Baby!

Jen's Baby Updates: Week 16

Sunday, November 3rd

Current Weight Before Pregnancy Last Week
??? 142.0 +??? 145.5 +???
(I forgot to weigh myself this morning, but I want to send this out anyway)

The web site is up, though as with all web sites, it is constantly under construction.

You'll find some things there that you can't get through these updates... like pictures of me in various stages of pregnancy, and the ultrasound pictures! You can even leave comments (please do)! It is available at http://www.whitedoom.com/Baby/

Baby Development

Miscarriage is very unlikely at this point. That makes us happy! My womb has apparently risen out of my pelvic cavity, though I don't actually feel much different. Just a little bigger. The baby is probably almost 6 inches long! If it is a girl, her ovaries are already formed and already have eggs in them! Supposedly, I should be getting a linea nigra (the line down the center of my abdomen), but no sign of that yet.

Exercise

Argh! I nearly passed out in Karate today! I don't know why... we weren't doing anything very strenuous, but I started feeling really hot, but with cold sweat, and had to sit down for the rest of class. It was awful. I haven't felt that way since the first few quarters of Karate, when I was still trying to get rid of my asthma (it is gone now, believe it or not). I had eaten really early that morning, and it is possible that I just didn't have enough food in my stomach. Ah well... it certainly doesn't make me very excited about going back. My uniforms are fitting strange and my sports bras are so tight as to be uncomfortable. I need to keep working out, though!

Gifts

My friend Holly has convinced me that discussing presents on this list would not make people feel guilty for not sending gifts, nor would it make people feel like they need to send gifts, and I hope she is correct! We received several gifts last week, and I wrote about them, then decided to take that section out, lest anyone feel pressured. If you'd like to read about them, you can read the Week 15 Addendum on the Jen's Baby Updates page on the web site.

Holly has also convinced me that some people really like to give presents for events like this, and that they would prefer to know what we'd like to have, rather than just guessing. So, here's some information for anyone that really wants to give gifts to us or the baby (and I'd like to stress again that it is not necessary!).

We will be registering at several places, I imagine, but probably not until December when I have time to spend a day in a store. Travis and I both love to read, and will be encouraging our child to do the same, so books are always a good choice, especially if they are special to you in some way. Other than that, we are both very practical (well, Travis more so than myself), and would love to have gifts that can be used, like clothes and whatever else it is that babies use on a regular basis (I'm sure I'll figure that out). More information is available at http://www.whitedoom.com/Baby/gifts.html.

Names

Free - Ellen Bergen (Jen's aunt)
Lauren - Debbie Hodge (Jen's aunt)
Jordan - Nancy Howard (Jen's aunt)
Sam or Samantha
Tower O' - The BiRG Guys
Glumen - Clark Slagle and The BiRG Guys (can you believe that two separate entities came up with this one?

Miscellaneous

Heartbeat

Very exciting news! I rented a Doppler so that I can listen to the baby's heartbeat whenever I want to! It should be waiting at my house right now, and I'll be able to hear the heartbeat just hours from now. I know that the heartbeat will be less exciting once the baby starts kicking me, but for now it is still the coolest thing. I figured that all of our relatives will be interested in hearing the heartbeat while they watch the ultrasound video over Thanksgiving dinner.

So, I came home from work tonight and heard the heartbeat of our baby! It was really cool! It was at about 140 beats per minute, which is pretty average. Old wives' tales claim that a fast heartbeat indicates a girl (or boy) and a slow one indicates a boy (or girl). I've had people tell me both. In fact, the speed of the heartbeat does not indicate whether the baby is a boy or a girl... research shows that the average heartbeat for boys and girls differs by only a quarter of a beat per minute. It is also much faster for the first 8 weeks or so. When we first heard it, it was above 160.

Anyway, I listened to the heartbeat for a few minutes, then got bored. Believe it or not, a baby's heartbeat (even your own baby's) is pretty repetitive, and not fascinating for very long. I'm glad that I rented the Doppler because I wouldn't have wanted to miss the opportunity to be able to hear it whenever I want to, but I'll probably send it back after Thanksgiving.

I talked to my parents today. I called and asked my mom if she wanted to hear her grandchild's heartbeat. Of course she did (who wouldn't?) and got my dad so he could hear, too. Evidently the Doppler machine produces good clear sounds over the phone line, because they could hear it really well. It was strange talking to them, because I didn't have much to say! I mean, they already know everything that is going on with me, in much greater detail than they usually do!

It had been quite a while since we had spoken, because they are always very considerate of my time, and didn't want to call me when I was so busy! Because I've been so busy, I haven't had time to call them, either.

I wanted to call Travis's parents, too, but it is probably too late now, even though Sheryl is usually up late. I really should go to sleep, anyway.

I just got off the phone with Sheryl. I called so that she could listen to the heartbeat, which she thought was really neat. She was very impressed by the sound quality, too! I'm pretty happy with the machine. Very fun! Sheryl and Ronnie are going to come down and help Travis (more accurately, Travis will help them) finish our garage. They have tons of experience, of course, having just finished building their entire house, and Travis wants to know how to run electricity and put up drywall and such. It should be very interesting!

Clothing

Well, I'm starting to dread getting dressed in the morning, fearing that none of my clothes will fit anymore. Not because I don't want to get bigger, just because I don't want to go through the effort of finding clothes. I am going to need to beg, borrow, or steal some maternity clothes, I suppose.

This morning I found a pair of khaki pants in my closet that I had purchased last summer with Lorna and Delia. They were too big, and very gappy around the waist, but so cheap that I couldn't pass them up. I haven't worn them for a while because I was tired of hitching them up, but now they fit fine! For a week or two, anyway.

I tried to put on some of Travis's pants, hoping that they might fit my waist better. No chance! That's what I get for having such a svelte husband. His waist is the same size as mine (pre-pregnancy, I mean).

Halloween

We had about 20 groups of kids come to our house, most of whom were too young to be trick or treating. They didn't really know what to do, but they did look cute. Our neighborhood is really young.

Teaching

I got all of my exams graded this morning, and it went fine. The average was about 82% which is a little high, but better to have an overly easy exam for my first one than an overly hard one! The standard deviation was 10, which is perfect.

I handed them back in class today, and the students seemed happy enough. We went over them, and no one found any errors on my part, other than a few silly addition errors from when I added up their total. That's no big deal!

I gave my students a survey on Thursday instead of a quiz. I gave it at the beginning of class (I usually give it at the end) and they were pretty concerned about that, until they saw what it was. I also handed out Halloween candy (after the survey, so they wouldn't think I was bribing them)! Anyway, I loved reading the surveys; they were very encouraging. One of the questions that I included was "What is the one thing that you would NOT change about the class?" About five people wrote "the prof", and a few other people wrote 'everything'. Isn't that nice? It made me feel good.

Veterans

I saw the best hour of television that I've ever seen, tonight. It was "7th Heaven", which I generally enjoy, though I don't make it a point to keep up with the new ones. This week was about 9/11, and they handled it just beautifully. They made it very personal, and made the point that we really should thank our veterans for fighting for our country. I agree. I hope that my child doesn't ever have to experience war... I can't imagine living in the time of World War II. From talking to my grandparents I feel that people must have been stronger then, but I suppose that we do what we have to. Thanks, Grandpa, for taking part in the war! I love you! Thanks, too, to my great uncle Chuck, along with everyone else who gave their life to uphold our country's ideals.

Weekend

Blah! After saying that I was going to go to sleep, I accidently picked up a book while I was brushing my teeth, and didn't put it down until almost 2:00! I'm a very addictive reader. Unfortunately, I don't find brushing my teeth to be entertaining enough on its own, so I usually read a book. Sometimes I can put it down again, sometimes I can't.

We had a meeting nearly all day today at work, which was very useful because now I have a better idea what I'll be working on for the next few months. It was also good to have a very clear idea what I should be doing today (i.e., paying attention), because when I'm tired I can drift easily if I'm just sitting in front of my computer.

Yay! Weekend time! I need to grade projects this weekend, which should take me about 10 hours, but other than that, my time is my own! I've already made the homework for next week, and I'm ready for the next lecture, so I just need to do the projects!

I just got back from going to a contra dance that Holly had organized. That's nothing new, of course, she's been doing that since I've known her, but this is the first time that I went. I figured that I don't have that much time left to do stuff like that. Once I have a kid, it will be much tougher to go out dancing on the spur of the moment! Oh, a contra dance is a dance where they do traditional folk dancing. Like square dancing, but not so country, and more flexible because you aren't in squares. It was really fun! Everyone there was SO nice, it just made me feel all warm and fuzzy. Really!

The dancing was fun, but mostly I went to hang out with Holly, so I only danced three dances and spent the rest of the time chatting with her. Holly wanted to know why my name tag just said "Jen" instead of "Jen and Peanut". I didn't want to confuse all of those nice people! She had a nice little holly berry and leaves on her name tag. It reminded me of the boutonnieres that the guys wore at our wedding. I loved our wedding!

I didn't do much productive Saturday. I relaxed. I read a book. It was really nice. I worked on the website quite a bit.

I didn't do anything productive Sunday, either. Well, I finished the book that I started yesterday. I cleaned the kitchen. I don't know what else I did. I took two baths, each time marveling that my belly is no longer under water. I should have graded my projects, but I didn't. I suppose I'll have to do it tomorrow night so I can get it back to them on Tuesday. It is only 10:00, but I'm really sleepy and I think that I must go to sleep now.

Overall, it was a really nice week. Very relaxing and enjoyable.