Baby Size: 3 and a half pounds ish
Mama Size: Still at 21.5 pounds. I have been sick and stressed this week and so actually lost some weight. My stomach continues to grow--38 inches now!
Symptoms: Having a hard time falling asleep but usually when I do, I stay asleep except for maybe one bathroom trip. Although last night I had to get up four times so that.....was just lovely. I am loving the weekends because when my alarm doesn't wake me up, I can sleep in until 10. Pelvic pain has now been joined by hip and back pain. Gotta love the third trimester.
Other updates: The second childbirth class was hard to sit through but three hours on a hard chair=major discomfort. Peter learned some coaching techniques but I made it difficult because I kept laughing which would make him laugh. We just fail at relaxing.
Nursery is so close to being done. We set up the dresser and cleaned out the closet and organized the tons of baby stuff we already have. I want a bookshelf and some wall shelves and a few other odds and ends in there but as Peter put it, the baby doesn't care whether I have spackled the crown molding.
Question of the Week: When did you choose a pediatrician, or did you choose a family practitioner instead? Someone told me I'd need one before giving birth but my ob told me I didn't. Hmm...
Thursday, January 26, 2012
30 Weeks
Dear Baby,
I feel like we've reached a milestone--75% finished! I hope you are not getting too comfortable because I am beginning to think that your comfort and mine are inversely proportional.
We set up most of the nursery this week and I satisfied some nesting urge now that I finally have a place to put the onesies and the footed pajamas and the ever-growing pile of baby blankets. I made you an origami mobile and had to glare at your father when he made jokes about one thousand paper cranes.
At our childbirth class this week, the instructor encouraged us to keep a journal for you (check), play with you (does pushing your body parts to more comfortable jabbing places count?), and talk to you. Your dad pounced on that last one with glee and told me he is now justified for yelling, "BABY COME OUT NOW AND EAT SOME ICE CREAM" at my stomach intermittently throughout the day. I am not sure if it terrifies you or calms you down at this point but you always go quiet and then start to tentatively kick me again.
We are in the middle of the Chinese New Year and like every child born this year, you will be a dragon. Which is much cooler than my sign; I was always dismayed every time I remembered mine was an ox. According to our Chinese friend, a dragon is the best sign there is and according to wikipedia, the year of the dragon is the luckiest year of them all. The dragon is considered to be powerful, strong, and full of good luck. I hope all those things for you
Love,
Mama
I feel like we've reached a milestone--75% finished! I hope you are not getting too comfortable because I am beginning to think that your comfort and mine are inversely proportional.
We set up most of the nursery this week and I satisfied some nesting urge now that I finally have a place to put the onesies and the footed pajamas and the ever-growing pile of baby blankets. I made you an origami mobile and had to glare at your father when he made jokes about one thousand paper cranes.
At our childbirth class this week, the instructor encouraged us to keep a journal for you (check), play with you (does pushing your body parts to more comfortable jabbing places count?), and talk to you. Your dad pounced on that last one with glee and told me he is now justified for yelling, "BABY COME OUT NOW AND EAT SOME ICE CREAM" at my stomach intermittently throughout the day. I am not sure if it terrifies you or calms you down at this point but you always go quiet and then start to tentatively kick me again.
We are in the middle of the Chinese New Year and like every child born this year, you will be a dragon. Which is much cooler than my sign; I was always dismayed every time I remembered mine was an ox. According to our Chinese friend, a dragon is the best sign there is and according to wikipedia, the year of the dragon is the luckiest year of them all. The dragon is considered to be powerful, strong, and full of good luck. I hope all those things for you
Love,
Mama
Thursday, January 19, 2012
29 Week Stats
Baby Size: It starts getting much more fuzzy and guesstimating from here on out. But getting closer to 3 pounds?
Mama Size: I really don't understand pregnancy weight gain. Yesterday I hadn't gained any weight from the week before but today I'm up 1.5 pounds. In one day. Peter just laughs and tells me it can't be due to me eating a half bar of chocolate last night but I don't believe him. And what is up with my troll body wanting chocolate candy? We have those chocolate covered pomegranates in our theater room for guests and I was slowly savoring each one I ate last night. They usually make me gag! Anyways, total weight gain so far: 21.5 pounds. Waist size: 37.5 inches
Symptoms: Well I think she has changed positions and I think her head has dropped down. I feel soft movements under my ribs but more telling is that I haven't had heartburn ALL week! YES! Also I can usually sleep through the night without needing to go to the bathroom. Another huge win. I found some stretching exercises that help me sit through my work day and haven't gone home early all week. Wow, this is what the second trimester was supposed to feel like :)
And I'm nesting like craaaaazy. If it wasn't for the fact that working on the house for more than ~4 hours gives me pelvic pain, I'd be doing even more. As it is, I hear the voice chanting inside me to clean the fridge, organize my crafting room, wipe the baseboards, hang ALL the paintings!!!!!! Please tell me I'm not the only one who hears a nesting voice.......
Ok fine. Moving on.
Other updates: We bought the nursery dresser and will be assembling it this weekend. I am this close to pulling the trigger on some cloth diapers. I was going to buy these easy-peasy all-in-ones but I find myself drawn to prefolds and covers. Maybe because it seems more like what I do during times when I need, what, leakage protection? Ha. But it just makes so much sense to buy absorbent cloth that can double up and then to pin something waterproof over that. Plus I have a HE front load washer and I'm pretty sure for all-in-ones you want a top loader. Guess that will be my QOTW--how did you diaper your kid and why?
Anyways, other big update was that we went to our first birthing class this week. Oh. Boy. My doctor and doula (and random bloggers I read) recommended the hypnobirthing method so we signed up for a 4 week course at the hospital where I'll deliver. Peter and I are apparently too cynical for our own good so if you are considering hypnobirthing, you will probably have a totally different experience.
Anyways, we walk into a room with about 10 other couples and an instructor who EMBODIED the sweet, girlish, high pitched voice of Dolores Umbridge without the sadism and with an extra dose of enthusiasm. So that was....an affront to our ears but towards the end of the 3 hour class I actually was warming up to her. She is a head nurse at the hospital so it is likely we'll run into her again.
The bigger problem was a couple in the room who were pregnant with their third and according to them, had had the worst experience delivering their first two. I understand that bad doctors and nurses are more memorable and perhaps more common than you'd like, but after awhile, their complaints were just so annoying (also, if you hate hospitals so much, why are you delivering in one again? Try a birth center next time!!!!). And when they weren't complaining they were interjecting their own stories every chance they got. Peter and I were not impressed.
And then some of the instruction was just so left field. Example: Gentle births lead to gentle people. No they don't. Temperament is one of the most innate characteristics that a child brings to the table. Or: A medicated birth doesn't release the love hormone and what happens to a society where that love hormone doesn't get released?! What the.....seriously? Oxytocin gets released when you breastfeed, when you touch people, when you smell your baby. I mean, societies are not going to crumble if people miss out on one opportunity to feel that hormone.
Or the one I have the most trouble with: Hypnobirthing means no pain during labor. I'm not even going to dignify that one.
The reason we are going to finish the course is because I DO believe that their relaxation techniques can be helpful in any situation where one feels pain. I have listened to the cd before bedtime and every night, it is easier and easier to "slip away" so to speak. It is helpful for me to listen to someone else direct my thoughts, if that makes sense. When a voice (a real one this time!) is telling me to think of a rainbow, it's more effective than if I tell myself to think of one.
So yeah, I am not an ideal customer especially because I am not against medication and I am all for the drugs if these techniques and willpower are overpowered by sheer exhaustion or pain. But I am going to try! And that's good enough for me.
Question of the Week: Cloth diapers (see above). Also, do you think that 3 dozen prefolds and 4 covers will cut it?
Mama Size: I really don't understand pregnancy weight gain. Yesterday I hadn't gained any weight from the week before but today I'm up 1.5 pounds. In one day. Peter just laughs and tells me it can't be due to me eating a half bar of chocolate last night but I don't believe him. And what is up with my troll body wanting chocolate candy? We have those chocolate covered pomegranates in our theater room for guests and I was slowly savoring each one I ate last night. They usually make me gag! Anyways, total weight gain so far: 21.5 pounds. Waist size: 37.5 inches
Symptoms: Well I think she has changed positions and I think her head has dropped down. I feel soft movements under my ribs but more telling is that I haven't had heartburn ALL week! YES! Also I can usually sleep through the night without needing to go to the bathroom. Another huge win. I found some stretching exercises that help me sit through my work day and haven't gone home early all week. Wow, this is what the second trimester was supposed to feel like :)
And I'm nesting like craaaaazy. If it wasn't for the fact that working on the house for more than ~4 hours gives me pelvic pain, I'd be doing even more. As it is, I hear the voice chanting inside me to clean the fridge, organize my crafting room, wipe the baseboards, hang ALL the paintings!!!!!! Please tell me I'm not the only one who hears a nesting voice.......
Ok fine. Moving on.
Other updates: We bought the nursery dresser and will be assembling it this weekend. I am this close to pulling the trigger on some cloth diapers. I was going to buy these easy-peasy all-in-ones but I find myself drawn to prefolds and covers. Maybe because it seems more like what I do during times when I need, what, leakage protection? Ha. But it just makes so much sense to buy absorbent cloth that can double up and then to pin something waterproof over that. Plus I have a HE front load washer and I'm pretty sure for all-in-ones you want a top loader. Guess that will be my QOTW--how did you diaper your kid and why?
Anyways, other big update was that we went to our first birthing class this week. Oh. Boy. My doctor and doula (and random bloggers I read) recommended the hypnobirthing method so we signed up for a 4 week course at the hospital where I'll deliver. Peter and I are apparently too cynical for our own good so if you are considering hypnobirthing, you will probably have a totally different experience.
Anyways, we walk into a room with about 10 other couples and an instructor who EMBODIED the sweet, girlish, high pitched voice of Dolores Umbridge without the sadism and with an extra dose of enthusiasm. So that was....an affront to our ears but towards the end of the 3 hour class I actually was warming up to her. She is a head nurse at the hospital so it is likely we'll run into her again.
The bigger problem was a couple in the room who were pregnant with their third and according to them, had had the worst experience delivering their first two. I understand that bad doctors and nurses are more memorable and perhaps more common than you'd like, but after awhile, their complaints were just so annoying (also, if you hate hospitals so much, why are you delivering in one again? Try a birth center next time!!!!). And when they weren't complaining they were interjecting their own stories every chance they got. Peter and I were not impressed.
And then some of the instruction was just so left field. Example: Gentle births lead to gentle people. No they don't. Temperament is one of the most innate characteristics that a child brings to the table. Or: A medicated birth doesn't release the love hormone and what happens to a society where that love hormone doesn't get released?! What the.....seriously? Oxytocin gets released when you breastfeed, when you touch people, when you smell your baby. I mean, societies are not going to crumble if people miss out on one opportunity to feel that hormone.
Or the one I have the most trouble with: Hypnobirthing means no pain during labor. I'm not even going to dignify that one.
The reason we are going to finish the course is because I DO believe that their relaxation techniques can be helpful in any situation where one feels pain. I have listened to the cd before bedtime and every night, it is easier and easier to "slip away" so to speak. It is helpful for me to listen to someone else direct my thoughts, if that makes sense. When a voice (a real one this time!) is telling me to think of a rainbow, it's more effective than if I tell myself to think of one.
So yeah, I am not an ideal customer especially because I am not against medication and I am all for the drugs if these techniques and willpower are overpowered by sheer exhaustion or pain. But I am going to try! And that's good enough for me.
Question of the Week: Cloth diapers (see above). Also, do you think that 3 dozen prefolds and 4 covers will cut it?
29 Weeks
Dear Baby,
I am pretty sure that if I read this post in three months, I'll want to cry but here it is: A (weekend) day in the life of a DINK couple. This was last Sunday for us.
I am pretty sure that if I read this post in three months, I'll want to cry but here it is: A (weekend) day in the life of a DINK couple. This was last Sunday for us.
- I woke up at 10 am and read on my ipad until I got hungry
- Made myself some toast with laughing cow cheese
- Peter woke up around 11 and browsed the web on my laptop while I read a book on my ipad
- Around 1, got a text from our cousins asking us to go out to lunch
- Ate a burger at Red Rock with them and their two girls
- Around 3, we go home and do some house chores
- Then I cleaned out about half the boxes in the nursery closet
- And threw some leftover chicken bones in the crockpot to make stock
- Then I watched your dad clean the floors
- Around 6? we ate dinner which I can't seem to recall. I think I wasn't feeling too good so I had some soup.
- Then I climbed into bed and watched netflix until I fell asleep (around midnight) while your dad came to bed shortly after
It sounds so boring but it was the kind of day we love the most--spending hours of quiet time with each other with nothing to stress over. It is hard to fit days like this in when we are usually so busy with house projects or social things or work. And while I am not sad to be trading this for a life filled with children, it will be nice (and probably funny) to look back on and remember.
Love
Mama
Thursday, January 12, 2012
28 Week Stats
Baby Size: Over two pounds now
Mama Size: Up 20 pounds with a 37 inch waist. Some of Peter's shirts are tight on me now....
Symptoms: Well after some seriously can't-walk-can't-move-to-get-out-of-bed pelvic pain this weekend, it seems to have died down. But it's sneaky troll pain and I'm sure it will be back with a vengeance.
Heartburn has also subsided thank goodness. I still pop Tums at night just in case.
Hormones were out of control for a few days this week. Seriously, crying for nothing, getting angry over nothing. It was like I was watching someone experience PMS for the first time. Luckily Peter thinks it's funny
And I wasn't expecting this one but my first trimester nausea has come back. Luckily never strong enough to make me throw up.
Overall a pretty good week though
Other updates: Peter and I painted the nursery this week and our light grey color turned out blue! But I adore it. It is a really cute color. We need to put up crown molding, paint closet doors and trim, and put up some wall stencils still but hopefully we have plenty of time to finish it.
We start our birthing class on Monday and while I'm glad we're doing it, I am beginning to reconsider my pro-natural inclinations. I've never really felt strongly either pro or anti epidurals, especially since I can't find any solid research that epidurals are harmful. I think my plan right now is to get through the first 5 cm without meds and then to probably get an epi for the next 5. My doula will be so disappointed in me. :)
Question of the week: What made you decide to do an epidural or not?
Mama Size: Up 20 pounds with a 37 inch waist. Some of Peter's shirts are tight on me now....
Symptoms: Well after some seriously can't-walk-can't-move-to-get-out-of-bed pelvic pain this weekend, it seems to have died down. But it's sneaky troll pain and I'm sure it will be back with a vengeance.
Heartburn has also subsided thank goodness. I still pop Tums at night just in case.
Hormones were out of control for a few days this week. Seriously, crying for nothing, getting angry over nothing. It was like I was watching someone experience PMS for the first time. Luckily Peter thinks it's funny
And I wasn't expecting this one but my first trimester nausea has come back. Luckily never strong enough to make me throw up.
Overall a pretty good week though
Other updates: Peter and I painted the nursery this week and our light grey color turned out blue! But I adore it. It is a really cute color. We need to put up crown molding, paint closet doors and trim, and put up some wall stencils still but hopefully we have plenty of time to finish it.
We start our birthing class on Monday and while I'm glad we're doing it, I am beginning to reconsider my pro-natural inclinations. I've never really felt strongly either pro or anti epidurals, especially since I can't find any solid research that epidurals are harmful. I think my plan right now is to get through the first 5 cm without meds and then to probably get an epi for the next 5. My doula will be so disappointed in me. :)
Question of the week: What made you decide to do an epidural or not?
28 Weeks
Conversations with your father
Me: Another thing we'll need to take to the hospital are diapers
Dad: Can't we just buy those after she gets here?
Me: Not for her, for me!
Dead silence and then muffled laughing
Dad: What do we need to get at the grocery store?
Me: Eggs, milk, bread
Dad: Are you crying right now?
Me: Yeah. I have no idea why
Until next week
Love,
Mama
Me: Another thing we'll need to take to the hospital are diapers
Dad: Can't we just buy those after she gets here?
Me: Not for her, for me!
Dead silence and then muffled laughing
Dad: What do we need to get at the grocery store?
Me: Eggs, milk, bread
Dad: Are you crying right now?
Me: Yeah. I have no idea why
Until next week
Love,
Mama
Friday, January 6, 2012
27 Week Stats
Baby Size: Closer to 2 pounds now
Mama Size: Up 18 pounds. Probably some sneaky holiday weight thrown in there. I need to get back on the exercise bike!
Symptoms: Oh this week was a doozy. I was eating Tums like crazy and having so much acid reflux that I didn't want to eat. Except then my stomach would grumble and OH MY GOSH it feels so good to feel my digestive organs working. Weirdly enough, soup doesn't seem to trigger heartburn or reflux so my poor child has been subjected to more ramen than I care to admit.
My pelvic pain has come back and I'm finding it very hard to sit all day long in the office. I'm not sure if swapping to another chair will help but I'm going to try that next. On bad nights, I get home and crawl into bed with tylenol and a heating pad. I swear, this relaxin crap had better be doing some good.
I mentioned my incessant night hunger. I don't think I'll ever forget how ludicrous I feel trying to eat while trying not to wake up.
Other updates: Yay third trimester! It's kind of weird but I feel my desire to prepare for this baby diminishing every day. I was doing all this research on baby products that I think I burned myself out. There is way too much information out there
Question of the week: What was your last trimester like? I am kind of dreading the increase in discomfort
Mama Size: Up 18 pounds. Probably some sneaky holiday weight thrown in there. I need to get back on the exercise bike!
Symptoms: Oh this week was a doozy. I was eating Tums like crazy and having so much acid reflux that I didn't want to eat. Except then my stomach would grumble and OH MY GOSH it feels so good to feel my digestive organs working. Weirdly enough, soup doesn't seem to trigger heartburn or reflux so my poor child has been subjected to more ramen than I care to admit.
My pelvic pain has come back and I'm finding it very hard to sit all day long in the office. I'm not sure if swapping to another chair will help but I'm going to try that next. On bad nights, I get home and crawl into bed with tylenol and a heating pad. I swear, this relaxin crap had better be doing some good.
I mentioned my incessant night hunger. I don't think I'll ever forget how ludicrous I feel trying to eat while trying not to wake up.
Other updates: Yay third trimester! It's kind of weird but I feel my desire to prepare for this baby diminishing every day. I was doing all this research on baby products that I think I burned myself out. There is way too much information out there
Question of the week: What was your last trimester like? I am kind of dreading the increase in discomfort
Thursday, January 5, 2012
27 Weeks
Dear Baby,
I think you went through another growth spurt this week. I would wake up in the middle of the night, stumble to the kitchen without turning on any lights, eat a slice of bread and drink some milk with my eyes closed, and fall back into bed.
It is hard to believe that you will be here in three short months. Part of me is impatient and unsure of how much more daily pain I can take (although as if to give me a reprieve, I haven't had debilitating pelvic pains for the last couple of days) and part of me is wishing this will never end. I told your dad that I can't imagine being happier than we are right now even though I know that we will be even happier once you get here.
Love,
Mama
I think you went through another growth spurt this week. I would wake up in the middle of the night, stumble to the kitchen without turning on any lights, eat a slice of bread and drink some milk with my eyes closed, and fall back into bed.
It is hard to believe that you will be here in three short months. Part of me is impatient and unsure of how much more daily pain I can take (although as if to give me a reprieve, I haven't had debilitating pelvic pains for the last couple of days) and part of me is wishing this will never end. I told your dad that I can't imagine being happier than we are right now even though I know that we will be even happier once you get here.
Love,
Mama
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