Dear Baby Pacheco,

You are over 10 weeks along now! My sources say that you are the size of a strawberry. 🙂 Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures yet because the 10 week mark was on Saturday and a lot of craziness went down over the weekend (more about that in a second). But I am definitely a little “bloated” and have gained a pound or so. I don’t really look any more pregnant that I did at the beginning though… just fatter. 😦 Boo!

So last week I learned a couple things about life as a pregnant woman:

(1) morning sickness and my metro commute don’t mix– the heat, the smells of the people around me and the jostling of the train is an awful combination for me. I’m going to start keeping a barf bag in my purse! Luckily so far I have managed not to throw up on anyone. Haha

(2) pregnancy hormones and the DMV also don’t mix– I had to go to the DMV on Friday to register our new (well, new to us) car. The people were extremely rude and unhelpful and turned me away (after sitting in that crowded, smelly and hot waiting area for an hour & a half… again, trying my best not to throw up on someone.) because I didn’t have a document that their website says you don’t need to have. I had this flash of rage, nothing like I’ve ever felt before… I literally saw red spots, snatched my papers back from the DMV person’s hands and stormed out of the building, punching the door on the way out! It was so crazy, I never ever act like that (and don’t take this is an okay for you to do it someday, it was completely unacceptable behavior). I was fuming all the way home and then as soon as I got there & tried to tell Dad about it, I broke down crying and just had to sit there and sob for a few minutes. Crazy lady alert! Ended up getting the paper I needed and going back to the DMV… got a much nicer lady the second time who had me in & out in 15 minutes. Phew! In my anger I also posted an angry rant on Facebook with some bad words in it that got me a call from Grandma involving threats to “wash my mouth out with soap.” 😉

Anyway, Grandma and Papa actually came to visit again this weekend to help us finish the shed. Unfortunately right after they got here Friday night we had a huge freak storm that knocked our power out! It was a widespread emergency issue– over a million people in the DC metro area lost their power that night. So Dad & Papa had to work on the shed all day Saturday with no power, in the 100+ degree heat no less! Luckily we were able to spend Saturday night with our friends Kay & Bill, who have a pool and had never lost power. It was a lot of fun and so nice to be able to cool off after the day we’d had! By the time we got back home on Sunday morning our power was back on (thank goodness!) and Dad & Papa were able to finish the shed. Sadly there are still hundreds of thousands of people without power this morning, with another scorcher of a day ahead.

Actually I was supposed to have my next check-up with the OB-GYN today, but they called me right as I was about to leave for the appointment and said that because some of their offices don’t have power, they’re closing all their offices for the day. They rescheduled my appointment for tomorrow. I can’t wait to get that reassurance from the doctor that all is going well with you! I will write again later this week with the results of that check-up. Until then, little strawberry!

All my love,
Mom