A Change in the Movements

The babes is now rockin 'n rollin above my belly button on the left side. This is new as of yesterday. She's a lot of fun!

Hormonal French Toast

Cravings. I've read they're real but I haven't experienced them, yet anyways. Commercials and smells can entice me but they did before I was pregnant. Now I just have an excuse. One morning early on I went up to the cafeteria to get oatmeal and came back to my desk with French Toast. Jose the chef was making FT and it smelt SO good that I had to have it too. Other treats have included chocolate chip muffins cut in half with butter warmed up on the stove and single servings of Eddy's mint chocolate chip ice cream or Strawberries 'n Cream Kemp's frozen yogurt (both are only $1 and I can't overeat with the single serving!). Foo Foo seems to also really enjoy bananas. She wakes up to play every time I eat one!

The babes has been so playful and active lately that Tony has been saying she’s a Furze. That’s my Mom’s maiden name. He says that because my Mom is nonstop. She’s always on the go and isn’t very good at relaxing. That’s Foo Foo I guess too, at least for the time being. Maybe she’s planning to sleep in December when she’s born. That would be nice. Last Thursday night I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and she decided it was playtime, for about 45min. I just laid there and felt her bopping around, at 3 o’clock in the morning. Tony said she has us in training.

We woke up to a relaxing rain Sunday morning and I actually got up before Foo Foo. I went downstairs to make breakfast and emailed Tony to come down and join me (knowing he’d look at his phone). It reminded me of the (modern day) notes my Mom and Dad used to write. They worked different shifts and didn’t see each other often so they would leave cute (and sometimes not-so-cute or nice!) notes in the kitchen or dining room. My Dad always wrote “Love ya” for my Mom. I hope that we do a good job showing our daughter (who just kicked!) the love I and I know Tony felt growing up and also the love I know my parents felt for each other.

Sunday afternoon we visited my Gram Furze. She actually thought my Uncle Stephen was visiting in his new red car. Nope, that was just me at the front door in my red fleece. Thanks, Gram. I guess my belly is getting bigger! Haha … While we were winding down to fall asleep Sunday night, we actually saw her moving around in there. It was a first and it was wild! Something else that’s different? the shape of my belly button, or lack of. It’s a slit being pushed outward. Poor, deformed belly button…

Now it may have been a lack of sleep or long day at work but Monday night (tonight), I had a hormonal incident. A crying fit without a real reason if you will. Tony and Rachael were playing in the kitchen and Tony tried to get Rach to hop up on his knee but she decided to latch onto my back instead. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that badly but it startled me, and her nails definitely need a trimming. Anyways, I stood there and cried and laughed, laughed and cried, for a good 5 minutes. Tony hugged me and laughed too although he looked worried like he couldn’t tell if I was really hurt or not. Nope, I’m pretty sure it’s just the pregnancy hormones making me a little CRAZY!

The Adventure Known as Pregnancy

Nausea, swollen ankles, a dark line (“linea negra”) down your belly, stretch marks and the list continues. Why would any woman ever want to have a baby? Besides the obvious reward of raising a child, I’m finding that most women experience some – but not all – of these symptoms. And thankfully, they happen at different points in the pregnancy.

First symptom: cramping. For me this happened in the 4-6wks time frame. It felt like my period was coming but more intense. So I put off getting a pregnancy test. That lasted only a few more days. I bought a test; Tony bought a 12pack of Bud Light.

Second: tiredness. Right around week 9 as soon as Tony picked me up from work, I crashed. Slept most of the way home (rush hour on the Expressway = 45min-more than 1hr). The tiredness went away in the beginning of the second trimester when the placenta took over as the nourishment source for the then embryo-turned-fetus.

Third: heart burn. It’s only happened a few times but man is it painful! I don’t know how people live with that every day. It’s only happened 2 or 3 times and I already bought a big bottle of TUMS for my cube at work.

Fourth: sweating. Thank God the summer is ending because I have been a sweaty mess. This hormonal gift (insert sarcasm here) has required an extra set of underwear for gym visits in between cardio and lifting. Gross… My growing belly forced a towel change today too from my usual bath towel to a beach towel. Oh man…

Fifth: headaches. There’s only been a few but they usually occur during the most inconvenient times. My doctor said drink more water and snack more often. I'm on it! Apparently no matter how much water pregnant women drink, it's never enough! So I'm on a mission to drink A TON of water. Where's Meg? She is in the bathroom from drinking 4 gallons of water!!

Sixth: pregnancy brain, aka: momnesia. Hey, studies back it up!

And finally: sensitive gums. Hormonal changes and increased blood flow throughout the body can cause swelling and sensitivity. I told a newly pregnant friend today to book her cleaning in the first or second trimester, not third (though I'm sure it's different for everyone). There was so much blood coming out of my mouth on Tuesday, it looked like I lost a fight with Laila Ali.

Now after listing all of these not-so-fun things that can happen during pregnancy, I will definitely say that I've had a pretty easy pregnancy. No morning sickness, come on now! How lucky was that? I've also enjoyed feeling Foo Foo's movements (which have definitely increased this week - she's a wild one!). Now I just have to get Tony on board with the growing belly. He jokes around about it so maybe he'll come around sooner rather than later. After all, it's going to grow A LOT more at 28wks. I chased him around the kitchen after dinner tonight with my belly. I'm sure it was quite the sight. We were both in tears from laughing so hard!

'Denise' and The Canal

haha so every morning when the alarm goes off, I try to take the time to stay in bed and feel Foo Foo wake up. This morning, though, I felt movement I'd never felt before. It was in a different spot and it was a totally different shape and feeling. It was Foo Foo's head above my belly button! She was rolling around in there and telling her Mom to get up and get to the gym (she enjoys the rocking of the elliptical).

Anyways, Tony put his hand there and seemed mildly impressed this time. He said, "This kid's going to be a menice! We should name her Denise!!" hahah not really but it was funny at just past 5. He had another funny comment on Monday when we were going through my paperwork from the doc's appt and reading the "Info About Your Care During Labor and Birth" and Health Care Proxy. "Ummm, 'birth canal'? Not a fan of that term, I can tell you that.

Mmmm Orange Soda

Today was a busy check-up at the doctor's office. I grabbed the dreaded and supposedly gross "orange soda" from the lab before heading to my appointment. Everyone said it was disgustingly sweet. I thought it was delicious! haha I guess I love orange soda! My blood was drawn an hour after drinking the Glucola to test for gestational diabetes. The lab tech also drew blood to test for anemia. I would be surprised if I was anemic because I don't feel fatigued or weak at all (common symptons). I definitely wouldn't be at the gym if that was the case!

I also got a flu shot while I was there. Might as well do everything in one trip, right? The doctor measured my tummy and said everything was on track and we listened to her heart beat, which was as strong and cool as ever!

All For Foo Foo

I love my friends! They threw me an amazing baby shower on Saturday. Carah and Jess headed up the effort; Carah's parents did tons of work around the house and yard; and Jess did lots of coordinating and executing!

My new responsibility (a ring from the beautiful cake)

My Mom called it the "Martha Stewart" shower and Tony's sister, Andrea, said it was the most beautiful baby shower she's ever been to. The gorgeous weather didn't hurt either!

My Mom checking out the great gifts. She and Kim, my mother-in-law, are very excited to be grandmothers!

It was great to have friends from different parts of my life come together. I know it's a pain in the butt sometimes to give up a Saturday and I truly appreciated their time, effort, love and treks from Western Mass, Boston and the North Shore!!

Click here for More Shower Pics

NOW ENTERING...

Third trimester!

27wks today :) Have lots of other things on my mind that I wanted to write about but I've had a headache for 2.5hrs so I'm heading to bed!

No Stethoscope Required

Maybe it's the pregnant (lack of) a brain thing but I completely forgot to include some other neat things from this week in last night's post.

Thursday morning Tony heard the baby's heartbeat! No stethoscope required. He heard her moving around in there, waking up and stretching. But again, I think I was more impressed than he was. He did mention how fast the heartbeat is though since it's more than double that of an adult's.

I've been making it a point to lay in bed for a few minutes every morning after the alarm goes off so that I can feel her wake up. I can also feel my stomach tighten just a little bit before a big kick. It's a very relaxing way to wake up. I lay there with a smile on my face every morning.

Yesterday (September 11) marked the 8th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. It's also my sister-in-law, Jess's birthday. And, yesterday marked 10 YEARS since Tony and I started dating. A decade! WOW!

Rumbling and Growing Belly: Week 26

Do you officially have a belly when you can rest your arms across it? Or is when you wake up in the middle of the night on your side, feel your belly and startle yourself because there is a deformed pumpkin hanging off your front side? I felt "very pregnant" last night when the second mention happened to me around 3am. I went to the bathroom then thought I would fall back asleep. BUT I was ravenous. I've woken up hungry in the past but it was easy enough to fall back asleep. Not last night. Foo Foo had other things in mind. Like Life cereal and cold milk at 3:30am. I fed the babe and she was happy enough to let Mumma go back to bed. I've found myself having a harder time falling back asleep lately. Too many thoughts running through my head about the pregnancy, labor, breastfeeding, dirty diapers, day care, going back to work, you name it.

Some of these thoughts were quelled a few weeks back after Tony and I spent 3hrs of a rainy Saturday (thank God it was rainy!) at a Caring for Your Newborn class. We walked into the class area to find a baby doll on our chair that we have to hold throughout the class. We learned how to bath, diaper and dress the baby. Granted this doll probably weighed 13lbs and was much larger and sturdy than a newborn but I still thought it was good practice. Tony remained unimpressed. It takes a lot to impress Tony. Anyways, the instructor talked a lot about SIDS, Shaken Baby Syndrome and other topics. I thought it was interesting when she talked about how it was ok to not let everyone and their cousin hold the baby in the beginning. It seems like a nice idea at the time but in reality, the baby may become "overstimulated" and have a very hard time sleeping that evening. Point taken. Another thing she mentioned was how important it is for parents to always remain calm. Babies pick up anxiety so if you're upset that he/she won't stop crying, it won't help. There were some other tips the instructor discussed that we had already heard or read about like not having anything in the crib but the baby and a crib sheet. That means no "bumpers" like we used to have, no blankets, no toys, etc. The baby also has to sleep on his/her back. Not long ago it seems like it was acceptable to have babies fall asleep on their tummies. How things have changed!

Another thing that I apparently have to remember now is to lay off the bread! haha Two doctor's appointments ago, my midwife told me I needed to eat more. I happily obliged. Next appointment she was like, "Ummm yeah, you can chill on the food intake now!" or something like that. Apparently I gained the weight I needed to gain and then some! Oh well, sometimes Foo Foo needs Life cereal at 3:30 in the morning!