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.