Pregnancy Update #5667

Top left: 31 wks, bottom left: 33 wks, top right: 35 wks, bottom right: 36 wks

It’s 6:15 in the a.m. and I’ve been up since 4:30, after only 3 hrs sleep.  This sleep deprivation thing must be nature’s way to prepare you for after the birth.  On the upside, this lack of sleep comes from heartburn, which may mean that my baby’s finally growing hair.  Or so they say.  Since I haven’t had much heartburn throughout my pregnancy, I welcome this (sort-of).  I always thought my baby would be born with a headful of hair, so I was a little surprised when I didn’t complain of heartburn throughout my previous months of pregnancy.  I don’t usually believe in old-wives’ tales but this one is one that has stuck with me.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against having a bald baby, I just never really thought I, miss hairy peruvian girl, would have anything but a monkey-hairy baby.  And I’m totally fine with that. Now that the heartburn is here, I feel like I was probably right and there’s a certain comfort to it.

UPDATE: I tried once again to fall asleep around 7 a.m. and it finally worked, even though light was beginning to appear outside.  I got another three-hour stretch of sleep and I’m feeling pretty good right now.

The midwives made a house call on Monday, which is good since it’s nice to know where your client lives before they go into labor.  We talked about many things, one of which was my belly.  I have not grown much since last week (which is a relief to the midwives who would have ordered an ultrasound otherwise) and there is less fluid in there now, which makes the baby easier to feel.  This time they could clearly feel limbs and butt and back and head.  The baby is still in the pelvis head-down but it isn’t too far down, it seems.  I may yet have a couple of weeks!

I know I keep saying I don’t think the baby will last long in its watery world, but I’m still really hoping it will hold out until January 1st.  I really think that would be the coolest birthday ever and don’t mind one bit if I don’t get the tax write-off everyone is so excited for us to get this year.  I can totally wait another year if it means my baby will be a 01-01-10 baby.  No one would ever forget that birthday!

There isn’t much left for us to do before the baby comes.  At least, nothing of super importance.  The birth equipment is prepared, we know our birth space (or where we would like it to be), all our diapers and clothes are washed and ready, and recently received our car seat, strollers and cradle.  The cradle is super sweet and sitting next to our window in our bedroom for now, until we decide we need it.  I had to leave the swinging mechanism activated instead of holding the cradle in place because the I knew the cat was secretly hoping to make it her new sleeping quarters.  She got in once and it swung her about and she rushed right out of there, hopefully never to jump in again.

I have a third baby shower this month on the 13th thanks to my Soroptimist club.  I feel very blessed to have so many people in my life who wish to celebrate my baby with me.  There isn’t much left I need for the baby at this point, but I went ahead and updated my registries at target.com and weebunz.com.  The little things I can think of that I could use still are a bathtub, nail clippers, bulb suctioner thingy, and a changing pad for the dresser.  There are a few other little things, but they aren’t all that super necessary.  Oh, and baby socks.  I need baby socks.  My baby will be born during the coldest months of the year and I have only a couple pairs.  Poor baby.

Some of the things I’m still working on are a baby afghan I’m crocheting (as if I really needed another!), a few baby carriers such as a pouch sling, a ring sling, a moby or a mei tai, some nursing covers and I’m sure I had something else I wanted to do but it’s not coming to mind.  Pregnancy brain, I’m told.

If there are any men reading this, you’ll just want to skip this paragraph.  Seriously.  Are you gone?  Ok.  I’m pretty sure I’ve started leaking colostrum.  Last night I thought I had spilled water on my shirt when I got up in the middle of the night, but it was suspiciously in a very specific area.  It eventually dried and then a few minutes later I felt moisture again.  This morning there is proof on my shirt.  Is that even possible?  Doesn’t it seem too early to be leaking?  I hear that’s pretty important stuff so I hope not to lose any more until the baby comes.  :/

The baby is active as ever and my belly is getting more and more sensitive to its movements.  It’s a strong baby for sure.  Since it’s so active right now and since it will eventually become more space restricted as time goes by, I’ll try to put up a video of its movements while they are still big and dramatic.  Hopefully in the days to come.

Now is the time I want to prepare for the birth by making meals ahead of time and doing anything else that would make a baby’s entrance smoother for our family.  There is a post by Tammy from tammysrecipes.com that shares what she did to prepare for her second baby.  It has a lot of good information on it so I will be doing some of that in the weeks to come.  Cooking is getting harder, but I suppose it will be a lot harder with a new baby if I don’t get things rolling now.  :)

I’m so excited.

Going Shampoo-less

Ever since the 29th of October, I have decided to do away with shampoo in the shower.  I still have half a bottle of conditioner, so that will take a little more time, but for the time being, I’m doing the no-shampoo thing (some call it no-poo, but I think that sounds gross) and just washing with baking soda and water.

My reasons for doing this are varied:  1) I don’t like spending so much money on “less-chemically” shampoos.  Even the so-called natural shampoos have a lot of strange ingredients in them.  2) To have a healthier scalp.  It seems that those who shampoo less have prettier hair and healthier scalps.  3) I am not fond of the idea of putting so many chemicals into our water.  There are already many things that our water treatment plants can’t remove from our water (mostly all the drugs people take in our counties, even prescription drugs) and I just don’t want to add to that pollution.  4) to “shampoo” less.  I want to be able to go longer without having to wash my hair.  Back in the day people would go a month or so without washing, right?  So why shouldn’t we?  I waste so much water just getting my hair wet in the shower because it’s so thick.  Rinsing off is another 50 tons of water.  If I can reduce that to just a few times a month instead of a couple-three times a week, I think that’s a noble goal.  My hair would have to still look decent, of course.

So far, it’s not pretty.  Right now my hair is not only oily, but feels too heavy, chunky and probably doesn’t smell very good.  My guess is that the baking soda is not washing off in the water.   It didn’t start off too bad, but since I only wash my hair two or three times a week, I couldn’t see the accumulation of it until this past washing.  I think my problem is hard water, as I have noticed some of my “symptoms” are similar to other’s with hard-water problems.

So far, my method has been to fill the shampoo bottle with water and add a few tablespoons of baking soda, mixing it up and applying it to my wet scalp, working it in and rinsing off.  Since that’s obviously not working, I’m going for Kim’s approach from Life In a Shoe and I’m going to boil my water first so the baking soda will mix properly in it.  I’ve now boiled four cups of water and have mixed approximately 1/4 cup of baking soda in it.  I’ll let it cool before pouring it into my shampoo bottle again and washing anew.  Hopefully this time the ick will come out of my hair and I’ll be back to report something more positive.

I’m Not Sure I’m Ready For This

The last two times I was at the midwife’s for a prenatal I’ve measured over my expected measurement.  Usually, your uterus measures the same number of centimeters as the number of weeks of the pregnancy.  Three weeks ago was the first time I measured over my expected measurement.  Up until then I was measuring exactly where I should.  So, at 29 weeks I measured 31 cm.  No biggie.  Just a little growth like that is totally normal.

At 31 weeks, my next prenatal, I measured 33 cm.  Seems just fine.  They felt for the position of the baby and could only really find what seems like one healthy baby.  Each midwife felt the belly and was confident enough to say it wasn’t likely to be twins and my growth was fine.

Then today I went back in because they wanted to take a look at my diet again since my blood sugar was so high last time.  They said I looked great and I told them I felt fine.  They measured my baby belly and exchanged some glances.  You know something’s up when midwives exchange glances.  Lisa asked Rachel, “what did she measure last week?”  “Thirty-three.”  “Huh.  I think I’m getting 37.”  She felt my uterus again, feeling for the fundus and stretching her tape measure over it.  A time or two she got 36, but in the end they decided it was definitely 37 cm.  I jumped 4 cm in a week.  That’s the kind of growth that makes one question whether or not there are two babies growing in there.

We talked about the possibility of it being twins or if it’s just a lot of water, a fluid exchange or a large baby.  Lisa suggested getting an ultrasound so that we’d know for sure whether or not there are two babies in there, but I just really don’t want to get any ultrasounds.  Thankfully, I don’t have to do anything about it now, but I need to be thinking about that as a possibility.

If there’s two, I’m fine with that and that’s not at all what’s stressing me out.  The thought of having to get an ultrasound to know for sure is what I don’t like to think about.  I mean, really, what’s that going to do?  There’ll still be two babies in there whether I have one or not, and truly the babies can change positions at any time between now and when they’re born.  If one is breech or sideways then it’ll likely have more room to move into a more favorable position for birth once the other one’s out, right?

Well, I have some time to think about things and to weigh my options before I make any decisions.  Getting two of everything won’t be a big deal, since we pretty much have a lot of people offering us stuff all the time.  We pretty much already have two car seats lined up, and if I get all the diapers I registered for at my next baby shower then we’ll be pretty set.  I mean, we’re planning to do Elimination Communication as much as possible, so hopefully we won’t be needing so many diapers anyway.  We just like to be on the safe side.  I have a few dozens already.  What else?  An extra bassinet?  Should be easy to get.  Clothes?  Everyone has baby clothes they want to get rid of.  I know two will be a lot more work than what I think, but I just don’t think it’ll be the end of the world or that I’m ill-prepared for the task.

Again, what I really don’t want is to have to go the “medical” route and get a stinkin’ ultrasound.  Not for my baby(ies)!  It just doesn’t seem natural.  And that’s not the start I want to give them in life.  Besides, there are questions that have been raised in my mind about their safety.  I know the medical community sees them as routine, but I’m just not convinced that they KNOW that for a fact just yet.  It’s often the case where practices are adopted as routine for years before we know their harmful effects.

And I just really. don’t. want. an. ultrasound.

Sick, But At Least I’m Home

Unrelated, here are some pretty flowers I received a few weeks ago.

I knew that I was coming down with a cold on Monday.  I had that familiar tickle in my throat and my strength ran out pretty quickly that day.  Tuesday I woke up sick indeed and although I attempted to take good care of myself and rest in bed, I wasn’t able to sleep until 4:45 a.m. Wednesday morning and only until 9:30 a.m.  I really hate trying to fall asleep with a stuffy nose, but it seems to be so much worse when you can’t get comfortable in bed with the big preggo belly.  Thankfully the hubby was awake with me from about 11:30 p.m. until I fell asleep.  We stayed up watching episodes of The Office online and we cooked up some chicken legs to eat around 2 a.m.

Though I’m incredibly tired and cranky, I’m still very thankful that I don’t have to worry about calling in sick every morning I don’t feel well, trying to convince some superior that I really am sick and worrying about calling in time to find a replacement.  Worse is when you worry whether or not you have enough sick pay left!  If I’d had to wake up at 7 a.m. to call a supervisor to call in sick, I would not have gotten the additional two hours of sleep this morning and I would be worse off right now.

Last night with the hubby, we were both so thankful that we could stay up without worry of what obligations we had in the morning, because we had none!  That really is a relief after so many years of having to get up to go to work.

What a blessing, despite being sick!

Though I’m thankful in my own way, I still think being sick while pregnant stinks and I hope to get better quickly.  I hate not being able to sleep, tired though I am.

I wonder how long it will take to get better this time.

Gestational Diabetes?

When I was at the midwife’s yesterday, the urine test revealed a little protein.  That was my first hint that perhaps my suspicions were right.  The midwife didn’t seem too worried about it and mentioned she’d check my blood later on just to be sure.  We went through the rest of the appointment, talking about how I was feeling, what exercise I should be doing (hubby asked this!) and how I’m eating.  I asked her a million questions about her practices during the birth and pretty much let her know I didn’t want her too involved.  At the end, hubby got to hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time.  I think he got a little emotional, as he later told me he wished we could have heard it a little longer.  :) 

At this point he left to go to work, and the midwife went on to get my blood reading.  It was high for sugars.  Knowing I had eaten a slice of toast and peanut butter around 3:30, she didn’t think it should be so high at 5:15.  We talked about the possibility of it being gestational diabetes, but before we know for sure I’m to write down everything I eat for the next few days and see her again on Monday.

Before I got pregnant, way before, like since when I was a kid through 2006, I used to have a problem with yeast in my body.  The day I began taking the Reliv shakes (Jan ’07) I noticed all those symptoms go away.  Yeast loves sugar and thrives in that environment.  Not good for my body.   The last few days (2-3) I have forgotten to take my shakes (which I also use as my prenatal) and I am now wondering if these symptoms could be the effect of too many days without the nutritional support my body needs.  I’m adding them back into my diet with a vengeance now, and hoping to see the changes in my body.  I’m also cutting back on simple sugars, of which I already don’t each much, in the hopes that my sugars will remain fairly low the next few days until I see the midwife again.  If so, I will continue with this diet through the remainder of my pregnancy.

I’m not too worried yet, but I hope that things change soon so that I’m not faced with the kinds of complications that make midwives nervous and I get transfered to the hospital where I’ll encounter even more opposition to the kind of birth I want, the kind of birth I know I can give this child even if he/she is a ten pound baby!  My body can do it, I know it!!

To Yoga or Not to Yoga

When I recently mentioned to a friend that I was thinking about doing some prenatal yoga for fitness when my morning sickness abated, she cautioned me using some pretty urgent tones.  A man she met from the east (I don’t remember from where) told her once that Westerners didn’t know what they were doing when practicing yoga, because every pose was an invitation for a certain spirit.  It wasn’t just in the chanting or meditation they do, it was in the poses themselves.  She asked me to consider a different form of exercise.

At first I thought it was totally batty.  Like when those Christian tapes came out about holloween and said whenever you put a mask on your kid a demon would enter him/her.  I thought that was pretty batty too.  But it’s kind of been sitting in the back of my mind since then.  It refuses to go away.

The truth is, I’m not sure I know enough about yoga to say, “yes, I know it’s safe.”  Before I practice something that’s associated with pagan worship and possibly evil spirits, shouldn’t I be sure of it?  The benefits of physical and emotional fitness might not be enough to outweigh whatever spiritual outcomes there are, if any.  So I began looking.

Homesteading is Painful

One of our chickens recently got really ambitious:

Big Egg

She decided to be really productive and fertile; she laid an egg with a double yolk. 

Can we say, “ouch”?

Not Feeling So Good

I think I have the flu.  Or a cold.  Or something else.

 

I just don’t feel good.  Ailing me are:

• headaches
• muscle aches
• stuffy nose/ sore throat
• extreme tiredness
• nausea
• bad sleep/nightmares

I haven’t had nightmares in a long time.  What’s up with that?  This morning it was a huge moth attack.  Yes, I can’t stand it when flying things attack me.  And I keep waking up around 4 or 5 am and not being able to get back to sleep.  I try and I try.  I even pray in case I’m supposed to be praying about something, but being half asleep I can’t remember what I was even praying about.  By then sleep gets tired of flirting with me and gives in, right before my alarm clock goes off and I have to get up and get dressed for work.

And I’m supposed to be getting something today.  Or later this week.  Because, this thing – sometimes it’s late.

It’s only 10:33 a.m. and I already need a nap.

Not Getting Sick. At All.

I feel like I might be getting a cold. I can feel the tell-tale tingle in my nose, the constant need to spit/sneeze/blow my nose. It started last night. Not good.

Not good. at. all.

My little sis is flying in this morning, I’m hosting the Thanksgiving dinner this year, there’s cleaning and cooking and preparing to do… I just cannot. get. sick. period.

So this morning I left early early enough to drive to the pharmacy and pick up some airborne and cold-eze. I’m fighting this one with all I’ve got. When I got to the pharmacy, the sign said

Shana Tova! (belated)

The High Holy Holidays are here and I’ve only been able to drag myself out of bed to go to the Rosh Hashanah service at the local synagogue. I really wish there was a messianic congregation nearby. It’s cool going to the Jewish one, but a messianic one would talk about the significance of the holidays to believers today.

Anyhoo, I’m still battling this bug and I think the hubby is coming down with it, too, since he’s got a tickle in his throat now. Poor guy. This is one harsh bug.

I hope I can make it to the Yom Kippur services, but we’ll see how things go. As it is, I miss my bible study tonight on The Truth Project.

I hope I get better soon.