An Amusing Mood-Killer

Blair's post here inspired me to share this story from last night.

Before I get started, I'm going to say that C finds me VERY sexy. All. The. Time. Pregnant or not. However, when I'm pregnant, and especially this pregnancy, I have absolutely less than zero sex drive. Generally I can sort of keep up and keep him satisfied, but we've seriously had sex like 3 times this entire pregnancy. Yep, I'm 23 weeks pregnant. You can do the math if you'd like, but it's not pretty. So anyway, last night, C and I were laying there in the dark, and I was starting to fall asleep, while letting my brain wander about childbirth and similar topics. C rolls over and asks me what I'm thinking about, so I tell him. His response?

"Well, I was going to try and seduce you...but not after that."

I think it's kind of funny, in a very sad way. I guess at least he didn't say my eyes were like a dinosaur's. Really, you should read Blair's post.

SNOW!

Finally! It took long enough! Pardon the crappy cell phone picture, which is no longer an accurate representation of the snow in the 5 minutes since I took it.This is just the beginning, we should be getting about 4-8 inches. Not much, but still, it's snow! It's about time, since (nearly) everyone else in the country has gotten snow but the Denver area.

Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and if you don't celebrate Christmas, that you had an awesome Saturday!

22 weeks!

Hot damn, I think my boobs are almost as big as my head...

How Far along: 22 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she weighs about a pound.

Total weight gain: +6 pounds. Thank you, Christmas cookies.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: Mmmm, sleep. I still need a pillow between my knees. I like sleep.


Best Moment this week: Wiggles from my girl. Christmas! Watching J open presents and play with his cousins and tell his little sister "Merry Crimmas"

Movement: Yep :-) Lots of it.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: N/A.

Belly button: In

Cravings: Egg rolls.

What I miss: Bending over, being able to use my abs/sit up from reclining without looking like a stranded turtle.

Stretch Marks: Just the same 3 that sometimes are visible at an angle. Otherwise no new ones.

What is different this time around: Pretty much, everything. I think that about sums it up.

What I am looking forward to this week: New Years! And one week closer to meeting my daughter.

Stomach kicks=suck

Dearest Dee,

I love you. I really do. I enjoy feeling most of your wiggles. But please, for the love of your entire world, STOP KICKING ME IN THE STOMACH. I hate feeling pukey and you are making me feel pukey.

Thanks baby.

Love,
Mommy

Vintage J: His First Christmas

Look at that grin!! He was so small...I'm going to go reminisce in my corner now.

21 weeks.

How Far along: 21 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she's 11" head to toe and about 15 ounces.

Total weight gain: +3 pounds still

Maternity clothes: Pants, some shirts. 

Sleep: Mmmm, sleep. I like it a lot. Naps are awesome.I can easily sleep like 12 hours a night, when J doesn't decide to wake up 3 times at night... ugh. I still need a pillow between my knees.


Best Moment this week: Wiggles from my girl. J being excited about "[his] sister!" Seeing my dad and stepmom on Saturday.

Movement: Yep :-)

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: N/A, BH contractions suck ass though.

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: The usual. Orange juice, peppermint+chocolate, chocolate in general, meat, the smell of onions.

What I miss: Bending over, being able to pick up J for more than a few seconds. 

Stretch Marks: I have 3 that seem to have reappeared just above my belly button. They are small and pretty light and look like a very small person scratched me.

What is different this time around: IT'S A GIRL! So pretty much, everything. I think that about sums it up.

What I am looking forward to this week: Christmas!

20 Weeks! More than halfway there....I hope.

How Far along: 20 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she's 10 1/2" and about 13 ounces.

Total weight gain: +3 pounds (interestingly, I weigh EXACTLY the same as I did with J at this point in my pregnancy, though that was an 8 pound gain).

Maternity clothes: Pants, some shirts. 

Sleep: Mmmm, sleep. I like it a lot. Naps are awesome.


Best Moment this week: Big ultrasound on Wednesday of last week, where we found out for absolutely sure that she's a GIRL!!! J is thrilled, and keeps saying things like "I like Dee." and "I'm stronger than Dee." It's heartmeltingly sweet!

Movement: Yep :-)

Gender: GIRL! Booyah!

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Peppermint + chocolate = yum. And Christmas cookies. Mmmm. Ooh, and sushi. The cooked kind, obviously, since I'm knocked up and I don't like sashimi anyway.

What I miss: Wanting to have sex. Bending over without grunting.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: IT'S A GIRL! I think that about sums it up.

What I am looking forward to this week: More wiggles! Being able to tell more people that it's a girl. Hee!

Hush Puppy is....

A GIRL! We are over the moon happy that she's healthy. She's a beautiful little girl (at least, from what we can tell on the ultrasound pictures) and looks quite different from her brother. Delilah will be a wonderful addition to our family, and shall henceforth be known as "Dee" on this blog.

 

Skeletor baby!!

Lovely Little Lilah!

I keep mentally "squee"-ing that we're actually having a daughter. It's amazing!

19 Weeks!

How Far along: 19 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: 10 inches including legs?

Total weight gain: +2 pound!

Maternity clothes: Pants, some shirts. 

Sleep: Yes, please. I love sleeping. I've figured out how to sort of sleep on my front which REALLY helps with my low back/sciatica pain.


Best Moment this week: The cookie exchange yesterday was pretty great. And we had a huge brunch with C's brother and his family, so that was really fun.

Movement: Yep :-)

Gender: I still think it's a girl, but it will probably be a boy. We find out on Wednesday!

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Peppermint + chocolate = yum. I actually craved spaghetti with meat sauce and it stayed down! Yay!

What I miss: (same as last week)Sleeping like a normal person. Wanting to have sex on a regular basis, and not having stupid ligaments and belly getting sore after sex...Also just not having a sore/achy lower belly most of the time.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: Way bigger than I was with J at this point. This baby is very different than J was, s/he is much more mellow and all about the subtle movements versus solid kicks. My cravings are also very different.

What I am looking forward to this week: More wiggles! Big ultrasound at 4:00 on Wednesday and I can hardly wait.

A letter to my future self.

Hello, Future Tena.

It's me. I know that when you read this (again) J will be 5 and probably in kindergarten, and Hush Puppy will be approaching 2. I just wanted to remind you that just in case your clock has started ticking again, you SO do not want to be pregnant again. C has probably already had a vasectomy, but don't get any ideas anyway.

I'm writing this at 19 weeks pregnant with Hush Puppy. I can't walk very long before my low back, hips, and groin start threatening to jump ship. I swear it sometimes feels like my pelvis is going to fall off. My boobs are already 34Gs (you'll have to let me know if they ended up getting bigger after the baby comes). My belly is constantly uncomfortably stretching, and it is hard to get comfortable when I lay down. I can't really bend over terribly far any more. I haven't gained much weight yet (about 2 pounds, I think), but this pregnancy is really hard on my body. I don't ever want to do this again, you hear? Also, the Braxton Hicks contractions have been hanging around and coming on strong a couple times a day. Fun, right? Oh, and sex? Forget it. It's not remotely enjoyable, which sucks because while I had no sex drive with J at least once I got going it was great. It's just really unpleasant and uncomfortable and leaves me aching afterward, and not in a good way. I haven't had an orgasm since...hmm. It's been a while. 

Anyway, I hope the kids are great and the dogs are great and that C is great and doing very well in his career.

Smoochies,
Me
12/4/2010

3 years ago last night...

C and I spent most of the night in L & D because J decided it would be fun to try and leave the party early. Fortunately he decided to stick around in there for another 5 weeks. Terbutaline did nothing for the contractions, I needed Procardia. The next day (so, three years ago today) was my baby shower. Good times!

Thus began my PTL experience...lots of timeable contractions, lots of Cramp Bark tincture over the next few weeks. Oy. I hope my body does better this time around, being in early labor for that long sucks ass.

18 Weeks!

How Far along: 18 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: 5 or 6 inches? Something like that. Big enough to kick my organs. 

Total weight gain: +1 pound! So I gained about 1.5 pounds in the last week. Mmm, Thanksgiving.

Maternity clothes: Pants, some shirts. 

Sleep: Yes, please. I love sleeping. I got to sleep in til 10 yesterday, it was heavenly.

Best Moment this week: Feeling Hush Puppy more and more! Also, J just spontaneously coming up, picking up my shirt, and kissing my belly. And Thanksgiving.

Movement: Yep :-)

Gender: I still think it's a girl, but it will probably be a boy. Random cleaning lady at work told me that it was a girl based on how I am carrying. I'll take it!

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Peppermint + chocolate = yum. Thanksgiving food. Food in general. Mmm, food. No aversions, particularly, aside from spaghetti sauce.

What I miss: Sleeping like a normal person. Wanting to have sex on a regular basis, and not having stupid ligaments and belly getting sore after sex...Also just not having a sore/achy lower belly most of the time.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: Way bigger than I was with J at this point. This baby is very different than J was, s/he is much more mellow and all about the subtle movements versus solid kicks. My cravings are also very different.

What I am looking forward to this week: More wiggles, leftovers, work Christmas party on Friday.

17 Weeks

How Far along: 17 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: I added this one this week. In theory HP is about 4 1/2 inches CRL.

Total weight gain: -1 pound still. Well, maybe more like -1/2 pound, but still. Not back up to pre-pg weight yet. Hopefully I'll start gaining soon!

Maternity clothes: Pants, some shirts. 

Sleep: Yes, please. I love sleeping.

Best Moment this week: Feeling Hush Puppy more and more! Also, J just spontaneously coming up, picking up my shirt, and kissing my belly.

Movement: Yep :-)

Gender: I still think it's a girl, but it will probably be a boy. Yet more dreams about HP being a girl! Also, C thinks it's a girl, too.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Cinnamon bears, Thanksgiving food. Food in general. Mmm, food. No aversions, particularly, aside from spaghetti sauce.

What I miss: Sleeping like a normal person. Wanting to have sex on a regular basis, and not having stupid ligaments and belly getting sore after sex...

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: Way bigger than I was with J at this point. This baby is very different than J was, s/he is much more mellow and all about the subtle movements versus solid kicks. I also had to dig out my 34G bras from when my milk came in with J. I really hope my boobs don't get bigger than this. Ugh.

What I am looking forward to this week: I'm still looking forward to finishing Voyager, book 3 in the Outlander series, since I didn't get as much reading in this weekend as I'd hoped. I only have 100 pages left though! I am also, of course, looking forward to more HP wiggles, Thanksgiving, and putting up our Christmas stuff after Thanksgiving Day.

Potty Training Rewards

Last night right before bed, J peed in the regular toilet, standing up like a big boy. He only seems to do this at bed time, but he's always very proud of himself for it and if he tells me that he needs to use the potty and then uses is, he gets to wear his big boy underwear over his diaper. Anyway, last night wasn't anything out of the ordinary. After he peed, he picked out his Cars underwear and proudly helped pull it up. Once his pajama bottoms were back on, he started marching toward the kitchen. I asked where he was going. His response?

"I peed in the big potty. I get a cold beer."

I have no idea where he got the idea that he'd get beer, but it was pretty funny.

16 Weeks, Sickie Edition

How Far along: 16 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: -1 pound still.

Maternity clothes: Pants, some shirts. 

Sleep: Yes, please. Though it's been rough the last week, since I'm battling the chest cold from hell at the moment.

Best Moment this week: Feeling Hush Puppy more and more! C actually felt a wiggle a few days ago, HP always wiggles more when he rests his hand on my belly, and he got a palmfull of flutter. It was wonderful!

Movement: Yep :-)

Gender: I still think it's a girl, but it will probably be a boy. I've had another dream about HP being a girl though.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Chicken chimichanga smothered in pork green chili, and cinnamon bears. Mmmm. Still no real aversions.

What I miss: Sleeping like a normal person. Wanting to have sex.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: Same stuff as last week. Also, thanks to the chest cold from hell, I currently pee myself a little every time I cough, thanks to the kid sitting on my bladder. Thank goodness for pantiliners. At least it's just a pregnancy thing, but not one I had with J, since he's the one who killed my pelvic floor muscles.

What I am looking forward to this week: Getting over this damn cold, so I don't piss myself all the frickin time. I took a sick day from work, since it was a rare day when I had nothing scheduled, but oy. I actually have bags under my eyes from lack of sleep. I coughed intermittently for 4 hours last night after going to bed, and didn't even drift off until after midnight. On the upside (I guess?) my primary care doctor said I don't need to go in unless I am having shortness of breath or wheezing. Apparently coughing up bloody phlegm is no big deal, alarming though it may be.
That was a bit of a rant, wasn't it? Sorry about that. I'm also looking forward to finishing Voyager, book 3 in the Outlander series.

15 Weeks!

How Far along: 15 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: -1 pound still.

Maternity clothes: Pants, some shirts. 

Sleep: Yes, please.

Best Moment this week: Feeling Hush Puppy more and more! Also C and J both got to feel him/her the other morning while we were all snuggling. I had a hard spot that when I pushed on it caused pressure on the opposite side of my ute, so C and J both got to feel the hard spot that was probably HP's head.

Movement: Yep :-)

Gender: I still think it's a girl, but it will probably be a boy.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Craving grilled chicken salads from Chipotle and Qdoba, though salad in general is a big craving. Also red wine (which I finally got a small bit of this weekend, what a wonderful relief). Junior Whopper, gotta say, few things are more amazing than mayo + lettuce + tomato + burger. Red meat in general, really, sounds pretty fricking amazing. No really powerful aversions, I'd say I'm not a huge fan of spaghetti/spaghetti sauce. The smell makes me queasy.

What I miss: Being able to carry my son or my nephew without my belly pulling uncomfortably. Also, sleeping like a normal person. Wanting to have sex.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: I guess the m/s is gone, but it was gone by now with J too, so I guess that's not really different aside from how much sicker I was with this kid. Hips have already spread, boobs have already gotten bigger. Felt the baby a few days sooner than I did with J. I have a very definite bump that is definitely bigger this time. Also the dreams I am or have given birth to a girl, which I didn't have with J.Oh, and my hair is much drier this time, it's crazy, versus being normal/oily with J. I am very easily chilled this time, too, whereas with J I tended to just be warm or at least comfortable all the time, rather than cold.

What I am looking forward to this week: More HP wiggles! Also, lunch, but I'm not sure if I am going to go get Subway again or eat the stew I brought. Hmm.Tough decision.

14 Weeks, holy cow.

How am I 14 1/2 weeks already?! And hey, the belly is bigger than the boobs!


How Far along: 14 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: -1 pound. I gained 2 pounds in 1 week. I guess I need to slow down on my pigging out.

Maternity clothes: Pants. Some shirts, though I'm mostly just putting long camisoles under everything.

Sleep: Mmm, sleep. Deep sleep still evades me but I'm generally sleeping pretty decently. I definitely have more energy during the day than I did, though.

Best Moment this week: Still gotta go with feeling Hush Puppy, but Halloween with J was pretty awesome. He got to go Trick or Treating twice, once on Saturday and once on Sunday.

Movement: Yep :-)

Gender: I still think it's a girl, and I've had another dream it's a girl, but it will probably be a boy.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Meatball subs from Subway are still a staple. I have discovered I MUST have protein at every meal or I feel sick. No real aversions still.

What I miss: Red wine. Absinthe. Being able to carry my son or my nephew without my belly pulling uncomfortably. Also, sleeping like a normal person.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: While I did throw up this weekend (once again, in a public restroom, this time at Chick-fil-A) I am still considering m/s to be gone, which is awesome. Hips have already spread, boobs have already gotten bigger. Felt the baby a few days sooner than I did with J, and I have a very definite bump vs just chub. Also the dreams I am or have given birth to a girl, which I didn't have with J.

What I am looking forward to this week: Midwife appointment this Friday! More HP wiggles! Also, lunch, because I get a meatball sub. Mmmm.

13 Weeks!

Hmm. My face looks chubby in this picture. I blame the angle.

How Far along: 13 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: -3 pounds. 

Maternity clothes: Pants. Some shirts (as modeled above :-)!) I still have to sort of fold down the panel on all the pants, and I am dreaming of some secret-fit panel pants. *sigh*

Sleep: Mmm, sleep. It's harder for me to stay in a deep sleep, and I usually wake up to pee in the wee hours (bahahahaha) of the morning.

Best Moment this week: Feeling hush puppy move! Very, very light flutters, and only when I am sitting absolutely peacefully (and don't, say, have a toddler jumping on me...) and am able to be in tune with my body.

Movement: Yep :-)

Gender: I think it's a girl, but it will probably be a boy.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Fondue. Want.  Meat in general. Also, pasta salad. Mmmmm. No aversions, though the smell of spaghetti sauce makes me gag a little.

What I miss: Red wine. It smells so amazing. Also, sleeping like a normal person.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: Morning sickness is mostly gone! Yay!. Hips have already spread, boobs have already gotten bigger. Um. Yeah. I'm wearing a 34F today. Oy. I have a definite bump now, vs not really popping til 15/16 weeks with J.

What I am looking forward to this week: More HP wiggles! Also, lunch, but that's really just at the moment.

12 Weeks Update!

How Far along: 12 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: -4 pounds. Still. I think I've gained back 0.2 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Pants. Some shirts. My mom is going to take me shopping for maternity tops for winter, since my regular winter shirts are too short (and I got rid of the longer non-maternity sweaters I wore with J). I do have to fold down the panel on all the pants, but I had to do that with J until well into the 2nd trimester anyway.

Sleep: Yes, please. I am always ready to sleep. However, today I am especially sleepy because C's brother and his family came over last night, so we didn't get to bed til like 11. Then J woke up at 2:15am screaming (nightmare?), and has a cold this morning. *yawn*

Best Moment this week: Morning sickness (knock on wood) seems to be heading out. It has been worse than with J, I can't say I'm sorry to see it go.

Movement: N/A

Gender: I'm still thinking girl, but becoming more skeptical. I tell people "I think it's a girl, but it will probably be a boy."

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Cravings: buttermilk pancakes with strawberries, naked grilled chicken salad from Qdoba (omg, best thing ever). Meat in general.

What I miss: Red wine. It smells so amazing. Also, sleeping like a normal person.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: Morning sickness is still improving. Hips have already spread, boobs have already gotten bigger. I have a definite bump now, vs not really popping til 15/16 weeks with J.

What I am looking forward to this week: The continuing downfall of morning sickness. The weekend. Sleep.

"Daddy Broke my Shirt"

The other day, C picked J up and inadvertently messed up the hem of J's shirt. J, being the terribly picky child that he is, demanded to be put down and started crying. He ran up to me, and, tears streaming, informed me that "Daddy broke my shirt. Mama, fix it please!"

Ah, that boy.

The Sweet/Silly that is My Son

I somehow injured my left ankle about a week ago. I'm not really sure what I did, but it's a bit sore and tender, especially when I'm on my feet a lot. Anyway, while J was taking his bath last night I asked if he minded if I put my feet in with him. He didn't mind. In fact, he very nicely washed my feet and calves. It was very sweet. He even used his little scrubby sponge and dumped water on them.

This morning, when I woke him up, I think he was mid-dream. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and said something about "Sharks ate T-rex." (looking around) "Why are there sharks in my bed?"  Once he woke up a bit more and I explained that it was a dream, he was much less confused. I found it interesting that he wasn't at all scared, just confused about the sharks in his bed.

Well, I guess *one* thing is the same

This is from my bio on the Nest/Bump, from my pregnancy with J:

Still sick at 11 weeks, and my gag reflex has been getting ridiculous. I gag sometimes for no reason, and sometimes when I am talking. 

My gag reflex is insane. I gag mostly while talking, though the other morning I gagged when I opened the fridge. I frequently have to pause mid-sentence in J's bedtime stories because I gag. I gagged while talking to C this morning before I left for work. Ah, the joys of gestating.

11 Weeks Update

How Far along: 11 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: -4 pounds. Hmm. And here I thought I was doing better.

Maternity clothes: Pants. Heaven. As long as I fold down the panel, because otherwise it squishes my stomach and makes the nausea worse.

Sleep: Yes, please. The pillow is still mandatory for sleeping. I think at this point I need about 12 hours a night, but if someone (cough *C* cough cough) wakes me up "early" on a weekend, I can't go back to sleep because I have about 5 minutes before I get ravenously hungry and must. eat. now.

Best Moment this week: Surprise ultrasound at my appointment last week. Shockingly, HP didn't cooperate with the doppler, so we had to get an ultrasound. *Darn* I will eventually scan the picture. At this point HP looks a little like a person so that's cool. Oh, and I found out one of my friends from childhood is pregnant too! She's due at the end of May. Very exciting!

Movement: N/A

Gender: I'm still thinking girl. J still says it's his sister. He'll even correct you. If you say "is that a brother in there?" His response will be. "Brother? SISTER!"

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Cravings: German pancakes, grilled chicken, blueberry bagels with butter. Steak.

What I miss: Red wine. It smells so amazing. Also, sleeping like a normal person.

Stretch Marks: No new ones but my old ones are definitely easier to see as my belly distends. C even commented on how visible they were after my shower a couple days ago.

What is different this time around: Morning sickness is still slowly improving, though Hush Puppy seems to hate Mondays. I have thrown up each of the past three Mondays, but no other days last week. Spreading hips (or maybe they're already spread...). The cravings are totally different. This time they seem to center on meat, versus fruit with J, and with J I had an absolute aversion to meat (it literally made me throw up) until about 20 weeks.

What I am looking forward to this week: The continuing downfall of morning sickness. The weekend. Sleep.

Pumpkin Patch!

J and I went to a local pumpkin festival today. It was great fun, he had a blast picking out pumpkins. I think his favorite part was the raptor rescue, since they had owls and "cocks" (meaning hawks, but it is amusing that he says cocks) and a bald eagle. He got a pet lizard (a foam one, not a real one!) and spent a good chunk of the afternoon "walking" it around.

 

"Too heaby, Mama!"

When we got home, J put his "baby" (the monkey) in his "stroller" (the cart) and took the lizard and the pumpkin for a walk to the pumpkin patch. It was devastatingly cute!

Dearest Fetus,

Please stop with the morning sickness. I love you. Why do you suddenly hate me again? You were so nice for a few days...I'd like to be able to eat thing again, baby. Please, Hush Puppy? What do you want?

Love
Mommy

10 Weeks Update!

I think my belly is shrinking. Or my boobs are just bigger. Hm. 


How Far along: 10 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: -2

Maternity clothes: On occasion I break out the pants, but in general that rubber band is doing a great job holding up my pants.

Sleep: Yes, please. All I can get and more. And I must keep that pillow between my knees or things hurt when I wake up.

Best Moment this week: J telling C and I that the baby is a "sister" and trying to go to the garage to get in the car to go get his sister. I explained that we couldn't go get the baby yet.

Movement: N/A

Gender: Girl?

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Cravings: pancakes, french toast, chicken salad, vegetable or minestrone soup. OMG Chicken salad. Mmm. I had a dream in which I craved Taco Bell. EW. No specific aversions, really.

What I miss: Feeling normal.

Stretch Marks: No new ones but my old ones are definitely easier to see as my belly distends.

What is different this time around: I'm *mostly* (knock on wood) over morning sickness, despite my horrendous week last week. The past couple days I've felt icky but not terrible, but I was still pretty pukey and miserable with J until 15 weeks. Spreading hips (or maybe they're already spread...). My belly is definitely stretching and achy at times, which I don't remember happening yet at this point with J. Oh, and my boobs are already bigger. I didn't go up at all with J until 13 weeks...I'm already up (at least) one cup size. Oy.

What I am looking forward to this week: Appointment on Wednesday with my midwives! Yay! Hopefully I'll get to hear the heartbeat! That would be awesome. Also looking forward to the continuing downfall of morning sickness.

Prayers for Tim'sWifey

There is an angel of a woman whom I only know as TimsWifey, on the Bump. About a year ago, she was one of the devastatingly affected women who lost their babies all in the space of a few weeks. Her daughter was born and died at approximately 20 weeks. Just recently, her son was born, struggled, and passed away. He had been 23 weeks along. My heart breaks for this family I do not know other than vaguely over the internet, but it doubly broke when I found out it was TimsWifey who had lost her little boy. I am sending prayers and healing thoughts her way, and marveling at the unfairness of the universe.

10 weeks.

Today marks 10 weeks exactly. Hush Puppy is 10 weeks along and theoretically prune sized. I'm (at least) 1/4 of the way done with this pregnancy. 1 more week until the placenta takes over the hormones and morning sickness (supposedly) starts to ease up. Three weeks until I'm out of this trimester. Maybe then I'll have some energy back. The past couple of days have actually been pretty good, and I haven't thrown up since Monday, so that's huge. I woke up this morning feeling great, wanted corn flakes for breakfast (which we didn't have) and by the time I got to work I was feeling less than grand. I'm currently sucking desperately on a B-Natal sucker hoping that will help, but so far it just makes my mouth all cherry-y.

I did have a dream that instead of the doppler we got from a friend it was an u/s and I watched Hush Puppy do the robot. It was rather amusing.

9 Weeks.

How Far along: 9 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: -3 (Yep, that's -3 in one week. Whee.) 

Maternity clothes: Nope but that rubber band is doing a great job holding up my pants. When I'm wearing real pants, that is. This weekend I lived in yoga pants.

Sleep: Yes, please. Although I've had to start putting a pillow between my knees.

Best Moment this week: The brief respite after vomiting.

Movement: N/A

Gender: Girl?

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Food does not agree with me. I've "craved" cream of wheat and a Vietnamese noodle bowl, and waffles, only one of which stayed down. Care to guess which?

What I miss: Wanting food/to eat, and not feeling constantly queasy, vomity, or hungry. Feeling normal. Not feeling completely demoralized by pregnancy sickness. Keeping down more than 1/3 of what I eat. Being able to just play with my son without feeling like I'm going to pass out or throw up on him.

Stretch Marks: No new ones but my old ones are definitely easier to see as my belly distends.

What is different this time around: How very sick I am. The fact that my hips are already spreading, evident by the pillow I must sleep with between my knees so I don't wake up in agony.

What I am looking forward to this week: Zofran? Please? Because Reglan does not to a fucking thing other than cause diarrhea, interact with Tylenol (?!) and be bad for people with a history of depression. Have I mentioned that I hate Kaiser?

Picture to come later. Sorry for the rather bleak update, I just feel like shit and I'm so over it. Can I just sleep til April?

A Post About The Boy

I have been sorely neglecting to post about J lately, as you may have noticed. He's still very cute and sweet. He loves the baby (and likes to poke my belly and say "Baby in dere.")

He's way into airplanes. We just got him Richard Scarry's A Day At The Airport (thanks, Swagbucks!), and it's the new must read bedtime book. The other night after reading this book twice, then reading Goodnight Moon and then Woof's Bedtime (okay, gotta say, I don't know who would pay $122 for a children's board book, but that's what Amazon says...), J decided he needed some more stuffed animals in his bed. His bed is small, it's a toddler bed. So what did he do? He proceeded to carefully select every single stuffed animal he owns and pile it onto his bed, interspersed by things like "Oh, George!" or "Oh, Broncos Monkey!" and bringing them to his bed. I finally had to clear a nest for him in the middle so he would fit. I think my mommy authority was somewhat negated by the fact that after about 10 animals I was laughing too hard to sincerely tell him that was enough.

Musings

Morning sickness sucks and I hate it. I am glad it's not worse but I seriously hate it. I never puked every day with J. I guess it's time to admit that it's worse this time around, just the puking kicked in later. I have had nausea since I got my positive test, so ick.

B-Natal vitamin B suckers are very nice. I hadn't been using them the past few days but remembered to grab some this morning. It helps, I think.

One of my coworkers (whom I hadn't told yet, I just hadn't gotten around to it) guessed this morning. I guess I should tell my boss soon.

J said "hello" and "goodbye" to the baby this morning. Hello was patting my belly, goodbye was a kiss on my belly. It was very cute.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night with a headache. I still have the headache. I think I may try taking some Tylenol at this point. Ugh.

Morning sickness supposedly starts to go away at 11 weeks. That's in just a little over 2 weeks. I can make it.
Of course, I was still puking with J til 14 weeks.

8 weeks!

How Far along: 8 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: +0 

Maternity clothes: Nope but my pants have been held together with a rubber band for almost a week now.

Sleep: Yes, please. Can't get enough of it.

Best Moment this week: In the morning, when I really, really have to pee so my bladder is totally full, my ute gets pushed up so I can feel it. It's awesome. Other than that it's all been pretty decent aside from the nausea.

Movement: N/A

Gender: I'm still thinking girl.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: I'm still experiencing an aversion to food in general. BLTs and bacon are still good. BBQ is still good. I did have a craving for lettuce on Friday. Random food and laboratory odors are not, and may make me vomit.

What I miss: Wanting food/to eat, and not feeling constantly queasy or hungry. Also, not having puked.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: The constant nausea with occasional puking, the total lack of meat aversion (LOVE this). Also the fact that I have a very definite bump, even if it is just bloat.

What I am looking forward to this week: Maybe the nausea will go away this week? Otherwise I'm looking forward to Thursday when my weeks roll over. Interestingly, they rolled over on Thursdays with J, too.

I Just Watched "Pregnant in America"

Every woman who has ever had, considered having, is going to have, or loves someone who is going to have a baby needs to see this movie. I have a lot more to say about this, but it will have to wait until tomorrow because if I don't go to bed now I am going to need to eat something and I don't really want to eat anything else today, and if I don't eat or sleep soon I will likely puke and I really don't want to do that. Anyway, see this movie. You won't regret it. I guess they have a website, too, www.pregnantinamerica.com, that is probably interesting.

To be continued...

Bacon: The Cure for What Ails Ya

Assuming, of course, that what ails you is a nearly 8 week old embryo trying to make you puke multiple times a day unless you give her bacon. The puking has been staved off, huzzah!

We'll see for how long, though. If I make it all the way through today, I will be shocked.

A small aside: I work in a fragrance free place. Severely allergic and asthmatic patients come here for treatment, and therefore the staff and the patients are told to leave the perfume, scented lotion, cologne, etc AT HOME. A number of people on my floor disregard this, because they are assholes. And they don't see patients, so they think it's okay, even though they will be passing through patient areas at least twice every day. Since HP took up residence in my ute, I am even more sensitive to the stank of their fragrances than usual, which is saying something. So, assholes on my floor, consider it even that if I have to smell you, you can listen to me vomit if we happen to be in the bathroom together. I think that's fair.

7 weeks!

At my appointment last week, my due date got moved up, both because my midwives go by LMP and because HP was measuring several days ahead. My new EDD is April 28. I am going to keep doing these updates on Mondays though, because I like consistency.

How Far along: 7 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: +0 pounds total from pre-pg, right back where I started.

Maternity clothes: Nope.

Sleep: Yes, please.

Best Moment this week: It's all been pretty decent aside from the nausea. Nothing really stands out.

Movement: N/A

Gender: I'm still thinking girl.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: I'm still experiencing an aversion to food in general. I had a craving for a BLT a couple days ago.

What I miss: (Same as last week) Wanting food/to eat, and not feeling constantly queasy or hungry. It seems to me that this time around is much, much harder to make myself eat every 2 hours than it was with J, so I get hungry more so I feel like crap more.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: The nausea (rather than more puking like with J), the fact that the nausea peaks at midday instead of the afternoon. Also the bloat bump, though that seems to vary from day to day.
 
What I am looking forward to this week: C coming home on Saturday! I also keep hoping the nausea goes away. *sigh*

Translating the Toddler

J communicates quite well. He has some words, however, that require translation.

Poon = Spoon (although this totally cracks me up inside)
Mo = Milk
Lotit = chocolate
Elmo = elbow (this one took me a while to figure out, as we don't really invite Elmo into our home, and I was trying to figure out why Elmo might have an owie and need a kiss)
Yorit = yogurt

Sick of Morning Sickness

I know I don't have it as bad as some, I get it. I am just sick of being nauseous, then starving, then full, then nauseous because I'm full, then queasy just because, and then hungry again. I am sick of having to eat all the frickin time. I just ate a bowl of soup 30 minutes ago, and I'm hungry again. Nothing sounds good. I am making muffinlets for dinner, but the rice isn't done cooking yet.

Plus C is gone hunting this week, so it's just J and the dogs and I. I miss having someone else around to deal with all the poop.

I also puked (first time, at least) while we were at Panera yesterday. Barely made it to the bathroom in time. Boy does it slow you down when you have to drag (yep, pretty much dragged him) your toddler to the bathroom with you. In hindsight, we should have picked a table closer to the bathrooms, but I wasn't really thinking about that.

4 more weeks. I can make it 4 more weeks. At least.

The vitamin B6 does help, as do the B-Natal vitamin B suckers. Though J keeps asking for one, and asked me "Mama, whats that sucker doing?" earlier when I was having one on the way to the grocery store. I just said that sometimes when a mommy is growing a baby it makes her tummy feel yucky, so the sucker is helping my tummy feel better. He must really want one, he tried to trade a ginger snap for my sucker this afternoon.

More like a Baby Every Day

Well, every few days, anyway. HP is now at Carnegie stage 14! (Have I mentioned that I love visembryo.com?!)

31- 35 days post-ovulation

---

Head and Neck
The brain and head grow rapidly. The mandibular and hyoid arches are noticeable. Ridges demarcate the three sections of the brain (midbrain, forebrain and hindbrain). The spinal cord wall at this stage contains three zones: the ventricular, the mantle and the marginal. The ventricular zone will form neurons, glial cells and ependymal cells, the intermediate mantle will form neuron clusters and the marginal zone will contain processes of neurons. Adenohypophyseal pouch, which will develop into the anterior pituitary, is defined.

Lens vesicle opens to the surface and is nestled within the opttic cup. Otic vesicle increases its size by approximately one-fourth and its endolymphatic appendage is more defined. Nasal plate can be detected by thickened ectoderm.

Thorax
Esophagus, the tube through which food is swallowed, forms from a groove of tissue that separates from the trachea, which is also visible.

Semilunar valves begin to form in the heart. Four major subdivisions of the heart (the trabeculated left and right ventricles, the conus cords and the truncus arteriosus) are clearly defined. Two sprouts, a ventral one from the aortic sac and a dorsal one from the aorta, form the pulmonary (sixth aortic) arch.

Right and left lung sacs lie on either side of the esophagus.

Abdomen and Pelvic Regions
Ureteric bud appear. Metanephros, which will eventually form the permanent kidney, is developing.

Limbs
Upper limbs elongate into cylindrically-shaped buds, tapering at tip to eventually form hand plate. Nerve distribution process, innervation, begins in the upper limbs. 

Teaser

I had my first appointment yesterday, all is well. One healthy vertebrate with a heartbeat. I have a new (earlier) EDD. I'll post more later.

6 weeks!

How Far along: 6 weeks!

Total weight gain: +2 pounds total from pre-pg, no difference this week at all.

Maternity clothes: No, but I'm rocking the elastic waistband comfy pants today. (Not modeled above.)

Sleep: Yes, please. Although I've been waking up at 2am starving and hot. Bleh.

Best Moment this week: Snuggling with J this morning. Not at all pg related, but it was certainly one of the highlights of my week. Aside from not having to work today.

Movement: N/A

Gender: I'm still leaning toward girl.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Well, I have an aversion to food in general. Although I did just snarf  1 1/2 blueberry bagels like there was no tomorrow. It was wonderful to actually want food. And I am currently wanting some pizza, which I really am looking forward to.

What I miss: Wanting food/to eat, and not feeling constantly queasy or hungry. It seems to me that this time around is much, much harder to make myself eat every 2 hours than it was with J, so I get hungry more so I feel like crap more.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: Still the bloaty bump. As you can see in my picture from this morning, taken before anything was eaten, afternoon may or may not be when it shows up anymore. 

What I am looking forward to this week: My first appointment on Wednesday!

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Dying for it all week. Finally got it for dinner last night. Heaven.

Leftovers for lunch today: 4 bites = 4 near misses, but in the end pukeless trips to the toilet.

Sigh.

Another Twin Dream

I had a dream last night that Hush Puppy was twin girls. C claims I had dreams that J was twins, but I think he's making things up because I have a pretty damn good memory and I NEVER had dreams that I was carrying/having twins until now.

I guess we'll find out soon enough how many proto-fetuses HP really is.

In the meantime, I'm not feeling so hot this morning. C and J both have colds (runny nose, sore throat, cough) and I'm feeling pukey. Lovely combination. I can hardly wait to get home this evening to experience more of that fun. I did try taking vitamin B6 this morning, but I am feeling worse now than I usually do in the morning so I'm not sure it's working. Hmm.

Hush Puppy does not like peaches. Sad. I usually (in my adult life, anyway) love peaches, and this is the season for them. I haven't been able to finish a peach in over a week. They all taste horrendous, no matter how ripe they actually are. Plus, I really want to taste coffee, but the thought of actually adding anything to my already-bloated and full tummy is kind of repulsive. If only I could just suck on some coffee.

As an aside, I'm wondering if my work is figuring anything out. You know, since I constantly have snacks in my desk and by 12 or 1 every day my belly becomes a lot more prominent than it did a couple weeks ago. Or the fact that during bronchoscopies where I have to be dressed in a hot (literally, they're like plastic bags) gown and mask I've been aiming a fan at my back so I don't overheat and puke and/or pass out. Maybe they just think I'm chubby, and that it's hot where we do bronchs, all of a sudden. We'll go with that. I think it's glaringly obvious that I'm pregnant and have a bloat baby, but then, I'm in on the secret. I don't know when I will tell them. Probably after my first ultrasound, if I can wait that long. Without like puking in the lab, I mean. Hmm. Although I do have to work with some heinous chemicals tomorrow. I'm thinking I'll ask one of my coworkers to mix up the things for me so I can have minimal contact with them. I don't want HP to have 2 heads or anything. Even if that would get him or her a show on the Discovery channel so we'd all be set for life. Birthing that would not be so fun though.

J was very cute this morning, though. He wanted to say goodbye to me and also "luffyou Mama!" and to say goodbye to HP. This involves lifting up my shirt and kissing my belly, and saying "Bye, bee" (bee means baby). Aww.

My Baby Looks Like a...Something.

Hush Puppy, you are now at Carnegie Stage 11. This means you have a tail your eyes are beginning to develop. Mommy knows LOTS about what your eyes are doing right now, she has a whole MS degree on it. You have a heart, and it's beating, and you have the beginnings of a brain. Your big brother probably won't think you look like an elephant anymore (though you very well may, from the back). Your little somites are growing, and you thoroughly resemble a vertebrate embryo, so yay! No arms or legs yet, but be patient. You'll get them.

Crazy Pregnant Dreams

I had a dream last night that HP wasn't just one baby. Nope, he or she was quintuplets. That looked like panda bears on ultrasound. Hmm. It seemed that the quints were identical triplets and identical twins. Crazy, right? So then I proceeded to give birth, like, now. At home, but in a weird place that wasn't actually my home at all, and C just watched, and there was no pain at all. But there were only 2 babies, and the first one was bigger than the second, and they were full term and healthy. I only know it was "now" because I had a conversation about canceling my first appointment because I'd already had the babies. Nevermind that somehow I'd clearly had an appointment in order to have an ultrasound. Anyway, the gist of the dream was that there were twins, and I never definitely found out the gender. The first baby breastfed like a champ though. I *think* that the first child, the bigger one, was a boy, and actually was J because that's sort of how the dream morphed after the babies were born. The second baby, later in the dream, was a little girl that was my daughter. She was wearing a pink, white and yellow flowered dress with two teeny little pigtails on the sides of her head. She was maybe a year old at this point. Blond, like J, that golden shade that's not exactly pure blond but not quite strawberry blond either.

So that's that. I'm either having panda quints, or twins, and they may or may not be a boy and a girl.

5 weeks!

How Far along: 5 weeks!

Total weight gain: We're going with none. It may be 2 pounds, but I am skeptical. 

Maternity clothes: N/A, but C did take me shopping to buy a pair of shorts a few sizes larger than I usually wear (modeled above). They fit me nicely and they are so comfy in the hot weather.

Sleep: Yes, please. All that I can get. *Yawn* I must commend myself for not falling asleep in lab meeting or at my desk (yet)! No baby-gender dreams yet. I can't remember when those started with J, I think it was after my first u/s with him. Interestingly, in all the dreams where he was in utero, he was a girl, but in the dreams where he was born and I actually could see him, he was a boy. These dreams stopped once we had our big ultrasound.

Best Moment this week: Telling my mother-in-law and father-in-law, they are super excited! My mom not so much, but we'll discuss that another time.

Movement: N/A

Gender: I'm still leaning toward girl, but not so heartily.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: I'm still a huge fan of meat and salt. And sweet pickles. Ooh, and peanut butter. I was all set to have a peanut butter and honey sandwich for lunch, but didn't have peanut butter at work. It was very sad. French fries (and other fried foods) are so last week, though. I did eat a can of green beans mixed with most of a small can of sliced black olives tonight. HEAVEN. Dill pickles are (as usual) a HUGE aversion. Ick. Just smelling them is terrible. Not that I like them anyway, but I'm happy to know that I won't be craving them.

What I miss: Wanting normal food, wanting to be awake, and wanting to drink coffee. Sometimes it sounds good, but unless it's decaf it makes my nausea worse. Boo.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: At the moment just the cravings, and the fact that by about 1:00 I have a pretty obvious bump. I did take my belly pic this morning, versus last week's that was taken at night, and you can see the huge difference that the bloat makes over the course of the day.

What I am looking forward to this week: Morning sickness. NOT. Apparently my body has decided that 5 weeks is the magic number. It showed up with J at 5 weeks, and I consider it a small miracle that I haven't tossed my cookies yet today.

The First Hormonal Freakout

HP seems pretty happy for me to do EVERYTHING ahead of when I did with J. Including the stupid cryfest. With J, I was about 13 weeks, and C looked at me askance, and I got upset and started crying. We were supposed to be heading to his parent's house in just a few minutes, and my mascara started dripping down my face and onto my pink shirt. This made me cry even harder, and I recall saying something like MIL won't want to see me with mascara on my shirt, so I can't go. Nevermind that I could just have changed my shirt...which I did.

Today was a rough day. I just felt bitchy and hormonal all day, I had to drive around 4 parking lots at work to find a spot because they're doing construction in a couple lots so there are fewer spaces available. C woke up cranky which didn't help, because he was just snippy and jerky from the moment he woke up. I was just plain not in a good mood at all. My peach at lunch was just tart enough to make me gag, so no peach. My caramel Yoplait yogurt tasted gross (apparently HP decided that yesterday's was enough, and no more of that for us) so I didn't get to finish that. Then my commute home was an HOUR because of stupid traffic (usually no more than 45 minutes) and I had to stop at the store to get milk and some other things, and the stupid self checkout machine was not at all faster than the other way.

Anyway, by the time I got home and the dogs were whining at me and J was chewing on my shirt and got put in timeout within 5 minutes of me getting home, it was taking all my willpower not to kill anyone. So I gave myself a timeout, filled the bathtub with cold water to soak my feet, and sat there. After a few minutes C came in and asked if he could help in any way, and I started crying because I am crazy bloated and "none of my pants fit and it's hot and I don't have any shorts that button because I'm fat and I've gained 3 pounds in a week and I just want to poop!" At this point I started laughing and crying at the same time, and still lamented not having pants that comfortably button over the chub. I realize that the reason I've gained 3 pounds in a week (or less) is that I'm suffering from the common pregnancy complaint of constipation. I never had this problem when I was pregnant with J, but then, I also only wanted fruit (early on) when I was pregnant with him. Not salt and BBQ meat. *sigh*

I felt much better after I was done crying and got to eat some ribs with spicy BBQ sauce. Mmmmm, spicy.

Hello, Vulva Baby

Hush Puppy looks like a vulva today. He or she is developing blood cells and a notochord! More info at visembryo.com

 

I'm feeling icky today. Apparently the follicle that made HP (hahaha, Hush Puppy could totally be Harry Potter. Or Hewlett Packard) is cranking out the progesterone. I gagged a little on the peach I brought with my lunch, because it was too sour. The texture of my yogurt in the morning is no longer very appealing, though I can still eat it. And my soup yesterday was inedible due to the fact that HP reviled the flavor profile, so I went and got a chimichanga that was smothered in green chili from the cafeteria here. I gotta say, that was an infinitely better choice. YUMMY. 

Anyway. It doesn't seem to matter so much whether I have caffeine or not anymore (which I haven't been); I had cut it out because it seemed to exacerbate my nausea, but apparently just not currently eating makes it worse now. Oh, and chewing gum. I wondered when that would happen. I get about 3 minutes out of a piece of gum before it threatens to trigger the gag reflex. FWIW, Stride's mystery flavor tastes like that zebra stripe gum from when I was a kid. The pink and the purple kind, not the lemony one. I guess I'll go munch some more almonds.

Houston, We Have Neurulation!

  

Yay for neurulation and continuing gastrulation!! Grow, Hush Puppy, grow. Hush Puppy has earned this nickname for his or her constant wish for Mommy to consume greasy, salty, crunchy fried foods. Mmm, french fries and bacon. And spicy chicken sandwiches. And spicy stuff in general. I could so go for some spicy Pad Thai right now. Yes, I realize it isn't even 10:00 am yet. OMG and BBQ. I think we're having BBQ ribs for dinner. 

Also, cute big brother story! Last night J came up to me (I was sitting down) and he started poking my belly and saying "kiss! kiss!" so I stood up. All he wanted to do was kiss the baby. Awww. He loves Hush Puppy. Maybe we shouldn't tell him that Hush Puppy is the baby. He might want to name it that.

Hawtness. I haz it.

 

Apparently this baby just wants mama to be bloated. Hawt. I didn't even remotely need to do this (at all) with J until 16 weeks...*sigh* I guess lunch was too much for my chub.

Weekly Update!

I thought it would be fun to do these. No promises that I'll actually do it every week, but here you go.

Yeah...that's mostly chub with a fair amount of bloat thrown in for fun.



How Far along: 4 weeks today!

Total weight gain: None related to pregnancy.

Maternity clothes: N/A, though honestly, I'm giving my regular jeans a run for their money.

Sleep: Like a rock. Other than the nightmares last week, my dreams have just been weird and I sleep like the dead.

Best Moment this week: Other than finding out I'm pregnant, it's been watching J kiss the "baby" (aka Mommy's chub) and how excited he is that Mommy has a "baby ball" in her belly button. No matter how many times I tell him otherwise he keeps telling me that the baby lives in my belly button.

Movement: N/A

Gender: I swear it's a girl. I was not at all nauseous with J this early. So far this is very different than my pregnancy with him.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings: Salty and crunchy, so french fries and bacon. Also really, really want bread and butter pickles at the moment, but they will have to wait.

What I miss: Nothing yet, although it was nice not being uber hormonal.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: Everything! I've been either super hungry or feeling queasy since like 4 or 5 days ago. I felt *nothing* like that with J, and I am already craving things! WTF?!

What I am looking forward to this week: Just seeing what the week brings.


Did I mention that I had to unbutton my pants already today?!

The joys of growing a ball!

Little one, you are now gastrulating. That's really the most important thing you'll ever do, because you won't be able to do anything else if you don't gastrulate. Your big brother calls you a ball baby and wants to squeeze you. He already loves you very much. Keep on growing little ball!

Also, if you could make me want something other than salty, crunchy fried food, I'd appreciate it. I'm a little sick of craving bacon and french fries.

HolyShit.

There's like this little ball of cells in my womb. It's a lot surreal still. Wow.

WTF, embie?

You're the size of a friggin poppy seed. I know you wanted bacon and watermelon and had to settle for some mediocre sausage and honeydew, but please let me stop being hungry + queasy. Your older brother was much nicer than this to me at this point. Pretty please? I'll try to get some french fries at lunch for you.

In other news, you're at Carnegie Stage 5 now.

http://www.visembryo.com/baby/5.html

I LOVE visembryo.com. It is awesome.

J's Days as an Only Child Are Numbered.

And due to end somewhere around mid to late April of 2011! 

Here's the onesie I picked up on my way home from work to tell C. I was 99% sure of a BFP, since I'd gotten a really, really faint line a couple days ago, so I thought this would be cute for when I got a definitely positive pee stick. Please excuse the messy counter around the shirt, this was taken in the bathroom right after J's bath.

Poppy Seeds

Wow.

-9 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

Three

The number of times J has peed in his potty this evening, while watching a movie. I don't think he's quite back to 100% after being sick last week (had a fever and just wasn't a happy camper) so he's watching Ice Age II while I play on the internets and make dinner. Anyway, apparently just removing the pants of this child makes him use the potty. A LOT. Now if only he'd start telling me all the time when he needs to go potty...

The Shettles Method, and Fun with Numbers

If you've been reading a while, you may know that C's family makes boys. Pretty much exclusively. In an effort to produce the first girl in this generation of the family, we're trying the Shettles Method. We got a copy of How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby through paperbackswap (have I mentioned that they ROCK?! Also, if you sign up, please mention "ckolak" as your referrer. I'm not sure if I get any benefits from it, but I'd like to find out). Having read TCOYF, most of the book wasn't really new to me, but the methods for gender selection were. Anyway, we figured it would be worth a shot to try for a girl, since if we "fail" we'll get another boy, which we'd still be happy with. We've been planning on having 2 boys and then adopting 2 girls anyway. Anyway, HTCTSOYB just outlines the history of gender selection methods around the world, and how Dr. Shettles arrived at his conclusions, as well as scientific support for his methods. From a scientific standpoint, the book and it's claims are pretty sound. It is more detailed than this, but it boils down to having sex up to 3 days before ovulation (or maybe 2 days before) for a girl, and one day before through two days after ovulation for a boy (which held true for us when we had J).

I figured I'd see what I found by surfing around on Fertility Friend's chart gallery for "pregnant with girl" versus "pregnant with boy" charts. I found that out of the 232 charts that I examine(116 for girl, 116 for boy), most (92%) of the babies were conceived with sex 1 day before through 2 days after ovulation, regardless of gender. However, the percentages break down thus: 

116 girl charts:

103 conceived with sex between one day before to two days after ovulation (89%)

4 conceived with sex 4 days before ovulation (3%)

2 conceived with sex 3 days before ovulation (2%)

7 conceived with sex 2 days before ovulation (6%)

116 boy charts:

111 conceived with sex between one day before to two days after ovulation (96%)

1 conceived with sex 4 days before ovulation (0.08%)

1 conceived with sex 3 days before ovulation (0.08%)

3 conceived with sex 2 days before ovulation (2.6%)

More girls were conceived by sex several days before ovulation, such that:

of 5 total babies conceived by sex 4 days before O, 4 were girls (80%)

of 3 total conceived by sex 3 days before O, 2 were girls (66.6%)

of 10 total conceived by sex 2 days before O, 7 were girls (70%)

Also, of the total babies conceived by sex the day before to a couple days after (214 of 232): 48% were girls, and 52% were boys.

Interesting, huh?

I realize the numbers were very low for charts listing sex 2, 3, and 4 days before O, mostly because those I looked at included a lot of charts where sex was had every day for a week including the days before and after ovulation, so there's no way to tell which of those times really "took" so to speak.