Week 25 - The Third Trimester!

The Piglet weighs about 1 1/4 pounds and is a little more than 11" long, about the size of a small bag of sugar. In the last third of the pregnancy, he'll double or triple his weight. The Piglet is a dexterous baby who can touch and hold his feet & make a fist. I may be able to hear his heartbeat with a simple stethoscope. Steven may be able to hear it by pressing his ear against my belly. The Piglet has a regular sleep schedule now and active and inactive periods. I may or may not be able to discern when these periods are. His nostrils, which have been plugged, open up.

Welcome to the third trimester. I'm 2/3 of the way there, I'm really in the homestretch now. While reaching the third trimester feels like great progress, with it comes a return to fatigue (great!), dizziness & constant trips to the bathroom. My belly can't be disguised. My uterous is the size of a soccer ball & my ribs, diaphragm and stomach are being compressed. This compression forces acid back up into my esophagus, which can give me heartburn & make me feel full after eating only a little food.

- excerpt from: Great expectations : your all-in-one resource for pregnancy & childbirth by Jones, Sandy

We went to our first class this morning. "Early Pregnancy". I don't think I really learned anything new, it would have been great to take this in my first trimester; I was by far the most pregnant lady in the class. It did drive home the fact that I should really get my ass in gear and start exercising again. I stated as much to Steven on the car ride home; and I barely got the sentence out of my mouth when he said "well, yeah." So I shot back that he could have phrased it differently, like he was supporting me as opposed to pointing out that I'm fat and should be exercising. He then said, no, he was merely agreeing with what Sheila the instructor said. I told him he should maybe not agree that fast with stuff like this. Bastard.

He said the only thing that he really learned was that we had to go to the 3rd floor at the hospital and that there were a whole lot of ugly people breeding and they were in our class. What can you do besides just shake your head?

This is funny, when we got to the Hospital, it wasn't in the main building so we parked, and the pay station was out of order so I had to scurry across the street to another one to get a ticket. Then (and mind you we're following directions) we go in the front doors, go up the elevator to the 2nd floor and try and find the correct room. It was weird, it was all exam rooms and what not but there wasn't another soul in sight. All the doors were open. Then we backtracked to the elevators and met up with another pregnant lady and she was in our class too. We wandered around for a couple of minutes and then discovered that we should have turned LEFT when we got in the front doors and gone over to the North Tower. So we get in the elevator and we talking about how weird it is that the building seems deserted and I remark that it's just like the beginning of a horror movie; and she (the other lady) shouldn't have walked off alone, that was a sure sign of being the first to go. So then Steven says no, it's always the black person and since in our situation there wasn't a black person, I would be the first to get killed because I was the minority. (thanks, dear) I thought it was funny; she probably thought that we were insane and about to kill her. We're so weird sometimes.

Yesterday after I got home from work, we were discussing what to eat for dinner. I was really tired so I didn't want to go out but Steven thought that we were going to Red Lobster for Lobsterfest. I laid down and was feeling The Pig move about when suddenly there was this distinct poking or dragging sensation underneath the skin. The coolest thing ever! Suddenly not so tired but very excited. It happened a couple more times while I was laying down. I honestly don't know if these were kicks, pokes or elbowing but it is definitely different from the normal movements. I came downstairs after 10 minutes and we went out for dinner. The Pig continued to move throughout the evening. Let me tell you about Red Lobster... the best thing? Probably the canned music that they played! All from our generation growing up, it was frickin' awesome. I was really disappointed in the lobster, I never knew that lobster tails could be so small; it was way smaller than the palm of my hand. Crab legs are a pain in the ass, so much work for so little meat. The shrimp was good tho' and Steven was funny. We got the bill and it was relatively low, very surprising until he remembered that he only had a soft drink so that was why it was so low!

Did you know that Home Depot is open until 10pm? That's right. We had to go there to replace a light dome on our ceiling fan because someone broke it with a golf club the other day. Someone was in the living room practising their chip shot when they broke it. Oh well, it could have been worse.

We're off to the Roughnecks game tonight. Shawn & Russ are picking us up. Should be a fun night. I better go tidy up the living room.

Can You Hear Me Now?

So, regarding The Piglet's development, I was telling Steven that when I was driving the other day and I was singing, The Piglet started to move around alot. And, of course I took that to mean that yes, indeed he knew it was me. However, Steven, took an entire different slant to the situation; he feels that yes The Piglet does know my voice, he (The Pig) was actually kicking and flailing his tiny arms in rage to tell me to "SHUT UP!" "STOP SINGING!" Which could very well be the answer. I prefer mine.
Also, in keeping with talking to The Piglet; Steven has started yelling at The Buddha from across the room. Not so much telling stories but having a mini conversation. It's quite funny and touching in it's own weird Steven-type way.

Meet The Cankles

Sexy, no?

And here's my swollen hand with my stand-in wedding ring. Although, perhaps I should have gotten one like Michelle's!

I slept in AGAIN this morning. I can't believe I'm sleeping so late, it's like I'm a teenager again. I hate sleeping this late, it makes me feel like I've missed most of the day. Not that I'm doing anything terribly important; I missed Church again, I brought work home, I need to finish another module in my course and of course laundry and dishes. I can't wait to get a dishwasher. I've got another headache too. It's not looking too productive for my brain power today.

Week 24

The Piglet weighs a little over a pound and is about 8 1/2" long - the size of a banana. His skin becomes less translucent as pigment is deposited, and it looks wrinkly because his body is making his skin more quickly than it makes the fat to pad underneath it. His unique foot & hand prints are forming. I may feel jumps as he has bouts of hiccups. In fact, it may seem like he is in perpetual motion. Some babies now kick in response to sounds & touch from outside the womb.

-excerpt from: “Great Expectations: Your all-in-one resource for pregnancy & childbirth” by Sandy Jones

I'm sitting here pantless (again, because it's much more comfortable plus I just woke up), trying to remember what's happened in the past week. I'm also running out of time because I need to get ready for the bridal shower and it takes so long to do my hair properly; plus I need to look up the directions.

Last Saturday we did go to the infamous muffin place, unfortunately Steven's dreams were dashed because they no longer carried the apple cinnamon muffins that he craved. It's amazing what changes in 10+ years! So we had brunch instead because it turned into a little restaurant. Then over to the Mall to hit The Gap (which upset me but I will not get into), Old Navy and Thyme.

Old Navy - It's like they're trying to run an amusement park. "Look everyone! Look how FUN we are over at Old Navy! Fun! Fun! FUN!" They had an okay selection, nothing particularly work appropriate. I bought a pair of casual pants, a tank top, and 2 summer tops. Oh my gosh, most of their pants were the low-rise ones. I'm sorry, I didn't wear them before I got pregnant, I'm certainly NOT wearing them afterwards. The pants had the belly panel in the front and then were 1/2 way down my ass. I am obviously not their target market!

Thyme - Loved it. Similar to Motherhood up by me. Much more work appropriate and more age appropriate for me. More expensive but really, at this point, I just want to wear something nice. Got 2 pairs of work pants, and 2 tops. Very happy.

Thanks Mom!

Then over to Pat's to have cake. Holy smokes, the cake probably could have fed 100 people. Derek, her son, works at the Carriage House and he helped make it. It was so good but incredibly funny since it was so big!

And then, rush rush rush back home so we could meet Shawn & Marilyn at The Keg for 6pm. Y'know, their food isn't that great considering their service is incredibly slow. I don't know why we go back there. Then over to Sunridge for a movie. A MOVIE! I'm so happy that Steven wanted to go. We saw Wild Hogs. I laughed & laughed. It was a perfect night. I wish we could do it more often. Although, I AM amazed that I wasn't overly tired when we drove home; I didn't even take a nap!

I've come to the conclusion that I'm not able to take another course after I finish the one I'm currently registered in. I had no idea that just being pregnant would be so utterly draining. And this was the easier of the two courses! Originally I wanted to take both at once, I'm pretty sure that would have sent me to the crazy house! Now I'm wondering if I'll be able to take a course while I'm at home with the baby....maybe not. GAH! How do other people do it? They work all day at a more physically demanding job (maybe cashier standing all day) and then they are also students while they are pregnant. They are definitely super women.

And speaking of standing, I am so not looking forward to it. My ankles, ah screw it, my entire body is bloated and the skin is stretching and I feel all funny. Anybody know how to alleviate this? I wonder if I'll be able to fit into my shoes? I want to wear my wedding ring to the shower, none of those girls have seen it. I wonder if I get it on, will I be able to get it off?

Jersey Girl

What is the name of a movie NOT recommended to watch if you're pregnant. Why, you ask? Well, let me tell you.... did you know that the character Gertie dies in childbirth within the first oh, 20 minutes? SHE DIES. I just stopped crying. And Steven's working nights and he called and is all worried because I was sobbing so hard when I answered the phone. SHE DIES. I thought it would be a good movie, I like Ben Affleck, I like Liv Tyler. I knew he was a widow with a young daughter in New Jersey, what I obviously didn't know was how he was a widow. Suffice it to say, I'm no longer watching that movie. Now I'm watching Everybody Loves Raymond, I'm doing some laundry and then going to bed.

SHE DIES.

Riley Appleseed

Crystal (a co-worker) was nice enough to invite Steven over to play golf on the simulator in her building. Oh My Gosh, was he ever excited. I'm pretty sure that he's trying to scheme a way to move in with her, God help her! Anyway, when we came home Thursday night, we found the huge bag of apples (the ones from Costco) on the floor. The plastic torn apart and a couple of apples scattered with teeth marks in them. The floor was sticky and Riley's kitchen pillow was wet and goobery. I'm not even sure how many apples he ate, more than 3; I don't even know how many were in the bag... I think it may be closer to 5 or 6 apples that he ate. Well, maybe we'll get some apple trees in the backyard. And then Steven woke me up last night/this morning at 4am to tell me that he was picturing Riley eating the apple goodness and what possibly was going thru Riley's head as he was eating the forbidden fruit. At least I'm not cleaning up exploding apple poop, I'm quite thankful for that!

I had the day off today. We went out for breakfast & ran some errands. Got a "stand-in" wedding ring. Had to put the Hearts of Fire ring in a safe place before the skin started growing over it. Just bought an inexpensive faux silver band. Good enough for a couple of months. But mark today on your calendar! Today is the day that my ankles officially disappeared and blended in with my calves. I was walking out of the jewellery store and looked down; told Steven to look at my ankles and he quips "Where are they?". They are so freaking swollen that it's scary. I heard about swelling and I thought that I was experiencing it before but man oh man, that was nothin'. My skin feels all funny from the swelling, like a balloon stretching thin or something. I feel like Violet Beauregarde except I'm not turning blue. (a Willy Wonka reference, in case you were wondering) When we got home around lunch time, Steven went back to bed (he's on nights) and I read my comic books (!) and then I fell asleep on the living room floor for about an hour. That's probably why my arm hurts so much right now.

Speaking of comic books, we have a bunch to give to McKenzie the next time that you're in town.

Steven suggested Regis and/or Rudy for names to me this morning. I asked him if he was serious and he yelled at me (like Regis yells) "What, what's wrong with Regis" It was funny, maybe you had to be there. I absolutely loathe Regis. I also hate the movie Rudy. (Steven loves the movie and loves watching Regis and Kelly). I think Rudy is a big ass whiner. He thinks Regis Rudy is a perfect name. Hahaha. We'll see.

Tomorrow is Michelle's bridal shower. I'm so excited to see everyone, I can't wait. Too bad I look like a bloated cow but what are ya going to do? It'll be so much fun.

Steven's car was at the mechanics again, Sunday and we picked it up on Thursday afternoon. Taking the bus sucks sometimes. I don't mind the train that much, but somehow the bus just pisses me off more. Twice now, I've asked for a seat because no-one stood up. Yesterday I stood in front of these 3 mid-20's girls on the train on the way home and they were completely oblivious until I was getting off and I heard them say "she's pregnant". Good, I hope they felt bad and it makes them more aware next time. I could have asked but I just didn't feel up to being a bitch about it.

I've Got the Freakin' Button

God must be telling me something. Another button popped off when I went to the bank this afternoon.