Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Week 34 of the JellyBean Progression


Week 34
Routine Dr visit today. Nothing exciting except that I’m measuring 32 cm this week, which means I’m 2 cm small…and so Dr O wants me to have ANOTHER growth ultrasound in two weeks. Seriously, this must just be her thing. Whatevs. The funny part is that I feel HUGE – or more like, the baby feels huge. My belly just feels like it’s already at capacity and I can’t imagine JellyBean NOT being big enough at this point. Guess we’ll see, but my gut feeling is that the scan will tell us the same thing as last time.

For some reason – maybe wishful thinking, maybe just because I feel huge or whatever – but for some reason I just keep feeling like JellyBean is going to come early. At the very least, I don’t think she’s going to go a week overdue like Fletch did.

I do feel like everything in my belly is totally crowded. Am out of breath all the time, still can’t eat much at once and boy oh boy, is she walloping me some good ones. Her small parts (feet, hands, arms, legs etc) are all over on the right side and boy is she shoving things around in there. We are now at the Alien stage, where at any given time, you can look at my belly and see it lurching around independently. The bad part of this is that this is one strong kid. She is kicking my ass with some of these movements. It’s less kicking now and more slow, fluid movement and so there is a lot of pressure. VERY FIRM PRESSURE. What is it over on your right side, your liver? Appendix? Diaphragm? Whatever it is, JellyBean is stomping the crap out of it.

The worst part is of course, that she acts up the most when I lie down to go to sleep. Then all of a sudden, it’s rodeo practice time. The other night it was hurting so much I was crying. It was never like this with Fletch since he was faced differently. JellyBean also doesn’t like when I sit too slouched so a lot of times I’m sitting in whatever chair all leaned back and as stretched out as I can, otherwise she starts pushing at me to make some room for her. Ugh!

Um, good news is that the ANGRY LADYPARTS have calmed down somewhat. I ended up getting a maternity support belt that I wear sometimes which helps TREMENDOUSLY. But I can’t wear it all day long or it just makes other stuff hurt. It sure does take the pressure off the ladyparts and hoists up the heavy belly, which is nice. Also still no heartburn or back pain, yay. Sleeping is still hit or miss, though.

So this week, JB should be about 4 ¾ lbs and 18 inches and gaining fat. Central nervous system is maturing but generally babies with no other health problems born starting now do well. So if my gut feeling that JellyBean is coming early turns out right, she should be a-ok. However, we should probably get the crib put up and get some clothes washed and such so I don’t have the naked-baby-sleeping-in-a-drawer syndrome I did with Fletch. I did at least buy curtains for both kids rooms this weekend, so that’s a start.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

How to say no without being confrontational:

Acronym BRAND

Benefits - what are the benefits of this course of action
Risks - what are the risks of this course of action
Alternatives - what are the alternatives to this course of actions
Nothing - what happens if we do nothing
Decision - I would like to discuss this with my partner/support and will let you know what our decision is.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Week 32 of the JellyBean Progression


Week 32
Had the growth ultrasound last week. Everything was great – baby girl is right on target size-wise, in the 53rd percentile. She was about 3 ½ pounds (although this week, she should be closer to 4) and should be around 16 inches long. No wonder things are feeling crowded in there!

I’m supposed to be gaining a pound a week from here out, and even though half that goes to the baby, I still feel like PLEASE PLEASE NO MORE WEIGHT GAIN. Ugh! I only gained 15 overall with Fletch – this time I’m already at 25. I am feeling pretty paranoid about gaining any more weight even though Dr. O keeps telling me IT’S FINE. I just don’t want to have to struggle to lose it after. I know the breastfeeding will help – it certainly did last time – but still. I think I will always be worried about weight, pregnant or not.

But, from here out, JellyBean is supposed to gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next couple months. Also, she now has finger and toenails and is supposed to have hair (but we’ll see if she’s born bald like big brother! I hope not.)

Thankfully, I am not having heartburn due to JellyBean crowding all the organs and pushing up on my diaphragm. It is definitely harder to breathe though, and I can hardly eat much at one time because there’s just no room. I have noticed some definite foot swelling this time around – maybe that’s because the weather’s warmer. Also still having the ANGRY LADYPARTS wah wah wah because that totally makes up for the lack of back pain ouch. I swear it’s worse this time. At my visit this week, Dr. O mentioned that a lot of times the second pregnancy seems to hurt worse because all the novelty that you had the first time has worn off. Probably true!

Having tons of BH contractions. Especially when I’ve been on my feet for even a short period – a trip to the grocery store is enough to make the whole belly tighten up for a good long while unless I sit down and take it easy. Same with the ladyparts – I have to sit down a lot and get some of the gravity and pressure off. I feel bad because it means Mr. Fantastic is doing a lot of toddler chasing and dishes and laundry and everything. Maybe I can lure some unsuspecting loved ones into some domestic help after JellyBean gets here to help him get a break.

I’m still not having the back pain like I did last time with Fletch, which is a good sign since for him it meant he was faced the wrong way. But my hips, butt – the whole pelvic region really, really hurts. And my belly hurts – the sides are really stretching. JellyBean is way up high and way out front. I keep bonking my belly into things because I’m not used to how far it sticks out. But in general, I am just super sore and achy and wish we had a pool downstairs like we did when I was pregnant with Fletch. I’m going to have to resort to hot baths to relieve some of this ouchy business.

I have finally found a pretty good sleeping position at least. And we’ve also finally got Fletch sleeping in his own bed (JellyBean, take note – you are on your own!) so I am getting much better rest at night when I can actually stay asleep.

Last week, the night before the ultrasound, I got sick and ended up throwing up. Afterwards, I felt this huge painful movement from JellyBean and figured she must not have liked me barfing and flipped herself over. Sure enough, at the scan the next morning, they said she had moved from breech to head down (where she’s supposed to be.) Yay for that! Dr. O said it was too early to worry about how she was positioned but after the complications with Fletch being face up instead of down; I really wanted this one to go how it’s supposed to.

Fletch did NOT like being born and was in some distress during his birth. Even though I had an epidural, I was very active during his birth – flipping back and forth from my back to hands and knees because his heart rate kept dropping during the pushing but he was happy when I turned over. At one point, there was a bunch of blood and they handed Mr. Fantastic some scrubs and told him to get ready for us to go to the operating room for a c-section. (Which I really, really didn’t want to do) Bless my OB, because she decided that I was pushing great and was strong enough to get him out and shortly after, I did. But it scared poor Mr. F to death – things were happing really fast and with all the blood, he had a brief period where he thought he might lose one or both of us. SO. This time around, I would like a little less drama. Because I’m sure, being my daughter, and being a Haley woman, there will be plenty of drama in her life to come.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

From Twitter 05-11-2011



  • 20:19:09: Dear May weather: this "rain" is starting to look suspiciously like snow. DO NOT WANT.


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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

From Twitter 05-09-2011



  • 11:46:38: Am starving. No food/All food sounds good. Actually, you know what I really want? Movie theater popcorn. Can I just go buy some at theater?
  • 16:40:52: OMG MY FEET ARE SWOLLEN
  • 20:58:43: How is it possible I am even clumsier than my non-pregnant self? Also, my feet did not swell like this last time. Horrifying!


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Monday, May 9, 2011

Ugh.

A woman in the office restroom just now was on the phone the whole time while she did her business, flushed, washed hands etc. That's bad enough but there were FOUR OTHER WOMEN doing the same thing at the same time. How is this something anyone wants to be a part of?

I swear, the people who work in my office...

From Twitter 05-08-2011



  • 20:21:44: Lovely day...fabulous brunch with H3 & her
    fam, nap, sun, then BBQ with the Fantastics. Happy Mother's Day!


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Saturday, May 7, 2011

From Twitter 05-06-2011



  • 15:29:46: Baking cookies again...and trying to remember what I did wrong last time because they came out weird.


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Friday, May 6, 2011

From Twitter 05-05-2011



  • 20:18:23: Reading a very engaging book - Stockett's The Help. Very entertaining but every time I put it down, I want to start talkin' Southern y'all.
  • 22:23:45: Waiting for the benadryl I took an hour ago to kick in & make me sleepy and less stuffy & realize I never took it. Thanks, pregnancy brain.


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Thursday, May 5, 2011

From Twitter 05-04-2011





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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

From Twitter 05-03-2011



  • 10:20:23: What are Corn-Nuts actually made of? Nuts? Corn? Bird food?
  • 20:09:50: Eurgh. Ate ice cream, got sick. Now JellyBean is doing serious acrobatics, making me feel even sicker...rinse and repeat. Eurgh. Also, OUCH.
  • 20:54:41: Seriously, it's like she's trying out for the rodeo or something in there.
  • 21:37:41: Aaaaand, now I just had a major blood sugar crash. Glucose check at 50. Ugh, no wonder JellyBean's all riled up. Thank goodness for PB & OJ.


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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Monday, May 2, 2011

From Twitter 05-01-2011



  • 20:20:22: RT @jimmyfallon: Got Bin Laden AND interrupted Celebrity Apprentice? Win for Obama all around.


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