Random Stuff From The Interwebs

1. ...and baby makes four.

2. A comic having to do with breastfeeding AND ninjas? Perfect! Click.

3. This was really fun to play with: http://www.umm.edu/pregnancy/000088.htm It shows development of the baby and also where your organs get squished to as the baby grows. Watch the girl's boobs between weeks 8 and 14!

4. Check out this site to get your own version of Madame Zaritska's birth prediction. Here's mine:

"The day you deliver, outside will be bright. Your baby will arrive in the evening. After a labor lasting approximately 10 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 5 pounds, 11 ounces, and will be 17 inches long. This child will have medium hazel eyes and barely there red hair."

Um, OK!

5. Here's a "Chinese Gender Predictor" site, but FYI it was wrong for me.

6. Last but not least, a little tip I picked up about possibly making labor easier: drink tea! http://www.birthingnaturally.net/exercise/kegel/kegcup.html I may actually consider it, which is downright CRAZY if you know me and my lifelong aversion to tea. But, what the hell.

glucose test = PASS

First, the glucose test is designed to check for gestational diabetes. You drink about 12 ounces of icky glucola orange drink (think: melted fla.vor.ice popcicles), wait an hour, then they draw your blood. It was good for me to know that there isn't anything I could have done "better" or differently to avoid getting GD, it's just a measure of how the body processes sugars while pregnant. Some women's bodies apparently revolt against them, refusing to process sugar properly, which can be all kinds of bad for the mom and the baby.

They told me when I went in for the test that "no news is good news" and that if I didn't hear anything, they would let me know the results of the test at my next appointment. Yeah, I'm not that patient. I called the nurse today, and she said my test came back completely normal, and on top of that, I'm not anemic either!

This is awesome news for me, since I've been having so many problems with eating/barfing/pooping... I just don't think I could handle diet restrictions or iron supplements (I've heard they constipate you).

So, Cheers! I'm going to go get a brownie!

A poem

"I love you, little baby
You're such a part of me.
Can't wait to hold you in my arms,
And hug you tenderly.
No matter what you look like,
You're beautiful, my love,
A precious gift bequeathed to me,
From heaven far above.
Each time I feel you moving,
My heart is filled with joy,
To think that very soon I'll hold
My little baby boy.
I'm counting every moment,
Til you're mine at last, my sweet.
It won't be long until your birth,
Then finally we'll meet."
- Sharon A.

27 weeks

Maternity clothes: Need more shirts! The ones I got away with back in the 10-16 weeks phase are SO NOT cutting it anymore.

Stretch marks: 3 around my bellybutton, and now introducing one on the top of each thigh!

Sleep: I've been sleeping better this week, only waking up maybe once a night. I still feel like I can't get enough though!

*NEW* Belly Button: Getting shallow.

*NEW* Labor Signs: I learned that Braxton Hicks contractions can be worsened by dehydration. So since everyone says they don't hurt and it turns out they DO... I hereby resolve to better monitor my water intake. *Ballcap over the heart* style.

Best moment this week: I'd have to say it was when the doctor congratulated me on "only" gaining 3 pounds.

Movement: All the time now! I think we've even established a pattern...

6:30 am: he starts to wiggle around and help me wake up

9:00 am: soft thumps to let me know he's ready for breakfast

12:30 pm: strong pointy kicking! (it's the mac & cheese, I'm sure)

5:00 pm: TIME TO GO HOME, MOM

7:30 pm: wiggly again, and recently he's been rolling over or something around now too.

10:00 pm: OK this week he's been doing The Weirdest Thing Ever. I'm laying on my side in bed and out of nowhere it feels like a small animal is trapped between my belly and the mattress!! The first time he did this I just tried to imagine what position he had gotten himself into to make this insane squirming thing happen... but then when he did it again the next night I had to Laugh Out Loud because impersonating a hamster must just be tons of fun!

Food cravings: If this boy is anything like his mama, he is going to LOVE mac & cheese!

Gender: BOY!! I believe we are close to bringing the name debate to a close. Stay tuned, y'all.

What I miss: I miss NOT getting stared at.

"Yes, I am pregnant. November. It's a boy. No, we haven't named him yet. Oh, you can really tell he'll be a big baby just by looking at me? Wow that's talent!"

What I am looking forward to: My baby shower Labor Day weekend! I get to see MOM and JEN and all kinds of OTHER cool family and friends! YAY!

What I have learned: Nesting is for real. When you don't think twice about buying new furniture (and the rug to match, of course), it's real. This incident actually made me stop and think... all the little things I was doing add up! (Like freaking out that the floors are dirty and WHY are crumbs STICKING TO MY FEET? Now, I have to force myself to NOT go to Target and buy a bunch of stuff to finish his room because WHAT IF I’m not ready when he gets here and he has NO SHEETS and NO cute things on the wall to look at and WHAT IF I get too tired in the next 3 months and OMG WHAT IF HE COMES EARLY?!? So, yeah, good times. Luckily these thoughts happen only about once a day and don’t last too long. Nick is good at talking me down too.

Milestones: Childbirth classes! Class participation! Nick had to wear a 25 lb. backpack to show him what it's like to carry the extra weight around. We practiced having him coach me through breathing and she showed the dads some massage techniques that should help me relax. I feel pretty good about it! Nick is going to be an awesome coach.

Third Trimester! Ack!

99 days left!

That is a VERY SHORT time considering that the countdown starts at 266!

Things I still have left to do:

1. Childbirth classes/breastfeeding class/infant care class.
2. Figure out some sort of clothes storage system. Do we refinish great grandma's dresser? Just use the cube thing from Target? Both? Neither and buy one?
3. Buy craploads more diapers. Also, my plan is to have a couple of those neat all in one velcro/snap fancy pants cloth diapers around just in case we run out in the middle of the night. I'm so stinkin' smart.
4. Clean everything. I know it's "nesting" and seriously, I don't care. He's going to be crawling around on THOSE FLOORS? GAH!
5. Name this kid.
6. Must Pass Glucose Test On Monday. (I am reminded of this by the 3 snack packs and small handful of Hershey's miniatures I ate today.)
7. Smack the next person who says, "Are you eating again?" The UPS man just did this, for reals.
8. Attempt to buy a dress for a late September wedding when I will be fully at the end of my 7th month that could possibly be used again for something some day.
9. Eat more fiber.
10. Figure out daycare.
11. Find a pediatrician.
12. Find a list of the million other things I'm sure I have to do but just don't know what they are yet.

25 weeks

Maternity clothes: Anything else would be inconceivable!

Stretch marks: 3 right around where my bellybutton used to be pierced. :-(

Sleep: Yes please! I wake up so much just to roll over. It's really starting to piss me off!

Best moment this week: I'm sitting at work, typing away, minding my own business when I feel a kick. It feels like a good one and I look down and THUMP I saw a kick!

Movement: Nick felt kicks! We were laying in bed at night after a long trip around Babies R Us. I guess that my walking around kind of rocks baby boy to sleep, because he was kicking away like crazy like maybe he just woke up from a nap, and Nick felt two thumps!

Food cravings: Mac & cheese still rules all.

Gender: BOY!! Still no names...

What I miss: I miss not feeling slow. Like I'm just so heavy that I have to walk more slowly to build up momentum.

What I am looking forward to: First baby shower this weekend!

What I have learned: Morning sickness doesn't stay in the first trimester! Sometimes it can flare up again whenever the hell it wants to. Annoying.

Milestones: Nick feeling kicks... it's so funny that getting kicked would make someone happy, but seriously you should see the look on his face...

22 weeks

Maternity clothes: Need more. I have 2 pairs of pants acceptable for work that fit right now.

Stretch marks: still *fingers crossed*

Sleep: Weird. It's like, when I sleep I'm out cold... but I wake up a lot too.

Best moment this week: Finding the perfect crib set! I have grand ideas for this baby boy's room...

Movement: Here and there, but nothing too exciting. I think he likes it when I lean forward a little bit... either that or he hates it and is trying to tell me to get the hell off of him. Either way, that's when I fell him the most, but it makes it impossible for Nick to feel him. :-(

Food cravings: Still mac & cheese!

Gender: BOY!! Still no names...

What I miss: I miss my body. Not in the way I used to look or anything like that... (I'm SUPPOSED to gain weight and pretty much past ever hoping to look like I did 10 years ago.) It's the fact that a lot of the time, I don't feel like me. My body doesn't react to things the way it used to and it's annoying trying to figure out all the new changes! I have a newfound lactose intolerance, I can't poo or I'm pooing too much, I have random headaches, the list goes on.

What I am looking forward to: Finding out baby boy's eye/hair/skin color combination!

What I have learned: Halfway and then some = soon I'll have to face the fact that I'm going to have to go into labor. LABOR. And DELIVERY. When I think about it, my mind always goes from pregnant, uncomfortable (but worth it) to Yay I'm a mom and Nick's a dad. I always gloss over that middle part with the contracting and pushing and whatnot. Gonna have to deal with that eventually. But not right now. Right now I want some mac & cheese.

Milestones: Um, swelling? I'm swelling to the point where my wedding ring doesn't fit anymore.