“Big-Boned” September 6, 2008
Posted by Mommy in The pregnant progress.Tags: gestational diabetes, mommy worries
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It’s been a tough week. Sunday and Monday were spent mostly in the bed, suffering from what I discovered on Tuesday was an infection. I also found out Tuesday that Baby may be bigger than she’s supposed to be at 26 weeks AND that I have gestational diabetes. So, I’ve spent most of the rest of the week in bed, on antibiotics, mostly far away from D., and worried about Baby. What is it about us that makes us automatically blame ourselves for potentially “dangerous” things that face our children? Mine isn’t even born yet, and it’s entirely possible that at least one bit of bad news we received this week is completely out of my control. Yet, I spent a lot of time this week worrying: will she be born with remnants of or ill-effects of the infection I had? Will the antibiotics cause her harm? (That one came mostly from the pharmacist not wanting to give them to me and saying things like, “helpful efftects outweigh potential harm to the fetus”.) Will she now not be able to be born naturally because I have consumed too much sugar and starch in my lifetime? That’s not HER fault, I kept saying to myself.
Then I got around to the silliest one of all–this is how I KNEW I had just done a cannon-ball off the diving board attached to sane reactions in the 16-ft. deep water of blowing things WAY out of proportion: will she be too fat?
I don’t mean that in the scary, mom-who-forces-her-daughter-to-be-in-beauty-pagents way. I was worried that she would spend all of the life she’ll be able to remember worrying that she is too fat, just the way her mommy has. And for the first time in my life I had stopped worrying about that and about what I was eating. Irony!
But don’t worry; I’m not going to starve her or only feed her half as much as she cries. I think chubby babies are cute. I just worry that she’ll live with even worse influence from the world concerning body image than her mom has had to live with–and that’s been no picnic, let me tell you.
In then end, with the help of D. who has taken tremendous care of us this week, some good friends and helpful family members upon whom I can really count, and some extra time to give myself a few “You’re being silly!” lectures, I’m feeling better now. Much better. I’m out of bed, medicine is working, Baby is using my insides to train for what already seems to be a promising future in martial arts (I picture her doing those flying/spinning kicks you see in movies–just NOT in slow motion), she’s not too fat–she’s perfect just as she is (thank you Mark Darcey in Bridget Jones’ Diary) and I’m learning to deal with carb cravings. We’ve had a life-long love afair, carbs and me. But I think I’ve made a clean break. Pray for me.
So what if Baby turns out to be “big-boned”? It hasn’t ruined my life, and she’ll be the most beautiful thing in the world to D. and me, ALWAYS. It’s just like my dad said on the phone the other day: “I can’t wait to see her!”
Myth-busters August 29, 2008
Posted by Mommy in The pregnant progress.Tags: hot
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So, I guess those myths really are actually true: pregnant women are HOT!
Not that kind of hot. I’m talking’ body-temperature hot.
Not that kind of body temperature. I’m talking’ MY body temperature. It’s hot in here!!
This past week I was at a lunch meeting, and everyone else at the table was talking about how cold it was in the room; I was just fine. When I change my clothes at night, they feel extra warm in my hands. And the involuntary fanning has begun. Sometimes, when sitting at my desk in my office, I find that I have picked up some paper or a small book and am fanning myself without even realizing I was hot. What the heck? I’m the one who carries a sweater with her to a conference in Athens, Georgia, in June. I take them to movie theaters, my parents’ house, anywhere I know the AC will be set at 70 degrees or below. I get cold when it’s cloudy.
Alas, one more pregnancy myth to check off my list–my list of things I didn’t believe before they happened to me. So, I’ve busted through this myth by freezing my husband out of our house today. I’m very comfortable at our 72 degree house today; he just went outside to thaw.
Punches and Kicks August 15, 2008
Posted by Mommy in The pregnant progress, Uncategorized.Tags: baby's movements
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Or maybe its elbow and knees. Whatever it is, its hysterical! I’ve decided to interpret her movements and the way I feel them like commentary on what I am/we are doing at any given time. Take last night, for instance. We went to a community meeting about the possible start-up of a charter school in our little city, and as it got closer to the end of the meeting, I realized I was VERY hungry. How did I suddenly realize this? Because I felt progressive little punches and kicks moving all around inside my growing abdomen. “Give me some food!” I think was the message I was supposed to be getting.
When we got home last night, I thought I’d do a little work while lying down trying to get my ankles to be ankles again and not just long extensions of my calf muscles. I got out the computer and, instead of work, started reading a bunch of junk on the internet, and the punches and kicks took off. This one I can’t quite interpret: perhaps she was bored by this, perhaps she was interested in Larry King and all the commentary on the upcoming Democratic Convention, or she might have been thinking, “Hooray! She’s still for a while so I can go nuts!” Whatever it was was funny, and it was kicking the laptop all over the place. D. even got to feel it, and that was cool. It was like letting him in on our little secret.
And it only continued as I got sleepy and turned over to go sleep for the night…or so I thought. I had some REALLY weird dreams last night. Don’t remember them all, but I do remember that one of them was scary and involved Kelsey Grammar. This is your brain on hormones. I woke up a few times but didn’t get out of bed; I didn’t want to interrupt Baby as she was swimming laps and pushing off on the sides of my stomach all night.
Watch out Michael Phelps.
It could be like morse code. Maybe the little bumps and prods are like a kind of language she’s trying out. One kick = I’m hungry! Two punches means = you’re about to have to pee in like 5 seconds. 3 short kicks in a row = Whee! A continuous roll of punches and kicks = pay attention to me! (Like I CAN’T do that?)
This morning when I woke up for the last time, for about 3 seconds, I didn’t think about the fact that I’m pregnant. And then, like a little alarm clock inside my body, there she was: reminding me that my life is no longer mine but hers now, and I love that.
She sent me that message with a few little running kicks, like she was running along the inside of me turning herself over in a flip. Man, I wish there was a camera in there to watch her all the time!
You go with your bad self, Baby. Just watch those ribs…
20 Week Sonogram July 26, 2008
Posted by Dad in The pregnant progress.Tags: baby place, doc, girl, pink elephant, rock star, sonogram, ultrsound, unhappy tech
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Strategically, we placed this visit to the “Baby Place” the day after we got back from vacation–it gave us something to look forward to coming home. As you can see, our child is awfully photogenic. The trip was awfully uneventful. The sonogram tech was in just a wonderful mood–not! Remember the adage about not buying a car made on Monday or Friday? Same goes for sonograms. Oh, she did her job just fine. You could just tell that she was ready to get out of the office and (possibly) start thinking “It’s 5 o’clock, somewhere”.
For the important stuff, Baby is fine. All the measurements are right in 50-54 percentile (the only time in my life when I want my child to be mediocre). Length, heart rate, cranial circumference, and a ton other measurements. Baby is 14 ounces (give or take). That’s about the weight of a can of Coca Cola.
I was particularly amused by this other photo. Now, logic tells us that Baby is getting ready to insert thumb in mouth. But for the life of me, this looks like Baby is about to break out into song! Finally, we have lead singer for our Rock Band group.
But the coup de gras was that this was the trip to the “Baby Place” where we could find out the gender of Baby. We went back and forth about this. On the one hand, it would be nice to know for planning purposes (there’s another post in the offing about how we’ve regressed back into exclusively gender-specific and gender-role specific decorating, but that’s for later). On the other hand, there’s something neat about being surprised “on the day” at the hospital. So, in typical family fashion, we hemmed and hawed about it for the better part of two months.
Finally, we admitted to each other that we would like to know.
So back to the tech that was in a wonderful mood. As she was very clinically going about taking measurements (did I mention how dismissive she was when we were asking questions?), she was frustrated that Baby is butt-down and in a really good diver’s “tuck” position. Who knows, maybe Baby will go to the Olympics! Anyway, we we got down to the “business” parts to determine gender. She was very dismissive. and drool. I was like, “come on, Lady. I’m about to find out if I’m having a little boy or little girl. At least feign excitement.” All she said was, “well, I can’t tell really. Your baby is breech and has its feet over its head. I can’t tell what the gender is (no sorry, no nothing).
Disappointed Peanut.
But then, the doctor came in. She was excited about Baby Place upgrading their technology so that the doc could see the tech do her job from the confines of her office. So she didn’t have to do a second ultrasound (darn). She went over all the important stuff… all the organs are there and normal. And then she asked about gender. We said the tech said she couldn’t tell. Asking if we were interested in her taking a second look, we jumped at the opportunity.
After about 20 seconds, Doc was able to get the right and and point out that, without a doubt, we’re having a little
(wait for it)
girl.
Vacationing With a Pregnant Woman July 26, 2008
Posted by Dad in The pregnant progress.Tags: airplane, travel, vacation
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We have mostly adjusted back to being at home and am now in a state where we can reflect on our trip, having gotten over most of the negative effects of jet lag.
I have to say that vacationing with a mid-second trimester woman is not a bad thing, at all. In fact it was quite enjoyable. First of all, there’s the logistics. People treated us a lot nicer. We got upgraded. People were willing to give way to S. That was nice.
The biggest change, though, was that the fact that pregnant women don’t have the energy and stamina of non-pregnant people. We had to slow down. We had to pace ourselves. I thought that this would prove terribly unnerving as I see vacation as something of a competitive event and endurance sport. As a friend puts it, I’m infamous for my “forced death march” of walking tours. But in slowing down this year. We came home not exhausted. We didn’t have to have “slow days” on our vacation because all days were “slow days”. But we also got the chance to experience the culture more.
All in all, it was probably the best vacation we’ve had as a married couple.
Also, after having discovered www.deliciousbaby.com, we’re thinking we might lift the no-travel ban on young children. So more fun, international vacations to come!
Week 18 Doc Visit July 22, 2008
Posted by Dad in The pregnant progress.add a comment
So I thought I’d try out the new wordpress iPhone app and give a little update. A couple of weeks ago, S. went on her regular visit. Mother and child are well. Next stop-ultrasound this Friday.
(Pre-) Father’s Day June 28, 2008
Posted by Dad in The pregnant progress.Tags: diaper bag, father's day, gift
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Two Sunday’s ago was father’s day. S. gave me a wonderful gift–a very nice diaper bag. She took the hint, its the one in my icon. My child is going to have the best mom, ever!
A Good Night’s Rest? Anyone? June 28, 2008
Posted by Dad in The pregnant progress.Tags: sleep, snoogle
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S. has been living through the onset of frustrations regarding a good night’s sleep. We’ve tried the different beds in our house, the couch, with and without the tube-shaped pregnancy pillows. Nothing seems to work. You should have seen S.’s face when she came away from a Google search where she found no answer other than, “you have to live with it.”
Beginning Week 17 June 28, 2008
Posted by Dad in The pregnant progress.Tags: lack of sleep, quad screening, sleep, travel, vacation
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Just a morning update. Today begins week 17. This past week, S. went for her quad-screening. This is the first time we’ll get a risk assessment for chromosomal abnormalities plus isthe test for neural tube defects. She was expecting another finger-stick. What she got was 4 vials taken from her arm. As she put it, “they didn’t even offer me a cookie.” The test should be back next week.
We’re traveling in a few weeks. First the NYC, and then on to UK… Bath via London. Its okay for S. to travel internationally, as long as she gets up and walks on a regular basis (added risk of deep-vein thrombosis). Usually, she’s out like a light on the plane. I think she won’t have a problem, considering she’s had a problem sleep 8 straight hours at home for the past few weeks. I just looking forward to not having to stand in the queue because of deference for a pregnant woman.
Our vacation is book-ended by office visits. The day before we fly out, S. has her 18-week visit. When we get back, it will be time for the second trimester sonogram, which is when we would find out B.’s gender, should we decide to. And that is a blog post all its own.
Something In the Holy Water June 14, 2008
Posted by Dad in The pregnant progress.Tags: contagious, friends, good news, pregnant
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Like I said before, we’re both United Methodist Clergy. We’ve known for a little while that some of our good friends are having their first child a few weeks before B. makes its grand debut. They’re both UM ministers.
Well, I get an email from a friend that yet another clergy-couple are expecting a child. Looks like we clergy have our own unique Lenten Disciplines.
