January 25, 2009 - Week 15

The week started off with the inauguration of our new president, Barack Obama. We also played our first co-ed volleyball matches of the new season...there were plenty of stiff muscles the next day. I felt OK the entire week, but realized I am now more sensitive to loud sounds...like commercials on TV. This drives me crazy because they are louder then the regular programs so you have to adjust the volume all the time.
On Thursday, we went to see a musical called Spring Awakening. The story was based on a German play from 1900, but we mostly enjoyed the modern music. On Friday night, we went to see a high school boys basketball game between our town (Urbandale) and a school called SouthEast Polk. It was a pretty chilly night, but I decided to walk the mile and a half to the high school from our house. The head coach for SE Polk is a friend of Paul's from Clarinda, so we cheered for them. They were the underdog, but won on an amazing shot at the buzzer. What a great game!
On Saturday we invited some friends from Clarinda for a jazz concert. We first went for dinner at the Russian restaurant across the street. I tried their special "vareniky" and "borscht" and Paul ordered a traditional "shiskabob". After the dinner, we went to the concert by jazz guitarist and vocalist, John Pizzarelli...he is a great entertainer. Our friends then stayed over night and in the morning I cooked them typical Czech crepes with raspberry filling. On Sunday, Paul was fighting a cold and I moved on with my kitchen painting project. I painted two walls with the crackle glaze technique. It looks pretty interesting :-)

Tyden zacal tim, ze Barack Obama slozil prisahu jako novy prezident. Take jsme zacali hrat novou sezonu volejbalu mixu...nekteri se na druhy den nemohli pohnout. Citila jsem se dobre cely tyden, jen jsem zjistila, ze me vadi hlucny zvuk...hlavne reklamy. To me privadi k "silenstvi", protoze jsou hlasitejsi mezi normalnim programem, takze to musite porad prepinat. Ve ctvrtek jsme sli na muzikal "Jarni probuzeni". Pribeh se odehraval v Nemecku okolo roku 1900, nam se hlavne libila moderni hudba.
V patek vecer jsme se sli podivat na stredoskolsky basketbal, kde hralo Urbandale, kde bydlime proti SE Polk. Bylo docela mrazive pocasi, ale neodolala jsem a udela jsem si prochazku do skoly. Hlavni trener SE Polk je Pauluv znamy z Clarindy, tak jsme jim fandili. Oni nebyli favorite, ale presto zazracne vyhrali v posledni sekunde. To byl ale zapas!
V sobotu jsme pozvali nase zname z Clarindy na jazzovy koncert. Prvni jsme zasli na veceri do ruske restaurace, ktera se nachazi pres cestu. Zkusila jsem jejich specialitu "Vareniky" a "Borsc", Paul si objednal spiz. Po veceri jsme si sli poslechnout koncert jazzoveho kytaristy a zpevaka, Johna Pizzarelli...je take vyborny bavic. Nasi znami u nas prespali a rano jsem jim udelala palacinky s malinama. V nedeli Paul trochu bojoval s bolesti v krku a ja jsem pokrocila na mem kuchynskem projektu. Nalicila jsem dve steny tzv. praskajici technikou. Vypada to zajimave :-)

January 18, 2009 - Week 14

In the middle of the week, it felt like we were living in Siberia. The temperature was -12 degF with a wind chill of -30. All day Friday my back was hurting, but I was still was able to go to the gym after work. The pain in my lower back was increasing as we were getting ready to drive back to Clarinda for the weekend. I was already in the car when I decided not to go so Paul drove back by himself. I called my massage therapist and luckily she had an an opening for the next day. She spent quite a bit of time on my lower back and it was a little painful...but it helped. I have read that it might be associated with the pregnancy because the pelvis is expanding. It was described in the 7 month, not the 3rd, so who knows what I can expect later on. I spent Sunday with the neverending kitchen painting project, watched some of the pro football playoffs and Australian Open grandslam tennis. Paul said he worked on the cabin stairs and tried to burn off some brush piles on the farm.

V polovine tydne to tady bylo jak na Sibiri. Teplota poklesla na -24 stupne C s vetrem - 34. Cely patek me bolela trochu zada, ale i presto jsem sla do posilovny. Potom se to ale zhorsilo, kdyz jsme byli nachystani odjet do Clarindy. Sedela jsem v nasem aute, kdyz jsem se rozhodla zustat doma, Paul tak odjel sam. Ja jsem zavolala moji maserce, nastesti me vzala nasledujici den. Stravila spoustu casu masazi mojich zad, bylo to nekdy bolestive...ale pomohlo to. Cetla jsem, ze to muze byt spojene s tehotenstvim, protoze panev se rozsiruje. Bylo to napsane v sedmem mesici, nikoli ve tretim, tak kdo vi , co mohu pozdeji ocekavat. V nedeli jsem licila kuchyn, muj nekonecny projekt, sledovala profesionalni americky fotbal a tenis na Australian Open . Paul rikal, ze delal na schodech v chate a pokousel se spalit nashromazdene vetvicky na farme.

January 11, 2009 - week 13

On Monday, I went to my doctor for the regular 4 week check up. I was listening to our baby through what I call a walkie-talkie...it was an interesting sound. Our baby was definitely moving a lot. The doctor didn't have any concerns and I look and feel healthy. I still have a little problem with my skin and it seems like it doesn't want to go away. Whoever invented make-up concealer is my hero! On Friday, I received a phone call from my nurse that the results of the first trimester screening came back OK. That was a relief. I then felt comfortable with telling our little news to my boss. On Saturday night, we celebrated my co-worker's birthday and spread the word to even more people. So now, the news is officially out! On Sunday, my Czech friend Katka came over and we shoot a few photos for our new project I will talk about later on.

V pondeli jsem sla na beznou ctyr tydenni prohlidku. Naslouchala jsem nasemu detatku pomoci, cemu ja rikam vysilacka...byl to zajimavy zvuk. Nase ditko se hodne hybalo. Doktorka nemela zadne pripominky a ja vypadam a citim se dobre. Porad mam mensi problemy s moji pokozkou a nechce to zmizet. Kdo vynalezl kryci make-up tycinky je muj hrdina! V patek me sestricka zavolala, ze testovani, ktere provedli dopadlo dobre. To jsem si oddechla. Pote jsem se citila na to, ze jsem zpravu rekla mojemu sefovi. V sobotu vecer jsme byli pozvani na narozeniny nasi spolupracovnice a rekli jsme to vice lidem. Takze nyni je zprava oficialne venku! V nedeli k nam prisla moje kamoska Katka a nafotily jsme par fotek do naseho projektu, o kterem se zminim pozdeji.

January 2, 2009 - First Trimester Screening

12th week - Paul and I went to downtown for abnormal genetic testing. This should be done between 11 to 13th week. They did a detailed ultrasound and took my blood again. Our blob is about 5 cm long. If they don't call me with unusual results, I should be just fine. I don't want to receive any phone call! We hope everything will go OK.

12 tyden - Sli jsme s Paulem do centra mesta na vyjimecne geneticke vysetreni v prvnim trimestru. Toto testovani ma probehnout mezi 11 az 13 tydnem. Provedli detailni ultrazvuk a znovu me brali krev. Nas tvorecek je asi 5 cm dlouhy. Jestlize me nezavolaji kvuli vyjimecnemu nalezu, bude to OK. Nechci, aby me nekdo volal! Doufame, ze vsechno bude vpohode.

December 31, 2008 - New Year's Eve

We went to a coworkers party. It was fun, but we didn't stay late. Now, I feel more tired then ever. I have no desire to finish painting our kitchen, which I started the beginning of Dec. Oh well...HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!

Sli jsme na party k nasim spolupracovnikum. Byla zabava, ale nezustali jsme dlouho. Nyni se citim vice unavena nez nikdy. Vubec netouzim po tom, abych dokoncila liceni nasi kuchyne, kterou jsem zacala na zacatku prosince. No co uz...STASTNY NOVY ROK 2009!

December 25, 2008 - Christmas Day

I again called over the big water and told the news to my grandparents. We then went for lunch to Grandma Elsie's place. She was very excited about the new little one. I basically can eat anything. I guess I am lucky so far...no throwing up. I also realized that the black raspberry ice cream bars I could die for and eat in two days have been sitting in our freezer already for 3 weeks. I think I am not the book example of the usual pregnancy. I don't seem to crave anything, but what gets me is the weird feeling of hunger and therefore I try to eat more often. The problem is that I don't want to cook as much so I need to buy a special simple cookbook for Paul...which would include more then opening a can and sticking it in the microwave.
Znovu jsem volala pres velkou louzi a rekla tu novinu mojim babickam a dedeckovi. Pote jsme sli na obed k babicce Elsie. Byla velice nadsena. Ja mohu jist vse. Myslim, ze mam zatim stesti...nezvracim. Take jsem zjistila, ze ta malinova zmrzlina, ktere jsem se drive mohla ujist, lezi v mraznicce uz treti tyden. Myslim, ze asi nejsem ta knizni predloha bezneho tehotenstvi. Nemam skoro zadne chute, ale co me dostava, je ten divny pocit hladu, a proto jim casteji. Problem je, ze se mi nechce tak casto varit, takze musim koupit jednoduchou kucharku pro Paula...coz by melo zahrnovat vice nez otevrit konzervu a dat ji do mikrovlnky.

December 24, 2008 - Christmas Eve

It was a special Christmas for us. In the morning, I called my family in the Czech Republic using the computer and a web camera. We opened my parent's presents in front of them. What an innovation the webcam is. I then said we had a present for them...and the news was out! Later in the evening I cooked the traditional Czech Christmas Eve dinner, chicken broth noodle soup, fried salmon (should have been carp, but Paul insisted to change the tradition to a boneless fish) and homemade potato salad. This was the first time I baked more then 5 different types of Czech cookies and Paul's favorite chocolate chip, so we had plenty of sweets. After the dinner, we gave Jean and Marvin a special card. It said, Christmas is full of surprises and we added "Special present will be delivered before, on or after 7-17-2009". The ultrasound picture was included.

Tyto Vanoce byly pro nas specialni. Rano jsem zavolala domu do Ceske Republiky prostrednictvim pocitace a web camery. Otevreli jsme si darky pred mojima rodicema. Web camera je senzacni vynalez. Pote jsem rekla, ze mame darek pro ne...a novinka proletela svetem! Na stedrovecerni veceri jsem varila tradicni jidlo, kureci nudlovy vyvar, smazeneho lososa (mel to byt kapr, ale Paul nalehal, ze zmenime tradici na rybu bez kosti) a domaci bramborovy salat. Poprve jsem pekla vice nez 5 druhu vanocniho cukrovi podle tradicnich ceskych receptu a Paulovi oblibene cokoladove cookies, takze jsme meli plno cukrovi. Po veceri jsme dali Jean a Marvinovi specialni pranicko. Stalo tam, Vanoce jsou plne prekvapeni a my jsme dodali "specialni darek bude dorucen pred, na a po 17-7-2009". Vlepila jsem tam take fotku ultrazvuku.

December 13, 2008 - CCC Christmas Party

Compressor Controls Corp. (CCC) had its annual Christmas Party. The whole week I was sick with a bad cold so I didn't know if we would make an appearance. The Negley farm honey helped me to feel better so I felt like going. We didn't want to tell anyone about our little secret so I was holding one full wine glass in my hand the entire evening. I realized it was not that hard to tell wine bye bye...unlike "someone" on my side of the family :-) The evening was nice...great food and we enjoyed dancing to oldies music.

Compressor Controls Corp. (CCC) poradala kazdorocni vanocni party. Cely tyden jsem byla nemocna, tak jsme nevedeli, jestli se vubec zucastnime. Med z nasi Negley farmy me pomohl, ze jsem se citila lepe, tak jsme nakonec na party sli. Nechteli jsme nikomu rici o nasem malem tajemstvi, tak jsem drzela v ruce jednu sklenici bileho vina cely vecer. Zjistila jsem, ze neni tak tezke rici vinu nashledanou...ne jako "nekdo" v nasi rodine :-) Vecer byl pekny...vyborne jidlo a uzili jsme si tancovani ve stylu oldies.

December 15, 2008 - First Ultrasound

Paul and I headed to downtown because the Ankeny Clinic doesn't currently have an ultrasound available. We were so anxious to hear the baby's heartbeat. Wow, it was beating pretty fast...170 times a minute. It was interesting to see our little blob, just about 2.5 cm long. At least something is measured in metric :-) They say that if you hear the baby's heartbeat, you have less then 5% chance of miscarriage. Everything looked normal so we felt comfortable with telling our families.

Jeli jsme s Paulem do centra, protoze Klinika v Ankeny nema jeste k dispozici ultrazvuk. Byli jsme netrpelivi uslyset tlukot srdce naseho detatka. Tlouklo velmi rychle...170 krat za minutu. Bylo zajimave videt naseho maleho tvorecka, ktery byl jen 2.5 cm dlouhy. Aspon neco je tady mereno v metrickem systemu. Rikaji, jestlize slysite tlukot srdce, sance potratu je nizsi nez 5 procent. Vsechno vypadalo normalne, tak jsme se rozhodli to rici nasim rodinam.

December 8, 2008 - First visit

This was the first time Paul and I went to OB/GYN doctor together. My doctor transfered from downtown Des Moines Methodist Clinic to Ankeny. It is almost the same distance for me to drive to either place, so I followed my doctor to Ankeny. She went through our family medical history, took my blood, checked me up and talked briefly about the pregnancy. Paul said, he will now be eating for two.

Toto bylo poprve, kdy Paul sel se mnou ke gynokologovi. Moje doktorka se prestehovala z centra Des Moines Methodist kliniky do Ankeny. Pro me jsou obe mista zhruba stejne daleko autem, tak jsem ji nasledovala do Ankeny. Prosla s nami rodinnou historii, vzali mi krev, vysetrila me a popovidala o tehotenstvi. Paul rekl, ze nyni bude jist za dva.

November 15, 2008 - Paul knows

This was a special evening for me. I told Paul we were having dinner at Sam & Gabe's. We still had a gift certificate from our v-ball friends that was given to us for our wedding. Paul looked at me like, hmm. We don't eat out often and especially in such a nice place, but he didn't say a word. When I drove us to the restaurant, I turned on the wrong street. Paul questioned whether I knew where I was going :-) Sam & Gabe's is just up the hill from our house. It was already dark when I parked underneath the Crestview Elementary School's lights. I consider this place the first place we met, even though Paul argues that it was at work. I gave Paul a special present and wanted him to open it up right there. The present was my positive pregnancy tests. I guess he couldn't read it, but the reaction was what I had always imagined. We then had a wonderful dinner with jazz music in the background.
Toto byl pro me specialni vecer. Rekla jsem Paulovi, ze jdeme na veceri do Sam&Gabe's. Porad jsme jeste meli certifikat do restaurace, ktery nam venovali znami z volejbalu k nasi svatbe. Paul se na me zvlastne podival. Nechodime do restaurace casto, a vubec ne do takove, Paul ale nerekl ani slovo. Kdyz jsem ridila, odbocila jsem do jine ulice. Paul se ptal, jestli vim kam jedu :-) Sam&Gabes se nachazi nahore na kopci kousek od nas. Byla uz noc, kdyz jsem zaparkovala pod svetlama zakladni skoly Crestview Elementary School. Ja povazuji toto misto naseho prvniho setkani, Paul to ovsem popira, ze pry to bylo v praci. Dala jsem Paulovi specialni darek and chtela jsem, aby to otevrel zrovna tady. Ten darek byl muj pozitivni tehotensky test. Myslim, ze to nemohl precist, ale jeho reakce byla takova jakou jsem si vzdycky predstavovala. Potom jsme meli vybornou veceri s jazzovou muzikou.

November 13, 2008 - "We" are pregnant!

This is the day I noticed I was pregnant. A couple of body parts just didn't feel normal while jumping during a volleyball game. I then tried the pregnancy test and guess what...it was positive!

Tento den jsem se dovtipila, ze jsem tehotna. Dve casi tela proste nebyly normalni, kdyz jsem hopsala na volejbale. Potom jsem zkusila tehotensky test and vite co...byl pozitivni!