Due to my writers block I seem to be having (surprise, surprise) I'm just throwing a quickie update on here.
Weight gain since day one: 12lbs
Swelling of hands and feet: imperceivable.
Stretch marks (oh those wonderful mommy battle scars): A few (despite nightly cocoa butterings.)
Hair loss: falling behind me as I sweep.
Hemorrhoid/ varicose veins: Not a stitch.
Fetal movement: Oh the funnest part of all... Such an amazing and fascinating occurrence during the beginning of the second trimester has turned into the slug match I've dreaded for so long. For the last week or so my torso has become a the site of a turf war, with my ribs in constant peril and my intestines running for the hills. Those precious little feet have turned into a battering ram that, instead of a quick boot, now forces my abdominal muscles to their max and holds for several seconds, stirring images of B rated horror and sci-fi flicks (this is beyond Alien people.) His cute little behind seems to be "comfortably" wedged up under my right lower rib. The plus side is to all this, other than never having to wonder, is that anytime I'm actually sitting upright, and not lying down, my back is straight as an arrow. Amongst this barrage of beatings I've also been dealing with a tiny stomach and an astronomical appetite. Thankfully the light at the end of the tunnel is roughly 52 days away... people have survived longer than that right?
Friday, August 7, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Baby flails 101
Every mother, even the 'veteran', is interested in fetal movement. Though we all go through it it's different for each one of us; ranging from aches, to flutters, to a popping bubble sensation and even the occasional mistaken gas bubble. This is my personal experience.
In only 2 months my little monster has gone from lightly tapping on my belly to feeling like an octopus having a seizure. It started out at 16 weeks feeling like a small, quick push on my abdominal wall. Similar to having a sore muscle gently poked. It was rare and minor for the most part making me question it a bit but then a huge rush at work confirmed that he was alive and kicking in there. The aches became slightly more pronounced for about 30 minutes especially when bent over the sherbet cooler. When mentioned to my doctors they all tell me that I wouldn't feel it at 16 weeks but on this one I'd have to go with mothers intuition. Shortly after the rush at work I experienced the dreaded 'days of silence' where all those fascinating little aches seemed to cease all together. But, as every pregnant woman knows the number one rule of pregnancy is "DON'T PANIC!" so I carried on and gave the fetus time to warm up again. The little guy must have taken some tae-bo classes while I wasn't paying attention. After a long week he came back like Bruce Willis in Die Hard 3 leaving no doubt in my mind that his development was going swimmingly. I'm sure the dose of Omega complex everyday helps, as well as helping mom to avoid those dreaded side affects of being prego.
From then on the kicking has been normal, steady and increasingly stronger. Though he seemed shy at first, going still when I would poke my belly or move about, he appears to be coming out of his figurative shell as of late with a light tap inspiring a flurry of activity within and no amount of walking slowing him down. Since kicking my hubby in the head one evening there hasn't been much head to belly interaction but that doesn't mean we haven't both been reveling in the activity. For just over a month now the kicks have been extremely visual conjuring up images of the Alien movies. As for how it feels, it's akin to an empty tummy bubble at times and a full length stretch by the little bugger at others. Causing a pressure on opposite sides of my abdomen elongating it into a bizarre oval shape and pushing my organs into unique, never felt before locations. I must say the weirdest kicks so far have landed on my diaphragm, just under my rib cage, and on my lower intestines, giving that opposite of a fart bubble feeling. All this activity does inspire the usual mental images of somersaults, marathon runs and flailing fits.
Though I know his arms are just as active as the rest of him I don't seem to feel them as distinctly most likely due to his proper positioning, which is yet to been seen. As of the last ultrasound, 2 months ago, he was still heads up but I think he figured it out. Almost all the activity has been just under my bust and above my belly button leading my to conclude that it's either his feet or the little bugger has figured out how punch above his head already. I'm going with feet.
The best confirmation of these weird sensations have been the doctors appointments. Starting with my very first ultra sound at 12 weeks revealing a crazy little worm that proceeded to spin front to back first showing his spine then his belly every few seconds giving the doc a run for her money. Come to find out this was going to be par for the course. At the following, 20 week ultrasound the whole thing was a little complicated with each measurement being 'to the best of their ability' due to the spasticity rivaling a 3 year old the day after Halloween. Same 'guesstimating' format at work for the sexing of the baby. Since then I haven't had another ultrasound but I did receive the usual fetal heart monitor check with unusual results. The heart beat was perfect, once she found it. After roughly 5 minutes of moving from one side to the other and cracking jokes about "of course the last one of the day would have to be the hardest" and "all the other one's were very cooperative" she finally found a spot where he was still for just long enough to properly assess before disappearing back into the static.
The best part of all this vigor is the irrelevance of doing kick counts. He's developed his schedule of a minor morning and after noon workout and then an all night party from about 6pm - 6am leaving no questions of wither or not he's still alive in there. In the end it's all been a lot of organ rearranging, entertaining doctors visits and highly amusing nights on the couch spent watching my little alien stretch and squirm. For now I'm enjoying the show before it turns into the cramped, rib cage jabbing slug fest of the final weeks when "get this thing out of me" becomes my personal motto just before the critter bursts out of me to wreak havoc on the rest of the world.
Countdown: 12 weeks (I'll put a nifty electronic one up soon)
In only 2 months my little monster has gone from lightly tapping on my belly to feeling like an octopus having a seizure. It started out at 16 weeks feeling like a small, quick push on my abdominal wall. Similar to having a sore muscle gently poked. It was rare and minor for the most part making me question it a bit but then a huge rush at work confirmed that he was alive and kicking in there. The aches became slightly more pronounced for about 30 minutes especially when bent over the sherbet cooler. When mentioned to my doctors they all tell me that I wouldn't feel it at 16 weeks but on this one I'd have to go with mothers intuition. Shortly after the rush at work I experienced the dreaded 'days of silence' where all those fascinating little aches seemed to cease all together. But, as every pregnant woman knows the number one rule of pregnancy is "DON'T PANIC!" so I carried on and gave the fetus time to warm up again. The little guy must have taken some tae-bo classes while I wasn't paying attention. After a long week he came back like Bruce Willis in Die Hard 3 leaving no doubt in my mind that his development was going swimmingly. I'm sure the dose of Omega complex everyday helps, as well as helping mom to avoid those dreaded side affects of being prego.
From then on the kicking has been normal, steady and increasingly stronger. Though he seemed shy at first, going still when I would poke my belly or move about, he appears to be coming out of his figurative shell as of late with a light tap inspiring a flurry of activity within and no amount of walking slowing him down. Since kicking my hubby in the head one evening there hasn't been much head to belly interaction but that doesn't mean we haven't both been reveling in the activity. For just over a month now the kicks have been extremely visual conjuring up images of the Alien movies. As for how it feels, it's akin to an empty tummy bubble at times and a full length stretch by the little bugger at others. Causing a pressure on opposite sides of my abdomen elongating it into a bizarre oval shape and pushing my organs into unique, never felt before locations. I must say the weirdest kicks so far have landed on my diaphragm, just under my rib cage, and on my lower intestines, giving that opposite of a fart bubble feeling. All this activity does inspire the usual mental images of somersaults, marathon runs and flailing fits.
Though I know his arms are just as active as the rest of him I don't seem to feel them as distinctly most likely due to his proper positioning, which is yet to been seen. As of the last ultrasound, 2 months ago, he was still heads up but I think he figured it out. Almost all the activity has been just under my bust and above my belly button leading my to conclude that it's either his feet or the little bugger has figured out how punch above his head already. I'm going with feet.
The best confirmation of these weird sensations have been the doctors appointments. Starting with my very first ultra sound at 12 weeks revealing a crazy little worm that proceeded to spin front to back first showing his spine then his belly every few seconds giving the doc a run for her money. Come to find out this was going to be par for the course. At the following, 20 week ultrasound the whole thing was a little complicated with each measurement being 'to the best of their ability' due to the spasticity rivaling a 3 year old the day after Halloween. Same 'guesstimating' format at work for the sexing of the baby. Since then I haven't had another ultrasound but I did receive the usual fetal heart monitor check with unusual results. The heart beat was perfect, once she found it. After roughly 5 minutes of moving from one side to the other and cracking jokes about "of course the last one of the day would have to be the hardest" and "all the other one's were very cooperative" she finally found a spot where he was still for just long enough to properly assess before disappearing back into the static.
The best part of all this vigor is the irrelevance of doing kick counts. He's developed his schedule of a minor morning and after noon workout and then an all night party from about 6pm - 6am leaving no questions of wither or not he's still alive in there. In the end it's all been a lot of organ rearranging, entertaining doctors visits and highly amusing nights on the couch spent watching my little alien stretch and squirm. For now I'm enjoying the show before it turns into the cramped, rib cage jabbing slug fest of the final weeks when "get this thing out of me" becomes my personal motto just before the critter bursts out of me to wreak havoc on the rest of the world.
Countdown: 12 weeks (I'll put a nifty electronic one up soon)
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Flap A connects with flap C? Are you sure? And what's this other bit of velcro for?
After staring at my first swaddle for several minutes I came to the conclusion that they would make more sense once I put a kid in it. My mother had this gem of advice 'If it makes the baby sleep it will make A LOT more since'. Tou-Sche Mom!
Monday, June 29, 2009
three point five
Imagine this: you're laying on the couch at roughly 9 at night enjoying feeling your little kick boxer go through his rounds when the sound of a truck going through your house occurs. BUT no glass shattering, no falling, no crunching no other noise then the rumble. We of course, in typical mammal style ran to the closest other life force who was staring at us in much the same manner. With no TV and our neighbors TV not providing any kind of news on said house shaking we were all left to wonder if it was just us. Being the resourceful lil geek my husband is he jumped on line and found THIS. Turns out old Haleakala, which we reside cozily on the north slope of, had too much jack in the box yesterday and let loose the geologic equivalent of one of grandpa's broccoli and brats fart. Only lasting for about 3 to 5 seconds but reaching a magnitude of 3.5 on the Richter scale and a depth of 19 miles. The report last night said it was over near Kaupo on the other side of the island but this morning it turns out it was right under our feet. After this news was revealed to us a thought occurred to me and I went to the window and opened it only to find what I expected, dead silence. Silence would be a normal night time thing on the main land but here in rural Makawao that never happens. Having dogs, chickens, roosters, goats, birds, cicada and geckos forever roving our house and neighborhood we can't hardly sleep more than a few hours without being woken by something. Needless to say my ears will be perked for the next moment of silence. My fears have been quelled since last night by the return of all those rowdy creatures and the array of knowledge of my dear counterpart informing me that 19 miles is deeper than the magma chamber and reaches the fault line under the Hawaiian islands and runs all the way to Japan, proven HERE by the 6 other earthquakes reported on the same fault line last night shortly following our report from the Maui region. So no worries to my friends and family on the mainland who may be concerned that I'm plopped on a 729 square mile time bomb, it was merely a seismic tummy rumble equivalent to my own internal activity. I slept just fine last night. :)
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Drum roll please...
It's the long awaited belly picture!!!! Somewhere in the vicinity of 27 weeks. 2 pounds of baby plus existing chub equals this. I'm pretty sure he's working on making more space atleast that's what it feels like.
Friday, June 26, 2009
The human body
Two funny things have occurred to me in the last 6 months: 1) How loud is a stomach gurgle form the inside? 2) The thought that having a baby is akin to building a boat in a basement.
More to come soon!!
More to come soon!!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Some long awaited pics
Sunrise from the top of Haleakala. The sun is just peaking over the clouds.
North shore near Ho'okipa.
The inside of Haleakala crater.
Terminator baby!!!!!!! Second ultrasound.
First ultrasound.
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