Week 9: it’s a giant olive! August 12, 2008

So the baby is supposed to be the size of an olive this week, but it must be the biggest olive ever!  I’m much bigger in the pelvic area.  It is probably just my uterus growing–I had read that it starts out the size of your fist and grows to the size of a grapefruit by the end of the month.  

So last night I decided it was time to shop for some maternity clothes.  That didn’t go so well.  Everything at Motherhood Maternity seemed like cheesy stuff I wouldn’t normally wear, the Gap had a small selection with nothing in my size and the stuff I tried on at Mimi maternity was just way too big for me.  It was pretty discouraging.  I ended up going to the regular Gap and just buying a couple things a size bigger.  (I do like Gap sizing on pants because I’m short and don’t have to deal with getting anything hemmed.  And they come in actual sizes, unlike Motherhood and Mimi with their S, M, L routine.)  So they feel great and I have some room to grow.  But it was pretty discouraging to be in a size 12 now when I was an 8 a year ago and even a 6 sometimes 1.5 years ago.  Having 3 miscarriages in a year really took a toll on my body and my mind.  I just want to kick myself for being so down and lazy and turning to comfort food (and drink!) during that time.  And if I have to be a 12 for now to have a healthy baby, so be it.

BTW–that makes me a large at Motherhood and Mimi.  Ugh!  I don’t think I’ll be shopping there.  And they were already too snug on my boobs.  I’m going to be one roly-poly pregnant lady.

Other than that, I still have a nasty cough.  As far as pregnancy symptoms, lots of discharge, expanding in pelvic area, moody, tired.  My boobs aren’t hurting that much, which makes me nervous.

Countdown to next milestone August 10, 2008

Now that I’m approaching 9 weeks (Monday), it has made me think about my second pregnancy that lasted until 11 weeks.  In 16 days, I’ll hit week 11.  16 days!  Breaking it down to that level makes it seem more manageable and that it will be here soon.

still sick August 8, 2008

So I’ve now been sick for seven days.  It is not fun to be sick while pregnant.  First of all, pregnancy fatigue is just intensified.  Second, there really isn’t a lot you can take to feel better and your immune system is depleted while you body supports the pregnancy.  Finally, you wonder if you are doing damage to the baby between the treatment, coughing, everything.

So it started with a sore throat.  It has moved into my chest.  My throat is now raw from all the coughing, but it seems like the swelling in my glands is pretty much gone.  Last night the coughing was so bad that I had to sleep sitting up on the couch, because laying down felt like I was choking.  Ugh!

Here is what I’ve done as treatment:

• Tylenol–up to 2 per day for the sore throat.  Worked the first day, but not so much after that.
• Gargling with salt water–1/4 t in a cup of warm water.  This made my throat feel better and I’ve done it several times a day.
• Steam–boil water in a pot with some eucalyptus oil, put a towel over my head and breathe in the steam.  Took it off the stove though.
• Throat lozenges–either right when I was going to bed or at work
• Vick’s vapor rub–1 x day once it started settling in my chest
• Robitussin DM–1 dose when going to bed since it has moved into my chest
• Magic mouthwash–this was something the doc (not my OB) mentioned for the sore throat pain.  It is Benadryl and a couple other drugs.  You swish it around in your mouth and spit it out so it is something he recommended for pregnancy.  It is an interesting concept, but it really just numbed the pain for a short period.  I don’t know that I would get it again, but now I have a bottle for the next sore throat.

My symptoms this week are all about being sick, not about the pregnancy.  There have been a couple times where I felt nauseous, but boob pain ranges from non-existent to sore and discharge (a surprising symptom the first time around) ranges from nothing to flood gates.

We got the house! August 6, 2008

We heard from the realtor last night that the bank has countered our offer for another $2500.  While part of me wants to tell them to shove it, since we have been waiting on them since May 8, it certainly isn’t worth losing the house over that amount.  So we accepted and are now waiting on the official paper work with a closing date and such.  It should happen pretty quickly, which will make this first tri fly by (fingers crossed).

Week 8: a raspberry August 4, 2008

So the little one is the size of a raspberry and may even be moving around in there.  Everything seems to be going fine so far, but I am feeling in a rut and pretty lousy.

Boo to being sick!  My sore throat is still here and seems to be moving further down my throat, into the lungs.  I talked to the doc today and she said it was fine to use Vick’s vapor rub and throat lozenges as needed.  I’ll probably still try to limit it, but it is nice to know there may be some remedies to help.  I didn’t even go to work today because I was all dizzy when I got up.  Not sure if that is the illness or pregnancy or combo.

Second boo to dumb banks!  We were told we would hear something last week on the house.  It made the week go by super fast, as every day was filled with hope and each ring of the phone caused a mini-party in my head (until I saw it wasn’t our realtor calling.)  Last week is over and it is Monday afternoon.  I called my realtor earlier to see what kind of excuse the dumb bank was giving and apparently they just don’t give one.  He also mentioned they’d probably want a quick turn around on the closing date.  My response was “maybe we should make them wait three months and see how they like it.”  I don’t know what they would gain from jerking us around, but it definitely feels like we are being jerked around.

So week 8 is starting out pretty low.

Our child will never have a name…. August 3, 2008

We had talked about names before and decided on Leonardo.  We both had grandpas named Leonard, liked the name and it has options for nicknames so the kid can change it up as he gets older.  We’d probably start with Leo, but he could use Lee, Leon, Len, Nardo or the full thing. 

So this morning my husband says “what about Hillel as a name?”  He pronounced it as “hell-el”.  Um, WTF??  My first guess is it was a super hero name from a comic book and then a hockey player.  How silly that I didn’t think of a founding member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers!  And then he said the nickname could be Hell.  

Oh, spare me.  Why not just call him Satan?  Or Beelzebub (sp)?  Or “I hate my son”?  I told him Anthony Kedis didn’t name his kid after him and he knew him!  He told me to spend some time thinking about it and it might grow on me.  Hell no, I’m not naming my son hell.

It is just as tricky on the girl side.

I’m in an Italian mood, so other names I like are Fabrizio, Raphael, Matteo and other names that sound Italian like Kenzo or Arlo.

I don’t want to offend anyone who loves the name Hillel.  Maybe it has family significance or meaning to you.  It just is not the name for me or any child I’m carrying around for nine months.

Sore throat + pregnant=sucky August 3, 2008

My throat is killing me.  I can’t swallow anything and sound like a pack a day smoker.  So like any expectant woman who has miscarried three times, I’ve been researching my pregnancy books and the web to see what kind of harm this can do to the baby.  I believe it is a cold, since I don’t have fevers or aches and pains.  But the mucus I’m coughing up is yellow, with even a slight pink tint sometimes.  So I must be bleeding somewhere and this probably indicates an infection.  From what I can gathers, colds do not pose any risk to the baby.  Infections do.  

What a fun, sexy time for me (paraphrasing George Michael on Arrested Development.)

Locally made cloth diapers August 2, 2008

I’ve been reading quite a bit about cloth diapers and think I’d like to try this option.  I’ve learned that when babies are breast fed, the diapers aren’t as stinky; that you can use wetbags to store dirty diapers when out or at day care; that you can save quite a bit of money over the diapering life of the baby; that people who do it say it is relatively easy.  I also figure a messy diaper is going to be a messy diaper, whether cloth or disposable.  We’ll still have a lot of cleaning up to do.  Throwing the diaper into the wash doesn’t seem like a huge step (spoken from someone who has never been a mom and can’t imagine just how busy and tired I might be!)

So I just found a local vendor for cloth diapers.  She had an ad on cragislist for a discount for buying more than 6 as well.  I love the idea of using someone locally, so here is the website for when that time comes…www.twigandvine.com.