My baby, the golf ball?
Friday, January 22, 2010
20 weeks, 5 days pregnant
So apparently Little Baby reads this blog. Or is reading my mind, or something. Because it was only a week ago that I lamented the fact that I haven’t felt any really strong kicks, and then …
POW! I am QUITE CERTAIN that I just felt my first two real baby kicks.
Not fluttering.
Not tickles.
Not pokes.
Real, honest-to-God KICKS with actual BABY FEET (or fists, or something).
I felt them both pretty low down, just below my bellow button. It was a weird feeling, almost like I had swallowed a golf ball, and felt it go blurp! as I digested it. Like a little thump and then it was gone. It was much, much stronger than anything I’ve felt before.
The scary thing is that I haven’t even eaten my TGIF-chocolate-dip-doughnut treat yet. I was just about to take my first bite. The baby might be punching the crap out of me in a minute, from all the sugar!
Five things my male colleagues should know
Thursday, January 21, 2010
20 weeks, 4 days pregnant
An open letter to my male colleagues:
I know you are not pregnant, have never been pregnant, and will never be pregnant. So I feel it is my duty to let you know a few things …
- I have a human being inside me.
- It’s kind of heavy.
- It hurts my back.
- It makes it hard for me to jump out of my chair and go running into your office every time you yell for me to come see you about something.
- Maybe we could use the phone more, instead of having me jump up and run down the hall every few minutes, just for questions? I’m quite tired.
Sincerely,
Me (and preggos everywhere)
Organizing the nursery
Thursday, January 21, 2010
20 weeks, 4 days pregnant
Now that the furniture’s been chosen (and added to the registry), I have shifted my focus to the nursery’s layout and organization. Storage basket decisions have consumed in these past few days.
Yeah, I know, that’s a bit pathetic. But c’mon, I still have 11 days until I know the baby’s sex, and can begin decor-planning. I need to do something in the meantime!
I’ve surfed the net like crazy, looking for ideas, and here’s the list I’ve come up with — and everything can be done before you decide on your decor:
- Move out all of the non-baby stuff. Darling Husband, that means your desk is outta there!
- Buy baskets without lids for easy access. You will need to do a lot of things one-handed once the other hand is holding the baby on the changing table.
- Plan a logical place for everything. Store changing supplies and clothes near the changing area, store too-big clothes in a closet or another out-of-the-way spot.
- Designate one box for special keepsakes. That way it’s easy to toss in the first booties, hospital bracelets, etc. and know that they won’t get misplaced.
- Remember that storage is key. Babies have mega amounts of stuff. Add shelves, racks, baskets, containers, etc. You will need them!
- Think outside the (storage) box. Baskets aren’t limited to shelves — consider how you might screw them into the wall, or attach them to brackets. Use different storage solutions, like hooks, wooden crates or tin pails (which can be painted and attached to the wall), or fabric bags.
- Think like a baby-sitter. Sure, you’re going to know where everything is, but what about a sitter, friend or relative who’ll be watching your baby? Make cute cardstock labels for all of your baskets, so they know where to find extra crib sheets and bath supplies.
- Plan safely. Before you get carried away with plans, ensure you’re keeping safety in mind. Don’t hang anything over the baby’s crib or changing table that could fall on them.
- Figure out a toy solution. Whether it’s one big box, or several bins, you’ll want to have a designated spot for easy tidying-up. You may need one box in the nursery, and one in your living room (if you think you’ll be playing there, too).
- Create the three zones. You zone for sleeping, a zone for changing, and a zone for feeding and holding the baby. This will help you decide on furniture/storage placement.
- Set up your feeding area. This area of the nursery should have a rocker, glider or comfy chair, a side table (for a glass of water for you, a burp cloth, a book, etc.)
- Evaluate the window treatment(s). Remember that babies sleep a lot, and you’ll want to make sure the sun is blocked out of their room. Do you need to buy a set of blinds or a black-out shade? You can always cover the blinds with pretty curtains.
- Use the space under their crib. I plan on buying one of those plastic under-the-bed storage bins on wheels, and using it to store too-big clothes.
- Designate a basket for diapering essentials. You probably don’t have any supplies yet, but you’ll want to find a basket that can hold a few diapers, wipes, creams, ointments, and a small toy that can be used to distract the baby when you’re changing them. You can always grab this basket and take it elsewhere, if you’re going to change them on the living room floor, a counter, etc.
- Make the most of every corner. If you think your baby is going to have a lot of stuffed animals, consider buying one of those mesh hammocks to keep them tucked up in a corner to save valuable shelf space. It can be lowered to their height once they’re a toddler.
- Plan a laundry system. We’re using cloth diapers and wipes, so our diaper pail will hold the dirty ones. But we still need to get a hamper for baby’s clothes, sheets and towels.
Is it wrong that I’m really, really excited to buy and label storage containers? I think it’s my Happy Place.
Feel the (heart)burn
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
20 weeks, 3 days preggo
I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to blog — in detail — about heartburn. Maybe I’ve been trying to block it from my mind?
Since I want this blog to be a resource for other preggos — and baby-fevered soon-to-be-preggos, like I was not too long ago — I really must do my duty and mention the H-E-L-L that is heartburn.
Many pregnant women get heartburn, especially in the second half. Like everything else that’s plaguing you right now, it’s caused by the crazy number of changes your body is going through.
You want more a science-y answer? Well …
- Your placenta is producing a hormone called progesterone, that relaxes the muscles of your uterus.
- It also relaxes the valve that separates your esophagus from your stomach, allowing hurty gastric acids to seep back up the pipe. Ow.
- It apparently gets worse as your pregnancy progresses (lovely news), because the bambino starts crowding your insides and slowing everything down, pushing the stomach acid up into your throat.
- It sucks for you, but it helps the baby by causing nutrients to linger in your bloodstream longer, letting baby absorb them.
I had never, ever experienced heartburn before getting pregnant — which is surprising when you consider the amount of crap food I ate — so I was stunned the first time I felt like my throat was on fire.
It was very sporadic in the first trimester, but has amped up in the second trimester. I took TUMS, but gagged on their chalky grossness — and they didn’t help at all. Some nights it was so bad that I needed to sleep propped up on pillows, which is very uncomfortable.
So when I saw my OBGYN last week, I mentioned that my heartburn had really peaked. She gave me a prescription for a Zantac, which is totally safe in pregnancy. Since then, I’ve taken a pill at breakfast and a pill at dinner, and it’s really helped.
She also gave me a list of tips to ease heartburn:
- Avoid rich or spicy dishes
- Avoid chocolate
- Avoid citrus fruit or juices
- Avoid coffee and alcohol
- Eat little meals, often, and chew your food slowly and thoroughly
- Don’t drink and eat at the same time — drink any liquids an hour after eating
- Give yourself two or three hours to digest any meals before going to bed
- Sleep with two or three extra pillows to keep your head propped up in bed, or sleep in a chair
- Wear loose and comfortable clothing, especially around your waist
Um, give up orange juice?
And brownies?
Wear … “loose” … clothing? Like what, a muumuu?
Don’t drink my milk until an hour after dinner?
SLEEP IN A CHAIR?
I think I hear my pills calling!
Registry-o-rama
After much debate, this is the crib.
You love it, right? ‘Cause I can’t bear to re-open that debate.
You love it, right? ‘Cause I can’t bear to re-open that debate.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
20 weeks, 2 days pregnant
So we’ve registered …
Yes, that sentence deserves its own paragraph. Why? Because IT WAS TIRING.
Wait, let me clarify: registering in the department store was tiring. Exhausting, actually. Frustrating. Hot. Crowded. And it may or may not have resulted in several accusations that Darling Husband didn’t know how to use the registering gun.
As I mentioned on Sunday, Darling Husband and I attended a special baby event at a department store, so we could get started on our registry, listen to experts, maybe win prizes, etc.
We ate some fruit, drank some juice, listened to guest speakers talk about nutrition and yoga and childbirth and the fact that university tuition will be approximately $500,000 in 18 years. Everything was mellow …
… until we got that blasted registry gun.
I thought I had known what I was in for, and had brought my tidy little two-page spreadsheet of everything we needed on our registry. I led Darling Husband (and the gun) over to the first aisle, and proceeded to go item by item. When we needed something, Darling Husband would scan it, and I would check it off my list. Simple, right?
Except for the fact that …
- The gun only scanned about half of the barcodes
- The gun came up with errors for the other half
- Store employees were never around when the gun acted up
- Some things (like the crib mattresses) didn’t have barcodes
- Seriously, where are the store employees???
- Other things (like the cribs) had hidden barcodes that involved opening up plastic sleeves and sorting though random slips of paper
- You could scan a pack of yellow facecloths and a pack of multi-coloured facecloths, and they would come up with the same thing. I want multi-coloured facecloths, not yellow! They are not the same AUGHHHHHH!
Eventually, we handed back that hated gun.
And went to the food court for cheeseburgers.
And a contraband Diet Coke.
And I felt a million times better.
And a contraband Diet Coke.
And I felt a million times better.
That night, Darling Husband went off to work, and I hunkered down in front of my laptop and calmly finished registering for everything (split between the department store and a specialty baby store).
The internet is really the way to go. No crowds, no stupid gun, no anxiety attacks over barcodes. Just good old-fashioned telling-people-what-to-buy-us.
P.S. Oh, I did forget to mention the one good part of the store event. Darling Husband won one of the top prizes …
A diaper cake!
P.P.S. No, we are not taking this as a sign from God to use disposables.
P.P.P.S. Darling Husband won’t let me take it apart (possibly ever). I think he’s proud of his big win.
P.P.P.P.S. (Clean) disposable diapers smell really, really good. Like powder and sweet, sweet babies.
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