Pregnancy Update

I think that it is safe to say that I am over the nausea and morning sickness that go along with pregnancy officially (and have been for several weeks). I have been feeling normal, even great (other than my cold) for the past few weeks. I have even reached a point where my stomach is no longer very picky and I do not have to worry about eating at the first hint of hunger in order to avoid feeling nauseated. All things considered, I am pleased with the state of my body at the current time (I am in the nineteenth week of my pregnancy, we'll see how much longer I feel this way for).

In other news, next week is my ultrasound. Drinking and then retaining that much liquid for a couple of hours seems a semi-daunting task, but I am sure that I can handle it, every other pregnant woman seems able to do so. My larger fear is that the ultrasound technician will tell us the gender of the baby accidentally (I have heard of it happening). At any rate, I am sure that it will prove to be an interesting experience, and though I have a couple of concerns, I am not really worried about it.

A (somewhat) disappointing first St. Valentine's Day

Yesterday was J.R.'s and my first Valentine's Day as husband and wife. With our congested, aching bodies and overall lack of energy due to the colds that we have been battling, it is safe to say that our first Valentine's Day did not turn out anywhere near as enjoyable or romantic as we would have imagined it to be. J.R. and I went grocery shopping on Monday out of necessity and J.R. had me pick out my own flowers as a valentine gift. I, the practical horticulturalist that I am, chose a bouquet of carnations (which J.R. selected), not because I like them better than roses, but for the several advantages that they have over roses: they tend to look better and hold up longer than roses, and they are a more economical buy since one can get twenty to thirty carnations for about the same cost of two or three roses. I am not saying that the carnation/rose substitution should be applied to every woman on Valentine's Day (as I pointed out to one of my brothers), but it works for me since I enjoy flowers in general and do not worry about what species of flower I receive (every flower is beautiful in its own way and it is the thought that really counts). Not to let tradition fall away, however, J.R. surprised me with a single red rose first thing yesterday morning, in honor of our first Valentine's Day as a married couple.

All in all, I would say that the only reason why I can say that our first Valentine's Day was 'disappointing' is because J.R. and I were not feeling well, which put a damper on us really enjoying spending time together. The important thing is that we were together and showed our love for one another in simple ways yesterday. I see St. Valentine's Day as being about reminding all those whom you care about that you care about them, and not so much about lavishing gifts upon a significant other or making extravagant plans with them; however enjoyable the latter may be.

Winter Break, 2007

J.R. and I returned from our over a week-long trip to Florida last
Wednesday. This post has been delayed because I have been either
working or feeling under the weather, due to a terrible cold, since our
return. We had a lovely vacation. Apparently the timing of our vacation
could not have been better for getting out of Michigan's single-digit
days that we 'missed out' on. The weather in Florida treated us fairly
well, we spent the majority of our vacation enjoying 70+ degree
weather, though there were some days when it rained a bit and only
reached the mid-60s and we were spared by the now-famous tornadoes that
ran through Florida during our visit there. While J.R. has been to
Florida more times than he can recall accurately, this was my first
visit there as well as my first glimpse of an ocean. We spent several
days at Disney, visitedSanibel Island, and pattered around other
popular tourist attractions (my two favorite of which were A World of
Orchids, and the Medieval Times dinner theater); my only regret is that
our vacation could not have been longer so that we could have done
several other highly desirable activities while we were in Florida.

An update on my pregnancy: I am now in the second trimester (hurray!) The
nausea and morning sickness have been steadily decreasing and are
absent often; hopefully they will disappear completely soon. J.R. and I
bought the first gift for our baby on our vacation as well: a very
soft, Winnie the Pooh stuffed bear. Time will prove how practical of a
gift Pooh will be, but I played with and kept near to me (and still
have to this day) the teddy bear that my own mother bought for me
before I was born. Since most children keep a special stuffed animal
near to them when they are young, I expect that my own will be no
different most likely.