Moderate Cramping on Halloween

I had some moderate cramping when I woke up in my lower abdomen.  It was more painful than I’m comfortable with.  It felt kind of like a menstrual cramp but went away shortly after I got up.  Sleeping comfortable is still difficult for me.  On top of my knees and back hurting, my hips hurt when I sleep on my side.  It's really hard to get comfortable.  I got up and started to clean the house.  My friend was coming over later to carve pumpkins.  While I was cleaning my left side started to cramp pretty heavily.  I decided to sit down and rest on the couch.  I’m not sure what was causing that but it was kind of painful and lasted a bit longer than usual.  I could feel my baby moving while I rested on the couch which put me at ease. 

My friend came over and we went to Tapia Farms to get her a pumpkin.  Besides Forneris, Tapia is the only farm left in the valley.  They had a nice little festival going on with a petting zoo, small rides and games for children and food.  We went home to carve pumpkins.  Joe made us hamburgers for dinner.  Joe and I were supposed to go to his friend’s Halloween party but I wasn’t feeling up to it so I stayed home and watched horror movies with my friend.  We placed our lit jack o lanterns on the coffee table and watched Halloween parts 1 and 2 and Friday the 13th parts 1 and 2.  It was pretty fun.

Aches and Pains

I woke up so sore this morning.  My back was hurting, my legs were hurting and I was having kind of painful uterine contractions.  The contractions didn’t last very long and the back and leg pain went away as soon as I started walking around the house.  I think I might be at the stage where I can no longer sleep on my back.  They say 20 weeks and I’ll be there on Tuesday.  Sleeping on my side is pretty uncomfortable.  I use a pillow between my legs to try and keep my knees more level but I still toss and turn from one side to the other.  It’s hard to get comfortable.  I’ve been trying not to sleep on my back for the past two weeks but I always seem to wake up there.  I also wake up at least once, but usually twice, during the night to urinate.  So I’m not getting uninterrupted sleep at all.

On top of that my stomach felt very unsettled today.  Joe made me breakfast so I had eggs and bacon.  For lunch I ate some leftover homemade eggplant parmesan but it didn’t settle my stomach.  I just had some ginger lemon tea hoping that’ll do the trick.  The baby has been moving around quite a bit today.  It’s a very active little tyke already.  I like feeling my baby move.  Today I felt much stronger movements than usual.  I usually feel it while I’m laying on the couch.  My monthly issue of Pregnancy Newborn Magazine came today and I was reading the articles.  It’s a really good magazine with a lot of useful information and there’s always an interesting birthing story in every issue.  I’d recommend it to any expecting mommy to be.

Yoga

Today I went with my friend to try out Yoga.  She really likes it and is looking for a yoga buddy.  I tried one class once and didn’t really like it.  Yoga is the best work out for pregnancy besides walking because there’s no impact.  I just told the instructor I was pregnant before class and she adjusted some things for me.  After 20 weeks it’s recommended that you no longer lie on your back but I think I’m still okay to do that.  Also, no twisting.  For some of the moves she had me face the opposite direction of everyone else so I wasn’t twisting my torso too far.  It was hot in there and I got really sweaty.  I opted not to try the handstands against the wall and did a variation of just putting my legs up that the instructor showed me instead.

I’m really not in love with yoga but I’m glad I tried it.  I really need to find some form of working out that I can do now that aerial is out of the question.  I’ll probably force myself to go again next week.  I’m sure it’s really good for me and I really need to exercise more.

Chores and Eating Healthy

I got a ton of chores done today.  For the past month, Joe and I have been working on clearing out space for the baby.  We’ve been going through all our things and getting rid of stuff we don’t need.  I had a ton of donations for Salvation Army sitting in my closet including books, board games, clothes, bookshelves and my wedding dress.  I had a few goals for clearing out space.  I had three shelves full of movies and video games and I wanted to get rid of two of them.  I cleared them out and sold a ton of games and movies and then put the rest in CD wallets.  I’ve been wanting to donate my wedding dress for a long time but it was hard to part with.  It made me very happy but I’ll never wear it again and it’s honestly just taking up closet space.  Maybe it can make someone else who can’t afford a new wedding dress happy. 

So I made all the donations to Salvation Army today.  Went to Target and bought an item off my baby registry with a giftcard I received.  Went and sold some video games and movies.  Went to the bank to get quarters for the laundry and deposit all the money I got from selling my stuff into our joint saving account.  Then I had lunch at Panera Bread.  I was trying to eat a little better so I ordered a black bean soup and a chicken apple walnut salad.  I’ve been craving beans during my pregnancy and I really like that salad.  I forgot however that they put feta cheese in it.  I ate around it but did actually end up eating some.  This lead me to feel guilty for the rest of the day.

Dietary restrictions while pregnant are kind of weird and sometimes hard to remember.  Obviously no sushi which is what I miss the most.  No raw fish or undercooked meat or eggs.  No soft cheeses because they’re made with unpasteurized milk (includes feta, brie and mozzarella).  No deli meats or hot dogs unless it’s cooked to steaming because of a certain type of bacteria that is harmful to fetuses.  No deli mayonnaise or homemade aioli because they’re made with raw unpasteurized egg yolks.  Store bought mayonnaise is okay because it’s pasteurized.  Some soft cheeses are made with pasteurized milk too but you have to read the labels to be sure.  There are certain types of seafood to avoid because of mercury but they aren’t types that I normally would consume anyway. No caffeine or alcohol obviously (caffeine passes through the placenta easily right to the baby and alcohol deprives the baby of oxygen).  No raw vegetable sprouts. Now that I think about it, I took a Thai food cooking class last week and they had raw bean sprouts in the spring rolls which I ate without even thinking about it.  It’s hard to keep track of everything but if there’s any risk something could harm my baby, I definitely want to avoid it.  You have to be so conscious of what you eat while pregnant.

Fifth Prenatal Dr Visit

Joe and I went to the Dr. today.  It was another heart monitor only visit.  I’m so anxious to see our baby but I guess the second trimester ultrasound is done at the USC facility which we’re going to next week.  I even had a dream about our appointment last night and I saw our baby's face very distinctly (still didn't know the gender though).  Baby’s heart sounded great!  The Dr. said my second trimester blood work was good.  However, I did get some not so great news.  I’m gaining weight too fast.  About 6 lbs too much for one month.  My Dr. suggested I cut back on sugar.  I know it’s my fault.  I started drinking a lot of fruit juices when I had that aversion to water but those things are loaded with sugar.  I don’t drink soda and haven’t since I was a small kid but fruit juices contain tons of sugar, maybe as much as soda.  I’d been eating a lot of frozen food and fast food.  I’ve just gotten lazy about cooking.  And I haven’t been exercising at all.  But this is a wake up call to get back on track.  Yesterday, I thought I did pretty good.  I had an apple, a bowl of green beans and some pumpkin hummus with pita for dinner.  But I have to do better.

I asked my Dr. about having an elective c-section.  I went into my pregnancy planning that I would have one.  Honestly, I don’t want to push a baby out, or be in labor for days and push for hours and be in tons of pain.  An elective c-section is scheduled, takes less than 15 minutes and is painless.  I’m terrified of vaginal tearing or being in labor for hours.  One couple I know was in labor for 36 hours and it took 4 hours of pushing to get the baby out.  I don’t want to do that.  And I’m honestly worried about stretching out my vagina.  They say it goes back after having a baby, but does it really?  It’s hard to imagine pushing a watermelon out of it and then everything is totally back to the way it was before.  I know a c-section takes longer for recovery and that I’d have a scar but I was okay with all that. 

My Dr. said she’s totally fine with doing it and it’s my choice but she said I’d have to wait 18-24 months before getting pregnant again to ensure full recovery.  I want two children and I really want them to be close in age.  My brother and I were only a year and four months apart and it was great.  We were best buddies and very close growing up.  It was awesome to have a sibling so close in age because I automatically had a friend to play with.  My sister on the other hand was five years older than me and it was awful.  I had nothing in common with her and hated having to be around her.  When she tried to play games with me, it was terrible.  They were mean and not age appropriate for me.  She was also really cruel to me and we didn’t get along at all. When we went to the amusement park she made me get on rides with her that I hated because my dad wouldn’t let her bring a friend and she had no one else to hang out with.  I was actually too small to get on some of them but the stupid ride conductors let me on anyway and I almost fell out.  That’s only one example but I actually really hated her growing up as she tormented and beat me.

If I have a c-section and have to wait two years before getting pregnant again and then another nine months before our second child is born, it’ll be closer to being three years younger than our first child.  That’s a bigger age gap than I’d prefer.  And that’s IF we get pregnant right away.  I heard that it usually takes longer to get pregnant the second time around since your body has already been through the trauma of a pregnancy before.  Plus, I want to be done having children by the time I'm 35 years old and that's going to push past that.  So now I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t have a c-section.

Lastly, my Dr. is actually pregnant and will be on maternity leave from January to March.  She said she thinks she’ll be back in time to deliver my baby (my due date is end of March) but it’s cutting it very close.  She has colleagues in her practice that I’ll obviously be seeing during my last trimester but I may end up with one of them for my delivery.  I really like my Dr. because she’s super nice, funny, non-judgmental and easy to talk to.  She’s been my gynecologist for nearly seven years and I wanted her to deliver my baby.  It's kind of a personal relationship that a woman has with her Gyno.  I never actually had a steady female Dr. until I went to her.  I went to various places and Women's Health Clinics.  One Dr. I saw even refused to prescribe me birth control pills because she was Catholic and considered it morally wrong (I won't get into it but someone who has a problem with birth control CLEARLY shouldn't be a gynecologist).  So I have a lot to think about.  But I guess in the end, the only thing that matters is delivering a healthy baby.

Pregnancy Update

I’m about 19 weeks now.  Joe and I have our next prenatal Dr appointment tomorrow.  I figured I should update where I’m at since a lot of the discomfort I had in my first trimester is completely gone.  The second trimester is great!  I’ve been feeling like myself for a while now.  All nausea is gone except for first thing in the morning before I eat breakfast (I think it’s the empty stomach).  I’ve been sleeping much better the last few days.  I’m still experiencing more discharge than normal to the point where I go through two pairs of underwear a day but my libido is back and I feel as normal as I always did.  My breasts are still big and veiney but they’re no longer super tender or sensitive.  I don’t have anymore gas (that only lasted a few weeks).  I get bouts of being tired here and there but it’s not that often.  I’m not really having crazy cravings or much aversion to anything now. My appetite is the same (I'm no hungrier than I normally am).  I don’t really feel sensitive to smells anymore.  I can eat red meat again just fine (I had a cheeseburger yesterday that I really enjoyed).  I switched to bottled water when I was having trouble drinking from the Brita.  I’m sure it’s fine now but I think I’m going to stick with the bottles for now.  I go to the bathroom to urinate more often than usual but it isn’t as bad as it was.  I guess it depends on how much I drink.  I still get constipated but it’s not uncomfortable.  It just takes me a little bit longer to go.  My skin is doing much better.  I switched to Aveeno oatmeal milk soap and moisturizing lotion.  The itchy dryness has gone away and my face is much better though it hasn’t completely cleared up.  I ordered some stretch mark cream to use on my belly but it hasn’t arrived yet.  I don’t really believe that those lotions work at all but I may as well try it out. 

And I’m definitely noticeably pregnant now, though my bump is still small (at least that’s what I’ve been told).  It was funny because at the Halloween party there was another woman there who was pregnant too and we are due at almost the same time.  She’s due six days before me.  She actually looks a lot bigger than me but it’s her second child and I heard that since she’s already had one her stomach would stretch out more easily since its already been through it before.  I guess when I have my second child it’ll be interesting to see if I look bigger at 19 weeks than I do now.  I better take some baby bump selfies.

Halloween Party

Joe, my friend Tammy and I threw a Halloween party at my place.  Tammy and I spent all day prepping and cooking.  We made two kinds of empanadas (cheese onion and beef), mummy cocktail weenies, pretzel bites with cheese dip, pumpkin hummus with pita chips and veggies, vanilla cupcakes, chocolate pudding dirt cups, caramel corn, plus hot apple cider and vodka spiked fruit punch.  We got a bunch of sodas, beer and rum as well.  At first I thought we were over prepared but pretty much all the food got eaten pretty quickly.  The late comers missed out on some stuff.  Joe and Tammy decorated the house with a mixture of fun and scary decorations.  Joe put up orange lights and Tammy made a play list of party music.  It was tiring but a lot of fun.  Joe dressed up as Indiana Jones and I was a pregnant skeleton.  There was a skeleton T-shirt that had a smiling baby skeleton in its belly on Amazon.  It was cute and looked comfortable so I wore that.  People filtered in and the party finally ended at 1am.  It was nice to have people over.  I imagine there won’t be many parties for a while after the baby comes so it was cool to have one.  Halloween is Joe and my favorite holiday.

Feeling Baby Kick

Joe finally felt the baby kick.  We were laying in bed trying go to sleep and he put his hand on my belly and waited for a little bit.  Finally he felt a thump.  It was funny because he kept asking me if that was it and I kept saying yes.  I was so happy that he finally got to feel our baby.  He kept saying it was amazing.  It was only one kick but it was a pretty strong one.  He called it Little Thumper.  I’m not sure what it felt like for him.  I think it probably feels different for him than me because it’s inside of me.  He tried to feel for it again but only my stomach growled. 

Stretch Marks

Today I found some stretch marks on my belly.  I knew this was bound to happen.  Your uterus stretches to sixteen times its normal size.  Stretch marks and an expanding belly come with the territory and I knew that when I signed up for motherhood.  However, it still really bothered me.  More than I really want to admit.  I was kind of fat when I was a kid.  I’ve had long tiger stretch marks on my thighs and hips my whole life.  I’ve always felt a little insecure about my body below the waist.  My father was always telling me I had fat legs.  He loved to point that out basically any time I was around him.  Even when I saw him at my cousin’s wedding and he knew I was pregnant he felt the need to comment on how fat and big my legs are.  When I was a kid my mother would always say I was fat.  She bought me underwear that was three to four times way too big for me to even wear.  When I asked her for a smaller size, she just yelled at me and said I was fat and I needed big underwear.  Now that I actually have gone up to an extra large size I’m feeling some body image issues that I haven’t had since I was a kid.

I know that it’s stupid and ridiculous.  I know that I’m pregnant and this is what happens.  But I feel weak and embarrassed that I’m still letting my horrible abusive parents get to me at my age after everything I’ve been through and everything I’ve done to overcome the influence they had on me when I was young.  I talked to Joe about it.  I ended up telling him that I didn’t want to be ugly and started crying.  It feels so superficial and stupid.  Joe reassured me that I was beautiful and he loved me no matter what.  It took me a long time to feel good about myself and feel confident in my body.  I honestly wasn’t comfortable in my own skin until my late twenties.  I knew that getting pregnant was going to require a sacrifice on my youth, my looks and my body.  It was a sacrifice I was more than willing to make.  But it’s still sad to think about my body changing forever.

Gender Stereotypes

I can now feel the baby moving a lot.  It happens randomly but I think it’s definitely stronger and I can now feel it without my hand on my stomach.  It still feels kind of weird and foreign but it’s cool at the same time.  It’s like a vibration or like a little bubble.  Usually it’ll happen while I’m laying on the couch watching TV.  I don’t notice it as much if I’m sitting or walking around.  Joe keeps putting his hand on my belly to try and feel it but he says he can’t feel anything even when it does move.  Maybe I can feel it more since it’s actually inside of me.  I hope he gets to feel our baby kick soon.

 My friend came over for a visit.  It was really nice having company and I was really happy to see her.  We talked mostly about life stuff but she asked to see the baby gear I got so far.  I showed her the turtle decorations I got for the nursery.  I mentioned again how I thought that getting all gender neutral things actually leaves you better prepared for the baby since you’ll be able to reuse stuff.  I mentioned, if I knew it was a girl and I got a pink pack n play with flowers on it would I just throw it out and buy a new one if I had a boy next.  She brought up an interesting point.  She simply said, why not just put the boy in the pink one?  She’s against gender stereotypes and I actually do think she makes a really good point.  Just because your baby is a certain gender doesn’t mean it has to be confined to only having specific types of toys and colored clothing.  I want to do the baby’s nursery in turtles which is all green and blue stuff.  I realized that maybe it looks more geared toward a boy and wondered if I should rethink it, but I like it.  And now I realize it doesn’t really matter so much.  Gender identity for a newborn doesn’t really matter so much.  My baby will just be figuring out life.  Once he or she comes to realize who they are as an individual and what they like, they’ll let me know what their interests are.

Napping

Today was another tiring day for no reason.  I slept until 12pm and took a three hour nap later in the day.  I don’t feel tired all the time, just most of the time, but today was one of those days.  Often times I feel tired and think I am going to take a nap but then I don’t.  It’s probably better to try and make some kind of regular sleep schedule. Joe said I should rest well and sleep whenever I feel tired.  It feels unproductive but I don’t have to feel guilty about sleeping so much nor do I think I should. I’m just not going to worry about it.  Once the baby arrives I’m probably not going to be getting much if any sleep so I’m trying to rest up now.  The nap today was great!  I’m having such trouble sleeping at night and feeling comfortable, that three hour nap was the best sleep I’ve gotten in a long time.

Feeling Movement at 18 Weeks!

I felt it!  I felt our baby move for the first time!  It was kind of weird at first.  I felt this odd kind of little flutter.  I was really surprised by it.  And then it happened two more times.  Like three tiny pokes.  It was kind of like Jello or an echo on the inside.  Not something I’ve ever felt before.  It stopped after the three pokes.  I texted Joe right away.  He came home for a few minutes and we talked about how exciting it is.  Then he had to go return a movie we rented before midnight.  As soon as he left it started again but stronger.  That was at 11:46pm.  It was like a little burp or ripple inside my belly.  This one lasted longer.  The first three light pokes were closer to my right side and the harder ones were more near the lower center.  I wonder if the light ones were the baby moving its hands and the stronger ones were kicks.  It’s a little bit freaky to feel it, but so amazing and cool at the same time.  Joe joked that it’s tossing and turning like me.  Taking after me already.

Insomnia and Cramping

This insomnia is starting to drive me insane.  It’s full blown insomnia.  No matter how tired or exhausted I am, I just cannot sleep.  I just lay in bed for hours trying to sleep.  I usually fall asleep around 4am even though I’m tired and try to go to bed at midnight.  Last night I kept switching sides to see if I could get comfortable but nothing was working.  I eventually went to the living room couch.  I can’t even really describe why I can’t sleep.  I feel relatively comfortable.  I don’t have nausea or heartburn.  I’m dead tired.  But I just can’t go to sleep.  Then I usually wake up between noon and 1pm.  So I guess I’m getting sleep but falling asleep so late and waking up so late isn’t ideal.  Even if I force myself to wake up earlier my schedule seems to revert back to 4am-noon.  I was joking with Joe that our baby is going to be stubborn like me and a night owl like him.  It always kind of bothered me that Joe is such a night owl and never goes to bed until early hours in the morning.  Sometimes he’ll stay up all night working on his projects.

I woke up this morning around 10am with some painful cramping on my left side.  It was pretty painful, kind of like period cramps but it was more on my side and not my stomach and not really near my uterus.  At least I don’t think.  It went away after a few minutes but I’m confused about what could have caused it.  Maybe I slept weird.

Nice Day at the Park

Today, Joe and I went for a walk around Lake Balboa Park.  I love that park.  It’s so nice and peaceful.  There was a wonderful breeze flowing so it wasn’t hot at all.  The park was pretty crowded but that didn’t bother me.  I like watching the ducks and all the animals.  The sun was low so the light was really nice on the water.  They rent out paddle boats and there were a ton out on the lake.  Joe and I always talked about renting a paddle boat but haven’t yet.  I wish I went to the park more.  I’m definitely not getting enough exercise being home all day.  I keep telling myself I’m going to go for walks but I never do.  Our neighborhood really isn’t the best place for that.  The lake park is great but we have to drive to it.

Baby Belly

My belly is getting big now.  It’s definitely noticeable.  I still like to rub and touch it.  It’s sweet when Joe touches it too.  I’m waiting in excitement for when I’ll finally feel our baby move.  It’s supposed to happen any time between weeks 16 and 22.  So any day now I’ll be able to actually feel my baby.  I also read that the baby can start to hear at around 20 weeks.  I’ve already been working on my swearing but I guess I need to make sure I don’t yell, swear or watch TV that contains lots of swearing.

Constipation

I’ve been constipated for a couple weeks now.  Not really constipated but not really easy to go.  Maybe my diet has to do with it or maybe it’s the pregnancy but it’s kind of odd and a little uncomfortable.  I guess I should try to eat more fiber and fruits and vegetables.  I used to eat a banana every day with breakfast and enjoy Gala apples as snacks.  I try to always have some green or orange vegetable with dinner but I've been lacking for a while.

Dreams

I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately.  I can’t really describe it.  I’m just uncomfortable.  I have to switch positions between sleeping on either of my sides and my back.  I woke up at 4am to go to the bathroom and had trouble getting back to sleep.  When I finally did get back to sleep I had a pretty awesome dream.  It was the first time I dreamed about our baby.  The baby was born and I was giving it a washcloth bath.  Then I breastfed it but its mouth was tiny and it had a little bit of trouble latching on.  In my dream, I didn’t know the gender of my baby.  I was reading articles about bathing and feeding a newborn before I fell asleep so clearly that’s where the dream came from.  It was a nice dream.  I was really happy and our baby was so cute!

Maternity Clothes Shopping

I finally broke down and decided to get some maternity clothes from Target.  I got one pair of maternity jeans, two shirts, some bras and some underwear.  The jeans fit perfectly in a size 10 but I’m worried they’ll shrink in the wash.  The next size up was a 12 and it was way too loose, so I got the 10.  I can wait and see if I need a bigger size in a few months and get it later if needed.  Not that I’d want to admit it but I think I went up an underwear size so I got a pack of size 8 undies.  I’m now in extra large territory.  As for the bras, my breasts have definitely gone up a size.  I needed to get a 36D but they only had 38D sizes.  I figured I could use those and just fasten them on the tightest latch but when I got home to try them on I found they don’t fit.  So I have to return the bras and wait until they have my size.  Joe really liked my maternity jeans.  He hasn’t seen me wear jeans in months and he thinks they look really good.  They are pretty comfy so I’m excited to wear them when it gets cooler out.  We were having some Fall weather a few days ago but now it’s back up to 100 degrees.  I’ll be happy when Fall finally does come.

Flu Shot

I went to Walgreens to get my flu vaccine today.  I just told the pharmacist I was pregnant and the senior pharmacist on staff got me one that didn’t have preservatives in it.  She asked me if I was told by my Dr to get it, if I had a flu vaccine before and if I needed proof faxed to my Dr.  I had a flu shot last year without any side effects so I was sure I’d be fine.  My Dr told me she wasn't able to give me the flu shot on my last visit because she didn't have any on hand but that I could just go into a Walgreens, Rite Aid or CVS to get it.  Joe has to get his flu shot later this week too.  On the way out of Walgreens I got some Aveeno soap and moisturizing lotion to try out on my skin.  Hopefully it’ll help with the dryness and itching.

Second Trimester Blood Work

I went in to have my blood drawn for my second Trimester screening.  My doctor told me to wait one week before going in because I’m supposed to be between 15-20 weeks and I’m 16 weeks this week.  I was worried they were going to take eleven tubes like last time but they only took one small tube so it was super easy and I felt totally fine afterward.  I had to wait 40 minutes in the waiting room until they could see me though but the actual process only took a couple of minutes.

Itchy Dry Skin

Besides my face being broken out and itchy, my skin has been dry and itchy lately too.  I’ve even had some trouble sleeping since I’m itching so much.  I looked online and it’s recommended to take an oatmeal bath or use a moisturizer with oatmeal in it.  I decided to try a new soap with oatmeal milk in it hoping it’ll help.  I looked online and it seems Aveeno is a good brand for babies and moms so I think I’m going to try that.

Halloween Stuff

I went on the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride with Joe and three other friends.  My friend had done it last year and told me there were no jump scares so it was probably safe for me.  I sat in the middle of the hay truck so none of the actors could get at me anyway.  It was pretty cool.  I love Halloween and like doing Halloween stuff but wasn’t sure what activities I’d be able to do this year.  Joe and I used to go to Halloween Horror Nights every year but they oversell tickets and the lines are so terrible now it isn’t worth going.  You’d spend three hours waiting in line and only get to see two or three things.  I really want to go to Disneyland for Halloween but I won’t be able to get on any of the fun rides.  The Haunted Hayride was fun though.  I liked some of the costumes.  Each area had a bit of a story play out.  There were zombies in a graveyard, a witch abducting children, a group of serial killers, a meat market, a kid’s clown on a tricycle, etc.  

Afterward we went out for drinks at a nearby bar.  Obviously I wasn’t drinking though.  I wore pants because I didn’t want to sit in hay in a dress.  However none of my jeans fit.  The loosest pair I have is a size 14 but I couldn’t button or zip them up so I definitely think I need to get some maternity jeans.  I also had a slight allergic reaction to the hay.  My nose started running and I got two small hives on my arm but they went away pretty quickly.

Gender Predictor

Joe and I decided early on that we didn’t want to know the gender of our baby before it was born.  We want to be surprised.  I really wanted to get all unisex things anyway because I eventually want two children and would like to be able to reuse things and not have to buy a whole bunch of new stuff if our second child is a different gender.  Also, I really don’t care much for pink and I actually really like aqua blue and green so I’d want all our baby things in those colors anyway.  I’m going to do the nursery in sea turtles which is gender neutral and what I wanted to do anyway.  I am secretly hoping for a girl.  I really want a girl so badly.  Always have.  I even have two names picked out if I end up with two girls.  But if it’s a boy I don’t want to say or admit that I’d be disappointed.  A healthy baby is the most anyone could ever really hope for.  I did kind of try the Shettles method when we were trying to conceive but not really.  We just started earlier before I thought I was ovulating.  According to the method, female sperm live longer and male sperm swim faster.  So if you try before ovulation the female sperm will outlive the male sperm and wait around for the egg but if you try right when you ovulate the faster male sperm will make it there first.  We were basically trying to hit all around the target date (before, during and after).  However, our doctor basically told me my pregnancy was a week later than their predictor based on my last menstrual cycle, which means I ovulated a week later than I originally counted.  So it really could go either way.  When we were trying I counted fourteen days from my period and then we tried 3 days before, on that exact day and 3 days after.  So it could still go any way.  I know that when we have our baby and the delivery doctor tells us the gender and lets us hold our baby, there is no way I’d be disappointed. 

I took one of those online gender predictor quizzes just out of curiosity and it predicted a boy.  Though I’m not sure how it came to that conclusion.  I looked up some other predictor signs (all just guesses and based on old wives tales, not much basis for reality) and those signs kind of point to a girl.  Of course any of it could go either way because every woman’s pregnancy is different.  I had a lot of nausea for the first trimester.  Basically all day every day for 3 months straight (never threw up though, just felt like I was going to).  They say nausea is more common with girls because of the hormones they release.  Bad skin is associated with girls and clear skin with boys.  Craving sweets is associated with girls and craving meat is associated with boys.  Clearly I’ve had an aversion to meat my whole pregnancy so far.  I still have no interest or desire for hamburger meat or steaks at all.  Red meat is still really unappealing to me.  I have been craving chocolate and ice cream though.  They say if your bump is higher it’s a girl and if it’s lower a boy.  My baby bump so far looks kind of low.  Joe’s kind of been gaining weight too and they say if the father gains weight it’s a girl.  They say if the baby’s heart rate is above 140bpm it’s a girl and if below a boy.  Our baby’s is around 160bpm.  Most people seem to swear by the Chinese Gender Chart which bases gender on the mother’s age and the month of conception.  According to that I’m having a girl.  It’s all really just a guess so who knows but I can't help but be curious.

Buddha Belly

I found something that I enjoy about my pregnancy.  I kind of really like rubbing my round little belly.  It’s fun and soothing for me.  It reminds me of a Buddha or Treasure Troll belly that you rub for luck.  I like to think about my little baby inside there growing big and strong and I get excited for the day I’ll finally get to meet and hold my baby.  It really fills me with joy.  It makes me so happy to know that I’m nurturing my baby already.  Sometimes I’m so happy thinking about it that I get tears in my eyes.  I love my baby so much already.  I always tell my husband that I love him every day.  Now I can say, I love you and I love our baby.