No, no, not yet

We are officially 38 weeks, 1 day. Here is Jen (looking somewhat over this whole pregnancy thing*) yesterday at exactly 38 weeks.



Parents at my school have been asking when the baby is coming. My standard response is, "anytime in the next month," or "If you don't see me, that probably means something is happening."

Here at Addition Problems, we hope to give you information, rather than absence. We are planning a home birth, which means that even if Jen goes into labor while at work or out running errands, we're coming home. Where our computers are. No, I will not be posting updates every 5 minutes. I won't run to the computer the second the child takes his/her first breath. Some things are more important that updating you, dear readers. We will, however, do our best to make sure the adoring public is kept informed.

For now, though, you can take our silence for what it is. Pure laziness. Or craziness. Or both.

*However, she says she was really just over the whole picture-taking thing.

Ramblin' On

Things have been quiet here at Ad Prob, and we've been feeling a little bad about that. Yes, we recognize the world goes on and you're not all waiting on the edges of your seats for the next brilliant thing we have to say. However, it is odd to let a week go by in silence. And so, I am here to ramble at you.

Honestly, part of the reason we haven't been writing is that nothing that exciting is happening. Our big baby projects are done for now. The room is ready, clothes and diapers are washed and waiting in drawers. The cosleeper is assembled. Birth supplies are gathered and waiting in their bin for the big day. We sent in our home study application about a week ago, and there's nothing left to do on that until the social worker contacts us. All the legal paperwork that can be signed before birth is signed and filed in the appropriate places. Jen has already gotten credit cards bearing her new last name.

And so we're waiting. There's still a lot to do. We've been sorting through piles of paper to get our health insurance reimbursements for the year figured out, and working on getting our taxes done. We make trips to baby stores here and there to exchange this or that for a bigger size or something we don't already have. We're making weekly trips to the midwives. But mostly we are waiting. Jen is finalizing stuff at school, as am I. We're trying to figure out why our dryer doesn't dry things anymore. We talk to the baby. And we wait for him/her to make an appearance.

In these last couple of weeks, we've actually had some moments where there's been time to just be. We've actually spent time just lying in bed, watching Jen's belly move, feeling the calm warmth of our bodies next to each other, thinking and talking about this huge impending change. We're anxious to meet this kid that's been growing inside Jen for the last nine months, and anxious to know the child that's been growing in our hearts for so, so long. We're nervous about the newness, the unpredictability, our parenting skills, and how this will affect our relationship. We're also well aware that this wait could take up to another month, and we're trying to be patient and deal with the uncertainty.

Harpo, whenever you're ready, your mommies are here, waiting, and ready as they're ever going to be.

Public Service Announcement

Jen would like the general public to know that, two days prior to full term*, she still has an innie.

Thank you.


*our midwives consider 37 weeks full term.

WHAT Paperless Society?!?

Cait and I aren't having a lot of opportunity to do anything with electronic writing lately as we are up to our ears in the old-fashioned kind: paper. Paper is THE bane of my existence. (Ironically, as a librarian, it's also ESSENTIAL to my existence, but that's another story.) Junk mail, bills, taxes, medical paperwork, catalogs, magazines, publications from various organizations, receipts... the list is maddeningly endless.

Of course, it's the taxes and the medical bills that threaten to drown us at the moment. Between the endless miscarriage and the Lyme disease, our medical bills from last year are many and complex... and wouldn't you know, our insurance company is making a right mess of it all. (I'm sure you're shocked.) Since we have a confluence of deadlines looming (insurance claims due March 31, taxes due April 15, and Harpo due any time s/he chooses to make an appearance in the next month to six weeks...) we're really trying to dig out from under the mountain of paper. Unfortunately, this means the posts may be sparse for the next week or so. But if you're desperate to read something, I'm sure we can send you a carton or two of lovely reading material. Just say the word!

What's Up, Doc?

It's Photo Friday time, and this week's theme is Pets.

I was DELIGHTED when I learned of the theme. Close friends will know that Cait and I never turn down the opportunity to talk about, share pictures of, or introduce our beloved pet Harvey. (Unfortunately, for reasons we've never been able to figure out, people don't share our enthusiasm for our sweet boy.) Here he is:

As you can see, Harvey is an absolutely GORGEOUS specimen of a Pooka. They are rare indeed, but oh, so charming, and a delight to be around. He's a very well-behaved and easy-going pet. Our biggest challenge is, of course, his size. While we are very pleased to have such a healthy rabbit and we knew Pookas had a tendency to get big, we weren't really prepared for him to be 6'3"!!! It's a pretty tight squeeze in our 2 bedroom condo... and it's only going to get tighter once Harpo's here. But we love our Harvey, and we'll make it work! :)

Happy Blogiversary to Us!

This week is just FULL of milestones! Today is the one year anniversary of the launch of AddProb. Kinda snuck up on ya, didn't it?

We really have come a long way, baby. A year ago we had just emerged from 6 months of molar pregnancy hell (or "the world's longest miscarriage" as I sometimes call it) and were gnashing our teeth at the three month waiting period* before beginning our next insemination attempts. A couple of months, and three wacky insemination attempts after THAT we finally got lucky and got Harpo. And here we are, 35 weeks later, with a fabulous ultrasound, great midwives, and even a nursery! We've also got countless new friends, for whom we are exceedingly grateful.

Can't wait to see what the next year brings!!

*Which was only three months because we embarked on a stealth insemination campaign against medical advice....

35 words or less

Today is my 35th birthday. Tomorrow I will be 35 weeks pregnant, which means that there are 35 days left until Harpo's due date. That's at least 35 kinds of wonderful!

Tired... but Happy

We're tired over here, folks. It's a lame apology for not having too many posts of late, but it's true. In addition to the Lyme (regarding which we owe you an update) Cait also came down with the flu this week, so she was thoroughly out of commission for several days (but wants you to know that Tamiflu rocks!) and is on the mend now. And I'm big and pregnant (regarding which we owe you a picture) and it's catching up with me. I'm just tired a lot these days.

So, all the posts that have been swirling around in my head will be poured out in a hodgepodge here so that you can at least know what we've been up to.

1) Flu, as mentioned before. We've been running our own little science lab here and it appears that the conclusion is: flu shot good. (I.e. Jen got the shot; Cait didn't. Cait got the flu; Jen didn't. So far.)

2) Name changing. I went back to the court for the third time. The third time is, apparently, more charmed than the first two. My new last name should take effect April 7, barring any objections from my creditors (!) or other concerned parties. Oh, and scissors are apparently allowed through security on Thursdays....

3) Harpo has a room! And it's cute!

And we've been washing some of Harpo's clothes. This whole having a kid thing really messes with your head. As I was leaving to run errands this morning I thought to myself, "But Cait will fold the baby clothes without me!" And then I thought, "You idiot. IT'S STILL LAUNDRY! Be glad if she folds it."

We are glad. Very glad. Even if we're tired.

Dinner is Served!

Thank you all for your suggestions and comments regarding dinner for my friends. In the end, I did decide to go with chicken (an adventure in itself as I have not cooked chicken in over a decade - I didn't even know where to look for it in the grocery store - seriously!) and found a recipe online that sounded good but simple. For sides, I went with my old standby (that happened to line up well with Em's suggestion), oven roasted potatoes, and since everything else was in the oven, also did some carrots in the oven.

For those interested in the recipes, have at it:

Chicken, artichoke and mushroom casserole (from Astray.com, whoever they are)

Pan-roasted carrots (courtesy thatsmyhome.com, whoever THEY are)

and

Oven roasted potatoes (a la ME!): wash and quarter medium red-skin potatoes. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary in an oven proof dish. Roast at 400 degrees, stirring every 10 minutes until tender when pierced with a fork.

It probably all tasted quite good, but the best part was getting to snuggle with the little guy for about an HOUR when I dropped it off tonight. He is so tiny and adorable. He fit quite well on the shelf made by my stomach!