I almost forgot, today's the day for another belly picture too! It's right here, or in the list of pictures on the left, as usual.
I don't know why so many maternity shirts have horizontal stripes, but they do. I went shopping last week with a friend who is pregnant and just starting to need maternity clothes, and I was amazed at the vast array of horizontally-striped shirts I had to choose from, and the relative sparseness of any other kind of shirt design. Maybe it was just the store where we were shopping (used, naturally.. who would pay full price for maternity clothes?!?). At any rate, enjoy my belly from this month, which is be-striped just like last month!
Today is a day of all kinds of big dates. Today we are 27 weeks. Today we begin the 7th month. Today we begin the third trimester. And today we're exactly 3 months from our due date!
I'm in the middle of a vacation right now, most likely the last vacation I'll have for years and years and years where I have absolutely nothing to do and no one to worry about but myself. I scrounged up enough vacation days to take the three working days of this week off. Of course, I don't have absolutely nothing to do. Part of the reason I took this time off instead of saving it for when the baby comes is because there's so much to do around the apartment and I wanted a chance to just DO it all at the same time rather than spending weekends doing it. There'll be enough to do over the weekends as it is!
So yesterday I began moving things from the office closet to the bedroom closet, finishing the room switching from a couple weeks ago, and cleaning and organizing the mess still left from the switch. I got a lot of the way through it, though there's still a bit left to do. Things are much more organized now. It's wonderful! Today I didn't do much in the way of cleaning and organizing, though I did a little straightening downstairs. Most of today I spent out shopping for new sheets for our bed - our NEW bed, that is. Last weekend we finally made a purchase we've been talking about making for years, and I couldn't be more excited. The bed was delivered today, a squishy, soft, new queen sized pillow top mattress with new box springs. Aaaaahhhhhhh, am I looking forward to sleeping tonight!
Babywise, he's (she's) been kicking up a storm the past week or so. More wiggly than ever. We can now sit and watch while it kicks and makes my belly leap to the left or the right. Jason can even feel kicks when his hand isn't right over the spot that's being kicked. I find that I'm tiring more easily now, although it isn't the same exhaustion of the first trimester. I get tired if I'm up moving and walking too much, but I'm ok and able to stay up to normal hours as long as I'm sitting and being relatively quiet.
My hips continue to hurt excruciatingly during the night. I'm awakened at least three or four times a night by the pain and have to flip from side to side to alleviate it. Sometimes I even have to get up and walk around a little. About once a week, the pain creeps into my dreams and I dream I am in great pain, only to wake up and find that I am, in fact, in great pain. The hope is that our new bed will help with the pain. Another thing that I hope will help is the exercise/birthing ball we bought. My sister has one that I sat on for a couple hours when we were there on Christmas, and that night I had NO pain at all. None! So we went out and bought one. Of course, I've had pain every night since then, so maybe it wasn't the ball after all (perhaps it was all the cookies I ate? could it be? I hope so...). In any event, it's something I wanted anyway to take to the hospital with us, so it won't be wasted even if it doesn't help my hips.
I can't believe how close we are to the baby arriving. Earlier this morning I was thinking about how we could be as close as 11 weeks (or less, but hopefully not) to the baby coming, and how amazing and wonderful and soon that is! Of course, it could be as much as 15 weeks from now, too. You just never know. That's the beauty of it, isn't it? I look at the calendar for March and April and just wonder which of those days will become a new Very Special Date for us. It's going to be one of them... I can't wait to find out which one it is!
Merry Christmas! We hope you have a wonderful day and glean from it all the true spirit of the season that you can.
Nothing much new to report today, babywise.
Jason's been feeling it move a lot lately. Last night as we were drifting off to sleep, he was laying behind me with his arm around me when the baby started to kick. It was really kicky, too, and right where his arm was. Each time the baby would kick, he'd say "boot! bootboot!" It was cute. And earlier in the evening, I was sitting in a chair when the baby kicked about three times so hard my belly leaped from side to side. That, my friends, is a little strange to see. Wonderful, but strange just the same.
Friday I went for my 25 week appointment. Everything is going well. Although the scale at the doctor's office measured close to a 10 lb weight gain, my home scale has shown me only a 5-6 pound gain. How I wish they'd use my scale at the office! My blood pressure was fine, the uterus measured fine, my urine sample was fine, everything was fine! The baby's heartbeat was 138 this time, instead of the 155-160 it has been every other time.
We were a little surprised to find that I had to take the glucose screening test at that appointment, though. I know it was about time for it, but at our last appointment they didn't give me the glucola or even mention I'd be having the test. Fortunately we weren't on a tight time schedule so it wasn't a big deal to have to wait the extra time. Dr. V said they'd only call if the result was positive. I'm crossing my fingers not to hear from them.
At the appointment, I asked Dr V a whole bunch of questions about labor and delivery and how she and the other doctors in the practice handle it. It doesn't sound like they are big into interventions unless they're necessary. She's supportive of my desires for a natural birth, although she did say to try not get so set on it that I am upset if intervention is necessary. She said episiotomies are not routine, and they're fine with trying other methods to avoid them, and with letting me tear if I prefer that (which I think I do). Lastly, she said that although she has only worked with doulas a handful of times, she's okay with them, provided they do not try to give medical advice or make medical decisions for me.
Overall I am pretty happy with how she answered. As long as she and the other doctors and the nurses at the hospital are ok with doulas and natural birthing methods, and won't try to push me into using drugs and pain relief just to speed things along because they're anxious to go home or whatever, I'll be happy. Jason and I were prepared to switch practices if we had to, if we weren't comfortable with the answers we got from Dr. V. I'm a little glad not to have to deal with that. I like Dr V, but not being forced into using drugs or having other interventions if I don't really need them is important enough to me that I'd have done it.
I did ask one of the doulas I've been emailing back and forth with about birthing centers and unfortunately there aren't any in the Columbus area. So my choices for bith are either a hospital or home birth. Home birth is something Jason and I would need to research a lot, and an idea that would take some getting used to anyway - most certainly not an option for this pregnancy. Neither of us is ready for it, not to mention we're in an apartment and I can't see bothering the neighbors with the potential noise. I had hoped there was a birthing center around that I could look into - more for the next baby than this one (look at me, already planning #2 when #1 isn't even here yet!). Perhaps something will open up in the next couple years. You never know.
Yesterday afternoon I received my first you're-due-in-March-you-must-be-having-twins-because-you-are-so-large comment. I was in the elevator and another woman got in and asked when the baby was due. She responded with the twins comment when I told her I was due in March. The things people say. It didn't offend me at all -- if anything I'm amused. But I have to wonder if that kind of comment supposed to make me feel GOOD about myself? What is the purpose here?
Last night we went to see Return of the King with our friends Beth and Denver who have come back to town for Christmas. That was a great movie. We really liked how they did it. Now we can't wait for the extended DVD version to be released. LOTR marathon! The baby must have really liked the movie too, because it was extremely kicky the whole time. It was wonderful to see Beth and Denver, too. We haven't seen them in ages, and it's always so nice to reconnect.
We got our new digital camera yesterday! I'm so excited! It's our Christmas present to ourselves this year, but I couldn't wait and ripped right into it when we got home from the movie last night. It's charging right now so it will be all ready to play with tonight!
Only 15 weeks left, give or take a couple. Today we're 25 weeks, and at this point the baby is just refining its various bodily systems and growing like a weed.
In the past week, baby has learned a new trick, one that I am so very excited about. It's called the bladder mambo! It happened for the first time on our drive home from Indiana at Thanksgiving, but it wasn't until this past week that the baby started to dance jigs and jitterbugs all over my bladder on a regular basis. Sometimes it feels like a little fairy-light touch, but other times it makes me wince, particularly if I have to pee.
There are times when you might think no one notices you. You wander through life, doing your thing, quietly going about your business. You notice the people around you from day to day; you think about them, you wonder about their lives, you watch them learn and grow and laugh and smile and cry, all from a distance. Every now and then you wonder if they ever look at you and wonder about your life and watch you grow and smile and laugh, but the idea that someone could have such an interest in you - little old you! - is a little far-fetched, so you laugh it off as something that just couldn't happen. It's a rare moment when you are shown that someone has been watching you, and thinking about you, and wondering about you, and watching you learn and grow and laugh and smile and cry.
This morning in church, during the sign of peace, I turned around to shake hands with the people behind is. An older woman was behind me, and as I reached out my hand for hers, she gave me the biggest, most beautiful smile and said, "Congratulations!" and made pregnant belly motions with her free hand. I smiled back and thanked her, and then turned around feeling a little warm and smiley, because it always makes me warm and smiley when someone says that to me, especially with as much happiness as she had expressed.
Later, when church was over, I was putting on my coat and felt someone touch my arm. I looked up and it was the woman. She looked back and forth from me to Jason, and she said, "I know this is going to sound nuts, but I've been praying for a baby for you two. You just looked like you were ready."
I was a little stunned, but her words sunk in, their meaning sunk in, and I smiled and I thanked her. As she walked away, I thanked her again and told her that it worked (her prayers, that is). And I stood there, looking at Jason, who was looking at me. My eyes filled with tears, and I was filled from the inside out with the most incredible feeling of being loved and cared for, a feeling that was all the more extraordinary because it came from a complete stranger.
As we waded through the crowds and out into the cold, snow-filled air, I thought about all the times in the last year that I've felt lonely and unloved and unloveable. I thought about all the pain and sorrow I'd experienced as time and time again our plans failed to go off as we hoped, and we were once again forced to put off having a baby for another few months. I thought about how hopeless I had become. How cynical, even bitter, I had started to become.
And all that time, there was this woman, this stranger, watching me from a distance, loving me and caring for me with the kind of love you develop for the people you quietly observe. All that time, through all that loneliness and all those difficult times, there was that woman, watching me. Noticing me. Praying for me. I may have felt lonely, but I was not alone. It is difficult to be completely alone when you're surrounded by people.
As of yesterday I'm 24 weeks, and now we're in the 25th week. The baby's doing lots of growing, as evidenced by the increasing power of its kicks recently. Yesterday I sat here in my chair at work and watched my entire belly leap around as it kicked repeatedly in one spot. I was grinning like a madwoman. I can't help it. It just makes me happy!
Last week, I hardly felt it move at all, and it had me mighty worried. The previous week it'd been moving all over the place, then it just stopped, except for every now and then I'd feel a little squirm or wiggle or light little tap. It was enough to keep me from completely freaking out and calling the doctor, but I was still worried. Finally late in the week or over the weekend it started kicking again more like old times. I think it must have been either facing my back so the movements were muffled or it was going through a growth spurt and sleeping a lot. Either way, it's moving again and I'm happy.
A week or two ago I signed up for childbirth classes! We got our confirmation letter yesterday, so it's official. We'll be going on Monday nights for four weeks starting February 9. The classes will end just about a month before our due date, so it's perfectly timed. Good thing I signed up when I did, too, because there was only ONE class starting in all of February, and it was already half full! The one thing I'm a bit disappointed in is that I couldn't find a Bradley method class. I was hoping to take that instead, but couldn't find any in Columbus. Ah well, someone I spoke with said that the hospital classes really are pretty good and most of the instructors mix methods and don't teach strictly from Lamaze. (She might be biased though, as she's an instructor.)
I've been getting Braxton Hicks recently, too. It started a couple weeks ago. I've only had maybe 4 or 5 in that time, so they aren't regular at all. It's a strange sensation, though. I mostly feel the tightness low down, but if I touch my belly, I can feel the very hard uterus in there. (A uterus, which, according to several sources, is now the size of a soccer ball! (Jason started calling the baby Pele last night when he read that - he said between living in a soccer ball and kicking so much, it must be Pele!))
I finally got around to taking a belly picture for 23 weeks, and not a moment too soon since tomorrow we're 24 weeks. (Twenty four weeks, already? Holy cow...).
We are now one giant step closer to being ready for the baby. Yesterday we spent most of the morning and afternoon switching our bedrooms around. Our office is now in the small bedroom, and our bedroom is in the big one. We aren't completely done - the closets still need to be switched, and the things on the walls need moved around too. But the hard part is over, and it's all mostly organized.
Our bedroom now is so big! We had our bedroom in the small room in our New Hampshire apartment as well, so we've gotten used to cramped bedroom space. This is amazing and refreshing, all this room! And! Best of all! There's an entire third of the room where we have room for baby things - bassinet, glider, dresser! All have homes now! This is of course the entire reason we switched rooms, but it hasn't stopped me being excited about it.
It's funny how not just moving but even moving rooms around induces you to suddenly find large piles of crap throw-away-able. I've been keeping all the issues of a photography magazine I get, but I never go back and read them (I have a hard enough time reading them when they're new!). Yesterday I chose to toss them all rather than carry them to the other room. I love getting rid of stuff like that. (Though I probably should have gone through them and pulled out articles that might be useful at some point... ah well. That project would only take another eight years to get to.)
Poor Jason did all of the heavy lifting and moving. He's so sore from it today. The poor baby. Three cheers to him for suffering such pain for the cause of making room for baby! Hip-hip hooray! Hip-hip hooray! Hip-hip hooray!
23 weeks now! Hooray! Shannon came over today and I swear we are the same size, which made me feel fat because she's three weeks ahead. Granted it is only 3 weeks, but still. Mooooooooo. After I got done mooing we went over to Babies R Us and added to our registries. I wanted to go with her once, both for her experienced mommyness, and also to have a shopping partner for the items such as diaper bags that I refuse to make Jason sit around while I him and haw.
I've changed the high chair I registered for. When Jay and I went over the weekend, we chose this one, but after I read the reviews on Amazon and nearly everyone said how easily their child learned to take the tray off themselves and throw it on the floor, I decided another chair was a good idea. Sure enough, when I examined that one at the store tonight I could see how easliy a kid could take the tray off. So tonight I decided on this one, which I was leary of because I've never heard of the brand (Baby Trends) before, but it seems to have good reviews, so I'll go with it. At least I know the baby won't be unhooking it all by him/herself!
Last week we spent Thanksgiving with Jason's brother Adam and his family in Indiana. Jason's mom, grandmother, and aunt were there, as well as Tracy's parents and brother. We had a really lovely time. The boys are so cute and they jumped right in playing with us without hardly a moment's shyness. Tracy prepared a wonderful, huge Thanksgiving dinner, and I ate so much I actually felt full for HOURS afterward, which sooooo doesn't happen these days.
Adam and Tracy loaned us a bunch of baby stuff, too, since they're done having kids. We've now got a crib, a play pen/pack n play, and a double stroller (which will be handy in a few years, if not so much right now...). I'll get pictures one of these days. I still need to take a picture of the bassinet we got ages ago!
We're in the thick of packing things up around the house. We aren't going as far as pulling things off the walls of course, but we've packed up the books from the two tall shelves in the office, and the shelves are now in the basement. We're about ready to switch rooms and put the office where our bedroom is now and vice versa. I think we're also going to have to rearrange the living room downstairs. The way it is now is going to cause space problems I think. I hate to do all this work when we're not going to be here long, but I'd rather do it and be comfortable for the three months we're here after the baby is born than not do it and be miserable.
Tomorrow we'll be officially 23 weeks along. I'm getting bigger and bigger, so much so that I no longer require the safety pins to shorten the waistband on my pants, except on my jeans which fit funny anyway. The baby's also starting to kick so much! Some day's it'll be really wiggly, thumping here and there and all over the place. Other days (like today) there's hardly a movement at all. Naturally I worry about this. I probably shouldn't, but I do.
More and more people at work are asking me about the baby. Mostly it's the men, because the vast majority of the women asked me weeks ago. It's interesting - not unexpected, just interesting - that women noticed and asked first, and that it took until I'm really poking out for the men to notice and/or feel comfortable asking me about it. It's also amusing to me the differences between how women and men approach the subject. Women will sidle up close, and, with a knowing look in their eye and a pronounced glance at your belly, ask if you're pregnant, or when the baby's due. The men, on the other hand, look a bit shy and uncomfortable and embarrassed and say things like "So... is there something here I should know about?" or "Well, what have you got going on there!"
I've been growing increasingy obsessed with my weight gain. I'm gaining a pound or more a week, and I don't know how. I don't think I really eat that much every day. Even though I'm hungry just about all the time, I'm eating fruit and pretzels and other light, relatively good for you things. I'm not eating a lot of candy or other junk food, and even though the guy across the hall has a well-stocked candy dish I only let myself have one lollipop a day, so it can't be that. I think I probably eat larger portions than I ought, but it's hard to tell because most days I fill up a lot faster than normal and have to resort to eating slowly or breaking my meal up into two parts separated by half an hour or so. I suppose I should keep a food diary for a week or two and see what exactly goes into my tummy during the day, and how many calories I'm eating... but I'm almost afraid to. What a poopy dilemma. On the other hand, Dr V didn't say anything about the weight I gained at my last appointment, and it was waaaay more than I should have gained. So if she isn't going to worry me about it, why should I worry me about it? (Other than the fact that I am the one that will have to lose it all and she won't?)
One day last week I found myself looking forward to the baby being born, not so much because of getting to meet the baby, but because I could start to lose weight. How very sad and pathetic is that? I mean, I am very anxious to meet the baby, and overall that's my driving force day in and out - the baby, and how everything I do affects it. But still, there's that part of me, the selfish, girly part of me, that rears up her ugly (fat) head now and then and screams to be allowed to diet and exercise hard again. I never realized before what a luxury dieting and intense exercise are, or how much I'd miss them when I couldn't have them. It does occur to me that perhaps this is a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, because honestly, what sane person WANTS to diet and sweat all over the place in a smelly gym?!