Baby!

Jen's Baby Updates: Week 23

Sunday, December 22, 2002

Exercise

The best thing that I found while shopping with Delia this week was a treadmill for myself! Yep, we have now purchased the only piece of equipment that loses 95% of its value as soon as you walk out the door with it. I was really surprised that no one on this list had one that they didn't want, because I know a lot of people buy them and stop using them nearly immediately.

I figure that once the baby is here, I won't be able to get out to Karate as easily as I have been able to before, but I want to get back into shape as quickly as possible. While I'm pregnant, I definitely need to be working out, and I am not comfortable doing martial arts anymore. So, we have a treadmill... to be delivered on New Years Eve day. I've been feeling like a slug because I didn't work out at all during the past quarter, and after working out hard every other day for the past five years, it has been quite a change. I'm ready to get back into shape and prepare for labor!

I've always loved running on treadmills. I dislike running outside because you have no control over the temperature or the people driving the cars. Also, I don't like exposing my skin to the sun, so I couldn't run on sunny days. Anyway, I never could keep up with running outside. Running/walking on a treadmill, I can read a book or watch tv, and the time just flies by! I'm looking forward to getting it!

Symptoms

Cravings?

It is possible that I've developed a craving. I now LOVE V-8 juice. I would drink it all day, but it has tons of sodium in it, so I'm trying to keep it reasonable. I've bought the low-sodium version, and actually prefer it, but our Kroger never seems to have it in stock.

Each can has the equivalent of one serving of vegetables or fruits, so I think I'm actually getting my recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables for the first time in my life. I've tried V8 before, but it is so thick that I could only ever drink about half of the small can before I lost interest. Must be that the baby likes vegetables, though he certainly didn't get that from me or Travis!

Nothing much else to report. Taking baths is now very interesting because I have a big island. I joke that it is getting big enough to hold my beer! It is almost uncomfortable to be in a position that bends my upper body like that. I'm getting a crease in my skin along my rib cage where my belly pops out. (Fear not, I'm not really drinking beer!)

My belly button has nearly disappeared. It will be gone in a month, I predict. It isn't deep enough anymore for Travis to think of it as a black hole, so his fingers aren't getting drawn to it anymore.

Other People's Babies

My best friend from childhood, Matthew, with whom I spent nearly every muddy day in elementary school, is also pregnant, or rather, his wife Mary is. They are also having a boy! He just sent me an email and mentioned the 25 inches of snow that they have. I know that it is incredibly inconvenient to have that much snow, but I wish that we would get _some_! The winters are milder here in Ohio than they are in Michigan, so we've been disappointed with the amount of snow in the past few years. I love the sound and smell of a world blanketed with fresh snow!

Names

No new name thoughts right now. Alexander (Xander) is still top of the list.

Miscellaneous

Clothing

I wore a new maternity top today, which has burgundy, grey, black and white stripes. I like it because it makes me look really pregnant, and Travis insists on calling me Waldo when I wear it. Hee hee!

Old Wives Tales

Kristie (the woman at my office who is pregnant) was convinced to urinate into Drano by her mother-in-law. Crazy, right? In addition to smoking and smelling absolutely awful, it supposedly turns brown if it is a boy, and blue if it is a girl. Hers turned brown, and they want a boy, so she wanted me to do it to see if it did the same thing for me to confirm her results. So, believe it or not, I did it. _I_ can't believe it.

So, we mixed the ingredients outside, because Kristie said that it really does smell awful, and after smelling it, I think that it could actually be dangerous if you were to do it inside. Wow, it was strong!

Anyway, I don't know what to tell you. I guess that it turned brown. Mostly it just bubbled and smoked. Kristie said that it looked the same as hers. I still think that it means anything. Unsurprisingly, we were unable to convince any of the non-pregnant people in the office to try the test. Gosh, I can't think why. Who wouldn't want to do that? Anyway, we laughed a lot, so it was worth it.

I did some research and it is basically a myth, though lots of people claim that it was right for them. Kristie has her ultrasound next week, so she'll find out then (hopefully), regardless of what any Drano test tells her.

For more old wives' tales about sex prediction, check out the postscript at the end of this update.

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Boy or Girl?

I didn't try anything to figure out the sex of our baby before we did the ultrasound (because I don't believe any of them actually work), but since we've found out, I thought it would be fun to try some of the old wives tales. Pretty much all of them say that we are having a girl. Being a scientist, I tend to believe the ultrasound, but you never know. We aren't thinking about girl names anymore, in any case.

According the the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which many people swear by, I'll be having a girl.

Here's the results of an online 'predict the sex of your baby' test that I took (after we knew the sex), just to check the accuracy of all of those old wives tales. Shows what they know (but then again, he isn't here yet... so it could be the ultrasound that is wrong!). http://www.childbirth.org/articles/boyorgirl.html

Here are my results:

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You have a 23% chance of having a boy.
And you have a 76% chance of having a girl.

And Here's Why...
You are carrying the extra weight out front, so it's a boy.
The hair on your legs is not growing any faster during your pregnancy, so it's a girl.
Boys are carried low. You are going to have a boy.
Sleeping in a bed with your pillow to the south indicates that you will be having a girl.
Your feet are not colder than they were before pregnancy. You are having a girl.
You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread. You are having a girl.
Dad-to-be hasn't been gaining weight along with Mom-to-be, so it will be a girl.
The maternal grandmother has some gray hair (dyed or natural), so a boy will be born.
You didn't have morning sickness early in pregnancy, so it will be a boy.
You are not looking particularly good during pregnancy. Therefore, it must be a girl, because girls steal their mother's looks.
Your chest development has been quite dramatic during pregnancy. You should expect a girl.
Since the sum of the mother's age at conception and the number of the month of conception is even, it will be a boy.
Your urine is a dull yellow color, so you will have a girl.
Your nose hasn't changed during pregnancy, which indicates a girl.
You have been craving fruits, so it is a girl.
Your baby's heart rate is 140 or more beats per minute, so it's a girl.
You must have orange juice every day, so it's a girl.
You are not having headaches, so it's a girl.
Your belly looks like a watermelon, so it's a girl.
You show them the palm of your hand, so it's a girl.
You use the handle, so it's a boy.
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Unrelated Stuff

Lord of the Rings 2: The Two Towers

We saw Lord of the Rings 2: The Two Towers today. It was much better than the first one, in my opinion. I actually knew what was going on most of the time, which was nice. Odd that they can make a movie that is actually three different movies in one, because the party is broken into three parties in the previous movie, and they never meet up in this movie at all. Very "Game of Thrones"-y.

I still had to ask Travis a bunch of questions afterwards, because the movie was really made for people who had read the book (in my opinion). He said that he's known the Lord of the Rings story for so long that it is like someone asking him questions about Santa Clause. "He has reindeer? Why does he have reindeer?" "I don't know, he just DOES." It was amusing.

We went to Outback and had crab legs afterwards, and I've decided not to order them anymore. As much as I enjoy them, they've raised the price, and it is no longer economically feasible. So, I'll go back having them just on my birthday and really special occasions (as opposed to the ones that I make up). I did eat all of my vegetables, I'm happy to say. I'm trying to be a good mom.

Teaching

I got my student evaluations from the class today, and they were really good! I'm quite happy with them. Overall my score was 4.4/5.0. Despite my pregnancy and thus changing shape (and skin), I got the comment: "Hottest professor I've had." That doesn't mean much in the realm of computer science, where a female professor is an rare sight, but it still made me smile. More relevant comments were along the lines of "really good", and "wish she taught more classes". I'm glad that it turned out well.