Today's regularly scheduled post has been preempted due to illness.

No Round-Up today.  Instead, enjoy this classic song from the early days of Sesame Street, written, performed (on banjo) and animated by Pixar's Bud Luckey:

Partly sick with a 100% chance of rant.

Still sick, or in allergy hell. Can't really believe it's the latter because I've never been affected like this in the past, and DH had the same damn symptoms. Mine just seems to be more insidious and lingering--the suppressed immune system probably doesn't help. To this end, I'd like to thank What to Expect for illustrating in dazzling relief what is meant by the terms 'self-fulfilling prophecy,' 'subject-expectancy effect,' etc: no sooner do I receive the What to Expect Daily Email O'Preggo Misery (not their trademarked terms, but I offer it up freely), but those self-same symptoms arrive, usually within a week or two. Now, one might say that What to Expect has it down and really knows "what to expect," but I've come to dread the emails as portends. Two weeks ago, I received the suppressed immune system omen. The worst sickness I'd dealt with prior to this cold was a really bad runny nose somewhere in the middle of the first trimester, which What to Expect informed me about a week prior to its onset was a result of an increased production of mucus throughout my body.

The list of foretold symptoms which have come to pass is long and distinguished: nerve pain in my dominant hand, swelling of my hands and feet, bleeding nose, broadening nose, bleeding gums (which didn't last long, thank God), acne, constipation, insomnia, nausea, strange cravings (mmm...crushed ice), vivid dreams, hemorrhoids...for starters.

Today's portend? Puffy cheeks. So freaking excited for that...just in time for the baby shower in two weeks (read: photographs)! Also: to the smug, pedantic a-hole who decided that it was best to inform us that a "pound of prevention" is the key to avoiding illness on the landing page of the If You Get Sick section, I'd like to biff you soundly on the forehead. I'm sure most of us wouldn't click on the page if we weren't already sick, and we really don't need the reminder that prevention didn't work.

Perhaps prevention might equate to removing my email address from their newsletter mailing list.

Rays Win!

Still totally under the weather and my brain isn't feeling terribly inspired to find things to write about. I'm on about two hours sleep, but my throat was too sore and the need to cough too urgent to lay down for much longer this morning. DH deserves to sleep unfettered while he can.

I did, however, drag my butt to the Tampa Bay Rays' season opener last night at Tropicana Field. I'd bought the tickets the day they went on presale to fans and made a pregnant belly shirt to wear...there was no way I wasn't going. It was the first home game for the Rays I'd ever attended. Actually witnessed Evan Longoria hitting a homerun to heaven: 421 feet into the upper-tiered Party Deck! Who knew all those screaming girlfans were on to something. Obviously, I felt ok while I was there. Cheered far too much and had much too good a time. I deserve my misery. The Rays were down for nearly the entirety of the game until they clinched the win at the bottom of the 9th inning, for which I'd like to thank them for making the experience far too hand-wringing for a woman in my delicate condition; but, in the end, doing the decent thing and pulling out the stops to WIN. What a finish!

Here come the Rays!

***Update***

Correction: The Rays News is reporting that the homerun smacked by Longoria last night is one of the longest in Tropicana Field history, at 473 feet. Beast!

Thanks, Easter Bunny! Bawk Bawk!

I am decidedly under the weather.  This cold is definitely allergy-influenced--it has me down for the count with a sore throat, cough, itchy ears, nasal drip, waning voice and a low-grade fever, too.  I'd planned on roasting an organic chicken and veggies yesterday, but it just didn't happen.  Sleep was far more important.

But this M&Ms commercial from my childhood cheered me up!

Saturday Round-Up

I didn't get around to updating quite as much as I would have liked this week, so here's a whole mess of Thirty-Second Week of Pregnancy stuff:

• I've gained 2.5 pounds in the last two weeks, which means pre-dawn feedings are working. Hurrah.
• Pokey's gained 2.5 cm, approximately, according to the midwife. I will have an ultrasound in two weeks to allay any worries about her being 'too small' or having low amniotic fluid levels. I'm really not worried about it. I was born at 6 lbs 15 oz; my sister was 6 lbs 8 oz; and DH was 7 lbs. Small babies. Plus, I'm 5'2"; I don't think I'm supposed to carry a baby much bigger than I am.
• The back pain and rib pain have abated, but I become winded very easily. I get winded sitting down. The upward expansion of my uterus is definitely impacting my lung capacity. It's a good thing the zoo we went to on my birthday had benches every twenty feet or so; I'm certain I sat on them all.
• I really, really liked the doula I interviewed a week ago. I had the oddest moment of deja vu when I opened my door to her--she's precisely my height with my hair and my glasses. It was like opening the door to myself. I took that as a good sign. She is bright, energetic, and positive; but most importantly, experienced and knowledgeable. It felt like a good fit. I can't wait until both DH and I have our first appointment with her.
• I've been reading a lot. My sister gave me Baby 411 for Christmas, and I've finally cracked the spine. Also spent time with: Spiritual Midwifery, by Ina May Gaskin; Baby Magic for Your Magic Baby, by Jill Diana Chasse; The Birth Partner, by Penny Simkin; and The Happiest Baby on the Block, by Harvey Karp, MD. The plan is to get Baby Bargains sometime this week--I've had several mommy friends recommend it as 'required reading.'
• I interviewed a pediatrician I like. She's older, perhaps a little more traditional, but approaches the parent-doctor relationship like a teacher and a guide rather than the fount of all knowledge, so I felt really comfortable chatting with her. My midwife likes her, too. So I think we've found a keeper.
• I bought my first nursing bra, with two more on order. Thank you, Medela. They're not pretty, but they are comfortable. So nice to have a bra that fits, doesn't hurt, or make me want to walk around with my fingers shoved beneath the underwires all day. Because that's really, really not an attractive look.
• The diaper changing area in my bathroom is coming together. I've bought several new baskets wicker baskets to put in an upright chrome stand-alone shelf we had in our beach house but held onto; and I've been slowly accumulating the necessary toiletries and first-aid necessities to fill them up. Now all we need is a changing table and we'll be all set.
• My sister's adorable invitation to my baby shower arrived this week. Best part about them: NO PINK. :) Thanks, kiddo!

Here's what I'm reading/listening to this morning:

• From Salon: My Life in Baseball (Opening Day is this upcoming week! Let's go Rays!)
• From This American Life: Episode #403: NUMMI
• From Slate: Preschoolers Know All About Brands
• From The New York Times: Growth of Unpaid Internships May Be Illegal

And that's about all thus far. It's supposed to be in the upper 70s-low 80s today, and I have flower-shopping and potting to attend to. Most of my day will be spent in a bikini and sarong, toddling around the back yard pulling weeds and making things pretty. Not a terrible way to pass an early April Saturday in Florida, I'd say. The beaches will be overrun with tourists, Spring Breakers and locals alike. I'd rather stay closer to home.

Building the Nest: My Top 10 "Spring Trends"

I found a great blog this past week via another really fantastic blog--I'm guessing that's the way it works these days; the sheer amount of blog networking I've discovered in the past few weeks is like drinking from the fire hose--good Lord. So many great voices with great ideas. Anyway, over at Mama's Losing It, she posts five writing prompts each week and bloggers follow suit and post by Thursday. I like the idea of a prompt. Here's the one I chose for this week:

5.) List your top 10 “Spring Trends”. (inspired by Tricia from Desperately Seeking Silence)

Oh, man. Am I ever at the forefront of fashionable trends this year. This prompt struck me as both silly and doable. Coincidentally, these are traits I find so endearing in my husband! Badumdum. Sigh. I used to be funny. I really did.

So, here's my top 10 list of "Spring Trends" for 2010:

1. An ever-expanding waistline. My measurements this week: 34.5/40/36.5. The trend this Spring: Being thankful that I had such an abundance of wide-waisted elastic yoga pants and shorts already in my possession; and even more thankful that, remarkably, my hips and flat butt have remained mostly unchanged by my reproductive expansion.
2. Jewelry: less is necessary. My hands swell to proportions both numbing and a little on the painful side. In a stroke of sheer luck yesterday morning, I was able to pry both my engagement ring from my left hand and my now-fifteen-year-old promise ring from the right. The wedding band remains as a stalwart reminder of just who got me into this mess.
3. Burt's Bees Natural Acne Solutions Purifying Gel Cleanser. Because pregnancy has pretty much been a second adolescence. I will say, in combination with another product, Devita's High Performance AHA, my skin has improved vastly in the last month.
4. Aura Cacia's Aromatherapy Body Cream with 100% pure lavender essential oil. After bath time at night. It really, really helps me find a sweet spot in the 'nest' I build around myself in order to sleep. Speaking of 'the nest':
5. Three pillows of exquisite quality. Because I'm worth it. Late on any given Spring evening, you will find me nestled between the three pillows I assemble around myself at bed time: a memory foam pillow under my head, a queen-sized pillow behind me to support my lower back, and a down-y king-sized pillow to support left-side sleeping--between my knees and under my belly. The upside of this construction project: I am able to successfully avoid further strain on my lower back. The downside: I am also able to successfully avoid any and all physical contact with my husband.
6. New underwear. Agreed, not the most sexy of underwear ever designed. But I'll be damned if it isn't the most comfortable. And I did buy some really hot, sheer, lacy boy-cut panties to make up for the austere functionality of the bras. Also: they will hold pads in place nicely for however long I'll have to wear pads...whether for post-birth bleeding or incontinence issues. So damn sexy.
7. BASEBALL. Always in style for Spring. Tickets to the Tampa Bay Rays' season opener and season tickets to the local minor league team. DH and his friends are a little too excited to have a designated driver, though.
8. Cookbooks. My MIL gave me Julia Child's The Way to Cook (upon my request--she thinks I'm a fantastic cook, as she's pretty darn terrible. We all have different aptitudes...) for my birthday, as well as The New Food Lover's Companion and Child's Julia's Kitchen Wisdom. The plan is to begin cooking and freezing meals, so my wonderful DH, who inherited his mother's kitchen aptitude, will have no excuse to order pizza more than once a week while we settle in with the newborn.
9. A new appreciation for the basics. Like, my feet. And my lungs. Nothing makes getting from Point A to Point B more difficult than when one's lung capacity has been compromised, and nothing makes it more miserable than one's aching feet. This Spring, my piggies will have a fresh coat of paint at least once a month applied by a professional, and nightly massages in the tub. I mentioned Aveda's Foot Relief some time ago--truly, the only peppermint I enjoy is the peppermint essential oil in foot cream. This stuff is another nightly ritual. Spendy, but it was sooo worth it.
10. Tapping into the resources; online, community-wide, and literary; that will help me be as balanced, fulfilled, informed and sane a wife and mother as I can possibly be. I stand at the threshold of one of the biggest changes of my entire life, with consequences that now far outreach my own and that of my husband's. It's a little hard to be "prepared," but I feel pretty assured that I will have the wherewithal to find answers; or, if no answers are to be found, I'll know where I can air my grievances and find support. That's almost as important. Maybe more.