Chocolate mousse

Last night I hosted my book club at my house. We read "The Kite Runner" by Khalid Hosseini. It's about the relationship between two boys growing up in Afghanistan, among other things. It was gripping, horrifying, thought-provoking, edifying. A very good book.

Each of our book clubs is a potluck, so I made chocolate mousse. There's a great recipe on Epicurious that I use a lot. It's easy and people love it.

Other than that, not much going on today. Baby is very active, though!

Preemies

Why is it that everyone I meet lately had their baby *months* earlier than scheduled? We have a friend visiting who had her first baby eight weeks early and her second two about three weeks early. My coworker's wife had her baby nine weeks early. That would be next WEEK, folks! I am just not even ready to contemplate that possibility.

I'm starving.

It's 2:56 and I'm starving again. How is this possible? I've already eaten all the healthy snacks I brought for today, so I guess I'll finish off yesterday's rice pudding.

Also, I just wanted to clarify for all of you readers out there (all three of you) that the comments from the Jennifer in *green* are from me, and the comments from the Jennifer in *blue* are from another Jennifer who is also due in April 2005!

I'm going to pop.

I just ate lunch and I honestly feel like I'm going to pop. Today I've had: cereal and milk, a Krispy Kreme cake donut, celery with peanut butter, vegetable lasagna, and a granny smith apple. Pregnant women are really into keeping track of what they eat... have you noticed?

I'm wearing overalls today because they're the only thing I own that actually stays up. The pants I was wearing yesterday - the Motherhood Maternity "Miracle" Pant - would be down around my ankles in a flash if I didn't keep pulling them up. Overalls and suspenders are the way to go.

What I've eaten today

So far today this is what I've eaten.

I started off the day with some sort of organic cereal with organic milk. That wasn't enough, apparently, so when I got to work I had a granola bar that someone had left out on the "free food" table at work. Later I had a couple of rice crackers with smoked salmon cream cheese because I was still starving. For lunch I had an egg salad sandwich on dark rye, roasted red pepper soup, and a Coke. I don't drink a lot of Coke, but once in a while it really hits the spot. Right now I'm about to dig into some rice pudding that I bought at the deli. Tonight I will probably have something with protein and spinach.

Counting kicks

Between 3:22 and 4:22 today, I counted 18 baby movements. That's pretty good, considering this is usually the slowest time of the day for little Metolius.

Fetal development

This is a very cool graphic that shows how your organs get squished as the baby grows. OK, maybe that's not really the point of the graphic, but it's amazing we even survive this process.

I want a banana split.

This week I'm craving a banana split. Something about the combination of chocolate sauce, ice cream and bananas... Last week I was craving vegan poppyseed cake. I wonder when I will start craving healthy things like broccoli and brussels sprouts. I really have been trying to eat healthfully, so I haven't given into my ice cream cravings much - even though I believe that ice cream is the God-given right of every pregnant woman. Every day I tell myself "Maybe this is the day I will have that banana split..." and then every day I pass it by. That banana split is calling me. I can hear it.

Bedding

Last night we got into a discussion about baby bedding. It's ridiculous how many choices there are. You can get a crib (but which kind?), a co-sleeper (but which kind?), a "snuggle nest" that you put in bed with you, a bassinette, a pack'n'play with bassinette, an Amby baby hammock, a Moses basket... and there are different safety issues and philosophies associated with each one. I like the baby hammock, but I'm thinking some kind of co-sleeper arrangement would also work. (Oh, and then there's the ongoing discussion about co-sleeping. Some people swear by it, some people swear against it.) And then there's the matter of where the baby will sleep when s/he is downstairs. Everyone has an opinion, and they're all sure they're right. I wish we could get a test baby to try out all these different options.

My co-worker keeps telling me I'm going to have a round baby.

My belly on New Year's Eve 2004.

Why Octopus Jenny?

It has to do with the way I eat... or the way Jeff thinks I eat. Apparently when I eat I tend to reach out in different directions and grab things and stuff them in my mouth. This is especially true now that I'm pregnant, though my stomach is getting so small that I can only fit one Tic Tac in there before I'm full.

I've also done a little bit of firedancing (poi). Not so much lately, though. I think it looks kind of like an octopus on fire.

Seven months pregnant

It took me a while to start a blog, but it seems like a natural thing for me to do. I dreamed once that I found a blogging website just like this one, and I started a blog... just like this one. So I guess dreams do come true.

I am now seven months pregnant. That means that I am getting large and unwieldy, and I stand around with my hands on my lower back wearing tent-like maternity tops. Today I am wearing a green flowered maternity top that looks just a little too tent-like for my taste, but three different co-workers have come up to me to compliment me on it. I think they like that I'm wearing something feminine for once.

I've been pretty lucky so far in the pregnancy department. I didn't have any morning sickness to speak of, and I don't have many of the other undesirable symptoms that people get, like sciatica, swelling, bad hair, blotchy skin, incessant crying, sore feet, etc. My back is sore and I have a strange and annoying pinched nerve under my right ribcage that make it hard to sleep. Plus getting comfortable in bed requires that four different pillows be placed just so. One of them is a Snoogle, a big curvy body pillow that can seem very complicated in the middle of the night. Jeff has a very special relationship with the Snoogle, too. At first he was a little jealous of it, but now he's grateful that it creates a barrier between him and my constant tossing and turning and glomming-on.