So, in my last post I apparantly thought there were only 30 days in May. *rolls eyes* So, happy June today. It’s been so nice out since Monday. I’m a little warm but loving it. Getting a lot of sun and really tired. I think one has an effect on the other. Went to the doctor yesterday, the first of our weekly appointments. Ali is head down, as verified by an ultrasound, but still way up there. Little girl plans to hang out, which doesn’t surprise me much. By the way, have you guessed in our baby pool yet? Check out the side of the page the link to ExpectNet! and guess before the pool is closed on the 15th of this month. 

I have a little less than two weeks of school and that makes me so happy. Even better that I’m down to one paper, three assignments, two reflection papers, three chapters to read, two quizzes and one presentation. Hmmm, that sounds like a bit more than I was thinking listed out like that. Oh well, it’ll get done and soon be over. I’m working on a 4.0 this term and I think I’ve pretty much got it (or very close) in the bag.

Beyond school and hanging by the pool, Tony and I busted out his old NES. At the moment I’m stuck on Tetris. It’s good because I can play in a very reclined position, in our bedroom (which stays cool) and get some relief from all the pressure going on down there. Which was definitely worsened by my first internal exam yesterday. Today I feel much better.

Memorial Day 2007

Ugh, so I’ve spent the last three weeks working on getting my iron levels up. Through food in the hopes of avoiding taking an iron supplement and the side effects known to go along with that. I found out yesterday my levels had dropped from 36-something to 31.7. Hence the recommendation of an iron supplement. According to the doc, forty is optimal, under 35 needs attention and below twenty calls for a transfusion! He was worried my levels would have dropped even further since last month. Well, I got the results back today. The good news, I did get them up! The bad, I only got them up to 32.9. The MA seemed surprised I was able to do that through diet alone, so maybe it was pretty good? I dunno, but 32.9 is still too low so it seems it’s going to be iron supplements for Ali and I.

Today I had to take a quiz in my on-campus class and was happily surprised to discover that was all I had to do. I think the instructor wasn’t feeling well or something. Anyway, it was half an hour instead of three and much appreciated. I came home and laid in bed watching TV and reading magazines. I am really tired today.

I’m excited for tonight because some of our favorite shows are on:

Gilmore Girls

The Bad Girls Club

Tori and Dean: Inn Love

Jon & Kate Plus 8

And one that I watch: Work Out

Tivo is the only reason we appear to have lives! That and, for the moment, we are still childless…

31 weeks. I am a house!

Yesterday Tony and I both got our first professional massages! He had gotten me a gift certificate for christmas that I just now got around to using. We decided to split it, mostly because I didn’t want to go alone but also because his neck hurts him about as much, if not more, than my back hurts me. Or maybe he’s just a bit more vocal? Anyway, they were awesome. I got the pregnancy massage, done from the side hitting my back, butt, legs, feet, shoulders….ahhh. It was great. The guy who did it was this hippy type. It was the funniest, he asked if he could "say hello" to Ali before he started. Tony got the deep tissue massage focusing on his upper back and neck. Afterward we were both walking a bit straighter and definitely feeling a ton better. The "gym" we went to was crazy too. It was very eastern-oriented; no shoes, juice bar, floor seating, rooms for clay and jewel therapy. A very interesting experience made possible by mycitybaby, a site Tony has worked on in the past.

Afterward we went browsing at St. Vincent’s local thrift store, then Value Village. I bought a pink maternity polo shirt, a pink old navy tank top and some tan terrycloth Target guachos. For about twelve bucks! The Tony and I tried out a new Thai place that we both really liked. Fifty percent off thanks to our trusty entertainment book. Because the restaurant was next door to Wal-mart, we stopped by to check out their Terracotta selection. Tony is bound and determined to build a fountain for our garden. More on that development to come. Last we went to Target. Tony got a pair of shorts and I got the top half of a swimsuit. No comment on my lack of a bottom. Maybe I’ll wear sweats in the pool.

Saturday we spent most of the day with Kris working on her new site. Probably both of us will hate this picture but it’s just too cute not to post. And Tony thinks it shows our relationship.

Today we went to the doctor in the afternoon. Quick and easy, even getting blood drawn to check my iron levels went fast! Three weeks until our next appointment, then two, then weekly. Assuming everything continues as planned. Then we went to Toys’R'Us to buy a pool Tony’s been waiting to go on sale forever. Sun, we’re all ready for you! After stopping for a "snack" at Jersey Mike’s we went to check out Kohl’s Buy One Get One maternity sale. Up until now I have, for the most part, been avoiding maternity clothes. That is a luxury I can’t really afford anymore. I got a pair of capris, a tank top, a nursing bra and some undies. Mostly at Tony’s insistence. Once again, Sun, we are ready for you.

Other than that school has beendemanding a good portion of my time. Friday I took my first of two all-day AIDS/Air-Blood Pathogens classes. In one class we’ve been studying reinforcement and punishment (both positive and negative), in another stress and anxiety disorders. Ok, I gotta stop now. I told Tony "just a second" for dinner about forty-five minutes ago. This last picture was taken while I was unaware but turned out pretty cute. And it shows my ring!

well, ali was doing a diver’s pose (the legs straight up towards the head one) so we couldn’t get a 3d shot of her face. we did get some good shots of her strong legs and her little butt as well as this gem:

that’s our little girl’s heart, trucking away. more to come…

so this is one of the greatest things yet. the books and word-of-mouth advice tell us that ali has reached the point where she is very into outside stimulus. she has made peace with her own little world in the depths of ashley’s midsection and is looking for action. basically, its time for us to start messing with her. so we hook up the ipod to my big rappin’ headphones, stretch those bad boys as far as they can reach around ali’s hovel, and let the tunes blare. and she loves it. she immediately started busting all around and tonight even started kicking (we call it kicking, but could be punching, head butting, etc) right under one of the earpieces. its awesome. we also shined a few flashlights in there but she didn’t seem impressed. as for musical selections, we played several different genres the other night, but she was most into beethoven’s seventh. so tonight we went with some baby bach from the baby einstein folks. on another note, we’re going for a bonus ultrasound on thursday. apparently philips is the reigning ultrasound champs these days and their base of global (ultrasound) operations is here in the seattle area. so we get to be one of their models (well, ash and ali do while i watch) and get paid for some ultrasounding and some more pics. we’re hoping for some 4d action (the cool ones that don’t look like radar images) so stay tuned to see if that materializes. thanks for everyone’s kind words and support. we love you all. p.s. – oh yea, and they said i should start reading to ali so she gets used to my voice. so for her first book i picked james thurber’s my life and hard times.

had our first ultrasound today. it was a trip. they say everything is going well. the heart is trucking along, ashley’s body is doin’ its thing, etc, etc. we’re about 8 weeks along which gives us a due date of june 28, 2007. mark your calendars.