We all know that eventually you can't bend over as your belly grows bigger but we don't think of all the things that this hampers. Every day things like tying your shoes (flip flops: one benefit of being prego in the summer) becomes quite the accomplishment if you can do it. Okay, so I guess you do realize that tying shoes will become difficult but there are other things...
Things like shaving your legs. Somehow I've managed to still be able to do this without bending over, I just simply lift each leg. Maybe this flexibility will be helpful in labor, I don't know. However, I have 7 more weeks to go and I know I'm going to get bigger, way bigger, so I feel I will have a challenge on my hands (or legs) come the middle of July.
Here's one I never thought about before, I can't cross my legs when sitting anymore without difficulty. I often have to manually, with my hands, lift whichever leg I wish to cross over the other. And then its not really that comfortable, its too restricting.
The first thing I experienced without warning was before I even had a belly. Brushing my teeth made me sick. This usually happened at night. It wasn't the toothpaste but major gag reflex. After the initial dry heaving or vomiting though, I was fine and could brush my teeth without a problem. Weird.
Random strangers will talk to you everytime you leave the house. I had a woman, a drunk woman, at a NASCAR race, poke my belly button and say, "look, you're belly button is sticking out." Really? I let it slide...I'm sure it was the many bottles of Bud in her bloodstream. A woman at the mall told me I didn't look pregnant from behind, whatever that means. Let me tell you, when I get out of the shower and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I do look pregnant from behind. And you will answer the same questions over and over and over and over and over again..."When are you due or how far along are you?" "Do you know what you're having?" "Do you have a name picked out?" "How are you feeling?" And after you answer all of these questions you usually get a "good luck."
So when a pregnant woman has hairy legs, isn't sitting very lady like, and seems bored with the questions you are asking her, its not her fault. And yes, she will need luck to get through it all.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Baby on the Brain
I figure it is only appropriate for my first blog to be on babies and pregnancy. After all it happens to be the biggest thing going on in my life right now. Well, at least until we sell the house, move and actually HAVE the baby.
I’m convinced that pregnancy and all of it’s stages have more purpose than just nature’s ways of reproduction. I wholeheartedly believe it has a funny way of preparing you for life with baby.
For starters, there is the worrying. Every parent I know says you never stop worrying about your children. This is precisely why I titled this blog, “Baby on the Brain.” This little being that you haven’t even met yet constantly remains in your head and you begin to question everything. Am I eating healthy enough? Am I eating enough? Is the baby growing okay? Is there anything wrong with the baby? What am I going to do when he or she starts driving? You wake up in the middle of the night and the first thing you think of is baby. It is just as bad when you begin to feel the baby move. You start to question whether or not you’ve felt the baby move. You can’t remember…panic sets in…then at some point it feels as though you are in the movie “Alien” and you’re positive some creature is going to pop out through your belly button. The doctor told me to not take too many pregnancy books seriously as there really isn’t THAT much to write about a normal pregnancy. That nugget of information helped very little as I still worry and its still in the forefront of my brain.
Then there are the sacrifices you begin making as soon as you see that second pink line on the pregnancy test. First there is the no alcohol thing. It is wholly unfair that you have to give up alcohol at a time when you probably could use a drink or two…whether a celebratory drink or a drink to take the edge off. I was happy to see that second pink line and would have loved to have toasted to this new life. No such luck. Surprisingly, you get used to not having a glass of wine with dinner and you begin to not really miss it. (Talk to me this summer though when its time for margaritas and mojitos, I know I’ll miss it then). There is also the no caffeine thing. Okay, so you can have caffeine but after one miscarriage I wasn’t taking any chances. My morning cup of strong tea had to be changed to weak, watered down decaf tea or odd tasting herbal tea. No more sodas either. Sugary drinks are bad too. I still have one every now and then (shhhh). Then there are the foods that you can’t eat; soft cheese such as bleu or feta and deli-meat. For the last 5 months all I’ve wanted to eat is a Greek salad with feta cheese or a Subway sandwich. So guess what I’m having as soon as the baby is born.
What’s next? Two words…morning sickness. For me it was all day long sickness for about three months. I’m sure you are wondering how in the world this prepares you for parenthood. As you bow before the porcelain goddess, praying for this to be over, your mind does wander to all the gross things that will come with having a child. This is where you begin to appreciate your parents for all that they put up with when you were a child. I remember being sick as a child and having to keep a bucket beside me on the couch. Someone had to clean it out. We didn’t have magic elves that cleaned things like that or changed diapers…at least not that I know of…if we did I need to hire some.
Lastly, there is what I have dubbed the pee-pee dance. This is a more recent development for me but nonetheless it’s common for pregnant women. The pee-pee dance goes something like this:
12:00am: go to sleep after going to the bathroom one more time
1:30am: go to the bathroom
2:00am: finally get back to sleep
3:30am: go to the bathroom
3:35am: fall back asleep
4:30am: wake up hungry, eat a snack, go to the bathroom
5:30/6:00am: toss and turn for an hour or so while thinking about the baby and then fall back asleep
7:30am: go to the bathroom.
7:35am: go back to sleep…but you never get into a deep sleep.
8:30am: give up and get up and…go to the bathroom.
Tell me this doesn’t prepare you for all the feedings and diaper changes that every parent deals with when the baby comes home. People keep telling me to get some sleep now because I won’t be getting any come August. Um, right. I’ll do my best between the bathroom breaks. I don’t know what to expect when I get bigger and am too uncomfortable to sleep.
So really, while I’m scared to death of having a little baby that is dependent on me for survival, I’m actually far more prepared for it than I realize.
I’m convinced that pregnancy and all of it’s stages have more purpose than just nature’s ways of reproduction. I wholeheartedly believe it has a funny way of preparing you for life with baby.
For starters, there is the worrying. Every parent I know says you never stop worrying about your children. This is precisely why I titled this blog, “Baby on the Brain.” This little being that you haven’t even met yet constantly remains in your head and you begin to question everything. Am I eating healthy enough? Am I eating enough? Is the baby growing okay? Is there anything wrong with the baby? What am I going to do when he or she starts driving? You wake up in the middle of the night and the first thing you think of is baby. It is just as bad when you begin to feel the baby move. You start to question whether or not you’ve felt the baby move. You can’t remember…panic sets in…then at some point it feels as though you are in the movie “Alien” and you’re positive some creature is going to pop out through your belly button. The doctor told me to not take too many pregnancy books seriously as there really isn’t THAT much to write about a normal pregnancy. That nugget of information helped very little as I still worry and its still in the forefront of my brain.
Then there are the sacrifices you begin making as soon as you see that second pink line on the pregnancy test. First there is the no alcohol thing. It is wholly unfair that you have to give up alcohol at a time when you probably could use a drink or two…whether a celebratory drink or a drink to take the edge off. I was happy to see that second pink line and would have loved to have toasted to this new life. No such luck. Surprisingly, you get used to not having a glass of wine with dinner and you begin to not really miss it. (Talk to me this summer though when its time for margaritas and mojitos, I know I’ll miss it then). There is also the no caffeine thing. Okay, so you can have caffeine but after one miscarriage I wasn’t taking any chances. My morning cup of strong tea had to be changed to weak, watered down decaf tea or odd tasting herbal tea. No more sodas either. Sugary drinks are bad too. I still have one every now and then (shhhh). Then there are the foods that you can’t eat; soft cheese such as bleu or feta and deli-meat. For the last 5 months all I’ve wanted to eat is a Greek salad with feta cheese or a Subway sandwich. So guess what I’m having as soon as the baby is born.
What’s next? Two words…morning sickness. For me it was all day long sickness for about three months. I’m sure you are wondering how in the world this prepares you for parenthood. As you bow before the porcelain goddess, praying for this to be over, your mind does wander to all the gross things that will come with having a child. This is where you begin to appreciate your parents for all that they put up with when you were a child. I remember being sick as a child and having to keep a bucket beside me on the couch. Someone had to clean it out. We didn’t have magic elves that cleaned things like that or changed diapers…at least not that I know of…if we did I need to hire some.
Lastly, there is what I have dubbed the pee-pee dance. This is a more recent development for me but nonetheless it’s common for pregnant women. The pee-pee dance goes something like this:
12:00am: go to sleep after going to the bathroom one more time
1:30am: go to the bathroom
2:00am: finally get back to sleep
3:30am: go to the bathroom
3:35am: fall back asleep
4:30am: wake up hungry, eat a snack, go to the bathroom
5:30/6:00am: toss and turn for an hour or so while thinking about the baby and then fall back asleep
7:30am: go to the bathroom.
7:35am: go back to sleep…but you never get into a deep sleep.
8:30am: give up and get up and…go to the bathroom.
Tell me this doesn’t prepare you for all the feedings and diaper changes that every parent deals with when the baby comes home. People keep telling me to get some sleep now because I won’t be getting any come August. Um, right. I’ll do my best between the bathroom breaks. I don’t know what to expect when I get bigger and am too uncomfortable to sleep.
So really, while I’m scared to death of having a little baby that is dependent on me for survival, I’m actually far more prepared for it than I realize.
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