Questions I Get Asked

Most everyone asks the same pregnancy-related questions, so I made up this quick survey about pregnancy. If you’re a preggo lady, feel free to steal it!

Question: Do you have any morning sickness?
Sometimes I feel like people want me to have morning sickness when they ask me this question, like if you’ve had morning sickness you get to be a part of this super cool club or something. If it’s someone who’s never been preggers, they just seem curious. But if it’s someone who has had kids, they usually go into stories about how they were so sick throughout the whole pregnancy or part of the pregnancy that they were pretty much incapacitated. Men (with kids) who ask me this question usually say something like, “Oh, it’ll come!”
My Answer: Well, I haven’t thrown up or anything, but I have felt sick before it’s time to eat. Eating makes the feeling go away. My mom didn’t have morning sickness either (neither did Chase’s mom), so I probably won’t. Besides, I’m pretty much past that point in pregnancy now.

Question: Have you had any weird cravings?
Movies and TV have really hyped the whole weird craving thing. I’m sure there are some preggo ladies who get strange cravings, but in reality they’re probably not as bizarre as you’d imagine.
My Answer: No, I haven’t craved anything, but there are things that I used to like but can’t stand. I can’t wear my perfume anymore and peanuts make me gag. Note: Chase would say I crave toast, but I think that’s more of a craving for him. We usually eat toast at night. I like it because it’s something I can eat before going to bed that won’t make me throw up in the morning (NOT morning sickness- I’ve had acid reflux for a long time and it’s only bad if I eat before going to bed).

Question: Do you know what you’re having? (Boy or girl)
The strangest thing about this question is that people have been asking me this since we made the announcement that I was pregnant. I was 6 weeks along and would tell people that we’d just found out a week ago and I hadn’t been to the doctor yet, but they would ask if I knew what I was having. I guess most people just don’t know that you really can’t find that out until the second trimester, usually 16-24 weeks along.
My Answer: Nope. Our doctor does the ultrasound at 20 weeks (the halfway point). We can find out in mid-December.

Question: Are you going to find out? (If the baby is a boy or girl)
People are usually pretty adamant about telling us we should find out, I think mostly because they just really want to know.
My Answer: Yup. A friend of ours gave us the idea of having the doc write it down so we can open it for Christmas. We’re thinking about doing that, but we’d open it when we have our own little Christmas together before getting up with family. Don’t worry, we’ll tell you!

Question: Do you have names picked out?
People are usually pretty adamant about this one too. Some claim they want to know so they can tell us if it’s popular or not, but I think others just want to secretly make fun of whatever name we pick out (maybe I’m paranoid). And I think we have some friends and family who just want to make sure we don’t name our kid something really weird.
My Answer: We have a boy’s name for sure and a tentative girl’s name, but we’re not telling. Why? It’s much more difficult for someone to tell us they don’t like our baby’s name once s/he is born and is named that. Plus, it’s just too fun having a secret! We also have two more boy names that we like for when we have more children. Chase and I have a hard time agreeing on girl names, though.

Question: Have you felt the baby kick?
This is a more recent question since I’m “showing” now.
My Answer: For a while, I wasn’t sure and thought I was psyching myself out, but I did actually feel a kick (or maybe a punch or head-butt) last night. I was sitting on the couch folding laundry and as I leaned over to get clothes out of the basket, the baby kicked! S/he was probably getting a little squished from the way I was leaning and was just telling me to stop. I got a couple more kicks today, too!

Question: When are you due?
Of course we can’t leave this one out! I usually get asked this one over and over by the same people, but I can’t really blame them since it seems like there’s a baby boom with my friends.
My Answer: May 7 and no, I can’t make the baby come any sooner or later.

That’s pretty much it right now. I’m sure more strange questions are coming once I get bigger and more obviously pregnant. Pregnant ladies and formerly pregnant ladies, what’s the weirdest question you’ve been asked?

Reality TV I Would Actually Watch

Dear Directors and Producers of Reality TV,
I don’t like reality television shows. They’re annoying, lack creativity and there are just too many of them. But there is one that, if it existed, I would watch. I would, in fact, be the number one fan of this show. This show would sell itself…

The cast: Al Roker, Pat Sajak, Conan O’Brien and Harland Williams
The premise: Al, Pat, Conan & Harland are housemates for a certain span of time.

That’s it. There would be no need for writers, competition or for tasks to complete. Just film the interaction. Pat Sajak says weird and awkward things all the time on Wheel of Fortune; Al Roker does and says crazy things on the Today Show; Conan O’Brien is a spaz (in a good way); and Harland Williams weirds Conan out every time he’s on Late Night.

This show would be a hit. Well, at least I would watch it.

Oh, Christmas Tree...

I have this urge to put our Christmas tree up! I'm not all that big into decorating for Christmas; basically I put up a tree with white lights and colorful glass ornaments (mostly from my parents' garage) and then I put some garland with white lights on top of the entertainment center.

Personally, I'm a big fan of the multicolored, running, flashing crazy lights. In high school and college, I always enjoyed coming down the hill on my way home to my parents' house seeing colorful, running, flashing crazy lights. At some point my dad had Miranda and me put them up, and those years were usually a little crazier than before. It was so much fun! Chase, on the other hand, very much prefers plain old white lights that don't flash or run.

Since Chase and I have been married, I haven't felt the urge to put up the tree, especially before Thanksgiving! Who knows, maybe it's the hormones or something...

One thing I am excited about for this Christmas is my awesome wrapping paper. I got it on sale after Christmas last year. It's robots! We're gonna have the coolest wrapped boxen in town!

Cute Baby

Last week Chase and I went to an international missionary commissioning in Springfield and stayed with our friends John & Lindsey. This is their son, Manning:

He's a year old, calls squirrels "kitty"and thinks Chase is hilarious.

Never Underestimate...

No, Chase's finger did not get cut off...

Friday, as we were getting ready to leave for the All Campus Praise Gathering, Chase sliced an apple to take with us. A piece of apple was still caught in the apple slicer and Chase, underestimating the sharpness of the Pampered Chef apple slicer, decided he would just flick the piece of apple into the trash. Because it makes me sick, I won't go into any more detail than that.

So, needless to say, because there were no appointments available at the local clinic, we spent Friday evening at the emergency room. After about a two hour wait, we got in and the doctor and nurses cleaned and dressed his wound.

Chase talked to a few people on the phone while we were on our way to and waiting at the ER. Word got out pretty fast about what happened and friends were apparently saying anything from Chase cutting his finger to needing stitches to him cutting his finger off.

No, Chase's finger did not get cut off, and he was still able to rock the bass this morning at church with the aid of a pick. As I type, he's back at the hospital for a quick follow up.