Family Tales

I just got an e-mail newsletter from pregnancyweekly.com. Here’s how it started out: “Pamela, you may experience an increased level of discomfort starting soon. Gas pain, feelings of bloating, water retention (edema) and an overall difficulty getting comfortable are very common complaints.”

Hmm… inspiring, no?

Yes, I have been experiencing a bit more discomfort, but I was just chalking it up to the prodigious amounts of pecan danishes and macaroni and cheese I’ve been scarfing. So, this is normal?

Overall, though, I’m still in the “nice” part of pregnancy — before the third trimester woes kick in. Whether or not I look pregnant really depends on what I wear. I was talking to someone last night at a business function and mentioned that I was expecting. He immediately looked down at my belly, and my eyes followed his. I guess wearing all black really does minimize curves.

Next doctors appointment is tomorrow — April Fools day. I’m doing some one hour test where they make you drink a sugary mixture, have you wait an hour, and then test your blood (I think) to see whether you’re developing gestational diabetes. So, there’s your 25 week update. Moving into week 26 before we know it!

UPDATE: The co-worker who sits in the cube next to me has been forced to endure my occasional questioning. “Do you think I look pregnant?” I’ve queried every couple of weeks. Today she instant messaged me: [11:53] news flash! [11:53] you do look pregnant (I’ve cut out her IM name to protect her identity.) My reaction: Wow!

Ran across this Flash Scottish trivia game promoting Scottish tourism and couldn’t resist linking. Test your knowledge on topics like Braveheart, Charles Rennie McIntosh, and the Loch Ness Monster etc. The game/site/etc. are all tied into New York Tartan Week, which we’ll unfortunately miss due to being on the other coast this year.

Friday night at the local Home Depot (the U.S. equivalent of B&Q complete with the bright orange color scheme), we happened upon this art exhibit/car. I especially love the elephant on the front bumper.

Michael notes that in most other countries it’d be illegal to have a vehicle like this on the road, because a person rolling onto the hood in an accident would die on the spot. Cause of death: toy lacerations.

Ran across this burning question (and answer) today on Ask Yahoo! It’s a question that surely passed through the heads of many of the American ladies at our wedding.

Just a little update for those of you who want to know how it’s going and how I’m feeling. Right now, I’m feeling lots of little kicks — which is really lovely. A few other points.

The Scottish Biscuit. For our American viewers, a biscuit is what you call a cookie. Example: Oreos, Chips Ahoys (a fav of mine), Girl Scout cookies. A biscuit in Scotland is a Digestive, Rich Tea, or if you’re a good boy, a Chocolate Digestive, Kit Kat, or a Jaffa Cake.

Do you know it costs about 10 bob (50pence, 96cents at today exchange rate) in Scotland for a 200 pack of Digestive biscuits (or it did back in September 2002), and about $10 for a 20 pack in NYC. Which I have been known to pay from time to time, as nothing goes better with that cheddar cheese than a good old fashioned BGB!!

Saturday and Sunday mornings are my favorite times to be in the kitchen, and it’s even more enjoyable now that we’ve actually got some space to move around in (not to mention some counter space). This morning we were short on eggs — a breakfast staple — and Michael mentioned just having toast (but of course we have no bread, either). As an alternative, I pulled out a Cooks Illustrated Recipe that I’d tried once before — Mile High Biscuits.

When we go to visit my dad in Groveton, biscuits are always on the breakfast menu. They usually come out one of those cans you find in the supermarket’s refrigerated section. Through those breakfasts (and trips to Chick-fil-A) Michael has grown to love what we Americans call biscuits, and the Brits call scones (they’re somewhat close, anyway). This morning, I thought I could try to feed this love of biscuits and my love of cooking all at the same time. The result? Super tasty homemade biscuits, created with ingredients we happened to have around the house. Of course, other things we had around the house — butter, fruit spread and (in Michael’s case) Cheddar cheese — also added to the breakfast experience.

Now, to the cooking nitty-gritty…
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There’s no question I’m obsessed with gadgets and gear — partly because I love getting the exact right item at an awesome price. So it’s probably no surprise that I’m all excited about our buying a stroller for the yet-to-be-born little one. We’d been to Pottery Barn Kids last weekend and saw a really great stroller (made in partnership with Zooper). The guy demonstrated it it for us, putting on various additional parts and folding it up, etc. I was smitten. It was $250.

Then, I start looking into the Zoopers, and I discover this discontinued model on eBay that’s the predecessor to the one we saw at PBK. Only $91, plus shipping. I hear the canopy part of it isn’t that big, but that’s probably something we can live with. It’s a little creepy to think of having a stroller in the house before we have a kid, but I guess people go so far as to have entire nurseries set up (and we haven’t ruled that out) before the big arrival. Then again, I’m remembering that my aunts are having a baby shower for me in May, so I guess we’ll have a lot more than a stroller around.

UPDATE: So, I’ve been congratulating myself on the deal we got and now it turns out they don’t actually have the stroller we ordered in stock. We’ll have to get another color — “ice blue”. It’s fine, I guess, but a little disappointing.

UPDATE2: We finally got the “ice blue” stroller yesterday. Michael put it together and it looks like it’s going to do the job. Hard to tell without an actual baby to experiment with. Anyway, the eBay experience was a little bit disappointing — especially since the vendor we worked with (who had a nearly 100% approval rating from previous customers) let us down on the color and shipped later than expected. Maybe you really do get what you pay for.

Okay, so this is kind of silly but I consulted an online clairvoyant about my future labor/delivery experience. And here’s what it said…

Madame Zaritska’s reading for you:

The day you deliver, outside will be slightly overcast. Your baby will arrive in the morning.

After a labor lasting approximately 3 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 7 pounds, 14 ounces, and will be 22 inches long. This child will have hazel eyes and dark hair.

Hmm…

I don’t mean to brag, but we are having the most amazingly gorgeous weather this weekend. Today was supposed to be “mostly cloudy” but it turned out to be sunny and in the mid-sixties. Perfect sandal-wearing and sunning weather. Is this the California weather people rave about? If so, we’ll take it with glee. We’re glad today to be in the East Bay, which is said to be warmer than San Francisco proper.

Fortuitously, we’d already planned to have people over and break out the new Coleman Road Trip gas grill. I’m also shredding cabbage and carrots for the Chinese-style salad recipe my cousin Laurie gave me. Mmmm… Well, better get back to cooking.