25 things

There is this phenomenon on Facebook right now about writing out a list of 25 random facts about yourself. If you are friends with me on Facebook, you can see my list. I am fairly sure Kerry has not written a list. Recently, I started a random list of 25 things about pregnancy. So here you go and I hope you enjoy (and I hope it does not scare anyone who is contemplating pregnancy).

1. Baby kicks can hurt. In the beginning, it is really cool to feel a slight flutter and you are not quite sure if that is a kick or just some weird shift in your internal organs. Also, it was fun to see Kerry’s face when he felt her kick for the first time. However, Baby V now has mastered the kick to my lower right rib and it sends a jolt. The kind of jolt that can wake me from a deep, deep sleep. I am a punching bag from the inside at the moment. I think she has made impact with at least one kidney, a few ribs and a bladder. It is still cool to feel her moving around but it can hurt.

2. My nose runs all the time. It is like permanent allergy season without the feeling of crud. I wake up congested and nostrils sealed. Everyday.

3. My belly button has a strange purple ring around it. I asked the doctor and he said it was hormone related. Also, he told me that I should be happy I still have a belly button. Some women’s belly button will flatten out or just pop out.

4. I love fresh fruit. I guess this is my only true pregnancy craving. We have spent a small fortune on clementines, tangerines, pineapple, oranges, apples, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries. Some of these are hard to find in January. But they are so good. I have already had a banana and a tangerine today. It is only 10 am. Even the chewable vitamin C tablets I eat taste good.

5. I still get weirded out when random strangers or people I don’t know that well or people I know but don’t want to discuss certain topics with- try to have conversations with me about breastfeeding, cloth diapers, natural childbirth or co-sleeping.

6. I think co-sleeping is weird. This is my opinion and I won’t change my mind. I saw a story on the news where a father rolled over on the baby and the baby died. End of conversation on co-sleeping. Not happening. I don’t want to hear your justifications and I won’t judge you if this works for your family.

7. I believe in the power of painkillers. Better living through chemistry. I am not ashamed of this fact.

8. Naming a child is hard. It is permanent and a big responsibility. I mean, they could have this name for a really long time.

9. This is the first time in my life that I am totally and completely responsible for another person. It is scary.

10. I believe that modern medicine is a wonderful thing but did not know before getting pregnant that there is not a lot doctors can do about lots of pregnancy related issues. Miscarriages just happen, chromosomes don’t always cooperate, complications just have to be waited out.

11. People tend to over share about their pregnancy, birthing, child rearing, etc. When this happens around me the voice in my head just starts saying, ‘la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la,’ to try and drown it out. And, I don’t feel bad about it.

12. We have opted not to take a child birth and labor class. Before you judge on this- we have seen the videos, read the books and I even had to take a class to learn how to deliver a baby when I worked at the Red Cross. Repeat, technically, I am certified to deliver a baby. My doctor was a-okay with the decision. He even reminded us that we get the ‘big talk’ with him, a tour of the hospital and will go over all the details in week 34. More to come on this conversation I am sure. My doctor also said, ‘there is a room full of people who will be able to tell you what to do.’

13. Maternity clothes are awful. They make you look bigger, the pants don’t stay up and vertical stripes are cruel. They are poorly made AND they are expensive. In my experience, the women that work in the stores are even worse than the clothes. Why would I buy an $88 tank top? Do I look that crazy? And, after you pass me that tank top plus hand me a $108 t-shirt, $210 pair of jeans and $320 sweater and casually mention that you have great cream from Europe that will prevent stretch marks at $180 per bottle- you must think I have completely lost my ever-loving mind.

14. I miss real clothes and fun shoes. I am excited to have pants that have a button again. And, shirts that fit.

15. It is not nice when you tell me how HUGE your wife got when she was pregnant. Don’t ever tell her that.

16. Heartburn is miserable. I will never look at a commercial for Prevacid or Zantac or Prilosec the same way. I am curious to see if Baby V will have a full head of hair.

17. I am going back to work. I like what I do. And, somehow I think it teaches our daughter about the importance of education, independence and finding things that make you happy. Hopefully, we pass along a lot of important lessons to her. One of the best may be the joys of vacation.

18. We both know that Baby V will change us but we want to work hard to keep the pieces of us that have made us ‘us’ up to this point. To quote my friend Sandy, ‘if you ever hear me debating the best brand of organic waffles. Shoot me.’

19. I love when Kerry talks about her. His excitement and awe makes my heart melt. I will remind him of this when she is 16.

20. I don’t like pickles. I have never have. I don’t crave pickles, dream of pickles or wants pickles dipped in ice cream. Pickles are not my thing. And, the 50+ questions I have gotten about pickles are annoying. If you have nothing else to contribute about pregnancy- just ask a normal question about the weather or politics or anything. Stop with the pickles.

21. I joined a mom’s group. It is totally out of character for me but I am enjoying it. There are nine of us in my group and we are all around the same age, in the same stage of pregnancy, live close to each other, are all going back to work and surprisingly have a lot in common. It has been a nice, unexpected surprise and we laugh that eight of us are having girls (I guess there is something true about the Chinese Gender Chart).

22. The following words and phrases should never be used around a pregnant women: big, bigger, biggest, huge, thick, swollen, large, your gonna burst, stretched, waddle, jumbo, vast, are there two in there or WOW.

23. I am glad my friends had babies before me. They have done all the research on carseats, gear, pediatricians, hospitals, yoga classes, birth classes, maternity clothes, bottles, cribs, childcare, baptisms, pre-schools, strollers, vaccinations, baby books and much, much more. And, we have just benefited from all their research. Hopefully, I will get to pass along some of this knowledge to someone else.

24. My heart rate has not increased during pregnancy. It is always under 58 beats per minute.

25. We both wonder about what color her eyes will be, how tall she will be, if she will be athletic or artsy or both, if her hair will be straight, if she will be allergic to pepperoni, if she will hate vegetables or if she will like school. I picture her will dark hair but in the beginning of my pregnancy I was convinced she was a he so I my mind has been wrong before.

Bad fruit punch and other updates

I had my 29 week appointment today (well, officially 29 weeks and one day) and part of the check-up was a gestational diabetes test that involves drinking this bad fruit punch tasting mixture, sitting for an hour and then having blood drawn. I don’t have any of the symptoms of GD but some people don’t always have smptoms so as a pre-caution they give all expecting women the test. My results should be back on Tuesday. While I was at Sibley Hospital for my appointment this morning, I pre-registered so that they have all my insurance and medical information on file for delivery. Kerry and I will be taking a hospital tour and class in February and at the end of February we have our ‘big talk’ appointment with the doctor. We both really like my doctor and one of the best parts is that we never wait more than 5 minutes when we arrive for an appointment. I don’t know how the office keeps such a good schedule but it is so nice to just come in and be seen. It might sound silly but when you go to the office every two weeks it is nice that it does not take a huge chunk out of the day. I had an appointment at 8am this morning and when I arrived at 7:50 he was waiting for me. Also, he is very direct and does not sugar coat things- for example this morning I had a choice of ‘drinks’ for my test and asked what one tasted the best and he looked at me over his glasses and said, ‘they all taste equally bad.’ Now, I picked the fruit punch and it was not horrible but it was nice to be prepared. He is great about answering questions but I have learned that over the past few months to be prepared to get a very direct, sometimes very short medical answer (‘is this going to hurt?’ ‘yes’). But, it is nice to hear from his staff that he is really great to work for and he is who they would want as a doctor, especially in any kind of emergency. And, he was in the Army for several years so Kerry approves.

Other updates for the week:

-It is 11 degrees here today. Just plain cold. We know it is much colder in Minnesota and South Dakota but this is DC and we don’t usually have cold like this.

-We will be spending most of the weekend avoiding Inauguration mayhem. And, avoiding the cold.

-We will be finishing up our guest bathroom remodel plans so Kerry and Jorge can get working on the new floor, vanity and lights so we can update the look (and rid ourselves the stick-down tile linoleum). More to come on this later.

- Baby V is the size of a head of lettuce/cabbage- she weighs over three pounds and is about 17 inches long. Her heartbeat is still 14o beats per minute she is very active (mainly at night). Kerry says I look like I am trying to shoplift a ball out of a store.

-Still have heartburn (thanks for all those that suggested cures). And, as the doctor said today, ‘all the major growth is done- now she is just adding weight and baking.’

Hope everyone has a great weekend and we promise to post pictures soon!

We failed to take pictures this week

We have no excuses. We totally failed to take any pictures over the holiday week- no New Year’s Eve pictures, no pictures from dinner with my high school friends on Saturday night, nothing. We promise to take some this week. We both started back to work today and I know I already miss the short, quiet weeks of December. Everyone is back at the office and all the traffic is back to DC. I had gotten very use to my morning drive taking 15 minutes max.

Since we failed to take pictures, I can give you the latest pregnancy stats because I had a doctor’s appointment today and all is well. So far:

-27 weeks, 4 days down- only 87 days (eek!) until my estimated due date of April 2, 2009.

-Blood pressure is perfect (120/54).

-Baby V’s heart rate was 140 BPM and she is not fond of the doppler. The doctor kept having to re-do the heart rate because her kicking kept interrupting the counting.

- I have my gestational diabetes test next Friday and have to pre-register at the hospital.

-Baby V weighs a little over 2 pounds (approximate) and I have gained a little over 13 pounds.

Some random pregnancies observations:

- Strangers have come up to me and tried to touch my stomach. It is weird, intrusive and totally uncomfortable! Luckily, only one random person has succeeded and it was the first time it was attempted so I have become more aware of the signs it is about to happen.

- From the security guard telling me, ‘you put on a few pounds over the holidays,’ to other people telling me, ‘the baby weight is starting to show’- my weight is now up for public discussion. Take note about what you say to pregnant women because ‘you are getting SO big’ is not a compliment. No one would ever make a comment like that to a non-pregnant person!

- I have gotten advice about labor, child rearing, daycare, maternity clothes, pregnancy, baby names, vaccinations and a myriad of other topics from TOTAL strangers in the elevator, at the mall, in Union Station, on the metro and from people without children.

Hope you are laughing! And, hope the start of your 2009 was nice. We are currently under a winter storm watch here in Washington, DC and are hoping for a ‘snow day.’

Reminder: In the Womb

In the Womb:Identical Twins is airing Sunday at 9pm EST on the National Geographic Channel. Great series so far!

Beach in December

Leigh, Chip, Kerry and I went to the beach for Saturday and Sunday and had a great time. Chip recently purchased a condo right on 3rd Street with great views and access to the boardwalk and beach. Obviously, we did no swimming this weekend but it was nice to get out of DC and hang out with them in Ocean City. Leigh found an indoor miniature golf place so we had a competitive round of golf (Kerry and Chip tied) and Leigh amused all of us when she almost stepped into a water hazard because she ‘did not think it was really water.’ Luckily for her, Chip stopped her forward motion into the moat that would have surely left her pretty wet.

The course even had a submarine that we had to go through. I think Chip an Kerry got a hole-in-one in the sub.

Leigh took this picture and I am not sure if she was trying to get a picture of my growing mid-section or Kerry adding up the mini-golf score.

We look a little wind blown in these pictures but still wanted to post. I am officially 24 weeks and 4 days.

And, here is Leigh and Chip

We had a great time and look forward to going back to the beach with them soon.

Cool movie

I checked out National Geographic’s In the Womb special from the library (set your DVR- it will be airing on Nat Geo on December 12th at 4am) and we watched it between football games on Sunday. Basically, the film follows a woman through her pregnancy and shows really cool photos and video of her baby. But, one of the fun things we actually learned is that even in the womb, everyone has a dominant hand. So, will Baby V be a lefty like Mom or a righty like Dad? Of course, Mom is hoping for a lefty Statistically, when one parent is left handed and the other right handed, the child in 80% of cases will be right handed (that does leave me with a 20% chance AND since my dad is left handed I think the odds may be better). We looked at the ultrasound photos from a few weeks ago and in one picture her left hand is up but in the other picture both hands are by her head so there is really no clear favorite.

Overall, great movie! These two viewers give it two thumbs up.

Christmas decorations, pregnancy update, shopping and a shower

Kerry and I put up the tree this weekend (well, Kerry assembled the tree and I put up all the ornaments and lights) since Leigh and I are having our cookie party next Sunday. We have some lights to hang on the balcony but that is going to have to happen after this rain stops. Otherwise, it is starting to look a lot like Christmas around here.

Also, in news about us- I started to look pregnant this week. My friends had told me that I would just wake up one day and not fit into my clothes. Well, I can still wear some of my non-maternity clothes but most have been packed away or loaned to Leigh. And, Leigh was nice enough to bring a few coats that she can no longer wear that will get me through the winter. And for everyone who keeps asking, I have gained 6 pounds.

Mom and I did venture to the mall for Black Friday and we found some fun nursery items at Pottery Barn Kids. Mom discovered the bedskirt on the wrong shelf so we were able to get the bumper, sheets and bedskirt. Unfortunately, I can’t find the pattern online and forgot to take a picture when I was in Annapolis but it is a really pretty quilt pattern. It is a Christmas present so we will have updates on Christmas Day!

Finally, to end very busy weekend, I went with Jessica to get my registry started (and used my new, official last name for the first time) at Babies R Us. My sister and nice friends are planning a January shower so Jessica offered to give her expert advice on what we actually need and will use. It was nice to have her help and her advice on all the stuff because it is a tad overwhelming. While I was out ‘shopping,’ Kerry finished painting two of the three pieces of furniture we are going to keep in the nursery. They are now a nice chocolate brown and should have new handles, knobs and hardware by next weekend. Kerry is really making the room look great!

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!