24 Weeks

How Far Along:  24 weeks

Baby Size: About the size of a cantaloupe.

Total Weight Gain: 12lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Still wearing both maternity and non maternity.

Stretch Marks: No not yet.

Sleep:  Sleeping like a baby. Well not a newborn, I’ve heard they don’t sleep very well at all J I got a Snoogle body pillow for Mother’s Day and it’s amazing!

Best Moment of the week: Walking out of my last final exam.

Miss Anything?: Not really.

Movement:  Lots of movement now.

Food Cravings: Nothing specific.

Anything Making you queasy or sick: No.

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs:  No.

Symptoms: Heartburn L

Belly Button in or out: In but getting flatter.

Wedding Rings on or off: On.

Mood: Good.  I’m still feeling great.

Looking forward to:  Relaxing and working on getting the nursery done now that finals are over.

Exercise:  The last couple weeks have been hard because we have been so busy. Moving, Finals, Mother’s Day, Birthdays, etc etc etc.  I miss my workouts.  Getting back on track now. Worries: I still have a high level of amniotic fluid.  The baby was cleared of any swallowing issues, which is a relief, but I have not had my glucose test yet.

Goodbye to Our 2nd Home

Well, we are on to our 3rd apartment.  We are slowly making upgrades as we keep moving but I hope we can stay put for a while since we will have our hands full with the new baby.  As of now the plan is to stay here until we can buy something and that is going to be a while.

In the new house, Cody gets his own backyard and I don't have to deal with the up and down stairs.  We also have a garage now which is a total game-changer.  No more surfboards in the bedroom/livingroom/anywhere they will fit.  I think we are going to like it here :)

22 Weeks

How Far Along:  22 weeks

Baby Size: About the size of a papaya.

Total Weight Gain: Still don’t have a scale so I will know at my 24 week appointment.

Maternity Clothes: Still wearing both maternity and non maternity.

Stretch Marks: No not yet.

Sleep: I am still sleeping well.  I feel like I got lucky because people keep asking me about it like I should be sleeping terribly.

Best Moment of the week: Getting into our new apartment.  I love a fresh start.

Miss Anything?: Not really this week.

Movement:  She’s moving all the time now.

Food Cravings: I have had a couple of weird cravings but as soon as I eat what I was craving it satisfies it and they don’t come back.  But isn’t that just normal?

Anything Making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs:  No.

Symptoms: Sciatica might be coming back.  I had it at weeks 7 and 8 and it was really bad but now it’s on the other side and really faint.  I hope it stays that way J

Belly Button in or out: In but getting flatter.

Wedding Rings on or off: On.

Mood: Great.  I obviously consider myself lucky (I named my blog after it) but really I almost feel bad when I’m talking to other pregnant friends.  I sleep great, my skin and hair have never looked better, I feel healthy and strong, I haven’t had one second of morning sickness, and I haven’t had to really limit myself in any way.  I don’t drink or eat foods I’m not supposed to but I don’t miss all of that very much.  Maybe I’m just one of those people who was made for this?  Maybe I just got lucky so far and with this pregnancy?  I don’t know but I’m very grateful for it J (I really hope I haven’t just jinxed myself for the next pregnancy)

Looking forward to: The new nursery.  We have officially moved but the new house is still a huge mess.  After I get organized it’s on to the nursery.  We are so fortunate to have friends with great taste that keep gifting us their old furniture so we have a crib and changing table already.

Exercise:  Moving means I leave behind our private gym in the complex we lived in.  I will have to be more disciplined and get in my car and drive to the gym but I have been enjoying my workouts so much that hopefully this won’t be a problem.  Also it was nice to not have to worry about unsolicited advice while I worked out and now that might be a new pet peeve.

Gabby

This little lady has been around since I was 18.  She was the queen of my mom's house.  When we lived together we would have-it-out just like real sisters.  She was stubborn and so am I.  But even though we sometimes had our differences she was truly an adorable fluffy little fur ball and we will all miss her so much.  

RIP Gabby (aka Gabbster aka Gremlin aka Princess Pea)

Refreshing Summer Salad

This is the best and easiest go-to summer salad.  It has become a staple at book club c/o Connie.  

• Arugula
• Pomegranate seeds
• Feta Cheese (don't worry I'm always careful to use pasteurized cheese)
• Trader Joe's Goddess dressing 

20 Weeks

How Far Along:  20 weeks

Baby Size: About the size of a banana.

Total Weight Gain: 8lbs  Right on track :)

Maternity Clothes: I’m wearing both maternity and non maternity.

Stretch Marks: Nope.

Sleep: I am still sleeping well.  Really trying to stay off my back now that I’m getting bigger.

Best Moment of the week: Kyle got to feel her kicking.  It happened in Hawaii out of nowhere.  Just one day you couldn’t feel it and the next you could.  Amazing.

Miss Anything?: Not really missing anything right now.  Maybe just the ability to quickly and fully bend forward.  Picking things up off the floor at work is getting more uncomfortable.  Not painful, just feels weird.

Movement:  I feel movement all the time now.  Still not very strong though.

Food Cravings: Not really.

Anything Making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs:  No.

Symptoms: I don’t know if this is a symptom or not but the weather has been really nice and I seem to get tan like nothing.  Maybe hormonal?

Belly Button in or out: In.

Wedding Rings on or off: On.

Mood: Good.  Hawaii really relaxed some of my anxieties.

Looking forward to: Planning the nursery in our new apartment.

Exercise:  Working out regularly now and loving it. It’s been easier to eat healthier now also. Babymoon: Hawaii was exactly what we needed and I survived the flight.  It actually wasn’t that bad at all. Pet Peeve: Strangers, particularly customers, touching me.  Really people. STOP awkwardly rubbing my belly. For random strangers or acquaintances I just pull away from them or grab/rub their bellies, this really gets their attention so I think it’s funny, but with customers I’m stuck because I need their tip to pay my rent.  So annoying. Scary: I had a higher level of amniotic fluid and my baby was also on the higher side in her weight. The doctor said this is normal and we will check it in another ultrasound at my next appointment but I couldn't help but Google both of these things and the common factor is Diabetes!!! I was already a little afraid of this since I have a serious sweet tooth and a little bit of a family history.  I'm trying not to overreact and have decided to change up my diet just in case.  It can't hurt to limit the sweets anyway right?

Delta Gamma

I recently I read online about a letter circulating the internet from a Delta Gamma president to her sisters.  It is atrocious.  I got it from gawker.com and they changed the authors name for privacy. 

Here it is:
**If you prefer a funnier take on the whole thing, you can listen to Michael Shannon read the letter on Funny or Die.**

If you just opened this like I told you to, tie yourself down to whatever chair you're sitting in, because this email is going to be a rough fucking ride.

For those of you that have your heads stuck under rocks, which apparently is the majority of this chapter, we have been FUCKING UP in terms of night time events and general social interactions with Sigma Nu. I've been getting texts on texts about people LITERALLY being so fucking AWKWARD and so fucking BORING. If you're reading this right now and saying to yourself "But oh em gee Julia, I've been having so much fun with my sisters this week!", then punch yourself in the face right now so that I don't have to fucking find you on campus to do it myself.

I do not give a flying fuck, and Sigma Nu does not give a flying fuck, about how much you fucking love to talk to your sisters. You have 361 days out of the fucking year to talk to sisters, and this week is NOT, I fucking repeat NOT ONE OF THEM. This week is about fostering relationships in the greek community, and that's not fucking possible if you're going to stand around and talk to each other and not our matchup. Newsflash you stupid cocks: FRATS DON'T LIKE BORING SORORITIES. Oh wait, DOUBLE FUCKING NEWSFLASH: SIGMA NU IS NOT GOING TO WANT TO HANG OUT WITH US IF WE FUCKING SUCK, which by the way in case you're an idiot and need it spelled out for you, WE FUCKING SUCK SO FAR. This also applies to you little shits that have talked openly about post gaming at a different frat IN FRONT OF SIGMA NU BROTHERS. Are you people fucking retarded? That's not a rhetorical question, I LITERALLY want you to email me back telling me if you're mentally slow so I can make sure you don't go to anymore night time events. If Sigma Nu openly said "Yeah we're gonna invite Zeta over", would you be happy? WOULD YOU? No you wouldn't, so WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO IT TO THEM?? IN FRONT OF THEM?!! First of all, you SHOULDN'T be post gaming at other frats, I don't give a FUCK if your boyfriend is in it, if your brother is in it, or if your entire family is in that frat. YOU DON'T GO. YOU. DON'T. GO. And you ESPECIALLY do fucking NOT convince other girls to leave with you.

"But Julia!", you say in a whiny little bitch voice to your computer screen as you read this email, "I've been cheering on our teams at all the sports, doesn't that count for something?" NO YOU STUPID FUCKING ASS HATS, IT FUCKING DOESN'T. DO YOU WANNA KNOW FUCKING WHY?!! IT DOESN'T COUNT BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN FUCKING UP AT SOBER FUCKING EVENTS TOO. I've not only gotten texts about people being fucking WEIRD at sports (for example, being stupid shits and saying stuff like "durr what's kickball?" is not fucking funny), but I've gotten texts about people actually cheering for the opposing team. The opposing. Fucking. Team. ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?!! I don't give a SHIT about sportsmanship, YOU CHEER FOR OUR GODDAMN TEAM AND NOT THE OTHER ONE, HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN TO A SPORTS GAME? ARE YOU FUCKING BLIND? Or are you just so fucking dense about what it means to make people like you that you think being a good little supporter of the greek community is going to make our matchup happy? Well it's time someone told you, NO ONE FUCKING LIKES THAT, ESPECIALLY OUR FUCKING MATCHUP. I will fucking cunt punt the next person I hear about doing something like that, and I don't give a fuck if you SOR me, I WILL FUCKING ASSAULT YOU.

"Ohhh Julia, I'm now crying because your email has made me oh so so sad". Well good. If this email applies to you in any way, meaning if you are a little asswipe that stands in the corners at night or if you're a weird shit that does weird shit during the day, this following message is for you:

DO NOT GO TO TONIGHT'S EVENT.

I'm not fucking kidding. Don't go. Seriously, if you have done ANYTHING I've mentioned in this email and have some rare disease where you're unable to NOT do these things, then you are HORRIBLE, I repeat, HORRIBLE PR FOR THIS CHAPTER. I would rather have 40 girls that are fun, talk to boys, and not fucking awkward than 80 that are fucking faggots. If you are one of the people that have told me "Oh nooo boo hoo I can't talk to boys I'm too sober", then I pity you because I don't know how you got this far in life, and with that in mind don't fucking show up unless you're going to stop being a goddamn cock block for our chapter. Seriously. I swear to fucking God if I see anyone being a goddamn boner at tonight's event, I will tell you to leave even if you're sober. I'm not even kidding. Try me.

And for those of you who are offended at this email, I would apologize but I really don't give a fuck. Go fuck yourself.

Pretty bad right?

Well I was and always will be a DG sister.  I have mixed feelings about this one though.  On one hand, the general ideals of the organization are to foster friendships and help young women grow into responsible, caring and charitable adults.  After all, our motto is "Do Good."  In some ways joining the house did those things for me.  On the other hand, I learned a lot about myself and what I didn't want in my life.  As much as I would love to say that this type of terrible behavior is all just a myth brought on by rumors and ignorance of people not in the Greek system, it’s just not true.  This type of thing happened a lot.  Maybe not to this extreme but I remember being told, as a group, many times that we were not acting the way that our older sisters wanted for our reputation.  Not because our GPAs were too low or that we were conducting ourselves in an unladylike manner but because we weren't making the house look “good” or “cool”, which might not have been stated literally but it was certainly implied.

There are many positives of “Going Greek”.  Pledging helped me to be part of a group when I was all alone in a scary new place.  I have friendships that have stood the test of time and we have so many memories of incredibly fun times from our college days and after.  I've helped charitable organizations and I've met people from all over the U.S.  In the last few weeks I have seen my sisters all come together to help one of our fellow DGs who was hurt in the Boston bombings and that kind of community and support is astounding. 

But there are negatives too. Most Greek houses do not embrace diversity, individuality, or going against the norm. They bring together like-minded people from the same socioeconomic status and train them to be just like all those that came before them.  Personally, I am a liberal.  I was raised by a strong, independent, single mom who taught me to value my morals and speak out.  When my sorority was doing something that I didn't agree with, I was vocal about it and more than once I chose not to participate or put myself in a position of humiliation for the sake of sisterhood.  This made me somewhat of an outsider.

Ultimately I ended my active membership with the house when I left the University of Arizona.  DG was not my reason for leaving Arizona prior to graduation.  Had I stayed, I probably would have stayed affiliated with the house but limited my participation just to the things I felt were worthwhile. And when it’s all said and done, 13 years later, I still can’t help but feel a little bit of pride and love for my sorority.  I choose to remember it for all of its positives and will always defend it to the many haters out there.

I am thinking about this now that I have a baby girl on the way.  When it comes time for her to start making these types of choices in her life, I hope I will have given her the tools to make the right choice for herself.  I hope she does what is best for her and what helps her to be a confident, tolerant, kind, thoughtful young woman, whether she “Goes Greek” or not.  

If you would like to donate and help out my DG sister and her husband who were injured in the Boston Bombing go to this link. http://www.gofundme.com/2mj2i8