So…How Goes It?

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February 18, 2012

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This post might be too much information, but I really want to document this stuff for myself, and if y’all want to read, go right ahead…

Generally speaking, I can’t really complain about anything extraordinary at the halfway point of my pregnancy.  It’s just the learning experience of it all.  It really is remarkable what the human body does during gestation.  Actually, the first thing I learned was that 40 weeks basically includes a week for the last menstrual cycle that you have for a while, plus typically another week before ovulation & fertilization occurs.  So really, it’s about 38 weeks from conception to full gestation.  The doctors use your last period to calculate the 40 week due date – it just too difficult to pinpoint conception, the egg & the sperm can hang out for quite a while (up to 72 hours) before there’s any action.

Symptoms

I really don’t understand those “I didn’t know I was pregnant” shows – it has to be psychological.  I knew I was pregnant the very day I should have started my period.  I was bloated, which is not part of my PMS routine.  2 days later, I took a test and confirmed my suspicions.

“Morning” sickness is a misnomer – it can happen at any point during the day (or for the whole day).  For me, the nausea kicked in on Saturday night in NYC during vacation.  That city is dirty & smelly, and that triggered it all for me.  I spent the next 10-ish weeks getting what I referred to as “drive home” sickness – for whatever reason, the nausea would kick in around 6pm, just in time for my 45-60 minute drive home.  However, it has all but disappeared during the 2nd trimester.  And thankfully, I was only actually sick one time – I won’t tell that story here, but if you ask, you’ll get all of the details.

By far, my 2 worst symptoms have been tiredness and acne.  I’ve always been one to take a nap whenever I can sneak one in, so it stands to reason my body is using up even more energy to grow a baby and wants to nap whenever I get a chance.  There have been more than a couple of lunchtime cat naps in my car at work during the 1st trimester.  And it is sometimes impossible to stay awake after dinner – our couch is rather comfy & nap-inducing.  So I’m running with my 2nd trimester energy bursts when I get them.  And the acne – it’s like I’m 15 all over again, only there’s nothing a dermatologist can give me while I’m pregnant!  One old wives tale says that bad skin during pregnancy is because you’re having a girl, and she’s stealing your beauty.  Well, I haven’t seen scientific evidence to back that claim up… we shall see!

Body Talk

When not pregnant, a woman’s uterus is normally the size of a pear.  Thick ligaments, one of which is called the round ligament, hold the uterus in suspension within the abdomen. As the uterus grows in size and weight, these ligaments become very long and thin, stressing and tensing like rubber bands.  Starting in the 2nd trimester, I started feeling the round ligament pain.  Again, it’s remarkable what the body goes through during pregnancy – lots of stretching, growing, diversion of blood and nutrients to the fetus, etc.  One day, I had a pain in my side like you get when you run – only I was just walking to my car.  Steve’s sister Kristina is going to school for physical therapy, so I asked her to give me some ideas on how to stretch to ease the aches.

Also, you know how sneezing sort of hits your whole body?  Well, I had no idea exactly how much a sneeze can rock your insides until my uterus started growing.  Now a sneeze can actually cause a cramp – especially if it’s one of my particularly enthusiastic “Kennedy sneezes.”

And of course, the expanding uterus means more pressure on my bladder… my trips to the bathroom are already ramped up.  Can’t wait til the end of the pregnancy (insert sarcastic snort here)…

Food & Drink

I’ve never wanted a beer as badly as I did during the first couple of weeks after finding out I was pregnant.  It probably didn’t help that we were on a cruise ship within days of finding out – but our bar tab was measurably less than it has been on past cruises!

Besides not drinking alcohol (I’ve had tiny sips here & there, but nothing measurable), the other food hurdle I’ve had to deal with is not eating deli meats.  This is a somewhat new item added to the list of preggo no-nos.  The reason is that deli meats are known to have higher instances of listeria in them.  While I may be able to fight off that nasty bacteria, the baby probably can’t.  So it’s better to be safe than sorry.  Not to mention that food just doesn’t seem as safe as it used to be – it just seems like there’s more & more recalls for various things nowadays.  So the deli meat is generally not an option, unless it can be heated to the point of killing bacteria.  But microwaved deli meat is gross, and so few places give you the option of grilling the meat…no meat for me!

It’s been easy to find pasteurized dairy products (again, should avoid raw dairy due to bacteria – I just don’t think the US does that great of a job keeping raw food products decontaminated – I suspect other countries are better at this).  And I’m not a fish eater, so I don’t  worry about mercury in my food.

Some women cut out caffeine entirely when pregnant, but the experts recommend no more than 200 mg. of caffeine per day when pregnant.  For a point of reference, a 12 oz. can of soda usually contains about 60 mg. of caffeine.  So I have the all clear to have a bit of caffeine each day – my OB was adamant that it should not be diet soda though because there isn’t good info about the interactions between artificial sweeteners and pregnancy.  Pre-pregnancy, I would describe myself as a Pepsi girl, with Dr. Pepper a close second.  Pregnant Michelle can’t get enough of Dr. Pepper (and could care less about Pepsi) – I think Steve’s love of Dr. Pepper was passed to Kit, who’s encouraging my habit a little bit.

So the foods I’ve been eating a lot of include Dr. Pepper, cheese, pickles (I’ve always liked pickles)…  Carbs have been the safe bet for not upsetting my stomach.  I haven’t had too many sweet cravings, but that’s fairly normal for me.

Best Things About Being Pregnant

I’m totally loving maternity clothes!  It’s suddenly perfectly acceptable for me to wear elastic-waist pants and not be a fashion fail.  Generally speaking, everything is really comfortable.  I think I look pregnant when I actually wear maternity tops – I think I just look chubby when I’m wearing non-maternity loose-fitting clothes that aren’t so loose-fitting at the moment.

For the first time in my life, I actually enjoy going to see the doctor and look forward to my appointments.  My absolute favorite part is getting to hear Kit’s heartbeat.  I also love that Steve wants to go to the appointments as well – as he said, it’s what makes it “real” for him (although I think seeing my expanding belly is helping to shape reality for him).

The other fun thing is actually being able to talk about potential names without any weirdness.  At 20 weeks, we are currently at 20 name options for a boy (with the middle name set – Jeffrey, in honor of Kit’s paternal grandfather) and 17 names for a girl.  I have no expectation that the ultimate choice is even on the list at this point, lol!

Worst Things About Being Pregnant

Well, besides anything above that doesn’t sound fun…  There’s definitely the fear of the unknown – every pregnancy is different, and I have no baseline for comparison with myself.  I’m also feeling the burden of being the life-sustaining vessel for the baby – it’s not something I can share with Steve until the baby is actually born.  So there’s the pressure of “not screwing up.”  On the flip side, Steve is doing a lot of the nesting work that I really shouldn’t be doing, so as not to strain myself – but it doesn’t quite seem the same.

I think the general conclusion I can come to is that I’ll be happy to not be pregnant again – but life won’t be like it was before!  I’m excited and scared by the journey we’re taking with Kit.  One day at a time, we’ll figure it out. :)


20 weeks

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Round 2 with the Ultrasound Doc

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February 18, 2012

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Note: You should be able to click on any picture to make it bigger!

So I think I need to back up a second in the spirit of full disclosure and explain a bit of the specifics surrounding this pregnancy.  I had my normal annual visit with my OB/GYN in October, and she was a tiny bit concerned about my blood pressure.  It wasn’t high, but it wasn’t low either, so she said that it was something we would watch whenever I got pregnant (which I probably was at that appointment, lol).  So I got to see her again about 6 weeks later for my first prenatal exam.

It was during that exam that I figured out my OB was a little low-tech, and didn’t have one of the fancy-schmancy ultrasound machines.  Anyway, she said I would have to outsource the ultrasounds, but she was specifically going to refer me to a perinatologist so that the doctor could monitor blood flow in the umbilical cord to make sure my blood pressure wasn’t doing anything funky to the baby.  BTW, maternal blood flow increases something like 50% during pregnancy to help the baby grow.  The main concern is that high blood pressure can sometimes cause uneven blood flow in the umbilical cord, which ultimately means the baby isn’t growing as fast as they should be.  Not to mention some other scary conditions, but right now the concern relates to growth.

Everything looked good at the first appointment – Kit was measuring at exactly the right specs for the time progression of my pregnancy (12 weeks).  As a bonus, the perinatologist doesn’t like to do the ultrasound with a full bladder (which appears to be normal) – so I wasn’t uncomfortable during the ultrasound!

Steve and I went home feeling really comfortable with how everything was progressing.  I was instructed to monitor my blood pressure with a home machine, so I’ve been diligently monitoring my BP daily.  Nothing has been in the high range, although my BP is all over the board, with no discernible patterns.


Fetal heart rate check – right around 150 bpm, which is normal

On February 3rd, I had the 18 week ultrasound – the “fingers and toes” ultrasound, if you will.  Also known as the gender ultrasound, had we chosen to find out.  The first thing we learned is that I shouldn’t have drank orange juice for breakfast.  While my bladder was empty, Kit was apparently feeling the sugar rush.


cute little feet

(Side story: the perinatal doc said his wife would juice their kids up with Mountain Dew before her ultrasound appointments so she could see the crazy baby movements – of course, she never mentioned this until afterwards, so he wasn’t able to chastise her appropriately.)


white blur above Kit’s face is a jazz hand

Kit was doing some jazzercise arm movements, which made it rather difficult to count those fingers.  On top of that, Kit was in a nice fetal curl position, face down toward my spine.  Which meant we could see Kit’s spine and legs (and butt!) really well, but it was a bit more difficult to see Kit’s face (not to mention the jazz hands waving around in front of it).  The fetal curl position also meant Kit’s legs were clamped together pretty tightly, so there was no accidental gender determination going on (although the doc was able to get enough of a peek while Steve & I looked away to determine everything looked OK with Kit’s parts).  I’m sort of relieved the kid doesn’t appear to be an exhibitionist – that would have been a weird personality quirk from a child of Steve & Michelle!


butt shot – with a view of the femurs and one little foot on the left

All of the pregnancy books and websites I’ve read describe the baby’s first movements in the womb as a “flutter.”  Well, I haven’t been able to identify any flutters, so I was hoping the ultrasound would help me connect movement/sensation with what I was seeing on the screen (since I have no point of reference).  For me, the feeling isn’t a flutter.  It’s more like a gas bubble building up, only right behind my belly button, rather than near my posterior.  That’s the best description I can come up with, and Steve seems to understand what I’m describing.  Kit’s movements probably won’t be as gas-like by the time Steve is able to feel them externally – I’m sure it will be much more uncomfortable for me by that point.


perfect fetal curl with an awesome shot of Kit’s spine

But the best thing about the ultrasound??  Kit is generally measuring at 19 weeks, 5 days (while at a gestation date of 18 weeks, 4 days).  It’s entirely normal for the measurements to be a week or two off in either direction.  But it appears that anything I have going on with my BP isn’t affecting Kit’s health.  So no cause for concern!  Also, the first round of prenatal blood screenings came back, and we have extremely low probabilities of any major health concerns with Kit (ie, the chance of Kit having Down Syndrome is 1 in 32,000).

We have the next ultrasound in April, at 28 weeks.  Hopefully we’ll be able to get a better look at Kit’s sweet face and start playing the guessing game of which feature came from which parent.  My prediction is that Kit will have Steve’s ears and nose, although that doesn’t mean I think Kit is a boy (I really have no guess, it’s 50/50).  I’m really hoping Kit will have my thick hair, but we’ll have to wait a few more months to find out those specifics!  The genetic lottery is a really interesting game of chance, huh?

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Los Pantalones

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February 13, 2012

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Clothing is sort of hard to make!  Especially pants – that whole crotch seaming stuff is sort of confusing.  And clothes for tiny humans are even more difficult because they’re so…tiny! 

However, tiny human clothes are especially cute and adorable, even without tiny humans filling them out.

I traced out the 0-3 months and 12-18 months patterns for the Quick Change Trousers from Handmade Beginnings.  I went stash shopping for some fabrics (way too much fun!).  And slowly sewed up 2 pairs of pants for a couple of Kit’s future playmates.

The bigger pair is definitely girlie – so I’m going to have my favorite little ginger, Ellie, test these out for me.  The smaller pair is for my newest favorite sassy chica, Sara, who apparently doesn’t have any pants to wear currently.  Hers are more gender neutral, so hopefully they’ll get passed back so Kit can wear them.  As a bonus, Sara should be able to wear the bigger set of pants in about a year!  I also think Sara will end up testing a few pairs of gender neutrals in the bigger sizes.

0212 Crafty

The pain of sewing clothing is more than offset by the cuteness of the clothing, so I’ll definitely be making a few more pairs of these pants!  I’m kinda wishing they came in my size! Winking smile 

The girls will get their new pants next weekend, so hopefully they’ll both cooperate for a photo op.

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What’s Behind the Wall?

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February 11, 2012

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Kit’s Den is now cleared of my crafty clutter, and it’s time to transform the space for our lil babe.

First things first – we had to satisfy our curiosity as to what was hiding behind the wall in the closet area that cuts off a roughly 18″ square of space.

Well, the answer is ducting. However, Steve hasn’t exactly figured out where it goes or what goes through it. The location is almost directly above the refrigerator in the kitchen, so it’s not anything in the kitchen. He’s going to take another look the next time he’s in the attic to see if he has any lightbulb moments.

But the short answer is that the corner bump out is needed. So the closet space is approximately 40″ wide by 18″ deep. Steve took off the closet doors, and we have no plans to put them back up. Yep – that means there’s technically no closet, no doors to quickly shove stuff behind and make the nursery look presentable. I believe we can make it work.

So what goes into the nook? There’s definitely going to be one shelf toward the top to store seldom-used items in cute covered boxes. And a hanging bar for special outfits right underneath. We’re debating whether or not to have Steve attempt a custom built-in dresser/shelving unit below, or just buying a dresser that fits into the space. We may put a changing pad on the dresser in the nook.  Something like this:


My Powerpoint skillz are awesome!

For the left side, I’m thinking about some narrow floating shelves, so that I can use a couple of baskets to hold diapers & supplies.  Beyond that, I don’t have much planned out…

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Crazy… Part X

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February 3, 2012

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It’s no secret that Steve and I are big fans of Disneyland.  We’ve been passholders since 2006.  In addition, we’ve been competing (for pride) in a scavenger hunt known as MouseAdventure since the fall of 2006.  The event basically involves walking around Disneyland, California Adventure, Downtown Disney, or some combination of the three locales, with our heads down, furiously trying to figure out puzzles inside puzzles.

Our typical GPS route looks something like this:

And that’s never the full route, my phone always dies before the game ends!  The game always involves at least 5 miles of meanderings through the park(s).

We’ve done the event in 100 degree temperatures and with fires blazing in the hills next to Anaheim.  There’s only been 1 event since 2006 that we didn’t do.   So by my count, I’ve done 9 of these things (Steve has done 8, missing 1 due to work travel).

Thus, it is only appropriate I would go for my 10th MouseAdventure while 24 weeks pregnant.  I’m sure we’ll be much slower, and with several bathroom breaks thrown in for good measure.  Hopefully Kit will have a good time! ;)

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18 Weeks

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January 31, 2012

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Those who know me know I much prefer to be behind the camera versus in front of it.

So know that I really must like you all to appease you with belly photos.

From tonight after work – Syl wanted to get in on the photo action.  And if I remember, I should use the same shirt for the photos going forward.

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Guest Bedroom

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January 31, 2012

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I’m amazed by the amount of work Steve was able to accomplish in 2 weekends (plus a little bit of post-work painting in the evenings).  The guest bedroom is a generous size – 12′ is the narrow measurement, so it’s no small task.  Steve is like the Energizer bunny of home improvements!

Yesterday, we were able to move the major furniture back into place (well, reconfigured places) in the guest bedroom.  Meaning all of the painting was done, plus new baseboards installed.  He also hung the main door + closet door, and just the back of those doors need a fresh coat of paint (side note: it really is refreshing to see how much a coat of bright white paint can do to make something feel new and clean!).  The doors also needed new doorknobs installed.  In our house, this is no easy feat as the original doorknobs aren’t a size that is sold today.  So Steve basically uses his dremel tool to carve out a bigger hole for the new knob hardware to fit into.  It’s not necessarily pretty, but it all gets covered up, so no one is any wiser.

My contributions include vacuuming and putting all of the little things back into place, while minimizing any heavy lifting.  I added more items to the Goodwill donation pile, which felt good.  Steve and I both try to make an effort to do a clean sweep through the house at least 2x/year, and get rid of anything that is just taking space and doesn’t serve any purpose.  One more thing we will try to teach baby Kit! :)

We also made a trip to Ikea yesterday.  I’ve been using a Norden table to sew on for several years, but since I’m giving up a lot of storage space in the future nursery by moving into the guest bedroom, the ever-popular Expedit shelving seems more appropriate to fit my needs.  As an owner (and assembler) of several pieces of Ikea furniture, it didn’t take Steve that long to set up the new 16-cubby shelving unit with the desk attached.

Meanwhile, I started the arduous process of cleaning up my sewing space to move next door.  I haven’t been particularly diligent in putting things away the last 6 months, not to mention I’ve had 2 years to squirrel away sewing-related items in that room…so lots to sort and organize.  Also, more items to throw into the donation box.  I should be able to transfer everything out in the next week or so.

Then we will be able to begin the rest of the projects in Kit’s Den.  In particular, there is  a mystery walled-off space in the closet which greatly reduces the size of the closet (to approximately 3′ of width that is useable).  Steve plans to poke a hole in the drywall to see if there is actually anything hiding back there.  We assume there is something – all of the other weird spaces in the house do serve a purpose.  But we just can’t fathom what is back there – we will report back on that as soon as we know!

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Nursery – Part 1

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January 22, 2012

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So the “to do” list is a mile long, including preparing the nursery as well as many other around the house projects. The work officially began last weekend when I spent nearly all of Sunday in the attic installing overhead lights in our bedroom as well as the guest room, including running new electrical through the walls for the switches. I also installed this Casa Habitat fan in what will become the nursery (currently Michelle’s craft room ). Supposedly fans help babies sleep as well as helping to prevent SIDS.

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The installation of this was super easy! The design even included a small hook that held the fan motor while you bolt it on. I really appreciate good engineering when I find it.

Anyway, the projects continued this weekend with clearing out the guest bedroom so that I can repaint it. We’ve moved all of the book shelves out of the room to clear the way for Michelle’s sewing gear, which will no doubt eventually dominate this room. Here is a picture of the room with most of the stuff out…

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In the background you can see the darker blue that will be the end result.

Today also consisted of removing the old baseboards; scraping, patching, and retexturing the walls; and sanding and priming the door jams. We are also replacing the door hardware because the previous owners were lazy and painted over everything (picture below).

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Nearly all of the hinges and cabinet hardware in the house were covered with glopped on paint, and we’ve been replacing them as we go. My goal is to have all of the door hinges replaced ( including repainting the doors) prior to Kit’s arrival.

Anyway, that’s it for now. We’ll keep you posted as the projects continue. For one last photo, here is my 15′ CRV carrying four 16′ pieces of molding. They were comically hanging about 4 feet out of my back window on the way back from Home Depot… I’m pretty sure all of the day workers were making fun of me, I saw one point and the rest started laughing.

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Week 16

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January 16, 2012

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Hi there, it’s Michelle checking in for her first post!  Today marks 16 weeks, and I really ought to post a belly picture (because there is one!), but Steve spent all of Sunday running electrical for all 3 bedrooms upstairs, and installed the ceiling fan in Kit’s room, and overhead lights in our bedroom & the guest bedroom (until we replace with ceiling fans).  I wasn’t going to bug him to take photos for me after all of that work!

Anyway, I had a funny thought on my way into work this morning.  The Black Keys Howlin’ for You was on the radio, and I started laughing at the idea of using that song as entertainment during labor.  “Baby, I’m howlin’ for you…”  Then I started thinking about other songs that might work…such as Salt N Peppa’s Push It.  Then I ran out of ideas, but thankfully, Google is always standing by to answer any query I may have.  Who knows if I’ll actually stick to this plan?  I mean, I have approximately 24 more weeks to figure this out.  But it could be fun to play birth DJ for myself.  Any suggestions are welcome, the funnier, the better!

 

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First Presents Arrive…

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January 7, 2012

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Kit received his/her first piece of mail today from Grandpa Kennedy, some awesome Cyclone gear. Also in the picture are some of the other presents we’ve received so far (blanket from Great Grandpa Kennedy, Captain Calamari from Gabe & Jöelle, book and puppets from Jason & Christina). Thanks to everyone :-D

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A small confession, I’m using this post to try out the WordPress App I downloaded to my phone… Which will hopefully make future posts that much easier.

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