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“Nursery” Update

We managed to get the crib in its designated spot in the bedroom, and it actually worked! It’s not obtrusive, I can still get in an out of bed, and Baby will be close by in the middle of the night. Win!

I also washed practically everything we’ve purchased so far for Baby and dumped it all into the crib. I want to get some shelf bins for our new short bookcase so I can organize his clothes into newborn, 0-3mos, 3-6mos, and 6-9mos so I can just grab something out of the appropriate bin for him to wear. Less opportunity for confusion, the better.

Childbirth Prep

Our class is once a week on Thursdays, for four weeks. Our second class is tonight.

Our instructor is so nice! She has the same philosophy about birth that I do (more or less) so I don’t feel like I’m at odds with her, and she explains everything very clearly and reassuringly. There are some total characters in the class (dude with bluetooth headset and minus two front teeth? CHECK!) but overall everyone seems very nice. The class doesn’t adhere to a specific technique (Bradley, Lamaze, etc.) but is more of a general “birth education” class that teaches you about the birth process and ways to cope with it, plus ways for your partner to help out. I like it.

Body Woes

FEET. Oh man. My feet keep swelling up and it is SO ANNOYING. I do not enjoy having tree trunks for ankles and giant pillowy fat feet. Pretty much the only thing that makes it go away is sleeping with my feet elevated overnight, which is difficult to do in bed, so sometimes I’ll sleep on the couch with my feet up on the couch arm.

Sitting cross-legged tends to make it worse, and my left foot is almost always a bit worse than my right. I just hate the feeling of trying to wiggle my toes and realizing that the tops of my feet are so fat that they don’t want to let my toes move back toward me. Ugh.

MUSCLE FATIGUE. The last week has been really bizarre fatigue-wise. I had to take a break partway to my pedicure place on Sunday to let my muscles rest because all of them were shouting their displeasure at me. It was weird. My back, shins, quadriceps, everything that keeps me upright was NOT HAPPY. It was a bit better on the way home (I didn’t have to stop and rest) but it was bad again trying to get to work this week.

ITCHINESS. I have one stretch mark that is driving me nuts with the itchiness. Lotion helps a little but GRAHHGHGHH. I can’t ignore itching.

GENERAL MOVEMENT. Um, so it’s hard to put on socks now. I mean, even sitting down. Thank goodness my shoes are all slip-on style because there’s no way I’d be able to tie anything. I’ve given up on any kind of foot care and have taken to getting the occasional pedicure to keep things tidy, which seems to be working nicely.

Maternity Portraits

I’m thinking about booking a portrait session with a photographer friend. I’m waffling about spending the money, but at the same time, Daniel and I do not have nearly enough photos of the two of us together, and I have next to none of me with a belly. I mean, normal human photos of me, not these documentary-style ones I’ve been posting on Flickr.

Basically, I think I’d be sad if I didn’t do it. I’m currently trying to think of cute outfits to wear so I look “cute pregnant” and not “dumpy pregnant” but it’s hard, haha.

Baby shower!

It’s no longer a surprise! YAY! I am SO SO SO excited! We have a guest list and a location and a date (mid-March) and a FACEBOOK GROUP! And there will be deviled eggs and Martha Stewarty things and I totally cannot wait.

I got my first unsolicited pregnancy remark this week! And! It was very pleasant with lots of well-meaning advice. It was from a nice lady who works at the grocery store, whom we’ve seen there for years, and when we made it through her line she asked, “When are you due?” I kind of missed it so I had her repeat it and I was like, “OH! April! Mid-April.” And then we had a very nice conversation about baby essentials. Yay!

Absolutely no one else who doesn’t already know has said ANYTHING to me this whole time, which… I find kind of weird. I mean, YES, I’m grateful strangers are not trying to touch my belly, but I feel like my condition is obvious by this point and I would not be offended if someone remarked (positively) about it. So thank you, Fred Meyer checker lady.

People still don’t move for me on public transit. I still think this is the fault of my circus-tent-esque coat. Daniel disagrees, and I suppose it could be that everyone who rides public transit is a jerk, but I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I just feel like people are trained not to say ANYTHING about pregnancy so as not to offend anyone who might not be even if they look like it, so even though I look rounder than normal underneath my coat, people are not falling over themselves to let me sit.

Clothing

I finally broke down and bought new bras. Mine have been a constant source of pain and suffering for WEEKS now and the last straw was this weekend when an underwire stabbed through its casing and poked me. I have been too lazy to go to Nordstrom and get refitted so I’ve been putting off buying better-fitting ones because I don’t know what size I am now. Fortunately, some bra manufacturers are sympathetic to my plight and offer handy S-M-L type sizing, so I hazarded a guess and in theory some undergarments are making their way to my door as we speak. (I am crossing my fingers SO HARD that they fit.)

I also got a slew of maternity shirts. I think I’m starting to reach the limit of what my pre-pregnancy tees can handle and I only have three actual maternity tees, so once these new ones arrive I’ll give them a test run. I just hate maternity shirts that don’t come back under your belly after they hit the largest part – it’s so much more flattering when they hug your belly instead of hanging off it like a stupid tent. I refuse to buy those kinds of shirts. I think I got good ones, but I’ll have to wait and see.

Baby Shower?

People keep asking me, and no, I have no idea. I wish I did. About the best I’ve heard is that someone, somewhere, may or may not be planning something. Maybe. Daniel is the only person that has heard this information and he was apparently sworn to secrecy and insists he doesn’t know anything beyond that. I’ve never heard of a baby shower being a surprise, so I’m a little anxious about that but I’m told any input I have can be passed through Daniel and it will get to the mystery shower-thrower.

So! Because I like to be helpful: my dream baby shower is one that does not involve gross games (I’m not really anti-games, exactly, I just don’t want to have to eat weird things or be forced to make a belly cast or something) but that does involve candy and delicious citrus beverages and very Martha Stewart-y touches. (You know, garlands and decorated cookies and the like.) Just, ah, throwing that out there. Here is a gallery I started on Flickr for some inspiration – I’ll probably continue adding to it for a while.

We did start a registry on Amazon, mostly because it’s easy to find anything there and I could add items from other websites. I think a lot of the stuff is probably available at Target but it seemed easier to have one registry instead of two.

Childbirth Classes

Ours start this week! I’m not really sure what to expect but I am told to bring two pillows, a small blanket or towel, and dress in loose comfortable clothing.

Baby and Me

Here I am at 28 weeks:

At my appointment today, my midwife had a chat with me about my weight gain. On the plus side, I gained less between the last appointment and this one than I thought I would, but on the minus side, I started out about 30lbs overweight and have since gained 40-ish pounds. And I still have twelve more weeks to go. Eeep. So they told me to go from 1% milk down to nonfat, avoid soda and fast food (which I do already and did before I got pregnant), and, uh, not eat constantly. Which I have been attempting. My body is just REALLY REALLY GOOD at gaining weight. I’d be great at hibernating!

Baby appears to be head down. Yay! I don’t know how they can tell this by skooshing my belly around but the midwife declared him head-down, which I had been guessing at for a while since it feels like feet are in my ribs most of the time. Heartbeat sounded good, and I got a paper telling me to make another ultrasound appointment to check Baby’s growth. Woo! I am hoping he’s not built like a tank, but we shall see.

Oh god only 12 more weeks

April seems really far off. Like a very long ways away. And then I think, oh! Twelve weeks! And that is not a very long time at all and OMG PANIC.

“Nursery” Progress

Our crib arrived this week so we spent an evening putting it together. There was only one frustration-induced break taken and we didn’t break anything or dismember each other so I’m calling it a success. Crib is currently in the living room but will be moved to the bedroom once I can figure out some kind of configuration that works.

We also successfully purchased the shorter version of our IKEA bookshelves to replace those horrible white cubbies. It looks SO much nicer now! I want to get little bins to organize the shelves so stuff isn’t just crammed in there, but that’s where Baby’s clothes and diaper covers are for the time being.

Dumb question: You are supposed to wash stuff before the baby comes in contact with it, right? Like crib sheets or clothes? I haven’t washed any tiny things yet but I’m guessing I probably should.

Diaper bag?

I am confused about diaper bags. Do I actually need a specific bag? It seems like my Timbuk2 messenger would work just fine so I’m hesitant to get some huge floral thing if I don’t need it. Or is it just that “diaper” bags are very huge compartmentalized purses and therefore need their own name? (Does a diaper bag double as your purse or do you use both?) HALP.

How am I?

Symptom-wise, fine, mostly. My feet get chubby off and on but I can’t manage to relate it to anything (too much salt? too little water?) so I’ve just been living with it. My belly got REALLY REALLY itchy this last week or two, so I’ve been moisturizing and trying not to scratch. I think it’s mostly the new stretch marks.

I’ve been getting really warm this last week as well. I think my office is overcompensating for the weather because it’s really not that cold outside but the heat is turned up pretty high and I keep getting outrageously warm.

I did have one bout of dizziness on Sunday that was pretty lame – I felt dizzy as soon as I got up and just felt “off” for the rest of the day. Nothing serious, just a vague but persistent woozy feeling that got worse if I shut my eyes. I drank a lot of water and spent the day on the couch and then felt fine Monday.

Emotion-wise, I’m feeling a little bummed out this week. I don’t actually feel that huge, but after seeing people much farther along than I am looking much smaller or hearing about those ladies, I get really worried for the next couple of months and the time when I will be as big as a bus. I don’t want to be as big as a bus! This isn’t some kind of fat-phobia thing, this is me wondering WHY the universe decided to deprive me of a torso that could accommodate this baby and WHY I thought it was a good idea to get pregnant when I’m this short. That said, I guess if she can do it I can do it, right? Yes?

TANGENT: I am just going to state for the record that I think a lot of the general public is grossly unfamiliar with the bellies of full-term women, and that’s why so many women get the, “Are you sure it’s not twins?!?” question when they’re a few months from their due date. (I myself have not gotten this question but I expect I’ll get it eventually.)

The lady in this photo looks like a very normal pregnant person to me, perhaps nearing her due date but she doesn’t look outrageously large. And yet, one of the early comments is “Twins. At least.” Which… UGH. I just think the public isn’t used to seeing full-term women, so when they do they assume HUGENESS and QUINTUPLETS and IMMINENT BIRTHING. Eeeeesh this is irritating to me.

How is Baby?

His movements changed a bit this week from primarily kicks to more rolling around and stretching. I still get some strong jabs but there’s often a butt or something underneath my ribs that I can feel pushing around. I mean, I still can’t tell if it’s a butt or a head or something else entirely but I’m going to guess butt. Baby definitely prefers my right side – I rarely feel anything on the left.

There have also been some “fluttery” movements which might be hiccups? It feels like the sensation when you waggle a sheet of metal or a metal ruler – it’s hard to explain. It almost feels like the jiggles you get when you laugh, but somehow I doubt Baby is having a giggle fit in there so I am guessing hiccups. It only lasts for a few seconds though which is why I’m not sure; perhaps baby hiccups don’t last as long as adult hiccups?

Baby should be around two pounds and roughly 15 inches long, head to toe, or about the size of an eggplant.

Restraint

This last week or so, I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to not go overboard when eating. I still rarely feel full and want to eat everything in sight, but I’m trying to get my body to realize that HEY, if I have just finished a bowl of cereal, I probably do not need three more bowls. It’s going okay so far. I’m hoping that I can keep this up (rather than indulging every fake hunger whim) so that my weight at my next appointment in a few weeks won’t be quite so shocking.

Learning to Wrap

I recently purchased a Moby-style wrap to tote Baby around in and spent an evening figuring out how to tie it. I was confused at first how you manage to get the baby in and out without dropping it on its head, but with some YouTube videos and instructions, I think my trusty stuffed robot sidekick and I figured it out.

I’m vaguely planning on using wraps/slings versus a stroller for most situations, since I HATE pushing shopping carts and I think a stroller would be just as bad. There’s just something about having the thing you’re pushing so far out in front of you that I really don’t like. Maybe it’s because I’m short? Whatever the reason, I’m very happy with my wrap so far and am looking into different carriers/slings so I can have a variety to choose from.

Baby’s Space

In terms of the “nursery” or “how we are preparing for Baby” I’ve got nothing. Here are two photos which illustrate just that:

Here we have the carseat (Chicco Keyfit 30 in “Miro”) and the Bumbo seat, along with the two Boppy pillows I found at Goodwill, stuffed in a corner of the living room that acts as our office. In theory we could install the carseat already (or at least the base), but we just haven’t done it yet.

Here we have some cubbies in our living room that I am desperate to replace because I hate them. Baby’s cubby is the top right one and it’s filled with various sizes of diaper covers, a wet pail bag, Snappis, some baby pants, jammies, and a few onesies. The top left cubby is the overflow and contains a tiny pair of jeans and overalls as well as a striped onesie.

THIS IS OUR NURSERY. WELCOME TO IT.

Grah. First order of business (which I just completed, YAY!) is to order the Co-Sleeper crib we want so that Baby has somewhere to sleep. We’ll have to rearrange the bedroom a bit but this is what will work best for now. There’s no way we’d fit a full-size crib in there.

(Seriously though, for how small babies are, cribs are gigantic. Daniel took a look at a couple of IKEA ones and asked me why babies need an Olympic swimming pool sized bed. I told him I had no idea but they are awfully large. )

Second order of business is to replace those horrible white cubbies with the shorter version of the nice tall bookshelves we have right next to them. We made a fruitless trip to IKEA yesterday to purchase them but they were out of stock. Daniel is going to try again today to see if they’re available.

Third order of business is to figure out where Baby’s clothes will live. This might be in the as-yet-unpurchased bookshelf, or it might be in an as-yet-unpurchased dresser that may end up living in our bedroom closet. I did a bunch of bedroom measuring and we’re still trying to figure out the best configuration that will allow us each a dresser, plus the bed, nightstand, crib, and possibly hampers.

Our bedroom is about 9×12′ and our queen-size bed takes up 5×7′ of that space, and then there are windows and closet doors to deal with as well. It’s hard to work with but we’ll make things fit.

Mah Belleh

Here’s me at 26 weeks:

Ahoy Baby! I look very pregnant. I am getting some stretch marks like I knew I would, but they’re not scary looking. The worst one is from my now-empty bellybutton piercing spot – I took the barbell out around 15 weeks or so because it wasn’t tall enough. I’m just glad I have (had?) an innie bellybutton so my shirt is still flat in front! I will say that it is very weird to suddenly have the inside of your bellybutton be able to sense things though – I told Daniel it’s like when your fingernails have been long for a long time and you cut them, and all of a sudden bits of your skin that never felt things before are feeling things and it’s not really painful but it’s very weird.

Also! Great news: My hip/pelvis pain has improved in the last couple of weeks. (!!!) I didn’t want to mention anything for fear of jinxing it but I can roll over onto my side again! I do have to be in just the right position so it doesn’t hurt and a pillow is almost always involved, but I can lay on my side for short periods of time! I am still mostly sleeping on my back with a zillion pillows but this gives me a tiny bit of variety.

Overall, I have very little to complain about. I mean sure, my feet swell up sometimes and my back hurts after I walk for a while, but I’ve had no weird bleeding or cramps or anything scary and for the most part I feel fine. Yay!