Ode to Stomach Sleeping

I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to sleep on my stomach. I'm guessing that it won't be long. So, I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on my years of comfort as a stomach sleeper. Ahhhh.....comfort!!!! Before you think that I'm crazy (although you've probably come to that conclusion long before now!), it's not just that I occasionally sleep on my stomach. I have slept in the exact same position for as long as I can remember. I didn't change when I went to college. I didn't change when I got married (don't ask Luke because he's always pissed about it). What am I supposed to do now???? I purchased a body pillow so that I might be able to simulate the same position, but for now I'm just going to enjoy the few days that I have left. I suppose that giving up the stomach sleeping is just one of many changes to come. Wish us luck!

Basic Answers

My Aunt Melanie was nice enough to write me a comment on one of my previous entries, and she had some very good questions that I probably should answer. Here are the basics of my pregnancy:

Due date: July 23, 2006

Sex: Not sure yet, but we find out in early March (can't wait!!!)

Weight gain: 8 lbs so far

Cravings: None so far, but sometimes certain foods seem really gross to me.

Luke: I think that Luke is really excited that we are pregnant. He's been on a diet so no real cravings for him. I may have him write a guest blog to share his true feelings and to tell everyone what a pain in the butt I've been!

Mysteries of Pregnancy Theater 3000 - Episode 1

I'm now 15 weeks, and my waist has grown from 29" to 32" during that time. I'm measuring from the belly button. I'm not sure if that is the right thing to do, but it's the only way I could figure out where to measure consistently. So, my waist has grown 3" around at the belly button. Here's where the mystery starts...the baby is only about 3.5" big. To really see that in perspective, you need to look at a ruler. Three and a half inches is not very big. Could I not just fit that 3.5" into the existing space???? I don't need to be growing yet. The good news is that I haven't put on any more weight. That's super good news since I have to go to the midwives next week, and I don't want to get yelled at for gaining more than the 8-10 lbs that I'm allowed in the first 20 weeks!

Buy, Buy, Buy

When we first decided to get pregnant, I knew that there would be quite a few things that we would need to purchase...crib, car seat, diapers, etc. I think of those things as the baby basics. On Saturday, I went to a baby shower for one of my friends. Oh my goodness!!!! She got so many crazy baby things that I had never even thought of...nipple cream, disposable changing pads, wrist rattles, etc, etc. How do I know what is an essential and what's just some crazy baby gimmick. Suddenly, my "to purchase" list has grown exponentially. I guess I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of baby crap that's out there. Have you been down a baby aisle lately??? Yikes! Thank goodness that I have quite a few friends that are having babies right before me so I will be able to gather lots of good advice before BH arrives.

Pregnancy or Menopause???

The strangest thing happened a few minutes ago. It was about 9:45am (time for my daily hot chocolate fix) so I got up from my desk and went to the kitchen to begin my regular ritual. After I put the water in the microwave, I suddenly got really hot and dizzy. I had to sit down for a few minutes. I was so out of it that I nearly dropped the mug of hot water on the floor, simultaneously spilling it all over myself. I think I’m fine now (aside from being a bit wet), but that was a little crazy! If that was a hot flash, then I think that I can do without anymore of those until menopause!

Week 14 Begins

Today is the first day of Week 14!!! Over the next three days, the baby's external sex structures will begin to form. So, if my husband would just buy me the ultrasound machine like Tom Cruise, we could go in there and see if it was a boy or a girl. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until the beginning of March to find out.

Creepy Baby Growth

We are starting to get to the point in the baby's growth process where it's hard to imagine what's going on in there. For example, the vocal cords are forming in the baby's larynx this week. That's not a big deal because it can't make any noise while it's in there. However, the baby now has all 20 of its baby teeth. Okay that's a little weird to think about. It's only 3 inches long, and it has teeth...creepy!

The Irony of Snow in the South

Last Friday night it snowed here overnight. Now, just so we're all on the same page with the consequences of snow in Nashville, let me explain. When they predict snow here, the grocery stores run out of milk and all of the schools close. If you're from up North, you think I'm kidding. I'm not. This means that if it snows on any weeknight, we might very well not have to go to work the next day. Now, with the warm weather lately, we haven't had much snow. So, you can see the travesty of having snow on a Friday night!!!! What kind of an unjust world do we live in. All I'm asking is for a snow day here or there (so that the baby can rest, of course). There's still some winter left to go. I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

Oink, Oink Moo, Moo

I have to make a confession...I ate a piece of steak this afternoon for the first time in 11 years. Sorry cows. I wasn't really planning on it, but we went to Publix at lunchtime before I had eaten anything. As you might imagine, I was really hungry. Then, my heightened sense of smell (I call it the dog nose) detected something on the grill in the meat department. I asked the friendly butcher what he was cooking, and he offered us some steak. It smelled and looked sooooo good. It had all this crazy, yummy seasoning around the edges, and it was so perfectly pink in the middle. So, I caved and ate it. I can't help it, the baby wanted it. The baby also wanted the pork chops that I ate last week. I knew that I might have to eat meat when I was pregnant, but I'm pretty sure that the taste for it will disappear in 7 months when this is all over!!!

In baby news, BH (that's Baby Hamilton for future reference) is now 2.5 inches long and weighs 1/2 of an ounce. Apparently, in the next two weeks, the baby's kidneys will start to excrete urine right into the amniotic fluid. Yuck!

Please Leave Comments

I was beginning to feel like a loser because I'm only getting comments from my Dad, and while I completely appreciate his thoughtful comments, I would certainly like to hear from others. I just now realized (thanks to my brilliant husband) that I was only allowing comments from registered users. I don't want everyone to have to sign up just to leave comments, so I've changed it so that you can leave a comment anonymously without registering. If you want to get brownie points for leaving it, just type your name at the end so that I know who you are. I'd love to hear from you so please drop me a comment. Thanks!

Let the 2nd Trimester Begin!

Everyone has told me that the second trimester is the best! Your nausea stops, you're less tired, and you're not huge yet. I've really been looking forward to it, and on Wednesday, I finally got there - thirteen weeks..yippeee! The most exciting part is that I'm now capable of being hungry without being nauseous. What an accomplishment! Of course, now I have heartburn after I eat. I'm not sure which is worse. Still, I've stopped eating every twenty minutes so I've lost 1.5 lbs in the past few days. I better start hitting the ice cream treats!

Nurturing the Artistic Side

I've decided to take another painting class during my pregnancy. Although laying on the couch every evening and whining about how tired I am is fairly fulfilling, dedicating one night a week to painting shouldn't be too much to ask. If I paint anything exciting, I'll post a picture of it, but chances are it will end up hiding under the couch with my other disasters. Tonight is the first class so we'll keep our fingers crossed.

The Bella Belt and Baby News

Yesterday I purchased the Bella Belt. As I mentioned in my last post, it is supposed to hold your pants up and disguise the fact that you have them unbuttoned. Well, it works. It looks just like a tube top, but you pull it over the top of your pants to cover the button situation. Plus, if you have maternity clothes that are too big, it will also help to hold those up. It's still not as comfortable as wearing a muumuu all the time, but a cool invention nonetheless!

This week in development news, the baby's brain has the same structure it will have at birth (but a bit smaller). He/she has been growing fingernails for the past few days, and the thyroid, pancreas, and gall bladder have all completed their development. In mommy development news, I've finally had to give in and go up a bra size...yikes!

The Big Visit

Yesterday was our first official visit to the midwives at Vanderbilt. Our primary midwife is named Shelly, although she may not be the one to deliver me. It will just depend on the timing. During the visit, we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time which was extremely exciting. Everything seems to be going very well, including the weight gain. I don't have to go back again until February.

I would have written about it yesterday, but we were busy watching the Rose Bowl and contemplating whether Vince Young will someday be a Tennessee Titan. With the third pick in the draft, it's certainly a possibility.

In other exciting news, our neighbors that we share the backyard with are also pregnant. She's about a month ahead of me, and she had the most fabulous suggestion to deal with my lack of maternity pants... a funky maternity belt. It's not really a belt, but more like a big piece of fabric that will cover my unbuttoned pants. It completely solves the problem. I can't remember the name of it, but she told me where to buy it. How exciting!!

From Size 2 to 6 in Just 12 Weeks!

My concern over my maternity clothes (or lack thereof) has been growing over the past few weeks. I know that it is completely inevitable that I will eventually have to make that all important first maternity clothes purchase, but I'm all about procrastinating on that type of major life/size change. Besides, I can still squeeze myself into my old pants with one little alteration...I have to unbutton them when I sit down. In the car, at work, in front of the tv, it doesn't matter. It's just more comfortable with them unbuttoned. So I forget to button them every once and a while when I stand up. So I went into Walgreens yesterday with my jeans unbuttoned. What's the big deal???

Well, yesterday Luke decided that he needed to put a stop to this madness. "It's time to get pants that fit," he said. I was at least hoping to make it to 13 weeks in the same jeans, but I was willing to go take a look at the maternity options. So, off we go to Target for our first maternity clothes shopping extravaganza.

My first thought is...what's with all of the elastic on this maternity stuff. All the pants are too big because of all that damn elastic, and let's not even get into those big belly holder things. I'm definitely not ready for that craziness! Yikes! This is so scary! Needlesstosay, I'm still maternity pantsless, but I'll let you know when I make the first big purchase. For now, it's back to the unbuttoning plan.

Indian Summer

It's the 2nd day of January, and it's 70 degree's in Nashville today. Nothing like a little indian summer to really make you crave the spring time. It was nice to get a few outside chores done, but come on...it's January. Later this week it's supposed to "flurry" so I guess I'm not going to complain. However, I should explain that when they predict snow in Nashville, all of the schools close and they run out of milk at the grocery stores. That little tidbit may become important as winter continues. We'll just have to wait and see.

Speaking of winter, there are only 39 days until the winter Olympics. I'm hoping that I can convince my midwife to put me on bed rest for a few weeks so that I can truly enjoy the spectacle. I'll have to ask her during my next appointment (which is only 2 days away!).

When Two Inches Matter

I'm 11 weeks pregnant now, and the baby books says that my fetus is approximately 2 inches long. Yes, 2 inches. It seems so insignificant, and yet my body has spent the last nine weeks growing and nurturing this tiny little thing! Just a few weeks ago, at our first ultrasound, it was only 2 cm long. Oh, they grow so fast...sniffle, sniffle, tear, tear.

So, this is my first blog. I suppose that I'll use it to update family and friends on baby status and such. Plus, I may muse on some other random interests from time to time. I haven't had a creative outlet to write in quite a while, but I'll try to keep it short and manageable. I'll also try to include some belly shots as I start to widen. That should keep it interesting. For the readers' sake, I'll try not to whine too much about nausea, exhaustion, and thickening thighs. Although, there's certainly plenty to say about the joys of pregnancy thus far!