Quarantine

I've been under quarantine for the past two weeks and there is no end in sight. Why, you may ask? Answer: a recent measles outbreak in SLC. My first doctor's appointment was at nine weeks and we had the routine blood test done at that time. The test results showed that I am no longer immune to the measles. I had the vaccine as a child but apparently it either didn't take or it has worn off over time. I really had no idea this was even possible or I would have been tested prior to getting pregnant. In any event, I brushed it off because I said to myself, "It's the measles. They've practically been eradicated in the States. I don't have anything to worry about." Fast forward to two weeks ago when we started to hear reports on the news about three high school students that had contracted the measles. I believe we are now up to nine cases. And each new confirmed case puts my quarantine period out by two weeks. That's because the measles has an incubation period of two weeks i.e. someone may appear to be perfectly fine for two weeks after being exposed and they are really a walking hazard to me. I can't get the vaccine again until after I deliver the baby. I've been told that at this point, I'm far enough along that if I did get the measles it wouldn't necessarily cause birth defects. But it could result in a miscarriage, still-birth or any number of other problems that I don't even want to think about.

What does all this mean? It means that I can't go to the gym or church or anywhere else where large groups of people will be around me in tight quarters. If I must go out to the grocery store or anywhere else, I should wear a mask. My hands are raw from washing them so often. I definitely feel like a freak show. The kids are the best. They aren't shy about pointing to the crazy lady (a.k.a. me) and asking their moms why I'm wearing a mask. The standard answer I hear: "It's because she's sick and doesn't want to get anyone else sick." No!! It's because I don't want you people to get me sick. Sheesh! But to be fair, I'd probably think the same thing if I was in their shoes. And so we wait. And wait. And wait for news about the next confirmed case. Thank goodness I don't have to go anywhere to get to work. And Cory is properly fumigated when he comes home every day...

And speaking of feeling like a freak show, because of the measles outbreak, I've finally had to break down and start telling people that we are expecting a baby. I had to explain it to some people at church and of course, I've had to explain it to the people who have been nosy enough to ask why I'm wearing a mask. And I must say that I am absolutely appalled by the standard reaction that I get. The first thing (and I mean the VERY first thing) people do is look at my stomach to check out the baby bump. Have I ever done that to someone?? I'm sure I have and I'm totally embarrassed. I will certainly make a concerted effort not to do it again. Maintain eye contact, people!!! If you must check out the baby bump, do it when I'm not looking. It's bad enough that you feel frumpy and fat for nine months but it's quite another thing to have everyone else fixated on your fatness too. Oh well. Have I mentioned that I'm a walking freak show??

The current dilemma for baby purchases is the crib (and other bedroom furniture). I went into Babies 'R Us two weeks ago to start browsing. After spending an hour looking at furniture, bedding and glider rockers, my brain was fried. I half-heartedly walked through the clothing section as I left the store but I ended up not buying anything. My head hurt too bad to think about what size of clothes I needed to buy for when Baby J is going to be X months old (i.e. long sleeve shirts or short sleeve, and how do you really know because he might be a super chunky baby and not fit into any of those 6-12 month clothes that I want to buy for next summer).

That same afternoon, Cory went to Cabela's. And brought home this:

Daddy purchased Baby J's first item of clothing. And it just so happens to be a fleece, camo snow suit. Cory says it's for bear hunting. Looks pretty warm and snuggly to me.

Baby J

I'd like to announce the impending arrival of Baby J! He's due to arrive on September 11th. That's right - it's definitely a "he". I was so worried that this kid wouldn't cooperate with the ultrasound tech but we got a good view between the legs. You can see his cute bum, the legs coming out and all the right parts in the middle. :-) I drank a big glass of orange juice and ate some sugary Easter candy before the ultrasound just to make sure the kid was awake and moving in there.

So here's the story. Cory and I knew that we wanted to wait for at least a year after we got married before we even thought about kids. Before we knew it, 1 1/2 years had gone by and we realized that we weren't getting any younger. And wouldn't you know it - at that exact time, Cory lost his job. So our world stood still for several months while we decided which direction life would be taking us next. Once Cory got a job offer, we started trying to conceive. It only took two months. I was shocked. Everything in life seems like such a hurdle - nothing comes easy. I really thought we'd have to try to conceive for at least a year, then see multiple fertility specialists, go through three rounds of in-vitro and maybe, just maybe, we might get a baby after that. But no...only two months (and I really shouldn't count the first month since I was living in Idaho and Cory was already in Utah). Apparently this little one was in a hurry to get here. He's probably ready to knock us over the head for waiting so long!

But here's the thing...I've never (read: not even once) looked at another person's baby and said, "I want one of those" (which is probably why I'm 33 years old and having my first child). I have, however, looked at another person's four-year-old and said, "I want one of those." I wondered if I should feel guilty about that. Does that mean I'll be a bad mom? BTW - I still can't believe some crazy doctor is going to let us out of the hospital with an infant. *Ahem* But I've talked to several of my friends and they said they just had to suck it up and make it through the infant years and they are thoroughly enjoying their kids now. And others have told me that they enjoyed the infant stages much more than they thought they would. Let's hope I fall into that category.

As far as I'm concerned, this pregnancy has been a breeze. I haven't been sick at all, no significant body changes yet, no odor sensitivities, no major food aversions or cravings, etc. I was a little tired for the first eight weeks but I've got my energy back now. Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't want to change anything and have my head over a toilet bowl for the past three months but I will say that the utter lack of any symptoms does occasionally have me worried. I wonder if everything is still okay in there (I can't very well ask the kid and I can't feel him moving yet to confirm). I wonder if there's been a missed miscarriage. I suspect that this is only the beginning of my worrying for Baby J.

Many people have told me that they woke up one morning and couldn't fit into their regular clothes. I still don't understand how you can just "pop" like that overnight but I took them at their word and figured I'd better start shopping for some maternity clothes in the event this happened to me. I must confess that I cried all the way home after going shopping that first day. I could only bring myself to buy one pair of capris. I have read on these message boards about women who are excited to go shopping for, and start wearing, their maternity clothes. What?!?! Who in their right mind gets excited about putting clothes on that are going to make them look like a beached whale? I clearly don't get it - and will definitely have to work on getting comfortable with gaining weight. Not that I had a perfect body before but I was okay with it. I worked with a personal trainer when I first found out that I was pregnant. I wanted to understand what exercises were okay and what I should stay away from. I must confess that I'm sucking a lot more wind than I used to in my Zumba class and the stair-stepper machine really kicks my butt these days, but I'm trying really hard. Hopefully I can keep it up. I've gained 7 lbs so far. That's right, 7 lbs in 17 weeks. UGH! I want to smack those women who post that they've only gained 1 lb at 16 weeks. How??? What goes on the thighs must go off the thighs at some point. But I guess if you have to gain weight, it might as well be for a worthy cause.

Neither Cory nor I really cared about the gender of the baby. But we were both secretly hoping for a boy. And I've thought it was a boy from day one (don't ask me why, I haven't had any crazy dreams or anything). I think I have this "motherhood and apple pie" idea of having a boy as the first so he can look after his younger siblings. And of course, I think Cory's already been planning his first hunting expedition with his son. :-) We have no ideas for names. Really...nothing! I have lots of girl names picked out. This should be an interesting process.

And speaking of interesting processes, how on earth do people figure out what to buy for a baby???? Honestly, I feel like the biggest idiot. We have purchased a stroller so far, and that's only because a good friend pointed out a great sale online and after looking at Consumer Reports and reading all the reviews, we decided to go ahead and buy it. But I had to go into Babies 'R Us last week and figure out how to even USE a stroller. It really was "Stroller 101". For example, I have no idea how to snap the car seat into the stroller, how to adjust the straps, how to collapse the stroller, etc. And now we're on to decisions about cribs, pak 'n play ensembles, rocking chairs...and we haven't even reached the point where I can think about how to decorate the nursery. We are so crazy busy, and it's been easy to forget that I'm pregnant, that we have to remind ourselves that we need to get going on all of these decisions. The next 23 weeks are going to fly by!

I'm definitely excited about meeting Baby J but I hope he takes his time getting here. And most of all, we hope that he arrives safe and sound!