17

We had a doctor's appointment last week and got to hear the baby's heart beat.  The doctor had some trouble finding it because the baby wouldn't sit still, which is good.  On May 22, we'll have our ultrasound and find out what the sex is.  People have had some interesting reactions to us finding out about the sex - saying once we know that we can really start planning the nursery and buying things.  Personally, I like the gender neutral stuff.  It's weird to think how much baby stuff reinforces the child's sex/gender - at a time in their lives when they don't even know they have arms, much less if they have a penis or vagina.  

My belly is starting to grow and get more solid.  No new cravings.  Oh, yeah, I'm sick - again - thanks, Dad, who passed it along.  Not too bad though.

Today is my 32nd birthday.  Yesterday I went and renewed my driver's license.  I also had to get a new license picture, despite the last one being taken a little over a year ago.  Wowza - I thought my last picture was bad.  The DMV employee actually took my picture twice because the first one was so bad - well, the second one didn't turn out that great either.  It's all my head and cuts me off just under my double-chin.  Not flattering in the least.  Jason asked if I was drunk when they took it.

I got to celebrate my birthday last weekend and will again this weekend.  Jason got me some lovely maternity clothes and spent 2 hours helping me pick them out.  Apparently, maternity clothes makers assume pregnant women have huge bellies and stove pipe legs, a look that is not so flattering for the thunder thighs.  But, I found some awesome cargo pants that I just might never take off until the delivery.

And seeds - he got me more seeds to plant in our yard.  I already started a butterfly garden (flowers that will attract butterflies) and chives.  Now, I'll also have basil, spearmint, catnip and sunflowers.  Yay, spring!

Sweet 16

Happy Earth Day!  The only environmentally friendly thing I plan to do today is to drive my Prius to work and take a walk in the sunshine.  Oh, and take out the recycling.  Not super Earth friendly, but it's what I got in me.

The only craving I have in an on-going one - Eggplant, specifically cooked in garlic sauce, Chinese-style.  Yum.  Not sure when I'll be itching that scratch, since the local Chinese restaurants don't serve Eggplant and Jason hates it.  Oy - me and my first world problems.

I've kinda got a belly going - it's getting harder to suck in.  It has been wonderfully warm and sunny this week, so I've been wearing dresses that enhance the belly.  

I'm a little crabby right now - had very vivid, anxiety-filled dreams last night and was also plagued by gas, uncomfortable stomach gas that lasts all night.  Granted, I ate some peanut butter last night, which did not help the situation.  I love peanut butter, but it does not love me, or should I say, my tummy does not love it and my taste buds do.  I didn't have food sensitivities until about 2 years ago and I'm still adjusting.  Before then - an iron stomach.  I miss it.

On an unrelated note, I figured out why I love living out here so much.  It's being able to see the land.  The landscapes around here are not untouched by humans - most of the countryside is farm land.  But it's land not dominated by human existence.  I can see nature in a grand expanse.  And that makes me very content.  I think it comes from spending summers in Alaska, where you might live in the city, but you can see majestic mountain ranges all round and after a 10 minute drive you can be in the middle of a forest.  I took a walk in a nature preserve on Monday and relished in the silence.  Or should I say near silence - the bees were buzzing, birds chirping, and fertilizer planes spraying fields.  But it was pretty darn quiet.  I love that. 

Little 15

So, I have agreed to find out the sex of the baby.  As I mentioned before, Jason wants to know and I don't.  But, just 'cause I'm the momma, I don't feel like that's a good enough reason to not have him find out.  He's good at keeping a secret, but I'm awful knowing there is a secret that I don't know.  So, I've decided not to torture myself and Jason in the weeks following him finding out and have just given in.  Though, I've given Jason permission to change his mind.  We still have five weeks before we can find out, but whew, that decision is made (that's to be read with sarcasm folks).

I had a bit of belly envy on Saturday.  I went out for my dear friend, Sarah's, birthday, along with two other pregnant ladies.  They both had beautifully round, bulgy bellies.  Me?  I have a round tummy looks like a pregnant tummy, but can be sucked in and made to disappear.  Basically, it's all fat.  Granted, these ladies are farther along than I am.  Fingers crossed I 'pop' soon.

No new cravings this week.  Feeling tired despite sleeping a lot, exercising and eating pretty healthy.  Got another pregnancy shirt - shows lots of cleavage - ooh la la.

New girl's name idea - Zelda (yes, like the princess and the writer's wife)

Week 14

I realized I have forgotten to share the upsides of pregnancy.  The bestest part?  No period!  For ten months!  It seriously rocks.  Not that my periods were bad or painful, just awkward, despite having them for 20+ years.  It's a nice vacation.

The second best part - gaining weight.  For the first time in 20 or so years, my focus has shifted from losing weight to gaining weight.  Even when I tried to be happy with my body and not worry about weight, it was so ingrained in my head that I still struggled with it.  Now, after workouts, I have to remind myself that the point isn't to lose weight, but to simply reap the benefits of exercise.  When I eat a salad or have fruit for a snack, it's about getting the vitamins the baby and I both need.  It's such a nice mental shift.  I hope I can maintain it once the pregnancy is over.

This week's food love - peanut butter.  So good.  I'm no longer interested in Jello, Fig Newtons or pickles.  My cravings seem to go in a weekly cycle.  

I did find a pair of maternity jeans!  And guess what?!?  They're too big - I don't have enough tummy yet to keep them up.  But once I do, I will be stylin'.  

Lucky 13

Got to see the wee one last Friday.  S/he was just dancin' around in the womb, refusing to sit still.  It was so awesome.  I still have a hard time really making the connection that I'm carrying that little one, that s/he is inside of me.  

So, this past week hasn't been so lucky for me.  I had a stomach virus last week and a cold or allergies this week.  Yay!  Went all winter without a sniffle and in two weeks, I get sick twice.

On Sunday, we visited our friends Matt & Jan and they spoiled us rotten.  They had saved much of their stuff from when their daughter was a baby and are now donating it to us.  Seriously, we're pretty much set, thanks to them.  The only major purchase we'll need to make is a car seat.  Not only do I really appreciate them saving us all that money, but also, I really wanted to try to get as much second hand stuff as possible for the babe, because s/he will grow out of it so quickly or use it for a comparatively short time.  Plus - reuse, the least popular of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

With that said, I still registered for the baby.  There are a couple things we need and many things we don't, but we're so darn cute, I just couldn't resist.  We're registered at Target and Babies 'R' Us.  

So, I did try to figure out the gender of the baby using the Chinese method, which uses the month you conceived + the mother's age to determine boy or girl.  According to the Chinese, I have a 50/50 chance of having a boy or a girl.  Um, thanks very much Chinese.  I could've told myself that (and in fact have).

And do you know how hard it is for a bigger lady like myself to find maternity pants?  I want to shout, "You know, fatties get knocked up too!"  

Speaking of getting fat, I've had a few people, including my doctor, warn me that I don't want to put on too much weight because it's so hard to take off later.  I've been tempted to respond, "Does it look like I don't know how difficult weight loss can be?"  

Until next time.