scanner guns are super fun

I made a registry! It's #355611819, in case that link stops working later. I'll put it over on the sidebar too. It was pretty fun, I just wandered around and scanned about everything I could think that the little one would need. I do apologize for the crib bedding set, it's mighty pricey, but it's the only one I've seen that I really like - it's not too busy or too obviously gender-neutral or too cheesey cartoonish. We also need some crib sheets, but I don't really care what those look like, so I didn't bother to scan any specific ones. Same for the washcloths and receiving blankets, they don't have to be any specific kind. I'm also not expecting to get most of the stuff, but I thought I'd make it easy for anyone who feels the need to buy the baby something.

I really don't have any other news. I'm going to go through all the stuff from the shower and make a list of everything so I can do up thank you cards. I've never done them before, so that should be fun. I'm pretty sure Grant should have to help. Is it ok to wait and send them out after the baby comes, so I can say how much s/he is enjoying the gift? Probably not ok.

good times a-comin'!

What will you be doing in your spare time? Looks like I'm going to be pretty busy!

*shudder*

Had the baby shower last night, got an absolutely embarrassing pile of stuff. First off, enough diapers to last a while, really and truly. Also, we have over a full big blue Rubbermaid bin full of baby clothes, hand me downs. So, on top of that, we got a vibrating bouncy chair, a giant plush Eeyore, an Ocean Wonders aquarium thing for the crib, and a Leap Frog phonics bus that plays songs and stuff about letter sounds. Along with 2 blue garbage bags full of sleepers, undershirts, blankets, a fleece outfit for the spring and a bigger fleece snowsuit type thing for the fall, bottles, nail clippers, spoons and bowls, car window shades, a mirror so you can see the baby even though it's facing away from you in the car, a gift card, and enough baby bathing products to make any germ-o-phobe proud. I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but it was really sort of overwhelming.

Anyway, I'm planing to go to Toys R Us and see what else I can find. I know there are a few things that I'd like so I'll go a little scanner gun happy, since we have basically everything we *need* now, we can get the extra stuff I guess. I don't want to get too much more in the way of clothes, because I'd like to be able to dress the baby like a boy or girl at some point, rather than the albeit adorable, but very gender neutral things that we have so far. I felt sort of gluttonous with all the presents, but then I felt ok, because it's not even for me, it's for this little one who is, really, not so little, and will be making the grand entrance in about 9 weeks. Everyone I meet says I'm not going to make it that long. I say, thanks! I know that it's different being pregnant than just fat, but you can only be told you're enormous so many times, before you start to get a little self conscious. I know I'm big! And yes, I have 2 WHOLE months left! lol. Get over it!

some advice

just so you know, a bath is not nearly as relaxing as baths are meant to be, when your tub is roughly big enough to comfortably seat a toddler, and not nearly big enough to allow enough water to cover all the bits that need warming and relaxing in the first place.

my back still hurts.

sigh.

ch-ch-changes

The baby is slowing down a bit, I guess it's getting a bit cramped in its current living conditions. Still plenty of movements, especially when I sit and count, but not as much as a few weeks ago. 31 weeks tomorrow! I have this feeling that I'm going to go early. I don't know how early, or why I think that, but I just do. I'm worried that it'll be really soon, or that something will happen (ie, the giant baby is so big that I'll have to go on bedrest to keep it from coming really early) and that because I don't plan ahead, and they haven't hired a replacement for me at school yet, that my classes will be totally screwed. Whenever I mention this worry to anyone, they invariably reply 'that's not really your problem!'. True, but I still worry. Also, this is still pretty early, it's got a good 6 more weeks to go before it's considered term. I'm into my 8th month though, which is kind of fun. I'm also realizing that 9 months is not actually how long you're pregnant for, since they start counting from your last period. I was 7 months...2 days ago, if we're using that math, and that doesn't compute with my due date. Slightly over 9 months, I guess.

Anyway, my back is ridiculously sore from being hunched over my desk, marking all day. Since I don't have a personal masseuse / live-in significant other at this point, I think I'll take a bath. I'm doing a lot of work at school this week so that I can come home and relax in the evenings. I have a bit of cleaning up to do here, it's part of the fun packing process, but nothing to strenuous. I have to tally the marks on my grade 9 exams, but I'm not marking anything else until tomorrow. And, I have to decide what to eat, because last night I had a DQ burger, so I feel like I should have something real tonight.

I have some very small stretch marks, and I have to say I'm a little annoyed. I grew really quickly up to this point, and was doing fine! I'm happy I don't have enormous ones, but I know that not *everyone* gets them (like my mom, she didn't...no fair), so I was hoping I'd be one of the lucky ones. They are small, and on the underside of my giant belly, so I don't even see them unless I look in the mirror. I also have some, for some reason, where my bellybutton ring was. I took it out as soon as I started to show, because it was looking really odd. Just recently, I've noticed that there are stretch marks there, between the 2 holes. Odd. Confined for now, so I'm relatively happy.

The bath beckons, I'll talk to you fools later.

why aren't you commenting!

I need rassurance!

Anyway. I put up a newer / more fun picture of myself on the sidebar there. It's even a link to the normal-sized picture, if you'd care to take a look. I'm going to need somebody to actually *take* pictures of me though, so I can get nice ones with a normal facial expression and stuff. I'm usually still trying to get myself into position when the picture takes, and thus look totally stunned. Hence the headless shots. Also good for anonymity.

Anyway, according to the babycounter thingie, tomorrow I will have exactly 10 weeks until the big day. I have a feeling (and it may be wishful thinking, true) that I may not make it all the way to the end. That I'll come close, but maybe go a week ahead of schedule. My dr. keeps telling me that it's just a big baby, and that it doesn't affect my dates or anything, but the look of surprise / confusion on her face every time she measures me leads me to believe that I could possibly be a little further along than I have figured out. Regardless, 10 weeks is kind of scary. The first line in my 'your baby this week' email this week was about how my baby's head is getting bigger. That's just a mean thing to start off with, don't you think?

At least I'm not this poor woman. Yet. She had a c-section, of course, but still.

I stopped in to Thyme to see if I could spend a gift certificate I had gotten before Christmas. I managed to get myself a pair of overalls. They are cute, but do definitely emphasize my giant-ness. I don't care though, because they're comfy. Another thing, to be categorized with the poncho, that I will probably only wear whlie pregnant.

I told you, giant baby

everything is going well, the glucose tolerance test was fine, so I can continue to eat whatever I want (in the words of my doctor). I've gained a total of 12.5lbs, which is good / normal, and I'll probably gain that much again before this trip is over. When she measured me, she was like, wait a minute, went and looked at my estimated due date, looked at me, looked at the date again, came back and measured me again before writing it down. Apparently, I'm still running noticeably bigger than my date indicates. She still refuses to change said date though, she said that it's just a big baby. Fun for me!

After my next appointment on Feb 15 (5 weeks from now rather than 4, the Dr. lady is away the 4th week) I'll start going every 2 weeks, but that will only be one more appointment here, then I'll be moving up to Fredericton. The original plan had been to stick it out here until the baby decided to make his/her appearance, but it seems silly to do that now that Grant and I have a nice place up in Fredericton that I can fuss over and get ready. So it's looking like I'll stick around here until after March break and then head up.

I start my pre-natal classes next month; I'm taking 4 I think, but I can't remember the 4th one. One is a full day on labour, pain management etc (or "comfort measures", as they say on the sheet), then one on breastfeeding and one on newborn care. Should be good! My mom is taking classes in Halifax so she can help out in a sort of doula-esque way.

I think that's it. I took the morning off, I think I'll start taking the day for the next...2 appointments I'll have during school. It's easier to find a supply teacher for a full day than just for the morning, and really, it's not like I can save my sick days anyway, so I might as well use them.

picture time!

now, I have to put up 4 pictures in order for you to fully appreciate the growth that has happened in the last month. The befores are from December 6, the afters are January 10 (today).

enjoy.





I'll admit, that front-on shot scared even me. Yipes. What's the counter at, 75 days to go? I'm interested to see what's going to happen. I'm very short waisted, and I'm blaming that for the fact that I'm only comfortable either standing up straight, or lying in bed on my side stretched out. When I'm sitting down for a long time, I get to feeling squished, like there's just not enough vertical room in there for what's going on. Again, should be intereting!

w t f

I'm sorry, diaperless babies??? Intuition my ass, that baby would be messing all over everything. Seems less cruel to be changing poopy diapers that the poor dear might have sat in for a minute or two, than to confine the little one to plastic coated areas of the house.

strange contrasts

ok. So, about the belly picture...my camera is in Fredericton, but I'll have it this weekend. It'll just be that much more fun for you to see the difference from that one over yonder.

Anyhoo. A friend of mine at work gave me some baby clothes, sleepers and onsies and stuff, all in very gender neutral colours like white, yellow, etc. So, at the same time that I'm thinking, 'wow, my tummy is getting big, I wonder how big and alieny this baby is going to get in the next 2-3 months!'...I'm looking at these teeny-tiny clothes and thinking, 'holy crap, I can't believe I'm going to be responsible for someone so very, very tiny!'

It's all relative I guess. Compared to regular-sized people, babies are really quite small. Compared to, say, molecules of pee (or anything else I can more easily imagine coming out of that specific area of my body), babies are really quite enormous. I have to say, the whole delivery thing is scaring me a bit. I know that women have been doing it for approximately a billion years, mostly without medication of any kind. I, however, have never done it before, and it's scary. All my 'your pregnancy this week' emails are more about how to tell if I'm going into labour and what to expect (like an email can prepare you for that), than about the baby. The baby is basically done, just small scale. All the finishing touches and filling out and whatnot, the getting strong is happening now. This week his/her eyes opened, and s/he even has eyelashes! Pretty amazing. Random fact for the week: in one of my books, I read that sometimes premature babies don't have nipples, because they're one of the last things to develop. That's kind of funny. I wonder if boys will ever eventually evolve to not have them at all? Why do they have them now? This is getting a big tangent-y; I think that means it's bedtime.

I'm going to have a baby this year

that's pretty scary. Less than 3 months to go. The baby continues to do kung fu acrobatics against my abdomen, bladder, and ribcage, and sometimes it's downright startling to just be sitting there and then feel like there's, well, a person inside me flipping around.

I promise (really) to put up a new picture, soon. I haven't taken one in a while, and I haven't been home to upload anything anyway. The family was duly impressed by my girth, and everyone is letting me know none-too-subltly that they thing I'm going to be enormous. Thanks, guys. I did get some nice new maternity clothes that should do me through to the end, including a couple of really nice blousy shirts, long sleeved t-shirts, comfy sweaters, a pair of pants, and a set of matching mom-and-baby pjs. How cute is that? They're non-gender specific too, just teddy bears, so it's a go either way. We also got some crib sheets, blankets, a jolly jumper, and a carrier. Add that to a stroller / infant car seat and a high chair, a vibrating bouncy chair thingy and a whack of clothes and things from Grant's uncle and his girlfriend, who have a 3 month old and are just packing and sending our way everything that he outgrows, and we're on our way to being set. There's definitely a lot of stuff left that we need, but I feel good about what we have so far. I may actually have to register somewhere, but that takes a lot of work, so I'll more likely just make a list of have and have-nots for any among you who like to buy us things. The only other 'big-ticket' item we need is a crib, and I'm honestly not sure what else you're supposed to get, other than lots of sleepers and things. I suppose a car seat for later on, but that'll be, well, later on.

Anyway, enough of that, I'm pretty tired, last night having been new years and all. I had a wild party! Or, obviously, not. I did stay up until about 3 though, and then get up at about 9 for some strange reason, so I'm pretty sleepy now. I'm glad to be back to my bed with my body pillows too, they make sleeping much more comfy.

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.