spinning-jennie: Fetality archives

...But Tomorrow?
So the contractions are back with a vengeance (ow), I seem to be leaking fluid, and it looks like I'll be seeing both the reappearance of my dinner and the arrival of baby sooner than I thought. Should be back in a couple of days!
08/13/04 02:35 AM in Fetality  |  Comments


Not Today.
All contractions and other signs stopped this afternoon. Even the nausea, eventually. Sneaky uterus. Later, the little alien danced on my bladder in his usual nightly show of glee. He came for the placenta, but he stays for the french fries.
08/12/04 09:10 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


Expiration Date
Managed to get another appointment in today, again with Dr. Manhands (ow). I have an induction appointment for the Monday after next, if it comes to that. Which he assured me it won't - now I'm at 3 cm, and the kid is about as far down as he can get without popping out (tell me something I didn't know). He's betting I'll be in the hospital within the next day or two. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but I know I'm not going to wait long enough to be induced. Even if I have to walk to Fresno, eat five eggplants, or make use of the in-house prostaglandin donor.
08/11/04 03:25 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


Bitch, bitch, bitch. I know.
I'm so fed up with my feet. Or foot, really - the left one. On certain days, the edema makes it looks like a potato on the end of an elephant's leg. As if my lower extremities didn't have enough problems, what with the weight gain and the chicken-pox-like scarring from the PUPPP. "Elevate it!" Joke, and, awkward. "Drink more water!" I would drown. It actually had me in tears, because I did not - did not - want to put the same damned sandals on that I've been wearing for six months straight. The only things that are actually adjustable enough to accommodate both girths. So I've got the stupid thing squished into a Land's End athletic moc, and the compression seems to be normalizing the foot (the numbness means it's working!), but I've still got the big fugly cankle. My bony right foot is laughing at it, too.

Aren't the stretchmarks and perma-gut enough disfigurement for one person? When can I have my body back?

And suddenly, I can't eat enough to stay full - unless I cross that ever-changing line where I've eaten too much at once, and then game over. And there's no food that sounds good, and I'm tired of bawling, and incontinence (don't think I've mentioned that one before, eh?), and the endless, meaningless stream of do-nothing days (yeah, yeah, take advantage of them, but it's been nine - nine! - months now), and I really just want to move on and have this part end.

I guess this is how women are able to face the pain in the end!
08/08/04 04:37 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


zzzzzzzzz.
I was all excited because yesterday I was chock-full of energy and the will to clean. I finally washed the dishes in the sink, disinfected all the countertops, and mopped the kitchen floor (much to the chagrin of my hips). I washed towels and rugs, and even made it out for some gas and a car wash and a run to Rite-Aid. And no naps! I thought, "Ah-HAH, last-minute nesting, you elusive devil - you're finally mine!"

But this morning, a growling belly drove me out of bed to eat breakfast, and overwhelming fatigue sent me back. For the entire morning. Literally. Gah.
08/06/04 12:54 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


At Least There'll Be Ice.
Yeah, I'm still here. And I must say - I'm starting to get just a little cranky. Bowling ball inside pelvis = ow.

I bought apple juice and I'm making orange Jello. Because the hyper lady on the childbirth DVD said that I could eat or drink anything clear in the early stage of labor. And I want that anything to have as much sugar/energy as possible, since they won't let me eat or drink once I get to the hospital. Cruel barbarians!
08/04/04 09:25 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


Not the Good Invalid
Okay. Now I might be starting to get mentally ready to get this show on the road. I showered and dressed (after several attempts and naps), finished off the latest list... and realized I just wasn't going to make it through a store. Not with all this pressure. Even standing long enough to wash a couple of pans is painful, depending on the day.

Don't know if I'll have an appointment this week. Their scheduling system was down on Friday, and they added me to a list of people to call when it was back up. Still no call. I'm not disappointed about putting off another long, uncomfortable drive downtown for ten minutes that'll make me even more uncomfortable for two days. Maybe I won't even have time for another appointment...
08/03/04 04:36 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


I Can't Make This Stuff Up.
Dr. Manhands: So, do you think your baby is going to get all those curls?
Me: Well, maybe. But it's a boy, so I don't know how happy he'd be about that!
DM: Oh, it'd be great for him! [in all apparent seriousness] Just look at Justin Guarini!!!
Me: Um... yeah...
DM: You know, my wife had exactly your hair her whole life. Until we had our first daughter. Three months later, it went entirely straight! And she never got her curls back!
Me: ...gulp??? [holding back strong urge to sob]
07/30/04 10:03 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


Hoo, Yay, Appointment Day.
It's my theory that, for the last month, they have you in every week so that you can experience airing your ladybits for as many folks as possible. Because I can't believe that they think checking for dilation so often actually has any purpose (certainly doesn't do a thing for me). I may refuse to don the buttlesswondergown for Dr. Manhands today. More than willingly, I'll give you my body fluids, arm, and belly - but my cervix is going through enough without you poking at it.
07/30/04 10:21 AM in Fetality  |  Comments


Preggie Pr0n
Yesterday, in a fit of feeling artsy and, well, not entirely like a heaving moo-cow, I decided to take a Mirror Project pic. And today, in a fit of extreme bravery, I'm showing it here. Us at exactly 37 weeks. May be considered by some NWS, especially by popes, and possibly most Republicans.
07/26/04 09:20 AM in Fetality  |  Comments


Yay!
All my bloodwork - liver enzymes, platelets, iron - completely smack dab in the middle of their respective normal ranges. Whew! And my BP this morning was the lowest reading I've ever had. So I'm in the clear as long as my weekly BP checks stay normal.

The advice nurse that I dealt with was very nice. So I take back half of what I said about the non-physician staff.

Even the PUPPP seems to be slowing down (knock on wood-like desktop surface). Maybe I can actually, you know, enjoy this last couple of weeks or so.
07/22/04 04:18 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


Eeek, 36 Weeks!
I was lucky enough to get the best doctor today. She talks straight, no condescension, explains what she's going to do. She would be the reason I'd stick with this practice.

My last fasting glucose test was 100% normal. She wants to do another one soon, just to be safe. My blood pressure today, however, was not okay. Rather much not okay. She thinks it's just a fluke, because I'm not showing any facial/much ankle swelling, or spilling any protein in the urine, or having headaches at all. Tomorrow I'll go in early for another reading, and if that's high (and my bloodwork from today shows signs), I'll be sent to the hospital for some other monitoring. And if that goes poorly... ugh. I rail against early induction, but I know pre-eclampsia isn't something you want to screw around with (unlike gestational diabetes, we're talking possible maternal and fetal death). Meantime, I'll just keep hoping/believing it was a fluke reading.

I'm not at all effaced or dilated. Oh, well. There are a few movies I want to squeeze in, anyhow (barring events tomorrow, of course).
07/21/04 09:11 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


Your Friendly Neighborhood Lumbering Leper
I could probably scare a small child with my welts. They're pretty much everywhere now, the worst spot being between my fingers, runner-up my ankles (because those are hard to reach). My calves aren't terrible... yet. Oatmeal - no. Calamine - no. Benadryl - only because it knocks me out. Cortizone - no. Cold compresses - please. I'm going to try Benadryl gel next. Tomorrow I'll ask the doctor about non-drowsy antihistamines, and how safe she thinks they are. Because I know they've got to be a lot safer than steroids in any case.

I think he's dropped, because I have whole new brand of pressure and stiff-sore going on. It's a load off my skin to feel at least some sign of progress. Commence with the waddle!
07/20/04 10:16 AM in Fetality  |  Comments


Nope, Didn't Need That.
Really. As if I weren't feeling uncomfortable enough, I've developed a skin condition, PUPPP (or, less charmingly, Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy). Tiny, unbelievably itchy welts that began on the lower abdomen, spread to the upper thighs, and, just today, have started to cover my hands and forearms. It only occurs in an estimated 1 of about 200 first pregnancies. Lucky, lucky me. It's found twice as often in those carrying males. There's no cure except delivery, and treatments for the itching (topical steroids, oral antihistamines) are reported as inconsistently helpful at best. Yay!
07/15/04 10:17 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


35 Weeks
I make a really good kitty bed these days... D. clicked this just before McFly jumped up on my lap for a nap, too.
07/13/04 08:35 AM in Fetality , Photo  |  Comments


Yaaaaawwwwn.
So tired. Slept all night, and most of this morning. Just like the past week. It's not very productive, but I'm too exhausted to care (much). I guess schlepping the bump around takes more work than I thought it would. Seriously, I've no idea how some people are physically able to work all the way up 'til the end - especially without the benefit of large draughts of caffeine!
07/08/04 01:46 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


Home Stretching
*scratch scratch twitch scratch*

Oh, someone please stop the itching. I'm about to take a bath in hydrocortisone. And - thrills! - I've got newer, deeper stretch marks every day. *scratch*

We've got a severe weather alert for triple-digit temps today (didn't quite make it) and tomorrow. This is not making the thought of lumbering through another month any more attractive. Which of course means that he'll arrive late (now that we've seen the photographic proof that he's not some sugar-bloated monster baby and I won't be forced into surgical removal three weeks early).

Started watching the childbirth DVD, and are now just getting to the fun part. And by 'fun,' I really mean 'like Hell,' because she's just told us that "you're not really in labor until the contractions are five minutes apart and they're so bad that you feel like you want to bite your own toes off."

Um. So. Ye-e-e-aaaah.

The itching... it's really not that bad.
07/05/04 10:32 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


This is Getting Ridiculous
At what point does all the fasting and bloodletting do more harm than good? I got up at five so I can get the latest two tubes out of the way when the lab opens at seven (or, with as little fasting time as possible). And I still feel like total crap. I really just want my f***ing bran flakes.
06/29/04 05:51 AM in Fetality  |  Comments


Tour(ette's)
Labor and Delivery tour at the hospital today. Two firetrucks were outside Emergency when we pulled up... then firemen streaming into our entrance... then a huge group of folks piled up at the elevators. Apparently one of the elevators was emitting smoke up on the fifth floor (!!!) So when we finally did get up to the seventh floor, our guide couldn't get clearance for us to travel between floors. There was talk of rescheduling, but frankly, I'm already downtown every two weeks now, and another trip sounded less than appealing. Luckily clearance was granted before we got fed up and disbanded.

The labor rooms are large and nice enough. Not what I'd call "homelike" (an adjective more trendy hospitals strive for), but comfortable considering. I made sure that D. saw exactly where the ice machine is. That's the important thing.

I was dismayed to learn that only half the recovery rooms are private, the shared rooms are miniscule, and, as the guide said, we "ARE in the midst of a boom." If you know me at all, you realize that the thought of sharing a room with a strange person holds all the appeal of a naked blind date, especially when dealing with pelvic battle wounds. At least they make every attempt to move you into a private room ASAP.

Afterwards, we went to fill out the pre-admission paperwork. "Oh, didn't your doctor give you the forms to mail in?" Um, yeah. My office is TOTALLY on the ball with things like that. I've had two docs mention preadmission, but neither hinted that they could just give me the forms right there to fill out and mail in (why the hospital doesn't offer them online - even in accursed PDF - is a mystery).
06/26/04 03:05 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


Banzai Baby
It's like that short-lived show "Banzai," but with points, and, you know, our baby. Guess the birth date, weight, and length (gender's obviously a big gimme) to win fah-bu-lous prizes (game name is BabyKadrioski).

Believe me - your guess is as good as mine.
06/21/04 10:26 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


Six AM Saturdays...
Another early Saturday for the labor anaesthesia class at the hospital. The poor doctor seemed pretty uncomfortable in front of so many people; I felt his pain. Luckily I don't get squeamish over needle talk. Needles in the spine. IVs. Needles in the - ahem - nether regions.

Okay, maybe thinking about that last one had me a little squirmy.

Since the last hospital I'd hung around in for any reason was the bright and airy Marquette General (in the northern boonies of Michigan), what I saw of Sutter Memorial seemed strangely old and frumpy in comparison. Not that I'm doubting their good reputation on appearances, but it just felt weird.

Of course Hannibal's, the only eastern European diner downtown, is never, ever open when we think it logically would be and we're jonesing for some goulash or spanakopita. So we wandered down to Old Sac and found a new little hideout below the floodline - Annabelle's Pizza and Pasta. Very family, very cheap - $5 for the lunch buffet! The pastas were passable, but the pizza had the fired-crispy crust I love. Would-be dieticians can just simmah down, now - I also had some fresh veggies. The ice, crushed to perfection, was delectable...
06/19/04 03:24 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


Mama Likes it Rough
Still no real food cravings. Which would actually be kind of helpful at this point, because even when I'm hungry, nothing sounds particularly good, and I've become very indecisive at times. I only gained one pound last month (more like kidlet gained two, and I lost one). Which is fine. I mean, I had a little extra to work with in the first place. But I'm definitely not shovelling it in.

What I am "craving," though, are rough-textured things. Like:

  • Bare feet on concrete
  • My pumice stone
  • Kitty licks
  • Brushing my tongue
  • Exfoliating, oooh


    • What makes it stranger is that other women are reporting a need to be surrounded by soft things, even going so far as carrying "security blankets" around the house with them. I'm so abnormal.
    06/14/04 03:15 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


    29 (31?) Weeks
    Our ultrasound from last week. He appears to be sucking his thumb!
    06/12/04 06:20 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


    Peeking
    Another ultrasound today. [TMI alert!] My bladder was so full per their drinking instructions (and the baby was head-down, pressing right into it), that the tech made me go a couple of times before trying for clear shots. Didn't help that I'm trying to keep very hydrated, for all the vein poking in the morning. I see a ham omelet and a creamy cup of decaf in my post-fasting future.

    We got to see all sorts of things - the perfectly-beating chambers of the heart, an apparently rare breathing "practice" session of the diaphragm, a nice spine, and, unsurprisingly, a full bladder. And it's "still a boy." Hee. She said he was the most accommodating subject she'd seen all week, practically pointing whichever part she wanted to examine into the wand (I mused that may bode well for the future). And no fibroid tumors, yay! Still have a wait on any potential major size/age discrepancies...

    I would show a picture, but the scanner is the machine that spontaneously won't play nice today. Maybe I'll have the patience to tackle it on Sunday.
    06/04/04 06:50 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


    Trying Not to be Cranky
    I had my one-hour glucose test over a month ago. Never got a call, assumed all was well. I was, as I found out today, at 142 (140 is their upper limit). Now I know that after fasting, and drinking that horrid warm nastiness, and keeping it down for three hours while sitting in a hot lab - I'm going to pass out and/or throw up. There's almost no way around it; I nearly did the first time, and I hadn't been fasting then. After reading today that "a majority of women fail the one hour," and being borderline, and reading about other women on one of my boards with higher scores who didn't take the three-hour, I decided to refuse it, and reduce my sugar intake (not a bad idea in any case). I'm sick to tears of my normal pregnancy being over-medicalized and fraught with unnecessary discomfort and subsequent worry, and I put my foot down. Deciding directly afterwards that if there's ever another pregnancy, I'll be seeing a midwife exclusively.

    Apparently some members of my practice don't take kindly to refusing tests. Luckily it wasn't a doctor pitching to me in that condescending stupid-patient tone, or I'd consider walking now. I still got talked into another one-hour on Saturday. This time I'll fast, even though it's not required, just to make absolutely certain I'm under. At least D. will be able to drive me, so I don't pass out on the road afterwards.
    05/27/04 05:21 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


    And If I Think it's Fun Now...
    Simple tasks once taken for granted, now becoming difficult:
  • shaving
  • doing anything pertaining to feet (putting on socks, cutting nails, scratching)
  • in fact, some shoes are almost unwearable (thanks to swelling, woot)
  • putting on pants
  • getting laundry out of washer
  • opening doors (I keep forgetting I have a stomach!)
  • rolling over in bed
  • sleeping more than three hours without a trip to the bathroom
  • getting up into the RAV
  • getting up out of the Breeze
  • sitting up after an exam (this month is my last "reprieve," then I start going every two weeks)
  • not thinking about labor every half hour (!!!)
    • 05/25/04 10:26 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


    The Daily Uterus
    The kidlet is moving what seems like all the time now. Though no longer exclusively in kicks and jabs (those feet to the bladder are a doozy) - lots of wriggling, and a little hiccuping, too. Very strange, almost alien-ish, but reassuring nonetheless.

    It's getting more and more difficult to do simple things, like take walks, or dig in the dirt. I get tired and breathless fast. I can't sit too long without moving, or my butt and lower ribs ache. Sometimes I wake up with my hip bones on fire. One day when we were walking into Home Depot, I temporarily "lost" my right sciatic nerve, and my leg nearly buckled out from under me. The past few days I've been getting ravenously hungry just before bedtime - and I mean that in the "no way I'm going to sleep unless it stops" hunger. Lots of things your mother never tells you about pregnancy, apparently!

    I've also learned that you can religiously slather yourself with elastin and collagen and cocoa butter, etc., etc., ad infinitum, until your stomach is as smooth as that baby-to-be's cushy little tushy - but the scary purple stretchmarks they show in those Palmer's commercials really are too deep within the skin, and genetic. It's best to just accept upfront that you will never be caught dead in a two-piece swimsuit again, and move on.

    I had my first Babies R Us experience this week. Even though shopping hasn't been high on the fun list lately, I was kind of looking forward to it (or, at least getting a bunch of the medium-ticket items out of the way in one fell swoop). But moms with very expensive purses and big carts of Pampers and Enfamil, it seems, are kind of fast and pushy and rude. And I think I've already discussed how me and my big scary hormones are dealing with irritants right now (generally not well). Maybe I should just stick to Target. In any case, I scored the Diaper Champ and long-range monitor I had trouble finding elsewhere.

    Still need:
  • Stroller/car seat system (with extra base for second car)
  • Co-sleeper
  • Milking machine
  • Rocker
  • High chair (though no rush on that, really)
  • Crib mattress


    • Pretty much set on clothes and other small things, since I've been making a point to pick an item up here or there over the past few months.
    05/15/04 03:58 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


    Navel Novelty
    Hee! Hiccups! Nearly a half hour of tickly hiccups. Just a little jab-jab-jab left of the bellybutton.
    05/07/04 07:41 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


    Pagophagia. Who knew?
    I could be craving anything. Peanut butter and pickles. Strawberry Pop-Tarts. Necco wafers dipped in grape Kool-Aid powder (bad imagination! bad!). Anything. So what does my boring old self want, and want to its very marrow?

    Ice.

    I've read that pagophagia can indicate low blood iron, but my supplements/diet provide more than enough, and the tests are always normal. I'm just weird. And drinking enough water in boring liquid form is difficult at best these days, anyhow.

    The ice here is good, but I'm thinking of going to the McDonald's drive-thru and ordering up a yogurt parfait and a cup of ice. Because they've got some damned good ice.
    05/06/04 09:52 AM in Fetality  |  Comments


    Now I Can Eat My Yoplait in Peace
    The Glucola wasn't as bad as I expected; it wasn't all that difficult to chug it in five minutes. Though I was disappointed that my choices were all citrus - orange, lemon, or lime. Blech. I went for the orange. Didn't feel any ill effects until a good forty-five minutes later, when I sat up too fast on the exam table. Ooof. Just about passed out! After five minutes on my left side I was good to go.

    I've been so busy not eating sugar that I forgot to overhydrate, so they couldn't find a good vein in my arms. They usually have to use a baby gauge needle on me in any case, but this time it had to go in my hand. Which, strangely enough, was less uncomfortable than an arm poke. I still can't watch them do it.

    Have to schedule another ultrasound. My uterus is still measuring big for the due date, so they're going to look around for fibroids. They didn't catch any on the last one (and you'd think they'd have to be pretty noticeable for that much difference); I believe I'm just due earlier than they figure. Whatever - I get the fun of an extra ultrasound!
    04/28/04 10:42 AM in Fetality  |  Comments


    Mmm, Syrup.
    Tomorrow, bright and early, I get to take the test for gestational diabetes. I go to the lab first, they give me a nasty Glucola syrup to drink, I go to my regular appointment upstairs, and, after an hour has passed, I get my blood drawn back at the lab. In preparation, I'm not allowed sugar of any kind today (not even fruit juice!). Hopefully neither of two things will happen: 1) I won't throw up the Glucola (somewhat common), or 2) I'll somehow fail and have to take the three-hour test, which requires you to drink the Glucola on an empty stomach, and have blood drawn every hour afterwards.

    I wish they'd do this only to women who exhibit possible symptoms, and not as a routine. Who needs the extra stress?
    04/27/04 11:52 AM in Fetality  |  Comments


    Hey, I'm Up Here!
    I'm not an invalid. Really. I'm not. Maybe I should get a t-shirt made...

    I'm too independent, too averse to unnecessary attention to be a public fawning object. And, while it's nice that people are concerned about my/our health and well-being... if you ask once, and I tell you that I'm perfectly fine walking around, or picking up a five-pound object, then I'd be ever so grateful if you'd just believe me, and not question my good judgement. Because I'm not the fetus. I'm - now, look up here, at me! - actually a very healthy adult (aside from those allergies I've no way to safely treat, except with OTC zombifiers).

    Now, if you still can't get the mother hen out of your system, go find me some nice chocolate.
    04/12/04 09:58 AM in Fetality  |  Comments


    It's a...
    The ultrasound was a success! The kid once again wowed us with its acrobatics (giving the tech a rather hard time of getting all the needed images), it has the right number of parts... and it certainly wasn't shy about giving us a peek at its gender.
    03/30/04 03:03 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


    Cruel and Usual Punishment
    I'm sitting here chugging the last of the 32 oz. of water I'm supposed to slam in an hour before our ultrasound appointment (a full bladder conducts better... so they say). I thought I'd be in severe pain by now, but my main problem at the moment seems not to be with losing it down there, but with keeping it all in my stomach (all the valves in your body seem to loosen up when you're pregnant - fun!).

    Keep your fingers crossed that the legs aren't!
    03/30/04 09:06 AM in Fetality  |  Comments


    Five Month Top Tens
    Top Ten Best Things:
    10. Saying "I have to have new clothes" - and it's absolutely true
    9. Oh, The Books I'll Buy!
    8. I get packages from my mom about every other week - it's like year-round Christmas
    7. There are baby clothes out there tiny and cute enough to make you tear up a little, if you're in that mindset
    6. Not feeling guilty about eating real ice cream
    5. In fact, what diet?
    4. What birth control?
    3. Planning a room meant only for cute
    2. Seeing the little dervish spinning away on the last ultrasound
    1. Tiny nudges and knocks

    Top Ten Worst Things:
    10. A few months back, learning that there's an entire faction of society that not only doesn't like kids (this I sympathize with), they hate the people who have them with steaming vitriol
    9. Nagging mother (ugh)
    8. Some days feeling like I just want to kill the next passerby that looks at me the wrong way
    7. [yawwwwwn]
    6. I very much dislike monthly OB appointments
    5. Dearly missing wine/rum/Claritin/Ibuprofen/Diet Vanilla Coke/coffee with caffeine/tuna
    4. Round ligament pain (ow), lower back pain, and Braxton-Hicks contractions - that first one was a little frightening
    3. Extreme fear of failure as a parent
    2. TLC, once just a mildly emotional diversion, now has the power to scare the ever-living crap out of me
    1. Three months of all-day sick and toothbrush puking
    03/23/04 08:18 AM in Fetality  |  Comments


    I Forsee Great Renal Pain in My Future
    I'm beginning to think the Nublet is controlling not only my french fry lust, but my very energy. Yesterday, it played jumping bean all day, and I was a cleaning dervish. Today barely a poke, and all I want is a big, fat, day-long nap.

    I'm wearing some full-on maternity pants now, a bit unflattering though they hang. Most of the shirts continue to look like circus tents, but my own are just snug enough to make me feel dumpy - and most of them don't come close to covering the stretchy pants panels! So getting dressed is a bit of a trial (not that I'm usually a fashion maven by any means, but don't expect anything resembling haute couture in our Monterey photos). Still, anything's better than the nausea, and every day I'm grateful it's behind me.

    We're in for a cooler spell next week, and that's when the nursery will be painted. Little clothes and trinkets are beginning to pile up in there, so I'm itching to get at least a dresser set up. I could just turn on the A/C and do it now, but I continue to stubbornly maintain that March is too early.

    Eleven days until the big ultrasound. Not that I'm impatient.

    Nope, not me. Hum-dee-dum.
    03/18/04 05:03 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


    That's Edutainment
    Dr. Wei Siang Yu presents a rather novel approach to boosting Singapore's fertility rate: the Dr. Love Super Baby Making Show, which will "feature couples from around the world in competition to conceive first." Not just realiteevee, he'll also be hosting a partner show (The Dr. Love Talk Show) that tackles sexual issues.

    Don't let the American networks get wind of this (even though we don't really need it here, but that never stopped FOX). Or, wait... it's okay to have downright slutty realiteevee, but discussing the real issues of sex and reproduction outright would probably be a big no-no. So just the conception competition then - but tackier.
    03/17/04 02:13 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


    Tween
    I can't flop on my stomach anymore. There's now so obviously something in there, something which patently doesn't like to be squished. Not that I can much blame it.

    My gut, however, is still far from pictureworthy. Believe me, I tried, because I've heard that that's What People Do when they have blogs and get knocked up. But it really just looks poochy, like I ate too much Sbarro's [hum-dee-dum].

    I can't wear my normal jeans without serious intervention, and full-blown maternity pants just look plain stupid (especially when most of them seem to assume my legs will also be growing into giant tree trunks). I'm waiting on a pair of these for the weird interim between normal belly chunk and volleyball concealment.
    02/23/04 11:57 AM in Fetality  |  Comments


    Newspile Junior
    I finally found the perfect wallpaper border for the nursery, something with the right colors and froggy fun but not too fluffy. I think that'll go hip-level, with blue above, and green below.

    Been getting a few little things here and there. My favorite so far is a onesie with the London "Underground" symbol on the front, and the sign with "Exit" on the butt!

    My mom keeps nagging me (with increasing aggressiveness) because she thinks I'm not moving fast enough, and there's no better way to get me to perversely dig my heels in - and avoid her calls! But, jeez, really - I don't have the "good" ultrasound until the end of next month, at which point I'll have the information I need to pick out dresses or not. I mean, the unisex stuff I've been getting is cute and all, but. And as far as the rest goes... I really need to paint the room before I start furnishing it. In any case, I'll still have about four months of empty days to fill. I don't feel rushed in the least. I suppose it wouldn't kill me to pick up a bag of diapers every time I go to the store. Though I haven't decided 100% that I won't be using cloth - especially since I found out they make absorbent, biodegradable, flushable liners. Hmm.
    02/19/04 01:26 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


    We Need a Name that Means "Gymnast"
    Okay, so today was totally worth the pantsing. First we got to see an (almost unbelievably) bigger alien - doing sommersaults! Literally! All spinning feets and arms and noggin. We didn't get a picture this time, otherwise I'd show you. And then, even though it was probably a couple weeks early, we got to hear the heartbeat with the doppler, bird-fast and strong. So cool.
    01/27/04 03:49 PM in Fetality  |  Comments


    Speculum Wishes and KY Dreams
    Off to the OB again today. Breaking into Month Four, and already I'm tired of dropping trou for strangers. And I do mean strangers - there are nine OBs and two nurses in the practice, and apparently I get to see a different one every time (and who knows who'll be attending the delivery). They take my blood pressure as a matter of course, and it's generally a bit, well, elevated. Now there's a mystery.
    01/27/04 10:05 AM in Fetality  |  Comments