I’ll finish that for you!

November 7, 2007 at 2:26 am | In Expectant, First Trimester, symptoms | 2 Comments

Yum yum yum. It’s so great knowing exactly what you want to eat!

My mom used to finish people’s left overs, even soggy cereal. Really! I find myself doing the same thing now. I used to stick Deeder’s unfinished yogurt in the refrigerator, or cheese stick, or dinner of whatever sort. Who wants to eat something with sweet little baby bits of backwash? I DO! You don’t finish it, I will. Unfortunately this isn’t the case with meats. I can eat meat in a meal but never touch the left over scraps, it makes me want to throw up! Well, OK, I take that back partially. I eat cold pizza or a left over grinder. Just not meatloaf, casserole or a burger.

Diederick never lets me eat if he’s not being fed too. Perhaps he’ll put on extra weight during this pregnancy too Yesterday he helped me eat a salad. He’d get bites of the cottage cheese and eat off the croutons while I ate the tomatoes and lettuce and salad dressing. When he’d accidentally pick something out that he didn’t want he’d put it in my mouth, pretty cute!

Today he’s not feeling well. He’s hot to the touch but doesn’t have a temperature, his skin is also spotty looking. He’s under the impression that he absolutely must be held ALL the time, if he isn’t the whole world will crumble apart. Right now he’s napping. I’m not entirely worried because he is eating very well. If he does develop a fever and keeps the spots I’ll call his pediatrician. He had four shots yesterday, I know sometimes that makes children feel ill.

Off for now. Tomorrow morning is my 10Week visit with Rainy, one of the midwives at the OB/GYN.

Pregnancy Calendar Week 10

November 6, 2007 at 9:17 am | In Expectant, First Trimester, GaGa Preggo Calendar | No Comments

Week 10: Graduation Day has arrived!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 10:

Your astonishingly tiny baby has been hard at work growing as fast as possible—almost doubling in size in the past three weeks! Amazingly, you’re in for a repeat size doubling performance within the next three weeks! Your tiny champion still weighs less than a quarter of an ounce but has already completed the most critical stage of their development. Using Doppler technology, your doctor or gynecologist can let you hear their tiny rapid fetal heartbeats this week (145-165 beats per minute!). Chances for miscarriage are greatly reduced when the heartbeat can be detected, so take a sigh of relief if you’ve been needing one—it hasn’t been an easy ten weeks! What’s more, they’re getting ready to make their first baby poop! Your little one’s major organ systems are developing, including a functioning digestive tract capable of moving food all the way through their bowels. The final shiny gold star on their fetal behavior chart for the week: your little scrapper has already developed defense mechanisms to protect them on reflex!

And how’s mom doing? More good news for mom: the placenta has grown substantially in size and function and is now beginning to manage some of your child’s hormones, finally taking some of the hormonal burden off of you! Since the placenta has gradually taken over the hormone production for your baby, you should finally pregnancy is not a standardized procedure so much as an individual journey start to notice that much-awaited decrease in morning sickness symptoms. Like everything else, though, this is just a general guideline… if you have lingering effects for another couple of weeks, don’t fret (or fret, but don’t blame us)—pregnancy is not a standardized procedure so much as an individual journey

Aren’t these updates great? It’s so much fun to know what’s going on inside. I wish I’d been subscribed to something like this when I was expecting Deeder. I can hardly wait to hear the baby’s heartbeat…we should be able to do that at my upcoming OB visit.

Pregnancy Calendar Week 9

October 30, 2007 at 7:45 am | In Expectant, First Trimester, GaGa Preggo Calendar | 1 Comment

Week 9: An inch to grow on

Fetal development in pregnancy week 9:

Congratulations! Your amazing growing baby has been accepted into to the fetus-club, a very exclusive and exiting new stage in their prenatal development. Basically, this means the little sweet pea has graduated from swimming embryo creature to a recognizable human being! This week in particular, the irises of their little eyes can function, but (frustratingly for them?) their eyelids remain fused shut for a while yet. Their external ears are formed and their inner ears are now filled with fluid—so your little one is already developing their sense of balance. Your baby’s little swimmer legs are still relatively, although other bodily developments are going forward at a nice pace: their kidney is actually functioning now, which means they’ve started urinating (this might seem charming now but wait till you have to start buying diapers!).

And how’s mom doing? You’re nearing the end of the first trimester and while there are plenty of dynamic and noticeable changes going on inside of you, not many changes are noticeable to you, with the exception of a mildly bulging midline– which doesn’t look pregnant enough to stop people from wondering if you need to Having a baby is the ultimate test for your body—if you take care of your health now you’ll come out of the pregnancy on top of your health and ready to be an energetic mother lay off the donuts. Although your body might seem a little boring right now, you can expect the creeping-up-effect of weight gain as you will gain roughly 1-2 lbs gain per week (some more and some less). It’s not a bad idea to chart this to make sure you’re not over or underfeeding both of you. As you’ve entered into the Fetal Period, it might be a good time to evaluate your personal health regimen—that is, if you haven’t already. Are you eating enough protein? Remember, protein can be found in beans, soy products and nuts—it doesn’t have to be a 12 ounce sirloin! Are you sleeping well, exercising right, drinking enough (non-sugary) fluids and getting your vitamin C? Having a baby is the ultimate test for your body—if you take care of your health now you’ll come out of the pregnancy on top of your health and ready to be an energetic mother, if not, well, let’s just say, you’re increasing the chances of suffering from depression, osteoporosis, diabetes, obesity, and a multitude of little nasty viruses (think colds and flues) that good health could’ve beat before you even noticed they’d invaded.

Thanks for the warning, Baby Gaga on what will happen to me if I don’t take care on what I’m eating/drinking…this time I’ll try to be careful-er! How exciting to be at Week 9. I hope that I get to hear the baby’s heartbeat next week, that would be wonderful

If you’re wondering, yes I do have a bit of a baby belly. I didn’t with Deeder at this point yet, so I have a feeling I may be HUMONGOUS. Oh well, bring it on! I’m just praying that the baby will stay inside for those 40 weeks, that I’ll be able to bring you these baby gaga updates and that in June I can post baby pictures.

Bumbo Recalled???

October 30, 2007 at 4:44 am | In Baby Products, General | No Comments

Recalled: 1 million baby chairs from Bumbo
Thu, Oct 25, 2007 (BabyCenter News) — Bumbo has announced a recall of about 1 million baby chairs in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).If the baby seat is placed on a table, countertop, chair, or other elevated surface, a young child sitting in it can arch his or her back, flip out of the seat, and fall onto the floor, which poses a risk of serious head injury.There have been 28 reports of young children falling out of the Bumbo chairs, including three reports of skull fractures. These injuries were due to children falling out of chairs that had been placed on tables.

The recalled Bumbo “Baby Sitter” seat is made of foam, has leg holes, and comes in yellow, blue, purple, pink, aqua, or lime green. It has a round, flat bottom measuring approximately 15 inches across, and the seat back wraps completely around the child. The word “Bumbo” is printed in raised lettering on the front of the seat along with an image of an elephant. The words “Manufactured by Bumbo South Africa, Material: Polyurethane, World Patent No. PCT: ZA/1999/00030″ are printed on the bottom of the seat.

The following caution label is attached to the back of the seat:

WARNING — Never use on a raised surface. Never use as a car seat or bath seat. Designed for floor level use only. Never leave your baby unattended as the seat is not designed to be totally restrictive and may not prevent release of your baby in the event of vigorous movement.

The baby seats were sold online and at various retail stores nationwide including Target, Wal-Mart, Sears, Toys R Us, Babies R Us, and USA Babies. The seats were sold from August 2003 through October 2007 for about $40. They were made in South Africa.

What you can do:

• Don’t let your child sit in the baby seat unattended, and don’t use the seat on a table, countertop, chair, or other elevated surface.

• Contact Bumbo if you’d like to receive a new warning label and instructions. The new warning label will say: WARNING — Prevent Falls; Never use on any elevated surface.

• For additional information, call Bumbo International at (877) 932-8626, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, or visit the company’s website.

• See a photo of the recalled baby seats on the CPSC’s website.

• Keep abreast of children’s safety recalls by checking our recall finder.

– Alissa Merksamer, BabyCenter News

Thankfully it’s only being recalled to add a new warning label. What kind of dumbo would leave a kid unattended on a countertop in a Bumbo anyway? I guess it’s the gals that had “Caution: Contents may be hot!” labels put on styrofoam cups for coffee. Well, I’m just glad the Chinese didn’t coat the Bumbo chairs it in lead paint.

In other recall news
38,000 “Go, Diego, Go!” toys were recalled–thankfully we don’t have any of them.
We just got in the mail a notification from the makers of Deeder’s carseat saying that it’s no longer “safe” a part needs to replaced before it’s legal to use again.

How come there were never massive recalls like this until recently? Toys used to be better quality, more carefully made. It’s pretty frustrating, and alarming!

our coffee pot

October 29, 2007 at 1:04 am | In Expectant, symptoms | 2 Comments

One of the changes in me that I cling to as a sign of pregnancy is distaste for coffee. I’ve been addicted to the rich black caffeinated beverage since I was 15. The first time I had it was on a flight to San Diego California to meet a family I’d never seen before. I was to stay with them for two weeks, watch their kids while their mom had a baby–she had the baby the second day I was there. They had three year old twins and an 18 month old little boy, I think they now have six kids. Anyway, I have had at least one cup a day since then–except for when I was pregnant with Deeder. YUCK! Can’t take it. Just the smell makes me sick. After just two days of living coffee free I had a slammer of a head-ache. I thought I might die, actually I was sure I’d die! All I could do was lay all curled up and whimper.

I still enjoyed coffee while I was pregnant with the baby I miscarried. I made all kinds of excuses to myself for why I still couldn’t stop drinking it. Maybe I’m going to have a girl, maybe it’s just different. But I knew my mom had the same coffee thing so I worried. Boy you don’t read about that in the books, do you?

Darren still insists on my making a whole pot every morning. Our coffee carafe only holds about half a pot which is about all Darren drinks, except on the days when I try to sneak and make only that much. Those are the times when he drinks more. I guess I have it pretty go when that’s the thing that hugely annoys me. Coffee beans aren’t cheap and I hate the waste! A whole pot it is. It takes two of us to finish it and I’m out of the game for a while. My taste for it will come back the instant I deliver. Actually that was the first thing I wanted when my senses came back after I had Deeder. None of that watery orange juice for me, I wanted coffee!

Oh, and no headache. I have a cup of Lipton tea if I’m feeling a need for the picker upper that caffeine gives.

PS: Thanks for the doggie comment, Kathie Darren enjoyed that!

moving plans, updated.

October 26, 2007 at 2:11 am | In Expectant, General, Plans | 2 Comments

Updated because they change so much, I do realize that I’ve never written about them on here before.

We seem to have many different Plan A and Plan B’s, all of which inadvertently switch which category they are in. One minute we have a nicely lined up stack of Plan A and a responsible Plan B backup, try to reiterate or sort through the stack and all of the sudden whatever was keeping them apart turns to nothingness and falls away, then they have to be re-identified. So so far we still live in Brattleboro Vermont, and we’re having another baby. My attic is full of boxes and totes full labeled and stacked in a way that makes sense to me, not because we’re moving, just because I have an attic and the stairs have mouse poopies on them! I want to know exactly what I’m looking for and rush out of there as soon as possible before a mousie comes into my housie. Unfortunatly, mousies do come down and must be caught in traps which really icks me out!!

Eh hem.

OK.

Plan A:

Goal: To move before the baby is born.

We talk to our land lady and tell her that we would like to be let out of our lease. Darren quits his job in the middle of March. We take two weeks to pack. We hire a big UHaul truck. They give you three days to load the truck, for this Darren’ll get a couple guys from his work to help. We leave April 1st. We drive in Darren’s truck with his car on a trailer behind it to Jamestown, ND and spend a week with his ma and pa then stop in Billings Montana to stay a couple nights with his sister, Roxanne. The moving truck arrives in Bellingham. Some nice person there unloads it in some apartment that Darren has pre-rented where we will arrive shortly. (Alternative to this plans, as told by Darren: All of our stuff is unloaded into a storage unit somewhere in Bellingham, we arrive and set up camp at my folks’ place for a month until we find our own place and a job. I think Darren’s thinking of Heidi in this scenario, he wants time to look for a place that allows dogs, just don’t tell him I said that!)

OK the tricky part of this Set-A-Date-To-Move-And-We-Just-Do-It plan is the need for insurance dilemma. My meds are expensive and the move will at least cost six thousand dollars :O Yes, Darren is blessed to be in a profession where he’s needed everywhere, but going without a job does seem terribly irresponsible.

OK so that’s a whole in Plan A, but let me continue.

So we get there. Darren sets out with his picture perfect resume and goes and talks to everyone who hires nurses. He takes the best paying one and becomes perfectly happy and content with it knowing that’s where God wants him to be!

I have the rest of my prenatal care taken over by Judy Edmunds, my mom’s midwife and have a wonderful home delivery AT MY PARENTS! Eeek!

The sad part about hte job thing is that there really isn’t any psychiatric nursing job in Bellingham. Darren hates hospitals and he hates nurses, he says that the busy-ness of it could make anyone crazy and that the nurses are just out to make themselves look good to their bosses.

Plan B:

Goal: Move shortly after the baby is born.

Our lease ends in June. The baby is due June 2nd. We pack and move our things to another apartment where we stay until September. September would provide ample driving weather and give me a couple months to recoup. Darren says he would have everything nicely set up so that when I was out of the hospital I could just arrive at the new apartment and not have to be stressed a bit. I see the reality of this as something awful! He’d want to get a place that allows pets and those are of slim pickens and in more often than not in terrible shape. And for someone to let a renter stay only a couple months? We’d have to move make to our first place up in the woods to get that kind of leniency. How we would actually make the move never settles. Darren wants to have a bonding father son time with nearly two year old Deeder by driving across the country without mommy! Mommy would be put on a plane for Seattle with baby to meet Daddy and Deeder in Bellingham. Mommy doesn’t want to be separated from Deeder! But it’s very important to Daddy that driving be done because he wants his car and truck, and of course, his doggie.

Somewhere inbetween Plan A and Plan B Heidi gets left on the farm that was her first home. She joined the farm as a two month old puppy in 1991 after being sorely mistreated by the people who owned her momma. Anyway all those years she’s been Daddy’s best friend and he would very much like for that first place she called home to be her final resting place. He tells a store of how one hot summer she dug a deep tunnel behind the barn and birthed a dozen perfect puppies there, if it weren’t for her smartness they would have died in the exceptionally hot summer heat. He’d like to bury her in that hole.

Anyway, as you can tell from reading this, that German Shepard has made many of our moving decisions, Darren says she’s protecting us.

fat fat fat

October 25, 2007 at 1:23 am | In Expectant, General | 3 Comments

As much as I admire those skinny preggos I just can’t make myself completely on top of cravings. I’m so happy that I have cravings, but they’re the silliest things and I know that giving into them only works to my demise.

Recommendations?

Someone I was reading suggested drinking a lot of water. Only eating when you feel really hungry, when you feel a random craving that isn’t accompanied by pangs of hunger just to take a big swig of water. This hasn’t worked! That is if working means taking away the craving.

I haven’t gained any weight yet, but I do give in to what I want too much. Mom, you always looked thin after pregnancy, did you just have no time to eat? That I could believe?

How about you, Steph? You’re skin and bones! (Not that that’s good!)

I weighed 135 when I got pregnant with Deeder. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same after reaching 210, and I’m not just talking about the red/purple streaks all over my body!

And let me add that I’m not just trying to be vain, just make healthier choices than I did last time–well, and look better after as a result of healthy choices

Hehe! Oh and I’m sooooo annoyed with how I can’t write any code on here…grrr. If you log on and see it all messed up it’s because I’m fiddling with things, I want to be able to link to things–there must be a way! I think I’ll ask my friend Wendy. Her wordpress blog was pretty great.

PS: Ignore that blue box on the bottom with feet in it I don’t know how to get rid of it! That’s where I’m going to put my belly pictures. This is a just girls blog, right? I can’t believe I’m going to belly pics again…so embarrassing!

Your Pregnancy, Week 8

October 22, 2007 at 8:09 pm | In Expectant, First Trimester, GaGa Preggo Calendar, General, symptoms | 2 Comments

Week 8: Goodbye sea creature, hello baby!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 8:

The embryo in second month Woohoo! You’ve got one whole inch of baby inside of you!

Your little embryo has finally reached the one-inch mark (30mm). And if it were possible to take a peek, you could actually see your tiny baby without a telescope! What’s more, your baby is finally starting to take on some very distinct human features. For starters, their little tail (really just the spinal cord) has disappeared completely.

It’s nice to know your baby can no longer be mistaken for a sea creature! Additionally, both their toes and fingers are prominent with very little, if any, webbing. Upper and lower limbs all show recognizable joints (elbows and knees) and the lower limb bones are starting to ossify. But don’t expect your baby to resemble either parent quite yet.

Right now, your baby’s head is disproportionately larger than the rest of their body–making up almost half of your little one’s height and weight!

And how’s mom doing? Your slightly-larger-than-a-cherry embryo is also starting to have a physical impact on you this week—and not just hormonally, as you may be noticing a slight bulge at your midline– mostly from water retention.

Most people won’t even notice the subtle change to your belly’s shape, but since you’re if you have been extra moody lately, that may start to subside this week, as the placenta is beginning to take responsibility for your baby’s hormone production tuned in to every little change in your body, it hasn’t slipped past. Good news for the hormonally tortured: if you have been extra moody lately, that may start to subside this week, as the placenta is beginning to take responsibility for your baby’s hormone production. This means your body will soon be able to relax a bit from its over-production of hormones as the placenta starts to regulate your baby’s hormones– allowing your body to focus on producing more normal levels of hormones for yourself.

I’ve been feeling really good, nicely unsettled tummy in the morning…extra tired, and having very specific likes and dislikes. I get a good two hour nap in every day and am to bed by 9:30.
My tummy does have a little bump, but just enough for me to notice! I don’t think I’ll be pulling out the maternity clothes for a while. All the same, I’m going to do belly pictures. You girls can stand that, can’t you? How about one with each OB visit report.

Boy I hope I get to hear the baby’s heartbeat when I go in in a couple weeks
I’ll be ten weeks along.

Keep praying for me…I still get cramps now and then. I just take it as a sign to relax a little, usually I go lay down for a few minutes and wait for the cramps to pass. They always go away pretty quickly, but still it worries me.
Other than a little cramping I’m happy with everything so far.

I’m 7 1/2 Weeks

October 19, 2007 at 7:28 pm | In Doctor Visits, Expectant, First Trimester, General | 5 Comments

I had an ultrasound today.

It showed that I’m further along than I thought I was–my new due date is June 2nd.

The little gestational sac was so beautiful! It looked roomy and full of protective fluid. haha

The last time I saw one on ultrasound was so recently–it was small and collapsed, hardly visible at all.

So 7 1/2 weeks. That’s further along than I was when I miscarried.

My first official prenatal visit is on Nov 8th, at 9:30.

Now I’m going to call my neurologist and set up and appointment to go see her. Then I’m going to take a nap. I know my usual blog has been suffering a bit…there’s little to say that doesn’t somehow include feelings about pregnancy. Think I can make it 20wks without saying anything?

ttfn

Daddy Bought Pizza

October 18, 2007 at 6:33 pm | In Expectant, General | 2 Comments

Darren took Deeder and I to Pizza Hut yesterday.

He ordered us each salad bar. Boy do they have a lot in their salad bar!! Six different kinds of pizza, fruits and veggies, Cesar salad and garden salad, two varieties of desserts, pasta and bread sticks. YUMMY! $6 each.

Diederick ate breadsticks, cottage cheese, and a slice of cheese and pepperoni pizza

Daddy also bought two pizzas and a box of breadsticks, cinnamon sticks and pop to go.

This, ladies, is the way I put on 60lbs in pregnancy. We went a few times when I was expecting Deeder. I don’t think we’d been since–I’m usually not a pizza person. I officially call Pizza Hut a preggo craving. It so hit the spot

The lab was empty when I went in, that’s never happened before! I guess noon is the time to go in! Tomorrow I’ll go in for the second draw after playgroup.

Wouldn’t it be cool if I were pregnant with twins?

Well, I’d better be off to the co-op now. Deeder and I are going to look to see if we can find one of the tinctures that Judy recommended. We bought Vitamin E yesterday, Darren said I can just take half the dosage that Judy suggested.

Does Judy have a website or email, Mom?

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