29 Weeks

I look tired today! I haven't had a shower and I'm makeup-free, which is probably why I look so frumpy. Oh well.

I'm getting a bit post-happy these days but I forgot to include another lactation story in my last one. I even have photographic evidence! A couple weeks ago, I was sitting at my laptop and munching on some dry wheat cereal for breakfast when I looked down and noticed two wet spots on my shirt, both conveniently located in the boob region. I hardly ever see more than a drop at a time but now I had evidence and I couldn't help taking a picture of my shirt (after I removed it of course, I wouldn't be that nice). Tada:

28 Weeks, 5 days

I just got an e-mail from Kaiser about my blood test results and my glucose test came out...dun dun dun....NORMAL! I also had a blood count done and that came out NORMAL as well. I love NORMAL! I just had to share my excitement today. If any of you have talked to me recently, you know I've been worried about the glucose screening. I can rest easy...well to some degree....now.

Oh and Des reminded me: I can also thank the pregnancy gods for a very minimal amount of heartburn over my term-- spicy food and all! I feel like I am just coasting along. This probably means I'll have a 28 hour, extremely painful labor with 8 hours of pushing...

28 Weeks, 4 days

Glucola = yum!

Kidding...

But the glucose test orange drink substance was not as bad as I thought it would be. Actually, it tasted exactly like Tang. I reminisced about drinking Tang on a hot summer day back when I was a little tot and it helped me get through it. Although, I never actually liked Tang that much to begin with....

I'll find out in a week or so if my test is positive or negative. If positive, I get to endure a four-hour fast/blood work marathon test. Yay! I'm crossing my fingers that it's negative. However, Mr. Squirmy seems to want me to eat cake all the time so I can't be so sure. Just to be on the safe side, I've crammed a more-than-usual amount of vegetables down my throat the past few days. I figure...veggie karma helps?

Oh and speaking of veggies. I can't seem to get enough broccoli or cabbage!! I've had broccoli about every day this week and more often than not twice daily. At least it's a craving I can nurture sans guilt! However, at the moment, I could really go for one of them fresh-out-of the oven chocolate chip cookies. Violet is evil...she posted a blog about chocolate chip cookies, which I have so recently devoured (only in the reading sense). I have been thinking about cookies ever since.

Well on the baby front, I had my 28 week appointment today and I can't say it could have gone any more smoothly! My blood pressure was 114/65, my urine tested negative for proteins or sugar, my weight is up 4 pounds since the last appointment four weeks ago, and my belly measured just right. Even though I've been worried, the doctor told me that my weight gain is perfectly fine and I should have no trouble losing it afterward, especially if I breast feed. If I were in kindergarten, I totally would have gotten a gold star to add to the wall for this appointment.

Then.....to add about 5 more cherries on top of my happy pregnant moment, I found out this week just how nursing-friendly my office is. We have a private room that can be locked from the inside, which we all refer to as the "Mother's room". It comes equipped with a glider/ottoman, sink, and dorm-sized fridge. I found out this week that it also has a Medela Lactina breast pump motor. Now this is no piddly Medela Pump-in-Style motor, this is a top notch, head-of-the-line, HOSPITAL GRADE, breast pump motor! It is heavy duty! All I need is to get the Medela accessory (tubes, breast thingers, etc.), which I found amazon sells for only like 45 bucks. Sweet deal!

Oh....and it doesn't even begin to stop there! I have a co-worker who just today gave me her double-pump Medala Pump-In-Style (with tote)! She has a one-year-old, who's graduated to mush foods and no longer nurses and she has explicitly expressed her lack of interest in having any more kids. Again, I only need to replace the tubing/breast cup thingers/etc. I can't believe my luck. This is like a $280 pump!

Well...besides breast pumps, I hardly have anything else (okay no gold star yet) but I think we'll get there. I mean I have like almost three months still...right?

28 Weeks

I've hit the BIG one. 28 weeks. As an official member of third tri-dom, I will have to say my biggest thanks go out to my digestion system, which is still in wonderful working order. I've read the horror stories...I've heard the horror stories...I've expected my own horror story and yet...the machinery is still functioning as it should! Yay!

I may attribute it to the probably hundreds of burritos I've consumed since conception. I'll probably indulge in said food this very evening. Yumm.....I'm wondering if I'm traumatizing this poor boy with so many burritos AND all the hot sauce I've been loading them up with. In general, I like spicy food but pregnancy tends to exacerbate everything....including my taste for spice. There's this tasty little bento place outside of my gym that I indulge in every time I hit up my yoga class at lunch. I love it because the food is so simple there. I can get brown rice or noodles with plain, steamed veggies---no added sauce! Then they have a cornucopia of sauces, spices, etc. that I can indulge in. I like to add a little peanut sauce, soy sauce, sesame seeds, and the hot red sauce. I dumped the hot sauce on in heeps on Friday and when I ate at my desk, I could hardly talk, my lips and mouth were on fire! But I LUURVVED it. I reiterate....poor little boy. How his mother abuses him so!

Anyway, off of the spicy food rant for now. I had to write a paper proposal for my public policy class last night and he handed them back today marked up with notes. I rambled about researching the Oregon irrigation rights, the reclamation act, the environmental/economic conflicts, and using the Klamath Basin water crisis as a case study. His response was that I chose a good topic and that I should check out Northwest Sustainability here in Portland. Sweet! I feel much better now that I'm off to a good start. I'm totally stoked about the topic since I studied hydrology/water resources in college and will probably be rambling about salmon shortages and tribal communities on here soon enough....just to forewarn you.

I think the belly's grown a bit this week. I noticed last night when I caught my reflection. I pulled up my shirt to check out my rounding belly and Dave even made some comment about it's massiveness. Thus...this photo shortly followed...

27 Weeks, 5 days

I forgot to put up my 27 week photo. Sorry for the quality:





















Well it looks like we've got a wedding date and location! We're getting married September 6th at Youngberg Hill Vineyards. Below are a few photos we took at the location. Of course, these don't do it justice-- it's beautiful!!!

27 Weeks, two days

Months ago, I would daydream of taking my newborn out for walks in the park, slung across my belly on grocery excursions, or just in and around the neighborhood. However, these daydream sagas were dashed months ago when I became aware of the so-called baby "Lock Down", which involves staying chained indoors for the first 6 weeks as the baby's immune system develops. I argued that it didn't make sense with a baby that had a perfectly normal immune system even if they are more susceptible. However, my arguments were shot down by family or friends. I guess there's quite a bit of stigma about it. Six weeks??? I go stir crazy after one day of being stuck indoors.

I just can't buy it. I did some research and found that unless I live in Mexico city or near some sort of rank garbage dump, taking a newborn outside is perfectly fine. I just need to exercise a certain amount of good sense- keeping him close to me, avoiding crowded areas, keeping strangers at bay, dressing him appropriately etc. Also, I will be passing my own immunities to my son via breastmilk, which further inhibits scary germ infections. Plus I worry that it would be over-protective to practically keeping my baby in a bubble for six weeks. Therefore, a stroll about the neighborhood with the little guy wrapped up in a sling is perfectly fine. So, I will be taking him out and about social stigma and all.

26 Weeks, 4 Days

I've been coming to the conclusion (knock on wood) that I've had a very "uninteresting" pregnancy thus far. In a GOOD way. I've not been constipated or "stopped up" if you will (yet). I'm not swelling even in my ankles, feet, or face (yet). I have hardly had any back pain (yet). The morning sickness was livable-- I managed to keep everything down. I've only had leg cramps once. Aside from an occasional but rare toss and turn night, I sleep very well. I never got a UTI, which is very common in early pregnancy especially for women prone to it (me). I've felt pretty good overall, albeit a slight bit more tired over the past couple weeks.

I'm just expecting it all to come crashing down sometime soon as I near the....dun...dun...dun THIRD Trimester. Now, a third of what I read says I already started this week, a third says I start at the end of this week and a third say I'll start at the end of next week. Just to prolong the inevitable, I'm waiting to officially enter third tri-dom until the end of next week.

Mr. Squirmy got the hiccups 2-3 times yesterday. Every time he hiccups, it jolts his entire body and I can feel him from one side of my belly to the other. I can tell when he has them because his movements are more rhythmic instead of sporadic as usual. I can't help but chuckle each time. It's really cute.

26 Weeks

Yigh...I'm so tired! I've had a long week with class Tuesday and Wednesday nights, band practice on Thursday, more class last night and then all day today. Whew! Luckily, I dropped the Tuesday class and the marathon Friday night & Saturday day class runs only three times over the term.
Anyway class ran from 9-5 today and I headed home afterwards with a notion on my mind to get all the laundry done. We seriously needed to do laundry. I mean, I've been doing what I call "maintenance" laundry, which is one load once in a while for fresh undies, and our favorite clothes. However, the less exciting wardrobe options have piled up. So, in my mind, it seemed completely plausible for me (at six months pregnant) to lug a laundry bag FULL of clothes AND a basket FULL of clothes to the laundromat three blocks from our place. Needless to say, I didn't really think this through. I managed to get there but had to stop about every street corner to gather my barrings. I know. I know. I already slapped my wrist.
But...I got it all done. All two ginormous loads of it (you know the 4-loads-in-one washers?).
Dave got off work at 8 and met me at the laundromat to help lug it all back home and put it all away.
I then somehow roped him into cleaning the kitchen while I scrubbed down the bathroom (you can eat off the floor), picked up the livingroom and swept the house. Dave took the mighty job of removing abundant recycling articles and the trash. When all was done around 10, I finally felt I could breathe again. Nesting? Perhaps.
As I was getting ready to hop in the shower afterwards, I noticed that I was leaking a tiny bit of whitish-clear fluid from my boobs. I yelled to Dave, "I'm Lactating! I'm Lactating!" and insisted that he see it as well. He found it less exhilerating, sort of grimaced and walked away. I followed him down the hall and yelled again that I was lactating a few more times. I get the feeling that he's a little less enthusiastic than I am. Frankly, I'm thrilled to think that they actually "work"!

Anyway...26 Weeks:

25 Weeks, 4 Days

I started classes yesterday and the initial excitement has still not yet worn off. However, I had to cancel PA 551 Analytical Methods I because the particular instructor for this course teaches it in a sequence with 552 Analytical Methods II in the Spring term. The class basically rolls over from Winter term into Spring term and they cannot be taken separately due to group projects, etc. And she's the only professor that does this! Ugh! Her syllabus read in big bold letters at the top of the page: "Do not take this course if you are unable to take 552 from me in the Spring term". I got this at the beginning of a three-hour long class. Yay. No, I can't take 552 from you in the Spring because I may be popping out a baby around then. Sorry.

Anyway, I dropped 551 and signed up for 533 Public Policy, which starts Friday evening. Luckily, the books for this course are about $180 CHEAPER than the books in 551. I guess it's not too much of a loss.

Anyway, on the baby front, Mr. Squirmy Pants is getting busy these days! A couple mornings ago, Dave actually exclaimed out loud in surprise when he felt the baby rolling around and kicking. Seriously this baby can jolt me out of a peacefull slumber these days. So...at almost 26 weeks, that means he has 14 more weeks of growing, gaining, and stregthening. Thus I have much to look forward to!

25 Weeks

Well I think Mr. Squirmy may have turned over the past week. I've been feeling more kicks up around my belly button or higher and only some nudges in my...um...lady parts. Whereas last week, I got kicked downstairs all the time-- a little jolting, if you ask me. Sometimes I think he lays sideways-- especially when I'm laying down. It's then when I feel kicking and/or headbutting/punching on either side of my belly simultaneously.

The most exciting thing happened to me the other day: I was offered a seat on the bus!! There were no available seats but I was only about one of three people forced to stand. And actually, for once, I was quite content with it. I had had a great day, I was feeling pretty healthy and strong. This of course is the case for the one time I'm offered a seat! I politely declined since I wasn't too far from my stop anyway but I couldn't wipe this huge goofy grin off my face for the rest of the ride. I'm pretty sure I pranced home.

Dave is on Day 3 of quitting smoking and doing surprisingly well from a third party perspective. He had his last cigarette at 12 AM on the 1st and has committed to quitting. I promised him that I'd quit chocolate for the next three weeks as sort of a rallying effort for his quitting smoking. I'm not quite sure what I've gotten into because I could really go for some chocolate cake or something. However, so far I've stayed clean. He seems to be recommitting himself to getting healthier in general, which gives me more motivation to commit to a healthier lifestyle myself. Go us. We're just a healthy bunch here.

Week 25 Photos:

24 Weeks, 5 Days

Happy New Year!!!

Neither Dave nor I had any urge to go out this year. I was actually looking forward to getting into some jammies, watching a movie and popping some popcorn. And basically that's what we did! We even set up the projector and watched the Dark Knight projected onto our wall with surround sound. It was awesome!!! Mr. Squirmy Pants kept jerking around in my belly all last night. I think it was the loud noises in the film that jolted him. I ended up falling asleep for a bit until Dave woke me up ten minutes to showdown and we watched the pipsqueek Ryan Seacrest along with a very aged Dick Clark count down to the new year. Poor Dick finally caught up with the counting at around number 7 (he was dragging a bit). We smooched a bit at midnight and then I snoozed again on the couch shortly after while Dave listened to his records.

I hate to say it, but frankly, I've gotten to the point in my pregnancy where it is just downright boring. I'm almost to 25 weeks, which has always been a sort of pinnacle. However, upon reaching it, I'm either reminded about how much further I have to go or I suddenly break down in a panic thinking how the hell am I going to get everything down in 15 short weeks??!!!

Yes, basically I've reached panic mode in my pregnancy. I'm fine and dandy one minute and the next I am flipping out over the fact that I've done next to nothing to get things ready for the baby. Aside from finally completing my registry and reading every prego book I can get my hands on, I'm completely unprepared. Oh...and one question here...why in the world do babies need wipe-warmers??? (I didn't add them to my registry-- frankly, I'll warm it with my hands if the wipes are that damn cold)

Next, all I've got to say is: Poor Dave. He has taken these royal mood swings with more warmth and grace than I ever could imagine. He sits me down and talks me through everything I'm stressing about. See...I have this control issue. Some of you may or may not have noticed it about me. I like things done one way only - my way - and I have a hard time trusting people to do them without my "guidance" [aka severe authoritarian management]. However, when I come to the realization that I just cannot do everything myself to get prepared (see above paragraph), the inevitable "flip out" ensues. In a recent "flip out", I blamed Dave for not taking more action in getting things ready for the baby. His response was that he would gladly help out but he thought I preferred to do everything myself [absolute control issue]. Well slap me upside the head-- I'm an idiot. He knows me well enough to know I want to control every aspect of everything- he was just following my lead. I guess the thing he didn't catch on to was that I need to be told to let go of things and share the wealth, so to speak.

We do pretty well together, Dave and I. Sort of like the two edge pieces of the puzzle-- we go along the same line generally but our differences complement each other. For example, I absolutely abhor taking out the trash and recycling but I don't mind doing laundry. In fact, I would probably let the trash build up so much that until it starts reeking and the recycling would build up so much you'd have to trip over it to get to the kitchen before I'd take it out. Dave's negligent of doing laundry to the point of where I'd wonder if he'd ever wash anything if I didn't live here, yet he has no qualms about taking out the trash. I think we will probably find similar niches in child-rearing. I'm looking forward to discovering what they are.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I had my 24 week check-up on Wednesday. My bp was 121/73, urine was negative for proteins or sugar, and the heartbeat was strong and clear. All is completely boring and normal :). Oh it looks like I'm up about 19 pounds via home scale. Yikes!