Pass the peas, please

I've had a strange craving lately. It all started when I ordered a do-it-yourself salad from Jason's Deli.

There I was, humming along the salad line, filling my plate with greens, when they stood out at me. All shiny, bulbous and glowing green.

Peas. Lots of peas. I had to have them. I'm not even a fan of peas, but I had to have these peas. I loaded them up on my salad plate. When I sat down and ate some, I was in heaven. These peas were so sweet, so crisp, that I had to have more. So I went and got seconds.

That was just the beginning. Last night, I made Jon cook some up for me, and he didn't disappoint. He made up this recipe from Cooking Light, fresh peas with mint, and made one pregnant lady very happy.

An intimate affair

A strange thing has happened recently with this pregnancy that didn't really bother me with Jordan. My underwear keeps rolling down.

I look like a trucker that has had one too many chili dogs. The burgeoning belly that keeps growing seems to push my underwear further down as each week passes by. So this past week, I decided to break down and buy some maternity underpants.

Before, when I was pregnant with Jordan, I thought, "Maternity underwear? Psh, what a crock." I didn't buy into the idea that you need special underwear.

Well, I stand corrected. The only thing that makes them different, really, is that they're cut lower in the front. So I guess in that sense they are a little more comfortable. Are they really worth the money? I'll let you know as I get bigger.

Pop Goes the Weasel

It's always a funny thing when you "pop" during pregnancy. One minute, you just look a little thick around the middle. The next, BAM! There's that preggo belly.

For me, it happened this week. I was going about minding my own business, when I caught a glimpse of myself standing sideways. At first I thought to myself, "Damn, those Mexican food binges have finally caught up to me," but upon further scrutiny, I realized that, yep, I look really pregnant. It's finally feeling and looking real.

In other news, we had a bit of a scare Wednesday night. I was sitting on the couch just watching t.v., when all of a sudden, my heart started pounding. Like REALLY pounding. I could feel it in my neck. It was hard for me to breathe and I almost felt like I was going to throw up. I got up, and of course started feeling dizzy. So I laid back down. I told Jon to call 911.

When the EMTs came, my blood pressure had reached 158/89 and my heart rate was going a mile a minute. The EMTs took some blood samples to make sure I wasn't going into a diabetic shock (I wasn't), and monitored me a little more. Eventually, my heart rate went down and things normalized. They diagnosed it as an anxiety attack.

It made sense. Earlier that day, I had a contentious back and forth with my boss. Even though it was hours later, the EMTs said stress can creep up on you when you least expect it. So they told me to chill out and call my doctor in the morning.

Coincidentally enough, I had an appointment with my cardiologist today. She did an echocardiogram of my heart and all systems look normal. My blood pressure also read within normal range. So long story short, there's nothing physically wrong with me. Only mentally.

I've had a million people tell me that I shouldn't stress out, to relax. And guess what? THAT'S stressing me out. So if you see me, please don't tell me I need to chill out. It won't help. Simply express sympathy if you must, and move on.

The plans for this weekend? Nothing. Just like the doctor ordered.

Zzzzz

With this pregnancy, I've had one symptom I can't seem to shake -- extreme laziness.

I'm talking about lying down on the couch and passing out cold. Not even Jordan's active jumping up and down wakes me up.

I feel bad because I feel like I'm not helping Jon out at all. And it's tough having to come home, cook and deal with a whiney wife and active two-year-old. I know what you're thinking: "You're pregnant! It's ok!" But it's not, because it's so unlike me. This baby is socking it to me. And she's winning.

Speaking of being a "she," I really don't know what the sex is yet, but if the old wive's tales prove correct, then it's definitely a girl. I've had more nausea with this pregnancy and my skin looks like an Arizona desert -- dry, flaky and splotchy. It's so bad my boss said something to me today. Note: Don't ever ask a pregnant woman if she's breaking out or if there's "something wrong with your skin." She'll either gouge your eyes out or go into hysterics. I did the latter, quietly, and fantasized about the former.

This week marks the beginning of my second trimester.

Symptoms this week: The aforementioned extreme tiredness and some cramping, due to the exciting growth that's happening.

Going along for the ride

Man, where has time gone??

In ramping up for baby 3.0, we've kept our gear-buying to a minimum. So far, we haven't gone as crazy buying stuff as we did with Jordan, for obvious reasons (we already have a lot of gear from baby 2.0). But yesterday, we made by far the largest investment of this baby's life. Well, college funds aside.

We bought a new car.

We traded in my much loved (and much hated) Audi for an Acura MDX. I didn't originally intend on getting such a large car. In fact, I was leaning more toward the RDX, which is a smaller, sporty SUV, similar to the Rav 4. The RDX test drive proved to be fun, fast and very much sporty. And very much bouncy. While I was cruising at Mach 5 through some windy curves, something clicked. I realized it was time to grow up. I can't have two kids bouncing around in the back seat of a glorified sports car on higher wheels. The RDX really wasn't that much different from my sporty little Audi.

So I test drove the MDX. And fell in love. It's everything we need. It's spacious, it's a smooth ride, and it's luxurious enough inside that it doesn't feel like a utilitarian vehicle. And it has an optional third row seat. Yes, I'm driving a car with a third row seat. Does that make me a soccer mom?

Perhaps. But at least I'll be able to fit everyone in the car.