Checking In!

That baby in my belly is now 2 years old, and we are all in love! DD is a big Kindergartner. I'm still a lousy house keeper. Ah. Life goes on!

Phew!

One thing I have learned is that when you have kids, things simply never go as planned. The more you gear yourself to a having a set plan, the more you will be frustrated. So get used to it from the start! Having one child slowed me down a great deal. I am much more "go with the flow." I feel that I have to be. I still get irritated when I have my mind set on doing something and at the last minute we don't because DD simply decides she doesn't want to, or isn't ready yet, or some such. Let's face it, I'm human, and as we grow up we are taught more and more that we need to conform to schedules and time lines and plans. Kids will remind you, forcefully, that we do not start out that way!

Anyhow, so baby number two is due is less than three weeks. When I was pregnant with DD, I read about the growth and progress of the baby daily. I walked every day (just about) and ate really well. I gained the perfect amount of weight. Etc and so forth. I had lots of time to prepare. This time around I feel that I hardly have time to check in with the baby once a week! I read about his progress when I remember. I plan for his arrival inbetween everything else that I have to do. I obviously haven't been here to post in months. I'm busy!! I have trouble keeping the stupid house clean because it is so hard for me to concentrate on any one thing, other than DD, for more than five minutes. (Besides, I'm a lousy housekeeper) And forget getting anything extra accomplished. It's as if I have a huge long list of things to do, and the most pressing get top billing, and they get done when they get done. I decided some while ago that once this baby is born, I will simply have to give up even trying to get anything non-kid related done for quite some time. So I figured I should get a bunch of things done before-hand. That was until DD and I had a really bad cold that lasted for weeks. Out the window went any desire to get things done, including planning meals! Dinner has been thrown together at the last minute every night for weeks. Then DD hits her nose on a seesaw, ultimately resulting in black eyes. Then her finger gets crushed in a cabinet door, resulting in a finger splint for a few weeks. Then it's a relapse of the bug for both of us....and here we are at the present time. I feel as if I am being tested before the big test. It's mind-boggling.

So then today the midwife I saw tells me that I haven't gained weight in my last three weekly visits, and she wants to do an ultrasound to make sure the baby is growing properly. Just what I need on top of everything else. Sometimes I find myself melting down into a crying, stressed-out mess, and I wonder how people manage. How I will manage. Then I remind myself that I can only do what I can do, and everything else just has to wait. So eating more goes to the top of the priority list. But DD felt so awful today that I wasn't able to shop/plan/cook. So another dinner is thrown together at the last minute. Bless my little family, they almost always eat it! ;)

Sighs. My priorities for after the baby is born? A little time alone each day. I'll take five minutes! A little time alone with each child. And yoga.

The Joyful Months

I am feeling much better. I can't say I'm bounding with energy, but I dont' know that I ever am. DD keeps me on my toes, and I feel that I get more exercise than I give myself credit for just by following her around. I'm also taking a prenatal yoga class, which I like a lot (though I still feel lazy about going, and watch the clock while I'm there!!) My chest is SOOO tender, it is torture for the first 30 seconds to nurse, but otherwise I'm feeling good. DD is going through a needy stage, and does request to nurse a couple of times during the night. Whatever the reason I'm sure it's a good one, and I don't complain. Today is the first time in forever and ever than she fell asleep at home for her nap. I have had to drive her around in the car to get her to sleep, unless I want to wait and deal with a very tired kid during dinner and beyond. (Which is ok sometimes too - better than the struggle we were having with nap time for a while.) So yeah, I feel pretty good. I definitely feel the baby moving around in there these days. It's so cool. It's one of the best parts of pregnancy! Although my ability to feel it is inconsistent, and only from the inside, it seems that most nights when I lie down in bed, the baby moves a lot. That was true of DD too. In two days we find out the sex!! Omigosh, a very exciting time indeed. I really don't have a strong intuition either way. DD says it's a girl. DH says he is less anxious about finding out this time, but he always leans towards it being a girl. (wishes) I remain unsure and unclear. I don't know what else to report right now, but I'll be back to post after the ultrasound!

Pregnancy Update

I'm feeling good. The one main symptom that's been with me since the beginning and has persisted the most is laziness, but even that has lightened up some. The nutritionist at the midwives recommended a protein boost mid-afternoon, and recommended soy protein powder mixed into my smoothies. I've done that a couple of times and it's palatable. Today we were out a lot, so I missed it, but I still felt pretty good.

I had a craving for coffee this morning for the first time in the entire span of pregnancy so far. That isn't to say I haven't had any. I had a cup two mornings in a row recently when we were away in Maine. But considering my decades of being a two mug-a-day coffee drinker, I've almost entirely weaned! I replaced it with tea, but I don't crave tea the same way, so lately I've just been forgetting it. Being fearful of the caffeine headache (I got one the first day I skipped my coffee, oh yes I did!!) I have had some iced tea at lunch time or thereabouts a couple of times. Anyhow, my strike may be over, we'll see. But it's never a bad thing to take advantage of these situations to wean from something that's not so great for you anyway...

Nursing hurts like crazy. But only for about the first five seconds, then it's fine. But those first five seconds feel like razors are being pulled through my skin...youch!!! Being the stubborn breastfeeding advocate that I am, I persevere. When she's done, then we're done. In the meantime, I think the benefits continue to far outweigh the drawbacks. But it does hurt. =)

What else? I am really starting to get past my fear, confusion, anxiety, etc., about having two young children. I am beginning to think about the birth, and looking forward to meeting this little boy or girl. (We find out in June what the sex is - can't wait!) I want to shop for the baby. DD has a baby too. Another "Peanut." It's fun to see her role-play. I watch baby programs on tv pretty often, and she will be there some of the time. Today there was a woman giving birth on one program. I explained to dd that she was giving birth to her baby, and that Mama would be doing that, too. A little preparation cannot be a bad thing! She became really concerned today when I rubbed the heck out of my eyes, which were itching with allergens. I'll need to prepare her for birth!!

I'm trying to think of every pregnancy thing I'm experiencing so that I'm reporting accurately here. My digestion has slowed, resulting in my feeling full more quickly than usual, and gas. I am trying to eat more healthy than I did the first trimester, with some success. I am drinking more water and have cut out soda all together. (I often order soda when I'm out) I am serving water every night with dinner, which has increased dd's water intake also. She forgets sometimes to ask for juice! I am not experiencing much in the way of cravings, though occasionally I want candy! I have been good about filling myself with other things, for the most part!

The only other thing I can think of at the moment is that I get chilly easily. This is probably because I sit a lot of the time when I'm home.

So, that's the update for now. More soon......

LAZY

Man am I lazy. I am the laziest person I have ever known. What's up with this? Just another way that this pregnancy is different from the first. All I want to do these days is sit on the couch and channel-surf. It's incredible. This past weekend, Mother's Day weekend, hubby said that we'd do whatever I wanted, just name it. What did I want to do? NOTHING! I ended up napping with dd and it was wonderful. Hubby had to wake us up, and even then I asked for a little more time. BLARGH. There are days where I enjoy being lazy. When I was amoung the working, I really enjoyed a lazy afternoon. But this goes on day after day after day. DD keeps me moving, as I don't want to keep her cooped up. And it's good for me. If it weren't for her, boy, I'd be finishing novels by the pile. (Actually, I'd be at work, which would be awful.) Truthfully, though, I'm terrible at just relaxing. For example, I've already been up in the middle of this message to do some things. (Move laundry along, make some tea) I have trouble sitting still. So it's a strange mix of lazy fidgityness. (Great word) I can spend quite a while getting ready to relax, only to find that when I'm actually ready to sit down, but window of opportunity has closed. Alas.............

Otherwise I'm feeling ok. I'm not craving the healthiest of foods...I drink too much soda....but I'm trying to be better...

Plugging along

Well, the news this time is that the creepy pregnancy symptoms seem to be lightening. I'm not feeling sick much. I get dizzy from time to time. My appetite, while still lower than it was pre-pregnancy, is better. I'm tired, but I don't hit the proverbial wall quite as hard, midafternoon, as I was. I can manage to get through a day without a nap. (Though I can still fall asleep if given the chance, oh yes I can) While many of my pants are too small to be comfortable, I really don't feel that preggers as far as that goes. I am drinking tea instead of coffee. I enjoy getting exercise, though it takes the encouragement of another (dh, dd) to get me moving. I am very sure of what I want my meals to look like. It's funny. We had discussed having burritos tonight (until dh and I both decided that neither of us wanted them) and I knew exactly what mine had to have in it to be good to me. While there doesn't seem to be any one thing I'm especially craving, our fruit drawer seems to be full again. (I ate more fruit while pregnant with dd than I think I had in my entire life prior) My diet has been decidedly poor compared to my first pregnancy. I am LAZY. But of course I want to eat well, so I am redoubling my efforts. It's just so easy to open that can... I am planning our meals out for the entire week every weekend, and that helps. Oops, time to relieve dh of child care duty. More soon......................

Yek!

This pregnancy is teaching me what all of those books and experienced moms have known all along - what pregnancy symptoms can feel like! Recently I have had the WORST taste in my mouth after I eat. It persisted so much that I finally did a search on the internet to see if this, too, could be pregnancy related. Lo and behold, it is. Many women experience the same thing, and, like me, have to constantly keep something that tastes good in their mouths. The unpredictability of morning sickness is a drag. It's hard to plan things when you don't know if you'll feel fine, or feel like curling up on the couch. I started to eat something every morning before getting out of bed (and so has dd =) ) to combat sickness, something I read someplace. Since then I have felt better overall. (The bad taste does NOT help, but mints DO) Otherwise I can fall asleep and sleep deeply just about any time. I take most of dd's naps with her these days. (Not today, as she needed encouragement to go to sleep, and that was on the late side, so I need to stay up to be certain she doesn't sleep TOO long...) I also feel sort of down most of the time, but this is probably just a side-effect of being tired and feeling ill sometimes. Anyhow, it's week 8, and hopefully this stuff will go away after a couple of weeks. More soon.........gotta go wake dd!