‘Pregnancy’ Category

  1. Tired and befuddled

    October 2, 2008 :: 9:14 pm

    Sorry for the posting hiatus, but I have been very tired and busy lately. My energy levels have plummeted over the past week or so, even with the extra iron supplements I’ve taken.

    Aquaman is more active than ever; I can feel him moving strongly a lot of the time. Doc and I have been having a lot of fun talking to him with our hands on my belly, and feeling him do acrobatics in there. His “kick counts” have been hovering right around 5 minutes — sometimes less — for 10 movements.

    I look forward to the times when I can lie down quietly and feel him moving around. It is fascinating and it never gets old.

    I worry that I’m not going to be a good mom, though. I have no idea what I’m doing, and I don’t feel particularly maternal. Last night I dreamed that he was born and he came out a kitten. Kittens, I know. Babies, I don’t.

    Doc has been working very hard to get his studio consolidated, pared down, and moved into the other room. He also has rearranged the garage a bit and put some additional shelving in there for storage. By this weekend we might be ready to steam clean the carpets in the baby’s room, and start preparing it for painting. Our pile of stuff to put on eBay or otherwise sell or discard has grown exponentially. Know anyone in the market for pro audio gear, slightly out-of-date computers, or older computer software and games?

    Next Monday night we have our first childbirth preparation class. I have no idea what to expect. Also on Monday is our 32 week doctor’s appointment. I can’t believe there’s just 8-1/2 weeks to go. Everything’s happening really fast now.

    Congratulations to Bonnie and Tracy on the birth of their daughter last week, Josephine Theresa. She’s a cutie, and already wearing a tiara in her baby photos. Whatever direction life takes her, she’s going to be one brilliant kiddo with parents like that.

    Also, happy birthday last Sunday to Doc, yesterday to Nate, and Monday to Joel! There’s just birthdays all over the place these days.

    I’d like to go into a political rant, what with everything that’s going on these past couple of weeks with the presidential and vice presidential debates, the massive domino-effect bank failures, the unbelievable bailout package that’s being considered in Congress (why are these banks’ profits private, yet their debts are public?), etc. etc…. but I just don’t have the energy to come up with something to say about it all. I’m angry and nervous and disgusted and hopeful, but in all honesty I think that my pregnancy hormones are preventing me from forming coherent sentences these days. That’s not an excuse or anything; I really feel generally befuddled a large percentage of the time. I think it’s my brain doing what it needs to do to keep my stress levels lowered.

    A few days ago in yoga class, something “clicked” in my head, and I suddenly came to the realization that it is now time for me to begin slowing down. Time for me to begin letting people help me more and do things for me. It was like a self-preservation mode turned on. I took it easy in yoga and didn’t test my limits, and then when I came home I did almost nothing that evening. If I am slower and befuddled now, so be it. My body’s doing this to me for a reason; I’m not going to fight it too hard.

    Category Politics, Pregnancy | Tags: | 2 Comments

  2. Another baby update

    September 22, 2008 :: 2:58 pm

    Last week I had a blood glucose screening test, a standard procedure at 28 weeks of pregnancy to screen for gestational diabetes. I drank a bottle of this super-sweet liquid that tasted like flat orange soda, then drove down to the doctor’s office to have my blood taken one hour later. I got my results on Friday, and my levels are well within normal at 110. Anything above 140 would have gotten me sent back for an additional, lengthier test. Good job, my insulin!

    We had our 30 week doctor’s appointment today. Everything looked great, nothing much to report this time around. I gained just one pound in the past two weeks, so I am right on schedule. I need to gain about five more pounds in the next 10 weeks, which I should have no difficulty doing. :) Doc says he’s gaining sympathy weight along with me, but I think he looks thinner. Maybe he’s just saying that to be nice!

    Have I mentioned that my eating patterns, at least as far as volume and time of day, have reversed themselves from normal? Until I got pregnant, I generally ate very small breakfasts, if any, and then a regular-size lunch and dinner. Now, though, I eat a LOT in the mornings (I now understand why Yvonne occasionally ate two breakfasts when she was pregnant), a medium sized lunch in early afternoon, and then a small dinner late in the evening.

    Doc and I are used to having dinner quite late; 8 p.m. or after is normal for us. I don’t even get hungry until then, actually. We’re trying really hard to skew our dinnertimes earlier, since eating that late with a child is probably not practical or advisable, and we think that family dinnertime is important. When I was growing up, my family would usually eat dinner around 5 or 5:30. I don’t know if that was because of us kids or because my folks liked to go to bed early. Maybe both.

    Right now, I do a lot of the cooking for the two of us, because I really enjoy it. I get home from work at 5:30 or 6, and unwind and talk to Doc for a while, so it’s usually at least 7 p.m. by the time I start even thinking about dinner. I’m not sure how easy it’s going to be for me to launch immediately into dinner preparations when I get home from work. It might be something that Doc wants to do (he is an excellent cook), if he’s not too exhausted from caring for Aquaman all day long.

    Maybe a solution is for us to have a small, simple meal with Aquaman early in the evening, and then for us to have our “real” dinner after he’s gone to bed.

    Who knows. We’ll figure it out as we go, I guess.

    Since my days of sleeping till 7:30 on weekdays and later on weekends are numbered, I imagine that the shift to earlier mealtimes might occur naturally. If I’m up at 5:30 anyway, I might just eat breakfast then, which would make me hungry for lunch even before noon, and so I just might be ready for dinner as soon as I get home from work.

    I have been instructed to begin doing what are called “kick counts.” You time how long it takes your kiddo to move ten times, at whatever part of the day they are most active. For me, this will be mid- to late-evening. There is no “right” or “wrong” answer. Some babies are really active, and some aren’t; it just depends on the baby. We need to get a feel for how active Aquaman normally is, so that if there is a marked decrease in movement, we will know to call the doctor.

    Of course, as he grows over the next ten weeks, he’ll have less and less room to move around in my body, so his movements will cease being as distinct and sharp as they are now, anyway. We just need to be aware of his activity levels on a day to day basis.

    We picked up the crib this weekend (sans the railings that turn it into a full sized bed; those are still on special order), and we also bought a dresser/changing table, a nightstand, and a kitchen table and four chairs. We got everything but the crib from an unfinished furniture store, one of two left in Texas. Unfinished furniture places were everywhere when I was growing up. I guess nobody wants raw wood furniture anymore, to stain or paint themselves. I find that kind of sad.

    The salesman we worked with was a trip. When he calculated the sales tax on our purchase, Doc said “I wonder how much of that’s going to the bank bailout situation.” So Mr. Salesman sized us up, decided to take a chance, and said, “Can I just tell you how angry I am about those government motherfuckers giving $700 billion of our tax money to these private banks.” We busted out laughing and then we all had a nice long conversation about those motherfuckers in the Bush administration giving $700 billion of our hard-earned tax money to bail out the private banks. It was a refreshing conversation, to say the least.

    So now we have seven pieces of furniture in our garage, waiting to be stained and painted. We have our work cut out for us for the next few weeks…

    Category Pregnancy | Tags: | 1 Comment

  3. Belly at 29 weeks

    September 15, 2008 :: 9:20 pm

    So here I am at 29 weeks pregnant. I’m out on the back patio on the first nice day of fall. Not that it’s actually fall yet, but the temperature was much cooler so I went outside to make some Vitamin D for the kiddo. I look like I’m gleaming because I’m covered in sweat. It was a nice day but a bit toasty in direct sunlight.

    Category Pregnancy | Tags: | 1 Comment

  4. Baby news

    September 10, 2008 :: 5:54 am

    Things are going well. Busy, but good.

    Today I had my 28-week doctor appointment. I can’t believe I’m already 28 weeks into this pregnancy. Now that I’m not having morning sickness all the time, the time kind of seems to be flying by.

    Mr. Baby is healthy and big. Not too big, but measuring one week and a handful of days larger. The doctor says that anything within 2 weeks is considered normal, so this doesn’t mean we’ll end up with a ten pound baby.

    My belly looks like I’ve swallowed a small basketball. Sometimes it feels that way too. The basketball squishes all your guts upwards and makes it hard to eat and breathe sometimes.

    As I suspected, my back pain is increasing. My pelvic bone is still sore all the time. I guess that’s probably not going to go away, either. My badly-twisted ankle from two weeks ago is finally beginning to feel a bit better. It’s still swollen all to hell but the party-colored bruise that swallowed the left half of my foot is fading.

    Other than all that (!) I am feeling pretty good. I’ve been taking iron supplements and don’t feel quite as exhausted as I did a few weeks ago. I need to increase my calcium intake lest the baby start sucking it out of my bones. Baby’s gotta make his own bones somehow!

    My weight gain is back on track to where it should be for 6 months into the pregnancy, although the doctor did say that I can start scaling it back a bit now. It hasn’t seemed like I’ve been eating much more than I normally do, though. Maybe I’m just retaining more of the calories or something. It’s interesting how your body does what it needs to regardless of what YOU do.

    Mr. Kicky is kicking me all the time now. Sometimes I can feel it on both sides of my belly … like his feet kick me on one side and his head bounces against the other. Luckily, he was snoozing during the sonogram this morning, so it did not take too long.

    We may have settled on a name for Aquaman. I think we might be keeping it under wraps for now. We haven’t really decided yet.

    I’m having “Braxton-Hicks contractions,” which are like practice contractions that don’t hurt. I don’t even notice them most of the time; when I do, my belly is rock-hard to the touch, and if I stand up and walk around there is an odd sensation of downward pressure in my pelvis.

    We’ve started a baby registry. Two, actually. I kind of hate doing that; I don’t have any expectations for my friends and family to buy me presents, but that’s the only reason registries exist. “Here’s a list of stuff I demand. Now buy me something!” Ugh. I know, I know. Lots of people probably WANT to do it. I need to just get over myself and let people know what I’m interested in so it’s easy for them. I guess part of it is my aversion to accumulating “stuff.” But I am deluding myself if I think that I can have a baby and not have to have a hell of a lot more “stuff” now! Babies simply require THINGS. ‘Tis the nature of a baby.

    So, anyway. We are registering at Target and Babies R’Us (a store designed to part you from the contents of your wallet as quickly as possible). We’ve just begun the registries so they’re not complete yet, but we hope to finish them up this week.

    It’s now 7:10 and I have to go get ready for work. Must be there before 8 a.m. Oh, and last night I was there till almost 10! More on that later.

    Category Pregnancy | Tags: | 4 Comments

  5. Stop overloading my lady-brain!

    September 1, 2008 :: 8:57 pm

    Sigh… I am not even going to get into the whole Sarah Palin GOP VP pick thing, how one woman is apparently just as good as another.

    Must… control… self…. AIIIIIIGHHHHHHHHH!

    For now,  just enjoy Samantha Bee’s report on last Friday’s episode of The Daily Show.

    Category Politics, Pregnancy | Tags: | 1 Comment

  6. Baby equipment overload

    August 25, 2008 :: 7:02 pm

    I ventured gingerly into Babies R’ Us last weekend, to get an overview of what was available and to begin making a list of what we might need and want. 

    Yikes.

    These stores seem purposely designed to frighten or guilt you into spending WAY more money than I suspect you would ever need to. The sheer number of things — and varieties of each of those said things — is astounding.

    I mean, there are infant car seats. Infant car seats, detachable from their bases, that double as carriers. Spare bases. Car seat undermats. Extra padding support. Regular car seats. Convertible car seats. Car seats that snap off their bases and attach into a stroller. At least four distinctly different types of stroller. Cribs. Convertible cribs. Cribs with attached changing tables. Separate changing tables. Dresser drawers the double as changing tables. Plain bouncers. Fancy bouncers. Bouncers that bounce themselves. Swings. Swings that swing themselves. Activity mats. Activity seats. Activity centers. Single baby gates. Baby gate systems. Baby gates that can also transform into play yards/baby jails. Ugly padding for every edged surface in your home. Playpens. Bassinets. Rearview mirrors. Nursing footstools. Wipe warmers (seriously!).

    And that doesn’t even begin to get into the toy section (fun toys, learning toys, teething toys, plastic toys, plush toys, wooden toys, probably-toxic toys) or the baby care section (really? a separate bathtub for a baby?), the diaper pail section (do we really need something that uses expensive proprietary bags?), milk pumping and bottles, or the baby clothes, or the crib linens, or the room decor… 

    None of this overwhelmed feeling is alleviated by the baby store employees, who oh-so-helpfully greet you with an enormous packet of carefully designed marketing materials, outlining what is utterly ESSENTIAL to purchase for your new baby if you really love it. If you really love your baby, you apparently need to buy everything I mentioned above and then some.

    Could it be that they are trying to guilt and confuse you into emptying your bank account into their coffers? Could it be that they prey on the ignorance and excitement of new parents, suggesting that we buy a whole lot of crap that we don’t need?

    As my friend Brandie said, all you really need is boobies, diapers, and blankets.

    Aquaman is kicking me right now, as if to say “Brandie’s right, that’s all I need, Mom!”

    Category Pregnancy | Tags: | 7 Comments

  7. Kickin’ through the skin

    August 7, 2008 :: 1:14 pm

    Last night, Doc was able to feel our little Aquaman kicking for the first time. Aquaman is the baby’s new nickname, by the way. Doc’s name means “protector of the sea,” so we decided that Aquaman would be a fitting nickname for our little one.

    I loved Doc’s reaction to the kick. He began to laugh and was obviously just tickled pink. Of course, Aquaman only did it the one time that he could feel it… but it’s not like he’ll be kicking any LESS in the days to come.

    He seems to be most active a few hours after I’ve eaten (or a few hours before I’ve eaten, depending on how you look at it). Swimming, walking, or any sort of movement seems to put him to sleep.

    I’m getting pretty excited. I’ve been excited up till now, of course, but it’s really been more in a philosophical or theoretical sense. Today, though, I just feel like I can’t wait to meet him! Or maybe it’s just that I’m doing a better job today at ignoring the sense of fear and inadequacy.

    Category Pregnancy | Tags: | No Comments

  8. Me & Martini

    August 4, 2008 :: 8:16 pm

    Photos taken by my husband, the lovely and talented Murdock Scott!


    Category Cats, Pregnancy | Tags: | No Comments

  9. How rude!

    August 3, 2008 :: 8:46 pm

    Last night I had another encounter with someone who said something quite rude to me about my pregnancy. We had dinner at Gloria’s with Brittney and Chris and some of their friends for Chris’ birthday; Doc and I held the doors open for everyone as we filed out of the restaurant afterwards. Another couple was right behind everyone so we held the doors open for them too. As the man stepped outside he turned to me and said:

    Man: September 14.
    Me: What?
    Man: September 14.
    Me: I’m sorry, but what are you talking about?
    Man: Your due date. Is it September 14?
    Me: Um, no….
    Doc: It’s actually December 1.
    Man, apparently shocked: Really? Are you carrying twins, then?
    Me: NO! I’m not THAT big! (asshole! under my breath)

    And that was that, he and his wife/girlfriend walked off down the sidewalk.

    Seriously, people: do I look EIGHT months pregnant? Or like I’m carrying twins? All this time I’ve been thinking I look pretty damn good, perhaps even smaller than the average woman at 6 months pregnant. Maybe I’ve just been deluding myself.

    I guess maybe he prides himself on being able to predict due dates, or something? I’m not sure what would possess a complete stranger to say something like that, otherwise. Maybe he didn’t mean to be rude; maybe he was truly surprised he was so far off base (by two and a half MONTHS). Maybe he didn’t mean to hurt my feelings.
    Still, though, I wish people would THINK before they opened their mouths.

    I guess I’m just glad that no strangers have tried to touch my stomach yet. I’m pretty sure that if that happens, I won’t be able to be particularly polite about it.

    Category Pregnancy | Tags: | 4 Comments

  10. Belly at 23 weeks

    :: 6:01 pm

    It seems like I only get around to taking a photo every other week instead of weekly.

    Also: I have ballooned recently, as you can see from the photo below.

    Category Pregnancy | Tags: | 1 Comment

  11. Baby Sonata in the Key of Me: First Movement

    July 31, 2008 :: 8:57 am

    It’s official: I can feel my kiddo moving around inside me!

    For about two weeks I have been feeling odd senses of fleeting fluttering in my lower abdomen, kind of like how it feels when a muscle on the surface of your skin twitches uncontrollably, but I was never sure whether it was baby movements, normal intestinal issues, or possibly just muscle twitches. It was so infrequent, too, that I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions.

    Last night I was sitting in The Comfy Chair watching The Daily Show, and I had my right arm resting on my abdomen… and I felt that odd fluttering sensation again. This time, though, I also felt it on the OUTSIDE, where my arm was resting!

    I was startled and put my hand where I’d felt the movement… and there it was again! A definite KICK.

    I woke up in the middle of the night last night and had a hard time going back to sleep, and the whole time I was lying there I could feel these teeny little movements. I guess he’s really active at night, which probably means that as he gets bigger he’ll start keeping me up with jabs to the ribs and crap like that. Goodbye, good night’s sleep. I’ve been so tired anyway, lately, that I think that this is probably my new baseline of exhaustion/energy levels for the foreseeable future.

    All that being said, though… it’s really cool. :) It really makes it much less conceptual that I have a proto-human inside my abdomen. I am really excited for the day that Doc is first able to feel him moving around.

    Category Pregnancy | Tags: | 1 Comment

  12. The Katysburg Address

    July 28, 2008 :: 3:30 pm

    Slightly more than one-half score and seven weeks from now, I will bring forth, on this continent, a new youngster, conceived in love and dedicated to the ideals of fairness, honesty, openmindedness, kindness, generosity, common sense, and good humor.

    Now I am engaged in a great gestation process, testing whether I, or any woman so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. I have come to dedicate a portion of my body, known as the uterus, as a temporary resting place for that youngster who is growing by the day so that he may come forth to do good in this world. It seems altogether fitting and proper that I should do this.
    But in a larger sense, even though I gestate — and fully participate — I cannot anticipate — what shall occur. This brave little one shall control his own destiny, far above my poor power to nurture. The world will little note nor long remember what I say (unless I’m really lucky), but it is my great hope that my child will help lead us to brighter futures. It is for me to be dedicated to the great task remaining before me — that from the great sense of love, safety, and compassion his father and I shall provide to him, he resolves that our efforts shall not have been in vain — that this world shall have a new birth of peace — and that fairness, honesty, openmindedness, kindness, generosity, common sense, and good humor, shall not perish from the earth.

    Category Pregnancy | Tags: | 3 Comments

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