6 Months, Today
July 11, 2008 by Binary Blonde, under Personal, Pregnancy.
Today marks the beginning of my 6th month of pregnancy. It’s finally starting to sink in that we’re going to be parents in about 3 1/2 months.
Both Kevin and I feel ready, but, every once in a while we bring up little doubts here and there. I know that’s to be expected, but as I’m usually so in control and in charge of every little detail of my life, it’s scary to know that becoming a parent is one of the biggest lessons in “letting go of control” there is.
I’m already learning those lessons, of course. It started in the first 3 months when I had horrible nausea (I hesitate to call it “morning sickness”, as it was more like “morning, noon and night sickness”) and had to just let my body do what it needed to do, day in and day out, no matter what else was going on.
Nowadays, it’s letting go and giving in to my food cravings, and making sure I am gaining a healthy amount of weight. Already, I weigh more now than I ever have in my life and I still need to gain another 15-20 pounds, more or less.
I know it’s an absolute must if I am to continue growing a healthy baby boy and have the stamina to birth and nurse him, but it’s something I still struggle with on a daily basis. I am happy to report, though, that I am totally on schedule with my weight gain. For me, that’s a really, really good thing!
On the baby front, Binary Boy, when active, can make it look like there’s a little kick boxer living in my tummy. He sometimes keeps me awake, but I’ve been getting used to the times when he’s more active and work around it. So far I’ve found that he loves music (especially Peter Gabriel) and responds to both my voice and Kevin’s voice.
On the domestic side of pregnancy, it’s been really hard not being able to “nest”. Living in this tiny apartment has been starting to get to me. So, hearing the great news that we will be able to move into our house by the end of this month has really helped me curb the irritability factor of living in a sea of boxes (the crib and changing table especially!) and not being able to do anything with them. Soon, though… very soon!
Overall, I have been thoroughly enjoying pregnancy. Much more than I thought I would, actually. I’ve read all sorts of accounts of women who hated being pregnant, but I just can’t agree with most of it.
Sure, there are days (and nights!) where I feel heavy, hot, sluggish and, just… well… pregnant, but it’s also a feeling that I’ve grown accustomed to and come to cherish.
Even with all the uncomfortable effects of pregnancy, there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by where I am not in awe of the miracle that is taking place inside me, and even though I have no idea what he looks like or have any idea of his personality, yet, I am totally head-over-heels in love with our little baby boy. 
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A Few Things
July 8, 2008 by Binary Blonde, under Pregnancy, Rants.
A few things I used to take for granted before pregnancy:
- Tying my shoes. My bows on my tennies are sideways now when I tie them. Mental note: Must find a comfortable pair of slip-ons… and soon.
- Bending over to pick something up. At least not with my normal quick reflexes, nor bending at the waist with any finesse. It’s a deliberate, slow movement to pick something up from the floor now.
- Getting up from sitting the floor. I usually turn over on all fours and push up from there. Though, sometimes, if Kevin is there, I ask him for help. Either way, I can’t just stand up from sitting like I used to.
- Walking at my usual break-neck speed. Even though I exercise, I still get winded trying to keep up with Kevin at our “usual” walking speed. As for running? Yeah, that’s just not going to happen.
- My waistline. It’s slowly being taken over, week by week. I know it’s for the best, and I know it will return, but I still miss it.
- No bathroom breaks during movies. If a movie goes longer than an hour and a half, I can’t make it. I missed parts of both Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. Though, I made it through Wall-E (barely).
Also, this isn’t something I take for granted, but something I find amusing:
- The “stare”. Yup, I’m finally getting it. People stare at the belly, and then happen to look me in the eye. Not the other way around. Also, small children are seriously amused by my belly and last week at Lowes a very young boy kept mimicking me by rounding his arms in front of him and walking back and forth. It was adorable and he was giggling up a storm.
And, these.. just plain drive me batty:
- The hunger that strikes without warning. I’ve never really been a huge eater, and when it came to food, I was the one in control, not the other way around. This is no longer the case. Now, I will get ravenously, must-eat-something-NOW hungry all of the sudden and seemingly out of nowhere. Not too long ago, we were driving home and I almost started crying because I was suddenly so hungry and no food was around. I learned my lesson and keep snacks (nuts, fruit bars) in my purse at all times now. It really sucks.
- Getting asked the question, “How far along are you?” When I answer, I always get, “Oh… but, you look so small.” What the heck does that mean??? If I hear that one more time, I might just scream, because, seriously, Binary Boy has been consistently ahead of schedule on both weight and length! It’s weird, because no matter how far along I’ve been, I’ve always received the same response.
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Two Weeks and Counting
July 3, 2008 by Binary Blonde, under Pregnancy, Travel.
Only two more weeks until Kev and I fly back to California to visit with our friends and family! If you can’t tell, I’m excited.
We don’t have a day-by-day itinerary while we’re there, as we mostly plan to relax and unwind, but we do have a few things we want to do.
So far, there’s my baby shower on Saturday, a day trip to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park (where all the huuuge redwood trees are) and going to see Batman: The Dark Knight as a family unit. Fun, fun, fun!
Personally, considering my energy supply is not what it used to be, I am fine with those being the only planned events for the week! 
I want this to be a relaxing vacation, not a trip I come home feeling exhausted from.
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Everyone Was Correct
June 6, 2008 by Binary Blonde, under Pregnancy.
If you were keeping track, yesterday was my ultrasound appointment to determine the sex of our baby, among other anatomy checks.
So, without further ado… It’s a Boy!!! Everything is going really well and our baby boy is healthy and happy. He received an “A+” on all the anatomy checks and we took home several ultrasound frames.
He’s apparently a few days ahead of schedule weight-wise*, and at 10 oz., is a little bigger than anticipated. I was SO happy to hear that because I’ve been having some trouble gaining the “correct” amount of weight, but, thankfully, it seems that is not affecting the baby! 
Oh, and apparently, everyone in my entire family, on both sides, knew (one way or another) that I am pregnant with a boy, which is the reason for the title of this post. 
*The ultrasound machine can compute the weight of the baby with two measurements: the humerus in the arm and the femur in the leg.
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16 Week Update
May 17, 2008 by Binary Blonde, under Pregnancy.
You knew it was inevitable… I’m going to talk about each and every one of my monthly/bi-monthly appointments, so you might as well get used to it now. 
So, yesterday, my 16-week (4 month) appointment went very well. Everything is on schedule, and myself and the baby are in perfect health!
As my care has been with midwives and not OB/GYN’s, I haven’t had a chance to have an official ultrasound since after the accident (although I never mention the ultrasound in that post because the news wasn’t out, yet). They regularly use dopplers instead of ultrasound machines because they are less invasive.
Yesterday, however, the baby was moving around a lot and hiding from the doppler, so the midwife couldn’t get a clear reading of the heartbeat. So the midwife wanted to bring out the ultrasound to take a look. I was all for it! Even though it was low-quality and grainy, I got to see our baby again!
He or she was facing down for most of the ultrasound and we noticed some hiccups and kicking (almost like backward kicks). Towards the end, the baby moved to face directly at us for a short time. It was so amazing.
Here’s one of the photo stills from the ultrasound. It was my favorite because you can see the left leg so clearly.
At the end of the appointment, she handed me a referral to a doctor to schedule a high quality ultrasound for the “anatomy scan” at the hospital. That means we’ll know if we’re having a boy or a girl in the next 2-3 weeks! I’m so excited!
