Saturday, January 29, 2011

Baby Blog 26

This week, baby is the size of two fruits! WOOHOO! One of these fruits happens to be my favorite...the pear! Basically, my countdown pregnancy book said that baby is 4 1/2 inches this week making him or her about the size of a pear.  However, my fruit ticker says baby is 5 inches and the size of a navel orange.  Either way, baby is somewhere in between there.

I actually got some fruit today, which included navel oranges and pears, and i found that they are honestly roughly the same size.  It all depends on the length of the stem of the pear! Ha!

I also think I'd much rather envision my child as a pear than an orange.  Imagine sticking a head, arms, and legs on that orange..I'd have a rather rotund child.

On another note, I had a funny dream last night.  I dreamt I gave birth to a boy.  He weighed 8 lbs and 11 oz. he was born at 11 o'clock (don't know if it was am or pm), and he had a full head of hair.  In my dream, I had apparently been so "drugged up" from the delivery, that I was knocked out for several days.  And I didn't see my child until he was a few days old.  Lee couldn't remember any of the details from the baby's birth.  So, I asked the baby and he told me how much he weighed and when he was born. lol It was pretty funny.  I also asked the baby "Do you recognize mommy's voice?" He responded, "Well, kind of, but it's not so muffled now." That dream made me laugh so much.  Oh the crazy dreams I've had during pregnancy!


Thursday, January 27, 2011

Baby Blog 25


I wasn't going to write on this because I'd be very embarrassed if it turned out to be nothing.  However, if it does turn out to be something, then I want it to be noted that I have "felt things" this week.  I'm not sure what the feeling is. It could be the baby moving.  It could be the uterus stretching.  I know only time will tell.  But I have been noticing that when I'm sitting pretty still, I feel pressure from inside pushing outwards.  I have been trying to research what it is.  Of course, the results are inconclusive.


Based on what I found, it could be braxton hicks contractions.  The only thing is that I really don't think that's it because the more I read about those, the less they sound like pressure.  The description is more of a mild cramping.  Another thing is that the feeling could be stretching and hardening of the uterus.  Also, the feeling could be the uterus moving up.  However, I have found that the feeling could also be the baby.  Many women have reported not ever getting the "butterflies" feeling.  Instead, they felt a pressure that turned into obvious kicks.  So, that's what it could be.  And yes I hope that's what it is.


One thing that I found in my research was women talking about the baby becoming "visible" at around 24 weeks.  I have no idea what this means.  I assume it means the baby being visible from the outside?  I have not been close enough to a pregnant stomach to know.  However, I can't help but laugh at the whole visible statement because I think "What? The baby was invisible before this?" Oh the terms of pregnancy land. ;)


On another note, I think that when my stomach gets big enough, I might want to turn it into a decorative artform.


Like this

No, that is not my stomach.  It is just a decorative bowl....

Or this
I just decided to stat carrying a fishbowl around in front of me...all of the time...

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Baby Blog 24


It seems like people love giving advice when it comes to pregnancy and parenthood.  I'm not sure whether it is the fact that it brings them joy to share things they've learned, or if they really think I'm so clueless I won't make it without advice.


Either way, sometimes I go into advice overload.  There's just too much of it sometimes!  Everyone means well, and I don't get upset with anyone for giving advice.  I just don't always "listen" because sometimes I feel overwhelmed by it.  


I actually know a lot more about babies and what it's going to be like than it might seem.  I have a couple of reasons (in no particular order).   I watched a plethora of educational baby shows for years.  I watched "Bringing Home Baby" and saw what it was like for people to go through having a newborn at home the first days/weeks after the hospital.  Granted, yes, the show is edited and doesn't show everything.  However, once you watch show after show, you start to build knowledge.  Another thing is the fact that I have cared for infants myself.  I have been a nanny.  I took care of three babies all by myself with no help or advice on what I was supposed to be doing or how to do it.  I had to figure it out as I went along and ask a lot of questions.  I worked in a daycare with infants.  There, I learned how to effectively bundle a baby.  I saw babies in all stages of development.  


I hear things from what I should eat and shouldn't eat to whether I should nap or shouldn't nap.  What things I need to get for my baby and what things I don't need to get...Whether I should nurse solely or have a pump...how much I should lift or not lift during pregnancy or how active/inactive I need to be...people saying that it's okay to drink wine to people criticizing my choice of not drinking any caffeine...and basically it all boils down to everyone says something different.  I have had so much different advice, I don't even know what to do with it sometimes.  Maybe I'll nap with one eye open while twitching a leg so I can nap and be active at the same time.   I say all of this lightheartedly and in good humor because it's nothing I'm annoyed by.  It's just funny how everyone has advice and if I listened to it all, I would be stuck in neutral.


I still have a lot to learn, but I have learned more than a lot of people know.  And I'm sure that sharing advice is more or less done out of personal excitement that they have information and they want to share it with someone.  I'm not really saying that I don't want advice because I do.  I just sometimes feel like putting people on mute every now and then.... ;)