In defense of parking for new or expectant moms.

The farther you go out into the 'burbs, the more you see prime parking spaces for new or expectant moms at supermarkets and strip malls. And for years, I wondered: does anyone use them? They always seemed empty... to the point when I couldn't find a regular space, that I would start to feel pretty darn tempted to park in one. Especially when I would see perfectly un-pregnant-looking women (and sometimes men) doing exactly what I was only thinking about doing. Okay, maybe you can be pregnant without actually looking pregnant, I would tell myself. (Well, maybe not the men.) But if you really wanted to, you could fake being pregnant for sake of parking - because is the parking police really going to demand to see a positive pregnancy test? I don't think so.

But, alas, for years I have resisted stealing parking from the new or expectant among us. Because I knew that one day, a time would come when I would take full advantage of those parking spaces... and now, I'm taking full advantage, baby. Oh yeah. In fact, if I pull into a parking lot, and those precious "mom" spaces are already taken, I can't help but react with complete indignation. How dare someone else park there? Those are my spaces! And are they really new or expectant moms? But then, when I have to park a mile away from some super-store and waddle my pregnant self to my destination, I just get more cranky and suspicious of the allegedly pregnant women and mothers who are already parked in my spaces. Meh. The irony of it all is that having special parking for being pregnant would have never even occurred to me... but now that I know it exists, I feel that it has become my right as a pregnant woman. But that's my own problem. :-)

Joe always tells me I'm being suspicious for nothing... but last night at the Harris Teeter in Arlington, I had all the proof of my suspicion I need. Lucky for us, we scored one of the two "new or expectant mom" spaces right by the entrance. We braved the crowds and lines inside, all in the name of Thanksgiving shopping, and returned to our car. But what did we find? A young, twenty-something male Redskins fan parking in the only other "mom" space right next to us. By himself. No expectant mom or children in sight. Clearly, Redskins mania must have gotten the better of him, as that would explain how he confused "new or expectant mom" parking for "quick halftime beer run" parking. Maybe they need their own special parking, too?

Next time, avoid supermarkets during Redskins game, I guess. I'll try to chalk this up to a random asshole occurrence, and assume that those parking spaces are otherwise occupied by legitimate new and expectant moms. Just let me find parking without having to walk a mile, please!

23-week appointment

Yesterday we got to see the babies again, for the first time since the big gender reveal. For us, since we have twins, this qualifies us as a "high-risk" pregnancy - which really just means we have more ultrasounds, and more opportunities to see our little ones. We don't mind, though... it's always fun to check in and see all the activity going on inside!

Our baby girl posed very agreeably for the technician, giving us a good profile and showing us her thumb-sucking skills. Unfortunately, our baby boy was not so agreeable - he showed us his back and his front, but no profile this time. We figured out why they always try to take ultrasound photos as profiles - the fetal front view is positively skeletal, hence, the slightly creepy image you see below on the left. But, the important thing is that they are doing well, growing bigger, and all the essential organs are developing normally. They are still growing a little ahead of schedule, too - our baby boy is estimated to weigh 1 lb. 7 oz., and our baby girl is estimated to weight about 1 lb., 4 oz. We'll see them again on December 11!

Baby boy is on the left, and baby girl is on the right:

Goodbye, toes.

I must confess: for the last few weeks, I've been spending way too much time checking in on my toes while standing, just to see if I can still see them. And now, the total eclipse I have been awaiting has happened! Here is my view, looking down:

But wait - if I lean forward just a little bit... hey, there they are again!
I guess I now know how it feels to have a beer gut. Fortunately, though, this gut is not from beer... and all I have to do to get rid of it is give birth to two little babies! So, goodbye toes for now - see ya in a few months!

Stay tuned for belly button popping and other fascinating pregnant bodily phenomena.

Oh no. It's crib shopping time.

Some decisions in life are much harder than they need to be. Wedding dress shopping was one. Oh, but crib shopping is much, much worse. For those of you who thought cribs were simple, think again. Drop-down sides or stationary? Low front, or same height all around? Rounded edge or square edge? Which one would they chew on? (Yes, apparently kids like to chew on their cribs.) Which one would they climb out of? And that's even before you begin weighing the merits of hardwood vs. softwood, espresso vs. cherry vs. honey finish, flimsy strorage drawer vs. no drawer, and whether there are any annoying screws showing on the thing. And then when you think you just want a simple crib, you realize you have the option of buying a crib that converts to a toddler bed and a full-size bed. Sure, you can still buy a simple crib like the one that most of us slept in as babies - but is there any reason to buy a smaller, simpler crib that just works for right now, when you can buy a slightly larger, more expensive crib that doubles as a bed for later? But at the same time, what if the convertible crib turns out to be total crap, and doesn't even last until they're toddlers? Or, what if your kids decide that they totally hate the bed, and you never even end up using it? My friends, therein lies the crib dilemma!

Yes, maybe we are obsessing over trivial details. But being faced with so many choices with such subtle differences, makes us long for someone to just tell us what to do! And since many cribs take up to 12 weeks to arrive, it means we need to decide soon. Fortunately, we made some progress this weekend at Baby2Teen in Manassas. We are pretty much set on one that we saw there, and as long as we don't change our minds in this next week, will probably order it next weekend. So, yay! But the real silver lining of our weekend was that we totally scored on nursery linens at the Pottery Barn Kids outlet... getting two full sets of crib bedding and four curtains, all for under $100! Woo-hoo! That cheered us up after being broken down by crib shopping. Since we're buying two of everything, we've got to find the deals where we can!

And in not-so-good news... while crib shopping, we encountered a pregnant woman with our exact same due date. Except - no joke - she did not even look pregnant!!! I realized then that if that's what a singleton pregnancy looks like at this stage, then I am really in for some BIG times ahead.

Exhibit A, 22 weeks:

A 5 1/2-month pregnant belly with one baby does not stick out this much!!!

Babies for Obama!

It's no secret that we are proud Democrats. In fact, we are doing our best to increase the Democratic population by two in just a few months! Today was an amazing, historic day - an election that many of us never thought we would see in our lifetimes. It has been a long time since we have felt proud of our country, but we are proud beyond words of all the Americans who made this happen. Even though the election will not undo all the damage of the Bush administration, it is still such a relief to see it finally come to an end, and know that real hope lies on the horizon. Our world will still be filled with uncertainty, but at least we can feel good knowing our babies will be born into a much better place.

Go Obama!!!