Tomorrow Is Another Day...

What's In A Baby Name?

When I was growing up, I wasn't so madly in love with my name.  My first name was too uncommon, and I didn't think it sounded girly enough.  I went through various phases, but I think the name I wished for the most was Stephanie.  I don't know what exactly it was I liked so much about Stephanie, but to me it seemed like the perfect name to ensure that I would grow up to be pretty and popular, the two things most nine year old girls care about most in the world.  My middle name was also fairly uncommon, and inspired people to serenade me with renditions of The First Noel.  I was not terribly impressed.

However, as I grew older and the desperate desire to be exactly the same as everyone who surrounded me passed, I learned to love my name.  Especially the flow of my first and middle names.  I think it's beautiful, and meaningful and given my birthday around Christmas time, I'm not even bothered if people want to sing The First Noel at me.

That said, having to come up with a baby name--two baby names at that--has given me a lot of heartburn.  I want to love their names.  I want Colby to love their names.  I want our family and friends to love their names.  I want THEM to love their names.  And oh, there are SO MANY NAMES.  When I was a little girl, imagining that I had twin daughters, I went with matched sets like Denim and Lace.  Or Stacy and Tracy (I wanted to be a Stacy almost as much as I wanted to be a Stephanie).  I'm pretty glad that I'm not obligated to stick with any of those early life decisions.

We talked a lot about what we wanted our baby's names to say.  We wanted them to be classic and meaningful.  Nothing cutesy, matching or even starting with the same letter.  We had to make sure initials didn't spell anything bizarre or inappropriate, and that we weren't making playground taunts too easy.  It was a tall order, but we finally settled on two names that we both really love.  So without further ado, I'd like to introduce you.

Charlotte, the artist formerly known as Baby A, was the first name we came up with--almost two years ago now--and we've loved it consistently.  Not only is it a beautiful name, but Charles is a family name on Colby's side.  My only surviving grandparent is Cecile, and she's an incredibly strong woman who managed to hold a demanding job as a nurse as well as raise a family of five children, and she never leaves the house without a fresh coat of lipstick.  When we shared the names with Colby's parents, we discovered that Cecilia is also a family name for them, making it even more special.

Annabelle is a name that I fell in love with after we found out we were pregnant and started researching names more purposefully.  I love that it has a Southern vibe to it, and my mom's name is Ann, so there's a nice bit of family connection there.  Colby took a little longer to come around on this one.  He kept saying that he liked it, but he imagined a Southern belle in a hoopskirt sitting under an oak tree.  To which I say, I should have never made him watch Gone with the Wind and WHAT'S WRONG WITH HOOPSKIRTS AND OAK TREES???  Anyway, when he came home from his last trip, with no prompting from me, he declared that he'd decided he liked it, and thus, Baby B became Annabelle.  I've always loved the name Claire, and it's a variation on Colby's mother's maiden name, so again, family connections are important to us and we managed to tie them in without overtly using a family member's name.

For some reason, giving them names makes me even more excited about meeting them in a few more months.  Not that I wasn't already over the moon, but they seem even more humanized now, and I love thinking "Charlotte must be sleeping" or "Annabelle just kicked me in the belly button".  So, there we are, another baby-related decision down and only fourteen frillion more to go!

Ein Shön Wochenende!

Oh what a wonderful weekend!  We packed so much fun into it, and somehow still had plenty of relaxation time on the couch--I don't know how it's possible except that we must have discovered a time warp.

Friday, we went with some friends to see The Dark Knight Rises and then went for ice cream at a great place in Landstuhl--Dolomiti.  They're probably best known for their spaghetti ice cream, a strangely popular thing in Germany, but I always get a decadent sundae with two scoops of chocolate, one of vanilla, fudge sauce and chocolate shavings... yummmm.  I thought the movie was really well done, but I thought it was kind of strange just how much the ending seemed to be begging for a sequel after all the talk about how this was the final installment of a trilogy.  Oh, and Colby and I are now contemplating inviting Anne Hathaway to be a sister wife.  Girl was looking good in that catsuit is what I'm saying.

Saturday, we finished painting our great room and I looooove it.  I know painting a rental seems silly to some people, but I think a coat of paint on the walls goes such a long way toward making a place feel like home, and it only took about five hours total, so it wasn't a huge time suck.  The house is so close to being done, and I can't wait to take you on a little "tour" soon.  That afternoon, one of our Charleston friends was in town for a mission and had some free time, so we had him over for a couple of hours, then headed out to another friend's birthday party.  We met some more great people who've lived here for a while, and enjoyed some awesome flammkuchen and birthday cake.

Sunday, we had a very relaxing day, starting out with a super delish brunch at the Officer's Club on base, then I worked on catching up with this season of Army Wives while Colby did some work on the Air Force school he's taking by correspondence.  We wrapped up our weekend with marathon Skyping and Google Video chats with our parents.  I have a steady phone date with my parents every Sunday, but it was so great to be able to see them and have a conversation that almost felt like we were in the same room.  I can't wait until they can come for a visit--we've got some awesome parental units!

This week is shaping up to be another good one--I'm still not quite over the PTSD brought on by late June and early July, so every time the phone rings or I check my email, I brace myself for horrible news, but so far things are going well.  I do have to bring my car in to another shop to get a second opinion on that check engine light though, so I'm sure THAT will be a blast.  Hope you all had great weekends as well and that Monday is treating you kindly!

Highlights Reel

Wow, thank you all SO MUCH for your responses to my cloth diapering post.  I'm still processing all of the comments I got here and through Facebook and email, but I can honestly say that you all made me feel tons better about my current "plan of attack".  I think the two most frequent and most helpful comments I got were:

1. Don't commit fully to one system before the baby comes--buy a lot of different options and try them out because different diapers will work for different babies.  How sad would I be if we spent $500 on BumGenius 4.0s and then they didn't work on our kids?
2. It's not only okay to start out with disposables, but pretty darn smart since most people had lots of leaks until their babies got to be bigger (8-10 pounds).  And have disposables on hand for emergencies--they aren't The Devil.

There's been a lot of baby talk around here lately, and obviously that's something that's going to happen with more and more regularity, but there has been a lot of other stuff going on in mah life, and I thought I'd rely on my favorite lazy writer's crutch, bullet points, to get through it all.

** The seemingly never-ending moving process is actually getting pretty close to ending.  After four trips to Ikea over the course of four weekends (ugh), we finally managed to cobble together a linen closet, meaning that I was able to unpack my last box.  We've gotten lots of pictures and decor on the wall, and I think one or two more dedicated weekends will finish up the rest of the house.  Well, aside from the nursery.  But that's another post for another day. 

** We painted the big open great room over the weekend, but sadly ran out of paint about 80% through, so we'll finish that this weekend.  But it's a delightful pale greenish-yellow and I think it'll keep things bright and cheery through the long dark German fall and winter.  I finally feel very much at home in our house.

** I've been taking a German class for the past 3 weeks and I'm having so much fun being back in the classroom.  Learning a language is such a different experience when you're a) not in highschool and b) actually living in a country where the language is spoken.  I don't think I'll be fluent or anything by the time we leave here, but I really want to be able to understand more of what I'm hearing on the radio and out and about.  This was just an introductory class (telling time, asking for directions, numbers, colors, etc) and it ends next week, but I'm planning to continue my education with online lessons and maybe some vocabulary books.  I love languages, and it's really nice to start understanding the very foreign world around me a little better!

** The Air Force is making me exceptionally grumpy in that they STILL haven't paid us all of the money they owe us following the move.  To put it in the simplest way, each paycheck we get BAH or OHA which is a housing allowance set according to the costs of homes where we currently live, as long as we live off base.  Also, in Germany, we get a monthly utility allowance since it's so much more expensive over here than in the States. They still owe us all of our OHA and utility allowances for June and July, as well as a one time "move In allowance".  That comes to a LOT of money that we're owed. It's amazing how long it takes for them to pay us money owed, but if they make a mistake and overpay us it's snatched back fast enough to make our heads spin.  

** But the good Air Force news is that it looks like Colby won't be going TDY (Temporary Duty Assignment for the non-mil folks), to DC for the entire month of October and into early November like we thought.  The current plan is still for him to go for a few weeks in October, but at least my mom will be here and hopefully I'll be able to keep the babies inside until he gets back in mid-late October.

via 

** And the most exciting news--we're going to Turkey in  just a little over two weeks!!!  Colby's squadron dicked around just long enough on approving his leave to ensure that we had to pay higher prices for airfare and hotels than we would have if they didn't suck, BUT, we're still going and I CAN'T WAIT!  We're going to spend four days in Istanbul and three days on Cirali beach, laying around enjoying the sunshine and the ocean.  There's a pretty good chance this will be my last big trip before we have the babies--we *might* be able to fit in Belgium in September if I'm still feeling mobile, but I'm not counting on it--so I'm planning to enjoy the heck out of it and really appreciate my diminishing days adventuring with Colby as "just us".

Calling All Cloth Diapering Mamas

Right up front, want to let you know, there is absolutely nothing remotely interesting in this post--just lots of questions and confused ramblings from the deranged mind of a woman who has read WAY TOO MANY WEBSITES about cloth diapering.  But if you have experience, or advice, please, I am begging you: PLAAAAYYYS HAAAAAAALP.

So, here's the prologue.  Colby and I decided ages ago that we wanted to cloth diaper.  This is back when we were young and starry eyed and certain we'd have a baby in 9 months.  One baby.  Now it's almost two years later, and we're thrilled to be having two babies in four months, but a little more daunted at the thought of cloth diapering.  But not so daunted that we've given up hope.  It still makes a lot of sense in our situation.

We got lucky that our house has hookups for a large American style top loading washer with hot and cold water so laundry shouldn't be an issue. We have a hand held shower head on our bathtub that will reach to the toilet in lieu of a sprayer (tankless toilets) and a utility sink in the laundry room.  Our garbage is only collected every two weeks, and we have an 80 liter trash can.  That is... small.  You can get garbage bags specifically devoted to diapers, but you only get 52 to last you for a year (possibly we could get double that since we'll have two babies), but still, the thought of massive bags of diapers piling up in our house or carport for 14 days between pick ups grosses me out.  So while our work load will be doubled from what we originally anticipated, I still feel like it's workable and even practical.

Now I'm at the point where I'm deciding what kind of diapers we want to invest in, how we'll deal with the hard water issue, and possibly most importantly, just how many diapers will it take to keep two baby butts covered without having to do laundry every blessed day.  And oh my stars, the options.  From trial packages from boutiques, to Amazon, to Etsy.  All-in-ones, pockets, inserts, prefolds, covers, Snappis, fleece, wool, PUL, hemp, fleece, liners, velcro or snaps... I thought I would just do my research, get a few options, decide what works best for our specific babies and all would be good.  But the more research I do, the more my head spins.  So, here's where I am now...

For the first few weeks, we'll likely stick with disposables.  I expect we'll have some pretty teensy babies, and it'll be enough dealing with adjusting to life with two infants without having to add in figuring out laundry routines, or worrying in advance whether or not they'll be big enough to fit into the cloth diapers without leaks.

My current plan of attack is to eventually have a stash of around 40-50 diapers.  I think that seems like enough that I could go every other day between washes, and perhaps once they get older we'll be able to push it out to two days between washes.  I've seen everywhere from 8-16 as the estimates of diapers that an infant goes through in one day.  Eight seems a bit on the low side, and 16 seems pretty high just from my limited experience, so I'm going with the average of about 12 diapers a day per baby.

I'm leaning pretty strongly toward prefolds with covers as my primary diapering system, with some all-in-ones and pockets thrown in for outings and short trips, just for the sake of easiness (long trips we'll just say to hell with it and go with disposables, unless we're staying with family and have access to laundry facilities).  My biggest concern with the prefolds is that the dampness is right against baby's bottom, and I've read a lot of accounts of this leading to diaper rashes.  Maybe fleece liners would help with that problem?  But they seem so much easier to wash than all-in-ones and even pockets, definitely cheaper and more forgiving on our stash since you don't necessarily have to change the cover every single time.

Of course, in doing this research, I was led to Green Mountain Diapers and their Cloth-eez Prefolds.  And as I was trying to decide if I wanted to deal with Snappis or if we'll just do a trifold and lay the prefold inside the cover, I saw the Workhorse Fitteds.  I'm pretty taken with them, but I don't know if they're worth the pretty significant extra cost compared with the prefolds.  I love that I can get 48 prefolds for less than $100, when the Fitteds would run us $240 for the same amount (cost comparison based on newborn size).  But if they really work that much better, it's worth it not to have to deal with leaks and blowouts.

For covers, I'm thinking about auditioning Best Bottom with Hook and Loop closures, Thirsties Duo Wrap Snaps, and Bummis Super Snap.  I think I prefer snaps because they last longer than velcro, they're harder for baby to pull off, and I won't have to worry about Velcro irritating baby's stomach.

All-in-ones I'm looking at are Thirsties Duo All-in-One Snaps, Lil Joeys, Bummis Easy Fit Tots Bots with Snap (according to reviews, good for small babies), and BumGenius Elementals.  And for pockets, FuzziBunz Perfect Size, Blueberry Mini Deluxe, Happy Heinys (also good for small babies, but has velcro which I don't love--so I may just get the one size).  Maybe 10-15 of these total, for the aforementioned uses.

For the rest of it, I'm still at a loss.  Should we use Snappis?  Is hemp really that much better than microfiber?  How many additional inserts should we plan to have on hand in case of heavy wetters?  Can you use an additional insert inside of the prefold to help with a diaper lasting through the night when that day finally comes?  Are disposable liners as awesome as they seem, or just a waste?  Do I seem like I have a handle on this, or are you sitting there laughing at me?

Really, now is the time to launch any and all assvice in my direction.  Please share your experiences and tell me what worked for you and WHY it worked for you?  Seeing it all in writing, I feel like maybe it seems that I've made a lot of decisions, but honestly, I still feel so confused.  I will love you forever if you can help me figure this out before I actually give birth to these little pee and poop machines.

22 Week Ultrasound

I feel like I was just at my 18 week appointment, making the big discovery that we are going to be having two lovely little ladies this fall, and already, our second anatomy scan rolled around.  From what I understand, typically there's only one anatomy scan around 20 weeks, but since I'm seeing an MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) and currently categorized as "high risk" rather than seeing an OB/GYN, I'll have three anatomy scans to track the girls' growth.

The good news is that everything is still looking great in there.  The girls are still measuring about a week ahead, but I looked up their current weights to compare them against average sizes and they're at 53% and 54% for weight, so I'm not too worried about gargantuan babies.

I AM however, a little concerned about babies with gargantuan heads!  The ultrasound tech measured Baby A's head twice because it was so large, she thought she'd messed up the first measurement.  Eep!  That's my dad's side of the family right there.  Then the tech, in a sort of misguided attempt to comfort me says, "Well, at least Baby B should be able to come out nice and easy--that Baby A is a door buster!"  DOUBLE EEP!!!!!  Her weight at 21 weeks 6 days was 1 pound 2 ounces and her heartbeat was a beautiful 148 bpm.  She's usually the one we end up with all the best pictures of, but yesterday, she just wasn't feeling it and spent most of the appointment behind her hands and rolling away from the ultrasound tech.

Baby B, on the other hand, was all about the pretty pictures for once.  She also surprised us by overtaking her sister in size, going from being the consistently smaller twin to the bigger one at 1 pound 3 oz with a heartbeat of 153 bpm.  It's very good news that they're such similar sizes, meaning that one girl isn't hogging all of the nutrients.  Still in utero and already they're such good sharers!  And I love my ultrasound tech--she is absolutely brilliant at what she does, she's fun to talk to (which is important when you're spending two hours together), and she always sends me home with tons of pictures.  I got over 40 last time and more than 30 this time--she asked me to keep them rolled up while I was in the hallway so she wouldn't get in trouble for printing so many!

I also finally had a great appointment with a doctor--sadly, this doctor is moving next week, so I'll be seeing her replacement at my next appointment.  She asked me if I had any specific birth plans, and I told her that I have a pretty relaxed attitude about it.  When I thought I was having a singleton, I had big plans for a birth center and a crunchy, granola natural birth experience, but with two in there and all of the increased risk for emergency situations, I'm open to whatever the doctors tell me is the best for us.  I have to trust them.  She was also a strong proponent for breastfeeding, giving me lots of encouragement and recommending that I meet with a lactation consultant when I get into my third trimester when I admitted I am very nervous about breastfeeding two babies.  It didn't hurt that she has twelve-year-old twin girls conceived through IVF with ICSI, which put a much more personal spin on all of her advice.

I'm supposed to call back in a couple of weeks to make my next appointment for four weeks from now, but since I'm hoping we'll be on vacation that week, it'll probably be in five instead when I'll be 27 weeks and just getting into the third trimester.  I'll also be getting my Rhogam shot at 28 weeks and will probably be scheduling my glucose test for some time shortly thereafter.  Things are starting to feel really, really real!

Bern, Switzerland

Initially, we were planning to spend the whole weekend in Luzern, however, by Saturday evening, we realized we'd explored all of the city that struck our fancy, so we decided a little stopover in Bern on the drive back home would be the perfect way to fill our Sunday.  It was about an hour out of our way, but we still had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast at our hotel before we hit the road to spend a few hours in the capital city of Switzerland.
I am so glad that we made that decision, because Bern was perfectly adorable.  We again relied on Rick Steves to get us around since I hadn't done any prior research, and he gave us a wonderful overview of the medieval city.  We stopped off at the Zytglogge (time clock--these Europeans just love a dancing, singing clock), the towering Gothic Cathedral, and the town hall which had a delightful fountain park in the square in front.  The town was also sprinkled with these great, colorful fountains celebrating various aspects of their culture and history.  We got a particular kick out of this ogre shoving a couple of babies into his mouth--parents in Bern would frighten their kids into behaving using stories of the ogre coming after them.  I do love a good horror story, traumatizing the little ones!

We then headed over a couple of bridges to make our way to the Bärengraben (Bear Pit), a wonderful bear habitat along the Aare River.  The bear is the symbol of the city, and it's had a bear pit since the 16th century, but it was upgraded from a sad, concrete pit in 2010 to the grassy terraces that now house four bears.

Jack and Ellie also had a great time exploring the city, and we've been amazed by what good little tourists they are.  We'd never done much travelling with them, aside from moving from city to city, so we were a little nervous about our first outing with them, but they're amazing.  They just truck right along with us, stay pretty close, don't bark at other dogs or people, and we can just tie them to a post or our table when we're eating and they're perfectly content to lay down and people watch.  They're such awesome little buddies and always get lots of attention from passersby.
After about 3 hours of wandering, we made our way back to the train station where we'd parked so we could head back home, but not before making the all important stop at a Swiss chocolate shop!  So, very sadly, that wraps up all of the big expeditions we've taken on over the past month.  The next few weekends were all spent at that devil store, Ikea or with Colby on a trip.  However, we've got a couple of plans up our sleeves for July and August to make the most of the last days of Angela's mobility, so hopefully soon I'll be taking you on another big adventure courtesy of our Nikon!

Luzern, Switzerland

As we're all well aware, my life has been fairly rife with complaint-worthy events of late, but once upon a time before air conditioners started dying and my car began to crumble beneath me, the world was a lovely place full of plump savings accounts and international adventures.  One such adventure abroad took place about three weeks ago, when we spent a 3-day weekend in Switzerland.

We spent two days in Luzern, and did a day trip to the capitol city of Bern on our drive back home.  Switzerland is a stunningly beautiful country full of friendly people and jaw-dropping vistas.  We arrived in Luzern on Friday, and kicked things off with our trusty tour guide, Rick Steves.  We did his walking tour of the city, hitting most of the highlights.  Our favorites were the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) and the light and airy baroque Jesuitenkirche (Jesuit Church), both pictured above.  We spent about two hours wandering through the streets and alleys, then stopped for a delicious dinner at a little cafe on the Reuss River, overlooking the Spreuerbrücke (Mill Bridge).

The next morning, we were up bright and early for our trip out to Mt. Pilatus.  We took advantage of a transport ticket called the Golden Pass which consisted of an hour long boat tour of Lake Luzern, then a 40 minute ride on the steepest railway in the world to get to the top of the mountain--it maxed out at a 48% grade--and then a 30 minute ride in a gondola back down to Luzern.  The scenery was magnificent, it was really fun experiencing each of the different modes of transportation, and I only hyperventilated one or two times in the train and gondola.

We spent about an hour and a half at the top of the mountain, checking out the various viewpoints, eating lunch in the cafeteria, and we even got a couple of musical interludes!  On the way back down in the gondola, we caught sight of a number of Swiss folk working out in their fields, but one fine gentleman in his black leather briefs really caught our attention!
When we arrived back in Luzern, we headed back to the hotel for a quick rest, then saddled up the pups and headed out for another walk through the city, this time to the part of town that holds the famed Löwendenkmal (Lion Monument).  This relief was carved into a rock wall in 1821 to commemorate the lives lost by the Swiss Guards in the French Revolution of 1792. Mark Twain described the monument as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world", and I have to admit it was probably the saddest bit of rock I've ever seen. I sort of rolled my eyes at the thought of going to the monument just because it seemed a bit tourist trappy, but I'm really glad we saw it. The lion lays over a pool of still water in a garden, and somehow, even amongst a huge tour group from India, it still felt tranquil and somewhat melancholy. The lion has a beautifully carved face, and you really get the sense that he is in excruciating pain as he takes his final breaths.

We had a really wonderful time in Luzern, and while Switzerland was every bit as expensive as all of the tour books warned us, it was so worth it to experience the beauty of the country.  Our time in Bern was much shorter, but it was also a charming city, and I can't wait to share it with you in my next post.

The Last Thing I Need is Friday the 13th

Well, last week I had a brief reprieve from the massive torrent of crap that is being flung our way, and naively I thought, "Phew, that was it, we had a house sale fall through, a business owner threatened to sue me, and I almost blew up our television, but we SURVIVED!  Tomorrow is, in fact another day, and it is a much better one!"

And then Sunday happened.

Y'all, I feel like all I've been doing lately is complain, but I am just so stressed out right now, I can't even ugly cry anymore.  It's like I've gone into emotional shock... maybe I should elevate my feet or something.

So it all began--again--on Sunday, when we got an email from our property manager saying that our air conditioning unit in our South Carolina house had died on the day that the renters (and hopefully very soon, buyers) moved in.  He'd had to send out his own contractor to do a bandaid fix of adding more freon, and wanted to know how we'd like to proceed.  Essentially, we can replace the coil system and some other internal parts, or buy a new unit for maybe just a little less than twice the repair cost.  The coil system has no warranty, the new unit does.

I immediately filed a claim with our home warranty company, they were supposed to send out a contractor, but after repeated calls to them, the contractor never contacted my property manager over the next 3 days, and on Wednesday, we discovered that the company is located in Charlotte, NC and had been telling the warranty company for days that they can't service our area.  So the warranty company found a more local contractor, but THEY can't come out until next Monday, and in the meantime the a/c has already gone out for a second time, requiring more freon and our repair bills are already up around $1000.  So the warranty company told me that I can find my own contractor and then submit the bill for reimbursement, but one of the agents I spoke to told me that the most I can get back is $1500 and all we can do is the repair, because in order to cover a replacement, we'd have to provide annual a/c unit service records.

The hell??  What a flipping scam.  So, I'm waiting to talk to the repair guy my property manager has been using, but I'm expecting this whole thing will end up running us close to $5000 with all the repairs, and we'll maybe get $1500 from the warranty company.  And then there's a good chance we won't even own the home in a couple of months.  ARGH.  We were supposed to close two weeks ago, THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE OUR PROBLEM.  And of course, it's on top of the thousands of dollars we just put into repairs after the inspection in order to get a clear CL-100 for closing.  Ha.  Hahaha.

Then, I bring our new/old car in for an oil change, and in very broken English, the service guy tries to get me to agree to some kind of repair that will cost between 3000-4000 Euro.  When I told Colby about it, he was highly skeptical, but neither one of us are exactly car experts either.  Between all of the costs we racked up doing repairs for the supposed closing of our house and now the a/c, I'm thinking we'll probably play chicken with the car repair for right now and hope for the best.  Then, in a couple of months, I'll take it somewhere else and see if they find anything.  Germans tend to have this concept that the Americans living over here are made of money, so I can't help but be a little suspicious of the fact that the garage may have been trying to take advantage.

Finally, and this is right now more "likely" rather than "definite", but we've discovered that there's a very good chance that Colby is going to have to be TDY for the month of October.  You may remember the little fact that I'm due on November 22.  With twins.  And statistically, 70% of twins are born before their due date and less than 40% make it past 37 weeks.  For me, 37 weeks is November 1st exactly.  I am trying really, really hard not to freak out about this.  Maybe he'll be able to get out of it.  Maybe I'll go past 37 weeks.  Maybe...

And to top it all off, at just 21 weeks, I've already started with Braxton-Hicks contractions.  It's happened three times over the past week, I'll just have this tightening feeling, and when I touch my stomach, it's rock hard.  It's painless, and they aren't consistent or frequent enough to be too concerning, but I'll definitely be bringing it up at my appointment next week.

So, basically, I'm thinking my best course of action for Friday the 13th is to bury myself under my blankets and attempt not to see the light of day.  Don't go near the phone, don't look at email, and when I emerge on Saturday, the world might be over, but as long as I don't step on my glasses I should be just fine for the rest of my life.

Lichtenberg Medieval Festival

Continuing our trip back in time through my past few weekends in Germany, the weekend before we went to Strasbourg, we went with some friends to a local medieval festival at nearby Lichtenberg Castle in Kusel.  I'd been to Renaissance Fests in the States and thought they were pretty entertaining, but there was something about being at a Medieval Festival in a medieval castle that made me feel like I'd actually been transported into the 1300s.
It was a blustery day, but the rain held out and we had a great time eating white sausage and apfelkringels (apples encased in a fried pastry--sort of like an apple-filled beignet), perusing the vendors' wares, and exploring the ruins of the old castle.  We all cracked up when we realized we'd been standing in front of the sausages cooking over an open fire marveling for about five minutes, all, "Wow, people here cook with FIRE???  Amazing..."

We wrapped up our medieval time traveling with a little sword fighting show and a bit more shopping where I managed to score a gorgeous handwoven basket for 10 Euro.  It has joined my Charleston sweetgrass basket on the kitchen counter and makes a perfect fruit basket.  I just found out from a friend that Lichtenberg Castle has a tasty restaurant on site with a nice view over the valley, so I think we'll be heading back soon for a date night.

Twenty Weeks

Actually, 20 1/2 weeks now... but who's counting?
My stomach has well and truly popped--there's no doubt about the fact that I'm a pregosaurus rex.  I was at a barbecue for the 4th of July, and met a girl who's expecting a baby girl on November 7th, and I felt like an absolute whale next to her.  Not that I feel like I'm fat or have gained excessive amounts of weight or anything, it's just that my stomach was SO MUCH bigger than hers and she's two weeks ahead of me.  Oy.  I'm starting to understand just how massive I'm going to be by the end of this journey.

I'm still feeling pretty good--definitely sliding into the uncomfortable stage, however.  There's almost always something that hurts.  Nothing too excruciating or worrisome, but between the horrid charlie horses in my calves that I wake up with two or three times a week, the sciatica, round ligament pain, a baby doing the polka at pelvis level and another doing the lambada in my ribs, I'm regularly at at least a four on the pain scale.  I've had a number of days where I'll feel so crampy I can barely stand up straight, and we actually had to leave the barbecue on the 4th early because I couldn't even sit without feeling uncomfortable.  I'm sleeping fairly well at night, but the 1st trimester falling asleep ability is long gone and I'm back to tossing and turning for an hour before I finally doze off, which is not so easy now that it requires a lot more exertion just to roll from my back to my side!
But in news of the more awesome nature, the babies are making their presence known in much more exciting ways than just punching me in the hoochie cooch.  I've felt them moving for about two weeks now--I noticed it right after our 18 week appointment.  It started out feeling like I had tiny goldfish flopping around in my stomach, and now it's a much more noticeable poking or rubbing feeling.  Colby has been able to feel them a few times now, and I spend my evenings sitting on the couch staring at my stomach, watching them hop around.  It seems a little early to be able to see them move from the outside, but I expect since I've got two ahead of the growth curve babies crammed in there, it makes sense.
We're still having pretty circular conversations about names.  We've decided on one first name and two probable middle names, but our second little lady is still awaiting her christening.  I'm absolutely in love with one name that Colby is a little less in love with, but he hasn't come up with any other suggestions, and I think he's coming around to it the longer I give him to ponder.  I'm definitely the one who's feeling a lot more motivated to come up with names though, I think he'd put it off until they were standing in front of us with blank birth certificates at age 18.  I'm just so tired of thinking of them and calling them "Baby A" and "Baby B"--our girls need names!
So, here we are at the halfway point, and I'm still loving this whole pregnancy experience.  It's also starting to feel a lot more real as we make arrangements with our parents for when they're coming to visit and help out, plan our final vacations before I have to start taking it a lot more easy, and get around to unpacking all of those boxes that we stashed in the nursery to think about in a couple of months.  I just cannot believe that in 20 weeks or less we're going to have two little babies.

And maybe they'll even have names.

Strasbourg, France

All aboard the trip recap boat!  Now that we're up and running with internet at our house, I have all kinds of catching up to do on our adventures of late.  I figured I'd start with the most recent and work my way backwards over the next couple of weeks.  We've been having an awesome time exploring the area with daytrips and long weekends away.
Last weekend, we took a little jaunt a couple hours south to Strasbourg, the principal city of the Alsace region in France and seat of the European Parliament.  We spent our time in the historic center of town and it was lovely--perfect for a few hours of wandering.  Many of the border towns of France are historically Germanic culturally and linguistically, and we noticed that Strasbourg felt much more German than French in its architecture and cuisine.

It was after noon when we arrived in town, so we started our time in Strasbourg with lunch in the quaint La Petite France--a collection of homes, businesses and cobblestone roads built largely in the medieval years.  It straddles a canal that flows through town, and we enjoyed our salads and duck pate as boats floated by and musicians played in the alleys.  It was so charming, it was almost painful.

After lunch, we strolled around La Petite France a bit more, and came across some of the old town defensive fortifications.  We then wandered up and down some of the back streets and through a flea market in one of the plazas before making our way to the cathedral.  We stopped in at a bakery for some cookies and at an outdoor vendor for a traditional kugelhopf to take home, then at Amorino Gelato--which we first tried in Paris last year--to help keep us going in the mid 80 temperatures.  I know that's nothing compared to the triple digits seen in the States lately, but what can I say, we've acclimated!

The cathedral was very pretty, but I can definitely say I'm starting to get a little immune to the majesty of cathedrals.  It did have a beautiful, open-work steeple that I found quite impressive, as well as a massive gilded organ, so I wouldn't say I'm entirely jaded yet, it's just, all cathedrals can only really be SO different, you know?

The cathedral was our last stop before we hit the road to visit yet another Ikea for the MIA linen closet shelves.  We patted ourselves on the back for being so efficient with our travel day so we wouldn't have to waste an entire day driving out to Ikea, then headed home for some furniture building.  Where we discovered that the cabinet we bought and the cabinet we thought we were buying were two different sizes.  And all of the shelves, wire baskets, and the door were sized for the wrong cabinet.  And just like that, Ikea won round two.

So, who's up for Swedish meatballs this weekend?  Sigh.

That Time I Got Threatened With A Lawsuit

I am typically a very non-confrontational person.  I don't really get into arguments with people.  I may disagree with you, but unless we're really, really close I'll probably just nod along with pretty much whatever you're saying (unless I'm bored and you say something stupid in a Facebook status).  I'm go along to get along is what I'm saying.  

But as I've gotten older, I've developed a bit more of a backbone, and despite my fear of confrontation, I've gotten a little better at standing up for myself.  There are two certain ways to ensure that I will fight back: 1) Deny me something that I am owed or 2) Treat me like I'm an idiot.

Recently, an individual has done not one, but both of those things, and I am FURIOUS.  Like, can't fall asleep at night because I can't stop stewing over it furious.  So, I'm going to vent about it here, because isn't that what blogging is all about?  Venting and pictures of your baby/cat/dog?

So, let's start at the very beginning.  I was contacted at the end of 2011 about working for a sitting service in the Carolinas who contracts with the military to provide childcare at Strongbonds--military sponsored weekends where active duty members and their spouses are sent away for a marriage strengthening retreat.  The pay was decent for the Charleston area, so I started working for them.  The payment approach was a bit frustrating--the company bills the military, then waits for the money to come through, then pays the sitters.  So there was typically about a 30 day waiting period before I would get my check, but not a huge deal.

On April 14th and 15th, I worked an event in North Charleston, and when I went to log my hours with the site director, she had already put away her tracking sheet, so she had me write them on the back of a piece of paper.  I spent the next 30 days waiting for my check, and on May 14th, we drove off to Baltimore to begin our overseas move.  We set up mail forwarding to begin on that day, and haven't had an issue receiving any of our mail, but a check never arrived from the sitting service.

On June 6th, I wrote a polite email, explaining when I had worked, where I had worked, that it was possible my hours had been lost since they weren't entered on an official log sheet, and inquiring as to whether a check had ever been sent or if one could be resent to my new address.  I included my APO address in Germany, and explained that an envelope would just need correct domestic postage to arrive here.

Two weeks later, on June 21st, I still hadn't heard anything from the business owner, so I forwarded the email again, including a new message saying that I had sent the following email previously and never heard anything back nor received a check.  I asked that someone respond as soon as possible.

Nearly two weeks later, on July 1st, I was fed up and at a loss for what else to do.  This company owed me a sizeable paycheck, and was completely incommunicado.  I wrote a third email stating that this was the third time I had reached out to the company about the missing paycheck, and that if I didn't hear anything back or receive a check by Friday July 6th, I would be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.  (In researching how to go about filing a complaint, I noted that there was already one previous complaint registered on this companies record.)

Surprise, surprise, I heard back from the woman five minutes later with the following message:

Your check was returned - we will not be held responsible for an incorrect address! We have physical proof that it was mailed. If you file a false complaint, you could be sued for libel or slander.

That was it.  Although they had been contacted by me twice, so had my contact information, no one had ever inquired as to whether they had a correct address (which they did, because I gave it to them in my first email), or informed me that they were unable to get my payment to me.  Instead, she seemed to think that though I had inquired TWICE about my paycheck, she wasn't liable to pay me because the envelope was returned.

So, I wrote her back simply stating that I had sent her my address and two previous emails that went ignored, and she could send me the check or I would file the complaint.

Her response (I'm quoting because god forbid I get sued for putting words in her mouth):

You received a response bc it is a down week and I have time to answer ridiculous emails. We sent it to yiour (sic) new address - returned - not our issue or mistake.

Well, first I was annoyed because I hadn't been paid for a weekend of work.  NOW I was livid because evidently my desire to be paid was deemed "ridiculous".  The thing is, if you are going to run a company and your method of payment is to mail checks, then you need to make sure that you properly mail the freaking check.  It IS her issue that that the check was returned, because as an employer, she owes me money.  Had I given her the incorrect address, I could certainly hold part of the blame, but I gave her the correct address not once but TWICE, as well as instructions on how to apply postage since many people become understandably confused by APO addresses.

I went nuclear.  I told her I didn't understand why she was being so rude and unprofessional.  I gave her my correct address again.  I told her that all her next email should say was that she was sending my check and I would acknowledge receipt, but I would not be continuing the discussion in any other manner.  I told her that my next step should I not receive payment would be to file the BBB complaint.

Her response:

You threatened me first with an untrue statement. Don't threaten me, my business or my integrity. I do not appreciate it and will not be disrespected. I will have a payroll person contact you on Monday. This will be my last response to you. Any further phone calls or email correspondence from you will be immediately deleted and/or not opened.

What I wanted to respond with was that I had never at any point in my emails made an untrue statement.  I absolutely question her integrity, and I felt that I was being disrespected far more than she, being that she was in the position of power.  But I didn't respond at all.  And not surprisingly, no one from payroll ever contacted me on Monday or Tuesday.

Since I was informed that any contact from me would be ignored, the only course of action I see open to me is to give her a week to get me my check, and then follow through with my complaint to the Better Business Bureau.  I'm obviously to the point where I need a mediator and I refuse to engage with her lack of professionalism any further.  I honestly have no idea how she manages to run a business with the attitude and business practices displayed above.

It was also interesting how that entire email exchange following my third email took place over the course of 3 1/2 hours--and it only took that long because I was out to dinner with friends for part of it.  But after ignoring me for almost a month, she certainly did become prompt in her email responses.

So, that was the pièce de résistance of the past week from Hell.  I figured it couldn't get any worse after that, and I was right.  This week has been going quite smoothly, and I'm looking forward to celebrating the 4th of July tomorrow with our friends.  I'm also kind of childishly hoping the check doesn't arrive, because at this point, I am just RARING to go on that BBB complaint.  Also, I might need a lawyer...

18 Week Ultrasound

After a highly disappointing experience with my 15 week ultrasound, I had braced myself for the one at 18 weeks to be just as much of a let down--little did I know, it was the big anatomy scan!  The anatomy scan is technically a thorough check of all of the baby's measurements and organ functions, but for the majority of pregnant woman it really means one thing: SEX REVEAL!
Of course, as we know from my previous post, we got the incredible news that I'm carrying two little ladies around in my ever expanding abdominal region.  We also had the joy of spending an hour and a half staring at the screen as the ultrasound tech measured the heart, the kidneys, the brain, all of the limbs, and we even got to see where the blood flows in and out of the heart with a pretty nifty color coded doppler.  It was absolutely amazing, and exactly what I needed after spending the previous appointment doing crunches just trying to catch a brief glimpse of baby.

The tech spent about 45 minutes on each girl, and took frillions of photos for her records, printing out almost 40 for us to take home.  We got detailed snapshots of little feet, hands, heads, arms, legs--my ultrasound photo album is now literally overflowing, and we've got two more of these big ultrasounds coming up over the next two months!
Baby A was on her best behavior for us once more, allowing lots of amazing shots of her little face and body, and even a pretty spectacular 3d photo of her face--especially considering how difficult it can be to get cute pictures this early in their development.  At 17 weeks and 6 days, she was measuring at 19 weeks and had a beautiful strong heartbeat of 148 bpm.  My bump has been growing pretty rapidly lately, and it thrills me to know that it means the girls are growing big and strong.

The most disconcerting discovery of the day was that Baby B is a terrifying demon.  It's a shame, but you can't argue with the photographic evidence provided on the bottom left... check out that menacing monster face to the left of her hand!

Baby B spent most of her time in the limelight hiding behind her hands.  It didn't make for the best pictures of her face, but it was still kind of adorable.  I guess she just doesn't want the big reveal until she actually enters the world--she's always been the shy one during ultrasounds!  She measured at 18 weeks and 6 days, so just a teeny bit smaller than her sister, and had a heartbeat of 143 bpm.

But, continuing with our streak of bizarre appointments at this hospital, when the ultrasound tech went to get our doctor, we discovered that she had been rushed to a room and was on IVs for fluid loss after becoming violently ill while watching our ultrasound from her office.  Sooooo, we didn't get to meet with a doctor.  However, our tech was extremely experienced with 20 years of ultrasounding under her belt, and she assured us off the record that everything looked great to her and we'd be meeting with the new high risk doctor at our next appointment on July 18th.

So, we've only got about 2 1/2 weeks to go before our next peek at our girls, and name discussions and negotiations are currently underway.  I can't believe we're almost halfway there!