avablog

Hi, Ava. As you know, there’s some excitement in our house over this new baby we’re expecting. We’ve each been thinking in abstract terms, mostly, about how things will change when we go from three to four. Things that we’ll lose. Things that we’ll gain. And things we hope won’t change at all. Like the [...]

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I’ve spent some time recently trying to imagine what it’s going to be like having another child in the house. I find myself envisioning a pinball machine, where the actions of one body in motion constantly puts into motion a body previously at rest. So this – finally — is that presumed mythological real-world application [...]

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Your savings could disappear in an instant despite your most earnest efforts to save it wisely. A semi could cross the center line. A train could derail. A gunman could enter the school. A bomb could go off. A disease could strike. A tornado could appear. A flood could flash. Some days, my only consolation [...]

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So Ava’s lying in our bed this morning with Leah, feeling the baby move. Talk at one point turns to breastfeeding, as it often does in these situations, and I’m standing at the closet door when Ava lifts up Leah’s shirt — revealing her breasts — and exclaims, “Wowza!” That is all.

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I was waiting for Leah to come pick me up at work the other day, and as I stood just inside the door to our building, I found myself contemplating the unlikely perfection of the buttocks on the Herky statue that adorns the promenade outside our plaza entrance. I tried to put myself in the [...]

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The challenge: Seven things about me (with selected item inspiration from Aprille). Ready, set…. I was thrilled that this meme gave me a chance to finally use the ordered list tags on WordPress. Maybe this tells you so much about me that you needn’t read further. I truly believe that I’m 2.5-3 times more awesome [...]

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It’s interesting that one of the main problems people have with breastfeeding is that some folks do it for too long. As my readers know, I start to feel a little weird about the endeavor once the child is old enough to verbalize her hunger. But what’s the big deal? I mean, if no one’s [...]

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Many of you already know that Leah and I recently received the results of a FISH test that used fluid from a recent amniocentesis. The procedure was on Thursday morning, and we got a call back from the clinic at 4:30 Friday afternoon.

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I was shaving this morning right after hop(p)ing out of the shower, standing at the sink in the buff, hacking away at my face. Ava was standing quietly nearby, waiting to help Leah with the bandages we’ve been putting on the wounds on my back since my last mole removal. Then, matter-of-factly, she says, “You’re [...]

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Here are the facts: The blood work portion of our recent genetic screening came back wonky. Low PAPPA and high hCG, for those of you in the know. The ultrasound looked great, but all the pretty pictures mean nothing if the blood work looks poor. The big issue, of course, is Leah’s age. It alone [...]

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Believe it or not, I really do try to keep my opinions to myself when I determine they might hurt someone else’s feelings. I know, I know. “Bulls*#t!,” you say. But it’s true. That said, this just weirds me the heck out. WAY out. I feel like I should apologize for that, but I can’t [...]

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We broke the news about the new baby to Ava this morning. We figured if you all knew, she may as well know, too. She was excited but didn’t seem quite sure what to make of the revelation. After Leah got out her baby book and showed Ava pictures of what the fetus looks like [...]

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Leah insists that her current wardrobe is no longer adequate to effectively conceal the action going on in her belly, so, in lieu of an entirely new wardrobe, I give you “Palmberg/Klevar Child #2:” Mark your calendars: May 28 I wonder how difficult it is to run two blogs off the same virtual domain. We [...]

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File this under TMI (done). I’ve been ambivalent from the start about undergoing fertility interventions in an effort to conceive a second child. Maybe it makes me some kind of traditionalist to feel like conception should just happen for two people, and if it doesn’t, it’s not supposed to. I suppose I’d feel different if [...]

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I think we mentioned that Ava’s been waking up every night (morning) between 2 and 4 and crying in her bed. At which point, one of us gets up and brings her into our room. It’s frustrating.

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So there I am 10 minutes ago, fresh out of the shower, when Ava trips into the bathroom. She has Topsy Turtle with her and is getting ready to brush her teeth. She takes one look at me in my birthday suit and — without missing a beat — says, “Your penis is disgusting.” Leah [...]

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From today’s WSJ: The CEO of Victoria’s Secret admitted that the brand has become “too sexy” and plans to win customers back to its core lingerie business by producing more sophisticated merchandise. You know, he’s right. We get the VS catalog at home from time to time, and I flip through it quickly just to [...]

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Well, not quite. But I’m sure there are less objectionable ways to start one’s morning. Leah and I did our first IUI this morning after she received a positive ovulation indicator last night before bed. So after dropping off Ava, we were off the the hospital. Once there, I “produced” a “sample,” which was then [...]

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If I have to read about one more celebrity pregnancy, I am going to lose it. Up yours, Gwen Stefani–you 38-year-old, ab-obsessed hussy. Up yours, Angelina Jolie–you cheating homewrecker, posing as a saint. Up yours, Brooke Burke–pushing out your fourth damn kid from that bikini-worthy body at age 36! *sigh* Bitter much, Leah? Why, yes, [...]

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That number represents our chances of getting pregnant each month, according to the doctor we saw this morning (when we conceived Ava, our odds were more like 18% to 20%). If we undertake IUI, that goes up another 2%. If we do IUI with a drug like clomid or letrozol, we get another 2%. So [...]

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