funny lady

I'm just watching Leah Remini on Ellen, and she's darn funny. The last time she was on the show, she was like 9 months pregnant. She was talking about how she just didn't enjoy being pregnant, and she felt bad telling people that, because everyone loves being pregnant, unless you're really sick. People would ask her, and she'd say no, not loving it, and they'd be like, oh, is it a hard pregnancy? No, not really. I look like Shrek, my legs are like tree trunks, I'm enormous. She said her biggest fear was going into labour early and not having shaved. Ellen said that really not having shaved legs wasn't that big a deal, and Leah said well, legs and other parts, and then went on to explain how it really is hard to shave those other parts because there are things in the way etc. She said it's inconsiderate of women who know they're going to go into labour soon-ish to not clean themselves up a little bit. I think that's pretty funny. I think the doctors have probably seen enough awful things that the average hairy bird isn't going to phase them all that much. You never know though.

mmm, blood test

and a urine test too, actually. I went for my glucose tolerance test, which wasn't actually too bad. I didn't have to fast, but I did have to wait, then drink a very, very sweet (think McD's orange drink with double the sugar) concoction, then wait another hour, then have my blood drawn. Whee!

After my saying that the baby was having no impact on my sleep, I woke up early this morning and could not get back to sleep, because my little acrobat / kickboxer was wide awake. Interesting. S/he settled down though, and all was well.

I've been asked by 2 total strangers when I'm due, so I guess there's really no mistaking what's happening at this point. Even if I saw me though, I don't think I'd ask that, because you just never know. I've heard horror stories about people who have asked, and been told, 'I'm not pregnant...', which would just be awful for everyone involved. Maybe I'll get some shirts that say like, 'bun in oven' or something. Should clear everything up.

Anyway, that's about it. I have some cleaning up around here to do before I leave for Fredericton on Wednesday, because we'll be going basically straight to Halifax from there on Friday, and I don't want to come home to a big mess after our little holiday. Nothing too exciting, I'm afraid.

100 days!

not that it's an exact science or anything, but *wow*, 100 days is not very long, even if it's just sort of in the vicinity of when the baby is planning on making his/her appearance.

also, how come nobody else has joined the expectnet pool? you guys are boring.

update? not really

sorry, there's just not really anything going on! I'm getting bigger, I'll take a new picture this weekend. I'm going to get Grant to take a couple, since he'll probably be able to get better angles than I can working with my arm's reach and a mirror. Maybe we'll take a picture of the 2 (3) of us by the Christmas tree. Baby's first Christmas! Sort of...haha.

I'm chaperoning the school semi-formal tomorrow, and am very excited because I'm only doing the first half, and I acutally have a dress to wear. I have a really pretty top I could wear if it were a grown-up party, but it's strapless and not entirely appropriate for high school dance chaperoning. My sister's friend loaned me some maternity clothes, and one piece is this very cute black dress. I need to get some tights; I think I'll just get giant sized regular ones, the maternity ones are too pricey. I also might get a red ribbon to replace the cinching tie that's in the dress right now, I think that would be pretty festive. I'll take a picture of myself, maybe. I need a tripod, and to figure out how to focus on myself when I want to be farther away than arm's length. Any ideas?

In other news, I have less than 2 months of teaching time left. 3 weeks of semester 1 to finish up after Christmas, which really only matters for exams and the one class that's ending. Then I teach for 5 more weeks, minus a couple of days for marking / turnaround in between there, and that's it. How crazy is that? Fairly. Then, a few short weeks until the bean arrives. How crazy is *that*? Very.

I have to go to bed now. I'm doing alright sleeping, but if I wake up sleeping on my back it's uncomfortable. Especially if it's early in the morning when the baby is moved up toward my lungs more, it's kind of squishing things and not comfy. (sidebar: in general, I seem to be 'carrying high', which althogh my list down the page a bit says it's a girl, every person I've talked to has told me it means boy, including people actually saying 'look how high you're carrying that boy!'. If I lie down, I can feel the fundus (I'm not going to explain what that is, because it's more fun for you to wonder or look it up for yourselves) right under the centre of my ribcage. I get kicks in the ribs sometimes, which just feels really weird.) Sleeping on my side is decent, but I have to switch. I seem to like my right side best, but my right hip gets sore if I spend too much time on that side at a stretch. I'm not having any problems with the baby keeping me up, although s/he is quite active. I think maybe I'm so used to being walked all over by the kitties, that the internal beatings don't disturb my sleep too much. I'm not sure how long this peaceful resting will last though, if the baby stays this active as s/he grows, it's going to be like having a mambo dance competition in there sometimes.

I was going to bed, right? Yes, ok.

fashion tip

I just have to tell you, ponchos are the way to go. I got 2, they're fantastic. Comfy, non-restraining, super fun. And maybe it's because I've got the bump happening, but it's really cute.

that is all.

just joking. I've got an online baby pool going over at expectnet, that you are all welcome to join in on. You have to guess date, time, and gender. Good luck! There's no money involved, just bragging rights I guess.

fun with folklore

so, although we have a suspicion that we saw certain boy-parts on the ultrasound screen, they won't tell us, and if I'm to believe any of the myths surrounding 'how to tell', then I'm definitely having a girl.

chinese calender = girl

You're more likely to be having a girl if…

• Your baby's heartbeat is faster than 140 beats per minute

• you're carrying all round

• you're carrying high

• you suffered morning sickness during your first twelve weeks

• your left breast is bigger than your right

• you're asked to show your hands and you present them palms up

• you combine your age at the time of conception with the number of the month you conceived and the resulting number is odd

• the hair on your legs has been growing slower during pregnancy

There are some other ones too, but as far as which side I sleep on, it varies, and hasn't changed. I don't have any really strong cravings, but I go mostly for sweet stuff, which again, is normal for me. I'll keep you posted though, and / or you can wait until the end of March and find out for sure.

shh, I'm supposed to be at work!

well, not really. I took the morning off for an appointment, and it's lunchtime now, so I figure I'll eat here rather than dragging a bunch of stuff to school. My appointment, as expected, was rather uneventful. I asked her about a few things that have been going on with me, the B-H contractions, and I've had some numbness / tingling / ouch in the side of my leg, which is apparently a nerve that gets pinched as your back curves into a most unnatural state. I go for my glucose screening test next week, but I think secretly I'm going to wait until the next week, assuming the clinic is still open, because then I don't have to take time off work. Which is good. My dizzy spells are due to low blood pressure, which won't really improve until after the pregnancy. Today it was 90/60, I thought one of those numbers was supposed to be a 3-digit? Ah well. And there's nothing I can do about any of that stuff, so I'll just grin and bear it. And bitch about it on here. hehe.

One thing she did say that confused me a bit, was that they were going to stick with my original date of April 1st, rather than the u/s date of March 26th. This makes no sense to me, why change back? I don't like my doctor, lol. I was told that the u/s dating is generally much more accurate than the remembering when your last period was, so I may just stick with that date anyway. Or split the difference. It's only a week, so we'll just have to wait and see! Either way, things are coming quickly. Grant and I actually thought of a name, independently, that we both like, so that's pretty exciting. I'm not telling anyone what it is, because people offer very unhelpful comments, I've learned. Because you know what, unless you can think of some horrible nickname, I don't need to know about all the weirdos you know / knew with that name. I've had to rule out many names already because of that reason myself, teaching puts you in touch with all kinds of monsters with cool names. You'll all find out soon enough anyway!

booky book books

I'm up to my ears! Well, not really. I've read the Mayo Clinic Complete Guide to Pregnancy and Baby's First Year (and yes, the book is as overwhelming as the title, I haven't actually *read* it all, just the important thus far bits), The Mother of all Pregnancy Books, and Knocked Up: Confessions of a Modern Mother-to-be. I've now gotten myself The Mother of all Baby Books, and Cool Names for Babies, which does actually have cool names for babies.

Also, I realised today how very little time I have left at school, and as a non-mom, for that matter. 2.5 weeks of class left before Christmas break, 3 weeks after that before exams, then a month of semester 2, and I'm done like dinner. Yipes! That's assuming everything goes on schedule, which apparently it doesn't always.

I had what I assume was a Braxton Hicks contraction the other day, it was strange. It just felt like things got really tight and tensed up in my abdominal area, so I put my hand on my belly, and it was rock hard, but then the whole thing went away after a minute. Interesting. It's always relatively firm, like abs of steel, but this was like, tabletop hard. Apparently it's very normal any time after midway through, and they're painless. So no worries!

giant, alien baby

hopefully not alien, but definitely giant and doing its best to escape via my bellybutton. I was on the phone with my preggo friend, lying on my back on the bed, and the bean is moving around a bit, and then I see, yes, *see*, this like, something trying to escape just under my bellybutton. It was very strange to see and feel and the same time, that was a first. I can definitely feel from the outside now, but it's still very unpredictable as to whereabouts and timing, so it's more luck than anything when I do happen to have my hand in the right place.

I have no real other news, and I'm pretty starvin marvin, so that's it for now. My next dr. appt is next Tuesday. I'm hoping they'll go over the ultrasound results with me, and I'm just going to take the morning off, because it's too stressful to be running late (because my dr. is running late) and trying to get back to school for 2nd period. As long as I only have to go once a month, I can swing the morning off. I don't want to do it more than that though, it's so much work to have a supply teacher.

really, really flattering pictures

just kidding! I figured you might like to see front on pictures of me, for some reason. The first one is from Nov 9th, the second is from Nov 23rd. There's been some significant enlargement in the meantime, it seems.



My mom and sister are coming up tomorrow, and there's talk of cheesecake. I'm pretty excited. Also, they're going to see the play I'm co-directing, so that should be fun. It's pretty funny, in a totally inappropriate way. Which is extra funny, because it's a bunch of nuns.

who needs feet?

well, thankfully, I haven't experienced any of the nasty swelling of the extremities that my books warned me about. I did, however, notice today that when I stand up straight and look down, I can no longer see my feet. Fun!

I'm going to update the picture, I've just been so freaking busy with the play that I haven't had time to anything, let alone take pictures of myself. Tonight though, I think.

Not much else new, feeling more movement, and Grant got to feel it this weekend, which was pretty neat. He was all excited. I'm excited too, as are the girls in the play / my theatre arts class. And not that I'm counting, but I am, and there are 18 school days until break, and 63 school days until I go on mat leave. Crazy eh? I'm not like, super anxious for that, because I know everything will change and so on, but I'm pretty excited. I'm 5 months! I'm over half done! Also, I went to Gap Kids on the weekend, and the stuff is just...so...cute. I can't buy anything though, because it's all pretty clearly boy or girl, and I'm not so much clear on which I'm having.

winterizing

hey. I need a new winter coat, soonish. I'm hesitant to buy one, because I don't like spending money on boring things like that, and I figure maybe somebody out there has one they can loan me? Let me know. I (heart) my yellow coat, but it's really not going to do up for much longer. Frigging giant baby! lol.

food for thought

Studies by Dr. Miriam Labbok, director of the breastfeeding division at Georgetown University Medical Center, indicate that the U.S. could save $2 billion to $4 billion each year in health costs if all mothers breastfeed their newborns for at least the first three months. Here are a few more reasons to consider breastfeeding:
* There is strong evidence that breastfeeding reduces the incidence of diarrhea, lower-respiratory infection, ear infections, urinary tract infections, bacterial meningitis, Crohn's Disease, colitis and other diseases (American Academy of Pediatrics).
* Studies have shown that breastfed babies have significantly higher IQs (about eight points) than their formula-fed counterparts.
* There may be a link to a decreased incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome among breastfed babies.
* Numerous benefits to mothers include a reduced risk of ovarian and breast cancers, as well as a lower incidence of hip fractures during the post-menopausal period

hello in there

so I've been feeling more movement lately, which is pretty fun. I can't really describe it, but I'm not sure I agree completely with the fluttering / gas bubbles description. It basically feels like there's some tiny person in there who's rolling around and occasionally poking me. When I went for my ultrasound, it was like he was doing acrobatics, flipping and rolling.

Sidebar: I've decided to stick to one pronoun, rather than the she / he or it thing, it's just simpler.

I'm growing daily, as is the bean though, so it makes sense. I'm exactly halfway along though, which is pretty exciting. Not much else going on though, I go for another appointment on Tuesday, and I'm hoping / assuming she's going to go over the u/s stuff with me. Short week at school again due to Remembrance Day and more PD, which is good, because I'm not getting any less tired. It was my understanding that basically all the sypmtoms of pregnancy went away during this middle trimester. It appears I was misinformed, or, more likely, that like all things about pregnancy, nothing applies to everyone. I'm still tired, and it's not getting any better because I'm not sleeping really well; I wake up with sore hips if I'm lying on one side too long, but I'm not supposed to lie on my back anymore, so I haven't quite figured out what to do there. If I prop myself up with pillows on both sides, I do alright, but then there's not much room for Grant that way. I'm also still a bit gaggy, and my boobs, while roughly one million times better than they were, are still sore.

that's all my bitching for now, but I'll let you know when I have more!

results

awww, isn't s/he cute??



lol.

so, the measurements for Jr. (just the one Jr., thank goodness...) put me at 19 weeks 5 days, exactly a week ahead of where I thought I was, so on Saturday I'm half cooked! Everything looked good to me, but I'll admit I don't have a sweet clue what I was looking for. No extra heads or limbs, everything in the right place. Anyway, all in all very exciting, looks like I have a little acrobat in there, should be interesting when I get a little further along...

ultrasound day!

it seems like it's been coming for so long, I can't believe it's actually November 4th today. I assume most of you know the rest of my news, for full detes, check out the regular blog.

Anyway, so I'm going to pee as much as possible this morning, and drink as little as possible, until 11, at which point I must drink 1L of water. That's a lot. And then not pee until after my u/s, which is at 12:30. I called to verify the appointment time, and I had a couple of other questions, like can I drink juice instead of water? and how long is the u/s anyway? but the woman hung up on me. Bitch. So, I'll see how adventurous I'm feeling, I can't see how it's going to matter if I drink water or juice or chocolate milk for that matter, though drinking a litre of chocolate milk quickly seems to be inviting trouble.

So, obviously, I'll keep you posted, if you don't hear from me today, assume I guess that there's nothing too exciting to report, but I'll let you know soon-ish either way.

pop!

just like that.



freaky.

So, obviously I'm completely out of my 'real' clothes and into maternity wear. This all happened very suddenly, I'm not even really sure when. I went shopping with my preggo friend, and got some really nice things at Thyme, and also picked up a pair of decently cool jeans at WalMart...I really didn't find *anything* else there worth looking at, but Thyme is full of very nice, and very pricey things. The pannely clothes get some snickers from my dear loved ones, so I'm staying away from those for now, since they're really designed for later on anyway.

Not much else going on, hence the lack of updates. I go for my ultrasound on the 4th, which is actually pretty close now, so I'm pretty excited. I'm still feeling big for where I'm supposed to be (17 weeks and 2 days) so I'm still curious to see what they will have to say. Grant's going to come down, I think my mom wants to come up too, so I'll have to see if I'm allowed more than one person in the room or not.

That's about it, I've been super busy with school and the play and everything. When these next few weeks are over, I'll be very, very happy.

new bras, fat pants, and damn, that fit last week...

I finally broke down and bought new bras. I only got 2, and only 2 because it was buy one get one for $5, so I might as well. Effing expensive. Effing went up a whole cup size since about 2 months ago when I bought like, 4 new bras that I now can't wear. Nice. Have begun to more regularly wear the non-panel maternity pants and skirt that I have, and I'm pretty happy about how comfy I am when I do that. I'm really actually looking forward to when I have enough of a belly to justify maternity tops, because they are damn cute, and I have several. For now I'm just looking slightly plump in my regular sweaters. I put on a skirt that I wore quite comfortably last week, because apparently I had actually lost weight since...I think it was last fall/winter that I bought it. Anyway, it still fits, but won't do me for much longer. Ah, the joys!

interesting

I'm too big for 15 weeks, according to my books and my Dr., who I finally saw and is very nice. She said the possibilities (both of which are unlikely, but it has to be one) are that I'm more like 17 weeks (unlikely because I had very regular cycles, and would have been on my period when I should have been conceiving, 15 weeks ago) or that it's twins. She could only find one heartbeat, she thinks, but it's near impossible to tell, because she could find it in more than one place. So, until the ultrasound now, I have something else to scratch my head about. Either way it'll change things, when I'll have to leave school and such, so I'm decidedly anxious to find out. Poor Grant may have a heart attack if I tell him it could be twins, lol. I'll stick to the 'giant baby' theory for now.

updates

well, according to most of the myths about determining the sex of the baby, I'm having a girl. My right boob is bigger, the heart rate is over 140 (144-150), the Chinese calendar says it's a girl, and I had morning sickness. The rest of them I'm not far enough along yet to test out. Good to know, eh? Fun to guess, I suppose, and kind of puts the pressure on to find some good girl names. All the ones I had thought of are really popular right now, so I'm hesitant to use them. I was always one of 3-4 Sarahs in my classes, so I'd like to give this little one a name that's not too crazy or something she'll have to spell her entire life, but something that 4 of her closest friends won't have.
suggestions?