Bean Updates

Okay, so now I've accumulated 7 (SEVEN!!!) different things to post about, so I'd better get going. Since I'm sure most of you are interested to know how the pregnancy is going, I'll start there.

Things are going good.

Okay, I’ll elaborate.

The homeopathic remedy that the midwives recommended has done wonders for my sciatic nerve. I have little episodes of pain, but not enough to knock my knee out from under me or make me cry. It really is quite amazing. I just take a little pellet whenever I feel like I need it. I find the aches and pains are worse by the end of the week, when I’ve been sitting still for 5 days. I try and remember to get up and move around lots, but it’s kind of a hard thing to do when your job is mostly sitting in front of a computer.

I’m still more tired than usual and it takes everything in me to make it through a whole week of work. Day by day, I’m usually coherent till around 2:00 pm and then that’s pretty much it, I’m done. I end up staring at the wall or something equally as non-productive for the rest of the day. But I keep the bosses updated on how I’m feeling and they cut me some slack, so things work out okay. I really think that having nice, open communication with them about everything works to my advantage. Then they’re not in the dark if I miss a couple days of work or leave at 4:00 pm instead of 5:00 pm.

We had our 18 week ultrasound on March 30th. It was pretty incredible. AND I got to pee out all the 2 litres of water I drank after about 5 minutes, so that was even better. It was so amazing to see our little Bean moving about and kicking and stretching and drinking amniotic fluid. It kept hiding under my belly button though. Must be shy. =D It was quite keen to show off it’s legs and feet, but kept hiding when we wanted to see its little face. But I will save most of my reflections on the ultrasound for one of my seven posts. In the meantime, you can go to Nathan’s blog and see some of the pics and read his thoughts on the event.

Baby brain has set in with a vengeance. I was going to hand wash our place mats in the sink. I went downstairs for the detergent. I had to make that trip THREE times before I actually remembered to bring it back up with me. One afternoon at work, I did the same thing wrong THREE times in a row. And wrong differently every time. This was after 2:00 pm. I went home early. And then there’s the usual, like forgetting pretty much everything, asking the same questions over and over, and just general DUH moments.

Just in the past few days my belly has POPPED. Like, seriously. I’m sure it’s much bigger today than it was on Friday. I’m starting to actually look pregnant, instead of just maybe-pregnant-maybe-fat. It’s kind of cute. I’ve got some nice outfits that accentuate it too, so that’s fun.

I’m having a bit of a hard time finding a comfortable position to sleep in. Ordinarily, I’m a belly sleeper, which doesn’t quite work so well anymore. My hips get sore from sleeping on my side, even with a pillow between my knees and one under my belly. The yoga-ish position that Gillian showed me works most of the time, but I do find myself tossing and turning quite a bit. I really, really hope I’m not keeping Nathan awake. In other sleep news, I’ve decided that 5:00 am is a ridiculous time to wake up. I’ve reset my alarm for 5:30 am and I can still catch the last express bus and make it to work for 8:00 am. It’s amazing how much difference a half hour can make.

We’ve started moving bookcases and books from the office into the other spare room. The office is bigger, so we decided we’d be nice and give Bean the bigger room. =D And we’re finally merging our book collections! No more Nathan’s children’s books and Sheila’s children’s books. It’s all smushed together. Yay us!

I think I may be starting to feel Bean move. I’ve had a couple days now where I can feel things that kind of feel like gas bubbles in your stomach. It could just be my usually digestive acrobatics, but I swear they were lower than any stomach bits should be. We’ll see I guess. But maybe???

I’ve gained 7.5 lbs since Christmas, and 3 of that has been in the last 2 or 3 weeks. I give all the credit to Ghost. I’m sure I’m losing weight walking her and then gaining back whatever Bean needs. I don’t mind. It means I’m in better shape than I was before we got Ghost, so I should be able to get in even better shape faster, after Bean is born. But 7.5 lbs in 20 weeks is pretty darn good I think! Yay Ghost! And me, for not stuffing my face with everything available. =D Though Easter was exceptionally hard….

The only other thing on the Bean radar (that I can remember anyway…) is that I have to keep an eye on my blood pressure. Mine is high normal, and pretty much always has been. I guess though, high BP in pregnancy can cause some serious complications both for me and Bean, and I could end up on bed rest for months or Bean could be delivered prematurely. So far there’s been no change in the readings. Actually this past week, it was a bit lower than usual. I’m not overly worried since high normal is normal for me. The midwives have given me supplements to take, teas to drink, exercises to do, etc. all in an effort to keep my BP manageable. I’m not to get stressed out or worked up about things and make sure that I get rest when I feel like I need it. This is hard for me. It’s so hard to stop doing things and rest when I think that I should be able to do more. It’s getting easier to let go, but it just goes against my nature to sit in a chair and ask people to do things for me because I need to rest. I’m doing my best at that though and I’m sure by the time Bean is born I will be an expert at delegating. =D

And there’s the Bean update for now! Look for 6 more blog posts coming soon!