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!