1) Yup, I'm holding up. Drs. are predicting birth
weight will be right around 7 lbs, same as Shawn. (My fundal height is
35", Baby's heart rate is 140 bpm, & I've gained less than 20 lbs
total ;] ) I've had a hunch that this baby will be early, but
my appt on Friday morning didn't seem to give any medical reason to believe
it. Baby is head-down, but nothing else is going on. It has been
nice to have a little more room for lung capacity since it dropped lower
though. I don't remember being quite so out of breath with Shawn.
I'm get crazy belly waves as it rolls around, jabs, and kicks, especially in later evening / after dinner. This one pays a lot more attention to my bladder than Shawn ever did and I can rarely make it through the night without a pee break any more. I usually wake up ready to explode! This one is also less gentle on my insides than Shawn was - it actually hurts sometimes! Shawn often had a foot jutting out above my right hip, but he'd just stretch it out & leave it there. This one also favors my right side, but it feels like it's trying to wring juice from my lower ribs! Drs. have me recording how quickly I can feel 10 kicks/movements after dinner. The time limit is an hour (that's when they get concerned), but I haven't had to go more than the first 5 minutes yet.
My 2-3 day long headaches seem to be a thing of the past. I'm having coffee much more regularly than I think I ever have before, especially full caff, but when the drs. said that it can help with headaches, I thought it was better than popping Tylenol all the time. Pretty counter-intuitive for me to be gulping caffeine like this (even non-preggo, I'd often do decaf!), but it seems to be working, so I'll take it.
My awful eczema outbreak from 2nd trimester is healing now. I haven't had any more flareups for most of the 3rd trimester, but I have scars inside my elbows from the really bad ones from months ago. I'm just glad I'm not red & inflammed anymore. Hopefully, the scars will lighten over time. It's another drastic difference between this pregnancy and before. With Shawn, I don't think I've ever been more comfortable in my own skin! Every trace of eczema vanished for the entire 9 months! It was great! Just another way this baby lets me know it's not the same kid, I guess!
I was definitely much more achy (hips & knees mostly) with Shawn, but it makes sense that my joints don't need to adjust quite as much the 2nd time around. This time around, 2nd tri had some bad lower backaches, but they've also improved in 3rd tri. Of course, it's getting a bit more challenging to roll myself out of bed & reach things I drop on the floor (often), but I knew that would happen!
Last Sunday, I slipped on the sidewalk in the rain as Shawn & I were walking into the library for a free concert (German & Irish music!) I caught myself with my left knee and hand as my plastic grocery bag of books ripped & spilled across the parking lot... in the rain... swell! I think it freaked Raj out when I told him about my fall later that afternoon, but really, it was just jarring & there were absolutely no signs for concern. I just scraped up my knee and 2 knuckles. I am a little surprised that my knee still can't tolerate any amount of pressure at all though (walking is totally fine, but kneeling on the floor is completely out of the question)! Though I've worn those shoes a million times before this winter, I put them in the back of the closet until the ground isn't so slick with rain & melting snow!
Like I said, I've had a hunch that this baby will be early for some reason, but I'm not quite ready for that to happen, so I'm glad our appt on Friday didn't confirm it! Crib & furniture is in place. Laundry's done. Car seat bases are installed. Breast pumps and bottles are cleaned & ready if needed. Hospital bag is mostly ready. The room is painted - I'm not thrilled with the results, but it's done. (Our neighbor, Frank, finally came over & then took over a week to paint 3 trees! ARG! He did a good job with the bark on the tree trunks, he included some cool cruly twigs to add some interest to the trees, & I like the leaves he painted blowing around the room. But. I'm convinced the limbs/branches tuned out more like cacti than trees! I was hoping for a much more realistic "forest" than what we got. Raj & I are going to look for some decals of forest animals & accents to add to it and see if it helps. I'd rather not mess with more paint to fix it now that the fumey-ness has almost dissipated.) Another aggrevation today though - I got blackout blinds from Lowes, which I thought were a step up from Shawn's room in terms of blackout & thermal ratings. Nope. They're identical. Fine. Then, the guy who cut them to fit the windows apparently didn't trust my measurements & cut them too narrow - I can fit a full finger's width between the sill & the edge of the blinds on both left & right sides! What's the point of a blackout shade if light streams in all around them?! I measured the windows multiple times for a reason! We do have curtains over the blinds, which help cut down on the light... but still! Arg!
Anyway, we're ready enough if baby really does come early, but there are still a few things that would be great to iron out before the big day... like names, for example!
2) Having a turtle was a fun pet, but it can be a huge committment because of their life spans & their need for space. I did take mine to the vet initially because it was given to me by a stranger at Petsmart and I knew absolutely nothing about it. Yes, salmonella can be an issue, but I believe it's something you can keep in check if you keep the tank clean, etc. I got the vet to okay it as a classroom pet and didn't get any grief about it from my administration. (The fact that it was in a middle school & wouldn't be handled by a room full of little kids on a constant basis probably helped.) I'm also pretty sure that certain species of turtles have been outlawed as pets, but I don't think it's all turtles in general. In fact, I think it's something like turtles less than 4 inches long (but I don't know why that makes a difference). I'm hoping to go to a Pet Expo (just for fun) tomorrow, so if I find a reptile booth, I'll see what other info I can dig up for Jonathan. Maybe we can skype afterwards?
3) What do we have going on around Aug 19-23? Uh... I have no idea, but I'd love to have visitors from the east! The farthest I've got anything planned is into May and those are tentative, so let me know your plans - what goes on the calendar first, gets priority, right?! ;)
I'm get crazy belly waves as it rolls around, jabs, and kicks, especially in later evening / after dinner. This one pays a lot more attention to my bladder than Shawn ever did and I can rarely make it through the night without a pee break any more. I usually wake up ready to explode! This one is also less gentle on my insides than Shawn was - it actually hurts sometimes! Shawn often had a foot jutting out above my right hip, but he'd just stretch it out & leave it there. This one also favors my right side, but it feels like it's trying to wring juice from my lower ribs! Drs. have me recording how quickly I can feel 10 kicks/movements after dinner. The time limit is an hour (that's when they get concerned), but I haven't had to go more than the first 5 minutes yet.
My 2-3 day long headaches seem to be a thing of the past. I'm having coffee much more regularly than I think I ever have before, especially full caff, but when the drs. said that it can help with headaches, I thought it was better than popping Tylenol all the time. Pretty counter-intuitive for me to be gulping caffeine like this (even non-preggo, I'd often do decaf!), but it seems to be working, so I'll take it.
My awful eczema outbreak from 2nd trimester is healing now. I haven't had any more flareups for most of the 3rd trimester, but I have scars inside my elbows from the really bad ones from months ago. I'm just glad I'm not red & inflammed anymore. Hopefully, the scars will lighten over time. It's another drastic difference between this pregnancy and before. With Shawn, I don't think I've ever been more comfortable in my own skin! Every trace of eczema vanished for the entire 9 months! It was great! Just another way this baby lets me know it's not the same kid, I guess!
I was definitely much more achy (hips & knees mostly) with Shawn, but it makes sense that my joints don't need to adjust quite as much the 2nd time around. This time around, 2nd tri had some bad lower backaches, but they've also improved in 3rd tri. Of course, it's getting a bit more challenging to roll myself out of bed & reach things I drop on the floor (often), but I knew that would happen!
Last Sunday, I slipped on the sidewalk in the rain as Shawn & I were walking into the library for a free concert (German & Irish music!) I caught myself with my left knee and hand as my plastic grocery bag of books ripped & spilled across the parking lot... in the rain... swell! I think it freaked Raj out when I told him about my fall later that afternoon, but really, it was just jarring & there were absolutely no signs for concern. I just scraped up my knee and 2 knuckles. I am a little surprised that my knee still can't tolerate any amount of pressure at all though (walking is totally fine, but kneeling on the floor is completely out of the question)! Though I've worn those shoes a million times before this winter, I put them in the back of the closet until the ground isn't so slick with rain & melting snow!
Like I said, I've had a hunch that this baby will be early for some reason, but I'm not quite ready for that to happen, so I'm glad our appt on Friday didn't confirm it! Crib & furniture is in place. Laundry's done. Car seat bases are installed. Breast pumps and bottles are cleaned & ready if needed. Hospital bag is mostly ready. The room is painted - I'm not thrilled with the results, but it's done. (Our neighbor, Frank, finally came over & then took over a week to paint 3 trees! ARG! He did a good job with the bark on the tree trunks, he included some cool cruly twigs to add some interest to the trees, & I like the leaves he painted blowing around the room. But. I'm convinced the limbs/branches tuned out more like cacti than trees! I was hoping for a much more realistic "forest" than what we got. Raj & I are going to look for some decals of forest animals & accents to add to it and see if it helps. I'd rather not mess with more paint to fix it now that the fumey-ness has almost dissipated.) Another aggrevation today though - I got blackout blinds from Lowes, which I thought were a step up from Shawn's room in terms of blackout & thermal ratings. Nope. They're identical. Fine. Then, the guy who cut them to fit the windows apparently didn't trust my measurements & cut them too narrow - I can fit a full finger's width between the sill & the edge of the blinds on both left & right sides! What's the point of a blackout shade if light streams in all around them?! I measured the windows multiple times for a reason! We do have curtains over the blinds, which help cut down on the light... but still! Arg!
Anyway, we're ready enough if baby really does come early, but there are still a few things that would be great to iron out before the big day... like names, for example!
2) Having a turtle was a fun pet, but it can be a huge committment because of their life spans & their need for space. I did take mine to the vet initially because it was given to me by a stranger at Petsmart and I knew absolutely nothing about it. Yes, salmonella can be an issue, but I believe it's something you can keep in check if you keep the tank clean, etc. I got the vet to okay it as a classroom pet and didn't get any grief about it from my administration. (The fact that it was in a middle school & wouldn't be handled by a room full of little kids on a constant basis probably helped.) I'm also pretty sure that certain species of turtles have been outlawed as pets, but I don't think it's all turtles in general. In fact, I think it's something like turtles less than 4 inches long (but I don't know why that makes a difference). I'm hoping to go to a Pet Expo (just for fun) tomorrow, so if I find a reptile booth, I'll see what other info I can dig up for Jonathan. Maybe we can skype afterwards?
3) What do we have going on around Aug 19-23? Uh... I have no idea, but I'd love to have visitors from the east! The farthest I've got anything planned is into May and those are tentative, so let me know your plans - what goes on the calendar first, gets priority, right?! ;)
4) Raj's birthday was successful. Shawn wanted to make
a lot of the decisions about it. We took him out to dinner to Buffalo
Wild Wings (a sport bar / chicken wing restaurant that we pass on the way to
Shawn's school, but that he's never been to before & Raj & I haven't
been to since I lived in Lisle). The restaurant gave Raj 1 bottle of his
choice from 20 different chicken wings sauces, rather than the typical b'day
dessert that other places often offer. We gave him 3 golf lessons (he's
been talking about wanting to try it for a while now & a place near one of
his offices has a year round driving range with video analysis of your swing,
etc.) and a gift cert to Sports Authority because he just joined a gym
& needs new shoes, etc. We came home for a small icecream cake
that Shawn picked out from Oberweiss (the closest thing we have to The
Creamery), but Shawn fell asleep on the way home - too much stimulation from
all the tv screens & loud sports casters! Raj figured that Shawn would've
been devestated if we cut the cake without him, so we had the birthday cake
today instead - vanilla cake, birthday cake flavored icecream, silly string
icing, & confetti sprinkles with number candles '34' on top. However,
we now have 2 cakes because his Wood Dale office also got him a massive
chocolate cake (from Portillo's - a famous hot dog & italian beef joint
around Chicagoland) to celebrate on Friday. Both are delicious, but the
sheer quantity is a bit overwhelming! Beware of the sugar-bugs at our
house!
Ok, I think I'm caught up now. Time for bed.
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