Saturday, February 26, 2011

Baby Blog 34

First of all, I think I am going to stop giving each blog the title of Baby Blog + # anymore.  I am starting to find myself wanting to assign a title to the blogs. Who knows? I may go back through and give each one a title. That's probably only if I find the time.  For now, since I can't think of any creative name for this blog, it will remain titled as they all have been.


So, there are a couple of things that I have been wanting to write about.  Since they are fresh in my mind and it's Saturday, I'm taking the time to write the blog now.


I was 19 weeks pregnant yesterday...aannnd...we are finally back to fruit! No more roots like potatoes and onions.  I did realize a pomegranate would have been a good substitute back when my ticker gave me a large onion.  But anyway, this week, my book and my pregnancy ticker both say that baby is the size of a mango!
I believe this size is head to rump.  I haven't checked out any mangos in the produce aisle (which I will, of course, be doing as soon as I am in the grocery store again).  However, I just have a feeling that this is probably more like 6-7 inches (size from head to rump) rather than 9 inches, which would be roughly baby's size from head to toe!  I'm just glad we are back in the fruit bowl.  

Pregnancy hot flashes? Back in the blog when I wrote about things I didn't know happened during pregnancy, there was still something I didn't know about! Pregnancy hot flashes! I was sitting at home last night watching a movie with Lee when I started feeling very hot.  I have actually had this happen a few times, but I just thought it was because the weather in Georgia has already started getting warm.  So, I asked him, "are you hot?" He said, "no." I couldn't believe it.  "I'm burning up!" I said.  Then he looked at me and just calmly replied, "You're having a hot flash."  "A hot flash?" I respond in disbelief.  "I am not menopausal." "You get hot flashes due to pregnancy," he informed me.  

I can't believe he actually knows more about pregnancy symptoms than I do.  He must be reading some literature somewhere about this!  Either way, I did look it up and lo and behold pregnancy hot flashes do occur.  I know I did say something about night sweats in my other blog, but I just thought that was something else. I don't know why I didn't make the connection.  Still, when I did my reading, I found out that hot flashes start becoming prevalent in the 2nd trimester, which is exactly where I am (it's due to lowering estrogen levels in case anyone wondered).  I also learned that leg cramps can be common too.  Except, I have been eating a lot of bananas recently, and I wonder if those are keeping leg cramps away for me.  Anyway, so it isn't the Georgia heat that I am experiencing after all, it's the mama-to-be heat.

Onto the next topic, WORK! I have yet to break the news to anyone at school that I have no plans to return next year.  I am not sure how to do this yet.  Normally, I'm given a paper I must fill out as a statement of intent.  But I haven't gotten one here yet.  I did not get pregnant on purpose, and I really don't want them thinking that I came there to work for them only for a year only to fall pregnant and leave! It has simply been my plan for a long time that I would stop teaching when I have children.  After working in daycare, I just feel that I need to be with my children when they are very young.  Plus, there is only such a small window of time when you can really have that.  I don't want to give that up for work.

But this does lead me to what I am going to do after he gets here.  For a few months, I won't be working at all. Yet, I do bring in a pretty significant portion of our income.  I am not saying that his pay isn't enough.  It is.  He will also be receiving a raise before Gordon Lee comes, but my paycheck is actually very decent here.  So, I really don't want to go from this to bringing in no money at all.  So, I'm exploring my options for what I could do while caring for my child at the same time.

I first thought of tutoring, but I have ruled that out for two reasons. 1.) I can tutor during the day, but I cannot guarantee that the baby will not cry or interrupt tutoring sessions for some reason. 2.) If I tutor at night, then Lee and I never have any time together, and I don't think that is good.  So, no tutoring.  

The things I'm thinking of now are jobs where I can work from home or take my child to work with me.  Since I do have a degree in English, there are some writing positions where you can write articles from home.  You can also do editing from home.  I just don't have any experience in that area, and I'm not sure exactly how possible it will be.  The other thing I've thought about doing is going to the YMCA and possibly working in the childcare department where I could bring him with me and work at the same time.

As of now, those are the two main things I have thought of.  If anyone else has any other ideas, let me know!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Baby Blog 33

Potato or hamster?


This week, my pregnancy ticker says that little Gordon Lee is the size of a sweet potato. I am starting to think these statements reflect his size at the end of each week of pregnancy rather than the beginning.  So, since I am less than 2 days away from being 19 weeks pregnant, I will say that he is probably close to that size right now.  

If it seems he has grown exponentially, it is only because he has reached the point where his legs are long enough to be factored in to his length.  Before, all of the measurements were crown to rump (i.e. head to butt).  Now, he is being measured from head to toe!  

I was just talking to my mother today describing the fact that he began getting active today near the end of the school day (maybe he was excited for school to let out! ;) ).  And, as I was telling her that I was feeling him move, he was still moving all around.  I really couldn't think of a way to describe it.  Butterflies just didn't fit for me.  I know the feeling and I can see why people would say butterflies.  However, it didn't seem to aptly fit the description of what I was feeling.  I finally found myself saying "It feels like there is a hamster running around inside of me!" And I laughed out loud about that, but it was so true! That's exactly how it feels to me when he moves!

Granted, I've never had a hamster inside of me.  However, compared to the way the one feels in my hand, the tickling of the little feet is the way it feels at this point when he moves around!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Baby Blog 32

Right now, I am on "winter break" for the school system here, which is really nice. I had Friday off and then I have Monday off.  So, we get a 4 day weekend.  Anyway, with my day off Friday, I went shopping! It was wonderful I was up and out to get to the stores by 10 am.  Nothing was crowded at all, so shopping was a breeze.


Anyway, amid my shopping, I decided to swing by Carter's to see if I could find anything on sale for little Gordon Lee.  Well, I did! I found 5 adorable outfits for $7 each.  I went to the Carter's website to get pictures of the outfits I bought because I can't find my camera cord to upload pictures to my computer right now.  I know it is nearby somewhere. However, we're organizing right now and putting things in storage.  I'll find the cord later.  For now, here are some pictures of what I bought for baby on my mini shopping spree.
I got a cute gator romper!

A shorts set (size 3 months)
This froggie sleeper...I love the feet!
Then, I bought 2 outfits LIKE this one, but I didn't buy this one (mine were not pictured on the website but you get the idea).

Q&A
There are a few FAQ that I've been getting asked recently, and I've decided to go ahead and answer them here.

1.) How do you feel?
I feel GREAT! I'm in the 2nd trimester (honeymoon phase) of pregnancy and I'm definitely going through one of the easier phases of it right now.  I still have a strong sense of smell, which doesn't always make things great.  But compared to how I felt in the 1st trimester, this is smooth sailing right now!

2.) Are you feeling the baby?
Yes, I am! I'm not sure exactly what I'm feeling. But when I feel a little live being moving around inside me, I know it is him.  He seems to alternate between being active and not very active.  Yesterday, he was moving around a lot.  Today, he hasn't moved as much. I'm not so worried because I read it's normal for this to happen at this point in pregnancy.  I'm not supposed to start counting kicks until 28 weeks.  I have a pregnancy book that counts down each day, and this week it suggested I drink orange juice.  It said that the coldness of the orange juice plus the vitamins in it will get baby moving.  Well, it's true! Whenever I drink orange juice, I feel him moving immediately.

3.) What are you going to call him?
Right now, I'm settling for Gordon Lee (double first name) or calling him GLee.  I'm satisfied with both.  But we'll have to see what he looks like when he comes into this world!