Blessed

I am blessed in multiple ways, but I wanted to talk about two in particular.

The first is Margaret. She has been such a wonderful and close friend for so long, and has always been someone I can count on for fun, laughs, advice, support and all those other things we value in our friendships. And as this pregnancy has progressed, I have come to appreciate and value her friendship even more.

In the journey towards and through pregnancy, I have had to adapt my lifestyle significantly. I have had to stop drinking alcohol (obviously), limit physical activity, and completely change my diet. As I've made each change, my social activities have gotten more limited -- I can no longer go out for drinks, stay out all night, go hiking/climbing/kayaking or enjoy going out to dinner. Throughout these changes, Margaret has been my primary source of support and companionship, as she has adapted to my new limitations without complaint. Instead of a hike, she'll walk around Greenlake with me; instead of drinks at a bar, she'll meet me for a movie. While I have watched other local* friendships fade as I'm unable to participate in activities, my friendship with Margaret has continued to grow and burn brightly. I appreciate that more than she can know.

I don't expect all of my friends to change their activities simply to accommodate me. I'm not angry or resentful if they don't -- this pregnancy is something Chris and I are doing together and I don't expect the rest of the world to jump on board just because we've made this decision. And I fully expect that I will reconnect with many friends once the baby is here, we have settled into a routine, and I can get back on the trails/rock/water/mountain or out on the town. I just wanted to express my profound appreciation of and gratitude to Margaret for being so flexible, supportive and involved on her own accord.

Another way I am (apparently) blessed is the result of an odd little thing that happened yesterday. Margaret and I were chatting on a bench after getting pedicures when a disheveled-looking man walked up to us and started making random gestures towards me. He didn't say anything, but he was nodding and smiling and making circles around his belly while pointing at mine. Then he did a little "ta da" kind of motion towards me and walked away. I think he blessed me.

*Note: I specified "local" friendships because I have a very strong network of dear friends who live far away. I don't want to undermine the support and friendship I have gotten from them via IM, emails, phone calls, text messages, and visits throughout this journey.

Hiccups

Yesterday's ultrasound was a fun one -- long and informative! We got to see the baby's face (although it took a few times before Chris could decipher it) and watch it kick and wave and have the longest case of hiccups ever. When the ultrasound tech was trying to measure the heartbeat, the poor little one kept hiccuping and hiccuping. At least it doesn't hiccup the same way I do..."Hic-OWWW!....Hic-OWWW!..." (Yes, when I get the hiccups, it hurts. A lot.)

Everything looks great with baby hill. The main thing we are monitoring is the baby's size, because gestational diabetes can cause the baby to grow too quickly. According to the ultrasound, the baby is in the 22nd percentile for weight, which is great. That means it's small, but not dangerously so. All of the parts and pieces are accounted for and developing normally, and we even saw hair! It was spiky, like Chris'.

The baby weighs about 4 lbs now and is doing blue steel in the ultrasound images we got: puffy lips sticking out, chin pulled into chest. Either that, or we snapped the shots just as the baby was mid-hiccup.

I haven't gained any weight over the past month, but the doctor said that's normal for women who switch to the ADA (American Diabetes Association) diet during pregnancy. She said that the baby is growing as it should be, so I am probably losing weight elsewhere as my belly gains it. I'm already doing weekly check-ups, and starting next week I will be doing a weekly Non-Stress Test (NST) as well. This is to monitor the baby's heart rate and activity levels to ensure that it is receiving adequate oxygen and nutrients.

So baby and I are being well-monitored! Weekly appointments, glucose monitoring 2-4 times a day, insulin twice a day, precisely 3 meals and 4 snacks daily (spaced 2-3 hours apart, including the middle-of-the-night snack I have to wake up for). It's busy, but I've settled into a pretty good routine.

Now we just have to get the Lady Space cleaned out and turn it into a nursery! I guess we'll call it the Baby Space from now on.

And no, we did not find out the gender in yesterday's ultrasound either.

Agony of de-feet

Apparently the baby's feet are lodged under my ribs on the right side, which is what is causing me to feel like I've either bruised or broken a rib or two. Baby does a little tap dance on them when s/he is feeling antsy. I suppose it's better than having various internal organs danced upon, but it's still not very comfortable.

Two evenings ago, I was watching the baby dance around in my belly (trust me, it's fascinating) when suddenly a little foot comes poking out. I could clearly see it kick out from my belly and slide down to my side (to give a quick kick to my ribs) before moving back up towards the center of my belly for another round. The second time, I grabbed the foot on its descent to my ribs, and the baby immediately drew it back. And then gave me a little one-two combination kick to show me who's boss.

It was really neat, and vaguely unsettling. Whenever the baby does a move like that (just the legs sliding around, rather than the whole body rolling), it makes me feel mildly nauseous. It's very similar to the feeling you get on a roller coaster, when your stomach is still at the top of the hill after your body has made it all the way to the bottom.

We get an ultrasound today to check on the baby's growth, so hopefully we'll get to see those kicky legs in action!

Holy cow!

No pun intended

Mom's 12th baby is a whopper at 17.1 pounds

Fashion statement

Maternity clothes aren't nearly as bad now as they've been in the past. In fact, there are lots of trendy or stylish options, both affordable (Old Navy jeans for $28) and outrageous (True Religion jeans for $280). However, there seem to be several tried-and-true "rules" that maternity clothing makers follow:

• Pregnant women must wear 3/4 length sleeves. I don't know why this is. Are we more susceptible to getting long sleeves caught in paper shredders or something?
• We are either short, or short-legged. Most of my maternity pants hover an inch or so above the top of my foot. They looked OK when I was wearing sandals, but now that I'm into shoes/boots season they are starting to look funny.
• We like hoodies. Take anything, put a hood on it, and it's stylish maternity wear. Sweaters, t-shirts, blouses, tank tops, cardigans...anything is fair game.
• We can't handle things like zippers, buttons and pockets in our pants. Actually, there are some trendier "low-rise" pants that sit under your belly and include a tiny zipper-like thing and buttons, but they sit so far under your belly you can't see (or reach) them to use them easily. This is probably why most don't have zippers or buttons...but why not pockets?
• We want to show off our new shape. It's not enough to show off our bellies -- we also want to wear deep plunging v-necks to show off our cleavage. Because there's nothing like a bit of sexy to spice up a pregnant woman's wardrobe.
• We like matching pant sets. I can't say I've actually purchased or worn any of these, but I see them everywhere. I thought only grandmas wore them, but apparently pregnant women love them.

I'm looking forward to getting back into my regular wardrobe...

Wrong size

Some days I feel like my body doesn't "fit" anymore. Like my skin is a size too small and is threatening to split at the seams. Today is one of those days.

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time

Without the jelly, that is...

One of the many "joys of pregnancy" for me has been gestational diabetes. This is a form of diabetes that is caused by overly-protective pregnancy hormones which block my body's natural ability to use glucose. Once I have the baby, the diabetes should go away; in the meantime, I have to treat it using diet and insulin.

Part of my new diet includes adding protein to every portion of carbs I eat, which is a challenge for me. I've been averse to meat throughout my pregnancy (Chris' birthday dinner at Morton's Steakhouse almost ended badly several times as I gagged when steaks were carted by our table) and I'm lactose intolerant (so cheese is out). That leaves me with peanut butter. On everything. I go through a 16oz jar of natural peanut butter every 2 weeks now, and I'm putting it on everything from crackers to rice cakes to toast to bananas, celery and apples. Sometimes I'll just eat a spoonful if I don't think it will taste good with my carb (nectarines or grapes, for example).

Once this pregnancy is over, I plan to gorge myself on sushi and noodles. Lovely lovely carb-laden noodles. Pho, beef noodle soup, pad thai, crispy noodles, udon...my favorite comfort foods.

How cruel to finally be allowed to eat as much as you want...and then find out that you can't eat anything you like.

Strange men in bars

Last night, I went to the George & Dragon Pub with Chris, Margaret, and some other friends. Note, I am CLEARLY pregnant, and I was not dressed to impress -- I was wearing a red hoodie with jeans and my crocs. As we made our way into the pub, a guy looked at me and said "Way to go!". I thought he was talking about my belly, so I just smiled. Then he said something like, "You're rockin' it," followed by "Can I hang out with you?" I gave him a puzzled look and said, "Uhhh...I'm hanging out with my husband..." Odd.

Besides which, he should have asked "MAY I hang out with you?" :)

30 weeks down...

...10 more to go!

I have a feeling I'm going to need this

A friend commented to me (before I was pregnant), "Your blog's not going to turn into one of those baby-obsessed mommy blogs, will it?" I assured him at the time that my blog will remain Cowboy-centered. However, I never said I wouldn't come up with ANOTHER blog, on which I can obsess about our upcoming new family member!

So here it is -- our baby blog. I don't have much to put here yet, but I'll be adding things whenever I feel the need to have a mama vent or coo over baby toys or laugh about a "pregnesia" moment or complain about aches, pains or crazy people who feel justified saying inappropriate things to me just because I have a belly.

My first crazy person post: I was walking through Target, minding my own business, when an older man passed me and said, "Sure hope you have a husband to go with that belly." Sure wish he had a brain to go with that mouth.