Weekend Update

This weekend was busy, busy, busy. Back at work, I am wondering where the time went. Here is the rundown:

Nesting is in full force. I am beginning to panic that the house will not be ready when baby arrives. My husband keeps suggesting that we make a list of all the things we need to buy and do before the baby comes, and I keep avoiding it. Every time I start one, I get overwhelmed and then give up. There is just so much to do that it makes my head spin!

This weekend we finally looked hard at some living room furniture. We moved into our house less than a year ago. Before that we lived in Germany for two years and we got rid of most of our furniture before we moved there. As a result, we are squeezing onto one couch together in the living room and nearly lying on top of each other in the full size guest bed in our master bedroom. We don’t even have a kitchen table (or chairs, for that matter). As my belly gets bigger (and it seems to be doing that pretty rapidly!), we are quickly running out of room in our small collection of furniture. This weekend, though, we found something we both like (a small miracle), in a practical, baby-resistant, dark upholstery, and it was at a great President’s Day sale price. At least the three of us will have something to sit on. Somewhere to sleep? That’s a different story altogether.

After a snowstorm derailed my exercise intentions two weekends ago, I made it to the gym for my water aerobics class on Saturday. It was fun, and I was tired at the end. Also, the maternity swimsuit held up beautifully, although I should report that it is a bit lower cut than I had hoped. It was not a big problem for water aerobics, and I was not exposed or anything (in fact, the bust support is pretty amazing), but I imagine it could cause some drag if you were swimming laps. Additionally, for someone who is not accustomed to even having cleavage, showing it off in the pool is a little disconcerting. In other body image news, my belly continues to bounce around in the water during the jogging exercises. Sometimes I just give up the arm exercises so that I can hold my belly.

My husband and I celebrated Valentine’s Day with a nice brunch on Sunday. We have not been out as a couple for a while thanks to my fatigue, but my energy seems to be coming back a bit now, so we decided to spend some time out together. Plus, this is the last Valentine’s Day that will be just for us, so we wanted to do something nice. Starting next year, we will be three!

Pregnancy cravings are hitting me hard. This weekend it was corn dogs and marshmallows. Together in the same meal. Disgusting, right? I’m doing my best to balance the junk with some healthy stuff. I made a great tomato soup for dinner on Sunday night and I tried to pick up some healthy alternatives at the grocery store on Friday. I bought lots of fruits and veggies, and some low-fat proteins. Which reminds me, have you seen this “Carb & Sugar Control” yogurt? I haven’t tried it yet, but it only has three grams of carbs in it! I bought the vanilla one.

Bloodsugars are still spiking into the 160’s one to two hours after meals, but I am doing my best to fight them back. My insulin usage is up about 25% over my pre-pregnancy rates. Of course, those corn dogs and marshmallows are not helping matters! So far, my weight is still below the anticipated weight gain for this stage in the pregnancy. Not to worry, though, baby clocked in at exactly the right size at the ultrasound last week.

Those good vibrations from week 13 turned into less subtle kicks around week 18. Now I am feeling them higher up and with more frequency. They are still not incredibly forceful, and sometimes they do actually feel like gas bubbles except that they are in the wrong place! One thing is for certain though, this little one is really moving around in there. Sometimes I wonder if maybe he is practicing his dance moves.

I’m hoping to recuperate from my crazy schedule this week because, for the first time in months, I don’t have any doctor appointments! Hopefully that means I can get home early every night this week and get a little extra rest because next week it is back to the one or two appointments a week grind. Whew!

And so the journey continues …

Good Vibrations?

Now that I am into the second trimester, I am getting lots of questions about the baby moving. Questions from friend and family and from doctors and nurses alike. Can I feel it? How does it feel? Is the baby kicking yet?

The problem is, I am not sure how to answer this question. This is my first pregnancy, so I am not really sure what a moving baby feels like. Besides, at only 3-5 ounces, he or she is still pretty small, so it could be easy to miss those movements in this seemingly huge belly of mine.

Being a researcher, the first thing I did was look it up. My first go-to resource, What to Expect, says that it is unusual to feel movements this early, especially in a first pregnancy. Usually, movement is felt closer to 20 weeks. This book says the movements can feel like anything from butterflies in your stomach, to a feather, to gas bubbles. Huh. I can’t say I’ve felt anything like that yet.

Still wondering, though, I went to my next favorite resource, the internet. Here I found all types of real-life experiences posted in forums and on blogs. Some women felt movement as early as 13 or 14 weeks, and others, not until the sixth month. But I did find one thread that caught my attention; It was about vibrations. These women almost all said that their movements felt like vibrations low in their bellies. Now that is something I can relate to! And actually,I have been feeling these vibrations off and on since about 13 weeks. Could these vibrations be my baby moving?

I am still not 100% sure because the vibrations are fleeting and only happen, at most, a couple of time a week. Mostly they occur when I am about to get up in the morning or when I lay down at night. Perhaps they are happening all the time, but this is the only time that I feel them?

Who knows, maybe it is just wishful thinking. Maybe it’s nothing but gas bubbles …