than usual to get home due to the rush-hour traffic starting. UGH. Remind me NOT to go into labor in rush-hour… I’ve never had that much problem getting home from the hospital before. (This is the same hospital I went to for my RE, so I was there a lot!)

We got a whole strip of ultrasound photos – I think around 8 or 9? I only scanned in the best ones though. Then I had to resize and convert to black and white and adjust levels and crop and save and upload. Meanwhile I checked one of my forums to see how people were holding out waiting – it was after 5:00! The girls were going nuts. LOL! OMG I should save the conversations that went on in that time period… they declared that it should be LAW that everyone uploads ultrasound photos BEFORE logging on, because they saw that I was online and still hadn’t posted yet. Oops! Forgot about that! But they were so damn funny I was laughing my ass off at everyone shrieking for me to post already. (I wanted to post with the pics!)

Of course that was when my mom called me so I had to talk to her and tell her the big news! She guessed girl… and she told me my dad doesn’t want to know. o.O WTF? Does he really think we’re going to get through Christmas without anyone mentioning it around him? Ummm, I think not. LOL My dad’s kind of a freak. Meanwhile, as I’m telling mom about the ultrasound and how baby had his legs WIDE open the whole time, Den – who was still highy giddy at this point – sat down on the couch, lifted his legs, and held the TV remote between his legs in imitation of our little kid. He is VERY proud of his boy. LOL Weirdo…

Once mom hung up I managed to get the big news posted here and on all my forums where people were waiting impatiently!

We just got a phone call from Den’s neices. They’re 7 years old, identical twins. I guess they hadn’t been told about our pregnancy yet (and I never mentioned it to them when I saw them, because they never brought it up – and it was early, the last time we saw them). So yeah, we had two girls screaming, “CONGRATULATIONS!!!” into the phone and telling us we should name the kid “Tom Brady”. :lmao: They seem really excited though! That’s so cool. :) These are our future babysitters. ;)

::

Yeah, so I’m trying to let it all sink in and I’m getting a little panicked on some things. HA!! It’s funny, most people have that moment of panic when they find out they are pregnant (or some point shortly after)… no… I’ve been completely blissful up until this point.

Oh my gosh, that was an unfortunate situation.

First – I’ve been STARVING all day. Like, 0 to starving in 10 seconds. MUST EAT SOMETHING. RIGHT FREAKIN NOW. This morning, stuck at work with limited options, I ate two little bags of chips. They tasted so good… and then I threw it up.

So this evening, again… starving. STARVING. Ate cheese sandwich. Still starving. Ate a bowl of cereal. Relief.

And then an hour later my stomach started turning. Den was talking to me and I interrupted him mid-sentence to jump out of bed and go running into the bathroom. It was one of those bad stomach gurgles where you’re not really sure which end is upset. So I sat and peed. And then I started gagging, so I jumped up, spun around, and puked into the toilet. And that’s when it happened…. some of the pee water splashed up onto my face! Right by my eye. And then I puked and puked some more (and I reached up to flush the toilet as I puked, to avoid another pee-water incident).

So yeah. After that my face got washed, my teeth got brushed and I immediately took all my pills including my Unisom. Yeah, I don’t think I took my pills yesterday. Bad effing idea. One of these days I’ll learn…

Just wanted to share my embarassing story of the day with you all. Now I’m going to try to sleep and hope little Devin doesn’t keep me up with his kicking. (Which Den has not yet felt, even though I know I can feel it in my hand. Problem is, every time Den puts his hand on my belly there’s no kicks… it usually takes me about 10-15 minutes of sitting here with my hand on my belly – after he’s kicked me a few times, so I know he’s awake – before I feel something again. But Den can’t hold his hand there that long, he has a bad shoulder. Hopefully soon…)

Because I left you all hanging for so long yesterday, my belly pics are up already. ;) I feel huge with my shirt up… but then with my shirt down it’s such a small bump still. lol

I figured I could sleep in a bit today due to veteran’s/rememberance day – I still have to work, but I have no idea if Costo or the recyling center are closed for the holiday so I’m putting off that stuff until tomorrow (the Costco order I need to pick up before 9am, so I need to be up and moving at 8). Ha, what was I thinking?

Den apparently is getting a bit of a cold/sinus thing, because he is snoring horribly. And when I asked him to roll onto his side it got worse! I had to pee then, and when I got back into bed I started wheezing (I’m all clogged up too, but mine’s due to pregnancy and the cold winter air).

As if that wasn’t all bad enough, that damn reflux kicked in. The back of my throat was just burning and it wasn’t feeling nice. I sat up, didn’t help… so I went to go make myself some hot chocolate. I didn’t make it all the way to boiling water before my gag reflex got triggered one too many times and I ended up throwing up stomach acid. That’s the worst kind of puke, in my opinion. Nasty, and painful.

So here I am in bed, propped up to hopefully relieve some of this reflux, sipping a hot chocolate, with a heating pack down at my feet, and my husband asleep beside me – who is currently not snoring, by some miracle. I would be sleeping, if laying down wouldn’t induce some more puking.

Every time I burp it hurts. :( This is so nasty.

A very good article showing just how poor our system is set up for childbirth here in the US: What Women Aren’t Told About Childbirth.

Something to think about:
“Among developed countries, the World Health Organization reports, 29 have better infant mortality rates than the United States, including Slovenia and Cuba, and 41 have better maternal mortality rates.”

That’s pretty poor, and pretty depressing. Most people assume that with all our technology and hospitalized births that we are safer in childbirth, but the numbers paint a very different picture.

One of the things I’ve had to learn really well during this pregnancy has been to listen to my body. I think too often in life we really do need to ignore our body – you have to get up and to go to work no matter how you feel, you have to do x, you have to do y. And even me, who generally has a FAR more flexible lifestyle than most people, did fall into that trap a lot. But now that I’m pregnant I feel like I’m allowed to say, “I’m really tired today, I’m going to sleep in and go into work later.” (Even though I technically could have done that before too.) I’m allowed to say, “I really can’t eat that right now.” And people just nod their head knowingly. It’s pretty cool.

But in order to say it – to yourself or to someone else – you first have to notice it. The pregnant me is making things really really clear. Like today, we ordered a thing of chinese food to share, and man it was GOOD. My favorite dish, cooked properly. I wanted to eat a second helping. But one bite of that second helping and my stomach did a complete roll and I put the fork down. No, I should NOT eat any more. No matter how good it tastes. I tell you, there has been very little binge eating in my life – junk food or not, my body allows only so much food into it and then says, “Sorry bucko, any more and it’s coming back up.” Oh yes I listen now. Not listening is bad.

Another example, yesterday I got home from work at a decent time (around 5:30). I wanted to get some work stuff done on my laptop before going to bed. So I sat here on the bed with my laptop in order to do that. I was getting stuff done, installing a program I needed. I know I’m tired, but I’m trying to fight it off just a little bit longer. Suddenly I couldn’t keep my eyes over, I start wobbling. I end up laying down onto my husband’s pillow and falling asleep just like that. That was at 6:30 – Den woke me up at 10:00 when he got into bed. I hastily grabbed my laptop and finished what I had been doing earlier (because it was time-sensitive and needed to get done before morning), and flopped back down to fall back asleep. And I slept until 5:30am, people. Body said, You can do work later. Sleep now. And it would have taken a lot to make me ignore it! My body is no longer hinting at what it needs. It hits me over the head with a sledgehammer.

::

I feel fabulous today as a result, though. I’ve been awake all day, and in a fantastic mood. I stopped by the mall (and thus Babies R Us, of course) on my way home from an errand – just to browse. It was my first time in BRU knowing that it’s a little boy we’re having, and it was like I was seeing the store in a whole new way. I skipped all the pink stuff and looked longer at the blue stuff – and, more than that, I was picturing my little boy in all those cute clothes. Just filled my heart with joy. They have the cutest puppy dog outfits… little happy puppy dogs on a sweater-vest set – not sure when I’d ever have an occasion to put my child in a sweater vest outfit other than photos, but you know, it was wicked cute. I didn’t even buy anything this time, I was really good. But oh it was fun to indulge my fantasies for a little while and just revel in the baby stuff.

I’m starting to feel really excited again about having a boy. Yeah, it was kind of up and down for a while. The weekend was… full of panic. I didn’t write a lot, but my brain was spinning out of control for a while. Immediately following the ultrasound I was just really really excited, then that evening the reality sunk in… the TRUE reality. I can’t even really explain it, but it was like… suddenly I was thinking about how I am going to have a teenager one day… a bratty, snotty teenager… a CHILD who throws things and has tantrums… not just a cute little helpless baby, but that cute little baby was going to grow up to be a child with a mind of his own and an attitude and OMFG what am I going to DO?? And it’s not like I can say that I freaked about having finding out it was a boy. I think I would have freaked had it been a girl, too. It was just like knowing the gender, choosing a name, giving the baby an identity, just pushed this from fantasy land to reality. I think most people have their freak-out earlier in pregnancy… like after the “I’m pregnant!!” high finally settles and you start wondering what on earth you got yourself into. No, I had to wait until halfway through to have mine.

But it’s all good now. I am still nervous about having a boy, but friends are always telling me how great little boys are, and how they’re easier (and that they love their mamas!). That helps. :) Plus it doesn’t hurt that my friends have the CUTEST little boys. When Kel had her little boy it really made me want my own. When I look at old pictures of my brother, back when he had chubby little cheeks – gosh he was cute!! – I can totally see how AWESOME it would be to have a little boy. (Then I think about my brother as a teenager and I start panicking again. LOL He’s a shit, even still at 22! He’s a good boy for the most part – lippy as hell, but overall a good kid – but he sure doesn’t give mom an inch! Thank goodness Den loves his mommy, it gives me hope.)

I guess all I can do is what every other parent does – do the best they can, and hope like hell it’s enough to end up with a happy, adjusted, educated, respectful member of society. But shit, it’s hard not to worry. What if my kid has a behavior disorder? What if he has trouble in school, or has a bad teacher? What if he falls in with the wrong crowd? What if he ends up with depression like his mama has? Yes, these are all fears that have been running through my head. Idiotic, really, because what the hell can I do about it now? I haven’t even had the kid yet! But I guess I’m doomed to it, being a mother-to-be and all. The fears are a part of parenting.

It’s funny because I’ve been a natural pet-parent all my life. I never stopped to think about evaluating myself or worrying about how my dogs would end up as. I just did it, I did the best that I could, and I loved them with all my heart. And it all ends up okay. They’re not perfect. Both current dogs have moderate-to-severe behavioral problems (one is spastic ADHD type with some guarding issues thrown in; the other has pretty severe anxiety problems). One of them has serious health issues that will require surgery (hip displasia). One of the cats now has a health condition that needs constant managing for the rest of his life (a urinary condition). (Yeah, after reading that list – we’re stopping at 4 animals not just because Den would kill me if I got more, but because we can’t AFFORD any more! Sheesh!) But I don’t sit here and think OMG, my dog isn’t normal!! What am I going to do?! But then again, my dog never has to become a productive member of society and leave the nest, either. She’ll stay in my care for her entire life, and it’s perfectly okay for her to be terrified of strangers and never really venture outside of the house. Not ideal, but it doesn’t really affect our lifestyle, she’s happy within the family, and it is what it is. She’ll stay at the mentality of a three year old, as dogs do, stay mama’s little girl. So it’s okay. Raising a whole human being? That’s a freaking scary proposition.

::

I’ve gotten a few comments lately about how tiny I am, which cracks me up. Though, granted I do still have my big days and my small days. Today was a small day. I guess some women would get upset at any kind of comment on their size/weight, but I just laugh. No I still haven’t gained any weight. I’ve gained girth out front – and lost some of my saddlebags and butt. I call it a fair trade. If he’s going to make me this sick for this long, the least he can do is get rid of those stupid pockets of fat I’ve been carrying around for years. (And at least I know baby can still get plenty of nutrion out of my body, despite me throwing up food on a regular basis. Never thought I’d be glad to have those fat storages. So that’s what they’re for…)

I’ve also gotten a couple of comments about the name, that it’s “unusual.” It’s really not. Devin, spelled that way, is ranked #100, and spelled Devon it’s #197 (according to BabyNames.com). And it’s not one of the newly created names either. It’s gaining popularity recently because it fits in with the current trend of Aidens/Cadens/Jadens, but it was quite popular in the 80’s and has been on the name charts since the 60’s (as per the Name Voyager). But I’ve also gotten a ton of comments on what a nice name it is. :) To be perfectly honest, out of the three names we had – two girl’s names and one boy’s name – this is the one I liked the most. So I am SO happy to be able to use it!!

::

Den’s getting really ticked off and upset this week. Devin’s been kicking like crazy for a week, enough that I can feel it on the outside. And every single time Den tries to feel something, Devin stops. Just now there was a flurry of activity… I call Den in… he runs in, puts his hand on my belly… waits… waits… nothing. Absolutely nothing. He’s so disappointed! I don’t know if it’s his voice? The way his hand feels on my stomach? Just really bad timing? Arg. I know as Devin gets stronger and more active Den will catch it one of these times… but man, I really want him to feel it too!! And now he’s kicking again, 10 minutes later. :sigh: Figures. Who says babies don’t have a sense of humor.

Looking for the first time specifically at boy memory books…. here are some on my “maybe” list:

Aimee J Baby Days – Nice looking outside, postbound so I can add/remove pages, but it’s only 8×8 and the inside pages are only “eh”

Carter’s Baby Train – 80 pages, the inside pages look really cute and simple. I have a thing for trains, passed down from my dad. ;) But the book might be too simple.

Penny Laine Blue with White Dots – I love the look of the outside of this one, but they don’t have any photos of the inside! :( You can add blank pages though.

Baby Prints Memory Book – Looks very classy, 65 pages, postbound.

I also saw one at Hallmark yesterday that I really liked – it was a 3-ring binder type, the pages were really cute, it had “Sweet Baby Boy” on the front (simple blue)… but I can’t find it online anywhere! Grrr!

I have had the day from hell. I am currently sitting in a wet bed. It all seemed to cascade. Let me back up a little…

3am. That’s when I woke up and found that Den is sick enough that he is snoring even on his side. If I’m already asleep (as I was when he went to bed) I am fine, but now that I’m awake? Problematic.

3am – 6am I slept fitfully, if at all. I had a weird dream, which led to me waking up drenched in sweat, sheets sticking to me everywhere. Gross, gross, gross.

Spent some time with Den, only to find out that he wasn’t getting up until 8am – he had an appointment this morning. Damnit. So, due to my gross side of the bed, I got up to eat and sit at my other computer while he slept (or tried to.

Which led to… the dogs both going nuts because I was up and he wasn’t. I took Zoe out to do her business, which she did. She proceeded to whine for 2 hours, driving me a little nuts.

8am Den got up and had a shower. I immediately threw the sheets in the wash to clean them, and then had to take Zeeke out because he was flipping out at me needing to go.

When I got back in, Zoe was flipping out. I told her just because Zeeke got to go out doesn’t mean she does, she JUST went out two hours ago and did her thing. (The dogs go out first thing in the morning, then in the afternoon, then before bed. They’re on a schedule, and they do FINE with it, unless the schedule gets messed up like today.) She whined whined whined. I was already in a bad mood, as I just wanted to go back to bed but couldn’t, because the sheets were in the damn wash.

In the meantime, Zeeke puked all over the living room floor – thankfully hardwood. I told Den to deal with it (which he did).

9am Den left for his appointment.

9:02am I walked into the bedroom to get something to find a huge amount of urine all over the bare mattress. My head nearly popped right off in a temper fit. I know who did it – Zoe. Partly my fault? Yes. I shouldn’t have ignored her. But why didn’t she pee outside when I took her???? Why why why would she have saved up all her damn pee?? And if she had to have an accident in the house why iin the god’s name did she have to pee on the fucking mattress??

So I sprayed the fuck out of it with our cleaner and tried to soak up as much urine as possible with paper towels. The room still reeked of urine. The dogs – now crated to give me some room – barked constantly. I wanted to throttle someone.

And THEN – oh I’m not done yet! – then I try to feed the cats seperately because Merlin’s on special food due to his medical condition. I put Jo in the basement with his food, but Jo ran upstairs to eat Merlin’s food. Opened the door to put Jo back downstairs – who was squirming in my hands – and Merlin ran past my feet downstairs. Dropped Jo, ran down to grab Merlin… and THAT’S when I discovered our basement had flooded. See, our washing machine drains into a fucking laundry tub downstairs in our basement. It’s a stupid ass set-up done by the previous owners, and we haven’t the cash to hire someone to fix it. It’s flooded before, so it’s not a new thing. But it hadn’t flooded since we got our new washer months ago – we thought we were safe now, since this washer uses much less water than our old one. Hahahaha. Yeah. Idiots.

I call Den and just start ranting, the dog pissed on the bed, the bedroom smells of urine, and the basement flooded. Den asked, “Hon, my fireplace pieces… are they in the water?” Shit fuck shit. I check. Most of them are out of harm’s way. The main mantel piece however? Standing directly in the water. And it’s huge – and heavy. No way I’m moving it. Sure enough, water has wicked partway up the legs and has damaged the wood already.

So Den ended up coming home early to clean up the water mess in the basement with our shop-vac (favorite thing ever). I went to the store to buy some Nature’s Miracle, an enzyme urine cleaner, and soaked the mattress with it to get the stain and odor out. Den thankfully somehow managed to put me in a better mood just by being home. But it’s obvious that our mattress is not going to be dry anytime soon.

We cleaned off the futon in our “spare room” (future baby’s nursery) and put clean sheets on it, so at least Den has somewhere to sleep. I ended up falling asleep there all evening. But you know what… I woke up feeling horrible. I don’t like that mattress at all. It used to be “okay” – too small for both of us at the same time, for sure, but it felt fine to sleep on – but now that I’m pregnant? No way. One of my requirements before I got pregnant was a new pillow-top king size mattress, and damn but did I make the right choice. Den actually prefers the futon to a point, it’s firmer… but there is simply no way I’ll be comfortable on that thing.

I dabbed up most of the wetness I could, then put the clean sheets on our mattress… I only put blankets on half of it though. Thankfully Zoe peed mostly on den’s side of the bed, so I have about a third of the bed that’s okay. I just can’t move too far to my left, or I’ll be sleeping in wetness. Ugh.

And that, ladies and gentleman, was my day. Oh, except for the fact that I was violently dry-heaving over the toilet in between putting sheets on the bed. Yeah that’s fun. Stomach is upset today. On the good side of things, the mattress does seem to be stain-free at this point, and the smell is gone. So once it dries it should be fine. I just don’t know how long the sucker is going to take to dry out. Although, with Den snoring the way he is lately… he’s accusing me of soaking the mattress on purpose to make him sleep on the futon. LOL

I don’t know what I’d do without Den’s sense of humor. I was in such a foul mood all morning, but after he came home he managed to get me to laugh and relax a little.

::

Just wanted to make a note that I layed on my back yesterday to feel my uterus and was having a bit of trouble until I realized it comes up to my belly button now! Last time I checked it was an inch or two below it. Sometimes I feel Devin kick low down, sometimes now it’s up higher, just below my belly button. Guess it depends where he’s facing. It’s weird that he moves around like that.

My pregnancy calendar says that he should be around 7 inches long (crown to rump, not crown to feet!) by 20 weeks!! Holy crap. That’s huge! I can’t believe something that big is in my belly and I’m not bigger than I am. lol