Pregnancy Jibber Jabber

I admit it. I've had a pretty easy pregnancy - when speaking about the pregnancy itself and not all the silly drama that surrounds it (doctors, bills, etc.).

The little one has been fairly mellow. I only hope she's this mellow when she's outside! She hasn't given me too much grief (yet). She wiggles and stretches, but doesn't kick or punch too aggressively or too much. Only a couple times has she struck a nerve hard enough for me to be bothered - but mostly just her wiggling around and watching my belly move in unnatural ways is enough to disturb me and creep me out. (My husband keeps teasing me with the final scene of SpaceBalls where the critter jumps out of the guys chest and starts singing "Hello my honey, Hello my darlin..." - and that usually gets him a sore arm for a few hours.)

She wakes up and gets all excited after I eat. Usually about 5-15 minutes after I eat is when she gets active. There's a few random times throughout the day she wakes up as well.

My belly button still hasn't "popped" yet. So I guess she's not done baking yet. Every time I see a mention in a book about the belly button popping out, I keep thinking of a turkey timer. It is, however, getting pretty flat and stretched out. There's just a little hood now stretched out over the shallow crater in my belly. That's about it.

I haven't really gotten any stretch marks either, though I probably will in the next month or so.

The worst thing I've suffered so far, is sore hips. Mostly the legs where they meet the hips. I've been trying to walk it off lately, and it seems to be helping, but there are days when it's hard to sit up, much less stand up, roll over, walk, or anything of the sort that requires those muscles to move.

Sleeping gets interesting as well. I can't lay on my back, or she squishes my innards. I can lay on my stomach, or I squish her and my innards. I seem to not be able to lay on my right side anymore without getting up 5 times a night to use the restroom. That leaves me with my left side. Even then, my big belly can't lean on anything, because it doesn't feel very nice if there's any pressure on it, so I've got pillows propped up under my upper body for weight displacement. Sometimes a pillow goes between my knees to help with my hurting legs. It helps a little. My husband can't put his arm around me very easily, because everywhere he puts it, usually makes my belly ache, or the baby kicks me to tell him to get off (again - she has space issues), and once I'm in bed and situated (which takes about a minute to flop in the right position), I'm not very inclined to move a muscle.

Last night was the worst. I was dead tired from not getting enough sleep two nights prior, and my husband couldn't sleep. So I lay there, with the light on, he's reading a book, and I can't get to sleep. The bed was very uncomfortable, and for some reason, the upstairs felt incredibly warm - but not just for me, so I don't think it was baby's heat making me warm. I actually went downstairs and slept on the couch.

Normally, the couch is the most uncomfortable place for me to sleep, but last night, it was like cloud nine. I had lots of huge, oversized, firm pillows to prop up against, and it was insta-sleep! It was probably a good move on my part, because I found out that he was still up another 2 hours from when I left to go downstairs.

The cravings have been interesting. First it was breads and pastas (or anything with a carb or statch in it), then it was baked potatoes. Next it was fruits and vegetables, then it was a short round with nuts, fish and chicken. The latest has been beef - and that's when I figured it out. She's trying out the menu - one food group at a time. Thankfully, she hasn't had me eating any strange combinations, like ice cream and pickles. Eh-yuch!

Anyways, time to get back to work (yes, on a Saturday). Sorry I don't update this more often, but it's rough when you come home and all you want to do is rest, eat, go to bed. Oh well. Ya'll love me and ya'll shall get over it. Pththth.

Lovyas!

Bad News - More Bad News

Good news seems so rare for me it seems.

Bad News #1 - I'm officially classified as "High Risk". Goodie! What does that mean? Well, it's all because of my blood type, if you can believe that. I'm A- and RH-. It's the RH- that sends the red flag up. They don't know what the baby's blood type is, so if it happens to be RH+, and my blood and her blood somehow mix at any time, well, antibodies start forming to get rid of the 'bad blood'. This is evidently very bad and potentially fatal. Joy. Now, on the chance that the baby is RH- ..... well, then there's no problem. In the meantime, I got a nice little stick in the buttox (hip really, but my dad loves teasing me about getting a 'shot in the butt' whenever I go to any Dr. for any reason). This is supposed to keep the antibodies from forming and to protect me and the baby - and for every pregnancy, I'll have to get another. Yippee.

Bad News #2 - My husband had just purchased the tickets for our trip to California, where his parents were to come down from the Pacific North West, and my family and friends would get together for a baby shower, birthday/anniversary party for my parents, my 94-yr old grandmother could see me, etc. .. even a friend that just back from a long bout in Iraq with the Marines.

The bad news is, my doctor today said I would not be able to fly. (Sorry She Travels!!!!! *insert mega-cry here*) I am supposedly not allowed to fly in my first or third trimester, and the dates our trip was scheduled, I'd be a few weeks into the 'no fly zone' of my third trimester. So my trip to California has just been wadded up into a neat little ball and thrown in the garbage. This is extremely upsetting, and being hormonal does not help matters. I guess now we just see if the airlines are willing to refund the money, or even part of it, or if they can allow us to reschedule for later down the road. As much as I beg my husband, he is not willing to risk us for the trip, and if the Drs say 'no', then no it is. I can't blame him, but I really wanted to go. I was looking forward to one last vacation before she was born. (At least I'll have a baby shower here with co-workers.... though I was looking forward more to the California one. I have little faith that anyone from work will bother to show up on a Saturday they could be doing other things on.)

Oh, and to top it off, I'm anemic! So the already hefty dose of iron they gave me, I now have to double!

Status of little Savannah - She's gonna be a big girl. She's measuring in the belly about a couple-few weeks older than she is (by the almighty tape measure), and her heartbeat is good and within normal range. The ultrasound says that her due date is Dec. 3, but they won't change it on the paper unless it had been more than 2 weeks off. So the due date of Savannah is still a crap shoot. I'm still saying sometime in early December. Tahell with dates anymore. She'll get here when she's darn good and ready!

The Name Game

Ok. So I bet everyone's on pins and needles wondering... what are they going to name this little spawnling?

We hadn't really made a firm decision until the gender was determined. Once that happened, it somehow made the choice much easier.

We had tossed around several girl names (probably a dozen or so in total). Some were whimsical, others traditional, and others that were somewhat common - but spelled differently. In the end, the winner was:

Savannah Lee

It's a pretty name, with lots of opportunities. If she wants, she could go by Anna, Anne, Savvy, or even Vannah if that's what floats her boat. I never had so many options with my name.

How did we come across this name? Well, I have two bosses - both from South Africa. The sister of one of them had come out from S. Africa to visit her brother. I had designed a web site for her earlier last year, and so while she was here, we sat for a bit and went over her site to give it a little fresher look. As we were talking, the topic of names came up, and whether we had any picked out. I informed her that we had mostly settled on a boy's name, but still had too many options for the girl's. She has three kids of her own, but she said she still always liked the name Savannah, and that we should name our girl that. I perked up to that notion, and figured we could add it to the list.

I went home that day, and pitched the idea to my husband. He instantly liked it, and sure enough, it ended up on the dry erase board hanging in the kitchen that housed all the other name combinations. We kept looking at that one, Samantha, and a couple others. (Yes, deva. Samantha was definately in the running!)

Then came the task of a middle name. We considered our grandparents' names, then our parents' names, as well as some of the other names we had on the board. My husband liked how Lee sounded - his mother's middle name, so that's what we went with. I love names that start with L, A, and S for some reason, so Lee it was. And it goes well with our last name. So about 2 days after finding out that we're having a little girl, we decided the name. (Actually, my husband made an 'executive decision' by circling Savannah Lee, and crossing out the others. I had no objections.)

Everyone so far has loved the name. It's unusual enough, but not too strange. It's long and pretty, with the option to be more short and playful. It can be nicknamed to be more creative, or common. It will all depend on her, and what type of personality she'll develop, and what she ultimately wants.

So with that said - we wait for the next round of excitement. The baby showers! After that.... the Due Date! *shuddertwitch* Yes... that day still intimidates me - but I am trying to refuse to let it get the best of me. Denial is bliss? =D

The Hospital Gave Me Porn Pictures

It's A Girl!

The hospital did an ultrasound today, and they gave me some snapshots of the gender parts of the little girl I'm housing. They even put an arrow at the appropriate place to show it's a girl. I'l be posting pics shortly.

Baby Knows Kung Fu

This is what my husband sees as the future of our child... click the link below for a good giggle.

Baby Kung Fu