Stage Mother

Waaaay back in September, a friend of mine from Disney who now lives in MA posted on his Facebook page that he would be musical directing a production of "Ragtime" in Concord, MA. Having been wanting to get back into doing musical theatre, and loving this particular show, I decided to audition the first week of October. There wasn't really a principal role that I was right for, but I was excited to get cast in the Ensemble and also a few featured roles. I accepted my casting and rehearsals were set to start in January. Now... what happened between October and January?

I emailed Tom (my Disney friend) and Jules (the director) as soon as I had my doctor's appointment confirming the existence of our new addition to basically give them an out if they didn't want a pregnant person in their cast... and also to give myself an out if, having never been pregnant before, I wasn't feeling up to being in a show. They reassured me that they'd work around me if necessary and if I felt up to it, I could still be in the show.

The rehearsal commitment was Tuesday/Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons... so not that time-consuming and I ended up with a few nights off in the  midst of things because I wasn't needed for every rehearsal. Met some really nice people and things moved along swimmingly. The costumers were willing to give outfit me in elastic for my expanding waistline, and it feels good to be on stage again.

Last Saturday was our cue-to-cue rehearsal. It started at 10 am and ended at almost 9 pm. We had Sunday off, but on Monday were full into tech week, with rehearsals running every night until almost midnight. My nice, relaxed schedule was thrown for a loop (coupled by the fact that this has been a busy 2 weeks at work for me, so I couldn't take time off to make up for my lack of sleep). I honestly didn't know how I was going to make it to opening night because I was just really really drained... but we did it! The show had a very successful opening weekend (2 more weekends to go) and the crazy glut of rehearsals has ended so I actually have a few days rehearsal-free when I can actually focus on other things, including poor Shaun who has been such a trooper, what with barely seeing me for the past week.

This was also the week where the baby really started to make her presence known. I don't know if you'd call them "kicks" but it's definitely more than "flutters." She particularly enjoys letting me know she's there after one of my runs up or down the stairs of the Emerson Umbrella theatre (our entire backstage area is downstairs, so I make about 10-15 stair runs each rehearsal/performance). I wonder whether the baby,having developed the ability to hear while I was in the throes of rehearsal, will find songs from "Ragtime" soothing or incredibly irritating once she makes her arrival. I can imagine 10 years from now her hearing wisps of "New Music" or "Wheels of A Dream" and thinking "wow, that sounds vaguely familiar."

So yes, our daughter made her stage debut at a gestational age of 23 weeks. Either she's going to feel right at home in the theatre, or want to run screaming from the place, knowing that this particular activity kept her mother awake much more than usual, particularly this week. But judging from the hand to the forehead in last week's ultrasound pictures, I think this kid might already have a flair for the drama:

What's in a Name?

Today I'm officially at 22 weeks. The baby is the size of either a spaghetti squash or a papaya, depending on what website you read. I really like spaghetti squash so that's what I'm saying. She is moving like crazy too, which is fun to feel.

I am now being asked daily if we have a name picked. We definitely have some ideas. Some that we really like, in fact, but with about half of the pregnancy to go I don't feel like I'm ready to discuss it with people.

Here's the thing. I'm a namer. I like to name things. I named every one of my Barbie dolls growing up. I name goldfish. I pride myself on being able to come up with names that are clever and have meaning. I'm fascinated by how names change in popularity (games like this on Sporcle.com are among my favorite time wasters). All of this puts a lot of pressure on me with a name for an actual human being.

We are lucky that we have a last name that is pretty user-friendly, name wise. There are lots of names that sound good with it. But that almost makes choosing a name harder.

The older I get, I also run into the problem of knowing an awful lot of people, so names that I may have once loved now have a negative connotation. We also know a lot of people with young kids, so are watching closely to make sure we don't duplicate any of their names. I don't want any names that are on the most popular names list, but I don't want to make something up, either. I am also concerned with names that "match" each other - we are choosing not just a name but a genre of names that future siblings will need to fit into. If we pick a more old-fashioned name, we should really stick with that for the future. You can't have a kid named Jordana and a kid named Mary (neither of those names are on the list, by the way).

I also don't want to decide, tell people, and have them say "really?" So I figure that if Shaun & I keep it to ourselves, we will be getting less commentary from people, and they'll just deal with it when she arrives. But because we are getting asked the question so often, I'm tempted to just tell everyone that we're naming her Maleficent and watch them try not to make the "really?" face.

Mango

Baby is officially the size of a Mango (until tomorrow, when I will receive a new produce-inspired size update)... haven't written this week. Sorry! I can definitely sense that she is there - no "kicking" or anything, I guess kind of like flutters? And fewer and fewer things are fitting properly. The biggest challenge so far has been the acid reflux. I have never had stomach issues before (those are reserved for my sister and most of my best friends) so just getting used to it has been less than fun. And I have been warned that what I'm feeling now is NOTHING like what I'll feel the further along I get.

And that's another interesting side effect of pregnancy - people LOVE to tell me how terrible it's going to be. Random acquaintances offer words of warning of what's to come. Guess what? No matter how bad you tell me it's going to be, I can't change anything. I can't undo it. No actions I take at this point will affect how the rest of the pregnancy goes. So what's the point in acting like a harbinger of doom? I know I've been super fortunate that I haven't been sick and I've been able to keep up working and volunteering at the JFK Library and participating in community theatre without the pregnancy really affecting anything thus far... and I know that none of these things will be as easy in the future. And I totally respect the fact that those who have already been through pregnancy/childbirth want to offer advice... but it really seems that most people (especially those I don't know well) only have negative things to share. What's the point of that? I'm not a worrier by nature, and I can't stay up nights worrying about how I might feel come June.

I miss being able to pick out clothes knowing what size I'll be. I miss having beer with my husband and friends. I miss a glass of wine with dinner. I miss raw oysters and goat cheese. But all of this is temporary. The fact that I will probably be REALLY uncomfortable for a few months isn't something to look forward to, but it's not for the rest of my life either. And I know a lot of people who would do anything to be pregnant and have to jump through all sorts of hoops to come close to how I feel at 19 weeks and 6 days. So for now, I'm just grateful that the little Mango is doing well and that I am doing well too.

(Oh, and please feel free to cite this post in future months when I'm complaining.)

Ultra Sound Photo Shoot

I am choosing not to post the picture they gave us in which the ultrasound technician was able to recognize the baby as a girl... mostly because I don't want our daughter to be mad at me in 15 years when she learns I posted her private parts on the internet.

She (it's weird to say "she") was not in the mood to be photographed today, but we did get a good 3D one in which she looks remarkably like Shaun, even at a gestational age of 18.5 weeks.

It's a...

GIRL!

I can't believe it. I mean, I never had super strong feelings either way, but this morning I was pretty convinced that it was a boy.

The ultrasound went well - everything looking good so far. We'll have a Fetal EKG at the next ultrasound, but that was planned due to my brother's transposition of the great vessels, not due to anything they saw that was questionable. In fact, they were able to see all 4 chambers of the heart and the aorta, but the baby wasn't in a great position to see the right ventricle so they still ordered the Fetal EKG, even though the radiologist said that he'll be really surprised if there is a problem.

I am mostly excited by the prospect of a Mary Poppins-themed room!!!

Shaun took the photos from today's visit with him, so I'll scan them tonight.

Baked Potato/ Onion/ Turnip

3 separate websites gave me 3 separate food identifiers for the baby's size this week. I prefer Baked Potato.

Not much excitement in this neck of the woods. I definitely have a discernable baby bump, and am starting to feel more pregnant. Of course, I am establishing what "feeling pregnant" is for the first time myself, so the fact that I feel more pregnant is really just relative to how I felt last week. The cold is virtually gone (finally) but I'm keeping an eye out for other bugs that may be on the horizon, what with the compromised immune system and all. Lots of handwashing going on in our house.

I saw the doctor last Friday, and he said that everything is going fine. I'm participating in a study about the effect of Vitamin D in decreasing the chance of asthma and allergies in children. While I don't have asthma, Shaun is the poster boy for it (and other allergies) so that puts the baby at an increased risk, thus qualifying me for the study. Basically, I take a Vitamin D supplement (or placebo) every day with my prenatal vitamin, and when I go to my doctor's appointments they check in with me to make sure I'm taking the supplement and sometimes some bloodwork. I'm all for science, and it's not like it's a lot of extra work for me, or anything that on its own could do damage to the baby. Once the baby is born, there are some basic tests that need to be done, and check-ins at his or her 1, 2, and 3 year pediatrician appointments. I just think it will be cool if this study amounts to people learning more about how to keep their kids healthy. If people didn't participate in studies like this, how would we know all that we know now?

Next week we should have updated ultrasound pics... plus official news on whether the baby's room will be Philadelphia Eagles Football themed or Mary Poppins themed!

Avocado

Today we're at 16 weeks, which means the baby is the size of an avocado. I like being back in the world of fruits I recognize.

I am in the final throws of the longest documented cold on record. At least, it feels that way. I'm just congested, but much better than I was last week at this time. Still, going on 2 weeks with a cold isn't fabulous.

On Sunday night I slipped on some ice and had a fall-- fortunately it was on my butt and there is ample padding there. It was a little scary for a second, and I'm sore, but the baby appears to be fine and I'll be fine too... once I get used to sleeping only on my side, because sleeping on my back is still too painful. Never a dull moment around these parts, I swear.

Otherwise, when I'm not sneezing, coughing, blowing my nose or complaining about my back hurting, I'm doing well. Work hasn't been very busy, and the rehearsals for "Ragtime" are going pretty well. I go for my appointment with my OB on Thursday, and then the ultrasound in which we find out the baby's gender (or in my words, "we find out what kind of baby we're getting") is 2 weeks from Friday. So that's the next big milestone... I can't wait for that!