Hemmeroids and Sciatica – Awesome! November 24, 2008

Too much information?

I had another appointment with my midwife today and found out that the pinching feeling I’ve been having in my hip in the evenings is sciatica.  It isn’t bad yet, but she said if it does get bad I can go see a chiropractor.  Oh, and the hemmeroids.  (I am pretty sure I am not spelling that right, but am too lazy to go look it up…)  Yikes.  I haven’t talked to her about that.  I have a little sheet of paper that she gave me at my first appointment that tells me the remedies I may try, but have not built up the nerve to go into a drugstore and purchase me some Preparation H.  Everyone knows where you’re going to put that stuff.  Humiliating.

Other than that all is well.  Baby’s heartbeat (even after my 3 tiny sips of wine that Mike was none too happy about last week) is still normal and even great.  We have the 20 week ultrasound scheduled and Mike is going to be able to go with me, which will be really nice.  I am torturing my mom by not telling her (or anyone else) the date of the ultrasound so that it can be a bit of a surprise when I do tell her.  All I told her is that we will know by Christmas.  I think she is frustrated with that.  But, I don’t care.

I think when she is here for Thanksgiving I am going to have to have a talk with her about respecting my wishes and staying out of my way.  That is not going to be much fun.  Think happy no-tears thoughts for me for that conversation.

 

And, Happy Thanksgiving!  I know I have a LOT to be thankful for this year.  Hope you do too.

Energetic November 11, 2008

Yesterday when I got home from babysitting my two favorite “boyfriends” I was totally exhausted.  Even though I was really only watching one of them (the other one was napping the whole time I was there.  My three-month-old boyfriend was a little cranky, really just tired, but didn’t want to take a nap.  Finally he fell asleep 15 minutes before his mom got home, then he was awake again.

I was going to go to the gym on my way home, but that plan got tossed out the window while I was driving home.  Instead I came home and laid on the couch from about 4:30 pm until 9:00 pm – pathetic!  I didn’t even make myself dinner – I just ate a bowl of cereal. 

Today I feel so much more energetic.  I worked, which took until about 2:30 with delivery and everything, then I went to the gym, came home and cleaned up the dishes, and now I am making and canning pumpkin butter and I am going to work on my Tastebook cookbook this evening if I don’t get a sudden drop in my energy level.  And I am planning on ordering Chinese food for dinner.  I hope I can keep up the momentum for a little while longer.  I have a lot to do this week, and a big dinner party on Friday night (for 30!!) which I hope I am buying the right amount of food for.  Last time I did a dinner party for this couple, we had a LOT of leftovers – but there is nothing more embarrasing than not having enough food - it is a delicate balance.

Anyway, I keep saying this, but maybe I am feeling better from being in the second trimester - a little less tired at least.  But, maybe this is a fluke too.  I did get 9 hours of sleep last night since I slept in and skipped my 6 am yoga class, which I have been going to less and less.  I tried out the 6 pm yoga class and I hated the teacher, so it is 6 am or pay extra for classes somewhere else, which is not something that I am going to do very often.  But, maybe once in a while.

Second Trimester November 10, 2008

I am officially into the second trimester now!  The baby’s heartbeat is still a perfect 160 (which my friend predicts means I am having a girl), I am gaining weight (I am hungry ALL the time, and have a hard time avoiding the sugary snacks that I want to eat), and I am feeling a little less tired.  Though some days I still need to take a two hour nap. 

This morning I scheduled my “Level 1″ ultrasound for December 18 – about a week before when they ideally wanted to do it (at 20 weeks) but I’ll be in Michigan then and REALLY want to know boy or girl before I go home for Christmas.  So, we’ll go the Thursday before and find out.  Only 5 1/2 weeks until we know.  Like I said, two friends here in Chicago are predicting girl, but I had three dreams in one night that it is a boy.  So, we’ll see – I don’t care either way – I actually don’t have any preference at all.  There are pros and cons to each one.  But, I just can’t wait to know. 

Hopefully knowing the gender will also make our name discussions a little easier.  Right now it is a mess.  I suggest a name and Mike hates it, almost without exception.  We have a couple girls names that we’re so-so on and one boy’s name that we like, but no clear cut answers.  I love all the old-timey names that are a little more unusual – Albert, Oliver, Mabel, Beatrice, Lila – and Mike hates all of them.  He likes much more middle-of-the-road names, but I don’t want our child to have a super popular name. It’s going to be a tough negotiation process, I think.

The day I was waiting for November 3, 2008

Last Friday was the big day - reaching 12 weeks in this pregnancy.  At the beginning I didn’t quite understand that 12 weeks wasn’t the start of the second trimester – that happens at the end of this coming week.  I was so fixated on the 12 week mark – it seemed to be the magic date when I knew this was real and (probably) was not going to end.  However, I had been feeling more and more secure about it over the past few weeks, so last Friday was a little bit anticlimactic.  But, it is still GREAT to be in the middle of my 12th week, having graduated from the fertility office to the regular doctor and slowly letting the cat out of the bag to our friends and family.

On Saturday we went to dinner with Mike’s parents and told them the news.  As expected, my mother-in-law was thrilled, and my father-in-law (who was semi-incapacitated by a stroke several years ago) just laughed and I have no idea if he really understood. 

Monday, Monday.  I am (still) trying to fix my mistakes in my accounting software – I totally dread this task.  Hence, a blog post instead of getting started on it.  The last two times I have tried to deal with this I have cried.  Hopefully I can manage today without the tears.

I am only cooking one day this week, which makes for a nice little break and being able to get myself a little more organzied and get a couple bigger projects done or closer to done. 

And hopefully I’ll get to the gym today too.  The midwife I saw last Friday told me the magic number is to keep my heart rate under 140 when I am exercising.  That was do-able on the elliptical, so I am hoping to try out the treadmill today.  I was going to do that yesterday, but after grocery shopping I had to take a two hour nap again.  Saturday I didn’t nap (and didn’t feel like I needed a nap) for the first time in a LONG time.  I thought maybe I was going to be better here on out, but maybe it was just a fluke.