Monday, September 21, 2009

Pregnancy Etiquette

Okay, so let's talk pregnancy etiquette. It's really not that complicated. As I see it, there are three main rules to pregnancy etiquette:
1. NEVER ask a woman if she is pregnant. Especially if you just have suspicions and it is not TOTALLY obvious.
2. NEVER comment on a woman's size. NEVER!
3. NEVER touch a pregnant women's belly unless you are the father of that baby.

If you must say something to a pregnant woman. It is safe to ask how she is feeling. (However, I personally get tired of this one). Or tell her how good she looks PERIOD!

In reference to rule #1, I was never asked before I told people I was pregnant before this third pregnancy. I had a lady in my yoga class ask me (with other people around) at about 11 weeks. I was not too offended because I was pregnant, but had I not been... She then proceeds to tell me how 3 months after her daughter had a baby, people were asking her if she was pregnant. And that wasn't a clue?!
4 days after having Hannah, I ran into an acquaintance (who I had very recently seen) who said, "Oh, you still haven't had the baby yet?" Come on! I know you still look pregnant right after having a baby, but NOT 9+ months.

In reference to #2, I do remember with Hannah being asked if I was having twins (how original). And with this pregnancy, I have been asked if I'm sure my due date is not November rather than January. I have been told how huge I am on several occasions (again how original). I've also been told (by a friend) her husband said I was huge. She then proceeds to give me some cookies she had made and said "not that you need them." I was also told early in the pregnancy, that I sure was showing early for not being very far along. And I had someone very close to me, who will remain nameless, tell me I should embrace my "full" figure. My response should have been something like, maybe I will embrace it because you sure in the hell aren't going to be! He's still trying to get himself out of that one!

I do enjoy being pregnant. But the comments are killing me! Why do people feel like they can say things to pregnant women that they would never say to anyone else?

If you have stories to share or rules you'd like to add to my pregnancy etiquette, please comment!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Still Running

I went out for a 5 mile run this morning and it was great! I got out as it was still a little dark and got to the turn around before the sun had come up over the mountains. But the best part was it was in the mid 70's. I feel the end of the heat is near! Actually, I haven't really been too bothered by the heat this summer. But I am getting a little tired of having to carry water and of the sun coming up so early. I love to start a run in the dark and finish it in the light. I'm 24+ weeks along and am feeling pretty good. I do get really tight from running and my abs and butt have been REALLY tight (and not in a good way tight), so I am backing off from 5 to 4 days of running a week to see if that will help. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep my mileage up. But I did manage to run the entire time with both H and C and they turned out fine (other than maybe having too much energy), so if you are worried, don't.

Amazing Jakes

Since Chuck had the day off on Labor Day, we ventured off to Amazing Jakes, a giant indoor play place with a pizza buffet which included unlimited soft drinks (Chuck was in heaven). Lily and Emma were able to join us, which was fun. The buffet was quit good and the kids had a great time playing games.
Here is Emma in the blue car with C and Lily just in front in the red car.

H was quite upset she couldn't ride in the go-karts, so she and her daddy rode the train.

Here are C and Lily waiting to go. They stood in line for so long and C was so patient. He was so excited to go. I just can't believe he actually did it. But of course he had to have the red car.

Here is C on a simulated roller coaster. The had a small roller coaster, but he wouldn't get on it.

Here is H playing skee ball that is just her size.
After our time at Amazing Jakes, we couldn't find our camera. We knew it made it to the car, but couldn't find it anywhere in the car or house. We had decided it had been stolen because we don't just lose things. But...Chuck finally found it folded away between the back seats. He was quite proud of himself for finding it. I'm very glad it was found because it was quit new along with the case, batteries and memory stick.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Ultrasound #2

A complete waste of time! Where do I start? I should probably start with a run because that always makes me feel better when I am so irritated that I want to pull my hair out! But, it is 100+ degrees, there is not a cloud in the sky and I have both kids home with me. So, to recap...two plus weeks ago at our routine ultrasound, the tech found a bright spot on the heart (something that occurs in a lot of normal babies) and a very small, about a millimeter, amount of extra fluid on the kidneys (something that is very variable). These are two soft markers, for down syndrome. So, we have a Dr. come take a look. He sees the same things as well as perhaps a "hole" in the heart. That is, he's not quite sure if he can see the entire ventricular septum or not. Something he can't see because the resolution of the machine is not good enough to allow him to see something that is less thatn 2 mm in thickness (that coming from a noise and vibration engineer who knows a little something about sound waves). So, he wants me to come back in 2 weeks for another ultrasound. Let me first mention that the reason I have chosen to use a midwife is because I want to get away from doctors. I don't like them and I don't trust them. But, despite my original concern "Are they really going to be able to see that much better/more in just two weeks?", I comply and schedule the appointment and go. A student and the original tech do the ultrasound. I asked the tech a couple questions, to which she evaded. But she did say she did not ever see the "hole". We wait for the doctor, who then takes a look. He does not mention the spot on the heart nor the fluids on the kidneys. He does say that he once again is not sure whether or not he is seeing the "hole" and wants me to come back at 26 weeks. I ask about the spot on the heart. He says that's not going to change. Okay, I knew that. He did say that the first time, but I wanted to know if he'd say the same thing. I ask about the fluid on the kidneys (which, remember has not been brought up). He has to go back and look at the pictures, which indicate that there has been no change. I did ask about the fluid level though, normal is 4mm. One kidney is about 4mm and the other 5mm. However, he says he didn't expect that to change. (To give you an idea of how far outside normal can be, he says he sees 15 mm.) So, of course, I'm getting frustrated and say, "I guess I'm kind of wondering why I am here right now." His response was he was hoping that the heart would big enough that he would have been able to see the ventricular septum better. So, I say, well if you can see better once the heart is bigger why don't we wait even longer to do yet another ultrasound. IN FACT, WHY DIDN"T WE WAIT LONGER TO DO THIS ONE! I don't think he really said much at this point other than just trying to convince me I need to do it, but admits nothing is going to be done in utero. However, we want to keep on eye on the fluid surrounding the kidneys because it might need to be addressed once the baby is born. BUT YOU DIDN"T EVEN MENTION THE KIDNEYS UNTIL I ASKED! So, I am not going to keep going in for ultrasounds until he decides yes there is a hole or no there is not a hole when nothing can or will be done anyway! I did not schedule an appt. I will go to my next regularly scheduled appt. with my midwife and discuss this with her. Until then, I am not going to let a doctor get paid nor insurance charged for test that are unnecessary and can't provide information warranting a change in the course of events. And if I do go in for another ultrasound, I will be requesting another doctor.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Art Smart

With Cameron in school, I thought it would be fun to do something with just Hannah before the baby comes. So, I enrolled her in an art class thru the city of Tempe. In class, they read a story and do an art project based on the theme of the book. Today, the made a dog hand puppet. Hannah is so diligent in her coloring though, we never made it to putting the puppet together.
this is her "cheese" smile

She does quite well staying between the lines. And if her right arm gets tired, she switches to her left.


Happy Anniversary!

Chuck and I "celebrated" our 7th year anniversary yesterday (the 3rd). In some ways, I can't believe we have been married 7 years, have two kids together and a baby on the way. In other ways, it seems like I can barely even remeber life without Chuck. I adore Chuck! He is such a great husband and father. AND he knows he is pretty lucky to have me. Of course, he can't forget because I am always reminding him! For our anniversary, we actually got away from the kids and out of the heat for a day/night. We left Saturday morning and drove to Snowflake, AZ. Charity came over to watch the kids. She said they were really good. So good in fact, she thought maybe they were getting sick. She took them to the AZ Science Center, the dollar store and Peter Piper Pizza. They gave her no problems going to bed and stayed in their beds all night. In Snowflake, we attending the temple there, where we were sealed just over 6 years ago, ate at a great Italian restaurant, and relaxed at a cute little Bed & Breakfast. We enjoyed a walk Sunday morning in the cool weather, had a great breakfast and then drove home. We would have loved to stay longer, but asking Charity to stay with the kids longer would have been pushing our luck! For our actual anniversary yesterday, Chuck took a long lunch and we all went to our favorite restaurant, Spinato's, pizza and Pibb Xtra with crushed ice! I didn't get a picture of us, but here is one of the kids...