It’s been 5 weeks since we moved. Since the last time I wrote about Slope still stuck in our old backyard, she hadn’t been home…until today.

What happened was: we put up posters (once again, with a different cat this time…I actually used the same word document to make the poster and just switched up the picture and description). A week later, I got a couple of phone calls from people who have seen her in their yard but they said she’d always run away when they approach (but of course…Slope doesn’t even come to us even when we are at home armed with food). Caller 1 started to feed her regularly in hope that Slope would slowly approach their house and eventually walk in their door so we can go pick her up. A couple of weeks passed and still no Slope. Then Caller 2, who have been seeing Slope in her backyard on and off, called me a couple of weeks ago and said her friend is a vet and has a cat trap. It sounded like a perfect idea because Slope needs to be trapped. She is too skittish to be caught otherwise. So the plan was to tell Caller 1 not to feed Slope anymore so she’d be hungry enough to go to the trap.

Fast forward 2 weeks later, poor Caller 2 caught about 20 different cats and 2 squirrels (which were promptly released of course), and still no Slope. She said Slope was the smartest cat she’s seen…all other animals would just go into the trap without thinking but Slope will always be seen hovering around the trap. A few days ago, she apparently tentatively put her paws in the trap but withdrew immediately. Then she apparently learned to tread lightly enough to eat the food but not set off the trap. Bloody! My pussy’s so smart. Apparently there was another cat which kept running into the trap repeatedly, apparently never learning his lesson. ha! Finally last night, Caller 2 said she was going to loosen the trap door as much as she could so even a light touch would set it off (I think she did not want to trap rats previously).

At 930am, I woke up to a glorious phone call “we got your cat!”. I went over right away and poor Slope was looking filthy and scared. I brought her to the vet immediately who gave her shots and a flea treatment (I ain’t getting any more fleas in my new apartment!). Slope is now still in the cage for 24hrs while the flea treatment works (poor thing!). And she will be quarantined from the rest of the cats for 2 weeks and tested for possible diseases before she can hang out with her siblings again. Which is just as well because Zion is just waiting to terrorize her again.

I just can’t believe how lovely Caller 1 and 2 has been this past 5 weeks. They’d call me to check in with me about Slope’s situation. And all that effort in setting up the cat trap and trapping 22 animals before catching Slope. Of course, they have cats themselves (only cat people will understand what it’s like to be cat people). I’m just so appreciative of their efforts.

Never will I let my kitties be indoor-outdoor cats again. Reading at the vet’s about all the possible stuff they could pick up from being outside and interacting with strays just made it way too gross…I can’t believe I lived with all that possible crap exposure for 2 years. As well as the pain of possibly losing them like that.

Slope’s home!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYYYY!!!!!!!!

Your pregnancy: 19 weeks

How your baby’s growing:
Your baby’s sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don’t be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

How your life’s changing:
Think you’re big now? You’ll start growing even faster in the weeks to come. As a result, you may notice some achiness in your lower abdomen or even an occasional brief, stabbing pain on one or both sides — especially when you shift position or at the end of an active day. Most likely, this is round ligament pain. The ligaments that support your uterus are stretching to accommodate its increasing weight. This is nothing to be alarmed about, but call your practitioner if the pain continues even when you’re resting or becomes severe.

You may be noticing some skin changes, too. Are the palms of your hands red? Nothing to worry about — it’s from the extra estrogen. You may also have patches of darkened skin caused by a temporary increase in pigment. When these darker patches appear on your upper lip, cheeks, and forehead, they’re called chloasma, or the “mask of pregnancy.” You may also notice some darkening of your nipples, freckles, scars, underarms, inner thighs, and vulva. That darkened line running from your belly button to your pubic bone is called the linea nigra, or “dark line.”

These darkened spots will probably fade shortly after delivery. In the meantime, protect yourself from the sun, which intensifies the pigment changes. Cover up, wear a brimmed hat, and use sunscreen when you’re outdoors. And if you’re self-conscious about your “mask,” a little concealing makeup can work wonders.

Isn’t that picture of the baby the strangest picture ever? All twisted and cramped up like that. That really does not look comfy for Baby Chansidine. Speaking of, I fear that Baby Chansidine will be known as Baby Chansidine long after he/she is born…I’ve been using that term so much that I envision myself calling Baby Chansidine Baby Chansidine even after he/she has a name. “Baby Chansidine, get yer ass over here!” “Baby Chansidine, eat your food!”

I have felt the best I’ve had in the longest time. A few minutes of daily cuddly session with the hubby wrapping his arm over kellybelly has been awesome. Note to non-pregnant partners with pregnant partners: making your pregnant partner feel attractive, even as you secretly hope, gee I sure do hope that baby weight falls off!, while she’s growing to a size she has never been is pretty darn important. Respect. The. Belly! (sang to the tune of Tom Cruise’s Respect. The. Cock.)

2nd trimester totally rules! I am starting to get into the groove of this pregnant thing. There were the darkest moments in my 1st trimester where after throwing up for the 5th time before noon, and I was just laying in bed with sheer exhaustion that I wondered why on earth anyone wanted get pregnant….repeatedly. Now, I’m like, *phhhhssst*, I could do this again, no problem! Sure, there are bouts of indigestion every night, but nothing sitting up straight wouldn’t solve, better for my posture anyway. It feels like my skin has stretched (no stretch marks…yet….fingers crossed!) sufficiently to accomodate this extra belly and I’m getting used to the new equilibrium. I like having an actual belly, vs. just looking like I have some water retention. I like that friends come up and embrace my belly with that level of amazement one gives a growing belly. I’ve read that some women hate people touching their tummies. I don’t see why. It’s not like they are punching you in the stomach. I like when people touch and stroke my belly like they are caressing Baby Chansidine. I appreciate the love they give.

More importantly, I finally got clothes that FIT! I think that was the crucial step in the new comfort. I got maternity pants and new bras a long time ago, but given my hatred from shopping, I kept on procrastinating with buying new outfits. As of last week, I was literally down to 2 non-pyjama T-shirts that fit me – one of which is this FABULOUS Michael Jackson T-shirt Dominique gave me (I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this, Nique! Thanks!). It has a longer length than regular T-shirts and has a fitted yet stretchy tissue-y cotton material that I have begun to love (I never was a T-shirt kinda gal…until now). The other was this Brooklyn Industries T-shirt I got from Pat as a Christmas present last year. It feels the same as my MJ t-shirt.

So last Friday, I finally got my ass down to Motherhood Maternity again in search for new tops. It was pretty depressing. I thought the “maternity tops” were generally AWFUL. They were all cut way too big for my arms and generally had this pleated material that made me look bigger than I am. At this point, I really like more fitted tops that streamline the sillouette and show the belly off because I’m pregnant, not fat. I did buy 2 simple long tank tops that I could wear under a work jacket or go to yoga with. But other than that, it was a massive failure. So I just headed to Brooklyn Industries the next day and grabbed a couple of T-shirts (this and this) and effectively doubled the number of T-shirts I could wear to go out. Woohoo! I’m gonna stick to these long-ish stretchy cotton-y T-shirts for a while (which are not maternity so I can totally wear them post-baby) until I burst out of them.

My mom-in-law is in town and we went shopping (gasp! Kellykelly shopping! This is seriously the most shopping I’ve done in 4 years) for a crib. I know it’s way early for that, but my MIL wanted to get us a crib and she’s visiting now on the way to a Europe vacation and willl likely not be visiting till after Baby Chansidine is born. We went to Baby R Us in Union Square but didn’t see anything we liked and shopping there affirmed why I hated shopping. All that neon and florescent lights. The vast amounts of stuff stuff stuff. Sales people (who were really NOT helpful at all at Baby R Us). I got a bad headache being there for 20 minutes. But we did get a bedding we liked (I have decided to keep with a chocolate and green color theme – gendar neutral and earthy).

We went home and looked online for cribs and found a decent crib at Target. So on Sunday, we headed to Target and bought the Graco Lauren crib, a matching changing table and mattress. (Did you know that bedding costs more than the crib?) It’s fantastically priced with decent reviews. It’s still in boxes in Baby Chansidine’s room now, but I actually can’t wait to get it set up. Boy! Exciting. With the growing bump and a crib in the room, it’s almost like we are REALLY having a baby! Oh wait, we are!

Physically speaking, I feel wonderful. I don’t see any of the dark patches that Babycenter speak of…yet. That dark line down the belly is definitely starting to fade in though. Although I never had bad skin (thank you genes!) beyond the occassional zit over puberty, I was worried for vanity reasons how my skin would be like coming off the Pill and being pregnant. I had heard horror stories. But my skin hasn’t changed (phew!). In fact, in the past few days, I have noticed the skin on my cheeks feeling softer than ever before. I was totally enjoying stroking my own face last night cos it felt baby smooth. Mmmm hormonally soft skin…mmmmm…..

Your pregnancy: 18 weeks

How your baby’s growing:
Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He’s busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you’ll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they’re still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he’s born. If you’re having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you’re having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

How your life’s changing:
Hungry? An increase in appetite is pretty common about now. Make it count by choosing meals and snacks that are rich in nutrients instead of empty calories (chips, French fries, candy, and other sweets). Bigger, more comfortable clothes are a must now as your appetite and waistline grow.

D’oh. I’m pretty much a week late in posting. I’m gonna try to rewind how I felt last week so I can have something to write about tomorrow when Week 19 is due.

Week 18 has probably been one of the best for me so far physically. I have given up feeling like I should be eating more food than what my tummy tells me. That has helped that awful bloating feeling tremendously. I realize also that I shouldn’t be drinking too much water before or while I eat, because that just bloats me up. I’m also trying to add more calorie dense foods that will fill me up with calories and not bloat me up too much like fruit does or anything with lots of liquids. Like avocado. Oh man, avocado has been sooo yummy to me this week. It’s the weirdest thing ever. Because I used to detest avocados outside of, oh, say, that sliver in my California Roll. But now, I could eat it by itself, raw and by the spoonful.

It could also be my body getting used to that bump that is changing my equilibrium somewhat or that my skin and organs have stretched out sufficiently to accomodate that ALIEN CREATURE OF A BABY THAT IS GROWING INSIDE ME. I still can’t get over the fact that there’s a friggin’ HUMAN inside me. I probably won’t get over it until it gets squeezed out of my coochie and I go “WHOAH! YOU were in there the WHOLE TIME? GEEZUS!”

American Idol is picking up for me, as I had hoped. Mainly because we actually get to hear the contestants sing week after week and I can start to fall for one or have some fall out of favor for me. That’s the fun part!

So I never liked Adam Lambert. I thought he was too shrieky, too over-the-top for TV. But man, I just loved his Ring of Fire last night. Every shriek and every OTT movement, I loved. Kara took the words right out of my mouth, “it was strange, but I kinda liked it. It left me confused and sort of happy”. Even when I didn’t like him before, I always looked forward to what crazy stuff he’d do.

People that are fast falling out of my favor –
Danny Gokey (too much Jesus, can’t get that awful sobbing about his wife on TV out of my head)
Lil Rounds (she’s starting to sound really bland on the big stage)
Alexis Grace (her top 36 performance was awesome, but man, this and last week were really so-so)
Allison Iraheta (re: Alexis Grace. She sounds too old for her age, IMO, and at times, kinda like Miley Cyrus, which isn’t a good thing at all)
Michael Sarver (such a sweetheart, but *yawn*)
Scott MacIntyre (never liked him as a contestant. Yes, he’s sweet and blind, but I never thought his voice was all that great. If he wasn’t blind, he wouldn’t have gone so far on the show, IMHO).

Risers –
Kris Allen (I thought he’d be another boring pretty boy but he’s done pretty good performances so far and there’s something interesting about him that makes me wanna see how he’s gonna grow in this competition)
Matt Giraud (after that god-awful Coldplay song, there’s no place to go but up, to be honest. But I liked him from his rendition of Georgia and he’s bringing that side of him back again)
Anoop (he’s always seemed likeable, but his last couple of performances have been dangerously Sanjaya-cringe-worthy. But this week, he brought it. Yay ‘Noop-dawg!)
Megan Corkrey (there’s something about her that I really like. She’s amazingly pretty, yet her tattoos keep her from falling into dull-pretty. She’s quirky and different. Her voice is at times really cringe-worthy, but at times really lovely. With proper training and the right songs, she’d be great in the pop market in that Bjork-AmyWinehouse-LilyAllen realm)

Go Glambert!

Oh well, I guess this solves that dilemma. Even though the number of shows went from 10 to 50! I’ll just have to wait for the DVD.

Michael Jackson’s 50 dates at London’s O2 arena sell out
The King of Pop’s residency has completely sold out in just a few hours with fans snapping up more than a million tickets.

The one and only time I actually enjoyed listening to this godawful song. These kids are AWESOME! I wonder if it’s shot in Indonesia or Malaysia??

In case you had any doubt that people are born gay.

Your pregnancy: 17 weeks

How your baby’s growing:
Your baby’s skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she’s around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

How your life’s changing:
Starting to feel a bit off balance? As your belly grows, your center of gravity changes, so you may begin to occasionally feel a little unsteady on your feet. Try to avoid situations with a high risk of falling. Wear low-heeled shoes to reduce your risk of taking a tumble; trauma to your abdomen could be dangerous for you and your baby.

Last week, Babycenter said “get ready for a growth spurt”. Boy, were they right! There is no doubt in my mind that I am pregnant now! Sure, the pregnancy test and the ultrasound and hearing the heartbeat confirmed it, but those almost felt theoretical. And all those weeks of throwing up was an indication, but that could have been a stomach flu.

But I sure am pregnant pregnant now. In the last week, I have felt my belly grow significantly, and it seemed to have happened in the last 3 days or so. I’d always thought my pregnant belly will grow so gradually that I wouldn’t even notice the growth. But nope, not true. The belly popped out, it seemed, all of a sudden. And all of a sudden, I look pregnant.

It probably has to do with me (a) eating once again and (b) not puking (woohoo!! Life without puking RULES!). I am eating significantly larger amounts of food (or instead of eating for half like I am used to, I am eating for one. As Mike says, Kelly is now eating like an average human being), although I surprisingly don’t feel hungry much, as in the growl-in-the-stomach type of hungry. In fact, I actually feel full pretty much all the time. The indigestion is definitely still there and any food I eat seems to take 24 hours to digest. For the first time in my life, I know what heartburn feels like. And yet, when I start eating food, it’s like the BEST FOOD IN THE WORLD AND MY STOMACH IS A GLORIOUS BOTTOMLESS MACHINE OF DIGESTION! Until I stop eating and then I realize I ate too much and the bottomless machine of digestion was just an illusion. I then groan for about an hour after each meal waiting for the food to leave my esophagus. Only I don’t seem to be learning from experience and continue to consume food in my next meal.

And I hate to admit this: while I know some people say pregnant women look more glowing and beautiful, softer round the edges (in fact, I have said it myself about my pregnant friends. Some, not all, of them really do look better being a little more rounded and fleshy), I am already missing my pre-pregnant body. Not that it was much to look at in the first place, but I liked feeling light and flexible and having clothes fit me bra-less. Right now, bending over to put my boots on in the morning already makes me feel like I am balancing a watermelon between my thigh and torso. And I swear, I already have a little bit of waddle in my walk.

But those are mere minor complains really. Other than that, I continue to feel great. It is a good thing that the Creator makes most pregnant women feel the crappiest in the first trimester, because any discomforts that come* with getting bigger seem to pale in comparison with the MASSIVE TORTURE that was the first trimester.

Emotionally, I just feel fantastic, which is nothing unusual; I tend not to get emotionally turbulent for more than a few hours anyway. I was a little nervous about being pregnant and all they say about hormones making you cuckoo bananas. But fingers crossed, I feel emotionally the same person and I sure hope it stays that way.

I’m just looking so forward to meeting my baby. And it’s so fun feeling like there’s this BEST BIRTHDAY (literally!) PRESENT IN THE WORLD! coming our way in August. I’m not so naive to think that having a child will be all daisies and fairies, but right now, I feel like we will be able to take whatever challenges that head our way with a child. I’ll be first to admit that this sounds absolutely mawkish, but every day with my husband, since the day we met, is just a special day. But just when I think it couldn’t get any better, this period just magnifies special into super-duper special (I’m so eloquent). It’s such a special, special time for the Chansidines right now. Everything we do seems to have an added meaning. It already feels like there are the 3 of us. And it feels kinda really awesome.

* Cavaet: I may totally change my mind when I am 30 pounds heavier.

My maternal karma just took 2 steps backward for bursting out laughing at this, because thou really shalt not judge. But I read this on a baby forum this morning and just can’t help posting this here.

“We have our names picked out If it’s a girl she’s going to be Palin Michelle- I love love love Sarah Palin and my middle name is Michelle.
If it’s it’s a boy it’s going to be Balin Markus- db found Balin in a baby book we have and we both instantly fell in love with it and db’s name is Mark and that’s how we came up with Markus.”

Balin and Palin! Rhymes with Nailin’ Palin!

And yes, it’s no secret that I’m totally biased because I think Palin represents the side of America that I can’t stand.

Update: someone on the forum just reminded the lady that Balin is the name of a dwarf in The Hobbit.

Just when my last 2 posts were about Michael Jackson and American Idol, I just learned that it’s gonna be Michael Jackson week on American Idol next week. Hee hee! OW!

There are plenty of important things in the world to write about. Like the financial meltdown. The soaring unemployment rate in America. Or Chris Brown beating up Rihanna. But I’m gonna talk about American Idol.

This season is really annoying me so far. I hate the new format (3 rounds of 12, top 3 moves on, wild card). I hate it that you don’t get to see performers change it up or grow as the weeks go by. By the time we get to the top 12, I still don’t really know what the contestants are about, particularly those who were not given much prior exposure. I hate it that the producers seem to have a more heavy hand in picking their favorites. Especially coming out of arguably my favorite season last year (David Cook…I still *drool* you), no one has stood out for me.

Although I have to say that I never really get into each season until the top 10 or so, because prior to that, there are just too many weeds in the bunch to fast-forward through. And I didn’t even like David Cook (not even his Hello performance, which was really pitchy) until after Billie Jean and particularly after Little Sparrow when they gave him a haircut.

Oh well, we’ll see.

I actually do like the new judge Kara though. She’s given more constructive criticism than the rest of the bunch (oh, Paula, I’m looking at you).