Timothy William Logan

He's here!
Say hello to Timothy William Logan!!

How do I begin to capture the last 6 weeks? I've been delaying blogging because I truly don't know where to begin. For the sake of just getting something down, I'll be sharing bulleted phrases:

- Born on the 4th of July!
- Very fast labor and deliver!
- Am I just saying this because I'm his mom? Or is he truly the cutest newborn ever? No puffiness or pointy head, just perfectly handsome.
- Heroic visits from grandparents (Spoons took a day-of red-eye flight for a 24 hour visit. My parents drove 15 hours due to canceled flights from a crash at SFO)
- My husband is my hero (seriously.)
- Post delivery recovery: whoa. the epidural tricks your brain into thinking your body has done nothing. then the your body catches up... quickly. wowza! people should really tell you these things ahead of time. 
- Breastfeeding: ouch. like whoa. then it gets better...
- Goodbye sleep!
- Love visitors! Thanks for the time and food and help and everything!
- Poop!
- Nicknames: Butter-nut Squirts, Mr. Mustard Pesto, Timo, Professor Wiggles, Wiggly Piglet, Buddy Bear, Buster Muffin, Bunny, T-dubs, T-Spoons, Baby Spoons,
- Timothy is awesome. He's just so so awesome. It's amazing to see him growing and changing already. I love him so much!

I hope to blog again soon about how we spend our days and some of our outings and of course new mom musings.

PS- I made a total of ZERO freezer meals ahead of time as planned (see previous blog post). So extra huge thanks to my friends and mom who brought over and made meals for us!

Dolphin Assisted Water Birth (this is a thing now...)

Another miracle of maternity is the sudden influx of pregnancy, baby and parenting related emails I get. I recall subscribing to one weekly email from The Bump. But somehow I ended up with getting about 10 daily from various organizations including numerous baby clothing retailers. Maybe I signed up for some coupons at the check-out at the Carter's outlet? I've since unsubscribed from a bunch but still get a few winning articles sent my way.

A month ago, The Bump sent me an email with a link to an article titled "Say What? Parents to Be Planning a Dolphin Assisted Water Birth in Hawaii"  A Dolphin Assisted Water Birth. 

Now, let's play the "What Does Kelsey Imagine?" game! Upon reading this, I pictured a dolphin and lady in some kind of indoor/outdoor aquarium tank. The dolphin is strapped to some kind of harness and the other end of the harness is attached to the baby still inside the mother. Dolphin swims. Baby comes out. And there you have a dolphin assisted water birth.

I drew a picture:

Figure 1

As you may have surmised, what I imagined is not the real deal. It has something to do with the soothing and relaxing high pitch shrill of a dolphin that helps keep the mother calm and welcomes the baby into a peaceful tranquil environment.

However, this also seems pretty bogus since I'm pretty sure you can easily buy dolphin sounds on a CD. I'd like to let this couple know that they can save themselves a lot of money by not flying to Hawaii and renting out a personal fish tank AND dolphin for their birth. For a mere $12.49 they can pick up "Dolphin Music for the Inner Child" at their local Target in the World Music Kiosk located between the cards and scented candles (or online). Then they can put all that extra money towards their child's college education or maybe buying a pet dolphin of their own for the next child birth (in case the CD just isn't relaxing enough)

Grocery Shopping: An Un-Mastered Art

I'm a terrible grocery shopper. I'm seriously the worst. I come home with the most random assortment of things that I'm sure no one could make anything out of. Today at Trader Joes I bought a package of strawberries, baking soda, butter, 2 cans of black beans, sour cream, salad mix and 1 avocado.

I also constantly buy the same things every time and come home to realize I already have an unopened or half used package of it at home. I currently have 3 packs of tortillas, 2 are unopened. I also have 4 bags of frozen peas in my freezer; 3 of which are already opened. The crazy thing is, I NEVER use peas for anything. Once in a blue moon I'll make a toss salad and throw some peas in it. And on most occasions I usually end up opting out of including the peas since Mike doesn't like them very much (and neither do I honestly). Other things I routinely buy at the store that I usually already have at home: packages of shredded cheese, bread, eggs, frozen "chicken poppers"

I guess something just comes over me at the grocery store when it comes to these items and I think it'd be the end of the world to run out of shredded cheese. You may be thinking "Kelsey, don't you take inventory? Don't you make a list before going to the grocery store?" And the answer is yes I do, sort of. But then I'm in the store and see these things and forget if I need them or not. Or I see things and think "Oh that looks good, but I'll never actually use it" and pass it by. My list just isn't a very good one I guess.

Now that I'm on maternity leave and "between jobs" the plan is to start cooking and freezing meals for after baby and after my mom leaves so that we'll have prepared meals ready to eat without much effort. My friends with babies say that you get REALLY hungry breastfeeding and you're too exhausted to cook.

I've never done this before so I'm curious to see how this pans out. I've asked friends and family members and scoured the web (Pinterest) for recipes. So far, here is what's on the freezer menu: 10 spinach/chicken quesadillas to use up all those dang tortillas and bags of shredded cheese.  Next I'll make a couple of pasta/hamburger meals and then maybe some enchiladas or chilli? Today I'm making banana bread for a party at Mike's work tomorrow and I'm making an extra loaf to freeze for later/....eat right now (it smells amazing!)

I'm hoping to get better at managing my pantry and fridge supply so that I have ingredients on hand when I need to whip something up. I think part of the problem with my lack of cooking (besides the fact that I don't really enjoy it) is that I'm not a good grocery shopper...which may be why I don't like cooking. It's a vicious cycle.  What works for you? Do you have a certain method or iPhone app you use to keep inventory of your cupboards? Or, do you just use your brain and look in your fridge and function successfully?

37 Weeks/To Do List

Yesterday is a day I had marked on my calendar. Full Term! 37 weeks. This baby could be born any day now. I'm wrapping up my last week of work before maternity leave* and spending my days in the office finishing up projects.....and blogging and surfing the web for great freezer meal ideas and other last minute things I need to do before the big arrival.

The doctors have been saying the last few weeks that our buddy is head down and very low. Very very low. That, plus very frequent Braxton Hicks contractions, points to a "sooner rather than later" delivery. I planned on 2 weeks at home to relax/get everything ready (#nesting) before the due date but now wondering if I'll get those full two weeks.

Here are the things I hope to accomplish in the next two weeks/before baby arrives:

1. Send out Thank You's for baby shower #2
2. Make several "freezer meals" to have on hand
3. Organize computer desk drawer/cabinet area
4. Transfer family and friends' mailing addresses from notebook onto computer (Google Contacts? looking for suggestions!)
5. Make "Baby Mix" CD (stay tuned for blog post on this topic)
6. Blog (duh)
7. Clean

I'll also go for walks, read books and visit/sneak into pools of friends' residential communities. I'm a little concerned about getting bored so any other ideas are welcome! I don't want to end up on the couch watching "Say Yes to the Dress" re-runs all day....or do I?

I saw this poem today and it made me smile.
 

 
If I start writing sentimental emotional things like this myself I'll start crying and will be done for. Keep in mind I'm still at work so I need to keep it together. So, for now, I'll just say that I can't wait to meet you buddy! You're my treasure.

...and I'm toast... #hormones

Kelsey, Kim and Kate

In a celebrity-crazed, adolescent girl kind of way, I think it’s cool that I’m pregnant and due around the same time as Kim Kardashian and Kate Middleton. I mean, these are pretty iconic, gorgeous ladies. And, their names start with a K just like mine, so I’m pretty much connected to them, like soul sisters or something. 

 If we were all bff’s, here’s what I imagine our conversation would be like if we were lounging around eating bon bons one afternoon by Kim’s pool in her mansion in Calabasas.

Kim: Guys I’m SO stressed out right now. I don’t think our interior designer will be done with the 3rd renovation of the nursery in time. I wish they would have just done it right the first time!

Kate: I thought it was quite lovely the first time Kim. Cheetah print and hot pink is such a charming theme for a baby girl’s room.  What was wrong? (Kate passes around a crystal dish of lavender biscuits- I take 7 of them)

Kim: Well for one it was too small. Then the window didn’t line up with the pool outside (points up to the house at one of many windows) Who wants to look out a window at half a pool? Ew.

Kate: Yes I do see your point. I too am stressed. William and I can’t agree on a name and the Queen keeps interfering. She wants something dull and traditional like Winthorp or Prudence. But I would love to go with something more modern and trendy, something that ends in N or has something to do with nature.

Me: You could go with a name that incorporates both, like Raven.

Kim: Oh my god I freakin’ LOVE that name!

Kate: Good heavens, what a wonderful and delightful name! Excellent idea Kelsey!

Me: Feel free to use it. Just make sure the middle name is “Kelsey”

(we all lol)

Kim: So have you guys gone on a babymoon yet?

Me: This..... IS my babymoon.

Kim: Oh.

Kate: How positively hilarious!  You’re a riot Kelsey!

Me: Thanks?

Kate: Wills and I can’t decide between 3 weeks in Fiji or the south of France. So we’re doing both.

Me: Dang!

Kim: Kanye and I are spending next month on his yacht in the Caribbean.

Me: ...I’m going to get in the pool now. (I grab another lavender biscuit and waddle over to the pool before flopping and rolling onto a raft and floating away)

Note: During this scene Kanye, Wills and Mike are on a run to In’n’Out burger for us and encounter the standard long line. Kanye cuts in front of everyone and places an order.

Kelsey vs Food

I feel the need to follow up on my last post. I hope I didn’t come across too negative about my pregnancy, especially the part about all the questions. I know people only ask because they care and are happy and excited for me. The care and encouragement is appreciated!

However, another question I frequently get that I forgot to mention is “Do you have any cravings?” or “Are you craving any weird foods” For some reason I find this question to be particularly annoying. Maybe just because I feel like I get it the most and it’s usually from males who don’t know what else to ask. Or, maybe it’s that my answer is “No I still crave the same crappy unhealthy food I did before” which I feel guilty about.

 

If I had a facebook-esque relationship status with food it'd be "it's complicated." I’ve never been a particularly healthy eater. In fact some might find me to be a particularly unhealthy eater. Mike and I don’t like many of the same vegetables. So, as a consequence, I don’t buy them. Additionally, I really don’t enjoy cooking very much so we end up eating a lot of frozen pizzas or “picking up” fast food on our way home from work at least once a week (yes, GASP! this includes McDonalds)

Since living in California, I’ve started to succumb to the peer pressure of eating healthy. And by that I mostly just mean feeling guilty about eating unhealthfully.  I recently started putting frozen spinach on my frozen pizzas…. that’s good right? I also started buying Kashi frozen pizzas because they put flax seed in the crust… which I hear is good? I joined a CSA of sorts through the company I work for which was good for a while. But it was just SO MUCH salad mix and vegetables it always went bad before eating it all. Plus, I was getting vegetables that I didn’t even know what they were. I'd ask my vegan co-workers, "Hey what the heck is this?" "Oh, that's kale" So I look up recipes with kale which require 17 other ingrediants I dont already have in my cupboards. So, forget it. These uber healthy organic veggies rotted in my fridge. Needless to say, I quit the program.

I work for a health IT company where the CEO has always been adamant about having healthy food in the office. He’s recently really cracked down on this. On Friday’s we have catered lunches which is frequently just a giant salad bar that is brought in with all kinds of toppings. The last salad bar had the following items removed- bacon bits, croutons and ranch dressing. I’m sorry, but if you’re going to make me eat a pile of raw vegetables for lunch, you best let me pour ranch dressing all up on it.

But I get it. If the company is paying for our food, they should decide what it is. And I appreciate them making healthy choices for me, since I clearly cannot do it for myself. But now that I’m pregnant, I actually have guilt about my bad eating habits because I feel like I’m giving my son a pre-disposition to junk food. I have a friend who feeds her baby the most healthy stuff I’ve ever seen. It’s seriously amazing: pureed purple cabbage, avocado, sweet potato, beets, squash…. She’s literally only had breast milk and fruits and vegetables for her whole first year of life. No dairy, no grains, its impressive. I can’t imagine it’ll take long before I toss my kid a sack of cheerios in the back seat “Hey special buddy stop crying! Here, eat these cheerios! They’re yummy little carbs with a hole in the middle so you can still breathe if you swallow it whole, yay!”

I’ll worry about what to feed him later. But with regards to my own eating habits, I’ve found a common theme among the foods I tend to “crave” the most: they end in O.

Oreos

Cheetos

Burritos

Tacos

Nachos

Cheerios (cereal)

…..no buenos

I’ve been trying to make a somewhat concerted effort to eat “better” by balancing my bad foods with good foods. So, while I’ll still eat the Oreos, I’ll force myself to have some carrot sticks or red pepper slices first….sometimes. Or, I try to limit my soda intake to weekends only…sometimes. I also drink a LOT of water which, in my mind, “cleanses” out all the bad stuff. (Is that some self-fed BS or what?)

 

I feel like I’m the only one who eats unhealthy food anymore, especially out here in California. And it’s not so much that I like unhealthy food, but that I dislike healthy food. “What? You don’t like beets!? Beets are SO delicious!” NO! NO THEY ARE NOT! Beets fundamentally do not taste better than meat with melted cheese on it. I go out to lunch with my coworkers and everyone gets a strawberry, fig, beet and goat cheese salad and I’m the only one getting the cheeseburger. I’m a lone wolf.... in a pack of lettuce eating turtles*

 

At my last pregnancy check-up appointment, the doctor said to me, "You haven't gained one ounce that isn't baby." So, I went to In-n-Out burger for dinner. Maybe it will actually take some physcial consequences for me to change my ways. But until then, I'll just keep doing what I've been doing my whole life: eat what I want, sprinkle in some veggies now and then, take my vitamins and expect nothing to change. What could go wrong? My metabolism won't change, right?

 

The Pregnant Life

Today I am 33 weeks pregnant. I have a month to go until I'm considered "full term" and 7 weeks until my due date, July 7.

Here are some things I've learned, encountered and experienced so far.

The Questions: 
I thought I was asked the same questions over and over when I was engaged to be married... pregnancy tops that a thousand fold. I feel like a broken record saying the following things over and over:

-Yes I am pregnant
-July 7
-A boy
-Yes I'm excited
-Yes Mike is excited too
-Getting there, but they say you're never really ready
-First name is decided but still working on the middle name (I've come to realize this is a VERY nosy question to ask and will refrain from asking pregnant ladies this question from now on. It's very personal and really none of anyone's business)
-Feeling pretty good, although it is becoming increasingly difficult and uncomfortable to do normal things. (...this is my quick and polite answer)
- Thank you, yea I've been pretty lucky so far, it's all going to the belly (...this is really just a complement and I should be grateful. But I suppose you get sick of saying anything after a while)

Things that are harder to do: 
Now that I've gained about 25 pounds which is all projecting in mass from my abdomen, the following tasks have become quite difficult:

1. Getting up: from a chair, a couch, bed, the floor, out of a car. When I get up too fast or awkwardly, I end up straining some ab muscle/ligament/tendon thing that ends up really hurting- which brings me to my next difficult task...

2. Moving: My stamina for walking is just pathetic. I'm legitimately concerned that I am not in good enough physical condition to give birth. I get so winded and wiped out from walking the 4 blocks from the train station to the office (although it is uphill) that I wonder if I'll be able to open the door to the building when I get there. Then of course is the back ache, hip pain and knee soreness that accompanies the windedness that makes my morning commute just a real pleasure cruise.
*Not to mention, my pregnant lady "waddle" is emphasized by my already bowed legs (which i think are becoming more bowed from the new weight gain)

3. Bending over: Putting on shoes, socks, pants, undies, etc is a bit of an ordeal. I either have to sit on the edge of the bed and cross my foot up onto my other leg (like a chubby grandpa) or sit on the floor. I can't just stand, bend over and step into pants anymore because I tip over due to aforementioned 25lb bulk that is precisely between my arms and my legs causing my center of balance to cease to exist.

Random acts of crying:
I've always been a bit emotional but lately it's been harder to keep it contained. Most notably, the other day I was watching Beyonce live in concert on TV.  She was so cool, and strong and awesome and inspiring...it made me cry. Yes, Beyonce singing "Single Ladies" put me over the edge.
Just imagine what hail storm of emotion will be unleashed when this little guy actually comes out and I see him for the first time.... oh jeez here come the waterworks again. NEXT TOPIC QUICK!

The Bathroom. My new home:
Holy cow do I go a lot. I counted the other day, it was in the 30's including the trips throughout the night.

Also, in public restrooms, I have a hard time shutting the stall door because my belly gets in the way. So, I've started using the handicap stall...because yes this counts as a handicap now.

The other weekend I was laughing super hard while sitting indian style on the floor in the nursery watching Mike bewilderingly put up a curtain rod over what he considered a window too tiny to bother with a curtain. And while laughing so hard, maybe a little pee came out.  I also sneezed the other day and maybe a little pee came out then too.

Shout outs!
On that arduous walk from the train station to the office I've been the recipient of some wonderful comments from the local Tenderloin homeless.
"It's almost time!"
"It's too hot to be walkin' around lady!"
"You gon' have yo baby today!?"
"You have a safe delivery now ma'm"
"Congratulations!"


In all honesty though, I really can't complain. I've had a pretty smooth pregnancy and I know many others have it much more difficult- God love ya!