running morning joke between husband and i:
me: (usually exiting the bathroom in which i've been flashing my belly in the mirror to determine how the baby baking is progressing) "i am soooooo pregnant."
husband: (sometimes from a different room altogether) "yeeeeeeah you are."
it's silly and i can't convey his tone-of-voice over type (think sort of a "joey tribiani" thing) and it probably makes us look like dorks anyway but it gets a giggle out of me. every. single. time.
i am easily amused.
out in public, we've also been known to play the game: "put some socks and/or hat on your baby". which is exactly what it sounds like and is more or less muttered, though loudly, under our breaths. yes, we live in seattle. no, it's not antartica but it IS winter, is it not? therefor put some socks and/or hat on your friggin' baby. forthwith. you hippies.
THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL
so apparently 29 weeks is when the pregnancy starts to become not as awesome. (because we all know i was sooo riding the pro-preggo party train this whole time giving myself and all it's passengers high-fives and fist bumps. /sarcasm). nighttime sleep is becoming a thing of the past (although ND and i both partook in some glorious nappage this past weekend. like, completely dead to the world, blackout, coma naps. it ruled!), baby boy is developing and honing his newfound hobby of kicking me in the ribs in the same spot on the right side, bending over to put on my shoes in the morning is turning into some sort of olympic sport and the bladder (traitor!!!) is no longer completely under my control (sneezing, anyone?). funzies.
he's also starting to get heavy in the front. nothing particularly painful but it can be a little uncomfortable at times. especially after the 6 mile walk i did with ND and our friend, N, on sunday. gravity is definitely starting to take it's toll - wondering if i should invest in one of those pregnancy belt/harness contraptions or pregnancy spanx to take some of the pressure off? oh, and the little stinker decided for whatever reason to give me a swift kick (or a head-butt?) to the crotch on our last lap that had me double over and gasping for breath for a few seconds. that was, um, interesting...
funny now, not so funny at the time. but my boy's got game, that's for sure.
oh. and prenatal hiccups. those are crazy weird. constant little "kicks" for several minutes right on my pubic bone that you could set your watch to...almost like he's banging on a drum in there. yeah, kiddo, i don't want to work either, i just want to bang on the drum all day.
seriously though, i have nothing to complain about. i'm learning A TON, we have a bazillion supportive friends and family, ND is in daddy heaven (not to mention actually finds me sexy in this condition), and it feels as though it's been a relatively easy pregnancy. (although i have nothing to compare it to personally, i've already heard the horror stories of full term morning sickness and other such fun ailments).
BALLS
rather than just fret about something or other pregnancy related in all my blog posts i'm actually going to attempt to bestow some advice about things that i've learned through this process. naturally, you need to find out what's best for you but i need to give a major shout out to my balance/exercise ball. if you are pregnant and reading this blog - it is MANDATORY mommy equipment. for instance, if bebe's in an uncomfortable position or if he's just kicking me extra maliciously and i want him to quiet down a bit - i get on my knees, put my arms and chest over the ball, letting my belly hang freely, and rock back and forth, side to side, or in small circles. april, the midwife/doula who's teaching our birthing class, described it as "putting the baby in a hammock." you can do this on all fours without it but i LOVE the ball because it further stretches out your back and your legs and is so relaxing and comfortable. linzi, my doula and trainer, told me that it's a much better position to watch tv in rather than laying on the couch because of all the hidden benefits as well: again, like all the stretching, but it also exercises the pelvic floor and abdominals with little to no stress - which is a key factor in giving birth later on.
-mama bee strongly encourages a little ball lovin' each and every day.
I love reading your posts because you give me a little glimpse into my future! By the way, I was delighted to see that picture of you and the fam over Christmas, so I'm going to request more belly pictures, please. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to see your front-heavy self.
ReplyDeleteI also had a friend give me some diapers to try out, so generous! I love hearing positive stories about cloth diapering, since so many people are so anti.
nora, i've been thinking about you a lot lately and wondering how you're doing! i think i'm a tumblr reject because i can't figure out how to leave comments on your posts but i've totally been following along on your blog too.
ReplyDeleteall the people giving advice about cloth diapering have said the same thing, interestingly enough - make sure you have some disposables available for nighttime. wet cloth diapers at night (when you're not changing as frequently) tend to get very cold and wake the little nugget up.
a woman i work with is a doula and she gave me all these newborn disposables (but they look like they're made from recycled materials) from her last clients. their little boy got so big so fast that he grew out of their supply in the first few weeks. i have no idea what brand they are because they're just loose and not in a package but if i find out what they are i'll let you know! :)