Monday, May 31, 2010

Diapers

I started trying to write this out nicely, but it got long. I'm just going to say it.

I'm planning on using disposable diapers. I understand all the benefits of cloth diapering (better than you might expect), and they don't outweigh the cost of the extra work they require. They are substantially more work than disposable diapers. And they require more work of exactly the sort I don't feel like doing. I respect cloth diapering and I think it's cool that we live in a modern era that gives mothers so many options for cloth diapers. There are super cool products like flushable diaper liners that make it less work, but I'm still not interested. We also live in a cool modern era that's working really hard to decrease the environmental impact of disposable diapers.

In any case, if you want to see where I'm getting most of my info, it's coming from a friend of mine. Her blog is here diapertrials.livejournal.com. It's full of lots of good information. She has used disposable diapers, cloth diapers and even elimination communication. Her daughter is almost a year and a half. The blog is new, but her research and diligence are not. Since I know her in person and I've been around since the birth of her daughter, I've gotten a lot of this information first hand. It's just given me a good amount of information and I know that I'm making an informed decision instead of just the easy one. I don't feel like I'm a bad person for choosing the disposable diaper route.

That's all for today :)

Days pregnant: 147
Days to go: 133

Thursday, May 27, 2010

E-mails?

I send out weekly e-mails to family and friends with Pregnancy updates. The thoughts are generally more organized and baby centered than the stuff I write here. Does anyone want to be added to the e-mail list?

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

It's all real

It's all feeling real now. I know that I've been walking a fine line of trying not to get too excited about things but also trying to be as healthy and pregnancy minded as possible.

Now, knowing the gender and feeling my little boy wiggle around all the time, it's so real. I'm pregnant. :) I actually feel really joyful and excited instead of just stoic. This kid is moving around a lot too. "Hi mom, I'm here... really really."

Whoa boy

So, in the beginning I was losing weight. I didn't want to eat, I couldn't keep down food if I did eat too much and all I wanted was fresh fruits and veggies.

Things have changed. Now I eat everything! All the time. I seriously eat almost continuously from like 9am until 6pm. I taper off in the evening. I want to be grazing all day long. I'm also drinking a TON of water. At least 64 oz in a day, often more. I've gained all the weight I lost back. I'm just about at my pre-pregnancy weight, maybe 1 lb over.

I'm feeling a little fat when it comes down to it. Boo.

The word is in!

The word is in.

We're having a boy!

And I'm halfway!

Days pregnant: 140
Days to go: 140

Monday, May 24, 2010

Movement!!

Ok, I'm feeling fetal movement... really really. I'm sure I was feeling it before, but it's so obvious what is going on now and it's really fun!

On Friday, I was pushed my stomach to see if I could feel something and something pushed back! Like, a forceful, get out of here push. It was super cool. I couldn't get it to repeat, but still neat. And then last night I was laying down and feeling wiggling and I had my husband come over and feel my belly and he was able to feel our little mango for the first time (it's mango sized this week). And when he felt it, I could seriously feel it too.

Today's the big ultrasound. I'm so ready to know!

Days Pregnant: 139
Days to go: 141

Thursday, May 20, 2010

I'm ok

When people ask me how I am, my most common answer is "I'm ok". This isn't me being self-righteous or even not wanting to burden people with how I'm feeling, it's more a matter of I don't know how to explain what I'm feeling. At the beginning I had heartburn. Then there was some nausea. Those things were easy enough to explain. Now, my general bad feeling is just sort of icky. I'm not exactly nauseous, but my stomach doesn't feel good. It's not really pain, it's just sort of well, ickiness. Given all the time in the world and all the words in my head, I still can't come up with a good way to explain it. I would like to take a nap, but I'm not tired. I would like to lay down, but that would actually make me nauseous.

My head sort of hurts, but not really a headache. My stomach sort of feels uncomfortable, but not nausea or a stomach pain. I'm worn out but not tired. I'm stiff and achy without it really hurting. I'm pregnant? I dunno.

I guess that's what I mean by ok. I'm good enough and I don't want to explain it.

Childbirth Classes

Whoa. New overwhelming thing to research! Childbirth classes.

Ok, this is kind of a DUH moment, but I feel like after the miscarriages, I stopped planning ahead. I didn't want to let myself get excited again with this pregnancy, so I'm just taking things one day at a time. Well, I'm almost half way through (19 weeks now) and I guess it's time to start planning ahead. Yes, things can still go wrong, but I need to think to the future.

In the last week I have had several different people bring to my attention the fact that I need to start looking into childbirth classes. Ok! No problem, I'll get right on that. Wait, what's hypnobirthing? As it turns out, there are many types of childbirth classes. I wanted to find a book on the topic, but I was unable to. I just want something comparing the various options to me. I did find an article! http://www.pregnancytoday.com/articles/birth-methods-and-philosophies/childbirth-class-comparison-5135/

I'm not sure it really helps, but at least it gives me some sense. For example, as much as I think I want a natural birth, I don't really want anyone calling my contractions "energy surges". And I'm all about having my baby in a hospital. My hospital is cool because I will get a dedicated nurse, so that's pretty rad. I want to be prepared, but not in a new-agey sort of way. I still think I need to do more research, but right now I have a better sense of what is to come.

I'm still a little overwhelmed by it all. And it's the kind of thing that I need to make the decision about on my own. I'm waiting for that magic decision that needs to be made that I don't need to make!

Days Pregnant: 135
Days to go: 145

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

I'm getting rounder

As of today:

I can no longer see my feet when I'm standing up straight and I look down.

My waist is 10 inches larger (give or take) than when I found out I was pregnant.

Woo!

Days Pregnant: A lot
Days to go: A lot plus a few

Monday, May 17, 2010

Non-alcoholic Champagne Comparisons

Ok, I've now had occasion to try two different varieties of non-alcoholic champagne and they are NOT created equal. My reviews:

Ariel Non Alcoholic Brut Cuvee: By itself this is basically undrinkable. It's thick and syrupy, which is not a desirable quality in champagne. It is overly sweet and has an unappealing artificial after taste. Fortunately for me, I put this champagne in a mimosa and it wasn't awful, but I was heavy handed with the orange juice. It did make it sparkling, but that's the best I can say for it.

Fre Non Alcoholic Brut: This was delicious by itself. I had several other people try it and the consensus was that it really did taste like a light and fruity sparkling wine. It was wonderful and refreshing. It had notes of pear and apple without being overwhelmingly fruit juice like the way the Fre Merlot was. I drank most of a bottle myself over 6 hours.

Days Pregnant: 132
Days to go: 148

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Oh man, I'm starting to enjoy my semi-frequent spa visits. I've gotten two pedicures and a massage in the last 6 weeks. It's pretty wonderful to be pampered.

And it's starting to feel justified. I am starting to have a harder time getting up off the floor. I've always had the opinion that I'm not too old to sit on the floor and I do it often. At theme parks, at home, at other people's houses. While I still don't think I'm too old, I may be starting to get too pregnant. I'm not saying I'm going to stop, but it's getting more difficult to get up anyway.

Days Pregnant: 131
Days to go: 149

Look how close those numbers are getting to each other!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Gross

Ewww, gross. Stop reading now and spare yourself this post.


You've been properly warned, this is gross. I woke up this morning to another bloody nose. Except, instead of bleeding out my face, it was bleeding back down my throat. I have a habit of spitting in the morning to clear my throat of any phlegm that my have built up. This morning, huge blood clot. Followed by several more over the next few minutes. I felt like I was bleeding so much from my mouth that I must have knocked out a tooth, but the blood was coming from the back of my mouth and not my teeth. I managed to get a tiny amount of blood to come out one nostril just to make sure it really was a nose bleed, and I'm right. Yucky! It also robbed me of my last hour of sleep. I am not a fan.

Days Pregnant: 129
Days to go: 151

Thursday, May 13, 2010

What do we have here?

Let's see, I've been slacking with the blog haven't I.

Well, the big news, someone finally looked at me today and was like "Whoa, you're pregnant." Not in so many words, but I entered a meeting with a client that I haven't seen in like 8 months and he looked at me and said "What do we have here?" Which I interpreted as the kind male way of saying, you're round, how far along are you. I answered 4 months pregnant and he said congratulations.

I think that means I owe a belly picture. I'll take one tonight or tomorrow.

I think that's the big update for today.

Days Pregnant: 128
Days to go: 152

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Nose bleeds

Two annoying symptoms that you don't often hear about with pregnancy. Nasal congestion and nose bleeds.

Yes, nose bleeds. I first had one in Vegas. That one made sense to me as it was very dry there and I flew to get there, also a dry environment. Today I got one that lasted for 20 minutes. I kid you not. And it was after leaving a steam room of all things. (And for those of you concerned, I was in the steam room for no more than 3 minutes) There was nothing dry about the spa I was at.

And now, I'm trying to sleep, because I'm exhausted and worn out and need more sleep. But when I lay down to go to sleep, I noticed that I was SUPER congested and even had a runny nose. No, not runny, bloody. This is obnoxious. The congestion isn't fun, but at least it's normal ish and there are things I can do to make it better. The bleeding, not so much. I hope this doesn't continue to be an ongoing problem.

In other news, I ate 10 different kinds of fruit today. And one sad little vegetable.

Days Pregnant: 123
Days to go: 157

Friday, May 7, 2010

Non-alcoholic wine

I have discovered Non-Alcoholic Wine! Wine is made and then they distill the wine and remove the alcohol and replace the removed liquid with water and juices. The resulting beverage is less than 0.5% alcohol by volume. And before you start to tell me that it still counts, you're right and I know that. But, there is as much alcohol in a glass of non-alcoholic wine as there is in a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. And no one would caution me about drinking that.

So I started with a bottle of merlot. Meh, it was a little too fruity and not particularly merlot like. I got online and read some reviews and discovered that the consensus is that naturally fruitier varieties of wine are better sans alcohol. I am currently trying my first glass of white zin and it's not bad. It's certainly something I can pour for myself at functions and feel like I'm getting to enjoy the fun. I'm also going to try to make a non-alcoholic sangria! I also have two bottles of champagne that I will start trying on Mother's day. I'm pretty excited, I love champagne!

That's my update for today.

Days Pregnant: 122
Days to go: 158

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

It is extremely unfortunate to have brushing your teeth lead to nausea, and have that nausea lead to serious throwing up, to then be faced with the concept that you really need to brush your teeth again when it had such a disastrous outcome the first time you tried it.

In other news, I'm getting really anxious to find out the gender of my little avocado. I need to wait 3 more weeks. I've been taking those "old wives tale" quizzes online and depending on the quiz I get both answers. I have my intuition about it, but I can't tell if it's what I believe I'm having or if it's what I want to have. Bah. I'm tired of waiting.

Yesterday I finally found the preservative free version of the H1N1 vaccine. I know, seriously, who is still concerned about it? Basically my doctor told me that I'd probably just need to end up getting it in the fall, and that my immune system won't be as strong then. So I found the version they wanted me to get and I went and got it. It was so painless! At least, at first. But by the time I went to bed my arm ached a bunch. So that meant that last night I was down to sleeping on my right side only. I really miss sleeping on my stomach and my back. I will be happy when my arm stops hurting and I at least have options again.

That's enough for today.

Days Pregnant: 119
Days to go: 161

Monday, May 3, 2010

The pregnancy progresses

This morning I was all cranky. But time has healed that wound and I'm left quite pleased.

This morning I heard my baby's heartbeat for the first time. I didn't think this appointment was going to be a big deal. I thought it was an excuse to get me in again to draw my blood (ok, it probably was). But I heard the heartbeat. It's not so much that the heartbeat was anything special, but knowing that he or she is growing and thriving and that all the little tickling I've been feeling probably has been fetal movement is awesome.

Things are going well, and I am happy!

Rant!

Let me start this with something positive. I met a new doctor in my medical group this morning and she was fabulous. Very friendly answered my questions like she was talking to a peer and good bedside manner.

Now, I'm going to complain. I got to my 8:30am doctor's appointment at 8:28am. I left a urine sample and at 8:35am I was called back by a nurse. Weight, blood pressure and a few simple questions later I was left in an exam room with the words "The Doctor will be right in". After 40 minutes sitting and waiting, during which time I read a magazine and took a brief nap, the doctor finally came in. "I'm sorry, I got called away to surgery this morning and there wasn't time to call my patients and cancel or tell them to come in later."

Wow, really? I'm in this group of 7 doctors and the best solution to, hey, her doctor isn't here is to leave me sitting alone in an exam room with no explanation? Know what she did? She took a Doppler and listened to my stomach (heart rate of 165-170, yay!) and answered questions for 5 minutes for me. That's it. Someone else could have done that, delayed their schedule for a few minutes and I could have gotten on with my day. Oh, and then I needed my blood drawn. You know how long that all took? 15 minutes. I could have gotten my blood drawn WHILE I waited for the absent doctor and not delayed my morning even further.

Ok, I'm probably hormonal, and my blood sugar was low because I didn't eat before the doctor's visit. Boo. I'm irritated.

Days Pregnant: 117
Days to go: 163