Baby!

Jen's Baby Updates: Week 13

Sunday, October 13th

First of all, let me say how surprised and flattered I am that so many people are interested in hearing about my pregnancy and our baby! There are currently over 30 people on this list. I had planned on writing a journal for myself so I can remember this time in my life, and I expected that our families would want to know all the details but I didn't expect so many other people to be interested!

I just called my sister, who wasn't home, but my parents were, along with my grandparents and two of my aunts. As soon as they found out who was on the phone, there was a chorus of 'waah waah waah' in the background. I guess they are trying to get me used to it! It was pretty funny.

We are going in for our 13 week prenatal appointment on Wednesday, which means that we'll get to hear the heartbeat again. My childhood friend Matthew (now known as 'Matt', though I'll never be able to call him that) sent me an audio file of his baby's heartbeat, so now I want to make one, too! I hadn't thought of it before.

We told everyone in the computer science department at Wright State this week, while at the department picnic. Everyone knows now, and so I get stopped in the hall with congratulations all the time. It is really fun!

Baby Development

According to my books, the baby is now able to extend his/her fingers, yawn, stretch, breathe, hiccup, and swallow. From now on, I'll just tell you the new stuff he/she is doing.

Symptoms

Skin

The major pregnancy symptom that I'm having now, which is driving me crazy, is itchy skin! I know it sounds minor, and compared to the poison ivy I lived through last summer, it is nothing, but it is still really distracting. I've also been breaking out with acne for the first time in my life. That's pretty irritating. Hopefully my skin will settle down now that I'm in the second trimester. Maybe I'll get that 'glow' that people always talk about.

Energy

This week has been better, energy-wise. It is almost as if when I hit the 12 week mark, my energy came back, just like people said it would in the second trimester. I did sleep about 14 hours a night this weekend, but that was mostly because it was rather cool in the house and just so nice to stay our new (very firm) bed.

Since school started on September 17th, I'd been just doing enough work to teach my class, and doing a lot of that at the last minute, because I was just so tired! This week, I had so much energy that I reorganized the web site, wrote a tough but (hopefully) fair quiz, and started planning the midterm exam.

I also cleaned the house, did all the laundry, wrote my first Baby Update (as you know), made sushi for the first time ever, and still had time to watch 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', 'Smallville', 'Friends', and 'Will and Grace'.

Technically, I'm not allowed to have sushi, because raw fish isn't safe for pregnant women, but the sushi I made just had tuna, fake crab ( krab with a 'k'!), and avocado. It was surprisingly good, though I put too much wasabi in my soy sauce when I took it in to school for lunch. I could barely stand it. I thought my nasal passages were dissolving.

Exercise

I've been working out in both Karate and Taekwondo since finding out I was pregnant. At first, I was really tentative, because I didn't want to shake my little passenger loose... but now that I've seen him/her actually in there, and apparently happy and healthy, I'm more comfortable, and have been working out hard again. There are still things that I won't do, just to be safe. I don't fight at all, because accidents happen even when people are careful. I don't let anyone throw me to the ground, and I don't practice rolls. It is really nice to work out again... the time off between quarters was too long.

I ordered two prenatal yoga videotapes. I have done yoga before, and generally like the way that it makes me feel, though I sometimes find it boring. I just can't get my mind to calm down! Karate and Taekwondo are fine now, but I won't be able to do them throughout the pregnancy, and I'll want to do something! These tapes are designed for pregnant women, so don't ask you do to anything that could be harmful to you or the baby, and they talk about how these postures/breathing can be useful during labor.

Names

Evidently the people in Travis's lab have been thinking of names for the baby for us, and have come up with some interesting options... I'll keep a list of suggestions on the web page (once I have time to make it). With the last name of 'Doom', I'm sure that there are a lot of cool choices. Suggest some! Note that 'Impending Doom' and 'Certain Doom' have already been taken (by our cats).

'Victor Von Doom' is probably off limits, too. We don't want to encourage our child to grow up to be an cloak-wearing, metal-face-having, evil warlord bent on taking over the world! For those not up on the world of Marvel comics (I only know this one fact), 'Victor Von Doom' is Dr. Doom's real name, and he is, needless to say, an evil warlord bent on taking over the world. (Correct me if I'm wrong... I'm no expert on comic book warlords, even the ones that bear my husband's name and title!)

Miscellaneous

Preparation

I also borrowed some videos from the library about childbirth. I'm a little afraid to watch them, because I do have the whole fear of blood thing, you know. I'm sure I'll learn a lot. I'll make sure that I'm lying on the couch, just in case I pass out.

Speaking of learning a lot, I really do need to sign up for childbirth classes. There are a lot of options around here, so I just need to figure out what I want to do and how to fit it into my schedule. Sheryl (Travis's mom, for those on this list who don't know) reminded me that it isn't safe to wait until the third trimester to take those classes, because your third trimester, particularly for the first child, may not actually be three months! First babies are often early, so they say.

Read Jen's Baby Updates: Week 14 next!