Family Tales

Well, I should have known all the “excitement” with the house situation, coupled with my work life (a big conference last week), would take a toll. At yesterday’s visit to the OB/GYN, they found I had elevated blood pressure. Oh, boy. It’s a potentially very serious problem, but right now the pressure is just borderline (I think 118/86). So now I have my health and the baby’s health to worry about, too!!! Just kidding…

So the doctor told me to rest a lot on my left side this weekend (for improved circulation) and come back on Monday for another blood pressure check. Should it still be elevated, I’ll be in for increased monitoring. The worst case scenario is having to deliver early, but I guess we’ll do everything we can to keep it down before that’s necessary. Hopefully, this was just an anomalous thing.

I feel fine, though, and everything seems to be going well, size and weight-wise. The doctor pointed out where the baby’s various parts are (how he could tell is beyond me) and asked if I was getting kicked high near my ribs. Yup. So all looks to be going well except the blood pressure thing. *Sigh*

Breathing deeply over here.

Things are really not looking good regarding our negotiating repairs for this house. There are a frightening amount of things that need to be fixed, and they’re pretty important things, too. (And expensive!) Initial indications are that the seller isn’t that inclined to fix them, so we could have to back out. Alas.

There are other fish in the sea, I suppose. We should find out something more concrete in the next few days.

We’re currently in what they call the “inspection contingency period” in which we discover our dream house is actually flawed in myriad ways. It’s kind of a depressing process, actually. We’ve had an inspector come around and check out the place, and now we’re getting repair-people to come out and give us estimates on how much it will take to fix the various problems. Then we go back to the sellers and discuss who fixes what, etc. If we can’t agree, the deal falls through. So, we’ll see…

Well… it’s really happening now. I can’t believe we’ve reached 29 weeks — only approx. 11 weeks to go. And, yes, I’m feeling it. I feel (and probably look) increasingly whale-like, and it’s harder to get comfortable in ordinary positions. Traveling to Los Angeles this past week really brought it home. Shuffling through the airport carrying my big purse, rolling along my suitcase, and balancing my heavy laptop on top of the case… I never felt so awkward. Add to that the fact that my maternity pants (aka trousers) tend to fall down, and you can only imagine. Crowding into the airplane seat wasn’t so much fun, either.

But everything’s going well. The little creature is squirming around. It feels a little different now, I guess because he’s getting more crowded in there. I feel all right — though hungry a lot — and am just trying to make it through the next few weeks.

Have been reading a lot lately about labor, delivery, and newborn care. We’re also trying to schedule some childbirth classes — which I guess we’d better do soon!

We’ve had our offer on a house accepted! Here are some pictures with some commentary. And here is some more info. So, all going well, we will have a new home in around a month.

Nearby stuff and details on the area:

• Best of Downtown Albany and Solano Avenue (from SF Chronicle)
  
• El Cerrito Plaza shopping center
  
• City of Albany Web site
  

Some more info about Albany.

Week 27 and all’s well. Definitely showing now, even when in all black. Feeling fine, though a little stressed because we have TONS of things going on for work. The next two weeks are going to be real trials, including a trip to Los Angeles and back. My boss will also be in town for our industry’s biggest conference, so that should be pretty tiring. Hope the second-trimester energy holds out for a few more weeks!

Here’s a link to a place we looked at last night.

The location on Google Maps satellite.

UPDATE: This one is the leading contender at the moment. It’s got lots going for it, mostly in terms of location (walk to either a shopping center or a cute shopping street). It’s fairly small, though, and the front yard is basically the BART (elevated electric rail) line. But the main issue is its size, though we aren’t at all clear whether we can get a bigger place (in that area) in our range. Anyway, we’ll see. More house hunting and meeting with a mortgage broker this weekend.

We are focusing our energies right now at looking in Albany, because it’s the area with the best school district. It’s also located right between El Cerrito (with the shopping center) and Berkeley, which offers lots of unique mom-and-pop shops and restaurants. Albany is sort of a mecca for families because of the school district. On a trip to a burrito shop on Solano Avenue last weekend, we encountered at least 5-7 families with young kids. So that would be a nice atmosphere to be in.

Between house-hunting excursions we had lunch out in the back yard (aka garden) Sunday. It was warm and sunny so Michael went shirtless and I wore a camisole-like sleeveless top. We both got sunburned!! It seemed like we were out for such a short time. A good reminder of the benefits of regular sunscreen application.

As week 27 fast approaches, I’d better get in my weekly missive for 26. As I mentioned briefly before, the glucose test went well. I don’t have gestational diabetes. Everything else in the appointment was fine, too. The doctor measured my uterus — it was already measuring 28 centimeters. I asked what that meant, and he said, “That means it’s big.” I think it’s supposed to be 1 centimeter per week, so that means we’re running 2 weeks ahead, growth-wise. He also listened to the baby’s heartbeat, which was chugging away.

Not much more to report, really. I had two people this week tell me I wasn’t really showing. One guy was surprised to hear I was pregnant and said something like, “I never would have guessed you were 6 months pregnant.” What I want to know is…. is that supposed to be a compliment? It’s like saying, “You don’t really look pregnant, just fat.” *Sigh* (A woman in my office — herself nearly 8 months pregnant — was the second offender.) Maybe I’m just being too sensitive.

Probably the most exciting news is that we’ve got a couple of leads on day cares that might be suitable, which is something a relief. Actually, the real relief will come only when we’ve got a spot reserved. There’s like a crazy rat race for day care spots in this area, with 1-2 year waiting lists (and $1000/month plus fees) incredibly common.

And speaking of rat races, we’re meeting with a realtor Saturday afternoon to discuss house buying.