Charting the Belly: Week 36

We're nearing the finish line...  Child-birthing class number 8 of 8 is tomorrow.  Most of the baby clothes are washed.  My third quarter grades are submitted.  Mr. Belvedere is head down and on my left side (left occiput anterior).  The apartment is clean (at least for today).  I've made a list of what needs to be packed to go to the hospital, but I haven't put anything in a bag yet.

The fetus within...

I haven't had the nesting urge yet, or at least the final one where I start tearing apart the pantry and alphabetizing all the food after I've dusted, vacuumed, and painted the walls.

Staying at Home

Needless to say, these past nine months have been nothing short of stressful.  Being pregnant has this way of intensifying everything else that goes on in my life.  We ended the bike trip in Colorado early last August, and I was fully expecting to go back to my former job at the elementary school I taught at just a few weeks after finishing the trip.  Unfortunately, I was involuntarily transferred to a middle school for reasons I'll never fully know.  I cried for weeks about this, which probably should have been my first clue that I was pregnant.  Then in October, my dad passed away, leaving me with this indescribable loss in the midst of something so exciting in my life.  I think about him lots, and his picture is on our fridge, right next to the ultrasound pictures of our baby.

All the while, this year at work has been the most stressful thing I've experienced yet.  Being at a new school, teaching curricula that I haven't taught since my student teaching days, and dealing with the craziness of middle school students brought on feelings of complete inadequacy.  I ended my 7th hour class on an almost daily basis feeling utterly defeated, trying hard to fight back tears and compose myself before 8th hour began. I tried everything I could think of to make my 7th hour class tolerable, and I got nowhere.  Almost the entire staff knew about the yahoos that were in that class, and they would just shake their heads in sympathy.  Administration wasn't much help, either.  I continued to try so hard to rise above it, coming home and bawling to Nate about my frustrations.  To relieve the stress, I'd follow the guidelines that were suggested: exercising, eating well, getting enough sleep, etc.

Months of this, coupled with not sleeping at night, turned into a nasty cycle...  I routinely woke up at 2 or 3 in the morning to go to the bathroom, or for no reason at all.  And then the thinking would start...  What else can I do to make work better?  I couldn't turn the thinking off, despite trying to fall back asleep.  I'd be up for a couple of hours, occasionally falling asleep right before I had to wake up to go to work.

In early March, Nate had had enough: "Why can't your turn your brain off?"  Good question--I didn't know how to answer that.  He suggested that I talk to our midwife and let her know what was going on at work.  I really didn't want to; I suppose because that meant that I wasn't tough enough.  But what was I trying to prove?  That I could make it through to the end?  I know about opinions, and I didn't want people forming one about me and my "inability" to work.

But, at the urging of Nate and my mom, I told the midwife at my last appointment (I actually started bawling even before I could say anything), and she talked to me about the risk of preterm labor for women who are stressed during their pregnancy and not sleeping enough.  She put in orders for modified bed rest, which basically means that I'm supposed to take it easy and not work.  I was off all last week, and will be until the baby comes.  And guess what?  I slept through the night after my last day of work.  I've been feeling well-rested and less anxious about the birth.  I'm calmer, which is a wonderful feeling to have.  Sure, I've had to endure some people's comments and opinions about this: "You think this is not sleeping?  Just wait, honey."  Ultimately, it's the best decision for me and the baby, and I'm glad I did it.

Charting the Belly: Week 34 (almost 35)

I. Am. Feeling. Big.

It'll be 35 weeks this Thursday, and I suspect like every other pregnant woman at this point in her pregnancy, I am ready to get this baby out.  But I've got some time to go, and some room to grow.  I had Nate take some pictures this morning, and I was disgusted with every one of them.  I couldn't bring myself to post them because it looked as though my face was pumped up with helium.  So, we tried again this evening, and I didn't look at the camera.

I'm picking lint off of my shirt

I have read everything about the next five weeks in preparation for light at the end of the tunnel (before the next adventure of parenting).  The highlights?  Read on:
"Your baby will spend the next few weeks putting on weight."
Awesome.  As if topping the scale at 200 pounds isn't exciting enough.

"Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs."
Like my lungs, my bladder, my stomach, and any muscles that used to help me put on my shoes and pick up stuff off the floor.


"You may have trouble sleeping at night."
Really?  No kidding.  

Rocking Chair

In the hopes that we can continue to use our rocking chair as a functional piece of furniture well after the baby (and its subsequent siblings??) is/are grown up, Nate and I decided to purchase an Eames Case Study Rocker from Modernica.  It's not an original, but it's as close to the original as you can get.  It's a fiberglass shell with the same molds that Ray and Charles Eames used in 1948.

At this point, I don't fully appreciate nor understand how cool this chair is.  I don't come from a design background that would help me wrap my head around our purchase, but Nate and Jeff both think it's a great start to what could end up being a sweet furniture collection.

Daddy-to-Be

Registry Fun Times

The other night, after hearing for the umpteenth time from my mother, "You need to add more to your registry," my two cousins (who are both moms themselves), offered to register items for me.  Because the biggest problem with figuring out what I need for this baby lies in the fact that I simply don't know what I need, I jumped on the offer and quickly logged them in.  In a matter of thirty minutes, Cindy and Angie had gone through almost every category at BuyBuy Baby, asking me questions along the way, and filled up the registry.
"Get as many receiving blankets as you can from the hospital.  Those swaddle the best."
"Don't register for any more newborn sizes."
"You'll be doing laundry all the time, so get as many burping cloths as you can."

It was way less stressful than the hours I had spent thinking about what I needed and agonizing over of the fact that I simply had no idea what I needed.

April Showers

Last weekend, my "family" from the elementary school I worked at for three years (before I was unexpectedly and involuntarily transferred last August) threw me a baby shower.  It was still March, so the title of this post is a bit misleading...

Anyway, it was so much fun to see the many amazing teachers that I spent most of the past three years of my life with.  They all took time out of their weekend to celebrate the fact that I'm having a baby--a baby that no one's even met yet, but is truly excited about.  Being the emotional person I am these days, I came home from the shower exhausted and weepy.

Nate: "Honey, why are you crying?"  This seems to be a standard question from him these days.


We were surrounded by onesies, toys, receiving blankets, leftover cake, and mounds of tissue paper, and I was sitting there with tears pouring down my face.  I blubbered, "This past year has been stressful being in a new building and away from the work family that I had come to know and depend upon.  I miss them!"

Sure, it's sad being away from them, but I think I just had this tremendous feeling of gratitude for the fact that even though I don't work with them anymore, they all chose to be a part of such an amazing time in my life.  Thanks, Pershing.

Aches and Pains

The past two weeks have provided some phenomenal insight into the world of sciatic nerve pain.  One website describes it as coming on suddenly, causing immediate distress.  I would say that's an understatement.  I have woken up in the middle of the night on several occasions in agony, as if my entire left side were on fire.  Thankfully, it doesn't happen every night and it seems to be only when I lie on my left side.  I spoke to my midwife about the increasing pain I was experiencing, and she referred me to a physical therapist.  I was able to get in last Monday, and she spent about 45 minutes with me, giving me several exercises to do to strengthen my hips.  The weight of Mr. Belvedere puts pressure on this nerve, which causes the irritation.

I also have a small hole in my abdominal muscles (diastasis recti), which is a common symptom in pregnancy, so she gave me some exercises to do to correct that.  I've been pretty diligent about doing these simple exercises and so far, I've been feeling better.  I haven't awoken to the excruciating pain in the past six days, but I do notice that I'm sore in my hips in a different way, perhaps due to the exercises that I'm doing.  Who knows.

Those Braxton-Hicks contractions are happening more and more frequently, in preparation for labor.  They are so weird--like my belly is tightening up in a giant abdominal crunch.  They don't hurt, but they can be uncomfortable.  I almost always get them right after I stand up from sitting down, which makes for some awkward first steps when trying to walk.

Body After Birth

I hope Nate sends me this card:

Charting the Belly: Week 31

Jabba or me at 31 weeks?

I really wanted my photographer to crop the picture to cut out my chubby face, but he said no.

This guy can't tie his shoes, either

The Name Dilemma

The other day, a teacher colleague said to me, "I'm glad I had my kids before I became a teacher."  I completely agreed with her because I'll tell you that the past 6 years of my life have significantly put a dent into what names I would even consider giving this baby.  There are way, way too many sour experiences with the Shaynas, Hopes, Sierras, Parkers, Adrians, Davids, Quentins, Isabelas, and Cheyennes of the schools I've taught in to even consider naming our baby something even remotely close...

Parker talks way too much.  Shayna is mentally unstable.  Quentin is one angry kid.  All the Isabels I've known have been nothing but trouble.  Jaqueline was the one who didn't make a whole lot of sense when she told stories, even though they were pretty funny.  And the list goes on...

We do know that the baby will have my dad's first name as its middle name--Lynwood.  It's a really unusual name, but it will work whether Mr. Belvedere is a boy or girl.

Top Pregnancy Something-or-Others

I'm not sure what this list is exactly, other than some of the unexpected things I've experienced as a direct result of having a bun in the oven.

1. Peeing during the third trimester is ridiculous.  The urge to go is very immediate as of late, but the outcome is like, "Really?  That's it?"  And then I have to go again in about 15 minutes.
2. Tying my shoes makes me grateful for slip-ons.  At the gym, I have to take a rest between putting on the sock and then the shoe.  My lungs are getting squished.
3. "How are you feeling?"  It took me awhile to get used to this question from others because I liken it to a question that would be asked of someone who just got over the flu, or who's currently sick.  I'm never really sure how to answer this, other than to say, "I'm good...just getting big."
4. People are always looking at my belly.  I do it to other pregnant women, too, but it's just different when I'm the one whose belly is growing.
5. Waking up at some crazy hour of the night by the foot of my fetus banging out a rhythm on my ribs.
6. Grunting.  I grunt getting in the car and getting out of the car.  I grunt trying to get out of bed.  I grunt tying my shoes.  I grunt trying to pick something up off the floor that I've dropped.
7. Two-hour naps.  I am tired!  I don't sleep through the night anymore, and sometimes I'm up for quite some time at 3am.  The best part is that I can still go to bed at 9pm after sleeping from 4-6pm.
8. I weigh more than my husband.  'Nuff said.

I Think I'm having a Contraction...

I'm fairly certain that I had one of those Braxton-Hicks contractions tonight.  These are those false contractions where the uterus tightens up in preparation for labor, which, dear reader, is just over two months away!  Yikes.  Anyway, I felt this pressure in my belly, and when I touched it, my protruding gut was rock hard.  It didn't hurt, but I certainly noticed it.  It relaxed after about a minute.  My mom said that she used to get painful ones with my sister and I that would stop her in her tracks.


As an aside, she also said that she would sit on the steps of our patio when she was pregnant with me (and then later with Mary) and cry because she was so fat.  We made our mom pile on 60+ pounds each time, most of which was water weight.  I think our older brothers were much easier for her.


Birthing class #2 was pretty exciting, mostly because there were two women in labor while our class was going on.  One gave birth right as class started, and the other woman was audible throughout class.  The looks on the faces of the dads was priceless.  I'm not sure when she delivered.  I could certainly feel the energy!  The night before was a full moon, too...


We talked quite a bit about exercise and many of the benefits of keeping up with exercise during pregnancy.  There are all sorts of statistics about the benefits to both the mom and the fetus.  I found all the myths that we discussed rather interesting.  Here are a few:

MYTH: Pregnant women should not exercise more than three times per week.

TRUTH: Following a doctor’s approval, it’s recommended that pregnant women engage in 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily, five or more times a week.

MYTH: Pregnant women must keep their heart rate under 140 beats per minute during exercise.

TRUTH: Instead of counting beats per minute, use the Borg Scale (measures perceived exertion) or a simple talk test to assess intensity.

I currently swim once a week, use the elliptical machine about 2-3 times a week, and take a weight training class twice a week (Power Flex).  Oh yeah, and my homework was 200 Kegels a day for the next week.  So exciting...

Birthing Class #1

We made the trip up to Menomonee Falls Well Rounded Maternity Center Saturday morning for our first birthing class.  Our instructor, Coral Slavin, is a seasoned Bradley Method instructor, but has since modified the class because the true Bradley course was too rigid for her tastes.  So she created a hybrid class.  There were about seven other couples there, all of us first time parents except for one couple.  We talked quite a bit about the importance of relaxing during labor so that the body can do its job.  Next week's topic is about diet and nutrition.

I also had my 30 week appointment this afternoon at the Midwifery Center at Aurora Sinai.  Things are good...baby's heart rate is 142 and my fundal height is 30 cm (right on target).  My blood work from last time showed that I'm not producing any antibodies, and I think that means that Mr. Belvedere and I have compatible blood, but that conversation was too much for me to follow.  I'll put that on my list of questions for next time.

Fundal height--things are getting cramped

It's hard to believe that there are just ten weeks left (give or take a few).  It's gone by very quickly so far, but I've heard from others that this last trimester can get long...

Charting the Belly: Week 28 (almost 29)

I just got done watching the first episode of One Born Every Minute and I was...appalled?   Discouraged?  Mildly amused?  I also feel like I know the woman who was having a natural childbirth.  I did go to Ohio State, the show is filmed at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and she and I are the same age.


I'm feeling pretty good so far, other than a few aches here and there.  My left hip is tight, and rolling over in bed is a pretty big ordeal every night around 4am.  I'm hoping to make an appointment for a prenatal massage sometime in the next week.  Valentine's Day is around the corner, Nate...

Bruce Lee and me

Beginning of the third trimester!

End of the Second Trimester

I had my glucose tolerance test last Tuesday at my appointment, and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to pass it.  I don't know why I had that feeling, but as it turns out, I'm in the clear.  I got a 93, which falls well below the recommended 140 mg/dL.  I picked the fruit punch flavor, mostly because I was told the orange was the nastiest.  It wasn't that bad, except that after about ten minutes, I felt pretty gross, like I had just eaten a half-dozen donuts.  I got a little shaky, and when it was time to draw blood, my hands were super sweaty.  I think the MA thought I was going to pass out as she was drawing my blood.

In two weeks, we start the Bradley Method classes at the Maternity Center up in Menomonee Falls.  It's a 2-1/2 hour class that lasts 8 weeks.  I'm hoping that it will give us some good information about having a natural childbirth (no drugs) and the process of labor and delivery.  In turn, when it comes time to making a birth plan, we'll have more knowledge than what we've got right now.

Oh, the Dreams...

Last night, I very vividly dreamed that I was throwing up.  It was so real that as I woke up from the dream, I did it ever-so-cautiously because I didn't want to barf all over the bed.  I've only puked four times in my life, and I couldn't believe how much last night felt like I had just barfed in my mouth.

Then, I had another dream that the baby's foot was protruding out of my belly and I couldn't get it back in my belly.  It looked exactly like this picture, except I wasn't blue:

By the way, do you think this picture is real?

Photoshop fun or really sweet picture?

Charting the Belly: Week 26

Packers vs. Bears Game Day

My new favorite shirt

Go Bears!!

Can't hide it anymore...

Baby Dreams

I've only had one dream that I remember about the baby and that was in the first trimester.  I dreamed it was a baby boy.  I haven't had any other dreams recently about the baby, but I've had a whole slew of bizarre and vivid dreams.

I had an intensely colorful dream about my dad several nights ago, and that's the second dream that I've had about him since he passed away.  There were tornadoes off in the distance, and he was in the lawn in his wheelchair, and I needed to bring him inside.  We talked for a bit, but I don't remember about what.  After the tornadoes had passed, there were clouds close to the ground, and a flock of about twenty snowy owls flew out.  I don't think that owls travel in flocks, but it was pretty impressive.

One website said that during the second trimester, women report an increase in dreams about animals, and another site said that dreaming about animals reminds us to "trust our instincts."  It also mentioned that seeing birds can mean freedom and success.

Regardless of what dreams mean or don't mean, the ones I've had in the past several months have been pretty amazing.

Fetuses Are Funny

I don't get my fetus.  Some days it's super quiet and doesn't do much, other than a few rolls and lazy jabs and upper cuts.  Other days, like last night and this morning, it's incredibly active, making my belly jump around like I'm cooking popcorn inside.  I can't figure out what makes it move.  It usually dances a bit after I eat and also when I am lying in bed.  But I can't seem to do a Pandora on it... Meaning that I play it music fairly often, but can't get its music tastes just right.  Last week, my mom was here, and she wanted to feel the baby move. So, I pulled out the iPod and played Yellow Sun by The Ranconteurs, and the fetus gave a "thumbs up" in the form of a head butt that was pretty powerful.  Of course, that could have meant that it didn't like it very much.  I don't know.

I've played it all sorts of other music, and some days it digs what I've got on, and other times it's like, "Blah...I've heard better."

Yes, I'm trying to figure out a fetus.  A fetus that weighs about a pound and a half, whose bones are becoming harder, and whose prime source of entertainment is exploring structures in my uterus.

A fav onesie

Yes, I'm neurotic.

Almost 100 Days Left

It's really hard to believe that I'm over halfway through this pregnancy.  Yikes.  This Thursday will mark 25 weeks, and then in a few weeks after that, I'll be in the third trimester.  And I'll get bigger and bigger and bigger...  The baby is well over a pound by now, and it's kicking and punching away like a champ.  I still can't get over how weird that feels, and I love it when Nate puts his hand on my belly and feels it moving around, too.

I'm pretty grateful with how well this is going.  I didn't have morning sickness, no complications thus far, and my husband has been beyond wonderful.  I could do without the leg cramps in the middle of the night, though.  Holy cow.  Those are pure evil.  What's up with those, anyway?  I've had three in the past month, and the most recent one was over Christmas.  That one was so utterly painful that it brought tears to my eyes at some ridiculous hour of the night.  I woke Nate up with my strained breathing, and I was in so much pain that I was practically paralyzed until it passed.  Stretching before bed has been helpful, and I think exercising has its benefits, too.