The Baldwin Experience: My Journey Through Life

To preface this story I think it’s important for you to get a feel for my regular movie taste. Here are some favorites, to name a few: Shawshank Redemption, Crash, Garden State, Fargo, Being John Malkovich, Donnie Darko, Rules of Attraction, City of God, Vanilla Sky, A Few Good Men… Not exactly walks in the park. I like drama, action, a twisting plot, etc. Quinn is in Ann Arbor this weekend “tailgating” with the boys and I thought I would schedule a particularly adventurous Friday and rent some movies. Looking over my selection: Sex and the City, Made of Honor, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and What Happens in Vegas…… WHAT?!?!?!? These four movies epitomize chick flicks. I have either lost my marbles or I’m highly hormonal, and I am pretty sure it’s the latter! The funny thing is, I didn't even think about it until I was checking out and the cashier said, “Wow, it looks like an exciting weekend for you”. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but I laughed… and laughed and laughed....

It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful the fall is in Michigan. Crisp leaves with a million colors, football, hot apple cider and hot chocolate, taking walks, wearing jeans and hooded sweatshirts... Michigan gets a bad wrap because of the abnormally long winters. Also, most people that aren't from Michigan seem to have only visited the Detroit area. I apologize if you are from Detroit as I have no intentions of offending, but there is SO much more to MI than that! We have the Great Lakes, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Grand Traverse Bay (Traverse City is the cherry capital), the upper peninsula with Pictured Rocks, Drummond Island, Petosky, Mackinac Island, Saugatuck, Grand Haven, South Haven... It is a BEAUTIFUL state! The key to a long, cold winter is this: find activities you enjoy, inside and out. I like downhill and cross country skiing, making snowmen (or is it PC to say "snow people" now?), snow angels, ice skating, knitting, watching movies and snuggling. OH, and in my...

Well, it's official... I have a baby in my belly!!!!!!!!! Not quite my belly ;-), but you get the picture! I had a great ultrasound... They found the baby right away, and the heart is beating 165 times/minute. They measured its size and I am exactly where I thought I was: 8 weeks! The due date is May 23, 2009. As all parents who have had an ultrasound know, it is quite an amazing experience to see the "bean", and the heart fluttering like butterfly wings! It makes everything "real". It's also amazing to know that something so small can make me pee so much! The doc came in and reviewed all the pictures. He said that everything looked great, my blood test results were right where they should be, and that I am as "healthy as a horse". FANTASTIC!!

My first ultrasound is Friday!!! Only two more days... We had our initial consultation last week; Quinn and I talked with the nurse for about 1.5 hours, and I think I still had questions when we left. They took seven vials of blood to check "my levels" and I should know how everything looks by Friday. I am a big fan of http://www.babycenter.com/ . It is a great resource for the "inquisitive" like me. I am now 7.5 weeks along. My "little bean" has doubled in size since last week and is about the size of a blueberry... It doesn't seem like much, I know. The picture above shows about what the bean looks like right now -- a little more like a sea creature than a person at this point, but she'll lose her tail! ;-) The biggest symptom I am experiencing: EXTREME fatigue! I feel like I could fall asleep mid-sentence! My thoughts are jumbled and I'm all over the place! But hey , my body has been busy this week building a pancreas and an appendix -- n...

Last weekend Quinn and I attended the Festival of the Pines... This is a big event in our home town. There is a lumberjack breakfast, bingo, ax cutting and sawing competitions, and a HUGE beer tent. We've had it planned to go to this, but as you can imagine I was nervous about being in that "environment" for the first time after learning of our big news! We met my best friend and her boyfriend in the morning and started our day. Someone suggested bloody marys and the next thing I know I am sneaking over to the bartender asking for "virgins". Then bingo at the tent (and yes, it's "beer bingo"). Poor Quinn was drinking mine AND his as to avoid any question. After many circumstances like I just mentioned, including a wedding reception we attended after daytime festival festivities, we HAD to tell at least our immediate families as well as my best pal. The truth is, I don't know when I think it is appropriate to tell people you are pregnant. I know...

It was the funniest thing... Last weekend I opened a can of Monster (the sugar-free kind, as if that makes it better ;-)) and nearly spit it out. It was Sunday, my regular grocery day at Meijer and I was a little tired from the LONG day before of watching football. I thought a Monster would help. Instead of the instant caffeine buzz I am used to and the taste I normally don't mind, it was absolutely repulsive. Hmmm, what could be the reason for this change?! Did the company change the formula? Was there something wrong with that particular "energy" drink? Was my taste in beverages changing? Was I... LATE?! I also had a similar reaction to coffee the day before... Sure, there were other pregnancy "symptoms", but the most prevalent were smells (mostly bad) and taste. As most of our close friends and family know, Quinn and I had a miscarriage last March. We have come to terms with what happened and in some ways are grateful for the experience; certainly not...