Friday, December 15, 2006

3rd Trimester - Getting Big

I didn’t really start popping until about month 7, and now that I’m at the tail end of month 8, things are getting fairly er—uncomfortable. This is definitely a whole new chapter in the pregnancy book o’ fun. It certainly is a new experience for my bellybutton too.

My EVER Changing Body
First of all, when you have a watermelon strapped to the front of you, there are some unattractive things that begin happening to your increasingly squished body. Back, leg, rib and pelvic pain certainly top the list. I learned in my child-birthing class that for every pound you carry up front in your uterus, 10 pounds are exerted on your sacrum area (lower back). This causes many women posture and waddling issues—compensation for the weight if you will. I have definitely had my waddling moments, although more often than not, I feel much more like a turtle that’s flipped on its back. Makes getting out of cars and up from couches lots of fun—and very entertaining for my husband to watch.

Also—frequent peeing. This past week I’ve woken up at 4am for the past 5 nights straight—unable to return to sleep for 1-2 hours. I’m writing this lovely note to you at 4:30am. Mostly it’s a pee-problem. I usually have to pee 2-3 times in the middle of each night now. My last pee of the night wakes me completely up—and so here I am. In my childbirth class, they showed us pictures of our pre-pregnancy and 3rd-trimester pregnant bodies in class. The instructor was quick to point out a very thin line that rests just under the baby’s head—“That, ladies, is your bladder.” And all the men in the room suddenly understood their partner’s potty trips.

One fun side-effect they call “incontinence” got the best of me over Thanksgiving at my parents’ house. Lounging around playing games with family, I got up and noticed my p.j.s were soaked through in a place that you don’t wanna soak through… if you catch my drift. I ran to the bathroom to show Ira—“I think my water broke!” I decided to remain calm, take a shower, and see if the problem continued, or if additional symptoms began appearing. After a few moments of panic, we discovered that I’d simply peed my pants and didn’t know it. I’ve never peed my pants and not known it—how can you pee your pants and not know it?? Apparently this happens to pregnant women all the time—I’d never heard of it before.

And finally, my very new favorite—dadadadum—hemorrhoids. I had never experienced hemorrhoids up until these last 2 weeks—was I missing out or what. There’s not much to say about them except for that they really hurt, make those potty trips a lot less fun, and are a complete pain in the butt to get rid of. Witch hazel is my new best friend. It doesn’t really cure them, but it sure helps curb the pain.

Baby Grace—On Her Way
I can’t believe that I’ve been entrusted with such a huge task as raising a child. Isn’t it crazy to think that just anyone can go out and do this—you have to get a license to get married, or drive, or literally do anything. But having children, one of the biggest and most life-changing things—anyone can do.

It has been so amazing to see how much God has prepared our hearts to welcome our little baby Grace into this world. I can honestly say that we are both very ready for her to be here now. Flashing back to May, we were absolutely dumbfounded—but now we are so excited and can’t wait to meet her. I have these moments of complete disbelief that I am growing and carrying a little person inside of me. My husband is thrilled just to greet her and feel her move each day—he says his day doesn’t feel complete until he’s said hello to her this way. It’s just amazing that we know her better than any other people in the world right now—a unique little girl who we will be completely and utterly responsible for. A little person who will be so important to us for the rest of our lives. I feel so blessed—and absolutely can’t wait for her to be here.

COOL STUFF
Cute for the pregnant belly: Due & Sprout T-shirts. I have a black tank that says "girl" - and I've gotten quite a few compliments on it!
Pants support: Belly-Ups (think suspenders that kinda link your pants up to your bra)--helps keep pants from falling down. =)

Monday, November 27, 2006

Baby Registry--A.K.A. Torture in its Purest Form

One thing that many people DON’T tell you about having a baby is all the STUFF that goes along with it. Like what in the world is an aspirator, and why would you need one? There’s baby clothes (also called “layette”), baby furniture, baby toys, baby bedding, baby bath accessories, baby feeding (and—er, potty) accessories, baby health and safety items, and the baby gear—all those items that are specifically baby—like strollers, carriers, car seats, swings, bouncers, high chairs and walkers. With all the stuff people tell you that you might want or possibly need—“Baby” is definitely an industry.

Ira and I walked into Target so innocently the day we thought we were going to register. I figured we would walk down the baby aisles and get ideas of what we should register for. Let me just tell you now—this is NOT the way to do things. We were so unprepared for the amount of stuff we would be assaulted with, and so ignorant of what we would actually need or want, that we were practically frozen in place—just staring at the different stroller systems without a clue.

Then enters baby-Yoda lady… she sauntered down the stroller aisle with a happy, bouncy, rosy-cheeked baby strapped to her front in a Baby Bjorn. This lady could immediately sense our frustration, and offered us some wise counsel. She suggested we first purchase a baby-gear guidebook to help us, and recommended “Baby Bargains”—a book all of her girlfriends had passed around to each other. So we stashed our registry wand for the moment and headed for Borders. Ok—just to warn you, “Baby Bargains” is not a bargain to purchase. It was about $18 for a skinny 200 page paperback. But it was full of indispensable information, and I’m glad we got it.

Basically “Baby Bargains” is a critique on all of the baby gear currently available. They compare gear, measure safety, cost and quality and offer the best buys for your buck. This was especially helpful when it came to strollers. We’d been looking at travel-systems (3-in-1 strollers), that the book reviewed as too bulky and heavy—it gave us alternative options for our lifestyle instead. I spent hours pouring over this book, reading reviews, and determining which items would be best for baby. They even have a quick-pick registry reference guide in back—which was oh-so-helpful.

So we entered Target and then Babies-R-Us anew and refreshed. And several exhausting hours later, had completed our registry. All I have to say, is thank goodness for online registries. Making changes was a breeze.

By the way, to answer my question at the beginning... a nasal aspirator is a little bulb-thingy that sucks the boogers out of baby's nose. Aren't you glad you know now?

Cool Stuff—

Baby Carriers: Here are a few cute and trendy ones you might want to check out—The Sweetness Pouch, and The Sugar Sac. These both go over one shoulder, and are great for cradling and carrying your precious itty bitty one.

AIDS Awareness: AIDS has killed more than 25 million people worldwide making it the most destructive epidemic in recorded history. In 2005 the AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 3.1 million lives of which, more than 570,000 were children. Everyday more than 2,000 kids are infected with the HIV virus. AIDS is beyond a cause, it’s an emergency! Join ChicBlvd to help put an end to AIDS, visit www.chicblvd.com/aids/

Monday, November 13, 2006

Ultrasound Extravaganza

Ultrasound #1
The doctor wanted a little more clarity on just how far along I was. I showed him my Natural Family Planning calendar of my cycle—showing him the day we thought we’d conceived. Since there was about a five-day window that the egg could’ve fertilized, and we weren’t sure about which day was my “peak,” our OB wanted to narrow down to the week as much as possible. So in we went for our first ultrasound.

When you are this early in your pregnancy, a normal on-the-belly ultrasound doesn’t cut it apparently. Nope—they have to use the wand o’ fun. Super. All that aside, the process wasn’t terribly uncomfortable (not as bad as say, your pap smear—youch). But it was totally incredible. Everything seemed to become so real once we could see our little bitty baby. The shape wasn’t fully formed yet—but you could distinctly make out limbs, the little head and the little body. And we got to see the heart beating. That was pretty incredible. Knowing that a little life—so separate from my own was in there—already completely taking shape.

The nurse said we were at about 8 weeks at the time. So pretty much half-way through the first trimester already. Interesting fact—and I’m sure if you’ve been pregnant you know this… They actually count your pregnancy week-count from the first date of your last period. So for the first 2 or so weeks of your pregnancy, you aren’t even pregnant yet!

Ultrasound #2 – September 5, 2006
This was the one we were really looking forward to. By this time we’d felt the baby move already, seen the little heart beating, and heard the heartbeat on the little machine in the OB’s office during our normal checkups. But this one—this is the one they check for healthy pregnancy, and da-da-da-dum—gender! And unlike some people who want to be surprised at birth—we wanted to be surprised NOW. I know—very patient =) I’m just a planner—I want to register for the right stuff for the shower, so people can get our little baby the right kind of clothes—green and yellow can only go so far.

What did we want? Hmmm—good question. I’d really felt that from the beginning of pregnancy, that since God allowed this to happen to me, that He would have to give me a little girl first. I know that if we ended up having a little boy, that I would cherish him just as much. But there is something about the idea of having a little girl—someone that I can be girly with, dress in pink, and cuddle with all the time. Just so—appealing. I’m sure that there are some of you who totally understand what I mean. And there are others who are on the verge of throwing up right now. Totally understandable. Ira, like every guy I’d ever heard of, wanted a boy first. And for pretty much the same reason. Someone he could be buddies with, wrestle with, and relate to.

So as we were getting ready to go in, I made up my mind that I could be very wrong about the whole girl business. After all, I only had a 50/50 chance of being right. God could be giving us a boy. And that would be great. It would just be different than a girl.

This being our very first baby, Ira was video taping the whole thing—even though my assignment as “Mom-to-Be” wasn’t a sure thing yet. This video was pretty much just for us—but I hope you enjoy it too!!! The lady at the front desk was super cool, and excited for us (even though she was a bit camera-shy, as was the doctor). The front-desk lady brought us to our examination room, and asked us if we’d brought a VHS to tape the Ultrasound. I was so disappointed—I didn’t know we could record it! But she snuck us a tape out of the cupboard, and we got to record it anyways—told you she was super cool.

The doctor came in a few moments later, and it all started. She checked for all the health signs and risk factors. And in the end, told us we were having (with 90% accuracy) a healthy baby GIRL! I was so excited I totally teared up—even though you can’t really tell on tape. A GIRL! YAY!

So that was our new big news! Now we could register—yesssssss.

COOL STUFF
LUSH Cosmetics - These are some super cool, all-natural facial and spa products that are perfect for pampering yourself, or giving to your shower hosts as gifts! I tried the Ultra Bland Cleanser, Eau Roma Water toner, and Imperialis moisturizer. Some pretty chic stuff. =)

Saturday, October 28, 2006

May thru July - Reality Sets In

Telling Our Parents
Some people wait a while before telling people about their pregnancy because of the risk of miscarriage, etc. This wasn’t us—call us impatient, but we just couldn’t keep the news to ourselves for very long. So the first step was figuring out how we would tell our parents—this would be the first grandbaby on both sides.

Ira’s parents, my in-laws, were a breeze. Because they live in Oregon, we simply made a phone call and had the whole family on speaker phone. His mom suspected the news right away (and got the giggles)—but needless to say, they were absolutely thrilled.

Because we were going to tell my parents in person, we tried to figure out a more creative way of breaking the big news. We thought we’d show them the pregnancy test, and let that speak for itself. We gift-wrapped the test and told my parents it was a late Mother’s Day, early Father’s Day gift, that we’d just found it in the last week, but thought that it was perfect for them, and that they’d really like it. We should’ve asked them to put on their glasses before opening it. Oh, but hindsight is always 20/20.

They opened it together, and had absolutely no idea what it was because they couldn’t read the writing on it. My dad thought it was a thermometer and took the cap off—to which we immediately cried “NO! Don’t take the cap off!!” as I had visions of him actually touching my pee. Clearly flustered and confused, he replaced the cap. Still clueless a few moments later, my mom joked about it looking like a pregnancy test. We smiled and nodded. And she stared back at us with the biggest eyes and most frozen grin I’ve ever seen her give.

I’m not sure they knew quite how to react. My dad laughed, said “my daughter’s knocked up” jokingly, and made Ira drink a shot of tequila with him. My mom was tickled pink—but I really think she just couldn’t believe it. And thus they were introduced to the knowledge that they would soon be grandparents.

NAUSEA
I felt great for about 2 weeks after the pee-test. Then a slight feeling of nausea introduced itself. And it became worse over time instead of better—pretty much all of June and July. NOTHING seemed to help all that much. I tried soda crackers and ginger ale, and candied ginger, and all those things that are supposed to help. But all I really felt like doing was lying down and trying not to heave. I just received “Preggie Pops” in the mail this last week—I wish I’d had them in June since they are supposed to aid in morning sickness. I pretty much felt green all the time—but in to work I went, and I only missed 2 days for feeling icky. I threw up 3 times a week at my worst—but felt nauseous all the time. I really got to hand it to you women who throw up 3 times before breakfast and still manage to clock in. I have no idea how you do it.

Prenatal Vitamins
By about July I was blaming my icky-ness on my cheapo-brand prenatal vitamins since the iron in them can really upset your stomach. I ended up finding some—Apex Prenatal Vitamins—that dissolve in your intestines rather than in your stomach. This helped quite a bit on the nausea actually.

Active Sinuses
I’ve read that the hormones in your body actually boost the productivity of all of your body’s mucus activity. In the nether regions it’s called leukorrhea, and is healthy body-function in pregnancy. This also increases your sinus activity as well (and I thought I was getting a cold all that time). Some women have such active sinuses in pregnancy that they get nosebleeds. Mine produced an unpleasant gagging reflex—often causing me to vomit—wonderful.

Good News
By August I was feeling MUCH MUCH better. The nausea had subsided by week 16, we were getting into the grove of the new “us.”

And on August 2nd, in only week 15, we felt our little baby kick and roll for the first time! Ira just happened to put his warm hand on my tummy, and we felt what I thought at first was a tiny gas bubble, but then there was an unmistakable roll right against Ira’s hand. It was absolutely incredible. Nothing like a good dose of reality to put all things in perspective—there was a little life growing inside of me, and we already wanted to meet our precious little one! In fact, we were already thinking about names… (but more on that later =)

COOL STUFF
One of the little perks of being the Mom to Be is that I get to review different products and tell you all about them! So I will have this little section here that will outline some of those items with each post.
Preggie Pops--All-natural lollipops that are designed to reduce the symptoms of morning sickness. They can also be used to aid mommy during the fun, vomitous stages of labor and delivery.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

May 17th, 2006 - I'm WHAT?!?


Ok - so our pregnancy wasn't exactly planned. Ira (my husband) and I knew that this would one day happen—we just didn't think it would happen so soon. We had thought 5 years was a good marker, we'd been married just over 2 years in May, when I peed on the stick. The pee that changed our lives...


Our Contraception Plan...
Yes, we did have a "let's not get prego" plan in place. It was 98% effective (if you do it correctly)—which is quite comparable to other birth control methods: The Pill (around 99% effective), The Condom (I think in the neighborhood of 96% effective), etc. We opted for The Billings Ovulation Method of Natural Family Planning (NFP). I didn't really want to mess with my horomones, or have to use a device all the time. So in our minds, this made sense—and we decided that if God blessed us with a little baby, that we would warmly accept it as His plan.

Rather than bore you with all the gory details of how this plan works - you can check out www.woomb.org for details (did you know there's really only a 72 hour window that you can actually become pregnant in each month?). The cool things that struck me about it though was that it has 98% effectiveness in 3rd World Countries where it's taught! And I could use it with my super irregular cycle. So we took a 6-session class through an NFP teacher. But there is always that 2%...


What We Think Happened...
Because the Billings method is based on your current symptoms, you gotta check them out on every trip to the potty throughout the day, and chart them on a calendar to keep track. Really not that difficult. But here's the trick (and what we think happened)—there is a slight chance you could be on the verge of starting your ovulation and not know it yet because you haven't checked in a few hours (did you know that sperm live only 3-5 hours in your normal conditions, but when your ovulation symptoms begin, and they have the right conditions—they can live 3-5 DAYS until your egg actually drops?!)... So we're pretty sure his little guys lived a few days—waiting for my egg to drop. And Ta-Da! Pregnant!


How We Found Out...
My boobs had been hurting for weeks, and I was pretty sure they were growing too. And when you're a "barely-A" sorta girl, this is big news! I went out jogging, and was surprised that my cammy wasn't doing the trick for support. Since when did that happen? So that shoulda been my first clue. But I didn't know that your boobs hurt during pregnancy...

Work was really stressful—I had taken on a second job responsibility for the time being, so I thought that maybe my period was just late because of stress (even though Billings was telling me that I was pretty sure I'd ovulated). I blamed my mood swings on the period that should be starting any second...

But any second turned into a few days. And there was a question growing in the back of my mind... "What If...?" But no, impossible. Still—I went to the store and picked up a test.

I peed on it the next morning while Ira was in the shower. Two lines appeared almost immediately. I checked the stick—“Two Lines = Pregnant." Huh?! I showed the showering husband—who looked at me with the widest eyes I've ever seen. "It's gotta be a mistake" I kept thinking—“There's no way!" Oh but there was—and going to the doctor later that day confirmed it. Our due date was January 19, 2007.


My First Response...
I was absolutely stunned in unbelief. I think Ira was the same way. Our lives would very soon be changing. I would have to share him, and he would have to share me—with a new little person, who didn't seem very real yet. I have to admit that I was very upset about this. I had an almost selfish desire to have my husband all to myself for longer—but I wasn't going to get that. It didn't seem exactly fair somehow. So there were some tears, and a few inquisitive prayers towards God. And finally, acceptance.

We began coming to terms with our news—and we started getting excited about all the things a baby would mean to us. Probably the most exciting thing to me was beginning family traditions and planning family trips. It will be so exciting to introduce a new little person to all the things and people we love so much—and watch this little soul experience it all for the very first time. It just seems so amazing that we get to be part of that. I was excited about Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, the 4th of July—and knowing that those holidays would take on such a different spin in 2007.

These were my very very first reactions, and my emotions and thoughts about bringing this baby into the world are much more intense, deep and developed now.

Just the Beginning…
This was the very beginning of our journey—of which we’re now in the 23rd week (at the beginning of the 6th month). I hope that you will continue along with us, as I recount some of what the first few months were like—and bring you up to speed on where we’re at now. It’s been quite the experience! And I look forward to sharing it with you very much.

Blessings for a happy pregnancy,
Christy

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Diary of a Mom to be- Meet Christy

My name is Christy--and I just found out that I'm pregnant! My "girlfriends" at ChicBlvd.com are following me along this journey which you will see on video , email (sign up for the newsletter www.chicblvd.com/newsletter_signup.html) and this diary blog. Thank you for joining us on the journey!