Working From Home

I've officially become a telecommuter for the remaining weeks before I go on maternity leave. This started last week. I love it and hate it all at the same time.

Why I love it:
- If I want to, I don't even have to get out of bed to work. (Which means I don't have to shower, get dressed, put on make-up or anything.)
- NO COMMUTE. . .NEED I SAY MORE.
- When I have 15 minutes of down time in between meetings or not enough time to actually accomplish a task for work, I can update my blog!
- I can sleep in, which ordinarily I wouldn't even be able to do, but I've been super tired lately.

Why I hate it:
- I've looked terrible for the last week. One day I completely forgot to brush my teeth. I hope Derek doesn't think this is my new mommy look. He may begin looking elsewhere if that is the case. :)
- I have been spoiled having breakfast and lunch prepared for me at work. Now I have to figure out what to eat and actually fix it for myself. And I need to try and make sure it's healthy. I don't like this. And it takes too much time.
- I need some people interaction! This could drive me nuts. I feel a little like a caged animal.
- I look around the house and think of all the things that need to be done, but I can't really do them. So, I add them to Derek's chore list. Derek is ready to throw my chore list out the window.

What I've learned:
- I can not be a permanent telecommuter. Maybe a day or two a week might work, but I could not do this every day, all the time. I feel like a recluse.

Information Overload

When you are pregnant, there are about a million different informational books you can read about conceiving, being pregnant, birthing, etc. It really can be overwhelming. I have a stack of books people have been kind enough to give me, but to be honest, it's too much. You really could spend all of your time obsessing about it; and in the end, your body is going to do what your body wants to do.

Throughout my pregnancy, I've been attending a prenatal yoga class in Oakland. And honestly, I think this is what has prepared me the most in the end. My instructor was a L&D nurse for a number of years and has now moved into practicing yoga and working with mommies and mommies to be. I really trust her. She held a 3 hr workshop on birthing yesterday that Derek and I attend. Call me crazy, but this picture reflects my take aways. And this is what will get me through this.

- We are mammals. No other mammals read books to prepare for birth. It happens naturally and the body knows what to do. Listen to your body.

- Fear is the enemy. Fear creates anxiety and when your mind feels anxious, your body responds to protect you from that which you are anxious or fearful. Do not fear birth, it will make things more difficult. Embrace what your body is doing and know that it is helping you see your baby.

- Gravity is your friend. Everything that is taking place with your body is flowing downward. Gravity will naturally help with this process. So, don't lay down out the gate. It will only slow you down.

- Remove any negative energy from the room. If someone or something doesn't feel right, change it.

People keep asking me if I'm afraid. And I'm truly not afraid. At some point in time, likely over the next 33 days, I'm going to have a baby. It will be the most intense physical and emotional experience I've had in my life. And I can't wait!

Baby Shower

On Saturday, my girlfriends threw me a baby shower. It was a great event. They of course did a fabulous job decorating and preparing food for the event. Megan was gracious enough to open up her home to us, even though she's getting married in one month; and I'm sure she has a million other things to be doing.
Cindy made beautiful flower arrangements and her famous cupcakes, which were fantastic and I of course had to indulge in two. Krista had fun games for us to play. We had to associate a child with it's celeb daddy. I was terrible at this and it re-enforced the fact that I don't watch enough trash TV or read the gossip rags. Maybe I need to be more in touch with pop-culture--kind of a wild concept considering my job at YouTube is all about pop-culture. Maybe I'm in the wrong job. :)
Thank you to everyone that put in all the hard work to pull this off. I really appreciate it and had a wonderful time. And thank you to those that ventured up to the North Bay to share the afternoon with me.

Here are a few pics from the day. (I don't know why they're so small and I don't have the patience to fix them.)

Belly Update

Ok. . .I've been a bit behind with the belly updates. So, I'm consolidating the Nov and Dec views. the first shot is on Thanksgiving. My dad and I are comparing our belly sizes. I think he has me beat. :)



And here I am on Christmas morning.

At this point in time, I'm feeling large. I'm really not too sure how it is possible to get any bigger; and clothes as becoming an issue. I'm not fitting into my maternity clothes. Derek's clothes are looking pretty appealing to me. I've taken over his fleece jackets. And shoes, forget about them. While I was still a little stylish at Thanksgiving in my boots, Crocs and Ugs are now my new found friends; and the only thing I can get my feet into.

I started taking antenatal tests, fetal stress tests on Xmas Eve. And they discovered I'm having a few too many contractions. So, I'm in taking it very easy mode, which believe it or not is difficult to accomplish. It's funny, I use to watch my mom and she could never sit still and just relax. She was always up doing something. It really annoyed me. But I watch myself now and I am totally in that mode. Every time I sit down, I think of the 100 things I should be doing instead of sitting. So, it's been a tough transition. Not to mention, TV is terrible and I think I become less intelligent every time I turn on the TV. I find myself watching episode after episode of Law and Order (although, that's not really a new thing for me) or Locked Up. Derek isn't thrilled with my interest in Locked Up. I blame it on growing up in Corcoran.