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Pregnancy Blog Weeks 1-4
First, I gotta get this off my chest, maybe not for the first time: The way we start the clock on pregnancy is BANANAS. Medicine defines the beginning of pregnancy as the first day of a woman's last menstrual period. Due date is estimated as 40 weeks after that day. So, when a woman first ovulates, about 2 weeks after the first day of her last ( Read more... ) -
On realism and joy, being right and being happy
When I was young my grandparents had this little framed picture in their powder room. (Yeah, I had a set of grandparents fancy enough that they had something called a "powder room." Based on this experience I can tell you that a powder room is a room with a toilet and a sink and a mirror. Please correct me if there's more to it than this.) Anyway ( Read more... ) -
The Profound Mundane (Part II: Labor and Delivery)
Also titled "Delivering Desdemona."
Everybody told me I'd forget all the bad parts, and just a few days later I can feel that they're right. A new baby is nature's ultimate magic trick, and sure enough I can just barely perceive the wool descending over my eyes. So before some of the most profound and revealing moments of my life are lost to an ( Read more... ) -
The Profound Mundane (Part I: Pregnancy)
Well, I've been fighting the urge to write about pregnancy, labor & delivery, and parenthood for almost a year. I have learned so much, and gained such insight, that I keep feeling the urge to share. However, I keep stifling that urge, because I tell myself "the information is all out there for anyone to Google. I'm not contributing anything ( Read more... ) -
Pregnancy Culture Rant
So I finally seem to be over the indiscriminate misery and resentment of the first half of pregnancy. I don't feel like throwing up 100% of my waking minutes, my interest in my hobbies and passions has reappeared, and I'm even in the mood to plan nursery themes and carefully track symptoms of the fetus's growth ( Read more... ) -
Things we've called our fetus
The Monster (earliest stages of development, not recognizably humanoid)
The Alien (recognizably humanoid, not recognizably human)
The Parasite (all stages)
The Pod Dweller
The Dweller
The Internal Resident
The Baby (rarely) -
"Your kids better call me uncle. Unless they call me Dad."
I've had three vivid dreams about Chris lately. The first one is gone, the second one is faded, and I really don't want to lose the one from this morning. So here I am ( Read more... ) -
Finding Dance Again
I tried really hard not to let the changes of 2015 have a huge impact on my dancing, but they did. I came from a community where I was a well-established leader with power and influence, in the top 10% of talent, to a huge community where I am little-known, with no power, perhaps in the 65th talent percentile. I also came from the closest ( Read more... ) -
Boredom's Profound Implications
Around this time last year, I had so much free time I hardly knew what to do with it all. I was working out, dancing, crocheting a giant Afghan, and I still had time for hours of Netflix every day. All of that on top of working full time and building a strong foundation for our marriage - it was a lot! But most of it was optional; my time was ( Read more... ) -
Seasons of Love
Fall is teasing these September mornings, and hiding behind a summer sun every afternoon. In my parents' apartment, things are disappearing. Rarely used china, unhung works of art, out-of-season clothing all make thier way to new places in downtown Loveland. Each day, Nick and I go to work and then go to second-work: a haze of sanding and prying ( Read more... )