Today, Baby: Rules

What is so great about being pregnant is that there are a lot of rules. Some of them I am fine with, like not doing sports where you can fall down, not smoking, and being sure to drink lots of water. I really like those rules.

Some of the rules I am ambivalent about include not drinking. I used to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, and now I don't do that. But my taste for it has diminished, so it's not a big loss.

There are so many pregnancy rules, and some of them drive me a little crazy, so I don't always follow them.

Rule #1: Go to the doctor a lot.
This rule stirs up a stew of emotions inside me. See, I was raised in Christian Science and my parents didn't take us to doctors, so even though I am not a Christian Science anymore I haven't made up my mind about these medical types. On the plus side, they are usually so nice and good at making you feel taken care of. When there is a problem they can usually fix it really fast, because that's what they do: look for and fix problems. Dr. Jones, our OB-GYN, is funny and has a stillness about him. I am pretty sure he is a Buddhist. He has a statue of the Buddha in his office, and he sits on this little stool that wheels around and allows him to drop his knees down as if in meditation. This is one of my favorite things about him, this and the fact that he laughs easily.

But the downside of going to the doctor is that whole looking for problems thing. This one has admitted to being very conservative, though not in a Republican way (whew!). In the doctor sense, being conservative means he will tell you about everything that could maybe go wrong in the future even though things seem fine today and order more tests than are probably necessary. Sometimes I leave the office with that tight bowling ball feeling in my stomach, so I try to focus on the thought of this bald smiling doctor wheeling around his office on a meditation stool.

I have a feeling I may negotiate my way out of some appointments in the future.

Rule #2: Don't eat raw fish
This one rule that I am just not going to follow. In fact, Esteban and I are going to try a sushi place in OB tonight. Ocean Beach is a funky San Diego beach town. I like it more than Pacific Beach and less than Imperial Beach because I like hippies but not drunken college students. It has been so warm and beautiful this week, and with this big moon I think I need to visit the ocean. Sometimes I think I am part fish, because I love the ocean and want to eat the things that live in it.

Rule #3: Limit or eliminate caffeine
I am pretty sure I'm not drinking too much caffeine, but we'd have to ask the baby to know for sure. I drink about a half a cup of regular coffee each morning (though it looks like more when I get it at work because I mix with decaf). Sometimes, I also have some iced black tea. I tell myself this is OK because I don't drink soda and, well, the girl is going to be a Californian so she better get used to that coffee and tea sooner rather than later.
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Today, baby, your dad impressed me so much. Speaking of doctors, not only is he OK with us having an image of Dr. Frankenfurter in the house, he wanted to put him in a place of prominence! So we hung the Doctor of Decadence in the kitchen. I love this man--Esteban, I mean. He makes me feel OK about being who I am. I bet he will make you feel good about yourself, too. This will be important when you turn 12 and your friends suddenly care about things like hip-to-waist ratios.

A friend of the family's that I have known since I was born mailed me some Creative Memory album stickers and pages. They're really pretty. Someday you will see the album I make with them, and I hope you will like it.