Maternity and Midwives.

Today I had my first visit with the Midwives. It was pretty cool. Husband came along. He made a joke to the nurse about what kind of circumstances would allow him to deliver the baby and we were a little surprised when she told him (in all seriousness) that it was one of our options. If everything is going well, the midwife delivers the baby and the father delivers the rest of the body. He thinks that is fantastic and said, "Yeah! I'll get down in there!"

So maybe? :)

Anyway, I'm still feeling a little weak. Five vials of blood sure seemed like a lot for an already nauseous, dizzy person.


I had to work this evening and I was feeling very, very chubby. I ended up buying a shirt at work that works well for a maternity shirt - it has room to spare. Plus, I already liked the shirt before I got pregnant!

Anyway, here's me, hiding my chub:





Not very
sneaky.
Am I?

Beach.

Last weekend we made a marathon trip to the beach. We left our house around midnight on Friday, drove to Savannah's Tybee Island and made it there by about four. We parked at the beach lot and slept in the car until about six. We took a long walk on the beach and watched the sunrise.



We ate breakfast about nine and then played in the water for an hour or so, then a mean old jellyfish stung the husband and we started home. We arrived in the late afternoon and slept the evening away.

It was fantastic and exhausting. Since you didn't get to come, here's a little video treat:

Sorry, I didn't get videos or pictures of the dolphins jumping, the pelicans skimming the water or the horseshoe crab that kept washing up on shore. I was too busy having fun.

Next time you're in the area, let's all head down to the beach - okay?

How do I make breakfast

when I'm so nauseous I can't open the fridge or go in the same room as a garbage can?




Answer: I hold a Gain dryer sheet over my mouth and nose the entire time.

How I've Been Feeling:

Since some of you wanted to know, I've been feeling pretty well.
I haven't thrown up yet.
I don't have any weird cravings. I just have a problem finding anything I actually want to eat.

So far, everything looks and smells gross to me. The fridge and garbage are the GROSSEST things. Every time I open the fridge I have to hold my breath, so I don't really want to eat anything that came out of it. The husband thinks I'm making this up, but I only want to eat food that somebody else made for me. Even toast looks gross after I'm finished making it. If he makes it, it tastes fine. I can't explain it.

Pretzels and chips and fries taste okay. Anything really salty.
I don't even want candy or soda! That's how bad it is!!

I am taking vitamins and I'm trying to force feed myself, but so far food is 100% BLAH!

It has really only been a couple of weeks like this, so hopefully it is over soon and I'll start eating everything in sight.



Well, I did eat McDonalds and some Reece's Big Cups today. The Reece's Cups have somewhat significant amounts of fiber, protein, iron and calcium! They also have 40% of my daily saturated fat. Whoooops! Don't tell.

Presenting . . .

The World's Tiniest Fowler

(I told you to stay tuned!)

That's my little blob up there!
The date is February 26, 2010.
How about that?


By the way, the big part at the top is just the yolk sac. The bottom squirmy is the baby.
I know you can't see it in the picture, but there is a little beating heart that makes the whole baby flicker on camera. I know! I know!


Now I get to baby up my blog and I'll finally have something to talk about.

101.

I almost didn't notice it, but this is my 101st post. I'm actually a little surprised.

When I was in high school, I kept a very dedicated journal. Ever since I moved out, starting working and stopped having any sort of regular schedule, I haven't been able to keep up a journal for more than a couple of days a year. I try to start again every so often and I just can't seem to do it.

I started this blog when I moved across the country so I could easily share things with all the people I love and miss back home. I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I have . . . or that I would be connected with all the people that I am connected with now! I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing.

So long as I can get a minute here and there, I'm going to keep a good thing going.

I know my life of work and dog and nothing can get pretty dull but there are exciting things happening - even the past month has been all a buzz with new jobs and school - so just stay tuned for the rest of the story.

Thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to even feign interest in our life so far.

(And thanks to everyone who has unwittingly allowed me to blog stalk them, too. I couldn't have done it without you.)

Would you like fries with that?

Sorry I haven't gotten around to the old blog.

I've been spending most of my time talking to people over a loudspeaker.
No, I'm not living in 1984 . . . but close. Big Brother is watching me.
(You think I'm kidding and I'm so not.)*

(that's me as Big Brother.)

I'm the main drive-thru girl for the lunch rush at my new job. You know that voice? The one that sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher coming out from the drive-thru box? "Would you like to make that a combo today?" That's me.

The really ironic part I rarely ever use a drive-thru. I just know that a drive-thru means I may (or may not) be sacrificing food quality and correctness for the sake of time. Plus I hate ordering in general - I feel so demanding and uppity, even when I'm making a simple order. I hate ordering through an intercom even more. Somehow I feel like I'm being difficult, even when I'm not.

Anyway, now I take the orders. Order after order after order. I know that almost every teenager in America knows how to run a drive-thru window but it took me a few times to feel comfortable doing it.

I have some advice/requests for those people who frequent drive-thru windows:

- If you're feeling extremely picky, just go inside. It will probably take almost the same amount of time and you can check your food before you leave to make sure it is right. When you ask for no cheese, no tomatoes, no onions, no mayo but add mustard and jalapenos and extra guacamole . . . you're almost asking for your sandwich to come out wrong. Then you'll have to come inside or back through the drive-thru anyway when you could have just gotten it right in the first place.

- Along those same lines, if you like your drink to have 1/4 this soda, 1/4 that soda and 1/2 something else with extra or lite ice and six Splendas . . . give us a break. Come inside and fill up your own drink.

- If it is busy, have at least some idea what you want to eat. Our managers do watch our "times" to make sure nobody is waiting too long in the drive-thru, but if you it takes you 2 minutes to order I'm pretty sure I can't keep the wait under the 3.5 minutes (which is what I'm supposed to be aiming for).

- Please don't describe what you want and ask "Do you have anything like that?" when there is a line of cars behind you.

- Be nice. You're not watching us make the food, remember? You're trusting that nothing . . . uh, bad . . . happens to it before it gets to you. Think about it. :)

Above all, I love nothing more than someone who knows exactly what they need and how to order it correctly, pausing briefly after each item to let me put it through. At the end, that perfect someone lets me read the order back to make sure it's correct and thanks me when I'm finished.


My favorite part about drive-thru is recognizing voices and orders and knowing exactly who is waiting at the other end because they come every day and get the same thing.
Okay, my real favorite part is trying to guess what the people look like after only hearing their voices. It's so much harder than you think. Half the time I don't know whether to say "Ma'am" or "Sir" so I just don't say anything gender-specific at all. Some people sound like they're old and they aren't. Some people sound rich and well-groomed and they aren't. Some people sound mean but have kind faces. I'm surprised almost every time.


Anyway, enough about the boring life of a "quick-casual" worker. Oh? You didn't know that it isn't all "fast food" when it comes to drive-thrus? Well.


Here's the big news: the hubbers is a student again! Woo hoo!




*There are cameras where I work and the owner watches them from his house almost all the time. I know because, one time, someone accidentally put a box in front of a camera and he called within five minutes to say he couldn't see us anymore. Sorry! We unpersons were too busy committing thoughtcrimes while you weren't looking, Big Brother.