Fashionably Early

Since last week, I had been planning to write a post about being full term.  About all the physical symptoms, as well as all the emotional ups and downs.  About being excited to meet my little boy, yet overwhelmed at the thought of starting this new chapter.  About being even a little depressed, knowing that this may be the one and only time I get to experience pregnancy, and how limited my time was left.

Well....too late now.....

Our little guy decided to surprise everyone by making his entrance into the world on Thursday morning, a little less than 2 weeks away from his "due date."  

I am sooooooo in love with him.  He is just the most perfect little baby, and totally worth everything we had gone through to be able to hold him in our arms.  DH is just head over heels about him too.

Stay tuned for the adventurous birth story!

Holy crap I'm 8 months pregnant!

....and then some.  Here are some updates on week 34:

- I am constantly told how small I am for being 8 months along.  I was told by my doctor to gain 25 pounds throughout this pregnancy, and today I hit the 25 pound mark.  "All belly" though.  As long as baby is on track, then I'm definitely ok with that.

-I interviewed a couple of doulas, and have decided on one.  I've also been listening to the Hypno.babies program at home so I'm hoping to be prepared as I can for the labor.

-Even though it's REALLY late in the game, I am switching to a different OB.  I have my 1st appointment with her on Thursday.  (This is the doctor I originally wanted to go to, but she was on maternity leave when I graduated from the RE).  At my last appt, the OB made me feel really uncomfortable when I brought up the topic of delayed cord clamping.  He said, in a mocking tone of voice, that he would try his best to accommodate my wishes.  But then kept making what I think are BS excuses for his own convenience.  "But the baby has to go in the warmer to be suctioned."  Bullshit.  I'm the warmer.  You can suction the baby while he's skin to skin with me...... It definitely didn't help that while I was waiting in the exam room, I could hear him in his office screaming on the phone: "You are not an honest man! I want my carpet back!"........Yeah, not the kind of attitude I want to put up with, especially if he was attending my birth.

-DH has been in Bangladesh for 5 weeks now; 2 weeks until he is back home.  It has definitely been tough.  I am so grateful, though, that this time I have a more reliable means to communicate with him (whereas when he was in Europe a few years ago, I pretty much had to wait on him to call me since he didn't have the same phone number all the time).  Skype is also great, although sometimes I feel like being able to see him makes it a little harder in a way.  Last week I was Skyping with him and just suddenly broke down crying because I wanted sooo bad to jump through the computer screen and hug him.  How do military wives do this?

-My mom has been staying with me for the past 3 weeks.  It has definitely been great to have her help with the laundry, groceries, dishes, cleaning, etc while I'm at work.  She has also been working on knitting a cute baby blanket, and last night we assembled the crib.  However, there are many many times where I feel like ripping my hair out when she's around.  Every day I come home from work, I have to tell her that I need some peace and quiet, some "me" time for at least 30 minutes......otherwise she will yap my ear off from the time I enter the door until I go to bed.   Next week is Spring Break so I'll be having to find some ways to keep ourselves entertained...lol

-This Saturday is my baby shower that my church is having for me.  I really did not expect any kind of a shower because I am relatively new to the church.  But the ladies organizing it are so excited, apparently they're making it some big church luncheon....crazy.  I feel a little awkward to be the "center of attention," but I am excited that these new friends want to celebrate my baby :)

I apologize for the random jumbled post.  There is so much going through my head these days it's hard to just sit down and write anything more coherent. I will try to get better about this ;)

Feeling blue

I am so not looking forward to Saturday morning.....

I know I have been really bad at posting lately so I realize I haven't even mentioned what is going on.  But here is the scoop:

This semester DH has to make a short film for his "advanced" film project.  He has been working on this story for a long time, and will be filming it in Bangladesh at the end of March.  When we visited last summer, he was already working on some pre-production for this film.  But, of course, there is still a lot of business to take care of before the actual shooting.  So he is flying out on Saturday, and will return on April 9th.

Now of course I am glad he is going now rather than after our son is born.  But I'm still sad about all he will miss:  getting to see and feel him growing, talking to him, most likely missing out on at least 1 ultrasound.  And I have no idea how I'm going to handle this.  A few years ago he went to Europe for about a month, but 6 weeks is the longest we've been away from each other in the last 6 years.

On a positive note, my mom will be coming to stay with me and help me out during the last month of DH's absence.  I'm pretty excited about getting to show her around L.A. (as she has never been here) and also setting up the nursery together.  However, I'm not sure how she will keep herself occupied while I'm at work everyday.

More of my adventures to come later, and hopefully not of wallowing in misery.

26 weeks update

- We had the repeat u/s on Dec. 29th.  They were able to get all the measurements they needed, and baby is right on track where he should be.  He kept hiding his face when they tried to take some 3D pics,  but they were finally able to get some good ones.  When we looked at the printouts, DH immediately thought that he looks like me.  I thought in one of the side profile pics he looks a little like my dad.  But then when DH showed the pics to his family and friends, they all say that he looks like him.  Typical, lol!  I guess we'll see in a few months. :)

-The belly has definitely exploded in the past month.  Now nobody is shy about asking or saying anything. Except for the first day back at work after winter break, one student was apparently asking my assistant when I was out of the classroom because he was too nervous to ask me.  She finally prompted him to ask me when I came back, but he wasn't sure what to say and said "Um....you have a big belly."  Made for a great social skills lesson, and then my students got very excited that I am having a baby..... And then immediately started counting down the months until I will be gone because they seem to think they will get to break all the rules lol!  Also, last week one of my students from last year approached me and said "Hey Mrs R, somebody told me that you're eating for 2 now....is that correct?"  I told him "Yes, you heard correctly."  Then he said, "Congratulations, Mrs. R.   Is it from....um...I forgot his name.....is it from Mr. R?"  Had me and another teacher cracking up- she said "This is not Jerry Springer here!"  LOL!  I know this student just wanted to find a way to talk about my DH since he met him before.....it just came out the wrong way.   Another good social skills lesson.

- Before pregnancy, I used to see women in public rubbing all over their own pregnant belly and I thought they just looked smug.  Now I realize how nearly impossible it is NOT to rub a little bit, especially when this little guy decides to start going wild and kicking while I'm out getting some groceries.  I'm pretty sure he's destined to be the next Karate Kid, lol!

-DH finally got to feel movement a couple weeks ago.  Anytime I felt baby moving a lot, I would grab DH's hand and put it on my belly and then...nothing.  And then DH would just get impatient and take his hand away.  Well one day I finally got him to touch it long enough to feel a little punch.  He got so excited and I'm so glad; I think it finally made this feel more real to him.  Now he takes the initiative to try and feel him move more, talk to him more, and at night he is sure to drape his arm over my belly while sleeping to feel as much as he can.  Little one has been really active at my bedtime this past week so that's good timing.....for now ;)

-This past Thursday, I went in to do the glucose test.  Haven't heard the results yet so I'm assuming we will find out at our OB appointment this Friday.  I'm feeling a little bit nervous about it.

-We also got to tour the maternity ward at the hospital last week.  Now I haven't seen any other maternity ward to compare this one to, but I was pretty impressed with the beds and how the nurse giving the tour seemed to encourage some natural methods.  I have been reading up on the Bradley method (and highlighted the chapters for DH to read....if I can get him to read....) I'm also trying out Hypnobabies....not entirely sure how I feel about it yet but with a couple listens it has really helped me to feel relaxed.  So hopefully I'll be able to use these techniques when the time comes.  We are still searching for a doula.

Halfway point

Yesterday officially marked 20 weeks. Can't believe we are halfway through this pregnancy now!  Here's the latest happenings:

- I started to feel movement at 18 weeks.  I think I may have been feeling it before then, but by 18 weeks I was positive that all those little flutters and pops were the real deal.  I sometimes can't keep from myself from giggling when I feel him move, because it is so amazing.

- We had the "20 week ultrasound" this past Thursday (less than 20 weeks, I  know).  They had  already received my results from the 1st & 2nd trimester prenatal screenings;  all negative.  Everything was measuring just as it should.  And no "surprise" gender change: it's definitely still a boy. However, baby was being extremely stubborn and wouldn't move for them to be able to see all the views of the heart that they wanted.  They couldn't even get any good looks at his face because he was keeping his head tucked down at his chest.  So we had to schedule another u/s for the 29th.  No complaints here! The more we can look at baby boy the better! :)

- There is definitely no denying I have a baby bump now.  More people at work have started asking, and saying they had been noticing for a while but hesitant to ask.  It's pretty exciting!  The funny thing is I still haven't told my students, and they haven't noticed.  One of my co-workers said that maybe they have noticed, but are too scared to say anything.  Nope, not these kids.  With deficits in social skills, they would definitely blurt it out if they had any suspicions of my bump.  However, the student who would be most likely to go "OMG YOU HAVE A BABY IN YOUR BELLY!" has not said that, but twice had told me that I really needed to "get a child" so that I won't be lonely when my husband goes to work....And then proceeded to try to get the rest of the class to vote on whether or not I should have a child.  Of course, I turned that into a teachable moment on why it is not appropriate to ask other people about having kids, or to tell people that they should have kids (or especially to take a vote on it). Still had me and my assistant cracking up though.

- After having so people notice I'm pregnant, and being nearly at the halfway point, on Friday evening I decided that it was time to come out of the closet on Facebook.  DH was really against it at first, saying that I always got mad when other people announced on FB.  I explained that I did not get angry at pregnancy announcements themselves, even though there have been times I couldn't help but feel a little bitter, especially if it was announced in such a way/so early that made it obvious that it was quite easy for them to conceive or that they take it for granted.  What makes me angry is when people announce/update with complaints (especially of weight gain) or give any other sense of ungratefulness.  So what we wanted to do was share our joy, yet at the same time acknowledge those who may still be struggling and share hope that they will be blessed someday, someway, somehow.  I am not joking when I tell you that we deliberated for hours on what to post (oh, how we put so much thought into social networking these days),  and finally decided to say:
"It is such a miracle to feel a human being moving and kicking inside of me.  I wish everybody was able to experience this, and my heart breaks for those who never can.  But God has a wealth of miracles in store for everyone, even when we don't know what his exact plan will be.  I can't wait for [DH] and I to meet our son in just 20 weeks and see what other wonders God will work in our lives."
We got an enormous amount of responses.  I just hope I still did not unintentionally cause any bitterness, because it was not that long ago for me; I have not forgotten.

The first "suspicions"

This afternoon, my assistant informed me that 2 of the speech therapists asked her if I was pregnant.  Because "her belly wouldn't look like that if she was just gaining weight."  I guess this is for real for real: I have officially crossed into the realm of causing others to be suspicious, and it's not just all that Thanksgiving turkey talking.

But of course, I'm sure all that turkey helped a little.  :)

What's been happening in the past month.....

Here I am at almost 17 weeks.....I'd say an update is long overdue right?  Ack.  The problem is I have so much I want to write about that it overwhelms me and I keep putting it off.  Now I have too much to write about so I'll have to give a slightly condensed version of what's been happening:


The NT scan:
We had the NT scan on October 31.  It was nice to get a long look at our little one.  Although I must say, I did actually get bored while the u/s tech was taking some of the measurements.  I seriously could watch the little hands and feet all day instead of looking at the brain lol!  The good thing is that they burned a DVD of the u/s so we can watch it whenever we like!  As far as screening results, everything was looking good and right on track.  The only thing abnormal was small jugular lymphatic sacs, but the doctor said that is not very significant since there are no other abnormalities, and this is something that will usually go away later on in the pregnancy.
Also.....the u/s tech asked us if we wanted to know the sex if it was possible to tell, so we said yes.  Sure enough, when we got to that part of the u/s, we could definitely see something.  I thought that 13 weeks was still a little too early to tell, but the tech and the doctor were so certain that they put "male fetus" on the report.  So now we are thinking blue and arguing over trying to pick a boy name.  ;)

The new OB:
I went for a consultation with a new OB the week after my NT scan.  DH wasn't able to come with me so I went alone.  But that's ok: for the most part it was uneventful other than getting to hear the heartbeat on the Doppler.  I'm not sure yet how I feel about this OB.  I was trying not to judge the book by its cover and let the fact that he is reeeeeally old get to me.   He was just a bit odd, but never did or said anything that made me uncomfortable.  I did ask a couple questions about his views on induction and laboring options, and his views seem in agreement with mine.  I know I still have plenty of time to switch OBs if I need to.


Now let's talk about.......


The sickness:
Well, vomiting is at a running total of 6 times so far.  Hopefully I will have no more of that.  But it usually happens in the morning when I haven't eaten enough yet and/or I get grossed out by a smell (i.e. the kitchen trash that DH didn't take out) or even just the thought of something gross.  Just the other day, I almost threw up again. I had just gotten up and hadn't eaten just yet and thought about how sick I felt that it made me gag once.......the gag made me run to the toilet and I kept gagging but fortunately I had nothing in my stomach to expel.
Also, most of my food aversions have gone away.  I am finally able to eat a little bit of cooked greens again, although I'm not back at the point where I go "Hmmm, I think I'll have a can of spinach today!"  Still a bit grossed out by smelling seafood, but really I don't like seafood anyway.  I have managed to eat tilapia one time so far, but still definitely going to limit my fish intake.
(By the way, DH and I keep arguing over whether or not mayonnaise/sauces made with mayonnaise should be safe or not.  I can't find any really conclusive answers on the internet.  Anybody know???)

Sleep:
Isn't it too early in the pregnancy to be so uncomfortable?  I did buy one of those pregnancy body pillows and I like it.  But the annoying thing is I can't sleep on one side all night.  I am always waking up with a burning pain in my hip on whichever side I'm lying on, like a pressure sore.  So then I have to turn over and try to take the whole body pillow with me, or sit up to flip the pillow and then turn over.  Sometimes I just say forget the pillow, but then I am still uncomfy.  What the heck am I going to do in the 3rd tri??? I don't know.

The belly:
For the last couple weeks, DH has been kinda obsessed with feeling my uterus.  He says it feels like a balloon.  He also says that I'm starting to "show" a little bit, and my co-workers who know about it say the same thing.  I'm still not quite sure that what they're seeing is actually a "baby bump" and not just a little plump gut, lol.  I don't plan to make any kind of "announcement" at work; I'll just let the pregnancy announce itself.  If the different pants I'm wearing haven't given it away, I'm pretty sure that once I start showing up to work in sweater dresses and leggings, people will know something's up.  (That's actually how I figured out a co-worker was last year: "Hey.....she never wears dresses to work....")  I'm also curious to see how long it will take my students to figure it out, and who will be the first one to say something.


And in other news:
We are moving!  And at the same time, we are not moving.  I originally planned to try to find a place to move into in January, and had been keeping my eye on craigslist to get an idea of what we could find.  But I really like the area we are in and don't want to move far from it because it is such a convenient location.  Right down the street from us, there is UCLA housing for grad students/families.  It looked really nice because the buildings are newer, and plus it has a playground onsite.  But, I know that with campus housing comes very long waiting lists.  Plus when I looked at the pictures online, it actually seemed like the space was smaller than what we'd like.
So I'd been looking around on craigslist, but then I noticed that our building had the "2 bedrooms" sign out front.  After going to view one other apt in the area that ended up being too small, plus a difficult parking situation,  we decided to ask our landlord about taking a look at the 2br apt in our building.....And....we....love it!  It has 1 & 1/2 bathrooms, tons of closet/storage space (including an outside storage locker, which we didn't get with this unit), newer carpet and newer tile flooring (the floor in our current kitchen looks like something from the 70s, seriously), and even a balcony with a nice view.  Of course, the cost is a bit more, but DH & I talked about it and decided we can make this work, and it will definitely be worth it.  He signed the contract last week and the landlord went ahead and gave us the keys so we can start moving stuff at our own pace.  The best part is that we literally just have to move stuff across the other side of the courtyard.  No packing.  No stairs to go up and down.  This will be the easiest move EVER.