Dixon Baby News Vol. 3 (12/2/2003)

Today is wee Dixon's 16 week and 4 days
pre-birthday.  Everybody celebrate!

I've been feeling better these last few
days.  Joseph and I both are so happy.
I still have the occasional heave, but
I've been moving around and smiling 
more.  :)

This weekend, I even went on a road
trip with Joseph.  We stayed with Eric, 
Kelly, and Jana in Jackson overnight.  
Thanks for the hospitality, you three!  

Somewhere in the last newsletter, I 
referred to wee Dixon as a "he."  I've
been asked if I sense it will be a boy.
Honestly, no.  I have no sense either way.
(And, since pregnancy seems to reduce 
your IQ, the previous statement may have
multiple meanings.)  I tend to refer to 
it as a "he," and Joseph refers to it as 
a "she."  So, we figure we have pretty much
all our options covered.

Oh...new name options.  Thanks Kelly for 
letting me use your baby name book.

Joseph
	Linus
	Ian	

Kay
	Audrey
	Jill
	Charlotte
	Cora
	Elijah
	Graham
	Heidi
	Moses
	Delia
	Orah
	Owen
	Pippin
	Samuel
	Saul
	Tate
	Mabel

We also joked about naming the kid 
"Nixon Dixon" or "Dixon Dixon."  :)

We've ordered the carpet for the nursery
and media room.  We are trying to get both 
projects done at once.  Although, we are giving
the nursery priority.  Mainly, we spent two days
moving stuff to the barn.  What will be the
nursery had become a storage room.  Now, for
things that don't go in the barn, the new
storage room is the front foyer.  We still have
some stuff to move, but we have until Thursday
to get it all moved out for the carpeters.

We've already thought of a project for our wee
one.  When it gets older and wants to make a 
little money for its self, we're going to let it
hold a big "barn sale," and get rid of all that
stuff we keep packing away but will never ever
use again.  Joseph said he would teach it how
to sale the stuff on e-bay.  

When moving all that stored stuff, we found lots
of my old toys and childhood memorbelia.  Some 
we are going to recycle for our wee one.  Like 
my old chalk board is going to get a new coat 
of paint.  Plus, I had lots of "long playing" 
records that Joseph is going to digitize for the
wee one.  Also, the room that will be the nursery
is what used to be my room growing up.  We think
that is kind of cool.

I want to start preparing the walls for painting
today.  We plan to take down all the moldings 
and paint them off the wall.  We really wanted 
to get the painting done before the carpet went 
in, but their original estimate of 3 weeks before
installation turned into 3 days.  So, we decided
to get it while we could and use drop cloths when
we paint.

I've been eating more lately.  This is very good.
I ate a big lunch at McAlisters when we visited
the Jacobsens last weekend...complete with a giant
oatmeal raisin cookie.  Yesterday, I had 
another big lunch of salmon, salad, and shrimp
This baby is getting lots of variety!

I'm still very cautious about eating after 2:00 in
the evening cause I never can predict when baby 
will want to kick it old school and send something
back.  But, yesterday, I chanced it and had some
cream of wheat with bannana around 6:00.  It was a 
gutsy move on my part, but I managed to keep it.

As always, Joseph has been taking extra special
care of me.  When we were cleaning out those rooms,
he wasn't letting me pick up anything or strain.
When I drove him out to the barn to unload some 
stuff, he wouldn't let me leave and go back to the
house to get some more stuff packed up.  He said,
"I know it seems like I am trying to keep you from
doing stuff.  Well, I am."  :)  Joseph is great.

I may try my first prenatal vitamin today.  Due to 
my nausea, the doc told me to hold off on starting
them.  Not taking vitamins has been the one thing
I've really felt guilty about not doing for the baby.
I've been extra careful (Joseph calls it "paranoid")
about what I've been ingesting and exposing myself
to.  No caffeine, MSG, artificial sweetners.  I
haven't been handling any pesticides or letting 
anyone smoke around me.  When we paint the nursery,
I plan to set up a small hurricane in the room to
whisk away fumes.  :)

So far, I've really been convinced that the baby
has been asking for what it needs.  Folic acid is
very important for a pregnant woman, especially
at the beginning of a pregnancy.  The first few 
weeks the baby wanted turnips, collards, and 
mustard...all great sources of folic acid.  I ate
so much of them that Daddy and Joseph thought the
baby might come out green.  At the time I was eating
all those greens, I didn't realize the importance
of extra folic acid, but obviously the baby did.
Some days I seek out protein...sometimes extra veggies.  
I've been eating some type of fruit everyday.  So
far, no weird cravings like pickles and ice cream.

I have noticed that my tastes have been changing
since the beginning of the pregnancy.  I want less
salt than I did at the beginning.  Just about any
beverage with a taste (besides orange juice) is off
my want list.  It is mainly water now and an 
occasional Sprite for medicinal purposes (tummy tamer).

I still have my super-keen sense of smell.  Those
smells that make me nauseas don't have to be bad smells,
either.  I've found that very odd.  A lotion I like to 
wear is off limits because of the smell.  Someone told
me that the lemon scent of Joy dishwashing liquid makes
her ill over a year after the birth of their baby.  
There are a few foods that make me ill to smell, but they
are all prepackaged/prepared foods.  Joseph has to fetch
things out of freezer because we have some of those foods
in there and me just seeing the package starts a chain 
reaction.  So, Joseph acts as my protector and gathers 
from the freezer for me.  :)

Well, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  We had
a good one.  We took my own advice and ate and napped.
My dad prepared a humongoloid meal single handedly.  
Although, this was not the original plan...Joseph and 
I had each volunteered to cook a different portion of 
the meal.  Daddy got up cooking Thursday morning and 
by 8:00 in the morning called to say it was all done.  
I managed to make the dumplings.  :)  We still tried 
to do our part by bringing healthy appetites.  It was
the least we could do, but that is what we did.  Buck
and Po are very excited because for the next three days
they will be eating out of Daddy's fridge.  

Hope all is well with everyone!

Kay