Excuse Me

I read a week or two ago that the baby can hear noises outside of the womb and even be startled by them.

Last night I farted loudly and the baby started kicking. Oops. Excuse me, Baby.

I'm Melting

I leak a lot, as a pregnant lady.

I cry more. I'm not taking allergy medicine during my pregnancy, so sometimes my eyes water or my nose runs. My mouth waters for food sometimes. I've started producing colostrum. Pregnant ladies produce vaginal discharge, to provide extra protection from infection and bacteria for the baby.

It seems like fluid is coming out of just about every opening in my body. No wonder I drink so much water now.

Kicking The Habit

This is day three without using any anti-nausea meds. I'm queezy, but I haven't vomited. YES!!!!

I think that I'm in the clear. I'm so glad to be done with the medicine. I'm just being careful about what I eat and when I eat it and I'm using the Sea Bands when I get really queezy. I lay down when I need to.

Anti-nausea meds, you will always have a place in my heart. And my medicine cabinet, until this pregnancy is over.

Except I'm Not Made Of Latex

I feel like a balloon that is slowly but steadily being blown up.

Last night my stomach skin felt like it was being stretched. It was uncomfortable. Most of the stomach stretchy feelings that I've had so far have been in my muscles. The way my tummy aches makes me say to Husband, "My uterus is growning again." But this feeling of my skin stretching is just weird.

I got worried last night, thinking, "I must be about to get stretch marks." And then in an irrational fit brought on by exhaustion, I thought, "Or maybe my skin will just split right open. The baby will hatch out of my belly like a chick out of an egg. Has that ever happened? I bet it has. I should Google it. Wait. Do I really want to know? Probably not. I should just go to sleep."

Turns Out I Was Wrong

Even when Husband and I decided to stop trying to avoid pregnancy, I never thought that I'd actually get pregnant.

It seems silly to say that now, of course. But you know how there are some things that you just can't imagine happening to you? They're incomprehensible. Like, I can IMAGINE myself winning the lottery, even though I don't play. But I can't wrap my brain around the idea of what it would really be like to be a bank robber. Its not in my nature. Its not something I could picture myself doing.

I used to have the same sort of incomprehensible feeling regarding pregnancy. I've always wanted a family. But having a family and pushing infants through my pelvis aren't necessarily the same thing to me. I didn't think that my body would venture to undertake that challenge.

I mean, I'm 30. Just about everyone I know who has kids got pregnant accidentally. I sort of figured that if I hadn't gotten knocked up by now, it was because my body wasn't interested in getting pregnant. And I was fine with that.

To be honest, sometimes I still wonder if my body is really meant for pregnancy. Given my horrible morning sickness, I've thought on more than one occasion "maybe the reason that I never really wanted to get pregnant is because I'm just not cut out for it." The farther along that I get, though, the more surprised I am at the changes in my body and the way it's preparing and caring for the baby.

Its hard to imagine NOT being pregnant right now. Those little kicks that I feel seriously make my day. I'm really glad that Husband and I waited for as long as we did, but now feels like the perfect time to have a baby. Even though being pregnant is still sort of surreal-- I wake up almost every morning and am taken slightly aback with the realization that there's a baby growing inside of me-- I wouldn't change it for anything.

Bloody Hell

CAVEAT: This might be too much information for some of ya'll. The point of this blog is to honestly document what goes on during my pregnancy, as I'm sure that I'll forget a lot of this stuff if it's not written down. But the thing about being pregnant and trying to write about the experience is that you can't really avoid talking about boobs, blood, sex, poop, and all of the totally normal, natural things that have become inappropriate to discuss in polite society. I talk about them a lot. And this is a post that involves blood and sex. FYI.

I'm bleeding again. So I went to the doctor today, a week before my next appointment was scheduled. Here's what happened.

At the end of last week, Husband and I were doing what married people do. And then all of a sudden there was all of this red blood. So we stopped and I did some research to see if this was a problem. I mean, when you're pregnant, any time you see blood coming from your lady parts it's scary.

I read that pregnant ladies will often have a sensitive cervix and blood during intercourse isn't a big deal. I also read that you can have some brown, leftover blood for a couple of days afterward.

Okay. Cool.

Well, it's been about 5 days since the aforementioned incident. And I'm still bleeding brown blood. In fact, there was more blood today than any of the previous days. And the baby wasn't kicking this morning after breakfast, as it usually does. So I casually said to myself, "I'll just call my nurse and talk to her and she'll say it's no big deal and I'll feel better and that will be that." I called and left a message. And two and a half hours later no one had called me back. Meanwhile, I've worked it all up in my head and totally freaked myself out and I was desperate to talk to someone at my OBGYN's office.

I called again and was put through to a different nurse, not my regular one. She said that I should be seen today, in case my cervix was thinning. Yikes! I'm not even sure that I know what that means, but it wasn't exactly the reassurance that everything is totally normal that I was expecting to hear.

Husband and I went in to my OBGYN's office and met with a midwife. She was supercool. I apologized that my feet were probably smelly and that I didn't shave my legs, but explained that I didn't think I'd be coming in today and that if I had known I would have been more prepared. She laughed. In reality, I wanted to say, "I feel embarrassed that my lady parts are all gross, and by the way I haven't shaved my bikini line since I was in here a month ago," but I think that she got my meaning when I told her that I'd have worn different shoes, given the opportunity.

First, we listened to the baby's heartbeat with the Doppler thingy. The baby kept wiggling away from her and she had to chase it up and down my belly. Then the baby started kicking the device. I wasn't surprised by the kicks, since Baby kicks at my waistband all of the time, but the midwife thought it was pretty funny. She said, "You DO have an active baby!"

After the heartbeat, she gave me an internal exam. She said that she saw the brown blood and took a sample so that she could look at it under a microscope. (Eeeew!) She felt my cervix and said that it's nice and thick and it isn't opening when she pushes on it. She said that all of this was a good sign. The midwife left with my "sample" to make sure that she didn't see any signs of infection or whatever.

SO. The midwife came back and told us that sometimes a lady's body just hangs on to the blood for a while, and that it could possibly leak out of her body at a later time. She thinks that the brown blood was just leftover from the day we last (*ahem*) disturbed my cervix, and that it just took 5 days for the majority of it to leak out. She said that I should be on "pelvic rest" for the next 5 days, by which time the brown blood will probably be gone.

(PELVIC REST? Really? I mean, I know what she was getting at, but "pelvic rest"? ...I wonder if Elvis ever had to go on pelvic rest...)

I'm so relieved that everything was okay. And that I don't have to shave my bikini line any time soon.

No More Tummy Time

I tried to lay on the floor on my stomach last night while Foster Son and I read "Good Night, Gorilla" before bedtime. He was laying on his belly and I thought that I would stretch out and lay there, too.

Ha!

It felt like I was laying on a cantaloupe. Or a uterus the size of a cantaloupe, anyway. I ended up on my side.

I Guess You've Got To Wear Mommy Panties Before You Wear Granny Panties

For some reason, I assumed that I would be able to keep wearing my regular underwear throughout the pregnancy. I thought that I could just let it rest below my belly and it would be fine. Turns out that I was wrong.

My old underwear still fits (some pairs better than others), but it's less comfortable. And right now, anything that I can do to alleviate any amount of discomfort is worth doing. This past Saturday, I got a few pairs of undies in the next size up. They're baggy in the bottom, but underwear doesn't come in half sizes, so they will have to do.

The new panties are insanely unflattering. Good bye sexy lingerie, hello cotton mommy panties!

Paper Dolls

So, I had this weird habit for a while. Each week, I would read about how big the baby was supposed to be. Then I would measure the length out on a piece of paper, draw what I imagined the baby's body would look like, and cut out the drawing with some scissors. I would marvel at the size of the baby and hold the paper cut-out up to my belly so that I could imagine the baby inside of me.

I feel a little silly about it now. But before I could feel the baby move, that was a way for me to connect with it.

Got Milk!

My first little bit of pre-milk came out last night. Just a few fractions of some drops, but it was cool. I thought, "Wow, my body is amazing! It's getting ready to feed a baby!" Husband thought it was pretty awesome, too.

The stuff that comes out before the real milk is called colostrum. It's a golden yellow color and it's thicker than milk. I rubbed some between my fingers and it has a consistency more like lotion than water.

It wasn't enough colostrum to leak out and cause a mess. I'm not looking forward to those days. But since I will eventually be a 24-hour all-you-can-eat baby buffet, I guess those days are coming.

Baby, meet Daddy. Daddy, this is Baby.

Husband felt the baby kick today. It wasn't a particularly hard kick, but I felt it from the inside and he felt it on the outside, so Baby and Husband have finally met. :)

Husband said that what he felt was really light. I don't think that it was quite what he was expecting. But I'm still not that far along yet-- the kicks will get stronger.

I'm so glad that Husband felt our baby move!

Outie

I used to have an innie belly button. Now, it's about 75% an outie. It pops out more right after I've eaten.

My inner belly button skin is so soft. Its barely ever been touched, and it's never been rubbed by clothing or baked in the sun. It's like baby skin. Of course, NOW I can't stop touching it because it feels so nice. I will have a hard, calloused outie before long. But in the meanwhile, I shall keep petting my belly button and wondering if that is how Baby's skin will feel.

Baby Doesn't Like My Fashion Sense

Over the past few days, the baby has been consistently kicking at my waitband or places like the zipper where my pants bunch.

I am sorry, Baby, but I must wear clothes. At home, I can put my pajama pants below my belly and pull my shirt up over my belly so that you can get air and light and have completely unrestricted movement. But when I am in public I must obey the laws of the state and of common decency. I do not want to spend your college fund money on court costs and/or fines related to charges for indecent exposure. One day, about two and a half years from now, you will begin to understand why people must wear pants outside. Until then, please just trust me on this one.

Hands On

I felt the baby kick with my hands yesterday. I felt it on the outside of my belly. It was very faint, and I knew just what to be feeling for and where to feel, but it was definitely there.

Maybe Husband will get to feel the baby kick soon! He's very excited.

HwhatNwhat?

Got my swine flu shot yesterday. Arm's still a little sore. Better than having swine flu, though.

Foster Son got a shot, too. Husband couldn't get one yet because right now in my area they're only vaccinating people in high risk categories (pregnant ladies, children, health care workers). The shot was free, though. That was nice.

I still can't tell if all this fuss being made about swine flu is being blown out of proportion or what. But it's better to be safe than sorry.

Not Everyone Enjoys Pregnancy

A coworker told me yesterday that labor was easy for her because she hated being pregnant and when the labor started she was so relieved to have a clear end in sight. She said that having a goal to work toward and knowing that her discomfort would be over soon made the actual labor the easy part of pregnancy for her.

It was nice to hear someone speak honestly about not enjoying their pregnancy. Being pregnant is hard work, and while I'm sure that a lot of women honestly enjoy being pregnant, I think it's perfectly normal to dislike the experience, too. Women shouldn't be made to feel bad or less womanly for saying that pregnancy was a bad time in their life.

I can understand what my coworker was saying about being glad that there was an end in sight. When my bad morning sickness started, before I got the anti-nausea medicine, I would just cry and cry because I didn't know if it would last a few weeks or a few months or all 9 months. At least when you have a stomach virus, you know that you'll be better within a week or so. But I was throwing up everything I ate, I was SO hungry, and I had no idea if I'd get to eat a decent meal and keep it down anytime before the baby was born. It was very upsetting. Thank goodness for my medicine, or I might have ended up not only dehydrated and under-nourished, but very depressed.

Me And You, And You And Me

I didn't feel the baby move very much yesterday. Just a couple of quick taps. It's weird, but not feeling the baby made me feel kind of... lonely.

I miss you, Baby.

Shaken Baby Syndrome

Yesterday at the health department, I was handed a stack of pamphlets, which I immediately shoved into my purse. I just reached in my bag and pulled out one at random. It's about Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Now, I'm no expert on Shaken Baby Syndrome, but I think it can be effectively summed up like this: if you shake your baby violently, its little brain can bang around inside of its little skull and cause permanent damage. People usually shake their babies real hard when they're frustrated that the baby won't stop crying. What I don't get is this: if a baby's been screaming for hours what makes one think that giving it a good shake is the best way to shut it up? If I shook a screaming kid and it suddenly stopped crying, I believe that my first thought would be, "Oh crap, I just broke something important."

It's sad to think that people need to be educated on this point. That the health department needs to print out flyers that literally say, "If your baby is crying, think about how much you love it before you react." Of course, these are the kids that end up in the foster care system, as Shaken Baby Syndrome is one of the more common kinds of physical abuse perpetrated against infants. Maybe they should hand those pamphlets out in the maternity ward of the hospital, too.

Baby Bath

Foster Son is so funny.

He's heard me talking with Husband about planning our baby shower. We explained to FS that a baby shower is what you call a party for the baby, before the baby is born. I told you that FS says that he's pregnant, too, and he talks about his baby as if it were real. Well, this morning FS says, "My baby's gonna have a baby bath. I'll take a baby shower, though."

Ask And Ye Shall Receive

I spoke to a lady from my local health department today, to see what kind of services are offered for expectant mothers. I signed up for a bunch of free classes. Infant CPR, classes about the experience of childbirth, classes about caring for a newborn, and breastfeeding classes.

The thing is, so many services are available if you just know where to look for them. A lot people don't know where to look, though. Or don't want to take the time to figure it out.

Years ago I worked at a video store. This mother and her 18 year old daughter would come in a lot. The daughter got pregnant, and after a few months the mother was visibly upset about the situation. The mother told me that she was happy about the pregnancy, but she was upset that her daughter wasn't getting prenatal care. The daughter, who had moved in with her boyfriend as soon as she got pregnant, didn't have insurance and so she simply wasn't going to a doctor. The mother said that this bothered her a lot because one of her other children had been diagnosed in utero with a heart condition and it was because she was getting good prenatal care that the baby got the medical attention it needed to survive the pregnancy. The mother understood the importance of prenatal care, and kept begging her daughter to sign up for government assistance so that she could see a doctor. The daughter ended up miscarrying before she had a chance to sign up for assistance. Help was available, but the daughter didn't want to take the time to go down to the government office and fill out some paperwork. Sad.

5 1/2 Inches

The baby, head to rump, is about 5 1/2 inches right now. Isn't that the average length of an adult's erect penis? I think it is. It all comes full circle.

The baby was really, really active yesterday. It was kicking all day long. Husband and I went and saw a movie (Where the Wild Things Are) and it was pretty loud. I think the baby actually got scared and/or annoyed a couple of times.

Dreaming of Twins

I dreamt the other night that I had twins. Girls. With dark hair. I was trying to think of what to name them.

I'm sure I'm not having twins. I've had one ultrasound and heard the heartbeat twice and nothing has indicated that there could be more than one baby in there.

Silly dream.

Baby's First Pommegranate

Tonight I ate pommegranate for the first time during my pregnancy. Baby's first pommegranate. Yay! I just read, too, that the baby is about the size of a pommegranate right now. What a co-inky-dink!

It's been said that if a mother eats a variety of healthy foods during her pregnancy, the child is more likely to want to eat those same healthy foods as it grows into a toddler. Same thing with sweets, fatty foods, and junk food. Hmmm. So my baby will like oranges, spaghetti, Sour Patch Kids, salad with ginger dressing, Indian food, vegetable soup, ice cream, bean burritos, and granola bars. I can live with that.

Wiggle Worm

I feel the baby moving around every day now. It's an active little guy (or gal) and I was lucky to start feeling the movements so early.

Baby did a tap dance in my belly after lunch toady. I love it! I'm sure that eventually the kicks will become annoying or uncomfortable, but right now they're so soft and sweet that I smile every time I feel them.

We All Scream For Ice Cream

Dairy products are starting to upset my stomach. I had some yogurt yesterday morning and it made me feel queezy. Then I had some ice cream yesterday evening and it REALLY did a number on my tummy.

So long, ice cream. See you next year. :(

My Choice Of Prenatal Healthcare Providers

I don't know if I've fully explained this before in another post, so let me clarify.

The practice where I get my prenatal care has both OBGYNs and midwives (and nurses that work in the office). Every patient is assigned an OBGYN and the patients meet with their OBGYN several times throughout the pregnancy. The OBGYNs make the decisions regarding medication and that sort of thing. So my OBGYN had to prescribe the anti-nausea medicine for me-- a midwife didn't do it.

The patients also get to meet with each of the midwives during their pregnancy. When it's time to have the baby, whichever midwife is on call arrives at the hospital and helps you deliver it. If there are complications or you need a c-section, your assigned OBGYN delivers the baby.

I like this setup. It's kind of the best of both worlds, in my opinion. If the birth goes smoothly, I'd prefer to have a midwife help me deliver. Childbirth is a natural process and blah blah blah (yes, I've watched The Business of Being Born by Ricki Lake, why do you ask?) so why have a doctor there if one isn't needed? At the same time, if I DO need medical intervention, I already know my doctor and trust her.

Win-win!

Weight For Me!

I'm finally gaining weight! I read yesterday that 5 to 10 pounds is an acceptable amount of weight to gain by the 16th week. I've not gained that much yet. But I'm working on it.

I'm just trying to enjoy this phase of the pregnancy, when my boobs are still bigger than my stomach.

Before I Was Pregnant

I quit taking birth control pills over two years ago. They were making me crazy.

I've been on several different kinds of birth control pills in the course of my reproductive lifetime. With each kind, I would use it for a long time and then it would slowly start having bad side effects. With the first one, I started having breakthrough bleeding, where I would bleed even when it wasn't time for my period. With the last one, for about two weeks every month I was an emotional wreck. Its hard to figure out what's going on when you're just FEELING out of sorts and don't have any physical symptoms to point you in a certain direction. But I started to suspect that it was the birth control pills. I talked to Husband about it and we decided that it would be best for me to stop taking them.

I researched the "calendar method"-- because what married couple wants to use condoms all of the time? I didn't go so far as to take my resting body temperature every morning to see when I was ovulating, but I did make a little calendar and write down when my period started and ended. I kept track of my cycle and monitored symptoms like mood, breast tenderness, and cervical mucous. I got to know the rhythms of my body quite well.

I'm very thankful that I did this for so long and got to know what to expect of my body, because it helped me realize that I was pregnant. Like I said before, I had a bit of bleeding at first, and a less observant woman might have mistaken this spotting for her period. I noticed, though, that lots of things seemed different that month with regard to my normal cycles, and so I decided to take a pregnancy test, just in case. Turns out that my instinct was right.

As bad as my morning sickness is, I'd never be one of those ladies that didn't find out she was pregnant until she was, like, six months along. BUT I could have fairly easily missed that first month. How sad to miss out on a whole month of pregnancy! And I would have been drinking the occasional beer or three in the meantime, completely unaware of the baby inside of me. Yikes!

So, little Baby, this is the story of how we met, you and I. Mommy's aversion to birth control pills and two obsessive years of tracking her menstrual cycle eventually lead her and Daddy to say, "This is silly. Let's just see what happens." So we stopped trying to avoid pregnancy and just relaxed and enjoyed our time together. And then the best thing in world happened, Baby-- YOU!

Oh, So THAT'S My Uterus

I have a strange pregnancy symptom that's been going on for over a month now. About 75% of the times that I sneeze, it makes my uterus hurt. As I sneeze my stomach muscles tighten a little, and then POW, it's like my uterus just lit up. I can feel my uterus in its entirety-- front, back, sides. The pain only lasts for a second, but it's intense. If I push on my stomach as I sneeze, it isn't as bad... I just have to start the pressure before the sneeze starts, and I don't always know when I'm going to sneeze.

Of course, I have seasonal allergies.

Is That A Comment On My Cooking?

After dinner today, Baby had a little kicking fit.

I swear. Everyone's a critic.

We Already Have A High Chair

We bought a high chair that converts to a booster seat when our current foster son came to stay with us. He didn't use it for very long, so the high chair is like new.

Kickypoo

I felt the baby kick 3 different times yesterday. :)

Happy Labor Day, Peg!

Just got word that our friend Peg had her baby! She was induced last night. That's all I know so far.

CONGRATS!!!!

Baby, Can You Hear Me?

The baby's ear bones are now in place. So maybe it can hear me when I talk and sing! (And cry and say cuss words and have sex...)

The article that I was reading about the ear bones said to start thinking of your lullaby selection now, because studies show that babies recognize the songs that their mothers sang to them when they were still in the womb. That got me thinking. What songs do I sing a lot? Husband and I sing the Witch Doctor song (by Alvin and the Chipmunks) with Foster Son every few days. Also, when foster son starts complaining "I want, I want" we sing You Can't Always Get What You Want (by the Rolling Stones). Foster Son knows that song quite well. We sing Day-O (the banana song) or Our House (by Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young) if Foster Son asks where we're going and we're on our way back home.

Also, a lot of times I'll hear a word that will remind me of a song, so I'll start singing it. For example, Foster Son might say, "I like trains," and next thing I know I'm singing Folsom Prison Blues. I don't know if the words "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die" are lullaby material, though.

Perhaps I should update my repertoire.

Knock, Knock... Who's There?

I felt the baby move.

I've felt a few little pokes here and there since that first night-- they've been coming a few days apart. The one I felt on my way to lunch today was definitely, no doubt about it, baby kicks. It made me jump.

I can't even explain how cool it is to feel the baby move around inside of me. :)

Pregnant Hair and Nails

I'm lucky. My hair has always been thick and quick-growing. More than once, I've had a hairdresser say to me, "I should charge you for TWO hair cuts... look at all this hair!"

I've read that between pregnancy hormones and prenatal vitamins, many women notice their hair becoming thicker, healthier, and growing faster. I can't say that I've noticed a difference in my own hair.

I also read that many women lose a lot of hair after they give birth, as their homones change again. Scary amounts of hair. Am-I-going-to-go-bald-? amounts of hair. (It all balances out eventually, though.) I'm hoping that since my hair doesn't seem to be changing during pregnancy, it won't change after pregnancy, either. I've got a ways to go before I'm bald, but still... clumps of hair falling out in the shower would concern me nonetheless.

I Guess I Walk Differently Now

This morning my 3 year old foster son said, "You walk like this now." He proceeded to walk across my bedroom with his hips held very straight, his body leaned back (I think to make it look like his stomach was sticking out), and his arms swinging back and forth.

"Oh yeah? Is that different than how I used to walk?"

"Yeah! You walk like this." He walked around my room, giggling, until it was time to leave for school.

Live Birth

I don't think I've ever seen something being born in real life. I mean, I've seen a lot of births on the Internet and TV and in documentaries. But I don't know that I've ever actually seen a birth-- by any kind of animal.

I feel compelled to seek it out. I don't know where to begin, though.

We Love You Just The Way You Are

I had an appointment today with my OBGYN. We got to hear the baby's heart beat again (yay!) and I had the doctor feel a lump in my lower abdomen that has had me concerned. She said that it's probably just an inflamed lymph node, but to watch it and call right away if it gets bigger.

The doctor also talked to us about second trimester screening. She told me that I have the option of getting some blood work done this week. The doctor would take the results of the blood work, and combined with medical history, age, weight, race, etc., determine if my baby is high-risk for 3 different disorders: Down Syndrome, trisomy 18, and neural tube defects. There is no way to treat these disorders in utero or to lower my risk. If I "screen positive" then I would have the option of getting more tests done in order to make a more definite determination about whether the baby has one of these defects.

Husband and I have talked about it and we've decided not to get the testing done.

Here is our reasoning. First, I'm not going to terminate the pregnancy, regardless of the results. If there had been some way to test earlier in the pregnancy and therefore terminate the pregnancy earlier, I'd be all for the testing. But I'd be at least 16 weeks along before any kind of definitive answer could be had about the health of my baby and I'm just not comfortable with terminating the pregnancy at that point. I don't judge any one who does decide to get tested or terminate their pregnancy based on the test results. I completely understand it, intellectually. I support the right for women and their partners to choose what is best for them with regard to this testing. I also know what is right for me, and I wouldn't be able to abort a 16 week old fetus.

Secondly, we don't want the stress of possibly being told that we're at high-risk and then finding out nothing was really wrong. I've read that "most" of the women who are deemed high-risk go on to have babies without the defects that they've been screened for. Meaning that many of the women who are told that their baby might have Down Syndrome (for example) go on to do more testing such as additional blood work, fancy ultrasounds, amniocentisis procedures, etc. and find out that it was all okay to begin with. Yikes! So this test that is supposed to put my mind at ease might actually cause me a ridiculous amount of sadness and anxiety? Uh, no thanks.

Lastly, Husband and I weighed the benefit of being "prepared" in case something was actually wrong. Knowing that we wouldn't terminate the pregnancy, we still had to ask ourselves if we would want to know about any defects in advance of the birth, so that we could start preparing ourselves for a life as parents of a special needs child. This was the hardest part of the decision. Ultimately, we decided that we would rather just enjoy the pregnancy, knowing that the odds are in our favor that everything will be okay. If we find out once the baby is born that there are problems, we will deal with them then.

No matter what, Baby, we love you just the way you are.

Oh, yeah!

I was laying in bed the other night and I thought to myself, "I wonder what my baby with Husband would look like..."

And then it suddenly hit me. I GET TO FIND OUT IN A FEW MONTHS!!!

I love you, my little science experiment.

I'm Less Sweaty These Days

So my terrible morning sickness hasn't yet gone away in my second trimester... but I'm sweating less. Every cloud has a silver lining.

I still get a little sweaty when I sleep, but nothing like in the first trimester. The first night I woke up not drenched in my own salty bodily fluid, I was like, "Uh oh. What's wrong?" Cuz that's the kind of pregnant lady I am. I complain bitterly and then when the symptom goes away, I'm convinced that the baby's dead.

When my youngest sister was a baby, she would sweat like crazy every time she'd sleep. So it made sense to me when I got pregnant that I would sweat when I slept. "Ah, yes. Babies make things sweaty," I said to myself.

I have a feeling that I'll get the night sweats again in the future, but I'm enjoying this little break from them right now.

Belly Band

I'm wearing that belly band thing. I don't know what it's officially called. It's that stretchy band that goes over your non-maternity pants so that you can wear them unbuttoned.

It's definitely nice to be able to breathe properly and to allow a little room for my tummy. My main criticism is that the brand I bought comes in only one size. I'm a smaller person. It would actually be nice if the band were a little tighter-- I think it would hold my pants together better. If I weren't so petite, I think the band would work even better for me. I have to keep adjusting it.

Also, I have to wear an extra long shirt to cover the band. Regular maternity pants have just the stomach part made of that stretchy material. But to use the belly band, you have to put it over your hips and down below your open zipper. It's hard to keep covered up.

All in all, the belly band is a win. Pregnancy is not about convenience, just about making a difficult situation work.

Preemies

New York Times article about premature births: click here

A lady that I work with had her last child at 26 weeks into her pregnancy. Yikes! I know that the child has some health problems... don't know about learning disabilities, which are common with premature birth.

I'll be 15 weeks along as of tomorrow. That's not considered viable, were I to go into labor for some reason. I think that 23 weeks is the point of viability in the U.S. The youngest recorded premature birth where the baby has survived to adulthood is 21 weeks and 5 days... that was in Canada, though. So it doesn't count. (Just kidding.)

More Maternity Clothes

Up one cup size! Yes!!! I got two new bras today, bringing my current count of comfortable bras to a grand total of three. Even my old sports bras don't fit anymore. They still keep growing for a little while, right? I'm keeping my fingers crossed for DD...

At the mall, I got one of those bands that go around your belly and over your non-maternity pants so that you can wear them unbuttoned. I'm not big enough for maternity pants yet, but I'm too big for my regular pants. Belly band to the rescue! I'm going to try it out tomorrow. I'll let you know if it feels bizarre to walk around work with your pants undone. I'm pretty sure that it will.

I also got a pair of leggings made for pregnant ladies, and a long skirt. Maybe I'll be comfortable-ish this week. That would be cool.

Stuffin'

You know what this stage of pregnancy feels like? Not counting the nausea, my body basically feels the same way as when I overeat. It's like I just pigged out at Thanksgiving dinner. My belly feels distended and all I want to do is burp, fart, poop, and possibly sleep my way back to a normal-feeling stomach. I want to loosen my pants, stretch out on the couch, sleep for an hour... wake up and eat another bowl of mashed potatoes because they tasted really good and even though I'm not hungry, my stomach already feels terrible so what will 10 more bites really hurt... and go back to sleep. The difference between pregnancy and Thanksgiving is that my belly doesn't eventually go "back to normal." I feel stuffed all of the time.

I'm the turkey and I'm full of baby stuffing.

Silly Men

I've had several men say to me when they've found out that I'm pregnant, "Oh, your life is about to change!" They go on to tell me that when the baby arrives I'll have to get up in the middle of the night, that my time will no longer be my own, that everything will be on the baby's schedule.

It makes me laugh inside. It becomes obvious in that moment that many men have not even the faintest idea what it's like to be pregnant. I already wake up repeatedly in the middle of the night. I have to plan what I'll eat, when I eat, how I dress, how long I go places all based on my body's reaction to the baby. I sleep when the baby in my body demands it. I pee 100 times a day to keep my body clean for the baby. I am very much on baby's schedule already.

As a foster parent, I know that dealing with a baby outside of your body presents new challenges as compared to a baby still growing inside your body. But my life will change WHEN THE BABY GETS HERE? My life has changed now.

Thanks for the heads up, though.

When Does The Sleepy End?

I was feeling pretty alert and wide awake for a few days-- maybe even a week. Not exhausted, like during the first trimester. I thought, "Yes! I'm finally past the tired phase!" Then for the past few nights, I've laid down on the couch around 8:00, slept until 11:00, gotten up and gone to bed.

Vampire baby! You are draining me of my energy!

I Think He Knows

I swear that one of my cats knows I'm pregnant. He's always been a sweet cat, but not overly cuddley. Now, he takes every opportunity to come lay on or against my stomach. Even better is if I'm laying on my side, and then he likes to be streched along my body with his head on my breasts.

I'm not sure if he's taking his last chance to be babied or if he's trying to bond with my little one. Either way, it's cute.