new year....
Hello LJ friends...
I suppose a few things have happened since October (my last post!)
One that sent our family reeling was the sudden death of my uncle (age 59) in mid December. He was at work, wasn't feeling well, and they called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He walked in to the ER and was in Code Blue 20 minutes later, pronounced dead about 25 minutes after that. It was a shock to everyone - he appeared to be in excellent health. He married my aunt about 10 years ago and I agree with my sister - he fit into our family immediately, and really did fill a hole we didn't realize was there. He was incredibly helpful, kind, generous, funny, and playful. He spent hours playing with kids while adults visited and talked about grownup things. He worked at a factory that made Arm and Hammer products; he knew I worked with teenagers and he donated condoms to my agency to help out the kids there. Remember when we had that terrible windstorm back in September that knocked down 2 of our trees? C came home from work at 5 the next day, ready to get to work cleaning up, and Uncle Denny had already been there for an hour and a half (as soon as he got off work), with his chainsaw, sawing and hauling limbs around.
While the loss has gotten easier for C and I as the days and weeks pass, I'm sure it has not gotten easier for my aunt (his widow) as well as some of the rest of my extended family. We are doing the best we know how to make things emotionally easier for my aunt but sometimes we're not sure what the best help would be. We think we'll have her over to visit next week for dinner if she's not already busy.
My family came in for the funeral, then left, then returned 1 week later for Christmas at our house. This is the first time I have ever been at my own place for Christmas as an adult, and it was a lot of fun. We had some crappy weather (ice storm) that affected our grocery shopping and food-prep plans but we managed to get everything together for delicious meals on Christmas Eve and Day. We hosted 25 members of my dad's extended family at our house the day after, for the annual Christmas party. We managed to fit everyone in the house and we think fun was had by all - they arrived at 3 in the afternoon and did not leave until 1:00 a.m. - very unusual for that side of the family!
Our most exciting part of Christmas was announcing to our families that we are expecting a baby, due June 27th! I think many of you know from Facebook (or even real life) so LJ is one of the final places to tell everyone, I suppose. We are very excited and are looking forward to lots of changes this year. I am nearly 16 weeks along (by tomorrow, I believe) and had a doctor's appointment today. Everything is going swimmingly at this point. I've had some crappy pregnancy symptoms (nausea, constipation, tiredness, acne) but those are not so bad any more and I'm able to enjoy things. Baby appears to be healthy - heartbeat was at 152 today! I am looking forward to feeling the baby move but of course I'm not sure I'll recognize it at first. We have had a few nicknames for the baby while he/she is in utero but have not settled on just one. Maybe you'll see that appear here someday...
I've had some "crazy pregnant lady" thoughts (what if it's twins, what if our baby is ugly, etc) but C has been wonderfully supportive and lent a listening ear. He's reading a book that he appears to be enjoying so far: "The Expectant Father" - kind of a how-to manual that also talks a little about touchy-feely stuff. His favorite phrase is to say, "the book said that would happen" when I share something of my symptoms or neuroses. His favorite thing that he learned from the book so far is that it is very common for men to believe (in early pregnancy) that the baby is not their own. Something about not believing they are capable of producing human life and the enormity of it all. I thought that was fascinating too!
Perhaps I'll be introspective about these types of things as the months continue and perhaps I'll use my LJ to share my thoughts and neuroses, and daily happenings. Perhaps not. Lord knows I didn't find that much to write about "before" so who knows... I do know that not everyone enjoys reading the ramblings of a woman about her pregnancy. I don't know how to filter and I'm not organized enough to separate my thoughts into pregnancy vs non-pregnancy posts... so if you feel like reading, go for it, if not, that's okay too, just skip it!
Happy new year everyone! Here's to a fantastic 2009!
I suppose a few things have happened since October (my last post!)
One that sent our family reeling was the sudden death of my uncle (age 59) in mid December. He was at work, wasn't feeling well, and they called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He walked in to the ER and was in Code Blue 20 minutes later, pronounced dead about 25 minutes after that. It was a shock to everyone - he appeared to be in excellent health. He married my aunt about 10 years ago and I agree with my sister - he fit into our family immediately, and really did fill a hole we didn't realize was there. He was incredibly helpful, kind, generous, funny, and playful. He spent hours playing with kids while adults visited and talked about grownup things. He worked at a factory that made Arm and Hammer products; he knew I worked with teenagers and he donated condoms to my agency to help out the kids there. Remember when we had that terrible windstorm back in September that knocked down 2 of our trees? C came home from work at 5 the next day, ready to get to work cleaning up, and Uncle Denny had already been there for an hour and a half (as soon as he got off work), with his chainsaw, sawing and hauling limbs around.
While the loss has gotten easier for C and I as the days and weeks pass, I'm sure it has not gotten easier for my aunt (his widow) as well as some of the rest of my extended family. We are doing the best we know how to make things emotionally easier for my aunt but sometimes we're not sure what the best help would be. We think we'll have her over to visit next week for dinner if she's not already busy.
My family came in for the funeral, then left, then returned 1 week later for Christmas at our house. This is the first time I have ever been at my own place for Christmas as an adult, and it was a lot of fun. We had some crappy weather (ice storm) that affected our grocery shopping and food-prep plans but we managed to get everything together for delicious meals on Christmas Eve and Day. We hosted 25 members of my dad's extended family at our house the day after, for the annual Christmas party. We managed to fit everyone in the house and we think fun was had by all - they arrived at 3 in the afternoon and did not leave until 1:00 a.m. - very unusual for that side of the family!
Our most exciting part of Christmas was announcing to our families that we are expecting a baby, due June 27th! I think many of you know from Facebook (or even real life) so LJ is one of the final places to tell everyone, I suppose. We are very excited and are looking forward to lots of changes this year. I am nearly 16 weeks along (by tomorrow, I believe) and had a doctor's appointment today. Everything is going swimmingly at this point. I've had some crappy pregnancy symptoms (nausea, constipation, tiredness, acne) but those are not so bad any more and I'm able to enjoy things. Baby appears to be healthy - heartbeat was at 152 today! I am looking forward to feeling the baby move but of course I'm not sure I'll recognize it at first. We have had a few nicknames for the baby while he/she is in utero but have not settled on just one. Maybe you'll see that appear here someday...
I've had some "crazy pregnant lady" thoughts (what if it's twins, what if our baby is ugly, etc) but C has been wonderfully supportive and lent a listening ear. He's reading a book that he appears to be enjoying so far: "The Expectant Father" - kind of a how-to manual that also talks a little about touchy-feely stuff. His favorite phrase is to say, "the book said that would happen" when I share something of my symptoms or neuroses. His favorite thing that he learned from the book so far is that it is very common for men to believe (in early pregnancy) that the baby is not their own. Something about not believing they are capable of producing human life and the enormity of it all. I thought that was fascinating too!
Perhaps I'll be introspective about these types of things as the months continue and perhaps I'll use my LJ to share my thoughts and neuroses, and daily happenings. Perhaps not. Lord knows I didn't find that much to write about "before" so who knows... I do know that not everyone enjoys reading the ramblings of a woman about her pregnancy. I don't know how to filter and I'm not organized enough to separate my thoughts into pregnancy vs non-pregnancy posts... so if you feel like reading, go for it, if not, that's okay too, just skip it!
Happy new year everyone! Here's to a fantastic 2009!