I think I swallowed a soccer ball

At least that is what my tummy resembles. It’s still hard to tell that I’m pregnant, since I was “pre-padded” before pregnancy, so it doesn’t look too much different now. :) But my tummy certainly feels different. It’s very hard underneath and quite round. I used to be squishy though – so when Jon and I hugged we kind of smushed together and fit together tightly. We hugged each other last night though and realized, for the first time, that we couldn’t smush! My tummy is all hard and no matter how we contort we can’t get close together! I can lean forward so my tummy is more “hanging” and then our chests are together. But when we just hug normally our legs don’t touch at all, and just our tummies connect. It brings home the point that our baby is well-protected in there though. He’s in his little soccer ball, practicing his kicks. :)

Baby boy is 25 weeks this week and this is what he's up to:

How your baby's growing: Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — doesn't sound like much, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. His hair is probably recognizable now (in color and texture), although both may change after he's born.

Decisions, decisions

Wow! I haven’t made an entry in a while! And there is so much going on! The things I call “baby decisions” are being made every day it seems like lately.

“Baby Decision” 1: Registering for childbirth classes. DONE! After much reading and discussion we decided to register for Bradley classes, to aim at having a natural childbirth. And to answer the most often heard questions when people hear this: Yes, I did say natural. Yes, I know what the word natural means. :) No, I have not lost my mind. Yes, I know that there will be pain. No, I don’t hate you if you’ve had an epidural or c-section or think the people that do are evil or misguided. I chose to prepare myself for a natural childbirth to give myself every chance of having the safest birth I can for me and the baby. I still might end up having an epidural or c-section, you never know what happens. I just think it would be next to impossible to have a natural childbirth without preparing for one. So we’re going to prepare and then take it from there!

“Baby Decision” 2: Picking out a crib. DONE! Last weekend Jon and I finally decided that we really had to get off the fence and decide on a crib (okay, so maybe the more accurate description would be me on the fence and Jon standing next to the fence making sure I didn’t fall and hurt myself -- meaning lose my marbles or have a breakdown). Either way we finally decided on the crib and the color! We saw the color we wanted in a catalog and asked the saleslady at the crib store which color it was of the two tiny color samples at the bottom of the page which looked similar (seems like they should note these things in the book, but that’s another story). She said it was “Autumn” but we didn’t really believe her – it was so hard to tell! Of course, if we had just turned around from the table we were sitting at we would have seen the manufacturers color samples on the wall right behind us and known immediately that she wasn’t lying. We did eventually figure it out, with the help of the aforementioned color samples, which we discovered about 15 minutes later. :)

“Baby Decision” 3: Picking our crib bedding. DONE! It has a frog theme and is adorable, if I say so myself! :) Both Jon and I really like it. Another thing to cross off the list of “to-dos.” Ribbit, ribbit!

“Baby Decision” 4: Register for baby stuff. Almost done. We were such productive little puppies last weekend that we also went to Babies R’ Us to look at strollers. I had been looking a lot on-line and really not sure of what to get, but Jon was “uninitiated” into all the stroller hype and lingo. Which actually helped since he could pick one out solely based on features (what a novel idea!). Good thing he was there too, since we quickly discovered that there are exactly two strollers in all of Babies R’ Us which he can actually push and walk behind! That’s what you get for being a giant. :) These strollers were also the two that I liked the best as well (nice when it works out that way), and were also the two most expensive (not so nice). But, they are also by the stroller manufacturer with the highest ratings for quality and durability, so we should expect our investment (or what we hope will be a generous benefactor’s investment) to last for quite a while.

We’re going to register for the rest of our stuff tonight actually. I’ve printed out comparisons and have the Baby Bargains book for help, so I think it should be fun! I have decided that Babies R’ Us and Target are not my favorite stores, but it seems like such a hassle to try and register for different things on-line. We still might register for some things at babycenter.com, we’ll have to see how the trip goes tonight. Crossing more things off the list! It feels good!

After taking some stuff of the baby list we should probably work on the other list of stuff we have to do . . . like taking down the Christmas decorations (hehe). It’s not March yet, so if we get them down this weekend it will be a record for the earliest that we’ve taken them down I believe. The house looks so pretty with the garlands up and snowmen all around though. :)

Water Buffalo?

Is it possibly to actually drink so much water that you turn into an aquatic mammal? If it is I think I might be approaching the limit here pretty soon. The last two days I’ve, quite literally, not been able to stop drinking. I’m only drinking when I feel thirsty, yet yesterday from the time I got to work (8 am) to 9:30 in the morning I had already had 4 glasses of water. By the end of the day I think I was up to 15 or 16 glasses. Now, the scary thing was that I really didn’t go to the bathroom more than usual . . . so where did it all go?!? Today I haven’t had quite as much water as yesterday, but it’s only 1:30 pm and I’ve already had 8 glasses and am working on number 9. :)

Now, in pregnancy your blood volume increases dramatically, so maybe that’s what is happening. I can’t remember drinking only when I’ve felt thirsty and yet drinking so much water in one day before. My teeth are floatin’!

Happy Mommy, Happy Baby!

And we are very happy right now, aren’t we my precious boy? Because we have a wonderful husband and father! Jon is following all the advice in the pregnancy books and pampering the mom-to-be. What a good man! :)

For Valentine’s Day, which we celebrated together on Sunday (we both had Bible study on Valentine’s Day), he made me my favorite dinner and it was de-lish! Chicken cordon bleu, cheesy potatoes, and green beans. And he made it all from scratch, and so well that I don’t think I’ll be attempting chicken cordon bleu ever again – his was much better than any time that I’ve tried to make it. Dinner prepared for me, served by candlelight on our nice china, and spending time with the one I love the most – life doesn’t get much better than that! (Well, maybe if I could have had actual wine in my wine glass instead of apple juice it would have been marginally better, hehe).

But then he made it even more special! He bought me the sweetest, most thoughtful gifts -- ones that don’t cost a lot of money, which made them even more thoughtful since they show he had to go to trouble to think of them and pick them out (we never do big V-day gifts, and we’re trying to save money before the bambino gets here, so his gifts were very special). THEN I open my Bible on Valentine’s Day and there is a card tucked inside! THEN I get a call at work that I have flowers waiting for me!! Beautiful red, pink, and white tulips (and before you ask, I don’t like roses -- so if he had sent me those he knows I wouldn't be as happy)! Wow, I have an incredible husband who loves me very much! He made this Valentine’s Day the most special one that I’ve ever had. He’s doing a good job keeping his pregnant wife happy -- I have the best husband in the world!

E tu, Dairy?

My pregnancy has been really wonderful all in all – no morning sickness, been feeling very well, and I love being pregnant on 6 ½ out of 7 days. But there are quirky things which I’ve had going on and aren’t such a picnic. I don’t like to complain though, and they aren’t really a big deal. Except on the day when you’re grumpy. Lucky us, that’s today.

So, let’s run down some of the not-so-fun issues that I don’t usually talk about:

1. The “crampy poo” (as Jon and I call it). It is what it sounds like. Menstrual-like, nausea-inducing cramps (sorry to all the boys out there who had to read that) that afflict me EVERY time I have to go number two. And yes, I did say EVERY TIME (and yes, I did say number two, hehe). These delights are a mainstay of my pregnancy that my doctor says are perfectly normal (yeah, she’s not dealing with it) and won’t go away until the baby is out. Yippee! Doctor’s advice – these cramps are "useful since they are getting your uterus ready for labor contractions, so use them to practice your labor breathing." Yeah. Right.

2. Heartburn. Question: In what circumstance does an apple, eaten two hours before you retire for the evening, cause unbelievable heartburn and acid reflux when you lay down to sleep? Answer: When you are pregnant. Or at least when I am pregnant. This “feature” of pregnancy has appeared in the second trimester, and convinced me that I should buy stock in Tums. Ooh, berry flavored! Nothing like a berry-flavored chalk tablet before you go to bed, mmm, mmm! No food is safe, no position is safe, no time of day is safe. At least if I sleep with my head propped up a little more than usual the juicies don’t usually come back up. That’s a bonus.

3. My thermostat needs replacing. No, not the one in the house, the one in the “mommy-to-be.” I have lost all ability to control my temperature. My hands and feet are freezing a lot of the time (unusual for me). And I’ll suddenly get very hot at times, which causes me to feel faint. This is noticeable most often when I’m puttering around or cooking (it could be exacerbated by the fact that being on your feet compresses arteries in your legs which decreases blood flow, and pregnant ladies have lower blood pressure to begin with as well.) All I know is that one minute I’ll be talking to Jon and we’re cooking and the next minute I feel like I’m sweating everywhere, feel faint, and want to throw up. Immediately I get water and sit down or lay down until I feel normal again. I think Jon’s starting to get used to this now – the first time it happened he was quite concerned and worried, but now he gets me my water, continues cooking, and comes to check on me in a few minutes. Still attentive, but not hyper-worried anymore. :) Quite disconcerting for a control-freak (who, me?) to feel her body go completely wacky and short-circuit though. I don’t like it.

4. Can’t sleep/can’t roll-over/can’t get comfortable. My body must be preparing itself for the baby-induced sleepless nights, by having mommy-induced sleepless nights. That’s my only explanation for having to go to the bathroom two to three times a night, losing the ability to roll-over without waking up (this darn tummy is getting in the way!), and having my right side (the side I like to sleep on) get so numb from sleeping on it that I feel like a big flopping fish (or more accurately, a whale) as I try to maneuver to the left side without using any of the appendages on the right side of my body, which have gone completely numb and useless. I keep trying to sleep on my left side, yet invariably wake up on my right, doing my Flipper impression to turn-over. I swear Jon is laughing at me at night (I know I would be laughing at me if I was him). The can’t sleep/can’t roll-over issue is really related to the general category of “getting more uncomfortable.” At this point things are beginning to hurt, and yes, I know this is only going to get worse as time goes on. I’m still grumpy because all my favorite “comfie” positions are suddenly decidedly un-comfie.

5. General Irritability. Somewhere along this journey I’ve lost my patience and “give them the benefit of the doubt, they couldn’t really be that stupid” outlook. Hopefully I’ll circle back and find it once the baby is out (maybe when my comfie positions are comfie again?). :) I have the urge to snap at people quite often, am having a harder time veiling my “I can’t believe you just asked me that question” look, and am more convinced than ever that the human race is composed of mostly idiots and bumbling morons. I think I’ve controlled my urges to scream and verbally abuse people up to this point, but there is no telling what could happen in the four remaining months. My urge to reach across a conference table and strangle someone could be acted upon at any moment though, and if a waiter forgets the ranch dressing for my fries one more time I could go into a hormone-induced rampage in the middle of Chili’s. This could get ugly.

And why do people I barely know or don’t know at all think that I care about their child-rearing advice? Our family’s advice, yes. Our friends’ advice, yes. People in my Bible study’s advice, yes. Random lady in the bookstore who sees I’m buying a pregnancy book? Uhm, let me think about this. Hmm, I’m going to have to go with no. Moron. (See, I told you I was irritable).

And now, after all this, in the last week or so I’ve been having some not-so-nice stomach issues. I would refer to it as “general gastrointestinal distress”. After many hours in the bathroom, Jon and I believe we have found the culprit however. My beloved dairy has become a traitor. The scoundrel! I like cows. I like cheese. I like milk. But milk is not liking me, and has been causing quite the ruckus. So Mr. Milk is getting a time-out until he apologizes -- I’m going to try and lay off it for a bit and find alternative sources of calcium and protein.

So, that’s my tirade for the day. Like I said, most days are great. I really think I’ve had a wonderful pregnancy so far, and love being pregnant! I’m just little miss grumpy pants today. We’ll blame it on milk-withdrawal. :)