Baby

Jen's Updates - Week 35

Sunday, March 17th, 2003 - 5 weeks before due date!

So, as you all probably know, I earned my 1st degree black belt in Shorin-Ryu Karate on my birthday last year. I like to think that I look pretty tough in my uniform with my well-worn black belt (my instructor's old belt). What I do _not _expect to hear is, 'Oh, you look so cute!'.

I went to the Karate test today to sit on the promotion board for the Beginning Karate class, and one of the women who was on her way out thought I just looked adorable in my uniform. It took me a while to find a uniform that fit me, and even then, it did not fit well. I did look pretty funny! I took some pictures, but they aren't developed yet.

I've been living with the delusion that all of my weight gain is in my belly, but it is not true. My usual karate pants were very snug across my butt, even though they weren't pulled up over my belly. It could be simply that my hips are getting wider in preparation for childbirth, but it is probably just that I've gained weight everywhere. Oh well! I'm sure that I'll be able to lose it pretty quick, afterwards.

Midwife Visit

I just got back from my biweekly midwife visit. My glucose is still very high (250), which is a concern to me. I did have a SlimFast this morning on my way to work, so that might be it. Cindy suspects that it is just 'leaky kidney' syndrome, which just means that your kidneys leak sugar while you're pregnant, rather than handling it properly. Not a big deal. However, she did give me some of the test strips to take home so I could test for myself sometime when I haven't been eating/drinking anything with sugar in it. If I can't get a normal reading before my next appointment, I may need to have the gestational diabetes test again.

I found out that I'll be needing to take a test next time for Group B Strep. I thought I was done with all tests! I'm not concerned about the test itself, but if it comes up positive (1 out of 3 women have Group B Strep bacteria), then I'll have to have an IV of antibiotics during labor. Yuck! I hate needles.

Group B Strep is not a concern for the mother, because as I said, 1 out of 3 women are carrying it around all the time, but it can make the baby very sick if he picks it up on his way into the world. So, the solution is to give the mother intravenous antibiotics during labor. That's the only preventative measure that seems to work reliably.

In general, everything is fine. I'm measuring at 35 centimeters for my fundal height. Usually I've been above the curve for that, but now I'm right on schedule. Cindy said that often the correspondence between week and fundal height falls apart around this time, anyway, because the baby is sinking into position.

Symptoms

Swollen Ankles

For the first time in this pregnancy, my ankles got swollen! I think it was because my socks were too tight, but I don't know. It was crazy looking! I took some pictures, which I put onto the web site under the "Miscellaneous Photos" section. It mostly went away overnight. Today I'm wearing looser socks, so we'll see if it comes back.

Well, it did. It seems to be something that I'll need to deal with for the rest of the pregnancy. I told Cindy (my midwife) about it at my appointment on Friday, and she wasn't concerned. She said to get up and walk around every hour or so while I'm working, and not to cross my legs, and to keep walking on my treadmill at night.

My ankles were particularly swollen after the long car rides to and from Michigan. They felt a little strange to walk on... kind of puffy.

At our baby showers, I wore new funky cool sandals, and found that my feet looked really dumb in them because they were so swollen! The sandals were more comfortable than socks, though.

Emotions

My emotions are completely out of whack. Several times, now, I've burst into tears over things that are, admittedly, sad, but usually I have more control than that. I've been having serious trouble sleeping, which has not helped. I was bordering on some hormonal depression, I think, and the lack of sleep made me very moody and unhappy. I'm surviving, but this week hasn't been the glorious pregnancy that I was having!

Holly had recently given me a CD of a Canadian band called 'Sons of Maxwell'. I like it quite a bit. The brothers have excellent voices and make lovely harmonies together. There is a song on the CD called 'Hold On', which is about Alzhimer's Disease. It is about the saddest song I've ever heard in my life, particularly because my grandmother has Alzhimer's. I heard it on my way up north last weekend, and I ended up crying for about a half an hour. Not very safe driving situation! If you want to read the lyrics, I've put them on the web site under the "Songs" section.

Other People's Babies

Alden Burt

My childhood friend Matthew (now known as 'Matt') became a father to a little boy named Alden on March 4th. I think that Alden is a great name, and thought of using it briefly after I heard it, because it sounds good with Doom, but I already feel that it is the name of Matthew's son, not mine. He said that they had also considered using the name Alexander, coincidentally.

Alden is adorable, and so tiny! Matthew sent me photos of Alden and a pretty detailed description of the birth, and managed to make it sound scary and wonderful at the same time. It made tears come to my eyes, it was so beautiful. Congratulations Mary and Matthew, and welcome to Alden!

Draven and Kaden Doom

Troy and Karen brought Draven and Kaden over to the baby shower on Sunday, because a lot of people there hadn't gotten to meet Kaden yet. They were both so polite and good (Draven and Kaden, that is, though Troy and Karen were good, too) during the shower! Even surrounded by little baby toys, Kaden was very polite about taking them to play with. She loves Pooh, and when we got a set of Pooh books with matching stuffed animals, she wanted to play with it, but we didn't think it was a good idea to open it right then (there was enough stuff on the floor already), but she didn't get upset at all. Very nice kids!

Lisa (Culbertson) Oldani

My childhood friend Lisa Oldani (nee Culbertson) told me after the shower that she, too, is expecting her first child! He or she is due in October, so she's pretty newly pregnant. She very considerately didn't want to steal my thunder during the shower, so she didn't announce it to everyone, but I wish she had because I know that everyone there would have been thrilled for her!

Unfortunately, she has been experiencing morning sickness, and was envious to find out that I never had that particular symptom. I've invited her to my web site, and now know her email address so I can find out more about her pregnancy. Hopefully this will open up a chance to renew my friendship with her... we just haven't talked in so long!

Julie (Stephenson) Holt

I also heard that my friend Julie Holt (nee Stephenson), who was my constant companion at Camp Michigania (you should see the adorable pictures of us in our handmade Michigania gear), is expecting her third child. The last time that I saw her was at my wedding shower, and she was so much in love with her son, it was wonderful! She is the one that first told me about using sign language to speak to your infant, and I'm a complete believer now. I've got a book and a video about it, and I can't wait to start teaching my son to speak with sign language!

General Thoughts

I find that being pregnant has put me into a new club, and has given me the opportunity to get to know people that I haven't been in close contact with since childhood. It is interesting how much people have changed, yet stayed the same. I'm loving the opportunity to reaquaint myself with old friends!

Gifts

It now looks like Babies R Us exploded in our living room!

Travis and I went up north this weekend for two baby showers. They were wonderful! I was nervous about them, because it is hard for me to be the center of attention for so long. It turned out that I had such a nice time that I wished that they could both go on longer! Everyone was extremely generous, and I now feel like if the baby were to show up now that we would be able to clothe him, diaper him, burp him, entertain him, and feed him!

I wore a nametag on my belly that said, "Hello, my name is ? Please touch!" I didn't want people to hesitate to feel my belly, because I'm so proud of it, and I know people like to touch pregnant bellies! I'm glad that I never developed the hatred of people touching it that so many people talk about.

I wore new sandals, which seemed like a good idea in warm Ohio, but was probably inappropriate in Michigan, where piles of snow still adorned my parents' yard. Anyway, when I wear sandals, I like to have my toenails polished, so my feet don't look naked. I can't reach very well, of course, so my sister generously offered to do them for me. So, my toenails are polished right now, for the first time since I got pregnant.

White Shower

The first shower was a combination of my parent's bridge group, poker and outing club, Alpha Chi friends, local relatives and a few neighbors. These were all people who have known me my entire life, and have watched me grow up, so they were so excited to see me pregnant. It was so much fun to see everyone again!

It was hosted by Linda Grekin (from my parent's bridge group), Ingrid Sheldon (from the Bridge group) and Pam Slee (from the Great White North group). They did a beautiful job! The food was excellent, there was plenty of room for all those people, the cake was lovely, and they were just so sweet to do all the work for me!

Oh, funny gift comment. You'll hear about my childhood friend Matthew's new baby in the Other People's Babies section... his mom was at my shower and she gave us two gifts. I opened the small one first, then when I reached for the second one, she said, 'That's a number 2 gift!'. It turns out that it was a Diaper Champ, which made everyone laugh!

I was sorry that it was such a huge shower (~30 people) because I would have really loved to talk to everyone more! We didn't know how comfortable I would be traveling by now, so we didn't want to commit to multiple showers on different weekends, so this one just got bigger! It turns out that traveling isn't very comfortable, so it was probably the right choice, but I do wish I could have spent more time with each person.

We had a few homemade gifts at this shower, including a fleece baby blanket from Debbie Kangas, and a navy blue sweater with interchangeable pockets from Judy Kesler, and a tiny Michigan State hat and matching outfit from Jane Eisner! My mom cross-stitched a onsie for me, too!

Doom Shower

The Sunday shower was the Doom shower, so all of Sheryl's friends and relatives were there. Sheryl organized the whole thing while she was in Florida, I think, which is amazing. It turned out beautifully! She held it at my parents' house so that everyone didn't have to drive all the way to Irish Hills (where they live now). That was really convenient for me and Travis!

I thought it would be more fun for all of them if Travis opened all of the gifts, and he did a great job! He was very funny (as usual), acting like he didn't know what to call the various types of clothing that babies wear. Whether he actually knows or not, I don't know (yet). We got two roller shades for the car, and Travis called them 'baby nightsticks'!

It was particularly appropriate for Travis to open the gifts because I had done all of the registering for the gifts, so he really was surprised when he opened things! He also didn't know what some of them were, and people had a good time explaining things to him.

A few people for this shower made blankets or quilts for us. They are all very skilled with their hands in that family, so they know how to sew and such, so the items are beautiful! We really appreciate the time and effort that goes into making a gift by hand, even for those who have experience doing it!

We played 'Baby Bingo', which is bingo in which the guests all create their own bingo card in which each square has an item that they think you'll be receiving. Then, as you open the presents, people check off what they got, and if they get five in a row, they win. Connie Shoemaker made the prizes for the game, which must have taken forever because there were a lot of winners!

Sheryl brought the decorations that had been used for Travis's baby shower! I thought that was so neat! I love connections like that. She made excellent lasagna, which everyone loved. All of the food was excellent, actually, but the lasagna was particularly good.

So, I got another chance to spend time with Travis's extended family and family friends (at least those of the female persuasion), which has only happened a few times since we got married. I'm really enjoying getting to know everyone! It was good to see them again, and they are all so happy for us. It was a wonderful shower! Thank you, Sheryl!

General Thoughts

It is so touching to me that our parents' friends are so involved in their children's lives! Travis's parents and my parents have all done a wonderful job of building communities around them. I hope that Travis and I can do the same, and maintain friendships that will carry on throughout our lives.

Originally, I was not looking forward to the showers, just because it is hard to be the center of attention for so long, and because I feel guilty for getting so many presents! People were so generous! It actually turned out that I LOVED the showers, and I just had to remind myself that people really wanted to buy presents for us, and didn't do it just because they feel obligated. It was so wonderful to be surrounded by so many people who care about us, and to have them rubbing my belly and wishing me well for the rest of the pregnancy and childbirth. I'm sorry that the showers are over!

We managed to fit all of the gifts into Travis's new Vibe, but it was close! We had no visibility out the back, but he's used to that from driving his truck, so it wasn't a problem for him. We got home around 11:00pm, and managed to unpack the car before falling asleep. I can't believe how much stuff a baby needs (or can use)! I know, they don't NEED all the stuff that we now have, but it will make our lives easier! We're going to have fun putting everything together and figuring out what each item is for! Thank you, everyone!

I think that's it for this week... so much happened that I'm sure that I forgot some things, as usual. I'll try to make the next update
shorter!