Fur-baby

I have been a dog owner now for almost 5 years, and I have been an expecting mom for about 3 months. And yet, in that brief time of overlap, I’ve begun to notice something – there’s more similarities between the world’s perception and treatment of dogs and babies than most moms would probably care to admit. Wes and I talked briefly about child care facilities this morning, and so between parent conferences, I looked for information on the three in our area. I typed “child care” in as part of my search, and wouldn’t you know it, up popped some daycare centers – and some doggie care centers. Tonight I received in the mail a catalogue for totally random baby items – many of which remind me of the items I see in the pet boutiques around Chicago – footies for something that doesn’t really need them, inexplicably expensive clothes for such a small being, various products to keep them on or off our out of certain areas. It’s some comfort then to know that Lucy has indeed been good training for the baby – though if she is any indication of our parenting skills, we’re in for some serious trouble.

11 Weeks

I saw my midwife for my second appointment yesterday. Everything looked and sounded fine, and I got to hear the baby’s heartbeat with the Doppler monitor. It took a few minutes to find, and when I laughed we lost it, but it was there. Either that, or I ate something crazy. I set up the next appointment and also got the order for my 20-week ultrasound. My birthday is the day after 20 weeks, so I think we’re going to schedule it for that afternoon. What a fun present.

We’ve managed to tell all of Wes’s family now. I talked to his sister tonight, who seemed really excited by the news. This is the first grandbaby/niece/nephew on Wes’s side, so everyone’s assuming new titles with this arrival. We’ll see the whole family around 32 weeks for my brother-in-law’s wedding in Philadelphia, so everyone will get a pre-delivery peek at the belly.

I found out that another teacher at school is pregnant. That makes three of us all due August through October. It’s exciting to have someone else to share the nausea and headaches and ultrasounds with (especially since the woman due before me is on #3). It makes me a little nervous about what’s going to happen at work. I fear that I won’t get the weeks out or reduced hours I’m hoping for with this many women out for maternity leave. Hopefully I’ve made myself indispensable enough that my director will meet my requests, but Wes and I will have to really talk if she won’t. Ah, so many things to think about – and fortunately, plenty of time to do so.

Does this baby make me look fat?

I have a belly. I don’t know how it got there or when, but I have a belly. I don’t look pregnant, I don’t think. I just look fat. In fact, several of my colleagues who know about the pregnancy have approached me recently to confirm my due date and ask if I’m showing – because they think I am. Just a few days ago, I looked in the mirror and thought, “Not much change here.” But today, there’s a belly. When and how do these things happen? I just suffered probably the worst 72 hours of nausea I’ve had all pregnancy, eating very little, but now I have a belly. I’m happy to have it, of course. Having bounced around with my weight all my life, I’m not real concerned about the weight gain aspect of pregnancy. It must and will come off afterwards, slowly I’m sure, with diet and exercise. Why is it that despite so many books and so many friends and family who go through the same thing, each new part of pregnancy is somehow wonderfully surprising?

Dear Husband Part 12

Wes, looking at the very grainy, very amorphous first ultrasound with one of his colleagues yesterday night after we shared the news: “See, doesn’t it look like a boy. And there’s his bald head.” Actually, it’s a gray blob with an arrow pointing to it. It’s amazing he could tell it was bald, though…

Have patience...have patience...

Waiting. It’s probably the worst part of this whole thing. Mind you, I wouldn’t want the baby to come tomorrow. We’re obviously not ready for that. But there’s time lapses between all the milestones. I found out I was pregnant and had to wait three weeks to see the midwife and get an ultrasound. I saw the ultrasound and had to wait another two weeks to tell my family. Now my family and some friends know, but I’m probably two or three weeks from announcing it at school to staff and students. I’ve no idea how long it is until I start to show or have trouble buttoning up pants (especially since I’m 6-7 pounds lighter than when I started). It’s way too earlier to worry about classes or maternity clothes or a layette or a crib. It’s still early for names, I think. And yet, even though I’m sort of aimlessly waiting, it’s the best wait of my life.

Dear Husband Part 11

An excerpt from the inside of Wes’s Valentine’s Day card (which was accompanied by some treats I won’t be able to stomach for a few more weeks – he knows how I love Haribo!): “This little Alf is the most exciting thing I have ever experienced.”

Dear Husband Part 10

Since I found out I was pregnant, I’ve made a habit of reading each week of the pregnancy book on the night before I “promote” to the next week. When I had the ultrasound and got “demoted” 8 days, I couldn’t read my book for a while. When I commented on this to Wes, he advised, “Go back and read those weeks again. Maybe you can figure out what you did wrong the first time.”

Family Matters

So my family finally knows. My mom visited this weekend, and Wes and I surprised her with the news when she got to the apartment on Friday. Lucy was wearing a “Big Sister” t-shirt. Mom didn’t get it, and I had to spell it out for her. Needless to say, she was surprised and really happy for us. It was fun to call my dad and siblings, all of whom greeted the news warmly. My mom looked out for me all weekend – asking about my nausea, encouraging me to eat more greens and protein when I felt up to it, looking out for ice on our walks with Lucy. It was fun to have a couple days to “talk baby” with her. Wes had off Friday and Saturday, so he got to share in the fun before working on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Now it’s just a few more weeks ‘til I can spill the beans at work. It’ll be nice for all of my friends at school to know, and I’m sure the students, especially my seniors, will be excited by the news. I still try to remind myself that we’re not out of the woods yet on something spontaneously going wrong. I am only 9 weeks pregnant, after all. But it’s getting harder and harder not to imagine the end product and smile.

Dear Husband Part 9

I noticed in bed the other night that Wes’s back was bleeding from a scratch. To keep the blood from getting on the bed sheet, I licked my finger and tried to dab it away before he climbed out of bed to get a “Scooby” (yes, our Band Aids are of the Scooby Doo variety).

“It’s not magic spit yet,” said Wes. “You have to be a mom first.”

Pregnant Lizzie Speed

The pregnancy symptoms have certainly arrived. The nausea is a daily, all-day thing that limits my food options to apples, bananas, and crackers. You’d think that with such a basic diet – and no sweets – I’d lose weight, yet still my pants are getting slowly, very slowly tighter around the waistband. Most noticeably, I’m exhausted. I sleep 9 hours a night plus sometimes a nap in the afternoon. I’m sure I don’t actually need all that sleep, but if I can afford it, I figure it can’t hurt. The nausea is keeping me from really any working out, so it’s not like I’m trading sleep for exercise. Besides, I’m up at least once or twice a night, usually to pee. There aren’t really any symptoms that Wes can recognize – he can’t share the nausea or feel my sore boobs – but he did notice the fatigue. We went for a walk on Sunday with Lucy, and the whole way, I was struggling to keep up with him. Normally, I walk five steps ahead of him on “Lizzie speed” as he calls it. Not this time.

I made a mental promise before I ever became pregnant that I wouldn’t complain about pregnancy symptoms when they came because 1) I’ve been waiting for this and am so happy to be pregnant, and 2) I know these symptoms means the hormone levels are high, as they should be. It’s all transient, even the pregnancy, and especially for this first one, I don’t want to wish anything to hurry up. I’m sure my tune might change come 40 weeks, but for now, I want to enjoy every nauseated, exhausted moment.