Miffed

All these books I read keep telling me that at 32 weeks most OBs start seeing their patients every two weeks, and then eventually weekly. My OB doesn't want to see me again until week 36. That's a full 8 weeks since my last visit. I do have an ultrasound with the perinatologist next week, but that's mostly just to see how my placenta is positioned. And it will still be 3 weeks after that until my next visit. So I won't be back to my doctor until late March. That seems crazy to me. It's not like I'm super worried about anything, but one of my cousins delivered her baby stillborn years ago and I can't help but think of that from time to time. You have no guarantees until baby is safely out. And even then. My friend's nephew turned blue his first night and has had numerous heart surgeries in his first year and a half. I'm pretty sure I'm beginning to realize that being worried is just part of being a mom. It's going to be a lifelong condition. So I should probably leave my own mom alone about it! :)

In other news, I had my first random baby belly attack today. A mom of a student who I had last seen before Xmas walked up to me and said, "It's still in there?!" Then she grabbed on with both hands, gave me a weird look, and said, "I think it's ready to come out now." I tried my best not to look annoyed and said, "No, I think he's got about 2 more months." Gross. People are so odd. I guess I do have a lot of little kids (mostly kinder) who come up to me and rub my tummy, but I think it's a lot cuter coming from a 5 year old. This one little girl is in a class for "emotionally disabled" students, although she no longer needs the class. When kids in there are too noisy or wild, she'll start yelling at them in her best English, "You scare the baby! You make the baby cry!" (On second thought, maybe her delusions qualify her to stay in there... kidding!!) She cracks me up!

Awarded

I received this award from B. at no news isn't always good news. She's a few weeks ahead of me and I can't wait to find out what gender her little miracle is! So Thank You B. for the award!

Apparently there are rules that go along with it, so here they are:

1) Thank the person(s) who nominated you for this award


2) Copy the award and place it in your blog

3) Link to the person(s) who nominated you for this award


4) Tell us 7 interesting things about you


5) Nominate 7 bloggers and link to their blogs

Ugh. I suck at random facts. I need questions to prompt me...

1. I foolishly took German in high school because we hosted a German exchange student while I was in Junior High. It's been completely useless to me as an adult. However, if I hadn't taken German, I wouldn't have met and married Brian, I probably wouldn't live in Colorado, and I definitely wouldn't be pregnant with this little miracle baby. Amazing how one decision made as a teenager can shape so much of your life.

2. I have a weird obsession with palindromes and patterns, and I really like symmetry. I also like to count the number of letters in short sentences, slogans, or phrases, and find out common denominators. Then I reread the sentence/slogan/phrase by breaking it into small chunks. For example, in the sentence "I suck at random facts" there are 18 letters. So I can break it into 6 chunks of three letters each: "Isu cka tra ndo mfa cts." Why yes, I do have OCD tendencies. But nothing full blown.

3. When I was 18, I fractured my C6 vertebra learning to swing dance with Brian. I had to wear a neck brace for the first 3 months of my senior year of high school. It was awesome... (At the time he said, "You break it, you buy it." I guess I held him to that. And no, I don't swing dance anymore.)

4. In 5th grade I won the school spelling bee. At regionals I was the first out. My word was "acquire." I wrote it down correctly, but was so damn nervous that when I read it out loud, I went too fast and only said "a-c-u-i-r-e." I could've won that damn contest! To this day, spelling errors drive me nuts!

5. I like classic muscle cars. If I could pick one, I would go with a '69 Camaro. I find it highly sexy. And in my opinion, '69 was the best year for them.

6. My thumbs do not match. At all. One is short and stumpy, and the other is long and thin. My toes don't really match well either. For someone who likes symmetry, this is ironic.

7. Up until I completed my practicum at an elementary school, I didn't think I wanted kids. I am the youngest cousin on my mom's side, and the third youngest on my dad's. I was never around babies or little kids and I never babysat. Babies used to completely freak me out. I would never hold someone's baby if offered the chance. I was sure I would do something wrong and look like a total idiot. But being around kindergartners converted me. And now I love holding little babies and I CAN'T WAIT to hold my own son. SOON!!!

It seems like everyone I follow has already received this award. Here's a couple other ladies whose blogs I have really enjoyed over the last 8 months. (If they choose not to pass this on, I won't be offended. And if they already received it and I didn't know, oh well.)

Jen at Of Cabbages and Kings

Brooke at You, Me, and a Petri

32w0d

Is it April yet? Because oh my gosh some days I am so tired/sore/unmotivated to work/antsy. And today I am all of those things. It's not even 8:00pm and I just want to go to bed. But if I do that, my hips and rib cage will be killing me by 3:00am. There's no winning.

I really don't feel like I look much bigger, but he has to be growing because he is getting strong! His feet (at least I think it's his feet) frequently push against my rib cage. And when I say he pushes, he really pushes. I don't know if that's what often wakes me up, but when I do wake up he's often pushing away. And even though it sounds like I'm complaining, I really do enjoy it. I love feeling him and knowing that he's getting big and strong. They're like little love nudges to me. Every once in a while, I also get some kicks or punches low on my side and it kind of tickles. :)

Quick question to any ladies who are also nearing the end. Has anyone noticed that some of the skin on their tummy has lost a lot of sensation? To the right of my belly button I have very little feeling left. I sure do hope it comes back. It would be weird to go the rest of my life with a numb abdomen.

32 week update:

Current cravings: Candy

Current mood: Antsy

Current appetite: I get hungry a lot but can't eat a lot at a time.

Current energy level: I'm pooped!

Baby movement: See above.

Contractions: Still there. They can now make breathing more difficult for a couple of seconds.

Two Months To Go!

Today is two months until my due date. Hard to believe!

So a while back we finally bought the cheapo Graco prenatal heart listener. After multiple attempts to find any sounds, we were both convinced it was a waste of 20 bucks. All I could hear were my hands creaking as I moved it around my tummy. Tonight Brian must have been bored. He picked it up and moved it around a couple of times. And guess what? He actually found the heartbeat after only about a minute! I slapped the headphones on and timed the beats on my phone's stopwatch. 132! Definitely not mine! So cool. We'll have to figure out how to record it to the computer so we can keep it for posterity (provided we succeed again).

31w0d (And Why I Love My Mom)

9 weeks to go! We're getting antsy!!

My mom visited this weekend. Since we're all in education, we were able to enjoy a three-day weekend together. And boy did we put her to work! Sadly, I didn't get a lot of her artistic genes. But at least I can still benefit from them. THANKS MOM!!!!

My mom taping the tree by the crib

Brian painting the birch trees

Birch trees finished

More birch trees and an owl (My mom did the small branches, leaves, and owl all freehand)

Brian and I made the leaves out of various fabrics

31 week update:

Current cravings: Nothing much

Current mood: Kinda up and down. I think hormones and exhaustion are getting the best of me.

Current appetite: Healthy

Current energy level: I'm starting to get more tired all the time

Baby movement: He's getting strong and still very active. The other day he was running his leg or arm across my rib cage. It felt REALLY weird!

Contractions: Still several here and there throughout each day.

I'm 30! (Take 1)

This is the first time I'll turn 30 this year, but I'm pretty sure 30 weeks pregnant feels a little more exciting than 30 years old.

I was Mrs. CrabbyPants all weekend. I felt lethargic and unmotivated to do anything. It was not fun. I'm not sure what caused it. Brian is guessing hormones. I think part of it is that baby has been kicking the bajeezus out of my cervix lately which makes me physically uncomfortable and a little nervous. Knowing that my placenta was low back in December, I worry that I'll end up with placenta previa and one of his kicks is gonna wreak havoc on everything. I'll be so glad to have my next ultrasound at 33 weeks. I've also had more Braxton-Hicks recently and sometimes it actually does feel a little uncomfortable, whereas before I didn't feel any cramping at all. All I can do is take it one day at a time, and each day gets us just a little closer! (Speaking of, only 37 days of work left!! Hurray!)

30 week update:

Current cravings: Haagen Dazs Chocolate ice cream

Current mood: A little irritable, but improving

Current appetite: Getting hungrier again

Current energy level: Bed time is getting earlier

Baby movement: Still a lot of hiccups and rolling around

Contractions: I had a lot over the weekend. Not as many today, thankfully.

Every week I don't feel like I look any bigger. Then Brian takes my picture and I'm like, "Whoah." Okay, still growing.

29w0d

The last couple of days have been all about the nursery. I guess it was picking up the chair yesterday that got us inspired. It's fun seeing it all come together now. Last night I started reading a Winnie the Pooh book to baby. I am so ready for April, and now that it's February, it's starting to sound close! (But it still feels like forever away.) I just want to meet my little man!

29 week update:

Current cravings: Chocolate

Current mood: Mellow

Current appetite: Normal

Current energy level: I'm starting to get pretty tired again.

Baby movement: I've started to feel a lot of hiccups. It feels like a twitch in my abdomen that sticks around for 5-10 minutes. And he tends to thrash a little when it happens.

Contractions: They come and go throughout the day most days.