Resolutions For LBG

I figure since everyone does New Years Resolutions it was time I did a few. These are special specific to LBG. Ok, so they're more like New Life Resolutions...

I promise you love.
I promise to give you a name that's fitting and wonderfully you.
I promise to take you on trips, especially when you're old enough to remember them.
I promise to let you watch your favorite show over and over until we've both memorized every line.
I promise to feed you well.

I promise that even though you may not feel it all the time, you are beautiful and smart and loved.
I promise to learn how to change a diaper.
I promise to lay you down on your back and not your stomach to sleep.
I promise to stimulate your brain even at a young age.
I promise to kiss you goodnight every night... until you tell me not to.

I promise to teach you about money, and how to save it.
I promise you'll get an allowance someday.
I promise to not wrap you too warm or let you get too cold.
I promise to breastfeed you as best I can when you want.
I promise you love.

I promise consequences aren't always bad.
I promise to sing to you, unless you start to cry because of it.
I promise to read to you ever day.
I promise life will be interesting.
I promise to always try and keep you safe.

I promise I'll sew something special for you.
I promise to bake something sweet for your birthday each year.
I promise to tickle you.
I promise to never forget your favorite toy.
I promise to take lots and lots and lots of pictures of you.

I promise to be there for you when you get a boo-boo, no matter what kind it is.
I promise to give you ice cream after every shot you get at the doctors, when you're old enough.
I promise to help you with your homework.
I promise to drive you to your school events and try not to embarass you (too much).
I promise to love you... always.

Chris being Cute

Chris has been so cute and sweet about LBG! I was worried that he wasn't feeling "involved" in the pregnancy (other than that initial bit) but I think that since he's started being able to feel her and see her move around he's come around to it. He's super excited about her, and it's so cute. He touches my belly a lot, and every night before we go to sleep he puts his head on it and talks to her. He's even read to her a little bit. It's so cute.
And she responds! She locates his voice and starts pushing back on him. Just the thought of this makes me smile so much. He gets so excited, and honestly... so do I. It's good to know that she "knows" his voice. She pushes around his nose or cheek, I'm assuming with her foot (because she should be head down by now and it's pretty strong).
He's so cute about the whole thing... and I love it. I'm glad to know he's excited. Not that I thought he wasn't, I've just been playing the whole thing down a bit because I'm worried about other peoples feelings. But there are times I just want to shout out about her. I don't like hogging the conversation, but I could talk about her for hours! I'm really excited about her, and he seems to be too. Which makes me super happy. I really was a bit worried about him not feeling involved. But I think he's fine. I love my husband, and I love LBG. This family has a great amount of love for each other before it's even seen each other.
Ooo... she's got the hick-ups again. We both got too excited. Time to stop typing for a bit. Night. :)

Pelvic Push

This past week, I think LBG has dropped into my pelvic region... It's the oddest feeling (I know I've been saying that about a number of things on this blog, but each one really is odd). To best describe it, it's like when you sit down (which is when I'm mainly feeling the pressure) and catch a fat-fold between your leg and stomache. That by itself sounds odd... Okay, if you've got some extra skin, take it and shove it inwards, towards your intestines, while sitting. That's what it feels like.
I worry sometimes that I'm smashing her hand (or worse, her head). But she hasn't done anything to make me move. They say that the baby'll hurt you before you hurt it, so I guess that's a good sign.
It's a very odd feeling having her that far down, especially since my belly is still getting rounder, and not dropping to follow her. It just makes it uncomfortable sometimes to sit. I have to adjust a lot because I'll feel her, mainly on my left side, down there.
I've felt her down there before, but this is more constant. It's not anything to worry about though, the books all say that durring the first pregnancy the baby drops down there up quite a few weeks before the due date. It's second and third pregnancies that it's a sign of labor approaching. So, so far everything is still on track... until my doctor says otherwise. :)

Killer Heartburn!

ATTACK OF THE KILLER HEARTBURN! Oh my goodness it was bad today! I have to remember to eat, because she'll remind me. I think that's why she gets me up at 9 am each morning, in spite of how late I might have stayed up the previous night. She also makes sure I'm drinking enough water, otherwise she'll send her acid bombs my way too.
But this morning was H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E! I skipped out on breakfast at the house so that Chris and I could get it together. But by the time we left the house and were on the way to McDonalds... I thought my throat would never recover! I thought I was going to vomit it was so bad. I think heartburn has been the worst pain so far of the pregnancy.
I mean, most of the time, I'm used to it. It's almost a constant some days. And I pop Tums (which are completely safe) like they're candy (which is apparently completely safe for Tums because they're providing calcium). But this morning that didn't even help. I think it was because I was dehydrated a little and on an empty stomache.
I mean, at night it's hard to avoide because my pre-natal vitamin gives me heartburn sometimes, and if I lay down too soon after eating... that does it too. But today. It hurt soooo much! I was snappy and practically yelling at Chris. But I could barely talk because I didn't want to open my mouth. I could feel the acid in the back of my mouth. The rest of the day I kept spitting to get rid of the mucos that was pooling back there.
So, LBG, I get the point: Eat breakfast weither I feel like it or not, and drink plenty of refreshing liquids.

The Early Birds

Just another thing for me to worry about: early births. One thing I noted this last week was (in a personal view of those close to me) an amazingly high... actually alarming number of preterm babies. Out of the 4 other people I know to be pregnant and due around my date: 3 of them have already delivered! There's only me and 1 other girl I know that are actually still on track. This is such a scary thing. I looked up the causes to pre-term babies, and it doesn't make sense with the other girls. Some possible causes are:
smoking, alcohol use, drug abuse, inadequate weight gain, inadequate nutrition, gum infection, other infections (such as STDs, rubella, urinary tract infections, amniotic fluid infection), hormonal imbalance, incompetent cervix, uterine irritability, chronic maternal illness, and pacenta previa.
I didn't realize this, but it is fairly common and occurs in 1 out of 10 pregnancies!

Worries

As I sit here tonight, waiting on my last batch of shortbread, I was reading an article on SIDS... and it scares the crap out of me! Such a horrible thing. I just keep praying LBG has a long and healthy life and that nothing like that ever becomes a factor for mine or anyone else's children. It's such a scary thing. Even though she's not even born yet, it worries me. Some of things the article tells not to do are things I wouldn't have thought about, and things I worry I'll do anyways (like put things in her crib... they said not to even put a bumper on!).
I fear the days I can't take care of her. I know she's somewhat safe right now, but... there's so much to be afraid of with children. How does anyone survive the worrying?!
She will be loved, because she is already loved. It's just late, and been a long day. So I worry. I just want to be able to take care of her and protect her when I need to. She scares me enough being inside me (like when she's being inactive or I'm feeling sick or fall down)... but at least I feel I can protect her somewhat in there, to some extent. Now that the due date is getting closer, it's getting harder and harder not to worry.
It'll be all right, right? Absolutely. I just have to keep repeating that to myself and praying a lot.

Dr. Apt

Just came back from my doctor's apt. All is well. Heartbeat 146. Pee tested fine.
Some symptoms I've been having that I had to report was the extreme swelling I'm starting to notice; the bruise-like feeling right above my belly-button, a little bit of nausea (just the last day or two); and I think that's about it.
The swelling is perfectly normal; of course I was not worried there. That's even the reason why my nose feels stuffed up most of time. It's also the reason my vision has gotten blurry over the course of this pregnancy.
The bruise-like feeling is also normal. I mean, if I had a bruise there, I would know that, but there’s no bruise there, so I thought it was a bit odd. It’s actually from my muscles stretching out. It’s their pains. It totally feels like there should be a bruise there, but not all the time. Sometimes it's not even noticable, while other times it's a dull feeling (streached out feeling, now that I think about it), and other times it's a "don't touch it!" feeling. But it's apparently perfectly normal as well.
The nausea I think is just from the food I’ve eaten over this last week on vacation. I ate a lot more than I normally do and a lot of sweets on the day I started feeling it. I only reported it just in case because I happened to be feeling a wave of it come over me while I was in there. It is something for me to watch, she said, as it can be signs of other things. But most of the other things it could be are ruled out with my other tests (the pee test and whatnot). But just in case, if I still feel a bit off-set tomorrow night, I’m supposed to give her a call.
Some other random things, now that I'm thinking about it are: heartburn is ever increasing it seems. I'm really trying to prevent it as much as I can, but I still get it at least a couple times a day unfortunately. I am tired a lot, but I still get myself out of bed around 9/10am each day and stay up all day without need for a nap... but on vacation I cheated a little and had caffeene. Speaking of the vacation, I have to say I absolutely love sleeping in my own bed. Not that I don't like a good firm bed, because I do (and I really appriciate the families that put us up while we were out there), but there's just something about my own bed... and I think it's the tempurpedic matress pad, because when I sleep on any other surface for more than a couple of hours I get really bad pain in my sciatic nerves along my outer thighs. It's happened in soft and hard beds, so I think the solution is the tempurpedic. So I am greatful for it. Last night's sleeping was a bit odd, and I couldn't quite get rolled over, it seemed.
She's movin' around pretty good in there still.

Getting On My (Sciatic) Nerves

OK, so with MS I've had Sciatica before. But it was always in my left side. I had heat therapy for it and other methods of pain relief even up to going to the midnight ER for steroid shots it. But now...
Sciatic nerve pain (not full on sciatica) has been hitting me to wake me up, and it gets where I can't go back to sleep. I know it's a pregnancy thing at this point. It was, originally, just hitting me in one side at a time. But now it hits one side, stays, and hits the other. So no matter which side I turn to lay on it is there! I do have to say that it is the most annoying thing about the pregnancy so far.
LBG has me on a timer: When she wants me to get up and get moving, she sends the shooting pain through my sciatic nerves and makes it so tossing and turning is useless.
I don't know if it's because I'm in a different bed right now or not (I've been down at Yale for the past few days and the both sides thing has happened every morning). I know I got it at least one side in my normal bed, but I also remember turning over and it being okay. We have the memory foam on the bed at the house. It was always my right side there. I'll keep a mental note and do a status report after I get back to my normal sleeping arrangements (although the more I think about it the more I think it might have started that way, but it was like this before I came down to Yale, too). I mean, she is getting bigger, so it's entirely possible its now in both legs.
And it's not like this is full-on sciatica (like it can get with MS), so far it's just really annoying pain in my... outer thighs (you thought I was going to say butt!). But I know it's along the sciatic nerve because I've dealt with that beast so many times.
It's not LBG's fault, she's just settling into her "final" position. It's just amazing the timing she has. According to her scheduling, she'll start the labor around 9/10 am. We'll see how true that prediction is in a little over a month (OMG! JUST A FEW WEEKS!).
Most people start to feel this paid around the third trimester, but they get it when they're standing or sitting. I do think it's a bit odd that I get it when I lay down, and feel better when I'm up and about. If I'm sitting right after it doesn't go completely away, but it's a very dull sensation that is ignorable. That's what I'm doing now, and I have to concentrate on the feeling to describe it, because it's on it's way out for the day... I hope.
I'm a little worried about it during labor. Is sciatic nerve pain something I need to worry about during labor? Does it rear it's ugly head at that time, or should it be past that point? They say (okay, and you've gotta understand whenever I say "they say" I'm talking about the people from What to Expect) that it'll continue a little past pregnancy as my hips realign themselves.
I always feel like I'm talking about a car when I say realign. But it's true. My hips have been popping more and more these last few weeks. At first it was just getting out of bed, which is understandable given the struggle it can be sometimes with the covers. But now, it's even simply getting out of the car. In fact yesterday, when I was getting out of the car, I had to stop for a second to prevent that from happening because I could feel it press against the sciatic nerve for a moment while it tried. I didn't want double the pain because of that. I mean, my hip popped before I was pregnant quite a bit, too, but now I'm aware of it for different reasons.
Anyway, if you know about sciatic pain and pregnancy, please let me know if it happens during labor.

Birth Plan

So Chris and I have been talking over the last week about a birth plan. It's confusing, even though it probably shouldn't be. We're not being super picky on it because of the facilities. I mean, ideally I've always wanted to do a water birth, but there are just no facilities for that locally. So, I'm going with a local hospital. They don't offer a walking epidural there, so there goes that preference. I'm doing okay at accepting it for what it is, we both wanted local and close more than we wanted anything else. I mean, even though Tulsa's got some great hospitals I don't know my way around T-Town that well to worry about it. And I realize now that I wouldn't be the one driving, but I don't want to be in labor and dealing with someone else dealing with traffic. So, local Owasso hospital is the best.
As for the actual birth plan... still working on it.

Dr. in a routine

So today I had another doctor's appointment with my ob-gyn to check on LBG. All si well. I asked a few questions about SIDS, because we're trying to get her room ready and Chris and i have been having thermostat wars... which got me wondering what the right temperature would be for her. My doc didn't really know, and said to ask the pediatrician (when Chris and I finally decide on one).
Other than that, a perfectly routine check: pee in a cup, weight (has been steadily hanging around the same pound-age), blood pressure, measure belly, heartrate (150), and any questions I might have.
Other than that, we start paying on her part of the delivery now before the baby comes. Not all of it, but it's based on an estimate. We're doing this with the hospital too. They might change, but it's a good chance they'll be pretty spot on.
I keep waiting to see when my next ultrasound will be. I want to know if LBG is breeched or if she's doing well. I guess it's going to be closer to due date time. Doctors don't want to do too many of them.

Pregnant vs MS

Today is the first day during the pregnancy that I've felt like I had MS again. I was tired, and my legs were all tingly for a few hours. Everything felt heavy, and it was hard to do stuff, even decorate the miniature tree we have. I couldn't bring myself to tackle the big one. I resigned myself to taking a nap even. First time in a while I've done that.
But I have to look at not what's happened today, but this past week. It's Thanksgiving week, so of course, it's been busy. (more on Job)
There was one other weird feeling I had today, that I think is pregnancy related, but got me a little worried. On my lower abdomen, close to my navel, I had a sensation of needle pricks. Not one at a time, but a line of a bunch of them. And not pins and needles, or the tingly feeling, but scratchy pointy needles, all at once... in a line. It's still there, it comes and goes now, but it lasted a while. I thought maybe LBG scratched me, because it felt like it was coming from inside. It's got to be one of the odder sensations, and has me a bit worried. But, I'm sure it's nothing. Just wanted to document that it started today, sometime before I took my nap because I remember feeling for it when I laid down and it was still there.
Alright, I should try to get some sleep.

Life's Coming At Us Quick

Wow... it doesn't seem like "just yesterday", but it does seem like it wasn't that long ago I had a whole different look on life.
I never thought I'd be the domesticated type... I guess Chris just brings that out in me... and I have no idea how/why.
I always imagined being independent, single, and without boundaries. I look back on parts of my life and cringe... and wonder "will she be like that?" I just feel like a contradiction sometimes.
But life is coming, and she's coming fast. I would never change having her and I thank the Lord for bringing Chris into my life. He's made my world so much better.

How To Travel With Young Kids

I found this article in Rachael Ray's Magazine and loved it. I wanted to keep the article for future reference, but needed to get rid of the magazine... clutter and all. So here it is, for someday in the future:

How to Travel with Young Kids
If you've been hesitant to take a family trip with little tykes in tow, fear no more.
By Besha Rodell Photography by Lori Foy

Fear
I’ll lose her in the crowd!
Solution
Dress your child in bright colors so she’s easy to spot. An ID bracelet is a good idea—try one from ID on Me ($14, idonme.com). And, just in case, carry your child’s photo with you.

Fear
My darling will turn into a screaming monster on the plane.
Solution
That’s usually due to pressure-induced earaches, which are the worst during takeoff and landing. Encourage constant swallowing during those times. Infants get a bottle or a breast; give older kids chewing gum or hard candy.

Fear
My child will get bored in the car.
Solution
Make stops every few hours: Find spots where you can picnic and run around. Remember to bring plenty of snacks and water.

Fear
Jet lag will clobber the poor dear.
Solution
In the days leading up to the trip, move bedtime at home closer to bedtime at the destination, but don’t worry too much. Children are much more adaptable to time changes—their bodies respond to dark and light as much as to a schedule.

Fear
I won’t eke out one moment of relaxation.
Solution
You set the tone for your family vacation, so do your best to remain stress-free. Start out well rested: Don’t leave Friday after a hectic week at work. And each parent should have an afternoon alone, to get a massage or read by the pool.

Fear
She’ll get cranky while we’re seeing the sights.
Solution
Set a loose itinerary. If you planned to hit a museum but your child is having a blast at the pool, go with the flow. Also, kids are creatures of habit, so stay at just one hotel if possible.

Fear
My kid will puke before we even get there.
Solution
Dramamine is safe for most kids, but check with your doc, and if your child is prone to motion sickness, pack plastic bags, wipes and a change of clothes.

Fear
Getting through the airport will be a nightmare.
Solution
Start with the right luggage, like the streamlined Eagle Creek’s Pack- It system (from $8, eaglecreek.com). Instead of carrying a car seat with you, bring a plane-safe harness that can fit in your purse ($75, kidsflysafe.com). Rent hefty equipment, such as car seats and cribs, at your destination.


THE PERKS
Unexpected benefits of traveling with little ones.

1. You have license to be a kid again. Drop the sophisticated act and whoop it up—on a zip line, waterslide or the hotel bed. Turns out it’s a lot more fun than taking an architecture tour.
2. Your children will see a new side of you. Away from carpools and bosses, you’ll have time to be silly. Your bond will be strengthened.
3. You’ll be treated better. Most people you come across—taxi drivers, hotel clerks—will be friendlier now that you have a charming child in tow.
4. You’ll bring home a new kid, one who’s more patient, worldly and, if you’re lucky, open to new experiences.


THE COUNTDOWN
Two months before
Include your child in the planning process. Show him places you are considering and let him help choose activities. The more involved he is, the less anxiety he’ll feel.

One month before
Call airlines and hotels and ask about kid-friendly amenities.
The airline:
• Do you provide infant bassinets?
• Do you have special meals for children?
• Does the in-flight entertainment include kid-specific games or movies?
The hotel:
• Do you provide cribs?
• Is there a pool, and does it have a shallow end?
• Are there activities for kids, such as a movie night?

Two weeks before
Buy a special backpack. Over the next two weeks, fill it with inexpensive new toys, but don’t let him play with anything until you’re on the road. Keep a few surprises socked away in your purse, to be revealed along the way.

One week before
At bedtime, read them books about traveling, like Lisa’s Airplane Trip ($12, madallie.com), and show them where you’re going on a globe or in an atlas.

Four days before
Cook a meal or visit a restaurant that serves the type of food you’re likely to encounter on your trip.

One day before
Have your child pick one special toy or blanket that will be a comfort to her.


THE STORIES
Tricks of the trade from family-travel bloggers.
"I always make my kids carry their own luggage. It saves the parents' backs and teaches the kids responsibility. When my son was 3, he complained about it, so I put a Superman cape on him and told him that his hero always hauled his own load. He proudly wheeled his suitcase through the airport and loved when travelers called out, 'Look, it's Superman!'"
- Amy Graff, blogger for Best Western and the San Francisco Chronicle

"I buy strips of 'admit one' tickets and hand them out for good behavior. My boys cash them in at the end of our trip for souvenirs at $1 per ticket. That way, I avoid the 'Can I have that?' at every store."
- Jennifer Michaels, familytravelplanet.com

"Each family member calls the shots for one afternoon. I get my shopping in, my husband has his nature walk, and each kid chooses a favorite activity. We're teaching the kids the art of compromise."
- Kara Williams, travelingmamas.com

*Prices and other details were accurate when we published this article in October 2009.

3-D 4-D Imaging Take 2

So we went to Anticipation Studios today for the second time to see if LBG would let us take some pictures of her. This time went a bit better than last, and we got some really great pictures. She was moving around a little bit beforehand and my stomach was jumping, but it's as if she knew what we were doing and quickly quieted down. By the end of it she was wrapping herself more and more into a little ball (a quite impressive one at that. Her feet were over her head!).

Here are some photos from the session. Hope you Enjoy them!

Okay, baby... no more pictures... for now.

Ultrasound Video

This is the video from our ultrasound! It's sooo cool! Check it out:

www.AnticipationBabyView.com/AUSTUL/Baby0911111350.asf

3-D 4-D Imaging Done Today... Kind of

Well, today was a busy day for baby and me, so understandably LBG was tired (despite some devious tricks of my own) by the time the 3-D/4-D ultrasound went on today. I think I put her in a sugar coma. (you can see here her heartrate is still good but slightly elevated)
>

You see, earlier today I had that glucose test, so I had all that sugar this morning, and then I knew that to get her to move I should take some more sugar close to the ultrasound viewing. I packed in the orange juice (the real stuff, not the glucose orange stuff), cinimon roll bites, and ice-cream. Needless to say, I wasn't feeling up to doing much movement after all that stuff hit me today, I can't imagine a little fetus feeling the effects.
Anyway, we went and she was moving somewhat before we got in the room, I could feel her kicks and whatnot, but she was tired out by the time we saw her on the screen.

The images were distorted because her umbilical cord was in front of her face (above you can see the cord in the black & whites). There was a cute moment where she yawned though (below), it was so sweet!

We were able to see/tell some features, but she wouldn't move the cord out of the way.

But the people there were really cool about the whole thing and stopped us after 15 minutes and asked if we'd like to re-schedule for a free re-do. We of course agreed. We'll be doing it again Nov. 11, at 1:30pm, and hopefully she'll be up to it by then. I know I went home and crashed, with a little bit of a ickie feeling to my stomache, I'm sure she felt the same.
I hope you enjoy the pictures of what we did get. At one point, I rolled onto my side and she put her feet above her head... not a feat I look at doing any time soon.

Don't worry too much about the ones we did get, because we will be getting more (and hopefully better ones) soon!

Glucose Test

Well, I had the glucose test just a little while ago and it went well. This test required that I fasted for 10 hours (I could have water during that time) and come in to do it. At first the doctor said that I wouldn't really have to fast, that I could eat, and then four hours later go in, but when I went in and tried to do it yesterday (I ate breakfast then worked a normal 4 hour shift with just water) but the lab techs said no, that I should fast for 10 hours and try it otherwise my results will be such that I have to come in for the 3 hour test (I'll explain in a minute).
So I went home and ate like normal the rest of the day. Today when I got up for sleep, because I had the day off, I didn't have a lick of breakfast, and went in to take the test. It was the right amount of time and everything worked out well.
They gave me this thick orange flavored (and bright orange colored) drink that I quickly drank down and they started the clock. I had to wait an hour in the lobby, so I had taken a sudoku puzzle book from the house and set to work. An hour went by, and they took some blood.
The orange drink wasn't as bad as I would have thought. I guess there are a lot of flavors out there, but I think RMLabs only offers the orange (someone said there was lemon-lime, fruit punch, grape, and orange). I've had worse tasting beverages so I was plesantly surprised. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't order it if it was offered at a resturaunt, but I wouldn't say it was horrible enough to cause a gag reflex. The only part that was suckie was the blood drawn. I mean, I knew I'd have to have it done and whatnot, so I was prepaired. But she really did a number on my arm and it's a bit bruised. For half the day afterwards it felt like the needle, or at least part of it, was still in there.
Otherwise all good on the glucose front.
Oh, I was going to tell you what happens if I fail real quick: I have to do the same test for three hours. I drink an even larger amount of the orange stuff and then they have to take my blood every hour for three hours. Hopefully I won't have bad results.

Adendum (11/4/9): Wehn I went in to the doctor today they said my glucose test results were really good, 114... whatever that means?

Kicks a Miss

Little baby girl (LBG) worried me today... and last night. It's all good, but I just wanted to document it for myself.
Alright, so last night I ate waaaayy too much, which I didn't think was too much because it was a pretty average sized sinner, but then the desert was a bit big and probably put me over. A ton of sugary goodness, that after I ate it was almost instantly regretting having it all to myself. Oh, glutony, what a cruel cruel thing.
Anyway, My stomach was feeling super-dooper tight, and was visibly so too because Chris was concerned when he saw it. I went and tried to relieve it by relaxing in the tub for a bit, but that only worked slightly. So then I decided to get up and walk around a bit, you know exercise it off maybe. So I went out and picked up the doggie doo (at 9:30pm). That didn't work either.
That's when I started to notice that I ahdn't felt her move. I mean, I had noticed it at first, but just thought she couldn't because of everything I ate. I went and laid down for a little bit, and still couldn't get her going. Finally I just gave in to my superior worring skills and called the "baby hotline."
The "Baby Hotline" is a special thing I signed up for free of charge with BCBS. They have 24 hour nurses on call for any worries or questions I might have. I asked her what I should do, and she said to drink a lot of water, then go lay on my left side and count her movement. She should move 5-10 times in one hour. Well, she did, but it was barely. So I still worried and didn't get a lot of sleep because I coudln't feel her when I normally could (rolling over, getting up to go pee, etc). So when I got up at 3am and couldn't feel her any more I lay worrying. I woke Chris up and borrowed his iPhone so I could play her music. I played a number of songs, but only got 1 kick... and that worried me a lot because they were songs she usually went crazy on! I voiced my concern, but then went back to sleep because she had kicked.
When I got up this morning for work I was so exhausted. She didn't kick me at all like she normally does early on. So again, I was worried, but figured it was because we were both exhausted. Went to work and she laid low the whole time. When I got home I ate and drank some juice (something the nurse had reccomended last night, but I didn't have any)(the juice is good because of the sugar), then I went and laid down again. Nothing. No movement. LBG was scaring the crap out of me now!
Let's recap: Last night my stomach was feeling super dooper tight, add to that her lack of movement. Then since then I'd started to get cramps that felt like really bad menstrul cramps.
So I decided I'd call my nurse here locally and see if I needed to go in or what. She gave me the same advice "drink lots of liquids, preferably juice, lay down on my left side and count the kicks." There were some mild differences: "I mean, a ton of liquids; like those 42-oz big gulps," and for the kicks "there should be 6-10 per hour," she also added "to maybe have something sugary to eat." So I did. I followed the instructions as best I could. I only had one more juice box, so I didn't drink that. But I did have a miniature Hershey bar from our trick-or-treat stash and two full tall glasses of ice-cold water (I'd read that they respond a bit more if it's really cold). Then I went and laid down. She started kicking right away. I got to six before half an hour. She was doing just fine, she even gave me some weird little movements that are still hard to describe (but I'll try: it's like she adjusted her position, and sat on it).
To conclude, yes, she scared me, but everything's alright. She's up and moving as I type. My stomach hurts off and on, but I'm trying to take it easy and eat a little at a time. Maybe I'm dehydrated?

Gotta Have it

I had my first "gotta have it" craving just a few moments ago. I just had to have candied walnuts... diamond brand prefered. I went to two different grocery stores and finally found something resembling what I wanted at Walgreens. Not quite what I want, but it works... for now. Its a good thing McDonalds has it, but it's in such little amounts, and I'd have to get it with a few other things and I don't want to waste all that. I just wish I could find it in larger amounts.

Maternity Clothes

Maternity clothes are great! I didn't realize how frumpy I looked before when I was just wearing baggy clothes and pj bottoms. Now I feel good about my looks (sexy one might say, but it sounds weird given the pregnancy big belly part of it) when I go out. I want to thank both Patty and Mom for getting me some new threads. I really really really appriciate it! They were much needed, and I didn't even realize how much so.
I was trying to hold out all nine months and not buy any... well, I got six months through, and I'm starting to think I should have gotten them earlier! I mean, at three months, you couldn't even tell how far along I was. I only really started showing within the last couple of months. Month 4 my pants were tight at the waist, and I had gained back the belly I had worked on loosing before getting pregnant.
Month 5, I've just been wearing my big clothes from before I lost weight, and even some of Chris' clothes that he accidently shrunk. But pants had been restricted to elastic waistbands and drawstrings. I think it's because I don't feel I get out enough for me to go out and get clothes for it, but with two weddings and some other things to go to, I had to look really really hard for things I could wear.
So last time Mom was here, I broke down and we went shopping for "pants that weren't PJs... specifically jeans." I found some that were really nice. I had to exchange one pair, but I got some nice stuff from the exchange. I'm glad they have the return policy on their clothes. I liked the pair I had to exchange, but they were just not fitting right. When I walked around too much they'd slide down. I felt like I was pulling up my pants all the time, and that's hard to do with the "secret belly fit" because you're not only pulling up around the waist, you have to pull up under the boobs and backside too! But it's all good. I traded them in for some jeans that are under the belly. I didn't think I'd like that style because I don't like low-riders, but they fit great! They sit nice and high in the back, so I'm not showing any sort of underwear when I bend or sit, but are low in front. The only thing is they feel a bit odd when I sit because there's all that denim right where my belly crease is and she responds to it. So I don't know if I'll have to return those too, or not. I'm going to talk to the Dr. and see if that's normal, or if I should worry about what the pants are doing to her (I don't know how that works).
When I'm sitting round the house I still wear the pjs and loose tees, but I'm very glad now that I know I won't look frumpy if I just want to run out to the store to grab something. I had read an article early early on about how women who are pregnant suddenly just don't care. And yeah, I was like that. I kept thinking "I'm obviously pregnant, so let me be comfortable." But now I know I can be comfortable and stylish. Thank you ladies, I really appriciate it!

Adendum (10.21.09): I'm a medium, for all points and purposes... and a petite, because of my height I'm right under the "average height". Oh well. But I am able to find some small pants that fit well, which makes me estatic. And normally (un-preggers me) I would be able to wear larges as well because they're comfortable. But with pregnancy pants, they need to fit just right, otherwise you'll be showing off more than your stomach! So...
I think I've figured out the pants thing, at least for me. They say that for each person it's different, but here's how it goes with me: If it's heavy materials, like denium, then they should be the "under the belly." But if they're some of the more lightweight materials, I can do the "secret belly panel." PJs are always just comfortable. I think I'm so used to wearing pants under my stomache the jeans feel normal.
As for shirts... ok, you'll have to check out my next blogpost for more details, but basically I'm still a steady medium (only in tees and unisex shirts have I been smalls for a while now). Because when I try on larges they're a bit baggy, and don't fit as nicely as they should. The problem with some medium shirts is my bust... heck yes, I'm busty. So anything that requires me to button it up is a no go (like those nice little dress shirts that look like office wear).
When I was first getting shirts, I was self concious because my boobs looked huge! Only just within the last few weeks has my stomach out-bumped them. But after talking to people (husband and such) I've come to realize that even with the low-cuts people are still looking at the stomach bump, and not the other two. I've also come to really appriciate the low cut/button-down/v-neck/etc. tops because they've usually got past the pregnancy in mind. They're also a great option for when you're nursing. I hadn't thought about that until someone else pointed it out to me.

Nursery Plans (sketches)

These are my sketches and ideas for the nursery. I know, promises of grandure... I just hope I can get it up and done before she's here! All except the first are done in 3/4" scale, so details have not been hashed out. They're quick sketches, details have not played into it. And some details (like the houses) are readily available, and I'll use them probably on in the final application (on the wall!).




This picture (above) is a very early and very fast sketch of what I wanted to do overall with the room. It starts ("read" it left to right) with the window wall. It's a forest pathway, then the next wall had originally just a house (later modified to maybe a village, then just a few buildings). The door wall is the castle gates with a view of the castle. And then it fades into a countryside scene (with a hobbit hole). I incorporated different places Chris and I have been together in the overal mural (so keep an eye out for CJ notations).

This next picture (above) is the "countryside scene". I really wanted the mural to have a hobbit hole, but wasn't sure how big. It turned out a good size after I added the Cliffs of Dover (CJ honeymoon Ireland). In the ocean I had a pirate ship (CJ honeymoon St. Lucia) but erased it before I scanned the sketch. I plan on working on the details on it before putting it back in. Other characters we see are the Cheshire Cat and the Lorax. I figure I might also put in something else, I just don't know what.

The inside wall or "village scene" is this one (above). It's gone through many developments: from just one house, to many, to lots of fairytale houses (lady in the shoe, gingerbread house, etc), to just a few. I think the few don't seem to crowd it as much. It needs some basic work on scaling, as I look at it now I realize this. But it's the basic jist of what I want... I think (this and the "countryside scene" have been the hardest to figure out what I want).

Anyway, you see up front and personal Anne Hathaway's house (representing England, CJ)... well the basic outline for it. I was going to sketch in the details, but that can be hashed out later. In front of it will be a little garden of flowers and veggies with Peter Rabbit running through it.

Then starting at top is a windmill for Don Quixote, then the little pigs houses... well what's left of them. There's a pile of wood and a windblown pile of straw, and after some thought, I'd like the red brick house to look more like our current house (which is red, but not fully bricked). And then of course ASF (CJ where we met). I figure in all that sky space I'd like to put an actual dragon flying in the distance.

This is the door wall or "castle scene". The castle you see in the background is one I cannot find a name for from Ireland (CJ honeymoon Ireland). Paddywagoners, if you know/remember the last day castles we saw I'd appriciate it. Otherwise it's just a basic turret system on either side with a bridge between and mountains behind. The first door/turret has climbing roses on it, and one will be where the handle is. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm going to do something similar to the other door as well or not. Might just be a stone.

Notable characters are: Rapunzel, Notre Dame Bell (well it will be in the first turret's window), the worm from Labyrnth (yes, he's there by Rap.'s hair), and the Little Mirmaid (a very fast rendition that will get more details the large it gets).

The above is the sketch for inside the closet. When you open the door you'd see Rumplestillskin(and yes, he's only 3 feet tall) creaping up the stairs. On the backside of the door would be the 3 blind mice. Also in the picture are the frog prince, spiderweb (representing spider and the fly story), Cinderella's glass slipper, and the sock fary (you know, he usually stays around your laundry and steals socks so you only pull out one of a kind).

This last one (below) isn't a sketch at all, but I found pretty much what I want to do from a digital image when I was researching some of the other images online. This would be the forest wall, the one with the window. The window would fall right where that nice little opening is at the end of the pathway between the trees. I like house the trees seem to be going through all the seasons. It won't be full trees, but 3/4 of them, probaby. Like this picture will actually wrap around to the next wall a couple of feet, just to start to incorporate everything together.

Also, I'd like to add some fairy characters into it, and maybe some smurfs down low.

FRIENDS - Ross Inappropiate Song

Ooohhh, I can totally see this happening. The womb music we played for her last night consisted of Dropkick Murpheys and Tenacious D. But, hey! They were upbeat and got her kickin' up a storm!

Baby Kicks Chris

Yeah!!! So excited! These last few days I've been able to visibly see her kick more and more. Last night when we all went to bed, she was doing so big time. At first I just had Chris put his hand on my stomach and feel, but then I figured out that he doesn't know what he's feeling for and that it'd be much easier for him to see it beforehand. Chris let me use his iphone and we played some jovial music on it and she became very visible about it! Chris saw the baby kick! So then he put his hand over where she was kicking and was able to feel her! It was such a cool thing! I know I notice her move a lot, but last night with all the music... it was cute, and she would somewhat follow it (not rythmically, but location wise). Like originally we put the phone's speaker right below my bellybutton (which has not popped out fully yet), and she'd kick at that area. Then we moved it to the side, and she'd kick at it over there! It was so cool! Although I'm not sure if that means she liked the music or was trying to get rid of it. It was an awesome thing that I'm so glad Chris can finally be a part of.

Rolling Over

Last night I had an epiphany (that I think I had before, so a re-piphany): The baby rolls over every time I do. She was kicking me really hard right after I'd roll over. I think she was trying to get situated or something (because even though they're in the fluids, it's still not zero-gravity. So I was wondering how good this was for the baby, and it's apparently okay. It just worried me if I needed to slow down my rollover, or something. It's good to feel her kick, but I don't want her to be uncomfortable.

Quick Update

My belly button is almost fully popped out. It's odd feeling.
Also, whenever she had hickups today (or was kicking me extremely), I had major bowel movements. I don't know if it's due to what she's doing on the inside or vice versa.

Dr. Apt... again.

Another doctor's apt today with Dr. Sorenson. She's really cool, and quick as far as doctors go. It was going to be a very basic baby check (weight, heartbeat, bloodpressure, questions), but they ended up having to put me in one of their new rooms with an ultrasound machine in it. I didn't think anything of it when the nurse said she was going to have to put me in there, I just thought it was going to be a normal checkup (because I'd had my major ultrasound last month) that just happens to be in a room with one. Turns out "well, since it's in here, let's use it!" seemed to be the idea. So I am very glad I got put in that room! I got some more pictures of Baby Rich (but they look pretty much like last time). Dr. S was excited to use the machine, and was doing all sorts of measurements on it (I think it must have been her first time or something in there with it since it's a new room). Everything is healthy. She's at a good weight (1 lb 1 oz) and her heartbeat is 150, which is good for her. Nothing's swollen on me and I'm at a good weight climb (just have to keep reminding myself to have protein for breakfast).
Other than that, I got a flu shot while I was there. I talked to the nurse about weither or not to get a regular one and a swine flu one, and she said they were doing regular ones if I wanted (and to not worry about the swine flu one just yet). I said sure, so that I couldn't chicken out. I almost did, but glad I didn't. Now I don't have to worry for the next three months about it. She was a good injector and got it right in the muscle. So it bled a little, but it looked like a lot because the alcohol hadn't fully dried yet, so she had to give me another bandaid. I'm getting less aprehensive about shots thanks to the MS, I think. She was good at it, and honestly I couldn't tell she did it. The bandaid hurt worse when I ripped it off then the shot. I just have to remember that next time I get a little nervous/anxious about that stuff... especially in the arm (I'm used to the hip now).
Oh, and I'm supposed to do a Glucose Test before my next apt. It's just a lab, but I can't figure out if it's blood or urin. Either way I'm supposed to eat normal, and then for two hours not eat anything but drink plenty of fluids (can't figure out if I'm allowed to pee or not beforehand, though). When I get there it takes a while, because they give me an orange fluid that takes an hour to work through the system, and then I do the test. They said I can go in any time to do that, but I think I might call them just to make sure I know what I'm doing.
Anyway, I'll post up the new pics when I get this computer hooked up to the scanner again. And remember folks, November 3rd is my 3-d/4-d date!

I just have to say...

Someone was saying that the best time in their life was when they were pregnant (I think it was Patty, but I'm not sure). And I'm finding that to be true as well. I look at Linda and have asked her if her little one is kicking her a lot, and she seems a bit annoyed by it when she answers. But I absolutely love it when she kicks! It reminds me that she's there, otherwise I just feel regular (with some extra weight and heartburn). But I cannot wait until Chris can feel her kick too (not that I want it to end anytime soon, I just want him to be able to feel it too)! It's THE BEST feeling in the world! I absolutely love it! I could lay there for hours with my hand on my stomach and have her kick me. I thought I would get annoyed or bothered by it after a while, but the more she does it the more I love it! And when we're in public and she gives me a big kick I just smile and want to yell out about it, but I don't.
I will definetly tell her after she's born that she makes me so happy, she even made me smile when she was in the womb.
Her kicks remind me to talk to her. Like when I was looking at images for her nursery, she kept kicking me when we came across this one castle image. I thought the nursery would be nice with Blarney Castle in it, but I've decided to change the castle to the one that she kept kicking me on. I'd scroll past this one castle (a picture I took in Ireland, I don't even know what the castle's name is), and she kicked me. This happened whenever I went past it, just in passing, so that is the castle we're using.
Another cute time she kicked me was yesterday. At Sarah M's wedding she kicked me throughout the prayers, but only during the prayers, so I know my child will know God (which, of course, also makes me happy). It was so fun, a bit destracting, but made me smile.

Heartburn and ankles

So the update is I've had some major heartburn the last few days. It doesn't help that I've had to skip out on my daily dose of cold calcium (aka ice cream) because of the sinus drainage caused the soar throat I had for about a week and a half. The soar throat is gone, but I haven't tempted fate too much, because it still makes me cough a little. So heartburn is flairing up. But is apparently a major symptom of pregnancy that doesn't really go away. Pooh.
Anyway, on to the ankle thing: My ankle has been swollen since almost day one (you know, I've talked about it. Just my right ankle). Yesterday, after Sarah Morris (now Honeycutt)'s wedding my ankle was a major pain in the butt. And just a notice, I did not wear heals, so it wasn't that. I wore really comfortable shoes. Anyway, when I woke up this morning it was throbbing so badly! I don't know what I've done. It wasn't throbbing as much as it was busting at the seams, but it didn't look a bit swollen, it just felt that way. It was so bad I couldn't get back to sleep. I had to get up and walk around a bit to get it to calm down. I don't know what or why it is this way. Yes, I've elevated it, it just makes it hurt worse sometimes. Now that I've been on it a while it's ok, throbbing just a little, but completely ignorably. So I'm going to try and attempt a nap and see what happens from there.

JBF Sale

There was another JBF sale yesterday for 1st time moms. This was was in Owasso. It's maddnning. I know I drove Chris crazy as I kept contemplating whether or not to get something or another. We came out not spending a lot, thank goodness. Our major purchase was a jumping toy. Other than that, we got a few little items, like thank you cards and such.
I'm so worried about not getting the right things, or spending too much, or urgh. There's a lot of budget worries, as well as registering for the right things. Am I registering for too much, or too little? Too much, I'm sure. It feels like the wedding registry. And the JBF sale feels like those wedding dress sales they show you about on TV. Crazy, spazing women (and this time they're pregnant, not just regularly highly emotional) running around trying to snatch up things. Crazy Crazy times.

Hiccups

Today I felt her hiccup for a good few minutes. I didn't realize what it was at first, it was like little kicks, but constant. When I put my hand over her, that's when I realized it was pulsing, like a heartbeat. But her heartbeat is faster than that (it was like my heartbeat rate, but it was definetly her kicking or something). It was so cool! It makes me smile whenever I think about it. :) I'm so excited for the next time she has hiccups. Sometimes I don't feel pregnant, but then I feel her moving about, kicking and whatnot, and it is so amazing. I enjoy this feeling so much. I hope she's as happy a baby as I am when I think of her.

3-D 4-D Imaging

Chris and I have an appointment at a 3-D/4-D imaging center:
http://anticipationultrasoundstudio.com/
On Nov 3rd we are going and it should be interesting. I never know what to do when they're doing an ultrasound at the doctors office for a few minutes, I can't imagine holding still for 30. It'll be more interesting though. We'll be getting a package that gives us the following:

• 30 minute Session
• DVD of the Entire Session - set to music. We can bring in our own choice of music.
• CD of Pictures
• 3D/4D Color Pictures - as many as baby girl will let us get
• 2D Black & White Pictures
• Gender Check (which we've already done, they just do it with all packages)
• Video Streaming - available online for 2 months.

It'll be interesting. Chris and I are going. Just thought I'd get you guys excited about it since it's all set up now.

Feeling the Kicks

Today I felt the kicks! On the outside! It felt like bubbles in the bottom of my stomach. So, I put my hand on it, and I could totally feel the kick on my hand! It was so cool! She does it ever so often in little bits, but that time, it totally was her doing her Tia-bow or something cause she was going crazy for a number of minutes. I was actually able to monitor it. I tried to get Chris to come and feel it, but he was in the shower, and I didn't want to move, in case she stopped. By the time he was done with the shower, she was done with her karate practice.
But now she's not doing it for more than one or two kicks at a time. I'm waiting for the next time she goes all crazy kickboxer on me. Hopefully Chris'll be around. We're both looking forward to him getting to feel her. This is such a cool experience, the whole pregnancy thing.

Dr. Apts Times 2

I had two different doctor appointments today, both for the same thing. The first was at the hospital just to do a 30 minute ultrasound. We got two different sonogram pictures from the time there. I'll add them in a little while. They called it an anatomy scan. They took all sorts of measurements, and stuff. And Yes! It's A Girl!!
But they measured height, width, head, body, length, placenta, amniotic sac/fluids, leg bone, heartbeat, etc. She's doing well and fine.
And apparently so am I. That was my second doctor appointment today.
Yesterday, while at work, I was feeling really lightheaded. The last couple of weeks I've been feeling lightheaded off and on. And well, yesterday at work, I slightly fainted. Now before you go getting yourself worried about it. I am just fine, and so is the baby. I wanted to wait to tell anyone, just in case. But everything is fine. The doctor said it's probably my diet. No I'm not anemic, but I should eat more protein. My weight had been the same since I last went in, and I know it's dropped a couple of pounds since I weighed myself a few weeks ago (a week or two after the last checkup).
So to recap: Yes, it's a girl! No, I don't have pictures up yet (my computer is being a butt), I'm fine, have to change my diet a bit, and she's doing great as well. I'll try to keep you better updated as we go. Oh, and the Due Date is: Feb 3rd-ish.

Feeling the Kicks

Alright, so about this time last week, I think I was finally starting to feel the little kick flutters. All I know is that I'm feeling something ever so often. Last week I was pretty sure they were the kicks. But they feel more like a spider crawling in one place really quickly for a brief moment. It's kind of like those creepy crawly feelings you get when you "just know" a bug is crawling on you (even if it isn't). And at first I thought it was just that, until I realized it was localized to my stomach. Now I can't get enough of it! I know I'll be tired of the kicks and all once they really get harder, but for right now, it sort of worries me if I haven't felt them in a while. I'm being a silly new mom-to-be and talking to my stomach, coaxing it to kick me and let me know it's doing well.

Lopsided

Last night was a weird night for me in general. I couldn't get to sleep, my stomach felt so tight! I don't know if I ate too much and couldn't get rid of it, or if it was the baby. Anyway, I finally just went outside with a flashlight and started picking up the dog poo (yes, 10 o'clock at night). But while doing that I noticed that my stomach was lopsided. Now, I've gotten the feeling that it was before, especially when I just get up from sleeping or I'm about to lay down and have to pick a side. But so far it's always just been a feeling. But I think being extra full/tight, last night I was actually able to see it! It was freaky, to say the least. my right side was way bigger than my left, and I was sure it was the baby, but didn't want to push it over or anything like that. The more I think about it the more I realize that that has been the heavier, or "less light" (because I notice the lighter side more when it's the feeling), side more often than not. So, baby's a righty. I think I evened it out durring the night, because by the time I woke up, I couldn't tell anymore. I wonder why they like that side more? Just a general question for the universe.
And this is just general information I thought I should share as my dogs try to catch flies in the last of the summer heat. It's not something people tell you will happen, so it really took me by surprise.
I saw in a movie once where they had to turn the baby around because it was upside-down, and they did it just by pushing it around with their hands. The mother was well into her 8th month, so I don't know if this is really possible or just movie magic. But wouldn't that hurt the baby? I mean, I'm sure that's how they used to do it, but the baby is still developing, does it dent them or something?
Anyway, enough for today. Just thought I'd share that little tid-bit with you.

Sonogram #2

Baby waving "hi!"

the baby was waving a lot during the ultrasound.


An odd look for both of us:

Slightly freaky.

We're Number 1:
Baby moving arms and fingers around more.

Feeling the Baby

Today I was sitting down watching a movie with Chris and was trying to feel the baby, because it seems like I should be able to feel it (kick or whatever). Anyway, I pressed down a little bit and I could totally feel the heartbeat! No kicks yet, but the heartbeat was nice and strong. :)

Be an All-Knowing Parent

This was taken from "The Guy's Manual" on msn.com, but I thought it was a good list for everyone. I wanted to put it here, so I'd have it later

Every dad is rendered speechless the first time his child asks about sex or God. Suddenly he's Lennie in "Of Mice and Men," wanting to live out his life petting bunnies. As questions are a rite of passage for kids, so too they are for you. The best you can do is prepare in advance. To get you started, consider some of these answers to popular kid questions.

Why is the sky blue? Sunlight is a lot of colors mixed together. Gas molecules in the air, such as nitrogen, bounce out the blue light from the sun.

What is infinity? Infinity is something that goes on forever without an end.

Why are some words considered "bad"? Certain words offend people because of their sound or because they refer in a crude way to a body part or function.

Why do people die? People die because it's their time to go to heaven, where they will see all fo their loved ones and friends again (including the family cat). Note: This is an answer for young kids. It relieves sadness and doesn't scare them.

Where do babies come from? Babies come from inside Mommy's tummy. They grow from a tiny little egg. When they get big enough, they come out.

What is sex? This answer changes according to a child's age. Overall, teach the child about sex as it relates to intimacy, caring and responsibility. By discussing the emotional aspect, your child will be better informed to make decisions later on and to resist peer pressure.

What is God? This will vary according to your personal beliefs. But for a generic answer, you can say, "God is in each of us, guiding us to be kind to others and be good people in general." Note: Don't scare children by saying God can get angry at them.

Why do people need to sleep? Your body needs to rest, especially your brain, so it can work at its best. Like breathing and eating, you can't survive without sleep.

Why is there war? People have different views about right and wrong. Sometimes rather than accepting each other's views, they fight about it to see who's right.

Just Between Friends

Today I'm going to my first ever ginormous (because enormous and gigantic aren't big enough words for it) "Just Between Friends". I'm super excited. Chris and I just finished going over budget for it and what exactly we want to find there.

But I wanted to share with you the intimidating size of the whole deal. The largest one is, of course, here in Tulsa.

Just Between Friends: Make Extra Money: Have a Consignment Convention - ABC News

Today I'm going to my first ever ginormous (because enormous and gigantic aren't big enough words for it) "Just Between Friends". I'm super excited. Chris and I just finished going over budget for it and what exactly we want to find there.

Make Extra Money: Have a Consignment Convention - ABC News

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Sweet N Salty

I should finally start feeling like a pregnant lady. For lunch today I had a parfait and pickles. No, I didn't put the pickles on the parfait, but I did eat them between bites. Something is terribly wrong with that, but it was exactly what I wanted.
Cold dill pickles are what I want lately. And I have to have something sweet standing by to counteract it. I did a mild net research and nobody really knows why that combination is craved. I think it's cause we can safely take in the same flavor as salt without having it and the fear of further bloating that accompanies it. As for the sweets with it? Like I said, you've gotta counteract the vinegar, otherwise heartburn is already a four letter word in my dictionary lately.

Ooo... lightheaded

So today I went into work like any other day. I don't know what it was, but I started feeling really lightheaded. Of course, right after I started feeling like this, a crowd of people came in. I was on the front counter taking orders. Anyway, I was a few people away from completely taking everyone's order when everything started going black. You know when you get those dots in front of everything? Yeah, that was happening. And my stomach was feeling real bad, but I didn't want to throw up infront, or faint, of customers. I only had one order left when everything went black even more, I thought I could make it through, but they were two old men and I couldn't hear/understand them (at least not quick enough to take care of myself after them). I yelled for a manager and ran out of there to the restroom as quickly as I could.
Anyway, I'm at home now, still feeling ew-yuckie. My head is full of cotton, with thorns bumping it ever so often for a headache. They say it's common, especially in the second trimester. But frankly, this is worse than morning sickness. I can't do anything. Anyway, feet up, eating and drinking fluids... trying to get rid of these feelings.
Here's a little info (from www.whattoexpect.com) to help ease your mind. It's a perfectly normal thing, just not a nice thing:

Pregnancy Symptoms & Solutions

Faintness, Dizziness, Light-headedness

If you’ve always wanted to perfect your swoon, pregnancy may be your best chance. But if you’d rather keep your feet on the ground, here’s what you’ll need to know.

What it is: A disorienting feeling of unsteadiness (vertigo) can make expectant moms feel as if they’re about to fall or faint (and sometimes they do!).

What causes it: Early in pregnancy, light-headedness is likely due to the fact that your body isn’t yet producing enough blood to fill a rapidly expanding circulatory system. (The good news: Your body is gearing up to meet the needs of two bodies instead of one.)

In the second trimester, your growing (and growing!) uterus may put pressure on your blood vessels, which reduces blood flow to your brain, sometimes making your head spin. (By the way, that reduced blood flow is probably the reason you often forget your own name these days.) You might also feel dizzy if your blood sugar drops or you become dehydrated.

Another possible source of light-headedness is spending too much time in a hot or stuffy room, especially if you’re wearing clothes that are too tight or too warm. Remember, your body is a baby-making oven, generating plenty of its own heat right now.

What you need to know about it: Dizziness and light-headedness are common during pregnancy, but if they persist, or if you actually faint, put in a call to your practitioner just to make sure everything’s okay.

And keep in mind that no matter how "normal" it is to feel dizzy when you’re pregnant, that doesn’t mean you should ignore the feeling. If you’re feeling light-headed, use common sense: no driving, working out, or handling anything dangerous. If you start to feel especially woozy, sit down immediately so you don’t wind up falling and hurting yourself or your baby.

What to do about it: You can stop a dizzy spell in its tracks by lying down as soon as you start to feel light-headed. Elevate your feet to increase blood flow to your brain. Second best: Sit down and bend as far forward as you can, putting your head between your knees, if possible. If there’s no place to lie down or sit, kneel on one knee and bend forward as if you were tying your shoe until the spell passes. And if you need help, don’t be shy about asking.

To keep a spell from starting in the first place:

• Don’t get up too quickly from a sitting or prone position.
• Eat protein at every meal to maintain stable blood-sugar levels.
• Eat several small meals throughout the day.
• Carry healthy snacks with you for a quick blood-sugar boost. Good options: a box of raisins, a piece of fruit, or a couple of whole-wheat crackers.
• Drink at least eight glasses of water a day; more if it’s hot or you’re working out.
• Dress in easy-to-shed layers in case you start feeling overheated.
• Don’t wear tight-fitting clothes, scarves, or hats.

If dizziness or light-headedness persists, tell your practitioner how you’re feeling at your next visit. But if you actually pass out, call ASAP (once you come to, of course).

What's in a bark? Baby Knows

Babies Can Comprehend 'Canine' Language

By Randy Dotinga, HealthDay Reporter - Fri Jul 24, 8:48 PM PDT

- FRIDAY, July 24 (HealthDay News) -- What's in a bark? A new study suggests that 6-month-old babies know the answer.

Researchers found that most infants who were tested could figure out that an aggressive bark goes with an angry-looking dog. They also seemed to know that friendly-looking pooches voice their feelings in a different way.

The babies managed to do this even though they weren't very familiar with dogs.

It's not clear whether the babies actually know that a dog baring its teeth is a sign of trouble, but they're showing a level of sophistication regarding how dogs reveal their emotions, said study author Ross Flom, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

"We think babies have a broad-based set of abilities and skills when they enter the world," he said. "And those become broadened and honed based on the individual experiences in their lives."

Flom spends his time studying how babies perceive emotions, and previously found that they can tell the difference between upbeat and gloomy music.

In the new study, Flom and his colleagues recruited 128 infants and toddlers, almost all of whom were white. All of the participants had little or no exposure to dogs during their brief lives.

The researchers showed the babies video stills of aggressive and non-aggressive dogs, and watched what they did when they heard sounds of barking.

The study results appear in the July issue of Developmental Psychology.

The researchers believe that they can glean whether a baby is making a connection between two things by monitoring how long they look at a picture. In this case, 6-month-old babies were more likely to look longer at the picture of a canine expression that matched the bark.

Only about 15 percent of the babies spent more time looking at the wrong dog picture or looked equally at both, Flom said.

Older babies -- at 12, 18 and 24 months -- were likely to look at the correct dog, but for just a flicker of time, Flom said, and then look around the room or equally between the video stills.

While some have interpreted this to mean they can't distinguish the correct picture, Flom said it's actually a sign that "the task is almost too easy for them."

The study didn't examine what the babies actually perceived about the barks and the canine expressions. No one knows if they're aware that a normal-looking dog is a better prospect for playtime than one that looks -- and sounds -- like it wants to take a bite out of the nearest leg.

Still, it's "remarkable" that babies that aren't exposed to dogs can figure out how to link their barks to their faces, Flom said. That means they can connect audio and visual cues, he said.

As for the future, researchers are exploring how humans relate to dogs, which have a long history of interacting with people, and wolves, which don't.

Over time, Flom said, dogs and humans have learned how to communicate with each other.

And, of course, each gets what they want from the other, whether it be the newspaper or a long back scratch.

Top 10 "bad boy" Baby Names

Not that we know if it's a boy or girl, I just found this article interesting.



by Michael Inbar

TODAYShow.com contributor

updated 8:13 a.m. CT, Fri., July 17, 2009

New parents may balk at naming their newborn boys such tried-and-true but yawn-inducing names as Michael or David — but a new study shows that if they play it safe, they may be doing their babies a favor.

Writing in Social Science Quarterly, Shippensburg University professor David Kalist says giving newborn males oddball, girly or strange first names may just help land them in jail.

In alphabetical order, the Top 10 “bad boy” names, according to Kalist, are Alec, Ernest, Garland, Ivan, Kareem, Luke, Malcolm, Preston, Tyrell and Walter.

What’s in a name?
So if Ivan is terrible or Alec turns out to be a smart aleck, Kalist and his associate, Daniel Lee, believe they know the reason why. While noting that “unpopular names are likely not to be the cause of crime,” the social factors of being tagged with an offbeat moniker “increase the tendency toward juvenile delinquency.”

The pair based their report on a study of some 15,000 names given to baby boys between 1987 and 1991. They found that the more unlikely the name, the more likely a boy is to commit a delinquent act.

In revealing the 10 “most likely to” list on Friday, TODAY’s Erin Burnett gave her own interpretation to the study: “Basically, if you’re teased mercilessly your entire childhood for your name, you become an angry, bitter person, and you lash out in a way that could be negative.”

While Burnett and TODAY’s Matt Lauer noted that having a name making the list of possible future criminals didn’t stop the likes of Alec Baldwin and Ernest Hemingway from succeeding in life, there are plenty of prior studies that back up the Kalist report.

In writing about the Social Science Quarterly report, Time magazine pointed to a 1993 study that showed boys who have strange spellings of common first names (read Patric, Geoffrey) are less likely to be upstanding and successful; a 2001 study showing that boys are judged for their moral character and masculinity by their first names; and a University of Michigan study that stated, “having an unusual first name leads to unfavorable reactions in others, which then leads to unfavorable evaluations of the self.”

Exceptions to the rule
Still, what’s in a name? TODAY looked at the list of 10 heading-for-trouble names and found an example of each that could refute the findings. Along with Baldwin and Hemingway, there’s pop singer-songwriter Garland Jeffries, film director Ivan Reitman, basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, actors Luke Wilson and Luke Perry, black leader Malcolm X, legendary filmmaker Preston Sturges, Olympic gold medal boxer Tyrell Biggs, and a host of Walters — from Walter Cronkite to Walt Disney to Sir Walter Scott.

And within moments of the Social Science Quarterly report’s release, many Web sites were already poking fun at it. Writing on the Laughing Stork Web site, Candy Kirby commented, “People warned my parents I would end up a hooker or a stripper if they named me ‘Candy.’ And look at me. I NEVER dabbled in prostitution!”

The Kalist-Lee study also touched on baby girl names, noting that previous research showed a baby gal given the name Allison is seldom the daughter of high school dropouts — and that, on the whole, the less schooling they have, the more likely parents are to give their kids unpopular names.

While male names have traditionally gone the John-Steve-Michael-Matthew route, recent surveys have shown parents are getting a bit more creative. Baby Center reports that Aiden, Hayden, Jackson and Noah were among the Top 10 names for newborn boys last year — Michael finished only 14th, James 32nd, and John a lowly 55th.

Just don’t tell that to Ivan.

Caffeine: to drink or not to drink

Well, we're almost at 3 months, just under in fact. It's been interesting so far, and doesn't always feel like I'm pregnant... just tired, or hungry, or the furthest thing from hungry.
Everything is going well so far. Yesterday I had my first caffinnated drink since finding out. Oh, I couldn't stand it! Patty was drinking a diet Pepsi and I just wanted to smell it; feel the bubbles and have a flavor in my system other than water. The table convinced me to grab a drink, so I got myself a Dr. Pepper. Delicious! ooohhh, so good. The below is from babycenter.com and slightly explains why I've avoided it:

There's general agreement that pregnant women and those trying to conceive should avoid consuming large quantities of caffeine. But after decades of controversy and conflicting evidence, there's still no real consensus on how much caffeine is safe during pregnancy.

The March of Dimes advises women to limit their caffeine intake to less than 200 mg per day. This recommendation was prompted by the results of a study published in the March 2008 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, showing that moms-to-be who consumed 200 mg or more of caffeine a day had double the risk of miscarriage compared to those who had no caffeine.

Not all studies show a link between caffeine consumption and a higher risk of miscarriage. Still, it may be smart to err on the side of caution and stick to the March of Dimes recommendation. (See chart below to get a sense of the caffeine content of various types of coffee, tea, and other common sources of caffeine.) And, of course, if you decide to cut out caffeine altogether, you won't get any arguments from your doctor or midwife.

I only said "slightly". My biggest fear right now is the M-word. I don't drink a lot of caffeine anyway, so partaking of any amount is "a lot" nowdays. Chris and I purchased a pregnancy tea the other day that contains no actual tea. It has peppermint and anise to help with stomach stuff; raspberry leaf to strengthen the uterus; and nettle to help with energy. I have no idea what nettle is, but it's better than caffeine, I guess. but it's a hot tea, which is not something I want in the hot weather. It'll be good for when it gets colder.

Urgh... Stomache Stuff

I'm fine. It's just that whole "I feel fine as long as I'm eating or sleeping" thing... my body won't let me sleep for more than twenty minutes at a time, and my stomach doesn't want me to eat anything else. Nothing looks good right now and I feel I've stuffed myself full most of the afternoon/evening even though I know I haven't.
I never realized the definition of nauseous was "that ickey feeling, and not actually throwing up." Because now that I know that that's what it means, then yes, yes I am nauseous all day most days. I just have little-to-no urge to actually puke.
Sorry for the graphics. Just a bit unsure what to do at this point.
Advice is always welcome at this point. It's a weird stomache feeling, but I know it can't be as bad as some of the women out there who can't leave the bathroom due to it. My feelings go out to you past, present, and future mothers who endure that. I can only imagine how bad this gets, because I don't want to get that bad. I hate puking.

Sonogram Print Out

The Sonogram paperwork:

The Heartbeat (was good and healthy):

The baby!:

Facebook Update

Okay, so the details: The doctor and I thought we were 8 weeks, but the computer says only 7 (that was last week). So we're two months along.
That put our due date right around the first week of February.
It's healthy and doing well. The heartbeat was good and strong.
We don't know if we want to know the sex or not. We won't get the choice of deciding to know or not for another month or so. There are good reasons behind each choice.

• Emotionally: It's cool to not know until the doctor says: "Hey folks, it's a...!"
• Logically: It makes sense to know when you can because then you can prepare for it. Get the right clothing, set ups, decorations, etc.

Chris is excited and happy that he can finally tell everyone.
I'm doing well. Morning sickness isn't bad (knock on wood). I'm slightly nauseous all day, more so at evening, but not vomiting or anything... just kind of "ugh". If I eat something (even when I don't want to see food) I'm good. Problem is eating something at all times can cause major weight gain, so I'm really trying to watch it. It really surprises me how calm it is compared to the horror stories I hear from everyone.

Thank you, all, for you well wishes! We appreciate it.