8 posts tagged “pregnancy stuff”
That's me on the right and my sister on the left. I was thrilled when I found out she was pregnant, due only about 7 weeks after me. We had resigned ourselves to the fact that Gus and Kid X wouldn't have any closely aged cousins, but God had other things in mind and here we go. My sister and her husband were not expecting it, but quite happy all the same. We were finally able to get together briefly last week and had this picture taken.
I think my friends and family are right: I am carrying this babe pretty high!
My doctor's appointment today went well. The regular physician is on holidays but his replacement was great. Even though I have fat sausage toes, I don't need to worry because my blood pressure is nice and low. I like how smoothly these appointments are running. Now if only I could count on smooth sailing for delivery, too... ;)
Loathing:
- An Employment Insurance process that is way too clunky and DOES NOT accommodate teachers' very well. (For example, I'm still employed by the school district, but not currently working for them 'cause, well, it's summer holidays! But the system really doesn't have a space for that. And they're really keen on you filing within 4 weeks of your last day of work, but for me that would mean losing out on top-up since my employer doesn't require me to file until the babe is born since, as mentioned, they know I'm still employed by them. I'm going to go downtown tomorrow and talk to a real person about it, though I'm not confident: last time they told me that that, as a teacher, I only work 5 1/2 hrs a day because that's what my classroom hours are, so that's what I record; this is important info because your EI amounts are based on previously worked hours and salary. Fortunately, I got better information from both my union and my employer: Service Canada recognizes full time teachers as working 9.1 hours a day. Thank goodness! Because those 3 hours a night spent marking don't count???)
- Late-stage pregnancy sausage-toes.
- Insomnia. (Yes, still.)
- Inconsistent tension when knitting. (I think I'll need to re-start my project. Bummer.
Loving:
- Living in a country where I get paid to stay home and look after my baby for 50 weeks after s/he is born.
- Being a part of a union that will top up that aforementioned paycheque to a percentage of my regular salary for some of those weeks after s/he is born.
- That I'm having a little baby next month (or so!) and the sausage-toes will go away and so will the
- Insomnia - though I'll be awake more than ever, at least I know I'll start sleeping as soon as my head hits that pillow!
- Making things with my hands again.
- Friends and family who visit.
I've been told I look like I'm carrying much higher than I did with Gus; my doctor has also told me that my measurements suggest I'm farther along than we think. However, he also said that I may just be carrying high and when the baby drops, everything will even out.
I'm pretty confident about my dates, but part of me thinks that this baby will be coming sooner than later. And no, it's not just wishful thinking. If anything, it's been a cause of anxiety for me. Simply put, I don't feel particularly ready for this baby.
It was like this a bit with Gus: I worked until the school year ended, which put me well into the last trimester. Gus was born halfway through August. This baby is due to come in the last week of August and, like Gus, there is much I've simply put off until work was over and now I have time to devote to things. Some of these 'things' are intangibles: mentally and emotionally preparing for the big changes coming, considering the effects on myself and my family and our lives generally. But then there is the actual 'to-do' list: dismantle my office/computer room and turn it into a baby room, organize my school things, go through the baby clothes, prepare bags, make a list of those generous friends and family I can call to take Gus when the time comes. Some things I've been able to do, but the big one - switching rooms around - can only happen when we've made a trip to our nearest big blue and yellow Swedish box store to get some serious shelving which is a 4 hour drive away. It's looking like that trip will come this weekend though, thankfully.
In the meantime, I'm trying to relax and let go of this low grade anxiety that's been kicking around. I need to know that God has me and this baby in his hands. He loves us and isn't going to leave us. That doesn't mean that difficult things won't happen, but things are not out of control. And after 'knowing' these things, I have to actually behave like it's true!
I had a pre-natal check up earlier this week and all is looking quite well. I only gained 1 1/2 lbs this last month, and the reading from my glucose screen came in quite low (a good thing): both of these factors mean I can put to bed the concern of gestational diabetes for now. Yay!
The heartbeat is strong and I feel the babe kicking around on a regular basis. That day s/he was laying diagonally, head down as far as we could tell, which is exactly how Gus spent much of his womb-time.
While the week started well, the rest has been a bit of a slog. (Ach! and it's only Wednesday!) As I've mentioned, C. is out of town this week and I can only take so many rounds of "Mummy, mummy, mummy!" a day. Usually that's when Gus and C. head to the park, or to the basement and I have a break and do exciting things like dishes. But not this week.
On the upside, I have gotten out for walks this week - even a good 45 minute one this evening. We went up along the river trail and I marveled again at how the water is climbing. Based on water marks on the trees though, it looks like it's already had a bit of a peak. There was some maintenance being done on the bridge which was a double thrill for Gus - he didn't know if he should be pointing more to the water or the trucks!
Now he's in bed, though still not asleep, and I must get some work done - the dishes will wait. Instead, I have a date with Sir Ian McKellan and Dame Judi Dench strut their stuff as they portray some serious tragic flaws in Macbeth (seeing which parts I want to show to my class - the acting is preferable to the Polansky version, but it's set-less, so the kids don't have the benefit of context to help them pull the pieces together) while I mark some essays and worksheets and try to drink lots of water.
p.s. Hey VFCers - just so you know, this particular post is for all!
I like this stage of pregnancy: I can feel the babe kicking around in there a lot. S/he is big enough that I can feel it, but hasn't grown big enough yet that the kicks and punches can do any damage to my rib cage. The other day I sat back and watched as my belly took jolts from the inside.
Love that feeling.
I've really wanted to just go and eat a lot these days. Especially sweets. This kicked in shortly after my doctor told me I'd gained a bit too much this last month and should cut back on the starches (potatoes, breads, pasta, etc.) to about half of what I normally eat and then eat whole grain when I do. Now, I know that's good advice anytime, but it still got to me. I vacillate from being annoyed with my doctor to concerned about my health and that of the babe's.
See, I thought I was doing ok for weight gain this pregnancy - in fact, the 9 lbs he's concerned about is the only weight I've gained at 24 weeks so far. (Unfortunately, I gained it all in 4 weeks!) Now, this could just be a quirk of the scale and circumstances (ex. - unusally low at last weigh in and higher at this one) or, it could point to gestational diabetes - eek! I have my glucose screen test in another 2 weeks and in the meantime, I'm trying to be happy with fruit and veggies.
So how do I deal with the maddening desire to walk into my kitchen and back myself a batch of biscuits!
Go enjoy your ice cream and cookies for me, people!
I know we're not the only ones, but still: WHAT IS WITH SNOW IN APRIL???
Especially considering the area I live in is considered semi-arid desert! We woke up to the 4th sub-zero (below freezing) day in a row this morning. C. was going to buy and plant us a fruit tree this weekend. He decided he didn't much fancy the idea of digging in the freezing cold.
This pregnancy is happening during the same seasons as last round, but I find I still can't get into my spring gear yet, so it's been a lot of jean-wearing at work. One day, the sun will come.
Gus has been talking a lot these days. He's been stringing words together, 2 or 3 at a time, too. This is great most times. What gets tricky is when he's obviously trying to tell us something and we just can't decipher it. Not that most people could understand 'sunglasses' when he says it anyway. :)
We have a busy week ahead: my brother-in-law is getting married on Sunday and both C. and Gus are in the wedding. We'll be leaving town Thursday night for a few days. In the meantime, there's laundry, marking, and making sure that black dress I bought last month still makes me look good!
Oh, and the ultrasound went very well. I happened to arrive early and managed to get into my appointment 15 minutes early, too! Things went pretty smoothly. Babe was moving around a bit so it took sometime to get measurements, but at the end s/he put on a great show: we got to see the mouth open and close and lots of hand and arm movement around the face. We were able to ascertain knuckles, ribs, spine, heartbeat and even cute little bum cheeks! (No, we have no idea the sex, and we didn't ask and I don't think the tech would tell us anyway.)
For your viewing pleasure - Kidlet #2:
Happy Monday, all!
Today is Wednesday and I have the day off. Officially, it is a sick day for me and that's the truth as I have nowhere else to designate my doctor appointed medical appointment today: Our 20 week ultrasound! Of course, the visit itself probably doesn't mean I need to take all the day off, but it is smack in the middle of my day and last time I went in, I waited over 1 1/2 hours before my appointment even began. I just don't want to have the stress of wondering what I'll do just in case I can't make it to my last class of the day.
I was feeling a little pleased with myself as I got dressed: I was able to pull on the jeans I bought in September without any trouble. While I'm definitely getting my belly, this is a testament to the pounds lost before I got pregnant in December and for that I'm thankful. Losing weight after Gus was born was a struggle. It took me some time to just 'get over it'. I decided I'm not going to go into focused weight-loss until we've decided all is done in the kidlet department. In the meantime, my body just isn't my own, so I'm going to try not to get to worked up over it.
I pulled out my pregnancy clothes last weekend, to see what fits and what doesn't. I'm very glad that I'm pregnant through the same seasons as before (in fact, Kidlet #2 is due 2 weeks after Gus's second birthday), so all my summer stuff will still apply.
And now that I have a boy grabbing at my pants yelling "Mummee!" I should be off. Happy Wednesday, all!
