Sunday, February 28, 2010

week 22 day 1

I think my body has finally had enough of me.  This past week has been full of work and stress with a few goodies like finding out our little baby is a girl!

Friday night, I spent then evening with my coworkers, mentors, and mentees at a gymnastics meet.  Before getting to see the event, however, I spent over an hour and a half in the cold ... freezing.  Yesterday morning, Saturday, I woke up with a yucky cough and today I am dead.

Yesterday was full of basketball games and shopping.  Katie kicked quite a bit and I am pretty sure she has found that my bladder makes a soft punching bag.  I try to keep it emptied but I can only use the restroom so many times during one basketball game.

I've noticed that she kicks a lot when I have a really strong beat going on around me.  For example, at the gymnastics meet, one girl was doing her floor routine to a song that had a strong beat.  Katie kicked and kicked until the song was over.  It was a lot of fun to not only hear the beat, but feel it as well.

This pregnancy has also caused me to want to sleep a lot.  I'm still mystified as to how mothers with one or more child is ever up and going while pregnant.  But I've decided that I need to take advantage of these days where I can just rest without work or stress because I don't know how many more days ahead of me I will be able to enjoy this. 

Mike and I decided this morning that Katie is going to be very spoiled and has a lot of expectations already and isn't even born yet!  I want to protect her as much as I can from this.  I also want to make sure that Mike and I get to enjoy this first child.  As much as we enjoy others' help with buying things and others' opinions, there are many who have already had the opportunity to buy things for their first child.  We are excited to be able to go shopping (or I go shopping and bring things home) for our new little girl.  This is our only chance to experience everything that goes along with our first child and we are excited to experience this together!

Friday, February 26, 2010

week 21 day 6

So as I'm sure you know by now, Mike and I are having a little baby girl!  We are really excited to meet her and I'm hoping that she feels like June will be a good time to come out and start this life. 

If there's one thing that I really wish Mike could experience, it would be the baby kicking.  Although he can feel it from the outside, he has no idea what it's like to know that there's this little human in your belly squirming around.  Last week was tough when it was moving because it distracted me.  I couldn't focus on anything if it was moving.  But this week it's amazing.  I'm so grateful that I can finally feel it move!

I've been super hungry lately.  I just ate a huge bowl of cereal but I might as well have eaten nothing because that's what I feel like I've had.  Mike keeps telling me I need ice cream and candy but I'm afraid if I eat those, these extra pounds won't be coming off in 6 months.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

week 21 day 3

Tomorrow is the big day.  It's gender day!  Well, more like gender morning.  It's crazy that after so many weeks of worry and excitement about whether it's a boy or girl, it'll all come to an end with just one ultrasound.  With just one doctor's appointment that won't even last an hour, the curiosity will be over and we'll know.

I'm hoping to sleep tonight.  With each passing hour I am becoming more and more excited so there's a possibility that I might not sleep tonight.  Or maybe tonight will be like last night ... very restless sleeping.  With the nerves exposed in my belly button from yesterday, I woke up numerous times with excruciating pain.  If my drifting off into deeper sleep moved me at all, I would wake up to throbbing pain around my stomach.  I would much prefer the baby kicking than nerve endings exposed.

Or maybe my sleep will be like 4 nights ago when I would just wake up every now and then just because.  I was exhausted yet wide awake at 2 am, 4 am, 5 am, and 7 am.  Although tonight I'll be awake because I'm excited and that's probably one of the best reasons to be up in the middle of the night.

My pants are too tight today and I think the baby thinks so too.  It keeps kicking the band of my pants out like it's trying to make more room for itself.  And trust me, baby, I wish I wasn't wearing these pants.  But we've been on campus for the past 6 hours and probably still have another hour to go so somehow we're just going to have to make it past this until I can go home and put Mike's pj pants on.  My new favorite lounging pants are Mike's pj pants.  They're about 10 sizes too big but they are wonderful.

Monday, February 22, 2010

week 21 day 2

Here I am at week 21.  Not much of a change. 

I had this weird thing taken off of my belly button this morning and had to have a little local anesthesia.  As I was lying on my back, waiting for the doctor to slice that thing off of me, the baby was kicking like crazy.  I was surprised that neither Mike nor the doctor could see it kicking.

I've decided that it's okay if people tell me I don't look pregnant as long as they add in the key phrase:  "... because you are so small."  Without that little addition, I take it that people just think I'm normally this big.  Because I feel biiiiiiiiigggggg.

After seeing our little niece last night, it made me really excited to have a kid.  I think it'll be a lot of fun.  But as Mike and I were discussing this morning, little cute kids turn into big monstrous kids.  Too bad too, they're so cute when they're little ... like puppies.

I'm looking forward to teaching our little kid all sorts of things.  Mike is really worried about our child knowing numbers and math stuff so I'm guessing a lot of the daddy time will be spent learning about fractions and other algebraic things that Mike knows.  Poor kid.

Last night, the little niece and I practiced zipping.  We zipped and unzipped my jacket for a few minutes and then she found a book that zips up so we practiced zipping it open and closed.  That was just too much fun.

By the way, that little niece of ours doesn't understand that Mike and I have different names.  I'm guessing when she was learning names, I was associated with Mike too much and somehow she ended up thinking my name is Mike too.  But I found out last night that at least she knows I'm a girl and Mike's a boy.  I'm "girl Mike" and Mike's "boy Mike."  Gosh.  Cute kid.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

week 21 day 1

The countdown begins ... 3 more days until we find out the gender!  I didn't think this week would ever get here but it finally has. 

Last night, Mike and I stayed up way too late and woke up just in time for my visiting teachers to come over at 11:30 am.  I'm exhausted and not feeling great and Mike took Benadryl right before going to church.  I told him to just stay home and sleep but he thought he could make it through all of church.  He couldn't.  Neither could I.

But as I laid down to sleep, the baby started kicking.  I've been worried the past couple days because I haven't felt it much but I think it's because I've had a lot of places to be and a lot of things to do.  I can't sleep when it's kicking.  I'm hoping that I'll adjust and be able to start sleeping while it's kicking but it's hard for me and the baby is only getting bigger which means stronger kicks, I'm guessing.  I'm not quite there yet.

I was reading a couple of blogs yesterday from girls who have had babies and they mentioned their bodies before becoming pregnant which made me a lot more aware of mine.  A huge regret I currently have is not enjoying my body before getting pregnant.  In my defense, I didn't think we were getting pregnant so soon but I didn't fully love my body as much as I should have.  I would love to be able to fit into all of these shirts that are in my closet but I can't.  I would love to be able to go running and play tennis without the fear of hurting the baby or falling while playing tennis but I can't yet.  And who knows if my body will ever get back to where it was before this day.  I'm grateful to be blessed with a little baby but I'm having another one of those regrets again.  I just wished I would have enjoyed where my body was 6 months ago.

And so, for those who are reading and are not currently pregnant, enjoy your life right now.  Look down at your belly and love it.  Look at your face and love your clear complexion.  Love your life as it is right now and take full advantage of it.  I wish I had done more of that 6 months ago but I didn't.  I'll admit I was one who was looking forward to how I was going to look after a few months of intense working out and things didn't work out as I had hoped.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

week 20 day 4

Last night, a book I was reading mentioned "nesting."  Nesting is a term used with pregnant mothers who tend to clean and organize in preparation for the baby.  And so as I was reading, I realized what is happening in my life ... nesting.

The office is a mess.  I have taken out all of my work things to reorganize them.  When I took over for the last lady, Shauna, I was given many, many binders and boxes full of all sorts of random papers and booklets.  Thus, I'm going through all of them and cleaning out all of the stuff.

The kitchen closet is now even more of a mess as well.  I bought this basket thing to put under the sink to store all of our cleaning supplies but when I got home, it didn't fit.  So I have now begun to take everything out of the closet and try to see what will fit into the basket ... the answer?  Nothing.  Nothing will fit that is useful to this closet.  Bummer.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

week 20 day 3

Halfway there!  Exciting!

Sam, this is for you.  So this was me last week at 19 weeks.  I feel like I've changed a little bit and probably just barely have because I've gained about 1 pound ... but probably not visible to anyone but me.

The baby woke me up this morning as it was kicking.  I felt like it was a little rude since I so graciously rocked her to sleep late last night as I was bouncing all over the place, unable to sleep and focusing on guitar hero and America's Most Smartest Model (lame show, don't watch it.  Mike and I accidentally got hooked).  But it was a fun way to wake up nonetheless, and probably a lot quieter than it will be in a few months.

Friday night, Mike and I went to Motherhood Maternity at the mall.  It's a maternity clothing store.  My normal clothes don't quite fit very well but those clothes don't fit either which is quite disappointing.  Anyway, I ended up not liking the lady that was working there at all but one of the first things she said to me was, "Are you looking to buy for yourself or someone else?"

I replied that it was for myself and she went on to tell me that I don't look pregnant.  Great.  So I'm just fat?  Thanks, lady.  I don't really appreciate anyone telling me after knowing that I'm pregnant telling me that I don't look like it.  Maybe some people carry their weight entirely on their stomach, but I have never been one to do so and I'm not a fan of people thinking that this is how I normally look.  It's quite insulting to me.

Another thing that is insulting to me is my face.  I think I grow acne better than anyone else out there.  It's incredibly painful and hideous.  So thank you, face for letting me down.

On the other hand, Mike's been really fun to be around with my belly.  He rubs it almost every morning because he knows it relaxes me and always talk to the baby.  Actually, that reminds me of a story.

A couple months ago, I was pretty upset at Mike.  I don't remember why but my guess is that I was upset at his lack of managing time well.  He left the apartment to go to the grocery store to pick up a couple things we needed and a few minutes later he called.  I answered, "What?"  He said, "I need to talk to the baby."

I smirked and put the phone on speaker phone so I knew what was going on and put it down on my belly.  He proceeded to spend the next minute talking to the baby, telling him how much he loves him.  It was really funny and cute and I definitely wasn't upset any longer.

Friday, February 12, 2010

week 19 day 6

Today I feel big which is a little unfortunate seeing as I'm just getting ready to go to club where we will be doing yoga.  Maybe I'll just sit back and watch as the kids do yoga ... although, what a bad teacher I would be if I did that.  And I'll probably need that excuse in a few weeks.

Anyway, I went to Walmart this morning because I decided for club that I would buy a big poster board and have the kids write our club rules on it but alas, all the cheap poster boards were gone so I went to look at storage containers.  I grabbed 3, stacked them together, and then went to look for Valentine's Day cards for the kids.  These containers weren't too big but it was miserable carrying them around.  I felt like my belly stuck out really far and had a hard time keeping the containers close to me.  Not only that, but if I did try to keep them close to my stomach, it pushed on my bladder ...

Probably no one even noticed that I have a "big" belly but I did.  And I'm even wearing one of my work t-shirts so it's normally quite big on me but today my tummy fills it in very nice ... and bulgy.

Oh, and the baby was definitely kicking yesterday.  It was so fun!  I woke up around 7:30 am or so because the baby kicked pretty hard.  I wasn't sure if it was a dream or not (when I dream, they seem very real to me and many of them could definitely come true) until I was sitting in the library and started to feel all of these little kicks.  To me, usually it feels like little muscle spasms or that someone is flicking the inside of my belly which is a very odd sensation.  But I love it.  Fun stuff!

I am also very excited for Kristin because she and her husband just found out they're having a little girl!  I'm so excited for them and was determined that it was going to be a boy but still happy for them nonetheless!!  Congrats guys!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

week 19 day 4

I've been researching labor and decided to be brave and watch a video on birth and it is something I don't know if I'll ever watch again.  Well, maybe I should keep watching them so I'm not so shocked, but I'm shocked.  I've seen animals give birth before but never humans.  And wow.  Crazy.

Monday, February 8, 2010

week 19 day 2

I've been asking Mike for the past few minutes and contemplating for the past half hour or so what I really wanted to blog about.  I'm pretty sure I either discovered this topic at work or in the bathroom ...  I can't remember which one.  And I don't think that this is actually it, but I can be fairly certain that it was about not being able to remember.

Tonight we had a wonderful 3-hour staff training.  Sounds long, eh?  But somehow it wasn't.  There were games and really good information that I wish I had known 8 months ago.  But we played Jeopardy with the things that we had just been trained on for what, 2 hours?  Two straight hours of learning about these 15 concepts.  It was good but you would think I would remember them, right?

Wrong.  I'm glad I had a partner because I couldn't remember a single thing.  And I'd like to blame it on the fact that there was pressure to get the right answers but there really wasn't.  I'm pretty sure it's just pregnancy.  And I don't know if I fully believe that pregnancy hormones cause a loss of memory but I can definitely vouch for the fact that I have lost a lot of memory since November. 

I am going to blame my "pregnancy brain" on the fact that there's a lot to be stressed about while being pregnant, especially for the first time, I'm guessing.

For example, I'm very protective of anyone hitting my stomach.  I don't usually worry about it because I haven't grown enough for it to really get in the way, other than to let food fall down in front of me, but I do worry when kids are around me.  A few nights ago, my neice sat down on my lap but sat down more on my stomach than anything.  And it wasn't a gentle, graceful sitting.  It was hard and quick and scared me quite bad.  The poor little baby got all jumbled up, I'm sure.

And then I always worry about it moving.  Can I really feel it?  I think I can but it's not that consistent.  Saturday night I ate some Snake Bites from Texas Roadhouse and they are the spiciest things I've eaten in months.  Minutes later I'm pretty sure the baby had tasted it and was tossing and turning and hoping I wouldn't eat any more.  After the rumbling stopped, from the baby, I'm sure, I ate another one and it all started over again.  Fun stuff.  But I'm constantly wondering if it's still moving.

I also worry about my recent sugar addiction.  I love sugar these days and I'm afraid it's truly a Corrigan and loves sugar.  I'm not really a fan, I'll pass up a chocolate cake or candy bar any day for a slice of cheese, but not lately.  I'd rather eat both ... with an extra side of candy.

And then there's the weight issue.  It's not so much about how much I'm losing or gaining ... actually, I'm not losing, just gaining, but it's all about my clothes.  Mike and I were going to be early for church this past Sunday (that's only ever happened once ... ever) except for when it came time to put my layers of shirts on, I tried shirt after shirt, realizing that none of them fit and the 2 that I like that do fit were in the dirty laundry.  So with 2 minutes left to get to church on time, I called out for Mike and explained my problem.  He went through every shirt I own with me and asked me if I wanted to try the shirt on.  Each time I told him, "No, it doesn't fit," or "No, those clothes don't go together."  After 10 minutes we finally came to a conclusion.  Sadly, this isn't the first time this has happened.  But I don't want maternity clothes because I'm not big enough for them yet ... rough life.

The list goes on and on as to what I worry about with this pregnancy.  And we now have 2 weeks left until we find out the gender and I think about it constantly.  There's really just no room for menial things like work ... apparently.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

week 18 day 7

Goodbye sleep.

This is the second night in a row that we've gone to bed early and Mike zonks out and I somehow become more awake.  I'd like to sleep.  I'm exhausted through most days but it seems like I have some sort of wicked sleep cycle going on.  Right now I'm at the no-sleep phase.

Too bad I don't have work to do.  Well, maybe I have a little but I either need stamps or I need to call people, neither of which I'm about to do at 2 in the morning.  And I've exhausted all of my other internet pass times, facebook, blogs, linkedin, and don't have enough creative energy to do another page of digital scrap booking, although maybe I should anyway.  I haven't felt like reading lately because my attention span is very short.  I don't like most movies and fell asleep during "Finding Nemo" tonight while Mike watched it even though it was I who wanted to watch it.  And I have no other hobby that I feel like pursuing other than scrap booking.  So I'm blogging.

I read somewhere that some women have head congestion during their pregnancy.  I'm hoping I can kick the rest of my leftovers from being sick but the congestion is still lingering.  Maybe I'll be one of those with congestion.

My great idea to have Mike lose a pound for every pound I gain is quickly failing.  I'm too tired to do a bunch of activities with him, therefore he doesn't do them, and since I seem to be constantly eating, Mike feels justified in eating all of the time as well.  Although there are definitely days when I think he's just having a sympathy pregnancy.

Since October, Mike and I have found that when he rubs my belly, I am able to fall asleep more calmly and any pains I have in my abdomen subside.  It's fantastic.  He also usually includes a "hello baby" just in case the baby can hear him.

Oh, speaking of baby, I'm back to deciding that the baby is a girl.  Mike is still sticking with the guess of a boy but I think I've changed my mind.  I thought it was a girl from the very beginning until a couple of months ago.  However, then I had that weird dream about giving birth to a baby that was on a meat scale in Smith's and so I'm back to thinking it's a girl.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

week 18 day 5

Yesterday I was uncomfortable.  I have about 4 shirts that fit me properly but I still try to put some of my old shirts on.  Well, I had on one yesterday that fit me okay a couple weeks ago but definitely did not fit yesterday.  But I was out the door at 9 am and didn't get home until 8 pm so I was stuck with the shirt.

I walked across a hall and caught a girl staring at me which made me feel so uncomfortable because I already knew my clothes were too tight.  So my conclusion is that I probably need new shirts.  I'll probably wait a few more weeks but this is the first good start ... thinking.  And I've been doing plenty of thinking lately so this will be a nice change of pace to think about something as menial as new clothes!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

week 18 day 3 part 2

So our doctor's appointment is completed.  We arrived 5 minutes early, waited just long enough for me to be able to get my work stuff out (about 2 minutes) until I was called back to have my blood pressure taken and a weight check.

The stats?  BP: 102/56.  My normal is around 110/70.  Last time it was at 100/60.  These low BP numbers are probably the reason why I stand up and I'm dizzy, light headed, and let myself crash into a wall to get my blood back circulating again. By the way, the normal BP is 120/80.

Weight:  A gainage (I know, it's not a word) of 13 pounds since this all started back 18 weeks ago.  That's with clothes and my jacket though.  I didn't really feel like taking my jacket off.  I was cold. I had also just eaten a yummy lunch.  Last night I was only 8 pounds gainage when I weighed myself with light clothing.

The baby?  Its little heart is beating strong.  It's just such a different experience from the first time we went in to the doctor.  The first time he searched and searched for a heart beat and found nothing.  This time, as soon as the doctor put the little doppler thing on my belly, we could hear the heart beat.  Well, he said that it was either a heart beat or a washing machine.  It's tough to tell sometimes.

Gender?  Not yet.  Few more weeks.  I was hoping for just a couple (2 ... or less) but the doctors didn't have any time for 3 more weeks.  Boo.

How long were we at the doctor's office?  25 minutes.  That was with Mike wanting to continue to use his computer after the appointment and with me asking the doctor, "What if I crave sugar?"  He just stared at me ... probably similar to when Mike tells me he's eating another candy bar.  It felt like minutes but was probably only 5 seconds or so.  He told me it's not healthy but there's nothing wrong with it.  Thank goodness because I have craved sugar more than cheese lately.  Maybe I'm just not eating enough.  In fact, I think I'll go make dinner.

week 18 day 3

Yesterday I bought the most amazing thing ever.  It's the band that goes around your waist to hold up your pants so you don't have to button them.  I finally gave in yesterday and bought one.  After a few weeks of loosening my belt to the very last hole, needing to change out of my jeans immediately after arriving back at home, pulling up my pants every few minutes because my belly is pushing them down, and the very uncomfortable feeling of my pants pushing on my belly, I did it.  I went to Target and bought one.  It's a cheaper option than buying new pants.  And I love it.  It is so comfortable.  I forgot that wearing jeans can actually be a comfortable thing. 

I would say my most favorite part is how it can either fold down into half to just cover the top of my pants and rests just below my belly button and if I unfold it, it will completely cover my belly.  Let's just say that my spandex and this belly band unfolded combo make an amazing outfit.

Monday, February 1, 2010

week 18 day 2

A few months ago, I think Mike used to think I was about 5 when he'd make me go to the doctor's.  I had complain and cry and tell him I didn't need to go ... I was all better.  Except, now I look forward to going to the doctor's office.  Tomorrow is one of those days.  And I'm excited.

I'm growing quite the belly these days.  Although I know most people can't tell and think that I haven't gained any weight, I can definitely tell.

I've been sick but luckily no fever.  I'm really grateful for that!  I've also been really, really hungry throughout my sickness which never happens.  I love food.