Weekly re-cap of pregnancy #2: Week 29
Week 29
(Feb. 11 through Feb. 17)
Symptoms: Heartburn (so so so bad). Stomach tightening. Maaaaaajor shortness of breath. Have-to-pee feeling almost all the time.
Body changes: This marked the week I started to occassionally feel that OMG-the-baby-is-going-to-fall-out feeling … and I know that will only get more pronounced as I get further along! During a brief shopping trip, it was actually really hard to walk around comfortably. Ugh.
Baby movement: Lots of stomach contortions as our little lady twists and wiggles. It actually started to hurt a bit this week!
Cravings: French fries soaked in an inhuman amount of vinegar. Tea biscuits with butter. Cereal with milk.
Aversions: Whatever grosses me out at that particular moment (usually meat).
High point: Celebrating Valentine’s Day with the toddler and Darling Husband. Going to the meeting of a local breastfeeding support group with friend J, and getting to meet great new mommy friends!
Low point: Still struggling with caring for the toddler at times, when I’m alone with him for days on end. I got Darling Husband to install the baby gates (which we only ever needed at my mom’s house, since he was younger then) just to keep the toddler on the same level as me, since he kept escaping and I’d have to chase him up/down the stairs.
How does this week compare to Week 29 during pregnancy #1? I’m happy I don’t have any swelling yet, and hope it continues to stay far, far away. I also don’t seem quite as famished this time around — maybe I’m not as hungry because I’m not working full-time, and dealing with the hour-long commute anymore?
Baby preparation: Nursery is done! *happy dance*
Lent for preggos
Things I am considering giving up for Lent:
Having plenty of oxygen and never feeling short of breath
Painting my toenails
Heartburn
Frequent pee breaks
Mood swings
Sweeping the floors
Not Me Monday
- I did not, for some reason, insist on wearing a stretchy non-maternity tank top and non-maternity long-sleeved tee around the house last night, even though my stomach kept jutting out. And I would jump every time it brushed against a cool surface.
- While playing cards with Darling Husband last night, I was extremely sharp and dazzled him with my skills. I was definitely not a complete moron who kept repeating, “What level am I on?” and “What level, again?” and “Um … what level, again?” #pregnancybrain
- I was very reasonable when Darling Husband bought tea biscuits from the *other* grocery chain, and ate them without a single complaint. I did not take a bite, make a face, say, “Tea biscuit, you are a huge disappointment,” and then repeat the process.
When you’re at odds over crying …
The toddler recently had a bad night.
We’ve gotten spoiled, I suppose, with him sleeping peacefully from 8:30 p.m. until 7:30 or 8 a.m. Granted, it did take THIRTEEN MONTHS of horrible sleeping (and the end of breastfeeding) to get to that point. But now that we’re here? It’s really, really as awesome as it sounds.
Randomly, he will have a bad night. And that happened to fall on the evening of Feb. 13 (and into the morning of Feb. 14 — Valentine’s Day). Riiiiiight as Darling Husband and I were drifting off to sleep.
The toddler screamed — SHRIEKED bloody murder — from 11 p.m. until 1 a.m. Nonstop. No breaks. And no real reason for crying.
Once he started, Darling Husband went in and tried to soothe him. He was fine, as long as he was in his arms, and then started screaming the second he was put back in his bed.
When he left the room, I immediately asked if he had checked the toddler’s diaper. That’s really the only reason that he’ll shriek like that in the middle of the night — a rare middle-of-the-night poo explosion.
He hadn’t checked.
I sent him back in.
It turned out? The diaper was clean. That wasn’t the issue, as Darling Husband so smugly reported.
So we waited.
And waited.
I went in once, and had the same results as Darling Husband. Nothing was wrong. He just wanted someone in there with him. So I held him for a minute, then tucked him back into bed and left. And he screamed.
Here’s the thing: Darling Husband kept FALLING ASLEEP! The toddler was screeching through a thin sheet of drywall or whatever the hell walls are made from, and he just fell asleep! Repeatedly!
Me? I was lying there, incredibly tense, saying things like, “He never does this. I wonder what’s wrong? I wonder if he had a bad dream. He sounds terrified. Do you think it’s a night terror? Why does he sound so terrified?”
There was no way I could sleep through his screams! He honestly sounded like he was being tortured in there. I kept thinking of how scared I used to get at night, seeing shapes and imagining they were horrible creatures.
Hell, I was terrified of the dark after watching The Blair Witch Project at 16, and then again when I watched The Ring at age 19. Is that what my sweet baby was feeling? Was he scared to go in the woods, or be near a television or a phone?
(Crap, now you’ve got me thinking about The Ring again. I’m not going to sleep easily tonight. Damn, that movie is scary.)
I felt kind of horrified that Darling Husband could tune out our baby’s screams so easily. So, of course, I woke up him whenever he fell asleep.
“Wake up! Distract me! Keep me from going in there!” I kept whining. Yes, whining. Keep in mind it was after midnight at this point.
“He’s fine! He just has to tire himself out,” was Darling Husband’s sleep reply. “Just ignore it and go to sleep.”
As I lay there thinking of it, I decided that it wasn’t that Darling Husband was a creep for being able to ignore our baby’s blood-curdling screams. He just wasn’t wired to feel them the way I was.
To him, it was just an annoyance that he could tune out if he tried, and easily fall asleep.
To me, it was like every nerve of my body was willing me to rush in there and comfort him.
The clock flipped over to 1 a.m., and I swear, he stopped screaming suddenly and went to sleep. Finally I was able to fall asleep. Darling Husband had been asleep for ages, of course.
Do other mothers find themselves in this crying connundrum, where Dad can easily ignore it and Mom feels like she’s going to jump out of her skin? Please share!
Weekly re-cap of pregnancy #2: Week 28
Week 28
(Feb. 4 through Feb. 10)
Symptoms: Heartburn (but it’s just a regular part of my day now). Stomach tightening (although I don’t know for sure if I’d call them Braxton Hicks). Fading energy. Maaaaaajor shortness of breath.
Body changes: My whole body feels really heavy, and I feel waddle-y when I walk.
Baby movement: VERY visible kicks from the outside, and lots of thudding around on the inside. It’s started to hurt sometimes, but not too badly yet.
Cravings: Cheeseburgers with onions and pickles!
Aversions: Select meat products (or just meat smells).
High point: Hanging out with J, going to our weekly playgroup — anything social! Darling Husband worked a LOT this particular week, and I was mega-stir-crazy.
Low point: Dealing with the toddler all by myself for days and days on end. When he would fling food or spill his milk on the floor (and I’d need to get down on my hands and knees to clean it up), it was enough to make me cry. I actually did call Darling Husband in tears one evening, just 15 minutes before the toddler’s bedtime — which made no sense, because (A) what could he do from work? and (B) it was almost his bedtime anyway. It just felt like those last 15 minutes were impossible.
How does this week compare to Week 28 during pregnancy #1? No swelling yet, woohoo! Darling Husband pointed out that I did have very sliiiiight sock indents the other day, but I’m choosing not to hear him. NO SWELLING. None.
Baby preparation: Still holding true to my plan to have the nursery finished by the end of Week 29, I think. Just need to make some basket labels, do a little vacuuming, and add one more wall accent. So exciting to see it come together. I can’t wait to show you all!
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Heather's Handmade Life 