Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Pregnant Brain

So Pregnant Brain is fo’ reals. I’m a very organized person I have found myself slightly bumbly at work and home. Forgetting more, stumbling while writing - it’s rather interesting.

While Tim was out of town on his last day, Ailo was in my face most of the day to play and pay him attention, so I was growing impatient with him. I caught him drinking water out of a vase with tulips in it! I clapped my hands and gave him a firm NO!

Later that night close to 10pm I let him outside one last time and the butthead started barking into the neighborhood - I went out to tell him NO and bring him in. He did his “crazy run” around the yard, flew in like a storm and went straight to the damn tulip vase to start drinking tulip water again! *Clap! NO!*

Well turns out the next day Tim said his water bowl was bone-dry! DOH! So I guess my dog is actually very clever and not a jerk for drinking the tulip water. I’m just a bad parent who needs to pay attention : )


Monday, June 27, 2011

Dizziness Scare

I’ve been knocking on wood that I have been feeling very good throughout the pregnancy so far - until this morning.

I had plenty of sleep last night and woke up at my normal 6:10am. Went through my regular routine and was out the door and on the 7am bus. I always eat breakfast, but wait until I get to work to do so, around 7:30-7:45.

I thought it was strange I was yawning a LOT. I’m never so tired in the morning that I yawn constantly. I was reading a few pages from my Bill Bryson book [again very normal for me] and I started to get nauseous. I put the book away and sat there, luckily had some almonds and pretzels in my purse, so popped a few. I started getting dizzy. It reminded me of being young and waiting until the last minute to wake up for church and getting really faint while standing during mass. I got very light-headed and the blue-splotchies started forming in front of me - uh, oh.

I closed my eyes and started taking calm breaths. I realize I should have put my head between my legs but in that moment I didn’t want to cause commotion on the public bus. I don’t get too rattled, but this was seriously freaking me out. I was so afraid I was going to fall in the aisle. My head was swimming and I was sweating a lot too.

Thankfully after what felt like 10 minutes [probably only 2] it started to subside and by the time it was my stop, I was back to somewhat normal. Called my Mom right away [always your first go-to] and she confirmed I should call my OB office. I felt like my blood sugar probably dropped, right?

They confirmed what I assumed - not an uncommon occurrence! The OB said it sounds like I had a shift in fluids and to just make sure I drink a good amount of water before I leave the house and it wouldn't hurt to have a piece of candy in case I get dizzy again.

Glad it wasn’t serious and hopefully it doesn’t happen again!


Friday, June 24, 2011

Sappiness

I love following creative women’s blogs - inspirational for fashion, home, food, etc. Two that I follow also happen to be preggers - both a little ahead of me.

The one gal just found out she’s having a boy and wrote this ridiculously lovely entry - and I found my bottom lip quivering just reading it - maybe because I still have a feeling we’ll have a boy... 4 more weeks until we know!


Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Winter Leave -

So I realized that when I'm on maternity leave it will be December through approximately February. I won’t be able to freely take walks outside or enjoy the outdoors period while I'm at home becoming a Momma! I need to start brainstorming ways to keep myself from getting cabin fever - ideas other than just going to Target?

I am excited for cool winter baby clothes though!


Monday, June 20, 2011

Rockin’ and Rollin’

I've been finding why you can’t sleep on your back after Trimester 1 - it really does cut off the blood flow in the main vein. I’m usually an on-my-back and left side [thankfully] sleeper. However, I tend to wake up on my back and recently when waking up on my back, my arm or hand will be asleep from lack of blood! Ack! Then I get all paranoid that I’m hurting The Boot.

I’ve started to prop one of my two pillows behind my back, but I think I’m going to have some experiments to see what the best pillow-propping works for me!

Maybe I need this awesome-ness:


Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Battle of the Belly

My jeans are getting tight. I know that’s a good sign, but bad on clothing options!
I have about 6 elastic skirts and a good number of dresses I could try to mix-n-match for a while.

I thought I was being smart a few years back, keeping some jeans that didn’t fit me anymore but now I realize I don’t need jeans that are all-around bigger, I need more gut room!

Has anyone bought a belly band? It seems like you can only wear long shirts with them though - ?
I really don’t want to spend $$ on maternity clothes, but I might check out Old Navy for one pair of pants and shorts - they are nice and cheap. I’ll hit some thrifts too for certain.


Saturday, June 11, 2011

Working Mom

One of my biggest worries is being a working mother - as of now, I definitely plan on going back to work - as flexible full time.

A valued designer who sits next to me is the mother of an 8-month old and was able to come back 3 days a week. I don’t know if I can get away with that seeing as my position is becoming more responsible. I need to think out some scenarios; 4 days a week, one at home; 5 days but leave early every day... ?

I’m extremely thankful that my Director is a mother of 3 and just had her third baby this past December. She’s extremely supportive and said she had a flexible schedule with her first as well.

Finding childcare is going to be hard - I already have an uneasy feeling to larger big-box daycares. All I can think of is germs and sickness and 1 adult for like 10 kids. At the same time I don’t know anyone who watches children, but wonder if that’s more expensive. I have a lot of research to do to see what fits best with our lifestyle and schedule!

And another rough point with me - I don’t think I’ll take the bus anymore : ( Our dumb route has a last run to downtown at 8am and first run back to West Chester at 3:45pm. So that’s a very large window if my child was sick to get out to the suburbs and I could be stuck downtown with no bus.

Which then makes me think of my next vehicle! I’m lucky to have a '98 Corolla that has lasted me - it’s a very reliable car with good gas mileage. It’s totally fine that it’s rough around the edges and I feel like a college student driving it and not like an adult one bit. Sigh. Someday I’ll own a car from the 2000’s. But essentially I want a vehicle that’s more versatile; a Subaru Outback, Toyota Highlander/RAV4, Mazda 3 hatchback... but I know none of these have as good gas mileage as a smaller [non-versatile] Corolla for going up and down I-75.

And that serene time of zoning out on a bus will be lost. I just read that people who have long commutes have rougher marriages - !? And I know sometimes when I do drive I come home in a bad mood because of traffic - ack.

Oh the changes coming... it’s all worth it right? : )


Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Earmuffs

So a while back when these extreme hand dryers were installed in our work bathrooms, I was very excited - no more paper towels and super-fast [yet loud] drying time.

As I stood drying my hands this morning, deafened by the sound, I wondered if this daily [multiple times] LOUD noise would be an aggravation to The Boot’s developing ears.

Am I off-base?




Saturday, June 4, 2011

Guilt

I’m in the air conditioning and Tim is out in the 80+ heat staining the deck - I feel guilty that I can’t help! I’ve never been sedentary and it’s strange not being able to help out there. Or when he painted the bathroom. He’ll have to paint The Boot’s changing dresser too!

But I realize when the Big Day comes and what my body is going through probably balances it all out : )






Friday, June 3, 2011

Noodle-Dancin’ Parents

I hope my friend Shane doesn’t mind me posting this - a very cute conversation he had with his wife about Tim and I. Can’t say I could take my kid to a large music festival like Bonnaroo though - I’ve SEEN what goes on and Tennessee is way too hot!

(8:42:00 AM)
Elizabeth Beers: stine and tim seem like they'll be mellow hippie parents
(8:42:41 AM) sbeers@gmail.com/2862C7F3: totes
(8:42:43 AM) Elizabeth Beers: they'll have cute kids
(8:42:43 AM) sbeers@gmail.com/2862C7F3: they will be great
(8:42:49 AM) Elizabeth Beers: and will like
(8:42:53 AM) Elizabeth Beers: take them to bonnaroo and noodle dance with them

This One’s for the Grandmas:



Week 12 ultrasound! You can see The Boot stretching in this photo.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Wiggles!

13 Weeks

I had blood drawn yesterday which wasn’t a big deal. What I wasn’t expecting was an ultrasound! I felt bad, I told Tim not to come since I thought it was only bloodwork.

The technician goo-ed me up [warm thankfully] and started digging at my pelvis - unfortunately I had to pee so bad! And she could tell. She didn’t have as much movement with the wand as she wanted, so she told me to use the restroom. Whew! I felt so much better and she could get a better read on Baby Kron.

And there the Little Boot was! After I used the restroom, Baby woke up and was moving! Big stretches too : ) Little Boot is looking pretty big - I believe he/she is the size of a peach now. Saw limbs dancing around in there and even saw the top of his/her head and both lobes of the brain! Wow!

I was bummed Tim wasn’t there to see, but luckily came home with three great photos to hang on the fridge - woo hoo!

Next appointment will be Week 16 with a Midwife - yay!