Milwaukee

I'm off to visit my sister in law this weekend. My petsitter came by tonight to take a look at where all the food and litter box is, and she brought her new little boxer puppy, Blue. Bailey sure got a workout playing with her. She's now stretched out against the couch exhausted. It's so great to be in a neighborhood with so many animal lovers. I never seem to have trouble finding someone to care for my babies.

My pets

I haven't talked about my animals lately. Well, Bailey has been having gastric problems of her own. But alas, she doesn't know to run to the bathroom when she needs to. Hence I have run out of Nature's Miracle.

My kitties are doing fine and they are as loving and wonderful as ever. I think they add as much good karma to the house as they do hair. And that's a lot. They are just the cutest, mellowest, hairiest cats in the world.

What is up with the unending morning sickness? (low volume scream) I am still sick-- I regurgitated the *whole* of my breakfast today, which was especially horrible because I had just been celebrating a vomit-free weekend. I've been at a medium level of nausea for weeks now. No better, no worse. What's worse is that nothing else is progressing either. My boobs aren't growing anymore (but of course they're still sore), my weight isn't increasing at all, my belly still looks like pre-period water-retaining belly, and overall, I feel the same way I did 2 weeks ago. I wonder sometimes-- is this baby really in there at all? I keep wondering if the heartbeat I heard was just my heartbeat in my stomach. Or maybe it's just decided to stop growing. I feel terribly impatient. Granted, I'm only a week in, but so far, the "golden second trimester" hasn't delivered.

Oh and keep the book suggestions coming. Watch out Amazon, I'm coming to spend some money.

Books

So I have some time now to relax. I dropped everything I was doing except for baking at the cafe, and even though a lot of my time is still spent writhing on the couch or clutching the toilet, I am feeling better! The times I feel good are definitely lasting longer. So now I'm slowly thinking of ways to spend my time in fulfilling ways. Cleaning the house should be one of them, but currently, I'm looking for something more fun.

So I'm sending out a call for good novel recommendations. I've read all the fiction in my house at least once, and as much as I love to reread some of them, it's time for some new material.

Woeful garden

My poor garden has been completely growing wild with weeds since my gastric misery started a month ago. Maybe my in-laws can help me put a dent in the weed forest this weekend.

I know everyone loves hearing about my morning sickness, so I'll talk about it some more. You know, I've probably puked at least 50 times in the last month-- far surpassing my grand total up until then. I've discovered many different kinds of puking as a result. My sister and I have it all figured out. And there are definitely foods that are worse to throw up than others. The worst that I've identified so far is salsa and other tomato related foods. Fruit isn't always good either-- anything acidic is worse to throw up. And the best is yogurt, and peanuts aren't so bad either. I'm told that mashed potatoes are even more dreamy to throw up, but luckily I'm able to keep potatoes down. I've also discovered that puking has gotten much more pleasant since my nose is stuffed up all the time. Being pregnant increases blood flow to all the mucous membranes, so for the last week, I've been blissfully plugged up. Now I don't smell all the offending smells around me, which is almost everything.

It's my dear husband's birthday today. Happy birthday Jonner. I'll do the dishes tonight.

I heard it!

I heard the baby's heartbeat. It was loud and clear. It went wop-wop-wop about 150 beats a minute. It's comforting to know that I haven't been making up all my symptoms-- there's really someone in there! I wonder what it will look like?

Staying Put

For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath for news of where the baby will be born, it will be... Minneapolis! And not California!

Anyway, it was a very hard decision, but it is made now, and I for one am happy to be staying in Minnesota.

I am now 12 weeks pregnant and eagerly awaiting the dawning of the next vomit-free trimester. I can't remember the last day I didn't feel shitty. Thankfully, the short periods of happy stomach time are slowly increasing to several hours (!). Maybe I can even make it through a whole evening one of these days without writhing around on the couch. That'll be awesome.

Valley Fair

I'm going to Valley Fair tomorrow! I'm really really hoping I feel good tomorrow. I'm so excited. I know I can't ride on the rougher rides, but I kind of have a thing for amusement parks and I haven't been to one for years and years. I hope it's fun.