Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Education?

I'm thinking yes at this point. I have been diligently reading my pregnancy books and going to my birthing classes and granted, they have taught me a lot of useful things. However, what they do best is scare the bejesus out of me about all the stuff that could go wrong. The birthing classes in particular have me and Ryan in a state of near constant uneasiness. And the reason I know it's really getting to me is 1) I am having nightmares about the birth for the first time and 2) I am paranoid about feeling her move. I had a nightmare the other night that I gave birth to her, only she was tiny...less than a pound....green...and dead. Now that sounds just silly now, but trust me, in that dream, it was terrifying!

I got a call from the doctor's office yesterday....they finally got my bloodwork back from when they took it here at Lilly last week. They were concerned about the level of glucose, so they asked me to come in for a fasting sugar test. So for 10-12 hours last night through this morning, I couldn't eat or drink anything except water. I am STARVING! I went in and they took my blood and I mentioned to the nurse that I really hadn't felt the baby much in the past 24 hours and I was a little concerned. So they hooked me up to the fetal monitor for 30 minutes and kept track of her heartbeaet and movement. Turns out everything is fine, she is strong and healthy. I blame the birth classes for my worry! Now, hopefully, everything will come back fine with the glucose test as well. Contracting gestational diabetes is not my idea of fun!

I am at 30 weeks today, which is hard to believe. Only 10 weeks till the due date and 4 more weeks of work. Eee! We went and visited Tessa last night, she's already over 4 months old. But I love watching Ryan with her, he is just such a natural with babies. Tessa just loves him. I am not so natural at it...hope it's different when it's my baby. Ryan tells me it will be but still, I can't help but be a little nervous that this whole mom thing won't come as naturally to me as I want it to. Starting the countdown in the 30s now just reminds me how much we have left to do....gotta find a pediatrican, gotta figure out work schedules, day care or grandma care arrangements, etc, etc, etc. Okay, gonna stop now, my mind is swimming!

For Every Down, There Is An Up!

Well, my health took a downturn last week after I posted my blog. Ended up in the emergency care unit here at work because I started to faint. Turns out I need to to eat more protein and drink more water....go figure! So I have religiously had a bottled water with me ever since and bought eggs and peanut butter to supplement my protein intake. Was in and out of work all last week feeling unwell, but I am doing much better now.

I've started my two week doctor visits and I had one last Thursday. It was a bit distressing....found out I put on 8 lbs in only 3 weeks. Which weighs me in at 140 lbs now, which brings my total weight gain thusfar to 27 lbs or so....oops! Am trying to watch my food intake now...not less...but more healthy. Fruit for dessert instead of chocolate cake...grr! Also plan on taking Gypsy on more walks. I never thought I would be one to have problems gaining too much weight....gotta love pregnancy! I just don't want any complications with the birth and the doctor scared me a little with all the bad stuff that could happen if I don't keep my weight down. Ugh...as if I don't have enough to worry about!

I got some fantastic news today, though. Turns out I do get a full 16 weeks off for maternity leave. Hooray! Plus I have a week vacation I have to use up before the end of the year. So....my last day of work will be September 21....not too far away. Granted, a lot of the leave is unpaid, which will make things tight for a while, but Ryan and I agreed that the time home with the baby was priceless. We just may have a much leaner Christmas this year....I think our friends and family will understand, though. I won't come back from leave until January 25...so I'll have a good twelve weeks with the baby. Plus I won't have to worry about my health and how uncomfortable I'm going to be that last month, cause I'll be home. Plenty of time for me to do what I started this weekend....nesting.

I am in a nesting/organizational mode right now. Bought new storage containers this weekend and had Ryan make a couple trips to the storage place to start bringing back some of our stuff to organize and put away. It's looking more and more like we'll have to stay in the house for the forseeable future, so I want to make it ours and make it nice before the baby gets here. I have lots of ideas and plans but unfortunately, my body no longer keeps up with my brain! I think our little girl's having a growth spurt cause my tummy has definitely expanded lately!

Well I better get back to work....lots to plan for now that I'm only going to be here for another month or so. I want to make sure the ladies who will be picking up my workload have everything they need from me. I feel bad leaving them for so long but what can you do?! We're going to the Colts game tonight and I am really excited. They're playing the Bears so three guesses who I'm rooting for!

Third Trimester Woes

I started the third trimester on the way back from Key West on August 3rd. Being a little over one week into it and I have come to one conclusion....it sucks. I am not a happy camper and I have no idea how I am going to manage the next few months, considering I am only going to get bigger, thus amplifying my symptoms. What's going on you ask? Let me list for you.....

Back Pain - This ranges from my lower to mid back and makes it virtually impossible for me to get comfortable. Work is terrible...these "ergonomic" chairs were not designed for pregnant woman....I have a footrest, which is nice, but still not enough. This weekend we took Ryan's recliner out of storage as a last ditch effort to try and find me a place where I could sit/lie down comfortably. That recliner is a miracle---it is the only place my back feels better in. But I found a new problem that the recliner doesn't take care of....

Leg Cramping - Oh yeah. This is fun. It's just my right leg so far and it cramps in back either by the calf or the thigh. They say to do stretching exercises, which I do, but that doesn't provide more than a few seconds of relief. The result is that I am constantly changing position to try and find one where I feel the leg cramp least. At home, it can take me a while, but I usually find a position. At work, however, I am never comfortable.

Acid Reflux - This started appearing in Key West and has become a lot more frequent, especially at night. It starts as this acid in my stomach that then goes to the back of my throat. I have a doctor appointment on Thursday and hopefully there is some medication I can take for this. I have really upped my calcium intake to try and coat my stomach, but it's not really working.

Lack of Sleep - All three of the previous things add up to me not sleeping well. Last night I was up wandering for hours....taking breaks by laying in the recliner for a while.

Hot Flashes - It's really not so much flashes as it is just being hot most of the time.

Difficulty Breathing - It's getting difficult to take deep breaths, which is a little clausterphobic at times. And as a trained singer, who is used to taking full, deep breaths, it's a little scary when that ability is diminished.

This of course is in addition to the other symptoms like being in the bathroom constantly, that I am just used to by now. But I think that's the bulk of the complaints. Just feeling a little down about it all. I'm hoping the doctor will have some coping strategies and medication options for me on Thursday.

In happier news, Ryan and I went to Babies R Us on Saturday to start a registry there. We had originally registered at Target, but so much of their stuff was online only with large shipping charges, we felt we should do the bulk of the registry at Babies R Us and supplement with the Target one. It was quite overwhelming in there....sooo much baby stuff....how do you choose? What do you really need? We decided that the registering experience would have been a lot more enjoyable with two changes: 1) Eat first....we went around lunchtime, not thinking we would be there for HOURS and we got real hungry and cranky toward the end and 2) Bring a mom with you that's been through it before for opinions and advice. But even under-fed and alone, we managed to get through it in one piece. And I'm very excited about what we registered for...can't wait to start buying for baby!

Class, Crawling and EPS's

Our first Expectant Parent class was Wed.  I didn't know quite what to expect - aside from Allison's warnings that I'd see a video of a birth (she was right).   This first class was pretty much an introductory class - there's about 15 other couples attending.  It's taught by a RN that works in the NICU at St. Francis.  I think it's good that we're taking this class - it's giving me a chance to get even more accustomed to the idea of being a father - which I'm finding is more of an identity change.  

I started reading this book last night called Crawling: A Father's First Year.   I came across it on Amazon one day and it sounded interesting.  It's quite good.  I read about 5 chapters last night (it's a small book).  It's a witty memoir of a children's book author's first year as a father.  Interesting thing about this guy, though, is that he never really liked kids.  He liked writing children's books to the 5 year old within himself, though.   So he's got an interesting perspective that certainly garners my interest.  Anyway.. so far the book is quite entertaining and informative.   My first reaction to the book (and a good one at that) is that I'm going to be okay.   That all the fears I'm having, the identity crisis, the helplessness in regards to the pregnancy - it's all normal and many new fathers go through the same thing.

I also discovered last night that I experience EPS's - which is my acronym for Electronic Pulsing Sensations.  It's a rare condition that apparently only affects me in regards to my growing daughter.  I was holding my hand on Allison's belly last night (late, last night).  And the baby was moving around... but every time she would kick or move or something it would send this weird electronic reaction to my body and I would jerk like I was being shocked.  It was totally involuntary and affected a different part of my body.  Allison started laughing which made the baby move more, which caused me to get electrocuted.  It's an interesting phenomenon and I plan to study it more.  :)

Music I like

The other day.. mom and dad drove to pick up the dog after returning from their destination wedding and honeymoon. Yay them! Dad turned up the radio REALLY loud so I could hear.... he kept asking what kind of music I liked. Well he can't hear me from inside the womb-cave, so the only way I could tell him was by dancing around like mad so mom would notice.

So far.. here's what I like..

Foo Fighters
Barenaked Ladies

I'm looking forward to hear some more stuff. Mom and Dad have been getting some CD's from the library to play in my nursery. Dad found this series that sounds neat so I can't wait to hear it.

http://www.rockabyebabymusic.com/web/page.asp?pgs=products