29 Days and Counting

     Is it just me, or are there like a million parenting/pregnancy blogs out there? I'm all for sharing common experiences and showing off your family, but let's be honest. Nobody really cares. Sorry. Better have some witty ideas or creative nonsense to keep people interested.
     But, with only four weeks left until my due date, and with having a child being on both my regular life list and 25 before 25, it is time for an update. It's the final stretch! (Haha... Stretch...) So here's what's been going on.

     I totally get it if you just don't read this post, by the way. At least scroll down to the bottom to check out some randomness!


Pregnancy Thus Far

     Overall, this has been a pretty quiet pregnancy. Hope I didn't just jinx myself. The baby hasn't moved much up until this point. Now that all this nonsense is coming to an end, her butt or leg or something has been sticking out of my right side. I don't think my uterus is meant to bend that way, We'll see how much longer my body decides to cooperate.


Now Stretch it Out

     What the hell. These things are getting intense, and I've still got four weeks to go. I appreciate some women's attempt to play off being 'proud' of their nasty stretchies, but I sure am not. It's one of the side effects of life- nothing to brag about. I'll brag about the end product of the stretch marks-aka the baby that caused them, but you won't catch me pretending to be happy about these little devils. And please- don't wear a bikini!! You are NOT a tiger, and if you were then you sure wouldn't be in that bikini. I haven't researched to see if there's an effective way to get rid of these things yet, but I'll be bringing them up at my next OB appointment.


Cracking Up
  
       I love sleep. I hate rolling over in the middle of the night and having to stop halfway after feeling and hearing the huge crack of my pelvis bone. Waking up feeling like someone has repeatedly punched me between the legs hasn't been pleasant, either. Although I shouldn't be complaining- I'm sure in a couple weeks when I'm pushing a boulder out of my uterus I'll be regretting complaining about what will surely seem to be a slight nuisance.

     Random other body parts have been cracking, too. The hip crack is freaky. It makes me feel like I'm a hundred years old. Add that to my cracking knees and if I werent' pregnant I could probably qualify to play Bingo with your grandmother.


Preparing for Arrival


Sneaking a Peek

     I could talk a little bit about the unfairness of having to pay for a 3D ultrasound when others with equal or worse health insurance plans get it for free, but I'll save you the headache. You're welcome.

     Despite that the 3D ultrasound wasn't free, I couldn't resist the opportunity of getting a sneak peek at this little creature that is relentlessly sucking all the energy out of me. It was a pretty neat experience. She was very quiet and slept through the whole thing. Supposedly she opened her eyes once, but being she's half Asian it was hard to tell! Hopefully this is the sign of a quiet baby when she comes out.

The Baby Shower

      My Stepmother threw me a lovely baby shower this past weekend. It was much appreciated. I still need a lot of things, but the gifts I got are helpful. Hell, any gift is helpful. A lot of people gave cash or gift cards, which will really help get some of the bigger things that we still need.

     The Buy Stuff for Stephanie's Baby fund is still open, by the way. So please, don't be shy!

Heirlooms

     When I married, my Nana passed down to me a handmade handkerchief she had been holding on for decades.  My Great, Great Grandmother made in the late 1800s. My Nana had it on her when she married, and she gave it to some of her son's wives when they wed. Although my grandparents are still married, all but one of their eight children are divorced. I am not sure if this says anything about the handkerchief itself, but it was an honor to be married with it, and a privilege to be its new keeper.

      The other day, I randomly decided to visit my grandparents, and she gave me this blanket.

       Yes, Lela is a girl, and this is blue. Yet, it's still a very feminine blanket, and it's beautifully crafted. It doesn't matter what this blanket looks like anyways, because my Nana made it for her first born child over sixty years ago. And now, she's passed it down to me.

     In this day and age, things just aren't as permanent as they used to be. We're such a disposable culture. We throw things away so quickly, few items even get the chance to develop sentimental value. It'll be something I'll treasure and pass down to my children or grandchildren, just as my Nana has done with me.

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Okay! Enough of this! Here's the promised randomness. Mr. Potato Head Commercial from the '50s:

Why should you care?
Only because this was the first toy commercial on television EVER!
Again, You're Welcome.

Pregnancy is Not Sexy

     Let's try an exercise. I'll say a word, and you say the first thing that comes to your mind. READY?

Sexy

     If the first thing you thought of was 'pregnant,' it's gotta be because you saw the title of this post, and already knew where that exercise was headed.

     That’s right- I’m joining team Jessica! Despite what you may think, pregnancy is not sexy!

     Let me just make clear that I’m not referring to the whole experience of pregnancy itself. Of course the whole concept of creating a life, feeling it grow inside of you, sharing a special bond etc. is beautiful. It’s what makes the world go round. What I am referring to is the swelling hands and feet, stretch marks, aches and pains, waddle, and all the other lovely physical changes that a woman goes through when she becomes pregnant. Not sexy.

     Perhaps it’s best explained by Dwight in the beginning of this clip from “The Office”:

 

    
     This is a very naturalistic viewpoint, but I happen to agree. Biologically, us ‘preggers’ aren’t even supposed to be sexy. The whole fact that you’re already pregnant means that you can’t get pregnant again right now anyways. Biologically speaking, that is the whole purpose of having sex to begin with- Reproduction.

      With that said we are humans- and one of only two species (the other being dolphins) who have designated another purpose for sex: pleasure. I have to give that fact the attention it deserves. But basically, what we have done is reassign the term 'sexiness' to mean something other than having certain qualities that attract the opposite sex for the purposes or reproduction. Instead, sexiness is something that we would define as being visually pleasing to the opposite sex not necessarily for the goal of reproducing, but for something else.  

Then for what? Attention? Ego-boosting? Pleasure? 

     Whatever. What I’m trying to say is simple: I don’t feel sexy.

I weigh a ton.

  My shirts are riding too high and my pants won’t button.
The maternity pants I do have won’t stay up.

The pants that fit the best are my old pants

(with a maternity belt over the undone buttons and zippers,)

 and if I am not careful I’m flashing everybody.

Last night when I rolled over from my right to left side...

 my hips made a huge popping sound

that made me want to vomit!

My hands are swollen.
My waist is disappearing (along with other body parts).
My swagger is whack.

And I feel like I'm always smelly... Pregnant Smelly...

     Kudos to those chicas in the world who do feel sexy during pregnancy. You have unhuman, supernatural powers.

...

     Are you/have you been pregnant? How did you feel sexy?

The Life of a Pregnant College Senior

"Every New Beginning Comes from Some Other Beginning's End"

- Semisonic

     It feels like I am wrapping up so many thing in a four month period! I'm already feeling anxious, disorganized, and unprepared. Most of it, I think, is because there are so many things that are supposed to happen within the next few months, but nothing seems to be written in stone. I'm not one that has to have everything planned all the time but jeez, I need some sort of idea about what's going on when, if at all!

Final Semester

     Clark U, I'm baaack! It's my last semester! And this is what must be the only part of my life I feel organized about right now. Despite the organization, there is a lot that has to be accomplished this semester! Some of them are fairly substantial, so I am already trying to read ahead. No doubt that this may prove to be the biggest resume-building semester of my undergrad career.

1. I'm taking a class on influencing public policy on the state level, which I am really stoked about. I'll be helping in putting together the Family Impact Seminar taking place this Spring in Boston.
2. I'll be presenting group research with other students in my Cultural Psychology class during Academic Spree Day (date not yet announced, usually late April) 
3. I'll have the opportunity to publish a research paper. Hey! That's on my list!

     Looking at it now, it doesn't seem so bad. I think it's just knowing that all of this is happening in such a short amount of time, and during a time where my personal life is completely disorganized. All finals are due May 9th and then graduation from college is May 20th! I'll be able to cross that off the list!

**Note: Also currently working on my applications to Graduate schools-
another goal on my list that needs completing

23 Weeks

Carrying the Peanut

     I've seen quite a few pictures and, for 23 weeks, I'm pretty small. I'm considering myself pretty lucky- I've had no real aches, back pains, leg cramps, etc that a lot of other women experience. The only slight annoyances I've had thus far is swelling of the hands (not feet, though) and a soreness of my upper left leg. I'm probably jinxing myself right now.

     I think the thing that is giving me the most anxiety is not knowing where we're going to be living when baby comes. It's our hope to move back up closer to family, but when? It isn't even something that we can necessarily push- it has to fall in to place at the right time. I'm probably not very anxious about it at all, but the change in hormones have really had an effect on my mood within the past few weeks. The whole first half I was proud of my lack of mood swings and then BAM! I'm mostly trying to recognize when my emotions feel disproportionate to the extent of the issue and then gauge my reaction appropriately. I can't always control the emotion, but I can control my reaction.

     There's a lot going on! I just have to focus on managing my moods and not panicking about upcoming deadlines, and everything will be okay. It's always been, and most likely always will be, mind over matter.

Let's get this party started.