We saw the doctor again today and guess what? My weight was down. This past week I lost weight, and the previous week I gained quite a bit. I have a new theory. Throughout the pregnancy I had been using the same exam room for every appointment - until last week. The office was crazy busy so I was weighed in a different room, with a different scale last week only. This week I was back to the usual room with the usual scale. So, I'm thinking that scale last week was out to lunch. In any case, I'm no longer freaked about my weight, and the doctor isn't concerned at all.
Baby has also come down some. Doc says for a first pregnancy the "dropping" can take several weeks, and it is underway but not complete yet. He figures I still have another two weeks or so to go. He also checked out a calendar and advised me that he's on call the weekend of the 19-20th so it would be really great if I could go into labour then. Ray pointed out that would be good timing for him as well, since if it happens on a weekend we don't have to worry about Robyn. Ok boys, I'll see what I can do.
The nurses had Girl Guide cookies for sale at the front desk. Boy are they smart, selling cookies in an obstetrician's office. They totally had me sold when they told me that the cookies had gone back to the old recipe. For a few years there the cookies just weren't the same so I was off them. I have verified (a few times over) that the old recipe is indeed back. Mmmmmm.
Laughing until you cry is the greatest, isn't it? Robyn provided me with a great belly laugh yesterday. In case you've never met Robyn, I'll fill you in on the two passions in his life: making people laugh, and music. He gets a real kick out of both. When it comes to music, he's got a great knack for remembering artist names and song titles, especially the oldies his Mom exposed him to. So Ray has started up a game with Robyn where he searches for song clips online and challenges Robyn to identify them as fast as he can. Often, Robyn sings along, even if he doesn't know the words. He'll passionately belt out a tune, with the right melody and timing, but with completely nonsensical lyrics. It's pretty amusing to hear. Yesterday, he topped any performance of his I've ever heard before. Are you ready for this? It was Backstreet Boys, Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely. Oh yeah. He rocked it out. Ray and I were busting our guts, trying to be quiet about it so Robyn wouldn't stop. He got through the entire song start to finish with such passion, and had an awesome time doing it. I'm pretty sure he missed every word. It was hilarious, and he was so proud - I think of his performance, and to see how much we enjoyed it. Good times.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Whine whine whine
At first, being told to lay in bed with your feet up sounds pretty awesome. But it wears thin. I saw my doctor again today, and this time he was a little more adamant about keeping my feet elevated. But I had things to do today! I guess I'll have to work on finding some balance of time on my feet to get things done and time with my feet up to keep the swelling down. All the while I will remind myself that this has been a very smooth pregnancy and if this is the worst of the associated afflictions, I should be grateful. But that does little to affect the boredom. Scrabulous can only amuse me for so long.
Anyhoo, aside from the swelling, doc still says everything is on track and looking good. No signs of anything happening early. I had a pretty hefty weight gain over the last week, which didn't concern the doctor but did concern me. After reviewing my eating over the past week and getting the reminder that being off work means I'm less active (especially since I try to keep those feet up), I guess it's not much of a mystery where those extra pounds came from. But dang, I still can't quite believe it. Overall my gain throughout the pregnancy is still within normal limits, but if I keep up the off-work-and-feet-up routine for another two or three weeks I will have tipped the scales a little too much. Darn, I was so enjoying all those compliments about my size.
Looks like I caught a short-lived flu. Spent a few hours praying to the porcelin god last night. (Imagine what my weigh-in today might have been otherwise!) Seems to have passed, but of course now I'm exhausted. Might nap after posting this. I rarely nap. But I guess it's a practice I should get accustomed to. Sleep when the baby sleeps, right?
Ack! I've become one of "those" women! I very much do not want to be the whiny type. I have to work on that.
PS - Teehee, my new ticker is a little out of whack. I thought I'd go with the cute little chicks, since baby already has quite a few of them in the nursery thanks to gender-neutral gift giving friends and family (er, the gifts are gender neutral, not the friends and family). But the poor baby is dwarfed by the giant chicks! No, please don't peck at my baby!
Anyhoo, aside from the swelling, doc still says everything is on track and looking good. No signs of anything happening early. I had a pretty hefty weight gain over the last week, which didn't concern the doctor but did concern me. After reviewing my eating over the past week and getting the reminder that being off work means I'm less active (especially since I try to keep those feet up), I guess it's not much of a mystery where those extra pounds came from. But dang, I still can't quite believe it. Overall my gain throughout the pregnancy is still within normal limits, but if I keep up the off-work-and-feet-up routine for another two or three weeks I will have tipped the scales a little too much. Darn, I was so enjoying all those compliments about my size.
Looks like I caught a short-lived flu. Spent a few hours praying to the porcelin god last night. (Imagine what my weigh-in today might have been otherwise!) Seems to have passed, but of course now I'm exhausted. Might nap after posting this. I rarely nap. But I guess it's a practice I should get accustomed to. Sleep when the baby sleeps, right?
Ack! I've become one of "those" women! I very much do not want to be the whiny type. I have to work on that.
PS - Teehee, my new ticker is a little out of whack. I thought I'd go with the cute little chicks, since baby already has quite a few of them in the nursery thanks to gender-neutral gift giving friends and family (er, the gifts are gender neutral, not the friends and family). But the poor baby is dwarfed by the giant chicks! No, please don't peck at my baby!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Home again home again jiggity jig
Well, I suppose now that I'm done at work and will be at home more, the high demand for more frequent blog updates will be unignorable. (No, that's not a word. Totally made it up.) I cannot disappoint my fans. By the way, shout out to those of you who read this without me knowing: Hi Nana! Hope Papa is recovering quickly!
Yep, I caved. I couldn't cut it. I didn't reach the goal of staying at work until March 31. Seriously, I am disappointed. I'd rather have more time with the baby before I return to work than while he or she is still hiding out. Plus I know that plenty of women manage to work right up until they go into labour, so I feel a little like a weakling for only making it to 36 weeks. But what can I say, several different things came up all at once that pointed us toward the decision to leave work earlier than planned. It's probably for the best. Of course it is. Convincing, no?
I gotta say, my feet really have been a sight to behold. For those of you that have not seen them at their largest, consider yourself lucky. I felt a bit like a freak of nature. I made people's eyes bug out at the sight. Including the women in my prenatal class who surely have heard of this condition, other Mom's who surely have felt worse than I have at this stage, and even a pharmacist who surely sees all sorts of nastiness. We went to inquire about compression socks, and the pharmacist was talking to us about the ones that she uses herself for vericose veins. At one point I lifted my pant legs to show her how bad they were, and she looked a little stunned before she recovered and advised us that I would need much stronger socks than hers and would require a prescription. My feet actually have behaved themselves pretty well over the last few days. They sure plumped up on Friday, the day we drove down to the coast - not surprising since sitting is the worst position for it. But after that it wasn't so bad - hopefully it will stay that way now that I'm settled back at home, feet up as much as possible. Ray's been awesome with the foot massages. Kelly even gave me one too, despite some serious rankness. She ran off to wash her hands immediately afterwards. What a trooper.
Speaking of Kelly... girl knows how to throw a very last minute baby shower like nobody's business. Ray and I went to Ladner to surprise my Mom and Dad, just for the heck of it (and maybe as a bit of a last hurrah in the impulsive travel department) in time for Easter. We pulled it off perfectly - Mom's face was priceless and I got the tightest hug ever. She might even have misted just a little. Perfection! Little did I know that while I was tickled with the success of that surprise, another one was brewing behind my back. Kelly only found out that I was coming to town on Thursday night, and by Sunday afternoon she and her cohorts had managed to lure guests (on Easter Sunday and with hardly any notice, no less), bake a cake decorated like a baby bottle, prep shower games, find time to shop and spoil us, hide all of this from Ray, stop Dad from nearly spilling the beans, and keep me 100% oblivious until the big reveal. WOW. I had been enjoying what I thought was a quiet weekend family visit, completely clueless that whenever I left a room someone else was jumping to action or taking a phone call making arrangements. I don't know how they managed to keep it a surprise, but they did. Thank you everyone!
Yep, I caved. I couldn't cut it. I didn't reach the goal of staying at work until March 31. Seriously, I am disappointed. I'd rather have more time with the baby before I return to work than while he or she is still hiding out. Plus I know that plenty of women manage to work right up until they go into labour, so I feel a little like a weakling for only making it to 36 weeks. But what can I say, several different things came up all at once that pointed us toward the decision to leave work earlier than planned. It's probably for the best. Of course it is. Convincing, no?
I gotta say, my feet really have been a sight to behold. For those of you that have not seen them at their largest, consider yourself lucky. I felt a bit like a freak of nature. I made people's eyes bug out at the sight. Including the women in my prenatal class who surely have heard of this condition, other Mom's who surely have felt worse than I have at this stage, and even a pharmacist who surely sees all sorts of nastiness. We went to inquire about compression socks, and the pharmacist was talking to us about the ones that she uses herself for vericose veins. At one point I lifted my pant legs to show her how bad they were, and she looked a little stunned before she recovered and advised us that I would need much stronger socks than hers and would require a prescription. My feet actually have behaved themselves pretty well over the last few days. They sure plumped up on Friday, the day we drove down to the coast - not surprising since sitting is the worst position for it. But after that it wasn't so bad - hopefully it will stay that way now that I'm settled back at home, feet up as much as possible. Ray's been awesome with the foot massages. Kelly even gave me one too, despite some serious rankness. She ran off to wash her hands immediately afterwards. What a trooper.
Speaking of Kelly... girl knows how to throw a very last minute baby shower like nobody's business. Ray and I went to Ladner to surprise my Mom and Dad, just for the heck of it (and maybe as a bit of a last hurrah in the impulsive travel department) in time for Easter. We pulled it off perfectly - Mom's face was priceless and I got the tightest hug ever. She might even have misted just a little. Perfection! Little did I know that while I was tickled with the success of that surprise, another one was brewing behind my back. Kelly only found out that I was coming to town on Thursday night, and by Sunday afternoon she and her cohorts had managed to lure guests (on Easter Sunday and with hardly any notice, no less), bake a cake decorated like a baby bottle, prep shower games, find time to shop and spoil us, hide all of this from Ray, stop Dad from nearly spilling the beans, and keep me 100% oblivious until the big reveal. WOW. I had been enjoying what I thought was a quiet weekend family visit, completely clueless that whenever I left a room someone else was jumping to action or taking a phone call making arrangements. I don't know how they managed to keep it a surprise, but they did. Thank you everyone!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Smooth Sailing
Well, we had another appointment with the doc on Friday. All is still going well, he had reviewed the ultrasound and everything's hunky dory there. There was a resident doctor shadowing my doctor that day, so when it came to certain things they did it twice - first the resident, then my doctor. When they were feeling around my belly to determine the baby's position, it was very weird. It was like my abdomen was play doh and they were just smooshing it around this way and that and when they were done somehow they knew that the baby's rump was way up top, head was way down low, back was along my left side and limbs to my right side. I have no idea how they did that. My weight was checked again and I don't know how it's possible that I only gained one pound with all of this Easter chocolate surrounding me. Maybe it was a little off because I was wearing sneakers instead of the usual boots I had through the weekend, but still - last weekend I was a bad girl with the mini-eggs, let me tell ya. This weekend is shaping up similarly. I figure if I limit it to the weekends that's better than every day - right?
Thought it was time for another photo shoot. Can hardly believe it's been 4 weeks since the last one. I feel ginormous, but people keep telling me I look small for how far along I am. I can still wear those same fat jeans, with the waist hanging really low below my belly, but it's getting more uncomfortable. It's not bad when I'm standing, walking, or lying down, but sitting is less than comfy. Wore the same shirt as last time for the photos, thought it might show growth better for those of you who don't get to see "us" in person.
Caught the cold I was so hoping to avoid, but really it was inevitable with Ray plus three people at work spreading their germs around. I tried the power of positive thinking thing, repeating my mantra "I am healthy, my immune system is at its peak" over and over. They say that a woman's immune system really is at its peak during pregnancy, as if the body knows it's all the more important to stave off those germs and protect both people. But alas, here I am, sniffling away, bit of a cough. It's not too bad right now, but it sure keeps me up at night, and sleep was already getting to be an issue. I even started wondering if I'll make it through March 31 at work. Sigh. But I should really shut up with the complaining if this is the worst of what ails me. I still feel like things are going smoothly - the doctor even said I was having a text book great pregnancy... woohoo!
On my mind: What happens if my water breaks while I'm in bed or on the couch or on the carpet? Surely there aren't enough cleaning agents in the world to make that ok. I think I might spend the last couple of weeks of my pregnancy on the kitchen tile. Yep. Eat drink and sleep there. It's the only way.
Thought it was time for another photo shoot. Can hardly believe it's been 4 weeks since the last one. I feel ginormous, but people keep telling me I look small for how far along I am. I can still wear those same fat jeans, with the waist hanging really low below my belly, but it's getting more uncomfortable. It's not bad when I'm standing, walking, or lying down, but sitting is less than comfy. Wore the same shirt as last time for the photos, thought it might show growth better for those of you who don't get to see "us" in person.
Caught the cold I was so hoping to avoid, but really it was inevitable with Ray plus three people at work spreading their germs around. I tried the power of positive thinking thing, repeating my mantra "I am healthy, my immune system is at its peak" over and over. They say that a woman's immune system really is at its peak during pregnancy, as if the body knows it's all the more important to stave off those germs and protect both people. But alas, here I am, sniffling away, bit of a cough. It's not too bad right now, but it sure keeps me up at night, and sleep was already getting to be an issue. I even started wondering if I'll make it through March 31 at work. Sigh. But I should really shut up with the complaining if this is the worst of what ails me. I still feel like things are going smoothly - the doctor even said I was having a text book great pregnancy... woohoo!
On my mind: What happens if my water breaks while I'm in bed or on the couch or on the carpet? Surely there aren't enough cleaning agents in the world to make that ok. I think I might spend the last couple of weeks of my pregnancy on the kitchen tile. Yep. Eat drink and sleep there. It's the only way.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Mini Eggs, anyone?
I don't know if I'm really having a pregnancy craving per se, but man those Easter treats have been calling to me. Frequently. Even after I've given in. Still want em. Today I saw some scattered on the ground in a parking lot and I thought about holding a moment of silence for the wasted chocolate and for whoever had the misfortune of dropping those precious morsels.
More importantly... we're at 32 weeks now, and today was ultrasound day. Fun surprise: even though this was at the clinic, requested by my doctor, and covered by msp, we got to see some 3D images! Like at a private office, where you spend a decent chunk of cash to do it. Certainly wasn't expecting that! I didn't want to ask too many questions so as not to jinx it, it was such a nice bonus. It would be pretty cool if that got to be the norm. Anyhoo I'm told the baby is 4 pounds 14 ounces now (how do they know that? crazy), the heart rate was 128 bpm, and everything looks right on track. Now for the fun part... photos! Well, one photo. We only got one 3D photo printout, so here it is:
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Baby was playing shy, wanted to keep it's face hiding behind it's hand. From this angle, the hand is covering up part of an eye and part of the mouth on the right side of the photo, but you can see the other eye, the nose, and part of the mouth pretty clearly. Or, at least, the parents of this beauty can see it. Maybe it's not so clear to others!
Right after we got home from the ultrasound, I laid down on my side on the bed and starting feeling a new kind of movement. Up until today mostly I was feeling what seemed like rolling around, but not those kicks you hear so much about. This time there was several minutes of kick kick kick over and over again, nice and strong so Ray could both feel it and see it. It was so constant, almost like a tick. But it's cooler to think it was kicking, don't you think?
Going to wrap this up now so I can send it along to those of you who can read from work... I'm excited!
Now why isn't that husband of mine back from his chocolate run yet...
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Weighing the Issue
Well, good news and less than good news.
Good news, doc says my weight is back on track now.
Less than good news, doc said not to keep up the same weight gain pace.
Oh, sure.
For the last four weeks I changed my eating habits so as to try to gain some healthy weight. I was successful. Now I need to change my eating habits again, so as to continue a healthy weight gain BUT not as much as the last four weeks. How in the heck is that supposed to work? He's toying with me I think. Don't you think? Because that doesn't sound reasonable to me. Surely it's not considered reasonable to ask a pregnant woman to increase her food intake, then take it back and tell her to decrease it again. That is some form of cruelty. Right up there with tickling. Am I right or am I right?
I hope the preceding rant was perceived with its intended humour :)
Onward and upward: next scheduled cruel joke on this pregnant woman is Feb 22, when I get to drink approximately 42 gallons of water without releasing it until given permission. Hooray!
Good news, doc says my weight is back on track now.
Less than good news, doc said not to keep up the same weight gain pace.
Oh, sure.
For the last four weeks I changed my eating habits so as to try to gain some healthy weight. I was successful. Now I need to change my eating habits again, so as to continue a healthy weight gain BUT not as much as the last four weeks. How in the heck is that supposed to work? He's toying with me I think. Don't you think? Because that doesn't sound reasonable to me. Surely it's not considered reasonable to ask a pregnant woman to increase her food intake, then take it back and tell her to decrease it again. That is some form of cruelty. Right up there with tickling. Am I right or am I right?
I hope the preceding rant was perceived with its intended humour :)
Onward and upward: next scheduled cruel joke on this pregnant woman is Feb 22, when I get to drink approximately 42 gallons of water without releasing it until given permission. Hooray!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
More Milestones
Last Sunday, at 28 weeks, I had another milestone. Ray very nicely made me a virgin strawberry margarita. No, that wasn't the milestone, he does nice things for me all the time :) It was such a sweet treat, and I sooo enjoyed it. Anyway I was lying in bed when he brought it to me, and I had a bit of it then sat it down absentmindedly. Ray left the room and came back with his own, and caught me laying there with my coffee mug of margarita balanced on my tummy. That was a first! Wonder what I'll balance next... It was a bit of a cheat since I was lying down and the cup was also balancing against my chest too, but then again I never would have done that a few months ago without the belly I've got now.
The next day, I went to the mall for a haircut and a little clothes shopping. The hairdresser was the first stranger to comment on my pregnant belly – that was pretty cool. She said they're told not to comment on that with clients for fear of being wrong, but I was wearing a pretty tight fitting shirt and she said my popped out belly button was a giveaway so she felt pretty safe saying something. Then I went to do a little shopping, still trying to avoid actual maternity clothes by buying larger sizes of regular tops that happened to be designed to flow around the belly. Normally when a store staff person asks if I need help with anything I always say no just out of shyness, even if I actually do need help. But since I'm looking for pretty specific stuff now I went ahead and said yes. The girl right away pointed me to just what I was looking for, saying that about a year ago she was in the shape I'm in now and was still avoiding maternity wear too. She said she managed to get through with zero maternity tops and only one pair of maternity bottoms – she lived in yoga pants and let the waistband sit below her belly. I wish I could get away with that at work – I'm down to wearing the same pair of jeans every day (yes, I wash them frequently) but who knows how long I can milk that for.
I had my test to check for gestational diabetes two weeks ago. If it had bad results I would have been called back already for the longer version, so I'm hoping no news is good news. I'd heard terrible things about the repulsive orange drink you have to chug, but actually it wasn't so bad. The comparison I heard was it was like McDonald's orange drink, but just the syrup without being watered down. Yuck. But actually it was cold and carbonated, and sure it was fairly sweet but really it was just like Orange Crush. Not hard to chug at all for me. More annoying part was sitting in the waiting area for an hour alone so they could make sure I didn't eat or drink anything else before they took my blood. Boring! Next check up with the doctor is this Tuesday, right before the 30 week mark. Yikes, three quarters of the way there! We'll see what doc has to say about my weight this time – I've been trying to work on it, but honestly I can't tell one way or the other what the change has been since early January.
I've said that I've enjoyed my pregnancy so far, I think I've been spoiled with few low points. Ray asked whether I'm actually enjoying being pregnant or I'm just happy that we're going to have a baby. I told him – both! I really have been enjoying being pregnant, and to borrow his term the “wonderment” has been amazing. Every day I think about how amazing this process is, how much is going on inside of me without me consciously doing anything at all. And the physical sensations, all of this baby's movements, I wasn't prepared for how cool that would be, definitely my favourite part of it all. And I do think I have been spoiled with few low points – sure I had some morning sickness, but it was isolated to the first trimester and I never actually threw up at all. And I had that nasty heartburn just after Christmas, but it was only a few bouts of it, over in a week or so and nothing since. I've been having a more difficult time with certain movements that used to be easy and mindless, especially moving around in bed, but so what? It's logical that I'm not able to move quite like I used to, and though I may have a bit of pain in the moment, it doesn't linger. So far, I'm counting my lucky stars that both baby and I have been been healthy so far and all those little symptoms have been just that – little. Here's hoping the rest of the road is this smooth, and hopefully payback doesn't come during childbirth!
PS - here's a photo showing my belly's progress... more on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=862609&l=d71f8&id=577420408
PPS - woops, thought that would be public, let's try that again for you non-facebookers:
The next day, I went to the mall for a haircut and a little clothes shopping. The hairdresser was the first stranger to comment on my pregnant belly – that was pretty cool. She said they're told not to comment on that with clients for fear of being wrong, but I was wearing a pretty tight fitting shirt and she said my popped out belly button was a giveaway so she felt pretty safe saying something. Then I went to do a little shopping, still trying to avoid actual maternity clothes by buying larger sizes of regular tops that happened to be designed to flow around the belly. Normally when a store staff person asks if I need help with anything I always say no just out of shyness, even if I actually do need help. But since I'm looking for pretty specific stuff now I went ahead and said yes. The girl right away pointed me to just what I was looking for, saying that about a year ago she was in the shape I'm in now and was still avoiding maternity wear too. She said she managed to get through with zero maternity tops and only one pair of maternity bottoms – she lived in yoga pants and let the waistband sit below her belly. I wish I could get away with that at work – I'm down to wearing the same pair of jeans every day (yes, I wash them frequently) but who knows how long I can milk that for.
I had my test to check for gestational diabetes two weeks ago. If it had bad results I would have been called back already for the longer version, so I'm hoping no news is good news. I'd heard terrible things about the repulsive orange drink you have to chug, but actually it wasn't so bad. The comparison I heard was it was like McDonald's orange drink, but just the syrup without being watered down. Yuck. But actually it was cold and carbonated, and sure it was fairly sweet but really it was just like Orange Crush. Not hard to chug at all for me. More annoying part was sitting in the waiting area for an hour alone so they could make sure I didn't eat or drink anything else before they took my blood. Boring! Next check up with the doctor is this Tuesday, right before the 30 week mark. Yikes, three quarters of the way there! We'll see what doc has to say about my weight this time – I've been trying to work on it, but honestly I can't tell one way or the other what the change has been since early January.
I've said that I've enjoyed my pregnancy so far, I think I've been spoiled with few low points. Ray asked whether I'm actually enjoying being pregnant or I'm just happy that we're going to have a baby. I told him – both! I really have been enjoying being pregnant, and to borrow his term the “wonderment” has been amazing. Every day I think about how amazing this process is, how much is going on inside of me without me consciously doing anything at all. And the physical sensations, all of this baby's movements, I wasn't prepared for how cool that would be, definitely my favourite part of it all. And I do think I have been spoiled with few low points – sure I had some morning sickness, but it was isolated to the first trimester and I never actually threw up at all. And I had that nasty heartburn just after Christmas, but it was only a few bouts of it, over in a week or so and nothing since. I've been having a more difficult time with certain movements that used to be easy and mindless, especially moving around in bed, but so what? It's logical that I'm not able to move quite like I used to, and though I may have a bit of pain in the moment, it doesn't linger. So far, I'm counting my lucky stars that both baby and I have been been healthy so far and all those little symptoms have been just that – little. Here's hoping the rest of the road is this smooth, and hopefully payback doesn't come during childbirth!
PS - here's a photo showing my belly's progress... more on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=862609&l=d71f8&id=577420408
PPS - woops, thought that would be public, let's try that again for you non-facebookers:
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