The total loss of self-dignity, part 1

Slowly, your pride and ego wears away.  Maybe it begins with not being able to fit into jeans that you could fit into for years, maybe it is when you grandma says, "Your rear is getting much larger, honey," maybe it comes with the weird rashes that break-out at random all over your body - but at some point you lose that self-assurance you had with your pre-pregnant body.  But nothing can really prepare you for the low moment that happened Saturday morning.  

I woke up early, 6:00am, and had a nice productive morning working on photography business stuff.  Around 8:30 I decided I would go to the 9:00 local yoga class with some of my friends and neighbors.  I show up to a divinely small class - just 4 of us - all ready to slip into tranquil, thoughtful, quiet stretching.  Class was wonderful, I felt very healthy and peaceful.  Only the sounds of breathing and very light yogi music in the background could be heard.  Then it happened - the sound that shattered the peace and still-minds of my fellow-yogis, the sound that broke that last little shred of dignity I had over my body - a short, but powerful toot!  

If you haven't been pregnant, or if you've experienced a different pregnancy than most women, you may not realize you have no control over the sounds that come from your tush.  Farting (which I much prefer to call "tooting") is something you cannot control.  After my body's little "expression" in yoga - all the women opened their eyes, looked at me startled, then laughed.  Well, at least I am making others happy - there must be some yoga lesson in there. 

Six Month Update

The new comment is "Wow!  You've really popped out recently!"  I guess it is like seeing your little niece who you haven't seen for 1 year, and being amazed at how much she's grown.  The growth is gradual and steady for me, but it must be weird for people who don't see me on a daily basis. 

I've gained about 25-30 pounds, depending on what scale I'm on - or what I had for dinner the night before!  I feel great - only had a pinched muscle in my lower back/butt region which made me limp for a week or so, but that has gotten better!  Sleeping is getting tougher, only my sides feel comfortable.

You Might Be Pregnant if...

... people stop looking you in the eyes when they meet you, and instead stare at your belly.

... the waiter doesn't even offer you the wine list.

... your mom comments on how "cute your little belly is" while simultaneously saying "oh, look how big your breast have gotten!"

... you start catching things on your shelf (i.e. belly ledge).

... you grunt every time you bend over.

... the only thing you want to wear is leggings and a big shirt.

... your husband wakes up in the morning, the first thing he does when he rolls over is feel your belly (not those things above the belly that used to interest him).

5.5 month update

2.5 months

3.5 months

4.5 months

5.5 month

 

Well, I weigh in now at 139 pounds - a mere 23 pounds heavier than my unpregnant body.  All that weight for a baby who weighs a little more than a pound right now!  I feel healthy and the leg cramps only visited me that one night!  I have no real complaints - so far!  I can still sleep on my back and sides (though belly sleeping is totally out of the question).  No swelling in my feet and ankles, so that's good!  I am starting to get random "tightenings" in my belly every day or so.  It feels like a muscle is turning to stone in my stomach.  They don't hurt, just feel strange.  I guess these are the beginning of braxton-hicks?  

Making a Baby Sling!

This morning with SLO County Mom's group, I made a baby sling for our unborn.   These type of slings can range anywhere from $50-100 - I made this first one from a silk curtain my friend had lying around and $4 worth of rings (from www.slingrings.com).  A group of moms (all with babies out of the womb) got together to make slings to carry their little precious mini-me's around in - whereas I only have a dog to try the poor sling out!  Here's a picture of Keeta being tortured (boy, she will be happy when the baby comes and we stop picking on her).

Sorry for the blurry picture - cell phone cameras are not our expertise! My photo snobbery almost didn't let me post this pic, but Keeta's compliant attitude was too cute to pass up!

the shrinking shirt phenomenon

The inexplicable shrinking shirt phenomenon is a recent occurrence.  Shirts I bought in December and January, specifically because they were long and I thought they would cover my growing belly, are suddenly shrinking and my lower abdomen is poking out.  This strange happening came just a week or so after I diagnosed the "belly is now bigger than the boobs" syndrome!  Ah, the joys (and jokes) of a growing pregnant body.

Cord Blood Banking

You might notice a new button on the right side of our blog - this is to donate to help us afford to bank our babies cord blood. The cost is about$2,000 upfront and then about $100/year to keep the blood banked. That sounds like a lot of money - and it is - but it is totally worth it when you learn a little about all that cord blood can do.

We are going to go with http://www.cordblood.com/ Here's some info I stole from their website:

Cord blood is the blood that remains in your baby's umbilical cord after the cord has been cut. Doctors have discovered that cord blood can be used in medical treatments. It can be used to regenerate healthy blood and immune cells in cancer patients and cure the following diseases: Leukemias, Lymphomas, other Blood Cancers, tumors, Inherited Immune System Disorders, Inherited Metabolic Disorders, Myelodysplastic/Myeloproliferative Disorders, and Histiocytic Disorders.

Cord blood banking is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for parents to collect and preserve the stem cells from their baby's umbilical cord blood for potential medical uses. By saving your baby's stem cells with CBR, your child and family can have access to better medical treatment options or cures for cancers, as well as potential treatments for conditions such as brain injury and juvenile diabetes.

What's really cool is that if we are able to afford to bank our first babies cord blood, the cells in that one baby's blood can be used on all of her siblings!

If you decide to donate, I want to thank you right now. Having cute clothes and a nice high-chair for the baby is cool, but being able to save a life someday is really awesome! Thank you.