It's a Girl! Sarah Anne Brand

Sarah Anne Brand was born on May 9, 2015 at 5:49 AM.  She was 6 LBS 8.5 oz and 19 in. long at birth.  While a little small, she is definitely very strong.  We stayed in the hospital two more nights and have been home ever since.  We love our new family and I feel I have known her much longer than the last two weeks.

Symptoms, Part 3

For the last time, according to What to Expect When You're Expecting, here are the common symptoms of the third trimester:

• Stronger and more frequent fetal activity - yes
• Achiness - minimal
• Heartburn - yes, more frequently starting in week 37
• Headaches, faintness, dizziness - no
• Nasal congestion and nosebleeds - yes, but getting better with more humidity in the air (Easter in Colorado was rough - two nosebleeds in two days)
• Sensitive gums - minimal
• Leg cramps - one serious one
• Backache - minimal
• Swelling of ankles, feet, hands, face - no
• Varicose veins - no
• Itchy abdomen - on occasion
• Protruding navel - no, rather it has almost disappeared somehow
• Stretch marks - not that I have found so far
• Shortness of breath - yes, very bad starting week 38
• Difficulty sleeping - yes, but not too bad
• Braxton Hicks contractions - maybe 1 or 2
• Clumsiness - not sure I can attribute this to pregnancy - my middle name has never been Grace
• Nesting syndrome - no
• Others that will not be discussed on the Internet - yes

Overall, I think I've had one of the easier pregnancies on record, symptom wise.  Here's hoping that the delivery and parenting will be just as easy!


*Edit: This post was written and scheduled for automatic publication prior to me going into labor.  Hence, the last sentence about delivery may have been confusing.

Pregnancy by the Numbers, Part 3

The baby is coming! Here are the last of the fetal statistics.  Not a lot of change since last time.

Expected Birth Date: 5/9/15

Weeks Gestation: 39

Number of Fetuses: 1

Pounds Gained: 24

Heart Rate: Anywhere from 130-155 BPM while in labor

Hours Slept Each Night: 9-10, waking up once, plus a nap in the afternoon occasionally

Kicks Felt: Hundreds

Times my water gushed everywhere in the hospital parking lot: 1

Closing Time

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

~Semisonic

Today marked my last day at ConAgra Foods.  I don't know if it was also my last day of my career in the food industry or just a "pause" button, but it was a bittersweet roller coaster of emotions to say the least.  I have no doubts about my decision to stay home with the baby, but leaving a job, career, and an industry that I've mostly loved proved harder than expected.  By the end of the day, as I was close to the last person to leave the office, my former coworkers were basically saying

You don't have to go home but you can't stay here.

So as an ode to my time in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry, here are some of the most interesting notes from the past 10 years of my life:

I've watched the politics of the Ivory Coast and the weather of New Zealand closer than those of my own community.

I can tell you how many pallets of elbow macaroni fit in a truck and how long a load of cream can sit in a parking lot on a hot summer day.

I feel prepared for breastfeeding because over the last three years I've read every report possible about the milk production of cows.

I've traveled to at least 14 different states. During these travels, I got to ride on a private jet and a sugar beet harvesting truck, among other modes of conveyance.

Just to name a few items, over the past eight years I bought vinegar, wine, honey, cocoa powder, chocolate, molasses, polyols, HVP, TVP, soy protein isolate, starch, evaporated cane juice, cheese, milk, cream, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sugar, dextrose, corn syrup, and maltodextrin.

I can talk your ear off about the benefits and safety of GMO crops and conventional agriculture. 

I spent one week working the night shift (4 PM to 2:30 AM) in a warehouse in Ohio, checking that jars of peanut butter were properly sealed.  I have never appreciated a college education more.

I got to eat at some (all?) of the finest steakhouses Omaha has to offer, on someone else's dime.

I wept when Imperial's sugar plant blew up from a dust explosion on February 7, 2008 and when ConAgra's plant in Garner, NC exploded in May 2009 from a natural gas leak.  No one should have to die at work.

I sat next to a member of the 1994 & 1995 Nebraska Cornhusker National Championship football teams for three years.

I figured out ways to keep ConAgra's plants running when the Cedar River flooded in 2008, shutting down three major corn syrup manufacturers.

I know the difference between corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup.

I visited the trading floor of the Chicago Board of Trade.

I can't decide if a pasta, ice cream topping, or cocoa plant smells better.  They all win over a wet corn milling or sugar processing plant.

I saw a dog at a dairy farm that knew how to open a door handle, hold the door open while his fellow dog walked through, and then follow along behind.  Oh, and there were some cows there, too.

I know to make sure that the driver has enough legal hours remaining in the day and that the trailer is properly sealed when I desperately need a truck to arrive at a certain time.

I've bought more alcohol than everyone I know combined.

I took great pride when I won the office bet regarding how many million pounds of bean stocks would be reported on a USDA report.

I sold pasta to the prison systems and then took complaint calls about how the prisoners that worked in the kitchen didn't like to open 4 bags that weighed 5 LBS each in every case. Could we try for 2 bags that weighed 10 LBS each next time? "No."

For five years, I had every woman's dream job - buying chocolate. 

I worked at three of the most beautiful campuses I've ever seen.

Through all this, I loved to make the food you love. Thanks for the memories, ConAgra Foods, AIPC, and Cargill.

Summer 2004: Cargill, Incorporated, Wayzata, MN

June 13, 2005 - April 17, 2007: American Italian Pasta Company, Kansas City, MO

April 23, 2007- May 1, 2015: ConAgra Foods, Omaha, NE

Best view from a cubicle ever.