Pregnancy Tales

More fun tidbits on pregnancy as of late.....

-The baby is moving so much and it is really visible from the outside now. I still can't make out the baby's exact position (i.e. what body parts I'm feeling/seeing) but I can certainly tell when something is poking up under my rib cage. This week, I've noticed that sometimes when I cross my arms and rest them on my belly, the baby kicks upward with such force that my arms actually catch a little air and fly off my tummy (so sorry baby, was I invading your space?) The same thing happens if I lean too hard against a desk or table-KICK-it's like a "get back!" warning.

-I had a whole pile of labs drawn last week. I was thrilled that I passed my gestational diabetes screening (I was trying to imagine how the scene would go down if I did have diabetes and my Dr tried to send me, the dietitian who counsels patients with gestational diabetes to see a dietitian about my own gestational diabetes. Thankfully, we don't have to go there!) :o) The lab draw was torture though! They took 8 whole tubes of blood again and I nearly passed out! I am convinced that maybe they were secretly taking extra blood to donate it--the vampires! You never know with this economy....desperate times call for desperate measures. Seriously though, my nurse husband said he could have run the same labs on half the volumes of blood at his work. I guess they are just TRYING to make me anemic!

-Yesterday was weird. I seriously felt like I gained 3# all at once (according to the scale, I actually may have.....time will tell if it was a fluke). All of a sudden, I felt HUGE! I tried on 2 shirts in the morning, neither of which fit right anymore. I couldn't breathe deeply (my lung capacity is truly being compromised now). I couldn't bend over. My stomach seriously couldn't have gotten tighter--I think it was stretching before my eyes! My friends, this is the beginning of the 3rd trimester I'm afraid! ***And if I have you worried, don't be. I know huge weight gains overnight is not a good sign. I think most of yesterday's symptoms were due to the position of the baby over the course of the day.

-In Lu of yesterday's changes, I headed straight from work to shop for some larger tops. Graham came home from work, knowing that I had gone shopping, and opened the fridge to help throw on the last fixings for dinner. He burst out laughing when he found a GAP bag in the fridge. HA people! If you (like him) are thinking that the pregnancy forgetfulness has set in, it hasn't....at least not that severely. I had packed my LUNCH in a GAP bag thank you very much! When I told Graham this, he was a little disappointed and proceeded to share with me that he's super excited for the "end of pregnancy" during which he is hoping I really start to get loopy and forgetful and do crazy things that entertain him (like putting my clothes away in the fridge I guess!)

-We attended our first birthing class this week and I actually allowed myself to watch the video of a live birth. I knew that it would either alleviate some anxiety or worsen it. Thankfully, it did the former and I found myself actually tearing up when the baby came out--whoa, was not expecting that! During the video though, I was practicing my new breathing techniques to keep me relaxed and Graham was sitting behind me rubbing my neck and telling me "You're doing such a good job!" Haha, and that was only to keep my conscious during the video! I can only imagine what the real thing will be like! :o) (Actually, I feel quite at ease currently about the whole birthing process and am pleased with the relaxation skills we're learning).

-We've been doing a lot of talking about whether to have an epidural or not. My current birthing plan is to really not have much of a birthing plan because I know it will not go as I plan anyway. I have a general idea in mind but nothing set.

-Our bed has become pretty much 1/2 pillows, half bed. I think at one point Graham took almost every pillow we own (including pillows from the guest bedroom, throw pillows on the living room couches and chairs etc) to try and create a comfortable sleeping position for me. He had me just lay there while he stuffed a pillow here and a pillow there to try and support my back. It wasn't until I got up that I realized he had used about FIFTEEN pillows on the project!!!! Now I think we're down to about 9 pillows (only 5 of which I actually use while I sleep). :o)

Sometimes it is just beyond me how much my body is changing and I have to laugh at all the hoops I go through to try and keep up!