something in the water

i love levi. he is the most amazing, wonderful, perfect little man. i wouldnt change anything in the world about him. BUT, he is a handful sometimes! how do people have 2 babies so close together?
2 girls from my birthing class are due with baby number 2 within the next 3 weeks. they have babies exactly the same age as levi and now they'll have infants too! after dealing with levi's lunchtime tantrum today at bahama breeze (you can read about it on my personal blog), and it taking both me and jeff to control him, i can not imagine how we would have handled 2 babies at the same time! (let alone twins, thats another story all together! i give those parents a TON of credit!)....
it seems everyone is pregnant now. seriously. is there something in the water? let me count......josie, jessica, erin, courtney- all due with baby #1 within the next couple months. Amanda, Theresa, Randi, Erin (a different one), Brooke- all due with baby #2 within the next few months. I'm probably missing a few.....even so, doesnt that seem like a lot? i guess i'll just have to do a lot of baby shopping.
im taking one of my friends out for brunch tomorrow instead of throwing her a baby shower. timing and location just did not work out for the shower, but this is a good substitute. cheesecake factory sunday morning has the best specials!!!!! i bought her all this cute baby stuff. the clothes are so little and adorable! i cant believe levi was that little once.....he is such a big boy now! 18 month clothes are definitely not as cute as 0-3....i do have to say though, as i was searching for unisex clothes (she is not finding out the sex), the selection is limited! i did not do any baby shopping before levi was born, and my friends mentioned MORE than once that it was not easy finding things for boy/girl.....yellow, green, red i guess is all there is. but i found some cute things....

Baby Chills

So if Marni, Abby and Jami have baby fever, I definitely have baby chills. I think one of the contributing ideas of this whole blog idea is that it's comical to hear the difference in baby fever levels here on eaton road. I'm very not overcome with baby fever. I'm anti baby fever, and it's funny to sit in on baby fever conversations. I'm like the jack ass in the corner, heckling the comedian, just laughing at baby fever and talking about my un-motherly abilities. I don't hate babies, and I'm sure someday I'll have babies, but right now my favorite babies are the ones that support their own head and go home with their mommy and daddy at the end of the night. I'm sure this is completely normal. I love hearing every one's baby stories and baby fever stories, but I love knowing that I don't have to soothe a crying baby or change any dirty diapers. Hell, I can barely get myself out the door in time for work, I couldn't imagine juggling a baby! Someday I'll have baby fever, (at least my mother-in-law hopes I'll have baby fever) maybe it will hit when I least expect it. Does this sort of fever creep up on you? For now I'll be the crazy girl next door that feeds your kid chocolate at 9pm and chases them around the dining room table a couple dozen times before sending them home for you to put them to bed. Sweet Dreams!

4 month olds

4 month old babies are my favorite!!!! they smile and laugh all the time, and they are sleeping through the night (most of them at least). When im at work and I have a 4 month old check-up, i want to hold them, carry them around, and cuddle with them. sometimes i even joke that the baby can come home with me for a while.
I guess ive got the fever.

refreshing

tonight we went to dinner with our friends who have a beautiful new baby girl who is now three weeks old. i called them today to see if we could stop by and bring over some homemade veggie soup and dinner. they said that they already had plans to go out for dinner, to a bar no less. they invited us to join them so off we went. Levi loved the baby- repeating over multiple times "beebee, beebee" and waving "hi beebee".
It made me think about my friends with kids.
there are three types as far as i can tell.
1. Moms that need to be home according to the child's sleep schedule. (7pm to put their children to bed, and between 1-4pm for naptime). Those moms will do things as long as it does not interfere with baby sleeping.
2. Moms who never want to do anything at all (and even sit in the backseat of the car with their children when they go anywhere- even though the babies are 6 and 9 months).
3. (which i claim to be a part of myself) Moms who do almost everything they used to do "pre-baby" with some slight modifications- still go out to dinner, hang out with friends, and even bring the babies along and puts the babies to sleep whenever/wherever (even if it is in the pack-n-play at someone else'e house).
It was refreshing to hear that our friends with their NEW baby were already going out to dinner and bringing the baby along. I know they will be laid back great parents and it makes me so happy!!!!
I like to postulate how my friends without babies will be when their little ones decide to arrive. One friend is due in a couple months and I like to think she will be in group number 3- I hope so, at least.
When i think about abby and jami having kids, i think they will also be the relaxed type (and as they know, if they are crazy like some of my other friends, i will definitely not be shy- i'll be my blunt self and tell them how i feel!)...
As a pediatrician, one thing i can say is that of all the kids i see day in and day out, the moms that are relaxed have pleasant tempered children, and the moms that are stress cases have babies that are high strung like their mommies...

How Far Would You Travel to See a Meatball?

Friday began what would, on Saturday, be dubbed "the worst snow storm this season."  It was so bad, in fact, that on the news you could catch plenty of commentary comparing it/contrasting it with the great 1977 (?) snow storm.  I wasn't alive to catch that one, but this one was pretty hefty.  At 2pm, I get a call from Bobby who tells me that they are closing the county offices.  He is a county prosecutor and if it isn't enough that they normally end their Fridays at 4pm, they also seem to close whenever it might snow.  Normally, this arrangement does not benefit me in the least but on last Friday it just so happened that we carpooled to work.  So, lucky me, I got to leave work early.  Now, the original plan (and the reason we drove in together) is that we were going straight to the hospital after work to see my cousin's newborn baby.  And just to prove to you that I am not in my right mind, we still, in the snow, and in the gridlock, drove to the hospital on the other side of town (and the opposite direction from home) to see the baby.  You might think that leaving early meant we got to beat the traffic, but you would be wrong.  We suffered a miserable 60 minutes for a drive that would normally only take 15 just so I could hold a 2-day-old baby that wasn't even mine.  Of course, in my opinion, it was totally worth it.

But, while holding the precious, teeny, little baby (that my cousin lovingly refers to as his "meatball") I had to sit through the horrific description of the labor and delivery that it took to bring the little cutie into the world.  I will spare you the details, but suffice to say, it involves 18 hours of labor, 2 straight hours of pushing, vomit, an "oh shit" bar, the words "stuck in pelvis," and and emergency C-section.  After hearing that, I thought that maybe I could just get a couple more dogs and call it a day.

But seeing Bobby holding her (awkwardly at first and a little afraid of her wobbly head) made me wish that we were the ones who were having a baby.  Overall, I would put the experience more in the "pro baby" column.  I do already have a cache of onesies, afterall . . .

Ambivalence, Thy Name is Abby

No idea seems more brilliant than those conceived over half price margaritas during an ice storm. And that is just how this blog came about.  Until recently, my life focused on graduating law school (done), buying a house (done), getting married (done), and chasing around two dogs and praying they won't pee on the rug while I am gone (still in progress).  In fact, two years ago I wasn't even sure that I wanted to have children. Ever.  Now, I find myself cooing at babies and picturing family dinners and walks in the neighborhood with a stroller.  When did that happen?!? I already have names picked out, including middle names and alternate middle names.  Some days, I turn to my husband (who was blessed with immense patience) and say "let's have a family now."  Other days, I start to panic at thinking how having a baby will keep me chained to the house, unable to do anything but discuss feeding times, toy recalls, and how much college is going to cost in 2027.  In fact, just the other day it dawned on me that I never made that bike trip down the towpath, or went hiking in Arches National Park, or went to Europe, or got a PhD in psychology.  When am I going to do all of these things?!?!!?  In my mind I feel like I am constantly trying to balance the prime traveling and degree-seeking years that keep flying by with the ever-looming reproductive deadline.  It is no easy task, especially when I am trying to keep on a professional track of becoming a partner in a law firm.  How are we supposed to do all of this?  Even still, all my fears didn't stop me from hanging on to a few of the gifts I bought for a recent baby show (yes, that IS sad).  And I, too, bought a college-themed onesie for my fake baby that I don't yet have.  Maybe my fake baby and Jami's fake baby can have a fake college rivalry.  Oh well, at least maternity clothes look pretty cute these days.

A little background

So I thought you might want to know how the blog idea came about........it started out with the four of us and our husbands who are neighbors on the same street (about 8 houses apart). There is Abby and Bobby, Cara and Matt, Marni and Jeff and their 18month old son Levy, along with myself and my husband Joey. We're twenty somethings to early 30s and love that we can hang out at one of our houses then just walk home (no sober driver needed!) Until recently our discussions at dinner or over drinks have been the Cleveland Indians in the playoffs, job opportunities, great restaurants, vacation ideas, what kind of new car to buy, and humurous stories from our past. A few months ago baby fever overcame Abby, Marni, and I - this is now a new topic of conversation - fun for the ladies and often ignored by the men. Its hard to explain this baby fever unless you've experienced it for yourself. Some days it consumes most of my thoughts - when I think we should start trying, baby names, imagining what it will be like to be pregnant - these are the days Joey wants to hit a mute button to make me stop spouting out baby talk. Don't get me wrong, he wants to have kids but the thought of it at this time is somewhat overwhelming for him which is a foreign concept to me during the "baby fever". Once the "fever" subsides I wonder how I will ever work, exercise, cook, walk the dogs, take care of a baby and still have a social life. Pondering those subjects can make me feel overwhelmed as well so I stop thinking about it and look at the adorable IU onesie I bought. Joey and I met at Indiana University (IU) where we went to college and when we were there visiting a few months ago I bought this onesie for our future baby to wear. This was an ordeal - Joey actually had sweat on his brow when I was making this purchase due to the anxiety of thinking about us having a baby - he'll get over that feeling right?

maternity leave?

i was at my work meeting today and someone was talking about taking a trip for 3 weeks next spring. she wanted to make sure nobody else was planning vacation during that time so she wouldnt mess up scheduling. then she looked at me and said "vacation OR maternity leave"...of course i got all red....perhaps maternity leave next spring, hopefully i guess is the better way to say it.
i was bending down this morning putting a bowl into the dishwasher and i got a shooting pain up the middle of my back. i almost threw up, almost passed out. im thankful jeff was in the kitchen with me. he helped me to the couch but i was going to be late for work so he walked me to my car and i went to my meeting. of course, as i was driving it got worse and worse. i hobbled into the meeting, and afterwards they needed to wheel me back to my car in a wheelchair because i couldnt walk, nor could i work!!!! after hours at the dr office today, its just a strain (which i assumed but it didnt help the pain), i had a pain shot and then a muscle relaxer prescription. so now im stuck in bed, lying on a heating pad, with an awful back spasm. aaaarrrrggghhh!!! anyone have any good DVDs i can borrow tomorrow while im stuck in bed on my back?