so, it appears we're having a kid
Sep. 23rd, 2009 03:34 pmJanuary 22, more or less. A girl! We're alternating between being excited and apprehensive.
-Morning sickness really, really, really sucks. I didn't even have a particularly bad case of it. (However, I suspect I probably reacted worse to feeling queasy all the time than some. I really, really hate feeling nauseous. I REALLY hate it, to the extent that I had trouble working because of hating feeling this way, even though I wasn't really actively throwing up or anything, at least not more than once or twice a week or so. I mean, I still went to work and sat at my computer and in retrospect occasionally actually did things, and even went on business trips and pretended I was a useful member of society, but I was really lucky that there were no bad crunch deadlines during that time.)
-If one is going to have morning sickness, early summer in coastal California is really the way to do it. Not too hot, and fresh fruit (the only thing I wanted to eat, frequently) is abundant and tasty.
-There are way too many things you are not supposed to eat when pregnant.
-Second trimester is definitely way better. Actual energy! No nausea! Whew.
-I work for a totally awesome wonderful company. Three months off? Check. Three quarters time after? Check. Work from home a bit? Check.
-My mom is really miffed because my company has no paid maternity leave. Despite the fact that California will pay you for six weeks (not, admittedly, my full salary). Clearly she does not get out enough.
-I spend my time mainly in two cultural settings: one is work (culture: having a life outside the office? what?), and one is church, (culture: kids are the greatest thing since before sliced bread!!). Reaction of church people: SQUEE! Reaction of work people: Oh, hey, um, congratulations, yeah?
They both have their charm. I also had one engineer say, "Wow, that kid is going to be smart. But messed up." Which is true, at least the second part.
-The kid is definitely going to be messed up. For one thing-- this just came up this morning-- I have the feeling it (I mean, she!) is going to hear lots of nice little kiddie-appropriate songs like Lehrer's charming old Irish Ballad.
-Morning sickness really, really, really sucks. I didn't even have a particularly bad case of it. (However, I suspect I probably reacted worse to feeling queasy all the time than some. I really, really hate feeling nauseous. I REALLY hate it, to the extent that I had trouble working because of hating feeling this way, even though I wasn't really actively throwing up or anything, at least not more than once or twice a week or so. I mean, I still went to work and sat at my computer and in retrospect occasionally actually did things, and even went on business trips and pretended I was a useful member of society, but I was really lucky that there were no bad crunch deadlines during that time.)
-If one is going to have morning sickness, early summer in coastal California is really the way to do it. Not too hot, and fresh fruit (the only thing I wanted to eat, frequently) is abundant and tasty.
-There are way too many things you are not supposed to eat when pregnant.
-Second trimester is definitely way better. Actual energy! No nausea! Whew.
-I work for a totally awesome wonderful company. Three months off? Check. Three quarters time after? Check. Work from home a bit? Check.
-My mom is really miffed because my company has no paid maternity leave. Despite the fact that California will pay you for six weeks (not, admittedly, my full salary). Clearly she does not get out enough.
-I spend my time mainly in two cultural settings: one is work (culture: having a life outside the office? what?), and one is church, (culture: kids are the greatest thing since before sliced bread!!). Reaction of church people: SQUEE! Reaction of work people: Oh, hey, um, congratulations, yeah?
They both have their charm. I also had one engineer say, "Wow, that kid is going to be smart. But messed up." Which is true, at least the second part.
-The kid is definitely going to be messed up. For one thing-- this just came up this morning-- I have the feeling it (I mean, she!) is going to hear lots of nice little kiddie-appropriate songs like Lehrer's charming old Irish Ballad.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 12:20 am (UTC)I also had one engineer say, "Wow, that kid is going to be smart. But messed up." Which is true, at least the second part.
...I hope that was supposed to be a joke?
The Irish Ballad is in a long tradition of horrible children's songs. Really think about the lyrics of "Rockabye Baby" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-a-bye_Baby).
no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 01:07 am (UTC)Hee. I should have unpacked that a little more. What he meant was "highly introverted, and probably learning how to program at an excessively early age at which most people would raise their eyebrows." Which, if it does not come to pass, won't be for lack of assiduous effort on our part :) (At least the programming part. It would certainly be good for her to be a bit more extroverted than we are...) Hopefully the kid will not be any more emotionally messed up than the rest of us!