Third Trimester, Here We Come

Well Helllllooooo

I will skip the ridiculous opening paragraph about how my life is so boring I have nothing to write about. What was I thinking with that last post? My life is full of endless bouts of excitement, daily intrigue, and chock-a-block doses of charming chaos. Case in point:

• I am now 30 weeks pregnant. 10 to go. As my ever-encouraging mother put it, "it just feels so great to finally have a 3 in front of those weeks." Thanks for that vote of confidence, ma. 
• I feel huge. HUGE. I illicit lots of interesting looks/comments from just about everyone. I love the big smiles from women strangers, and agree politely with the "You're huuuuuge" comments from everyone else. I also am still getting free stuff randomly from strangers.  But, I'm pretty sure that the "cute and huge" pregnancy portion is coming to an end, and from now on I will simply be gargantuan. I'm bracing myself for the inevitable sympathy stares as I waddle around on swollen feet and smile widely through puffy cheeks and neck. 
• We had a slew of celebrities dine at the restaurant in the past couple of weeks. Most exciting (at least for me) was Dave Chapelle. He was Sooooo High, and very friendly. He came in the kitchen and took a pic with Chefy and I, and then shook everyone's hand as he left. Love Him! Possibly more exciting to this community was This L Word Actress , who looks exactly the same in person and who was also really friendly. I told her that Chefy and I were big fans, and she congratulated me on the pregnancy. So nice. Then we had Niko Case in the house, whom I didn't recognize, but who apparently went onstage at her show later that night and told everyone that she had had the "best breakfast of her life" at our restaurant. Wow. When it rains, it pours, I guess.
•  The stepson is starting to really embrace the "big brother" label. For our baby shower last weekend, he proudly sported the "new older brother" ribbon and showed me all the cool gifts he got for his sister-to-be. At 10, I think he's actually in a solidly mature-enough place to understand the capacity for cool that being a brother entails, and get excited about it. He's grown so much in the last year, it's kind of amazing. I have to say I'm a fan of the tween years. So far. 
• About a month ago, I received the BEST GIFT EVER from this crafty, intelligent, and oh-so-talented blogger. I am campaigning that she open a web store of some kind. I will buy the shit out of your shit, lady. Seriously. She is that talented and has kick-ass taste to boot. Hard to find. Let me know if you back me on this idea. Maybe we could start on a commissions basis, right J? Whaddya think?
  

  

  J's amazingness

• Baby shower was lovely. My wife (of course) had to make it about food as well as baby, so we held a baby shower/chili cook off. People got into it, and we had about 6 chili contenders, some yummy cornbread, drinks, cupcakes, and lots of lovely peeps. Chefy's ex even showed up, with a surprisingly thoughtful gift of baby pics of Chefy and her son (who the ex co-parents). It was quite the surprise (Chefy and ex=not best of friends). There were friends new and old, and even a handful of kiddies running around, tasting chili and eating cupcakes. It was a good time had by all, and Chefy and I definitely felt the love. I don't know many queers in SF who have kids, or are kid-friendly even, so having those folks around was reassuring to me as I truly and finally step out of the lets pretend to be adults phase of my life and into the holy shit we're going to be parents one. Obviously I am still in some denial about this, as I have been a step mom for about 5 years now. Um.....

• Chefy and I have a queer childbirth education class at the end of this month that I'm looking forward to. I also am taking a breastfeeding class next week, and am now going to community prenatal classes every two weeks and yoga about three times a week. I have started hanging out with some pregnant ladies from both yoga and prenatal classes, and it's been good. I am trying to build a bit more community around being a mom, as I don't have any family out here in Cali, and (as mentioned above), many of my friends have either moved away or are not so into gaybies.  I worry about feeling isolated after the baby comes, as Chefy needs to be at the restaurant and I will be at home with baby. Who knows? I guess it's something I will tackle when we get there. Perhaps I should be more concerned with childbirth at this phase. It's a couple short months away. 

• Sooo....I watched some childbirth videos the other night and they simultaneously thrilled and horrified me, which I think is a typical reaction. As the time between now and giving birth gets shorter, I am trying to embrace a come what may attitude, while remaining calm. I hope when the moment comes I can make that happen. In closing:

30 weeks, 1 day