Airing of grievances

1. I had to call the insurance company today to ask a very simple question and I got caught in a hellish loop of voice-activated phone failure.

Phone:  If you are a customer, please say customer or use your keypad to enter --

Nico:  Mommy! What comes after C?

Phone:  I'm sorry, I did not understand. If you are a customer, please say --

Nico:  Mommy! Look! I'm doing this puzzle!

Phone:  Please say the five digit zip code or use your keypad to enter it.

Me:  *begins to type in zip code*

Nico:  *makes Ewok noises*

Phone:  I'm sorry, I did not understand. Please say the five digit zip code or --

Me:  Aargh! Nico, get off my toe!

Phone:  I'm sorry, I did not understand. Please say the five digit zip --

I finally just hit zero over and over until it patched me through to an actual person. It retrospect I can see the humor in it, but it made me so uncharacteristically cranky. And then the crankiness lingered all damn day, hence this post.


2. MB has had a cold for about a week now. He's actually been really great about it and hasn't been Man Colding around at all. He's been a big help with Nico in addition to work and his own stuff and trying to make progress on the baby's room. Nico got the cold on Friday and while he's doing better now he's been a little pitiful. And of course, OF COURSE, now my throat is sore and my sinuses are feeling iffy. Because the only thing better than being thirteen years pregnant is being thirteen years pregnant and unable to breathe through one's nose, right?


3. While it's true that I'm not terribly uncomfortable, I'm starting to get chub rub on my thighs and sometimes the thought of having to wear public-appropriate pants for eight more work days is nearly unbearable. (Waaah, waaah, waaah, I know.) With Nico I was off work for the last three weeks since I had vacation days to burn. This time I was (am) planning to work right up until the kid's born, though I'm contemplating asking MB if our budget can absorb me taking the last Friday off before my due date if I'm still pregnant by then. It would be nice to have one extra day to do something fun with Nico. While wearing yoga pants.


4. I know I'm only ("ONLY") 38 weeks, but I was hoping the OB would report some signs of progress at my checkup today. Alas, everything's still locked down. Intellectually I know it's possible to go from no news to hey it's a baby in less than a day, but I still feel like nooooothing is haaaappening.


Of course, my friend Clara says that babies are born when their mothers are cranky. If that's true, I suppose it's probably not so good that I still haven't finished packing my hospital bag. Not that I'm expecting anything soon. It's clear I'll be pregnant forever. FOREVER.


Reading:  Fifty Nests and the Birds That Built Them by Sharon Beals

Playing:  Prolonging the Magic by Cake