Pregnancies and Quick Showers...and Pictures

Before my body went all fun-house-mirror crazy on me, showers were a quick ordeal. In, out, 5-10 minutes. It was wonderful. Now pregnancy has made it rather difficult to do this quick shower routine. First off, once you get into the shower, you contemplate how to wash your lower extremities; like the feet. You can't just bend over to get to them...and you can't just hike up a leg to reach them. So you contemplate this for at least three minutes. Then you realize, there's no way you're going to reach them and figure the leftover soap from the rest of you is going to have to do. So now you start chasing the soap residue before it hits the drain.

Then you think, "Hey, hot water! I'll just boil the bacteria!" Turn up the water and let it boil your feet. It causes your stretching skin to itch so you start scratching all over and it looks like you've gotten into a fight but your feet are clean! Sort of anyway.

Then you contemplate the fact that you really need to get out of the shower but that hot water really does feel good on your aching back. Your feet are aching too but to get off of them you have to get out of the shower and, at this point in time, your back hurts more than your feet. Enjoy the heat, enjoy. Suddenly, the water is turning rather cool. It's been a good twenty minutes and the hot water is running out. You are forced out of the shower.

Now you're faced with a new challenge. How to dry everything. Sure, the top half is easy. It's the lower half that's difficult. You call for your husband who willingly and lovingly helps you dry your legs, back, and feet but isn't so loving or willing the next twenty times. You start just wiping your feet on the rug outside the shower and drip drying the rest.

Then you face your worst fear...the underwear. How to get those on without falling over? Ten minutes later, you realize that your monkey toes were made for challenges such as this. That and the bed for sitting on. Now, 45 minutes after the whole ordeal has begun, you're finally done. What used to take 10 minutes takes more than four times as long.

I will of course miss the ability to shower for long periods of time after Daisy is here but I'm definitely missing the short showers of yore.

Pictures of the fun-house-mirror body. This was just Tuesday at 30 weeks and 6 days! We were 13 sheets of TP for TP Tuesday by the way.

See the pink blanket on the glider? My friend from work made that for me. I loves it.


Notice, I can still wear my rings. I wonder when this ability will stop. I will miss them if I do happen to reach that stage. I secretly hope I won't.

Fun-House signing out,

FFR

The Baby Shower

Last weekend I was incredibly fortunate to have an out of control, completely fun-filled, and totally overwhelming baby shower. Somehow, what was going to be one small party turned into a party of nearly 50 guests, just a little nuts. The beautiful thing was that it was nice to see everyone. The sad part was that I didn't get to sit and spend time with everyone. Very much like our wedding reception. At any rate, I am incredibly blessed by all of our friends and family. They really turned up the volume on this baby shower. I've never seen anything so amazing! Daisy is an incredibly lucky lucky girl!

My dad had to take all the photos as I was the guest so here's the baby shower from his point of view:

The most amazing diaper cake ever. Dorothy rolled and organized 84 newborn diapers and stuffed the layers full of onesies, socks, a bottle of cider, hats, and a ton of other great gifts.


Me and soon-to-be Grandpa!


All the grands and great grands (at least the ones who could be there). Four generations in a photo. One of my most treasured photos is a picture of five generations of women on my mom's side. I'm a wee baby but I had the very fortunate experience of knowing those women. I want Daisy to know everyone here and all those who couldn't be.


I finally have a belly! 7 months in!


I don't even KNOW how long it took to open all the gifts we got! Let's put it this way, it was light when we started, dusk when we stopped.


Gifts...


Gifts...


And more gifts!


MIL J measuring my belly for the ribbon game.


Great Grandma Esther won the ribbon game. She was maybe a centimeter off. Dorothy was maybe two centimeters off! It was a close call!


The dismantling of the diaper cake. I organized all the diapers out of it and found even more hidden items!

To all who came, thank you for an incredibly memorable day. Thank you for all the blessings.

Next up...I don't know. We've got 69 days to go before Daisy is here. That's the absolute last day for her to be inside me before they kick her out. Come baby come!

FFR

Smiles

Last week my manager brought a little girl over to the office I was in. She was being fostered by one of our clients. She was completely adorable and I couldn't help but make faces at her. After several minutes, she cracked a crooked half-smile. Oh my! She was so adorable! I can't wait for that to be my Daisy. Of course, it will be 6 weeks before she can smile, but that's ok. I'll be eagerly awaiting that first smile.

Then, on Friday, we went grocery shopping and as we were walking out, the clerk checking our receipts asked us what we were expecting...a girl we extolled. It was the first time ever, anyone asked us about our pregnancy while out in public. Seven months in and I don't just look fat...

At our appointment this week, our doctor set us up for the Rhogam shot...rather, set me up for it. By the way, that shot hurts. And it goes in the rump. Just be aware of that in case you have to get it. For those who do not know, this shot is required in women who have Rh - blood and whose partner is Rh +. I'm O- and Working Man is O+, thus the need for Rhogam. This, in almost all cases, prevents the mom's body from becoming sensitized to the Rh factor and potentially harming this or subsequent pregnancies. Unless there's bleeding earlier, these pregnancies require a shot at 28 weeks and again after birth. If the woman goes past 40 weeks, she may need another one. So I get the pleasure of this shot at least once more.

On the plus side, if I don't naturally go into labor by the 39th week (December 28th), they'll schedule me for an induction between then and the 40th week (January 4th). So by January 4th, I'll either be in labor or already have my girl. I can't wait!

Anyway, the nursery is looking amazing. I've been receiving gifts from traveling guests for the baby shower next week and as I get them I've been slowly putting together her room. I still need a few things to actually complete the room, but the majority of it is furnished and ready to go.

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully I'll remember to update again soon!

Oh, yeah, school is going well. So far all A's. I've got another midterm this week for human development and a nutrition exam the following Monday. Some of these weeks are treacherous!

Weekly Baby Update: Weeks 20, 21, 22

I'll admit, I've slacked off. I feel terrible. In my defense, I am way too busy and way too tired to write. I think about writing...all the time actually. I just don't have the time. For those who do not know, I started back to school a couple weeks ago. I signed up and got accepted two days before school. I'm going for my RN license. As a result, I not only have to take classes at night, I have to ace them if I have any hope of getting into the program. Additionally, both of my classes meet once a week from 6:30 - 9:30 and getting to bed at 10:30 is not conducive to getting up at 5am and working all day. This creates an exhausted me two days out of the week, a busy me two days of the week, one day for doctor's appointments, and the last two days to study, study, study. Anyway, right, no time.

But hooray, we passed the 20-week mark! A huge accomplishment in every woman's journey to become a mom. It's the moment when we can go, "whew, halfway done with being an oven". At this stage in her journey, Daisy was about the length of a banana, 10 inches head to heel and she weighed about 10.5oz. We had some concerns this week because at our anatomy scan, the tech said she was measuring smaller than she should have been for her gestational age. This worried me because I know that I've been fighting with trying to keep weight on and I was worried that it was affecting her. I've been making a concerted effort to eat more. It's working but it's really hard.

At the 21-week mark, Daisy was the length of a carrot. She was 10.5 inches from head to heel and 3/4 of a pound. She's been kicking more and more every day. She's particularly active on my drive to work, after lunch, and again late at night. During the last week, week 20, she found my bladder once. This week, she discovered it a few times, one of them at 3am and it woke me up immediately. Fortunately, she hasn't done it since. Here's to hoping she continues to do it only during the day or, better yet, not at all. My trips to the bathroom remain consistent but not markedly increased. This is also the week all my doctors (something like three or four) got together and started me on insulin. I'm incredibly proud of myself for being able to stick a needle in myself three times a day. It still makes me uncomfortable but I'm doing what I have to. Daisy is all the motivation I need.

Yesterday, we hit 22 weeks. This is the last week of the fifth month. Wow. Time is flying. I say that a lot but one of my co-workers was commenting that it's almost the next year. Thinking about it, it's right around four months until Daisy will be here. It's right around the corner. Frightening, exciting, exhilerating. This week, Daisy is about the length of a spaghetti squash. She's about 11inches long and almost a full pound. She's growing by leaps and bounds. We went in for another anatomy scan on Tuesday and the tech said she measuring right on track. All that eating gave her a boost. Unfortunately, she was extremely uncooperative. She faced my spine the whole time and hid behind my belly button. He was able to get a great shot between her legs, confirming, for the third time, she's a girl. He couldn't see her face well enough. So we have another appointment next week to try yet again. I'm okay with this...except for how hard they have to push. They have a really hard time getting the shots they need with her positioning.

I think my belly has grown a bit in the last week. I know that last week we had gained another 1/4 sheet of toilet paper. We were 12 1/2 sheets last week, this week, we are...12 1/2 sheets. I was certain I had added more of a belly. Working Man and I have pretty well figured out that this is probably more because the weight from my back, has been moving forward. So I'm not adding anything overall. My belly is definitely more firm which makes me feel more pregnant. My feet get tired at work but the exercise is still important even though I need to keep weight on. Tight rope, walk the tight rope.

That's all for now. I haven't scanned the ultrasound pictures yet. When I do, I'll pop them up here. You know...when I have time. I have a quiz next week and an exam the week after and a research paper to put together with a partner. So...it might be around Daisy's first birthday that you'll see the ultrasound.

Just kidding...maybe not.

FFR

Weekly Daisy Update: Week 19

Week 19, Daisy is the size of a large heirloom tomato. She's about 8 1/2 ounces (wow!) and 6 inches crown to rump (double wow!). She's growing in leaps and bounds! Her arms and legs are finally proportionate to her body but that doesn't mean she stops here! Her brain is developing different areas for each of the five senses and she may now be able to hear our voices. That will make Working Man happy since he talks to her every night.

She's currently protected from the amniotic fluid by vernix caseosa...which sounds a lot like queso and it ironically looks like cheese. Anyway, this will prevent her from being pickled. I wondered why babies had smooth skin at birth! I know if I spend more than five minutes in the shower I start to prune!

Daisy continues to kick and move on a consistent basis. She usually hangs out on my left side. During my appointment today, that's where they found her heartbeat. Anatomy scan on the 15th!

Oh! For fun, Working Man and I did TP Tuesday although we had just done it. We were at 12 1/2 sheets. I shrunk half a sheet! The scale at the doctor's office confirmed that I still haven't gained any weight. I'm a-ok with this. My urine shows no proteins, ketones, or sugar so I'm good in the nutrition department.

 But just so you have it:

18w3d


13w6d

So that's week 19. Like I said, we had an appointment today. I have doctors/clinicians in three cities monitoring my pregnancy. Today's visit was with the high-risk staff. I met with the mid-wife who specializes in pregnancies with diabetes. We had a lot of questions for her but my primary one is, "Will I be induced?"

Her answer is that if I do not go naturally by 39 weeks then I will be induced. Which means that Saturday of this week, regardless of whether I go naturally or not, is the half-way point of this pregnancy! What a frightening and extremely exciting thought! Of course, my plan is to eat spicy foods, take lots of walks, do jumping jacks or whatever at 38 weeks to help her along. Natural would be better but we can do the induction if need be.

By the way, thinking about the fact that my Daisy may be able to hear a little bit, I really want to start reading the first Boxcar Children or original Winnie the Pooh I found the other day.

FFR