Where to even begin...I have to say I've never been one of those people who loves to eat. It fulfills a need and I certainly had cravings before I got pregnant, but I'd always choose sleep over food (pre-pregnancy). Also, I've never had a "significant period of weight gain" prior to pregnancy either. Only ate when I was hungry, ate until had enough and always had high metabolism.
First trimester I didn't EVER want to eat. My body was exhausted all the time and my stomach was upset all the time. If I did get something to stay down early on it was usually carbs. I loved bagels, cereal, crackers and pretzels. Eating something more substantial was always Russian Roulette. I did begin having serious cravings for red meat in my first trimester. But no matter how hungry I felt or how much I was craving something I could never eat very much before I was full. It was eternally frustrating to Mike who would prepare a beautiful supper, sometimes at my request, and then I'd take 5 bites and be done.
For the most part food and I are getting along much better since my second trimester. I still have days where no matter what we have I want something else. I have a much bigger appetite than I've ever had in my life, but I still don’t gorge on huge meals. I just eat 5-10 times a day. While I no longer throw up if I wait to long to eat the second trimester ushered in a period of hypoglycemic reactions to hunger.
Cravings so far have been mainly fruit and red meat. I've also found myself requesting salads (especially Caesar), French onion dip, rice pudding, Mexican food and lots of milk. My cravings have been pretty consistent from the beginning, but my aversions have changed. In the beginning I couldn't deal with sausage, French fries, peanut butter, anything sweet or chicken. Now I'm happily able to eat and enjoy French fries, limited sweets and chicken (especially nuggets). I also prefer things super plain, more so than before if that's possible, but I think it has to do with hormones heightening my sense of smell.
Now if you'll excuse me it's time to eat, again.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Nesting
I remember on one of my good days during the first trimester (and those were few and far between) Michael came home to find me cleaning out the fridge. His response was "You're cleaning out the fridge? Yay, nesting!"
Here's the thing about nesting, at least for me, I'm already the kind of person who sleeps better when there aren't any dishes in the sink. So, it doesn't all the sudden make me what to clean when I wouldn't want to before it just elevates me from frustrated by the mess to homicidal over the mess. Anyone who knows Michael can understand that I spent alot of my time frustrated before I got pregnant.
Between Michael and Isaac you can imagine what I'm up against here. Since the nausea lifted and second trimester started, come hell or high water, I do the dishes and wipe down all the kitchen surfaces at least once a day. In the beginning, I also kept laundry moving, but lifting the amount of laundry produced in this house became a problem quickly. Now I just remind Michael to keep things moving and I do all the folding/putting away.
The floors were a problem before I got pregnant (bad back) so I'm at Mike's mercy there. The most recent development that comes with the extra weight is that bending at all is painful. I can't pick up all the socks or miscellaneous toys that end up on the floor any longer. I have to stand and point for someone else to get it or fight all my instincts and ignore it (yeah right!). It gets a little bit worse every day. In the last 48 hours I can no longer bend low enough to put the silverware in the dishwasher comfortably.
So, how do people cope? I'm assuming that the urge to clean gets stronger as delivery draws nearer and inversely the ability to clean gets more and more limited. Is that one of God's little jokes? Maybe back in the red tent days when every pregnant woman had a support system of other women from the clan it wasn't an issue. Now a days I'd imagine alot of people have this problem, but especially me given who I live with.
Now excuse me while I go scrub the bathtub. I'll pay for it later or even during, but I literally can't stand it anymore. After that I'll fold a load of Isaac's clothes before I weep for several minutes over the state or our bedroom.
Here's the thing about nesting, at least for me, I'm already the kind of person who sleeps better when there aren't any dishes in the sink. So, it doesn't all the sudden make me what to clean when I wouldn't want to before it just elevates me from frustrated by the mess to homicidal over the mess. Anyone who knows Michael can understand that I spent alot of my time frustrated before I got pregnant.
Between Michael and Isaac you can imagine what I'm up against here. Since the nausea lifted and second trimester started, come hell or high water, I do the dishes and wipe down all the kitchen surfaces at least once a day. In the beginning, I also kept laundry moving, but lifting the amount of laundry produced in this house became a problem quickly. Now I just remind Michael to keep things moving and I do all the folding/putting away.
The floors were a problem before I got pregnant (bad back) so I'm at Mike's mercy there. The most recent development that comes with the extra weight is that bending at all is painful. I can't pick up all the socks or miscellaneous toys that end up on the floor any longer. I have to stand and point for someone else to get it or fight all my instincts and ignore it (yeah right!). It gets a little bit worse every day. In the last 48 hours I can no longer bend low enough to put the silverware in the dishwasher comfortably.
So, how do people cope? I'm assuming that the urge to clean gets stronger as delivery draws nearer and inversely the ability to clean gets more and more limited. Is that one of God's little jokes? Maybe back in the red tent days when every pregnant woman had a support system of other women from the clan it wasn't an issue. Now a days I'd imagine alot of people have this problem, but especially me given who I live with.
Now excuse me while I go scrub the bathtub. I'll pay for it later or even during, but I literally can't stand it anymore. After that I'll fold a load of Isaac's clothes before I weep for several minutes over the state or our bedroom.
Friday, June 26, 2009
The Pukey Period aka the First Trimester
I started a night job shortly before finding out I was pregnant. I thought I was exhausted because of the backwards schedule. It was a tired like I've never known before. I felt like the only thing I wanted to do at any given moment was sleep. I thought it made alot of sense since I was adjusting to nocturnal life. I figured I was nauseous all the time because I was choosing sleeping over eating on a regular basis. I thought my fainting episode was from low blood sugar. But I had no idea what coming...
The slightly seasick feeling in my stomach never, ever went away. From about week 5 to week 11 or week 12 I was constantly nauseous. Then I'd try to skip a meal to sleep more or so I wouldn't be late for work and the puking started. It was worse at night for me while I was working because that's when I was up, but it NEVER went away.
Thanks to this wee person in my belly causing ridiculous hormone spikes I puked in a public bathroom for the first time in my life, put that one in the baby book mom. I was going through my pregnancy journal the other day to make the timeline for the first post and I was like "You know I puked alot." and Michael was like "ah, yeah." It landed me in the emergency room at 8wks 3days. All that puking caused some severe dehydration. Fun stuff.
A couple things I had to figure out the hard way just for educational purposes: 1)If you feel even the vaguest notion they you might get hungry in the next 20 minutes eat immediately 2)Before you move (even before you pee, which is tricky) you must eat something 3)Drink water every moment you're conscious 4)The first meal of the day must contain carbs or protein (only fruit is NOT an option) 5)Just like a long car ride, home videos can and will trigger a puking episode 6)Plastic bags in your purse and car are your best friend 5)Anxiety and stress will cause you to puke (which raises your stress level, ironically) 7)DO NOT attempt to brush your teeth right after you get sick (holy gag reflex Batman). I used mouthwash instead. 8) Stay away from the garbage cans, expired dairy and a million other smells that were harmless but now send you running for the bathroom 9)Large amounts of food can be overwhelming when your stomach is constantly upset (I had Mike cut my food into smaller portions before I saw it) 10)Food aversions are not a myth, but they change as you get further along (this little one was not a fan of sweets of any kind or chicken in any form until late in my second trimester) 11)Be prepared for the point when talking about the last time you got sick, makes you sick (I'm not making this up). 12) Throwing up becomes your body's way of making you do less, listen!
The slightly seasick feeling in my stomach never, ever went away. From about week 5 to week 11 or week 12 I was constantly nauseous. Then I'd try to skip a meal to sleep more or so I wouldn't be late for work and the puking started. It was worse at night for me while I was working because that's when I was up, but it NEVER went away.
Thanks to this wee person in my belly causing ridiculous hormone spikes I puked in a public bathroom for the first time in my life, put that one in the baby book mom. I was going through my pregnancy journal the other day to make the timeline for the first post and I was like "You know I puked alot." and Michael was like "ah, yeah." It landed me in the emergency room at 8wks 3days. All that puking caused some severe dehydration. Fun stuff.
A couple things I had to figure out the hard way just for educational purposes: 1)If you feel even the vaguest notion they you might get hungry in the next 20 minutes eat immediately 2)Before you move (even before you pee, which is tricky) you must eat something 3)Drink water every moment you're conscious 4)The first meal of the day must contain carbs or protein (only fruit is NOT an option) 5)Just like a long car ride, home videos can and will trigger a puking episode 6)Plastic bags in your purse and car are your best friend 5)Anxiety and stress will cause you to puke (which raises your stress level, ironically) 7)DO NOT attempt to brush your teeth right after you get sick (holy gag reflex Batman). I used mouthwash instead. 8) Stay away from the garbage cans, expired dairy and a million other smells that were harmless but now send you running for the bathroom 9)Large amounts of food can be overwhelming when your stomach is constantly upset (I had Mike cut my food into smaller portions before I saw it) 10)Food aversions are not a myth, but they change as you get further along (this little one was not a fan of sweets of any kind or chicken in any form until late in my second trimester) 11)Be prepared for the point when talking about the last time you got sick, makes you sick (I'm not making this up). 12) Throwing up becomes your body's way of making you do less, listen!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Bed Resting it Up
Wanna know what pregnant women who are ordered to take it easy do?
(photo by Michael, that sneaky bugger) Notice my laptop to my left, plate of food to my right, pregnant belly hanging out of the pajamas and enormous pillow between my knees.
(photo by Michael, that sneaky bugger) Notice my laptop to my left, plate of food to my right, pregnant belly hanging out of the pajamas and enormous pillow between my knees.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Those Crazy Pregnancy Dreams
I remember an episode of "Roseanne" when Jackie was pregnant where she's complaining to Roseanne that she's having nightmares about putting the baby down and forgetting where she put it. Roseanne's response was something like "Oh, Jackie, everyone knows you just take the banana out of the dragon's mouth and peel it until it turns into the baby."
I have a friend online who had a crazy one that she wanted to know the gender of the baby really bad so she took it out look, but it was still in the sac so she decided to put it in the microwave! When the baby came out of the microwave red and splotchy she took it to the hospital. Gruesome, but that’s the kind of thing that totally makes sense in a dream.
My dreams haven't been what I thought they'd be. None about putting the baby down and not being able to find it or the baby coming out deformed.
I had the first one around 10 or 11 weeks I think. I dreamt that I had given birth and come home from the hospital, but when I went into the kitchen to get the baby a bottle it aged 3 months. I came out to find a 3month old sitting on the couch and started crying hysterically. A little while after that one I had the extreme version of that. I dreamt I was still in the hospital and after giving birth I went to the bathroom. When I came out of the bathroom the baby I'd just delivered was a teenager. All the other moms had little newborns and mine was already 16.
Those were stressful, but not totally nightmarish. At 17 weeks I had to have a test to see how much the precancerous cells in my cervix had spread (a colposcopy) after two years of dealing with them and a procedure to get rid of them. Obviously being pregnant was causing me to be even more anxious about the whole situation. Well the night before the procedure I dreamt that I was very pregnant and working in a lab. We were experimenting on spiders and they told me to take a vial of eggs home and put them somewhere to hatch. I put them on the back of the toilet in my dad's house for some reason and when they hatched I brought them back to the lab. The people there then told me the spiders needed a host and held me down while the spiders attached themselves to my leg. I was screaming and crying the whole time. I told them they were going to hurt the baby and they hooked my up to a machine and sure enough some of the spiders were burrowing towards my abdomen. I woke up screaming from that one.
Weird, stuff. But nothung like the ones I've read about. I think as I get further along and there's more anxiety about the actual delivery they'll be alot more. For now I've had a couple short dreams about being on Labor and Delivery unit, but no actual labor dreams yet.
I have a friend online who had a crazy one that she wanted to know the gender of the baby really bad so she took it out look, but it was still in the sac so she decided to put it in the microwave! When the baby came out of the microwave red and splotchy she took it to the hospital. Gruesome, but that’s the kind of thing that totally makes sense in a dream.
My dreams haven't been what I thought they'd be. None about putting the baby down and not being able to find it or the baby coming out deformed.
I had the first one around 10 or 11 weeks I think. I dreamt that I had given birth and come home from the hospital, but when I went into the kitchen to get the baby a bottle it aged 3 months. I came out to find a 3month old sitting on the couch and started crying hysterically. A little while after that one I had the extreme version of that. I dreamt I was still in the hospital and after giving birth I went to the bathroom. When I came out of the bathroom the baby I'd just delivered was a teenager. All the other moms had little newborns and mine was already 16.
Those were stressful, but not totally nightmarish. At 17 weeks I had to have a test to see how much the precancerous cells in my cervix had spread (a colposcopy) after two years of dealing with them and a procedure to get rid of them. Obviously being pregnant was causing me to be even more anxious about the whole situation. Well the night before the procedure I dreamt that I was very pregnant and working in a lab. We were experimenting on spiders and they told me to take a vial of eggs home and put them somewhere to hatch. I put them on the back of the toilet in my dad's house for some reason and when they hatched I brought them back to the lab. The people there then told me the spiders needed a host and held me down while the spiders attached themselves to my leg. I was screaming and crying the whole time. I told them they were going to hurt the baby and they hooked my up to a machine and sure enough some of the spiders were burrowing towards my abdomen. I woke up screaming from that one.
Weird, stuff. But nothung like the ones I've read about. I think as I get further along and there's more anxiety about the actual delivery they'll be alot more. For now I've had a couple short dreams about being on Labor and Delivery unit, but no actual labor dreams yet.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Michael Takes A Pregnancy Test
I thought I'd share the story of the day I found out I was pregnant. A little background information first though. I have always loved children and I vividly recall telling people when I was starting middle school I wanted ten children so there'd always be a baby in the house. Well, by the time I reached adulthood I had decided pregnancy was not for me and any children I ended up with were going to have to be adopted, but I was in no rush for that. I'd even come to peace with the idea of never having any kids at all.
January of 2008 I had to have emergency surgery to remove a fibroid from my uterus. (Uterine Fibroids are benign tumors that grow within the muscle tissue of the uterus. Uterine fibroids can cause symptoms such as excessive bleeding, pain and disfigurement which can persist until menopause if left untreated.) It was just one of those things, one minute I was fine and the next I was not. Anyway, I won't go into it too much here, but when the fibroid first appeared (a couple months before it had to come out) I missed my period for the first time in my life.
So, fast forward to this February: I've just started working a midnight-8am shift at a new job, Mike and I are not in a good place and I'm late. When the time came and went I figured I'd miscounted because I'm very regular. When it was clearly not an addition error I mentioned to Mike that I was late, but not concerned (at least about pregnancy). He asked me to test and I refused explaining that if it was negative, which I was sure it would be, it would prove I had another fibroid.
So another week went by and I felt increasingly crappy. I chalked the fatigue up to my horrible work schedule and figured I was nauseous because I was eating at weird hours and not enough because I was sleeping all the time. I even fainted once, but I blamed blood sugar. So, I promised I would take a test over the weekend if it hadn't come.
It hadn't come by Friday, February 13th and I got home from work around 8:30am ate "breakfast" and went to bed. I woke up around 4:30pm having had some terrible dream I can't remember now and decided it was time. I went into the bathroom knowing I couldn't hold it long enough to find the test so I peed in a cup and than started looking for the test. I was banging around sleepy and angry for a few minutes. Mike heard the commotion and came to check on me. He of course found the test in less than a second and headed it to me, which only made me more pissed off, so I said you do it and handed it back. Then I went and got back in bed.
It's important to note that 1)I'd only ever seen a positive pregnancy test once in person and it was a prop on a movie I was shooting 2)The test was a First Response Rapid Response meaning it only takes one minute to show a result, but is less sensitive to HCG. (I've done extensive research on pregnancy tests, how they work and probability of false positives since than. By the way girls it's 0% they only give false negatives.)
So, exactly one minute later Mike came into the bedroom with a blank expression. I could barely look at him. It went something like this: "Well?"
"Well, you don't have a fibroid." He starts to smile.
"What! No. You're shitting me."
"No, I'm not."
"No way. You're shitting me."
"No it's definitely positive. The line was pretty dark. Good job producing HCG." he's laughing now.
"Show me. I don't believe you."
He goes and gets the test from the bathroom which looks like this (the lighter line is the control, the darker one was the test line):
I'm pretty sure that's when I started crying.
That's how we found out. Completely bizarre, I kept thinking "I can't get pregnant. I don't get pregnant, other people get pregnant." Among a whole host of other things. Even when you're careful sometimes as they say in Jurassic Park "nature finds a way." It happened. And here we are 24weeks later over halfway through and I've got a one pound little person kicking me from the inside. (:
So, I guess that makes me double wrong, first about the fibroid and than about ever being pregnant. Katie 0 Universe 2...
January of 2008 I had to have emergency surgery to remove a fibroid from my uterus. (Uterine Fibroids are benign tumors that grow within the muscle tissue of the uterus. Uterine fibroids can cause symptoms such as excessive bleeding, pain and disfigurement which can persist until menopause if left untreated.) It was just one of those things, one minute I was fine and the next I was not. Anyway, I won't go into it too much here, but when the fibroid first appeared (a couple months before it had to come out) I missed my period for the first time in my life.
So, fast forward to this February: I've just started working a midnight-8am shift at a new job, Mike and I are not in a good place and I'm late. When the time came and went I figured I'd miscounted because I'm very regular. When it was clearly not an addition error I mentioned to Mike that I was late, but not concerned (at least about pregnancy). He asked me to test and I refused explaining that if it was negative, which I was sure it would be, it would prove I had another fibroid.
So another week went by and I felt increasingly crappy. I chalked the fatigue up to my horrible work schedule and figured I was nauseous because I was eating at weird hours and not enough because I was sleeping all the time. I even fainted once, but I blamed blood sugar. So, I promised I would take a test over the weekend if it hadn't come.
It hadn't come by Friday, February 13th and I got home from work around 8:30am ate "breakfast" and went to bed. I woke up around 4:30pm having had some terrible dream I can't remember now and decided it was time. I went into the bathroom knowing I couldn't hold it long enough to find the test so I peed in a cup and than started looking for the test. I was banging around sleepy and angry for a few minutes. Mike heard the commotion and came to check on me. He of course found the test in less than a second and headed it to me, which only made me more pissed off, so I said you do it and handed it back. Then I went and got back in bed.
It's important to note that 1)I'd only ever seen a positive pregnancy test once in person and it was a prop on a movie I was shooting 2)The test was a First Response Rapid Response meaning it only takes one minute to show a result, but is less sensitive to HCG. (I've done extensive research on pregnancy tests, how they work and probability of false positives since than. By the way girls it's 0% they only give false negatives.)
So, exactly one minute later Mike came into the bedroom with a blank expression. I could barely look at him. It went something like this: "Well?"
"Well, you don't have a fibroid." He starts to smile.
"What! No. You're shitting me."
"No, I'm not."
"No way. You're shitting me."
"No it's definitely positive. The line was pretty dark. Good job producing HCG." he's laughing now.
"Show me. I don't believe you."
He goes and gets the test from the bathroom which looks like this (the lighter line is the control, the darker one was the test line):
I'm pretty sure that's when I started crying.
That's how we found out. Completely bizarre, I kept thinking "I can't get pregnant. I don't get pregnant, other people get pregnant." Among a whole host of other things. Even when you're careful sometimes as they say in Jurassic Park "nature finds a way." It happened. And here we are 24weeks later over halfway through and I've got a one pound little person kicking me from the inside. (:
So, I guess that makes me double wrong, first about the fibroid and than about ever being pregnant. Katie 0 Universe 2...
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Feeling Fetal Movement
I was 16wks 4days pregnant the first time I felt my little one. Of course I had no idea that's what it was. It was a Friday afternoon and I was headed to the beach overnight and sitting in the passenger seat of Mike's mother's car. It was this odd twinge and a few flutters. Like a muscle spasm, but far away and not painful. I tensed my tummy and thought weird, maybe I over did it today.
The next day was Saturday, I was still at the beach sporting my new maternity bathing suit. I was in a lounge chair in the shade engrossed in my pregnancy book when I felt it again. I tensed this time as well and thought "huh, maybe I need to change positions."
The day after that was Sunday, I was back at home and Mike had fallen asleep with the tv on again. I woke up and turned it off around 9:00am. When I laid back down all cozy in my bed I felt it again. This time I didn't tense my tummy. I whispered "Baby?" and it happened again! It was just above my incision (from the fibroid removal-same place as a c-section scar). I woke Mike up and put his hand on my belly, but at that point it was over. I felt so silly. I'd been feeling the baby the whole weekend and only just realized it!
Now most people told me it was like butterflies in your stomach, bubbles or a fluttering feeling. Which is somewhere in the neighborhood of what it is. I'm still searching for the perfect description of those early movements. My mom told me once that she felt like she had an alien inside her. Also, I apparently had the hiccups pretty often, poor mom.
At my ultrasound (19wks 3days) the tech said "Wow, busy baby." By this point I had discovered this kid is a night owl. I was feeling baby riggling, tickling and jiggling inside me a little during the day, but always after 10:30pm and again around 8am if I haven't gotten up and eaten breakfast yet. The other day I was reading in one of my books that the kicks and punches get much stronger at about week 21. I had started to notice "an increase in force" ,as the book calls, around that week.
Today I am 23weeks 5days and the baby was active as usual this morning around 9am. So, I decided to rest my cell phone on the part of my belly that was taking the beating. It made me think of that time we were in a canoe on the Suwannee River and an aligator swam under us. My cell phone would be calmly resting there and then it would jump a little or shift to one side. Eventually, the baby started showing off and trying to flip it over. I couldn't stop laughing!
It's such a reassuring thing to have a busy little bee in there. I'm sure I haven't felt anything yet as little one gets bigger and higher up I'm sure it'll be quite a show
The next day was Saturday, I was still at the beach sporting my new maternity bathing suit. I was in a lounge chair in the shade engrossed in my pregnancy book when I felt it again. I tensed this time as well and thought "huh, maybe I need to change positions."
The day after that was Sunday, I was back at home and Mike had fallen asleep with the tv on again. I woke up and turned it off around 9:00am. When I laid back down all cozy in my bed I felt it again. This time I didn't tense my tummy. I whispered "Baby?" and it happened again! It was just above my incision (from the fibroid removal-same place as a c-section scar). I woke Mike up and put his hand on my belly, but at that point it was over. I felt so silly. I'd been feeling the baby the whole weekend and only just realized it!
Now most people told me it was like butterflies in your stomach, bubbles or a fluttering feeling. Which is somewhere in the neighborhood of what it is. I'm still searching for the perfect description of those early movements. My mom told me once that she felt like she had an alien inside her. Also, I apparently had the hiccups pretty often, poor mom.
At my ultrasound (19wks 3days) the tech said "Wow, busy baby." By this point I had discovered this kid is a night owl. I was feeling baby riggling, tickling and jiggling inside me a little during the day, but always after 10:30pm and again around 8am if I haven't gotten up and eaten breakfast yet. The other day I was reading in one of my books that the kicks and punches get much stronger at about week 21. I had started to notice "an increase in force" ,as the book calls, around that week.
Today I am 23weeks 5days and the baby was active as usual this morning around 9am. So, I decided to rest my cell phone on the part of my belly that was taking the beating. It made me think of that time we were in a canoe on the Suwannee River and an aligator swam under us. My cell phone would be calmly resting there and then it would jump a little or shift to one side. Eventually, the baby started showing off and trying to flip it over. I couldn't stop laughing!
It's such a reassuring thing to have a busy little bee in there. I'm sure I haven't felt anything yet as little one gets bigger and higher up I'm sure it'll be quite a show
Saturday, June 20, 2009
You Don't Look Pregnant
So, I started out a very tiny person (under 100lbs, under 5ft) and I wasn't quite sure how pregnancy weight would hit me. I had been told by several people that small people show faster and I had my fingers crossed for that. The truth is I saw a difference at about 10-11 weeks, but the rest of the world is just seeing it now, 23wks.
When I was about 3 months along Michael and I went out to eat. I ordered a decent amount of food and the waitress remarked "that's alot of food for such a small girl." I smiled and said "well it helps that I'm eating for two." She then proceeded to look me up and down twice furrow her brow and remark "you don't look like it."
It's not just strangers, either. Every time I've seen my father since announcing the pregnancy he says "you don't look pregnant." Somehow even with all the milestones: finishing the first trimester, hearing the heartbeat, wearing maternity clothes, having an ultrasound, there's still something isolating about being pregnant and not looking the part. Your whole world is upside-down and nobody knows.
Of course right around 5months I was waiting in line in the women's restroom dressed in non-maternity clothes (not too tight from before I got pregnant stuff) and this old lady said "Honey, is that your first baby?" I was elated, but it hasn't happened since.
The other down side to being tiny is one I've dealt with my whole life and is now complicated by pregnancy, looking alot younger than I am. My mother vividly remembers telling people she was pregnant and getting remarks like "oh, no you're not old enough for that." Granted I'm 8yrs older than my mother was when she was pregnant with me, but that doesn't stop comments and stares. Also adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Mike's height dwarfs me further and causes people to wonder about a possible indecent age difference/foul play.
For those of you who were on the other side of the comments "Are you sure it isn't twins?" or "How far along did you say? That's gonna be a big baby!" I hope you're not rolling your eyes at me because either end of the comment spectrum stinks. I wish people would just say "congratulations" and walk away sometimes. Something about being pregnant makes you vulnerable to all kinds of remarks and unsolicited advise.
The truth is every women is shaped differently, every uterus is slightly different and sitting in a unique position inside of us and every gestating human has a different favorite position so of course pregnant women come in every shape and size. Hollywood only shows you enormous bellies on glowing women, but there's 3 trimesters in pregnancy why only celebrate the last weeks?
I continue to get slowly, happily (most of the time) fat at my own pace.
When I was about 3 months along Michael and I went out to eat. I ordered a decent amount of food and the waitress remarked "that's alot of food for such a small girl." I smiled and said "well it helps that I'm eating for two." She then proceeded to look me up and down twice furrow her brow and remark "you don't look like it."
It's not just strangers, either. Every time I've seen my father since announcing the pregnancy he says "you don't look pregnant." Somehow even with all the milestones: finishing the first trimester, hearing the heartbeat, wearing maternity clothes, having an ultrasound, there's still something isolating about being pregnant and not looking the part. Your whole world is upside-down and nobody knows.
Of course right around 5months I was waiting in line in the women's restroom dressed in non-maternity clothes (not too tight from before I got pregnant stuff) and this old lady said "Honey, is that your first baby?" I was elated, but it hasn't happened since.
The other down side to being tiny is one I've dealt with my whole life and is now complicated by pregnancy, looking alot younger than I am. My mother vividly remembers telling people she was pregnant and getting remarks like "oh, no you're not old enough for that." Granted I'm 8yrs older than my mother was when she was pregnant with me, but that doesn't stop comments and stares. Also adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Mike's height dwarfs me further and causes people to wonder about a possible indecent age difference/foul play.
For those of you who were on the other side of the comments "Are you sure it isn't twins?" or "How far along did you say? That's gonna be a big baby!" I hope you're not rolling your eyes at me because either end of the comment spectrum stinks. I wish people would just say "congratulations" and walk away sometimes. Something about being pregnant makes you vulnerable to all kinds of remarks and unsolicited advise.
The truth is every women is shaped differently, every uterus is slightly different and sitting in a unique position inside of us and every gestating human has a different favorite position so of course pregnant women come in every shape and size. Hollywood only shows you enormous bellies on glowing women, but there's 3 trimesters in pregnancy why only celebrate the last weeks?
I continue to get slowly, happily (most of the time) fat at my own pace.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Timeline So Far
*My Last Period: January 7th
*My 27th Birthday: February 8th
*Positive Home Pregnancy Test: February 13th at 4:30pm
*Doctor Confirmed Positive Pregnancy Test: February 17th
*First Trip to the Emergency Room (dehydration because of morning sickness)/First Time We Saw the Baby on Ultrasound & Heard Heartbeat (160): March 6th
*First Prenatal Appointment: March 9th at 1:30
*Fired (thank you morning sickness) From My Job: March 12th
*First Prenatal Appointment With New DR: March 17th (baby's heart rate is still 160)
*First Maternity Yoga Class: March 17th
*Second Trimester!!/Big Pregnancy Announcing Day: March 31st
*Second Prenatal Visit w/the New DR: April 14th (baby's heartrate 153)
*First time I Felt the Baby Move: May 1st- I realized that I had been feeling the baby move all weekend on May 3rd
*Prenatal Visit: May 12th (baby's heart rate is 140)
*Ultrasound: May 21st (baby's heart rate 143)
*HALFWAY POINT: May 26th
*Finished Making the Baby Shower Invitations: June 1st
*Prenatal Visit: June 8th (baby's heart rate 145)
*Went to Labor and Delivery and released on "pelvic rest":June 14th
*Follow Up w/Dr: June 15th (baby's heart rate 143)
*My 27th Birthday: February 8th
*Positive Home Pregnancy Test: February 13th at 4:30pm
*Doctor Confirmed Positive Pregnancy Test: February 17th
*First Trip to the Emergency Room (dehydration because of morning sickness)/First Time We Saw the Baby on Ultrasound & Heard Heartbeat (160): March 6th
*First Prenatal Appointment: March 9th at 1:30
*Fired (thank you morning sickness) From My Job: March 12th
*First Prenatal Appointment With New DR: March 17th (baby's heart rate is still 160)
*First Maternity Yoga Class: March 17th
*Second Trimester!!/Big Pregnancy Announcing Day: March 31st
*Second Prenatal Visit w/the New DR: April 14th (baby's heartrate 153)
*First time I Felt the Baby Move: May 1st- I realized that I had been feeling the baby move all weekend on May 3rd
*Prenatal Visit: May 12th (baby's heart rate is 140)
*Ultrasound: May 21st (baby's heart rate 143)
*HALFWAY POINT: May 26th
*Finished Making the Baby Shower Invitations: June 1st
*Prenatal Visit: June 8th (baby's heart rate 145)
*Went to Labor and Delivery and released on "pelvic rest":June 14th
*Follow Up w/Dr: June 15th (baby's heart rate 143)
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