Swelling and pregnancy

OK, so women are GREAT about the details of pregnancy. My friends who have been previously pregnant have been awesome about giving me much needed advice, from clothing to eating to what to expect during the long 9 months. But no one, NO ONE ever mentioned swollen feet. I have had a fairly uneventful pregnancy. I had a few eating issues for a couple weeks, but once I switched my mindset to fruits, fruits and more fruits, all was fixed. But I think where I will pay the price will be my feet. They are already swollen, some days much worse than others. I am only half way to the end zone. A couple nights ago, my feet were so swollen, I could barely walk. So once again, I will have to revise my eating. It's hard. I have to break some tough habits, like sitting crossed-legged on the couch and instead I will need to use our new recliners and keep my feet up all night. Funny thing, though...shoe shopping. Scott, my wonderful husband, took a half day yesterday to spend with me before I start my new job and we completed our baby registry. But he also took me shoe shopping. I ended up with 3 pairs of Dr. Scholls shoes! Normally, I wear an 8 wide or an 8 1/2 regular, depending on the shoe style. Yesterday, with swollen feet in tow, I fit into 9 1/2 wide! That's my new shoe size for the next 4 months! But I now have sneakers I can wear and 2 pairs of dressier shoes for work. This baby is worth the sacrifice all the way, though. :)

JOBS, continuation

I have been officially offered 3 jobs: ESPN, Travelers, and The Hartford. I declined ESPN a couple weeks ago after a large internal debate because it would have been a far drive and only contract work for 1 year. Then, i sat in wait for 2 very long weeks for Travelers and The Hartford to get back to me and hopefully offer me a job. The Hartford was my top choice, but I wasn't theirs. Travelers came back to me within a week of my second interview and offered me a job, paying me an extra 2k annually than originally offered because I stood up for myself this time around. (Travelers is a great company, but I have to pay for my own parking in the city, which will cost me 2k per year.) The next day, The Hartford finally came back and offered me a job. After many, many, many tears, I have decided to work for Travelers. I start on Monday, the 29th, and I am excited to have a stable position close to home. It was very difficult turning down the offer from The Hartford as they were my first choice for the past 5 long weeks. But in the end, it felt like Travelers was the job for me, despite a less flexible work schedule and a costly parking experience. I felt really comfortable at The Hartford and they have a wonderful flexible schedule that would have allowed me to work from home on occasion. But in the end, I realized that The Hartford didn't want me as much as I wanted them, and being 5 months pregnant, I needed to be in a place where I could "make my case" so that my pregnancy wasn't seen as an issue. And the benefits at Travelers is kick ass. It starts day 1, I get an awesome maternity leave, and I get 20 days off a year, which is unheard of for the first year of working. So I'm very excited, and very nervous. New jobs always suck at first but it's still exciting.

BOYS

OK, for those of you who are shy, you may not want to read this. I'm carrying the 14th zillion boy baby in our family. I think Leslie is the only one in a long line of pregnancies to have had a girl on the Pelletier side of my family. There was Brian, Eric, David, Mark, Cameron, Aidan, Devon, Ari, and then Mallory, then Lincoln, and lastly Jack. I think that covers it. That's a LOT of boy babies. And I am carrying a boy as well. As much as I was secretly hoping for a girl, I am thrilled beyond belief to be having this baby boy. He wasn't behaving for the ultrasound technician yesterday, but he behaved perfectly for his mama! He spread his legs wide for all to see his big baby penis. Even an untrained eye like myself could tell he's a boy! His little heart was beating and he was moving lots and lots, and he's got arms and legs and little fingers and toes. It was so darn amazing! And though boys are cheap in my family (a poker reference, people!), this baby boy is so damn precious to his mama. We are still working on names...suggestions are welcome!

October already...

Is anyone else surprised that it's October and the holiday season is just about here already? Soon, I will be as big as an elephant and I'll be wrapping xmas gifts! And here in CT, its humid and 86 degrees out! Not the kind of weather that screams Halloween for sure.