She was ready for some football

The family that eats together...

gains weight together! I'm not the only fatty in the house. Maggie had her annual physical yesterday. She gained a whopping four pounds! I know that doesn't sound like much, but it is. Since she reached her adult weight at about a year old, she's consistently weighed 66 lbs, give or take only a few ounces. When she was last weighed in April, she was, as usual, 66 lbs. But yesterday she weighed in at 71 lbs. She still looks great, and 71 lbs is still perfectly healthy for a female lab. But the vet was a bit concerned about the speed with which she gained the weight. We still play chuck-it with her twice a day, so lack of exercise can't be blamed. I've simply been more indulgent with her. When I eat my Jello No-Bake Cheesecake or ice cream (some might say at an alarming frequency), Maggie gets to lick the remnants. I guess things are going to have to change around here.

Breaking News: Family Dog Approves Pregnancy Diet

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Maggie absolutely approves of Mary's pregnancy cravings, specifically, her daily dessert requirement. Maggie will sit quietly next to Mary on the couch, or the floor, or pretty much anywhere that allows her to keep an eye on Mary's progress with whatever the dessert of the day is. Most often it's cheese cake and whipped cream (left), or ice cream (above). Maggie's favorite ice cream appears to be Butterfinger.

99 days til the due date....

It doesn't sound like a lot, but it sure feels that way! I'm not really that big or uncomfortable yet, I'm just ready for the baby to be here. This also means that I have approximately 99 more nights of sleep left, so I better enjoy it while it lasts. Looking at it that way makes the wait seem a bit less difficult.

How far along are you?

(Warning: this post will be really boring to you if you don't have baby brain)

How far along are you? It's a question I get asked all the time. It seems like it would be such an easy question to answer, but it's not! Ask any pregnant woman and she will know precisely how far along she is, down to the day (maybe even down to the hour, if you're like me). Pregnant women, and their doctors, date pregnancies in terms of weeks and days. For example, today I am 25 weeks and 3 days along. But if someone not familiar with pregnancy asks me, and I tell them that I'm 25 weeks, they'll immediately ask me "well how many months is that?"

Now, I have to back up a second and state that my due date is up for debate. If you go by my last period, as doctors usually do, my due date would be somewhere around December 9th. But since we were trying to conceive and I know exactly when it happened, I knew that date would be about a week off based on a screwy cycle. At our very first ultrasound at 6 weeks and 3 days along, I was told that my due date was December 20. However, for some reason the tech wrote down that my due date was December 21, so that's what my doctor has listed as my current due date. However, at every single ultrasound I've had since then (the grand total so far is 8, with plenty more to go) the baby has measured to be closely on target with the estimated due date based on conception, putting him due sometime between December 16 and 18. But the doctor hasn't changed my official due date yet. I'm going with December 16 since I fully intend to have this baby by then.

Then, depending on which pregnancy book you read, you never really know how many months along you are. To greatly complicate matters, there's the whole 10 month pregnancy concept that so many people (often men, I've noticed) do not understand. I didn't get it myself until I got the "Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy" book, which explained it for me. The Mayo Clinic book subscribes to the 10 month pregnancy idea, so according to them I just started my 7th month of pregnancy (weeks 25 to 28). However, according to one of my other pregnancy books (I have like 8 of them), "What to Expect When You're Expecting," I'm still in my 6th month, and will be for another week and a half (weeks 23 to 27).

I'm sorry if that was really boring and/or confusing. It's just something I think about at least daily when I get asked how far along I am. And since this is my blog, I get to write about whatever I feel like!

On another note, Jamie and I will be spending our day tomorrow at the hospital in an "Infant Care" workshop. Having babysat all through high school and college, I'm pretty familiar with the basics of how to care for a baby. But I've never been the primary caregiver for anything other than a certain yellow labrador, so I figured it may be a good idea to take a refresher course. Apparently we're going to learn all about bathing, feeding, when to call the doctor, how to administer medicine, etc. Jamie just asked me, quite enthusiastically, if he was going to learn how to change a diaper tomorrow. It's so wonderful to have a husband who's just as excited about having this baby as I am :)

Whatever keeps her happy works for me!!

I was working at my "shop" in the basement when Mary came in and asked me for an extension cord. Without thinking about what she might need it for, I opened the drawer in my (incredibly well organized) tool chest, and produced the cord. Soon after she left with the cord, I heard, almost felt, this strange humming vibrating sound emanating form above. As I came upstairs, I was presented with this scene, and went immediately for the camera.

"Secrets of the Baby Whisperer," a vibrating, bubbling foot massager, and a giant comfy chair...

...works for me!!