Gasparilla!

Tampa's "Gasparilla" is a January/February celebration, similar to Carnival or Marti Gras. The celebration continues for several weeks with parades, art fairs, music events, etc. Saturday was the most exciting day: a boat/pirate parade, a pirate invasion of Tampa and, finally, the pirates and other floats parading down Bayshore (just a couple of miles from our house!)

We went to a party thrown by one of Britton's attending physicians on Davis island to watch the boat parade. It was beyond words! My father would have been horrified: cannons on regular leisure boats; sling shots for water balloons, beads, and marshmallows; and boats coming into really close contact with each other (luckily they were moving REALLY slowly)! Then the fire boats came in spraying water through the air to clear the channel for Jose Gasparilla - the fully rigged pirate ship! I was loaded down with beads thrown from the boats. It was SO much fun!!!

The party continued at Dr. Holmstrom's house on the island and then back over to Bayshore for the pirate invasion street parade and finally wound up at another house in Hyde park. Although I was the designated driver (pretty convenient for Britton, don't you think?), I felt like I drank all day too! Being on your feet all day outside and getting a little dehydrated is more difficult for this lady to tolerate these days. Guess I'm being invaded too, though thankfully not by a pirate!

Thank you to all our friends and family who sent us well wishes via email and our blog. We are certainly excited about our impending arrival! Your love and support is very much appreciated!!!

One more baby anouncement...

Ours!

Due date: August 17, 2010.

Britton and I decided that November was as good a month as any to stop using birth control. LOL!

Okay so actually the decision was a little more complicated than that. It involved financial planning, employment changes on my part, and ritualistic "nesting" on Britton's part - hence all the housing updates. I downloaded an iPhone app to clock cycles (trying to get pregnant? - there's an app for that. lol!) We were surprised and very lucky to achieve success the first month!

I had my suspicions that I might be pregnant because of a handful of strange symptoms over Thanksgiving. We had confirmation about a week later and were literally jumping up and down with excitement! Then came the tough part: ~6 weeks of nearly constant nausea and fatigue.

Just when I was really getting down about feeling rotten, I had my 8 week check up and heard the baby's heartbeat! All nausea was forgotten! (At least temporarily.)

Now we are at 11 weeks (officially on Tuesday) and I pretty much have my energy back and the nausea only comes around intermittently but the food aversions continue. I've gone from loving exotic, flavorful foods (my pre-pregnancy favorites were Thai food, sushi, and gourmet foods), to having the food tolerance of the average American 3 year old. I pretty much just eat cereal, beans, fruit, pretzels, pizza and sandwiches.

My sweet husband has not complained once when I announce that we are having grilled cheese sandwiches or a publix sub for dinner...again. I have not cooked dinner since the end of November. Since I can't bring myself to eat a normal meal, I certainly don't feel up to cooking one. This is a much different wife than the one that Britton became accustomed to, but I think he is just grateful that he gets to be the spectator in this 9 month trial of physical ups and downs.

On Friday, Britton performed his own ultrasound (he didn't get to accompany me to my first appointment) and confirmed that the baby still had a healthy heartbeat and now we were able to see a distinct head, body, legs, and arms... and it even moves now!!! Cool stuff!

We are so thrilled to share such great news! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we will hopefully be transitioning into parenthood with a happy healthy baby.

***Comments on this blog are welcome but PLEASE do NOT mention our pregnancy on our Facebook pages, we are not ready to tell our coworkers and many of them are our FB friends. Thanks!

Boards and lots of Babies

This week we found out that Britton did, indeed, pass the Step 3 boards. Not that we had any doubts but confirmation is certainly reassuring.

We also found out that Elizabeth (Britton's older sister) is expecting a GIRL in May this year. We adore all 4 of our nephews but it will be fun to make a pink blanket this time! Congrats to Elizabeth, Joe, and Carter (big brother to be!).

My cousin, Nancy (McKenzie) Norris, is also expecting a child in May but has chosen to be surprised by the gender when the big day arrives.

I also found out that my dear friend and matron of honor, Sarah, is expecting a child in June. Congrats to Sarah and Jeff!

Last, but not certainly least, I must apologize to Connor McKenzie (our newest nephew) for not announcing his birth sooner on my blog. [I was pretty much just trying to survive the holidays, work transitions, house upgrades and general fatigue in Nov/Dec, sorry!] Connor was born in Taiwan on Nov. 11, 2009. His little brain is trying to understand three languages and yet somehow he is already a darn good blogger! His blog can be found in my updated sidebar to the right.

New Job!

Since early November, I've been working one day a week in Tampa General's outpatient pain management program to prepare to take over for a physical therapist who is now out on maternity leave. One day a week was such a tease because I really enjoyed it and then I'd have to spend the rest of the week in inpatient acute or inpatient rehab.

This past week I finally worked the whole week in my new job and I LOVE it. I see four types of patients: 1) injured employees of Tampa General, 2) outside community patients with chronic pain, 3) pelvic floor pain and incontinent patients, and 4) patients in a very structured "pain management program."

These last patients are the most complex because the program lasts 2 to 3 weeks and the patients come in every day M-F for about 5-6 hours to see me, a psychologist, a biofeedback therapist, a nurse for IV pain meds, and a neuropsychiatrist to manage all of their meds. These patients have already tried everything else and are finally willing to give themselves completely over to the program to reduce their constant pain and attempt to participate in a functional life again. The progress made by the patients and the teamwork attitude of all the clinicians are just awesome!

Also, this job involves more mental thought and creativity and very little physical strain, as I don't have to help patients out of bed like I did in inpatient. My mind and back are very thankful! Let's hope I keep loving this job and that, in 6-9 months when Cea (the PT I replaced) is ready to come back, we expand the program and job share!

New Years!

For New Years Eve 2010, we went down to Naples, Florida for a couple of nights. We enjoyed romantic walks on the beach, nature trails in the park, exploring new restaurants and seeing Pauly Shore perform stand-up on New Year's Eve on Marco Island. Pauly Shore picked Britton out of the crowd (our table was in the front), said that he wanted to be "like this couple" and proceeded to hug and rub my husband's chest. Good thing I'm not a jealous woman. Then he stated the importance of such a fine couple procreating and asked us when we were going to have children...hmmm, I suppose this is quite a (strange) compliment, so I'll let the privacy invasion slide.

Christmas!

Britton took the Step3 boards the week before Christmas and has hopefully passed with flying colors though we are still waiting for the results.

Unfortunately, Britton had to work 16 hour night shifts every night during Christmas week including both weekends, with the exception of Christmas night. My parents came for most of the week to keep me company and work on house projects and, of course, sample local restaurants. My parents fell in love with our favorite local Thai place!

We hosted Christmas dinner at our house with my Mom and Dad, my dad's parents, my Aunt and her boyfriend, and my Uncle. My mom's dog was dressed in her Christmas finest while Jasmine (mom's cat) and Samantha seemed quite indifferent to their attire. While we were all together, we had a Skype session with my brother and Shu-Fen and their new baby, Connor. My grandfather did not quite get the idea of video conferencing, chatting with people in Taiwan??? live??? with video??? A bit too confusing for him. I later wondered what futuristic concepts I will be asked to grasp when I'm of advanced age and wanning mental acuity....