It's a GREAT day in Oregon for EQUALITY!

Yesterday, two civil rights bills passed in the Oregon House.  SB2 will ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in areas such as employment, housing, public accommodation and public education and HB 2007 which will create a new statute in Oregon law, separate from Oregon's marriage statutes, to provide same-sex couples with Domestic Partnerships. These Domestic Partnerships provide Oregon's same-sex couples and their families with many of the basic protections, rights, and responsibilities under state law, currently only afforded through a marriage contract.

Unfortunately I was unable to go to Salem for this historic moment, but I did read the blog updates from two area bloggers reporting on the debate throughout the day.  This is a huge moment in Oregon because for one, SB2 has been in the legislature four times in 34 years.  Here's a press release from the Speaker of the House Jeff Merkley.

http://www.leg.state.or.us/press_releases/merkley_041707.pdf

 

Here's a couple of statements from the debate that impacted me.  These are taken from Amy Ruiz who was blogging for the Portland Mercury at http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com

10:54am—Rep. Chip Shields, Northeast Portland's Democrat, says this moment "is bittersweet."

"Let's be clear. This is not equality. Not even close." Oregon couples would still be denied "over 1200 rights" afforded by federal law. The DPs aren't portable. And couples would be denied "access to full equality that is marriage itself."

Looking back, he thinks the legislators will be "pained by our ignorance." It upsets him to vote for this bill, but he will—because it's an advance on the road to equality. "I will continue to advocate for full equality under the law." 

 

 

 

11:01am—Democratic Rep. Sara Gelser, a "married mother of four, a Christian, a youth pastor," is standing up to support this bill.

Her daughter's godmother was in a car wreck—the woman's partner had to call their attorney before she could head to the hospital to make medical decisions, then she called Gelser. Doctors told them everyone had to leave except for family. Then they told her partner and Gelser to take the woman home—her arms were still filled with glass, she was in pain, she was in no shape to leave. "If I had been laying in that hospital room, my husband would have been there, able to say 'we're not taking her home.'"

"These are the protections that people who are in committed, loving, gay and lesbian relationships need," Gelser says. "We aren't legislating families or creating new families. Families exist. Soccer games happen, bills are paid... these families will continue regardless of this law. Our families operate on a power greater than the law... What we are doing today is protecting the abilities of families that already exist to be next to each other in the times that matter most."

Both of these bills are now going to the Senate.  SB2 already passed the senate but there were amendments made so the amendments have to be voted on.  HB2007 will move to the Senate for a committee hearing and the to the floor vote.  Both of these bills are expected to pass the Senate.  When that happens, they will go to the Governor to sign and he has pledged to sign both of these bills.

YEAH FOR OREGON!!!

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Check-up is All Good

We had our doctor check-up last night, they are such brief visits.  The doctor measured my belly, it's normal, we heard Cooper's heartbeat, it's strong and loud.  We're going to schedule another ultrasound at our next visit in a month to check on Cooper's kidneys. 

I took the glucose test to check for gestational diabetes.  You have to drink this orange drink type thing within five minutes (I did it in 2 because I was being competitive!!) and then wait an hour and have your blood drawn.  My glucose is fine, within normal range.  They also looked at my bloodcount, which is slightly low, my doctor said normal for pregnancy.  So I'm healthy and Cooper's healthy.

We talked with the doctor about circumcision and are still deciding about whether or not to have the procedure. 

That's it, our next appointment is in May, I'll be 31 weeks.  I'm almost to the third trimester, I have one more week in the euphoric second trimester.

 

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There's my brother.

 

Jeff home from Japan

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Yukon tired after chasing the ball

 

Where's that ball

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Another Bad Dream (Make that two)

Last night I had the most horrible dream.  I was up most of the night tossing and turning and I guess able to dream as well.  I dreamt that Sharon died.  I had this dream twice last night.  The first time I woke up in hysterics and fortunately Sharon was home to comfort me.  She hugged me and told me she was right here.  I was sobbing in my dream, screaming no, it was awful.  I kept telling the doctor that she's only 44.  Oh, it was terrible.  The second time I dreamt that she died I don't remember as much what happened.  That first one was so vivid and frightening.

Also, I had a dream, last week on Thursday night.  I had the day off Friday and Sharon called me at 5:52am.  I was still in my dream and she just left me, so when she called I told her she just left me and that it was awful and Holly and Angie were pissed that she left without saying anything.  She bolted-didn't tell me anything, just left me and Cooper.  It was so bad.  So I was quite upset.  I was telling my chiropractor later that morning and I was in tears talking about it..

These dreams are so vivid and I'm remembering them and they are tragic!!!  Pregnancy hormones are not a friend of mine.

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Lamaze

We had our first lamaze class last night.  There were four couples total in the class, which is nice and small.  It was a good class, we learned some things we didn't know and started this thing called belly mapping.  That was pretty cool, and Sharon could mostly tell that his feet were up near my ribs.  The idea is to figure out what position the baby is in by touching your belly.  I've been convinced that one of Cooper's body parts is hitting my ribs because I'm in a lot of pain up there.  So we palpated and the instructor came by to see if she could tell.  She thinks Cooper is in a posterior position (not optimal for birth but he still has plenty of time to move to the anterior position).  So posterior is his head is down near the birth canal and he's facing my abdomen, his feet are near my ribs and possibly hooked on one.  So the kicks/hits I feel on my bladder are his hands as he's reaching up to his head or sucking his thumb.  There is a lot of empty space in the middle of my belly - when he turns, I should be able to feel his shoulder or butt.  So, I've been trying to move him by sitting forward.  I don't think he's moved yet and if he has my ribs are still sore and will continue to be for awhile because of the pressure.

I like the class because it takes more of the fear of labor out of the picture.  The instructor is taught by a Doula with Mothertree Services and she's really intelligent and has good information.  She's been to over 100 births, has two babies of her own and has information for hospital births and home births.  She's a great resource and will be really helpful from now until I give birth and after for that matter.

It was also great to bond with Sharon.  We did some massages, where the partner massages the mama and that was nice to incorporate touch and get in tune with each other.  So much emphasis is on the baby that is was great to bring us together and do things to support one another. 

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NO Sleep

I am not sleeping, I've had multiple tossing and turning nights this week.  I'm going on 25 weeks and I know this is only going to get worse so I'm feeling distraught.  The bed is not comfortable for me.  My hips hurt when I sleep on my side, I can't sleep on my back or my stomach.  I have multiple pillows in the bed, two body pillows and a smaller cylinder pillow.  I have one to rest my head on and one more just in case I need it in the middle of the night somewhere.  I'm almost ready to sleep sitting up on the couch or chair thinking I may get a better sleep.  I'm not waking up to go to the bathroom or any other reason than I just can't get comfortable.

We've been looking at getting a tempur-pedic mattress, maybe we'll get one sooner rather than later.

 

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Pics of Dresser and Amanda at 24 weeks

24 Weeks

 

 

Cooper's Dreser 2

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The Kicks

Well Cooper kicked his mom, Sharon, in the face this weekend as she was singing to him.  His kicks are stronger now and she can feel him a lot more.  He was doing a jig in my belly during the song and then kicked her right in the face.  It was pretty funny, he's still laying/playing with my bladder which continues to be an uncomfortable feeling. 

I was pretty moody this weekend, just blah, didn't have much spunk in my step.  We did go to an excellent play Friday night and had a good time with friends.  Saw some friends we haven't seen in a long time.  Saturday and Sunday were the blah days.  

We did buy a dresser for Cooper and Sharon stained it this weekend.  I will have to take a picture of it.  It's nice/simple, matches the crib and we can put a changing pad on top of it. 

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Emotional

It's been happening a lot lately, the crying.  I am crying at most everything.  Sharon's been out of town for two weeks and I called her the other night crying because I miss her so much!  These emotions just come and I've been trying to honor them.  Someone told me to just let it out it will feel good-well I'm letting it out all the time.  I wonder if this will subside anytime soon.

 

Here's what came across my email the other day and yes, brought me to tears again.

“Let the world unfold without always attempting to figure it all out. Let relationships just be, since everything is going to stretch out in Divine order. Don’t try so hard to make something work—simply allow. Don’t always toil at trying to understand your mate, your children, your parents, your boss, or anyone else because the Tao is working at all times.” — Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

 

 

 

 

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This is funny!

Things you'll never want to see again when this pregnancy is all over
• Saltines
• Your maternity "lingerie"
• The inside of your own belly button
• Your OB's scale
• The word "Kegel"

 

 

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Peace

Cooper and I went to our first Peace march yesterday afternoon.  I was originally downtown to have coffee with Susan who was planning on rollerblading through the march.  While we were drinking our coffee in a coffeeshop, we saw these anarchist marchers walking down the street with the police next to them.  So I became intrigued and decided to go with Susan to the march grounds and check it out.  Wow, there were so many people there.  We listened to the speakers and cheered on the Corvallis cheerleaders (they were funny with spirit)!  Once the march started we decided to march to my car which was along the parade route and fell in among some percussionists, which was awesome because Cooper was able to hear the beating of drums which his uncle believes will be his calling!

It was a peaceful march while I was there, I saw later on the news that the police had a run-in with a crowd of anarchists, I'm sure they were the same ones that I saw in the beginning. 

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6:00 AM

After missing my appointment twice last week, I was actually able to get my pregnant body up and out the door to be at the gym by 6am yesterday.  It was a good workout session too, what I'm enjoying about it is that 1. the gym is not that croweded at 6am and 2. that I am not sore after working out-unless I do a lot of squats. When I was doing strength training before I was pregnant I could feel the workout for the next couple of days.  I think it helps to have a trainer show you what to do because I am exerting myself but I'm not flying through each piece of equipment.  The goal isn't to do the repetitions as fast as you can, it's to create resistance and slow, even movement. I have one more session left in my free package and that's for Sunday evening, then I have to get up on my own and get to the gym.  Hopefully I will be motivated to do that twice a week.

Aside from going to the gym, I've been walking my dogs most evenings after work.  I take them up to a field to play ball and then if I don't have to go to the bathroom super badly, I will walk with them for 20-30 mins.  The walks are good, although I am experiencing a lot more shortness of breath.  From my house it's pretty much uphill everywhere I go with Mt. Tabor being the destination point so I am huffing it up those hills these days.

 

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22 Weeks

It's hard to believe that I'm past the halfway mark in this pregnancy!  I actually look pregnant now and I know this because people are starting to ask me how far along I am, etc.  It's exciting and different.  My body is definetely adjusting to Cooper, I feel short of breath most of the time, I notice that I don't have much of a torso-a belly and a chest, that's about it, and my legs can feel the extra weight because I'm getting lots and lots of leg cramps.  Although, I recently read that my back is actually absorbing the extra weight and it comes out through my legs in cramps-at night while sleeping....Note to self, don't stretch at any point during the night or you risk pointing your toes and getting a leg cramp. 

I can feel Cooper a lot more now too.  He is an active guy-espcially at night, right before and during my sleep.  Not only are the leg cramps waking me up at night, he's already waking me up with his kicking and I'm waking up because I'm terribly uncomfortable flopping from my left side to my right side.  I guess this is going to only get worse. 

I am totally enjoying being pregnant, it is such an amazing experience and fun to see the developing baby through my developing belly.

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Shopping Shopping Shopping

Wow, what a weekend.  We were on a buying frenzy which is good because soon we'll be on a buying freeze.  We bought some more appliances for our kitchen that we've been wanting and then we bought a bunch of baby stuff including a CRIB!  We went to Babies r' Us and decided to register and while we were waiting for the scan gun we stumbled upon a crib that we've looked at before that we didn't really like.  Well this time, we LOVED it.  Maybe it was the price we loved.  We bought the Delta Luv Jenny Lind style crib.  It's a honey wood color and it's perfect for us.  We also bought a sheet set that go with the jungle animals Auntie Sonya bought Cooper for Christmas.  It is so cute, we are very excited.  I put all of Coop's toys in the crib and any other clothes or books we've bought for him too.

After we were done scanning our life away at Babies r' Us, the next day we went to Target and bought some more things and later registered there too, in case some people found Target a more convienent place to shop.  The cool thing about Target's registry is that we were able to label who we are in relation to the baby...so it says Mother, Amanda and Mother Sharon.  Love that.

 

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Bubbles Bursting

I've officially started feeling Cooper kicking in my belly.  I started feeling him on the flight home from Florida.  It feels like bubbles, bubbles bursting.  It's sort of a weird feeling at first.  I've heard it described as gas or indigestion...I've never experienced that which is also why I know that it's Cooper.  It's like a lava lamp with the bubbles gurgling up to the top.  It's funky.  I get really excited when I feel it, which is normally when I'm sitting down not doing much (watching a movie on the airplane, working at my desk, etc.)  Pretty cool stuff

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Gym

Sharon and I recently cancelled our gym membership at 24 Hour based on the simple fact that we don't go to the gym.  And, because I'm pregnant, my theory is that we won't go when the baby is born.  Well, even though we cancelled we can still use the gym unitl March/April, so we went last night with some friends.  When we got there Sharon wanted to ask if there were any membership specials going on.  She had a hard time cancelling the membership in the first place so you can appreciate her asking.  So we talked with a membership counselor guy, BIG JOHN, he is big, who recently lost 240 pounds (he showed us pictures).  We decided we would talk it over while we worked out.  I swam and Sharon lifted weights with our friend.  Well, when we met up again she said we should join.  We were going to do the prepaid membership where you pay for 3 years and then the renewal after the 3 years is 49 a month.  Good deal really. 

As we were leaving we decided to sign back up!  With that membership now, we get 5 free sessions with a personal trainer too. Well, I was the bright one last night at 8pm to schedule my first session this morning at 6am!!!!  Whew hew, nothing like getting up and getting going.  It was a good time.  She had me doing weights and talking about my dogs to keep me motivated.  I'm pretty sore now and feel like I had a full day and it's only 9am. 

I do like the Hollywood 24 Hour, it's a nice facility and clean.  Busy though, busy all the time especially after work.  This morning there were people there but you could get on any machine you wanted so that's good.

 

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Join Vox!

In order to see Cooper as he grows and here about everything he is up to, you have to set up an account.  Joining Vox is free so what are your waiting for?

Amanda

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IT'S A BOY!!

Baby Cooper

Well, we are having a boy.  We had the sonogram yesterday.  I was so excited about finding out the gender I didn't realize how much stuff they look at and measure doing those things.  We were looking at him for an hour, while the tech was pointing things out and measuring his head, his legs, his arms, looking at his hands, his feet, his brain, his heart, his spine.  We looked at his stomach, his kidneys, his bladder, his eye sockets.  It was amazing.

That little guy is moving like crazy.  Sharon couldn't believe that I can't feel any of his movements yet.  He was a maniac.  On his back, on his front, sideways, moving his legs, kicking, waving, it looked like he was chewing gum too.  The tech was awesome, she took so many pictures, we have hand pics, feet pics, profiles, and yep even one of his privates (with an arrow)!! 

The doctor came in and said everything looks normal and they moved my due date up to July 9th.  So hey, maybe it really will be a Cancer baby!! 

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Nightmares

I have had several nightmares recently.  The major scary one was when I killed two people (husband and wife).  I didn't know who they were at first.  I killed them with a lava lamp.  I tried to make it look like the husband killed the wife, the police bought it at first.  Then they saw me kick the wife in the head.  I woke up in the middle of the night, tried to get the dream out of my head and was unsuccessful.  Later that night, I dreamed that the husband and wife were swimming in the ocean-ALIVE and that the wife was my good friend.  Pretty freaky dream.

I also had a dream that a Venezuelan boy was shooting darts at my face.  My most recent dream I was smoking cigarattes while pregnant.  Sharon and Angie were telling me I shouldn't be smoking and I told them I didn't care that it wouldn't harm the baby.

Fortunately I recently read that many pregnant women have nightmares and they should go away after giving birth.  In the meantime, I've decided not to watch any Law and Order shows (my favorite) or read any thriller novels.  I'm watching lots of Children and Family movies, such as Homeward Bound and Shark Tale.

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