Nothing terribly new or interesting here. We just got back from our appointment with Katie (our midwife) and everything is looking a-ok. Baby's heartbeat was nice and strong at about 150 bpm or so. Fundal height was right on at about 20cm. I finally have charted some weight gain, about 3 pounds in the last month, so I'm starting to gain "normally" now. I'm now officially back up to my pre-pregnancy weight.
Baby has started moving around a lot and is getting big enough that I can feel him/her flailing about in there. It's pretty weird, like an alien is living inside of me. It's cool though, except for a few times I've gotten some swift kicks in the bladder or cervix, which are VERY uncomfortable.
So, anyways, I'm off to get ready for work. I think I'll bring baby with me, she/he seems to be nocturnal anyways, so I might as well.
Have a happy evening!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
100 Pure Accurate.
According to a Chinese gender prediction chart:
Baby Gender Predictor
Well... not me so much... but you know, the baby. I know what you're thinking- Is this correct? Well, I'm sure it's completely accurate. After all, it is the method of prenatal gender determination preferred by most doctors and midwives. You always here about ladies going in to the doctor's office and having them put gel all over her belly and rubbing a wand around on it while asking her what her lunar age is and what month and year conception took place and then seeing that magical chart pop up on the screen with either the words "I'm a Girl" or "I'm a Boy" printed beneath it.
Of course, I'll still do the back-up tests just to make sure... you know, like the one where you hang your wedding ring over your belly and see which way it moves and stuff.
In all seriousness though, we don't know if Dittle is a Dittle Boy or a Dittle Girl... But don't worry, we'll be sure to let you all know in a mere 20 weeks or so. :)
Breezy
Baby Gender Predictor
Well... not me so much... but you know, the baby. I know what you're thinking- Is this correct? Well, I'm sure it's completely accurate. After all, it is the method of prenatal gender determination preferred by most doctors and midwives. You always here about ladies going in to the doctor's office and having them put gel all over her belly and rubbing a wand around on it while asking her what her lunar age is and what month and year conception took place and then seeing that magical chart pop up on the screen with either the words "I'm a Girl" or "I'm a Boy" printed beneath it.
Of course, I'll still do the back-up tests just to make sure... you know, like the one where you hang your wedding ring over your belly and see which way it moves and stuff.
In all seriousness though, we don't know if Dittle is a Dittle Boy or a Dittle Girl... But don't worry, we'll be sure to let you all know in a mere 20 weeks or so. :)
Breezy
Thursday, January 10, 2008
So, the baby is already leaving things around the house. I found an open box of pop tarts on the counter the other day. That's right about the level the baby is at. And Breezy doesn't eat pop tarts so, I'm pretty sure they are the Baby's. I can only assume it has developed vast chaos-causing abilities at this point. The last time I saw it, it was only this big: .
But according to all the experts, it's grown by like... 50,000% or something in sheer body mass since then. It's got to be like a little monster with super-human powers and abilities by now.
Here is a photo of the last time we caught it on camera (about 12 weeks ago):
Sly little thing - you may have noticed, as I did, that it is camouflaged, and very hard to distinguish from its surroundings.
So momma and baby also have a job now. Unfortunately, the baby is more of a night-owl, and that makes it more difficult for them to work together during the day and get all the sleep they collectively need. Momma goes to bed early, and with my work/rehearsal schedule that means we see each other about half an hour each day. It's a good thing I have Thursdays off, so I can finally get a break and do some chores and see what's been going on all week - maybe even get some conversation in at some point when Breezy gets home! But at least she is much less worried now that she's employed, which is good for both of them :)
As a celebratory gesture on the baby's part for the new job, momma is getting more pregnant every day... about 24 hours more pregnant each day I would say... which is a good sign. Pictures coming soon hopefully :)
But according to all the experts, it's grown by like... 50,000% or something in sheer body mass since then. It's got to be like a little monster with super-human powers and abilities by now.
Here is a photo of the last time we caught it on camera (about 12 weeks ago):
Sly little thing - you may have noticed, as I did, that it is camouflaged, and very hard to distinguish from its surroundings.So momma and baby also have a job now. Unfortunately, the baby is more of a night-owl, and that makes it more difficult for them to work together during the day and get all the sleep they collectively need. Momma goes to bed early, and with my work/rehearsal schedule that means we see each other about half an hour each day. It's a good thing I have Thursdays off, so I can finally get a break and do some chores and see what's been going on all week - maybe even get some conversation in at some point when Breezy gets home! But at least she is much less worried now that she's employed, which is good for both of them :)
As a celebratory gesture on the baby's part for the new job, momma is getting more pregnant every day... about 24 hours more pregnant each day I would say... which is a good sign. Pictures coming soon hopefully :)
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Baby's first job.
So the baby started it's very first job this week. Well, I guess it isn't so much the baby starting, but more like me starting a job and taking baby with me to work every day. It saves a lot of money on day care... which would be hard for me to get right now anyways I guess.
So far my schedule is 7am to 3:30 pm for orientation and it will be full time for about 8 weeks before I will drop down to the .8 I was hired for. I'm not used to these early mornings and long days. By the time I get home I am pretty much ready for bed.
In orientation thus far I have: read hospital policies and procedures, watched presentations on hospital policies and procedures, completed several "worksheets" on policies and procedures, watched videos on hospital equipment, played around with the electronic charting, and eaten. So... as you can probably gather, orientation is not the most exciting thing in the world. Tomorrow I get to go to a WOC seminar (wound care, ostomies, and continence services)... so that should be fun. Honestly, most of the things I'm doing and learning about this week are either A) things I have learned 6 times already, or B) common sense. But I don't really mind. I'm still pretty elated about just having a job, so for now whenever I get bored with training I can just calculate how much money I am making that day and think about how it is more than I made in the entirety of last year. On Friday I will be starting to do some actual work on the units, and honestly I'm pretty nervous about that. People I know who work there have all made sure to tell me their horror stories about bad preceptors, near misses, and of course, how the float staff are treated (which is poorly).
Here is my favorite thing thus far about the facility where I am employed: They have an awesome organic salad bar in the cafeteria and it is cheap. I can get a big salad, a bag of chips, and a carton of milk for only 2 dollars... which I think is pretty good. And it ensures that I eat an additional 3 servings of vegetables each day at work.
Oh, I should also mention that this week I am debuting the maternity wear that I purchased last Sunday. I found some rockin' deals at Old Navy and Motherhood Maternity and with the help of the lovely Anne, was able to choose some delicious items of clothing that fit over my enormo belly. Maternity clothes are actually ridiculously comfortable and I am kind of wondering why I forced myself to tolerate my ill-fitting real-person-clothes for so long. I am, however, having a hard time coming across maternity scrubs for work. At the moment, the scrubs I already own have enough give for them to last probably another month or two. After that I will need to procure some newbies. So if anyone has any royal blue Landau brand maternity scrubs in size medium that they are trying to get rid of..........
OK. So, that is all I have the energy to write about right now. I am going to go lay on the couch and vegetate for the night.
So far my schedule is 7am to 3:30 pm for orientation and it will be full time for about 8 weeks before I will drop down to the .8 I was hired for. I'm not used to these early mornings and long days. By the time I get home I am pretty much ready for bed.
In orientation thus far I have: read hospital policies and procedures, watched presentations on hospital policies and procedures, completed several "worksheets" on policies and procedures, watched videos on hospital equipment, played around with the electronic charting, and eaten. So... as you can probably gather, orientation is not the most exciting thing in the world. Tomorrow I get to go to a WOC seminar (wound care, ostomies, and continence services)... so that should be fun. Honestly, most of the things I'm doing and learning about this week are either A) things I have learned 6 times already, or B) common sense. But I don't really mind. I'm still pretty elated about just having a job, so for now whenever I get bored with training I can just calculate how much money I am making that day and think about how it is more than I made in the entirety of last year. On Friday I will be starting to do some actual work on the units, and honestly I'm pretty nervous about that. People I know who work there have all made sure to tell me their horror stories about bad preceptors, near misses, and of course, how the float staff are treated (which is poorly).
Here is my favorite thing thus far about the facility where I am employed: They have an awesome organic salad bar in the cafeteria and it is cheap. I can get a big salad, a bag of chips, and a carton of milk for only 2 dollars... which I think is pretty good. And it ensures that I eat an additional 3 servings of vegetables each day at work.
Oh, I should also mention that this week I am debuting the maternity wear that I purchased last Sunday. I found some rockin' deals at Old Navy and Motherhood Maternity and with the help of the lovely Anne, was able to choose some delicious items of clothing that fit over my enormo belly. Maternity clothes are actually ridiculously comfortable and I am kind of wondering why I forced myself to tolerate my ill-fitting real-person-clothes for so long. I am, however, having a hard time coming across maternity scrubs for work. At the moment, the scrubs I already own have enough give for them to last probably another month or two. After that I will need to procure some newbies. So if anyone has any royal blue Landau brand maternity scrubs in size medium that they are trying to get rid of..........
OK. So, that is all I have the energy to write about right now. I am going to go lay on the couch and vegetate for the night.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Pants shopping .
I believe that I am in my last couple days of being able to wear my regular pants. I noticed the other day that the pair I was wearing was digging into my belly really bad and after I realized that my shirt was not long and loose enough to wear them unbuttoned, I decided to put them in the pile of clothes that are no longer an option.
So today I decided that I'd try a different pair that happens to have a lower waistband. They worked out fine when I put them on and was walking around the house, but later realized when I finally sat down that they, too, must enter the pile of abandoned clothing. I have one more pair that I am going to attempt this week, then I will be out. My plan is to go to the mall on Sunday and finally do that dreaded maternity clothes shopping that I have been putting off (because until now it has been unnecessary). I would ignore the need and just wear sweats all the time (as I've been doing for much of the last 4 months), but I'm supposed to wear "business casual" attire for the first few days of orientation and I doubt that sweatpants are in that category.
Maybe I'll post a picture of my ridiculously expanding belly one of these days. I swear that there was virtually no belly until about 3 days ago. See, me and the baby had this little deal where the baby was going to wait to grow until I got a job. So after I got the phone call about the job, it seems that baby decided to take this whole growing thing very seriously and is now out of control.
I also am now in need of something else to wear to a wedding tomorrow. My planned outfit is no longer an option and I have no back-up. I may have to make an emergency trip to the mall because I don't really think sweatpants are entirely appropriate wedding wear either. But who knows, maybe I can start a new trend.
Breezy
So today I decided that I'd try a different pair that happens to have a lower waistband. They worked out fine when I put them on and was walking around the house, but later realized when I finally sat down that they, too, must enter the pile of abandoned clothing. I have one more pair that I am going to attempt this week, then I will be out. My plan is to go to the mall on Sunday and finally do that dreaded maternity clothes shopping that I have been putting off (because until now it has been unnecessary). I would ignore the need and just wear sweats all the time (as I've been doing for much of the last 4 months), but I'm supposed to wear "business casual" attire for the first few days of orientation and I doubt that sweatpants are in that category.
Maybe I'll post a picture of my ridiculously expanding belly one of these days. I swear that there was virtually no belly until about 3 days ago. See, me and the baby had this little deal where the baby was going to wait to grow until I got a job. So after I got the phone call about the job, it seems that baby decided to take this whole growing thing very seriously and is now out of control.
I also am now in need of something else to wear to a wedding tomorrow. My planned outfit is no longer an option and I have no back-up. I may have to make an emergency trip to the mall because I don't really think sweatpants are entirely appropriate wedding wear either. But who knows, maybe I can start a new trend.
Breezy
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Baby Things.
Lately I've been researching some baby products that I would like.
First of all, cloth diapers. After hours and hours of looking at reviews and chatting with cloth diaper fanatics, I have decided which diapers I would most like to have for the baby. I'll include links so you can look at these items (and buy them for us, if you feel so inclined :) ).
1. Monkey Doodlez - Micro Doodlez All-in-one diapers. Size small.
http://www.monkeydoodlez.com/store/WsAncillary.asp?ID=3
2. BumGenius 3.0 one size pocket diapers.
http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=98&products_id=1282
Why cloth diapers? They are better for the baby- not so much chlorine and bleach soaking into their little systems. Better for the environment- it takes hundreds of years for a plastic diaper to start decomposing. Saves money- the start-up cost is more, but you end up saving thousands because you don't have to keep buying and throwing away diapers. Babies diapered in cloth tend to potty train faster- the cloth does not pull all of the moisture away from baby, which will make baby uncomfortable and therefore not want to poop/pee in it's diaper. And... they are just too dang cute. Fun colors and stuff. Way better than those boring white ones.
The other thing I've been looking at a lot lately is BPA free bottles and pacifiers. BPA is in polycarbonate plastics and releases artificial estrogens that mimic our bodies natural hormones and screw with babies reproductive and endocrine systems. A lot of people do not believe this, but my anatomy and physiology teacher told us about it a few years ago in college and showed us a video where they did experiments on animals and stuff and it really messed with the animal babies... which makes me think that I'd rather play it safe and use BPA free bottles than risk hurting my baby's body systems. Here's an article on this if you are interested: http://thegreenguide.com/reports/product.mhtml?id=55
So here are some of the bottles/pacifiers I found:
1. Nuby Non-Drip BPA free bottles. Cute and cheap!
http://www.diapersetc.com/products/bpa-free-non-drip-baby-bottle.html
2. Green to Grow BPA free bottles. Also very cute, but not quite as cheap.
http://www.diapersetc.com/products/green-to-grow-bpa-free-baby-bottle.html
3. Nuby Gel Pacifiers. These are also pretty cheap and very cute. I personally like the pink/purple combo the best, but seriously, they are all very cute.
http://www.diapersetc.com/products/gel-pacifier.html
I also was just noticing today that Target carries some Medela storage and feeding bottles that are BPA free and I am going to add them to my target gift registry tonight. These are nice because you can freeze breast milk in them and then just warm them up in the bottle and feed baby! Handy. But these are a little more expensive I think. But the freezer storage bottles just seem very handy to me. Here is a link to our Target registry online, but I must admit, I do change it fairly frequently as I do more research and get new recommendations from friends and family. But anyways, here it is: http://www.target.com/gp/registry/registry.html/ref=gp_re_registry/601-8227581-5574504?ie=UTF8&sort=taxonomy&type=babyreg&id=2S2FR2NT8QHBR&msgid=&jsebd=1&message=&pageNum=1&view=owner
So, as you can tell, I spend the majority of my time looking up baby stuff and reading peoples baby blogs and just talking about babies. This has made me very boring to my friends, who do not have babies and are not pregnant. But with my new job starting on Monday, perhaps I will have newer, better stories and things to talk about and people will stop checking their watch and rolling their eyes while I'm talking to them. Also, I'll probably have less time to spend researching all of this stuff. So maybe it's good that I've been using my time this way, seeing as how I may not have the time and energy to do it after I start working.
That's all I've got for tonight.
Breezy
First of all, cloth diapers. After hours and hours of looking at reviews and chatting with cloth diaper fanatics, I have decided which diapers I would most like to have for the baby. I'll include links so you can look at these items (and buy them for us, if you feel so inclined :) ).
1. Monkey Doodlez - Micro Doodlez All-in-one diapers. Size small.
http://www.monkeydoodlez.com/store/WsAncillary.asp?ID=3
2. BumGenius 3.0 one size pocket diapers.
http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=98&products_id=1282
Why cloth diapers? They are better for the baby- not so much chlorine and bleach soaking into their little systems. Better for the environment- it takes hundreds of years for a plastic diaper to start decomposing. Saves money- the start-up cost is more, but you end up saving thousands because you don't have to keep buying and throwing away diapers. Babies diapered in cloth tend to potty train faster- the cloth does not pull all of the moisture away from baby, which will make baby uncomfortable and therefore not want to poop/pee in it's diaper. And... they are just too dang cute. Fun colors and stuff. Way better than those boring white ones.
The other thing I've been looking at a lot lately is BPA free bottles and pacifiers. BPA is in polycarbonate plastics and releases artificial estrogens that mimic our bodies natural hormones and screw with babies reproductive and endocrine systems. A lot of people do not believe this, but my anatomy and physiology teacher told us about it a few years ago in college and showed us a video where they did experiments on animals and stuff and it really messed with the animal babies... which makes me think that I'd rather play it safe and use BPA free bottles than risk hurting my baby's body systems. Here's an article on this if you are interested: http://thegreenguide.com/reports/product.mhtml?id=55
So here are some of the bottles/pacifiers I found:
1. Nuby Non-Drip BPA free bottles. Cute and cheap!
http://www.diapersetc.com/products/bpa-free-non-drip-baby-bottle.html
2. Green to Grow BPA free bottles. Also very cute, but not quite as cheap.
http://www.diapersetc.com/products/green-to-grow-bpa-free-baby-bottle.html
3. Nuby Gel Pacifiers. These are also pretty cheap and very cute. I personally like the pink/purple combo the best, but seriously, they are all very cute.
http://www.diapersetc.com/products/gel-pacifier.html
I also was just noticing today that Target carries some Medela storage and feeding bottles that are BPA free and I am going to add them to my target gift registry tonight. These are nice because you can freeze breast milk in them and then just warm them up in the bottle and feed baby! Handy. But these are a little more expensive I think. But the freezer storage bottles just seem very handy to me. Here is a link to our Target registry online, but I must admit, I do change it fairly frequently as I do more research and get new recommendations from friends and family. But anyways, here it is: http://www.target.com/gp/registry/registry.html/ref=gp_re_registry/601-8227581-5574504?ie=UTF8&sort=taxonomy&type=babyreg&id=2S2FR2NT8QHBR&msgid=&jsebd=1&message=&pageNum=1&view=owner
So, as you can tell, I spend the majority of my time looking up baby stuff and reading peoples baby blogs and just talking about babies. This has made me very boring to my friends, who do not have babies and are not pregnant. But with my new job starting on Monday, perhaps I will have newer, better stories and things to talk about and people will stop checking their watch and rolling their eyes while I'm talking to them. Also, I'll probably have less time to spend researching all of this stuff. So maybe it's good that I've been using my time this way, seeing as how I may not have the time and energy to do it after I start working.
That's all I've got for tonight.
Breezy
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Jumping into the middle
We wanted to start a blog earlier so everyone could keep up with the goings-on but... yadda, yadda, here it is! It's better for you anyway; this way you don't have to deal with the first trimester which, trust me, isn't the most fun part of the pregnancy. So here begin the adventures of DittleBittle (the good months)!
Yes, I have decided to call it DittleBittle. It seems more than natural for Breezy and it's cute enough to make everyone interested in what will happen next with it, I'm sure :) I'll try to update the blog with pictures (of Dittle AND Breezy), a countdown, etc. so that everyone will have access to all the information they could possibly be looking for. More importantly, we'll write about what's happening with us and the baby - movements, midwife visits, alien visitations, anything that might be interesting to hear about.
To catch up briefly: DittleBittle is 17 weeks and 3 days old. So far it's learned ALLLL kinds of things: how to hear, how to breathe, how to yawn, how to suck a thumb (the only one available at this point is it's own... but I'm sure it could adapt if it had the chance, hence the indefinite article). Also, it can make fists and funny faces. Hopefully we'll get to see some of them soon!
EXCITING!
Yes, I have decided to call it DittleBittle. It seems more than natural for Breezy and it's cute enough to make everyone interested in what will happen next with it, I'm sure :) I'll try to update the blog with pictures (of Dittle AND Breezy), a countdown, etc. so that everyone will have access to all the information they could possibly be looking for. More importantly, we'll write about what's happening with us and the baby - movements, midwife visits, alien visitations, anything that might be interesting to hear about.
To catch up briefly: DittleBittle is 17 weeks and 3 days old. So far it's learned ALLLL kinds of things: how to hear, how to breathe, how to yawn, how to suck a thumb (the only one available at this point is it's own... but I'm sure it could adapt if it had the chance, hence the indefinite article). Also, it can make fists and funny faces. Hopefully we'll get to see some of them soon!
EXCITING!
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