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November 26, 2001
November 26, 2001
22+ Weeks
I hope everyone had a happy, healthy Thanksgiving holiday. I did and that was mainly because I felt that I had a lot to be thankful for. All I have ever wanted in life has essentially come true and I couldn’t be happier. So, for me, Thanksgiving meant a great deal to me this year.
Thanksgiving Dinner
It would be an understatement to say that I hate cooking. I really can’t stand it, and up until this holiday, I had never, ever had people over for a Thanksgiving Day dinner. This year I volunteered mainly because we didn’t feel like traveling to either of our parents’ houses and just wanted to be at home for the holiday weekend. Plus, we had a wedding to attend the Saturday after Thanksgiving so we really just wanted to stay close to home.
On the Monday before Thanksgiving, Charles and I went to the supermarket to get all the food we would need to prepare the dinner. Never having cooked any of this stuff before, I found myself on the phone to my mom, Charles’ mom and Charles’ aunt several times early that week. All in all, everything went very well with all the various dishes. However, there were a few mistakes that I made, but they were good lessons learned for future Thanksgiving dinners. These were:
1) When making mashed potatoes and when your mother tells you to get 15 potatoes for 6 people, make sure to ask what size potatoes you will need. When my mother told me that we would need 15 potatoes, I didn’t realize she meant the little potatoes that come in a plastic bag for $3 bucks. Instead, I went out and bought 15 huge baking potatoes for about $12. Needless to say, I was peeling potatoes for what seemed like hours and damn near broke my back doing it. By the end of this entire ordeal, I had a literal trough of mashed potatoes.
2) When checking the temperature of your turkey with a meat thermometer, make sure to take the plastic cover off of the thermometer before shoving it into the turkey. After about 15 minutes in the oven, Charles and I noticed this grotesque plastic smell coming from the oven. We soon realized that I had failed to notice that the thermometer had a cap on it before I stuck it in the turkey. When I removed the thermometer, the plastic cap had melted into a sick, congealed ball right in the turkey meat. Thankfully, (no pun intended), we were able to remove the affected portion of the turkey which was only the size of dime. No one was any the wiser. I do need to go buy a new thermometer though.
3)
a. Never, ever place pies on top of the microwave. Yesterday evening I suddenly got the taste for my mother’s delicious pumpkin pie, which she had baked and brought on Thanksgiving Day. I went to go get a slice of pie which I had placed on top of the microwave and was shocked and disgusted to see that it had a layer, (and I am not kidding), about 2 inches thick of the most revolting bacteria and mold I had EVER seen. Basically, this pie looked like it had a gray afro on top of it - simply sick. I know that pies do not have to be refrigerated so I can only assume that our constant use of the microwave with the pie on top of it caused it to prematurely mold.
b. When you do discover that your pie is moldy because you stupidly left it on the microwave, do NOT throw it in the toilet as a quick and easy means of disposal. After Charles and I got over the grotesqueness that was this pie, Charles got the bright idea that we should throw it in the toilet because he wanted no parts of it festering in the trash overnight. Despite my protests about how stupid this was, he insisted, and naturally, the toilet overflowed leaving sick afro pumpkin parts all over the damn bathroom floor. It took him over an hour to clean up and disinfect with every cleaner we had. Of course, the whole time I couldn’t help but offer my most heartfelt I-told-you-sos over his shoulder.
Despite all of this, it was a great Thanksgiving, spent with my parents, Charles’ cousin and his girlfriend. It was weird in one way but comforting as well, knowing that this would be the last Thanksgiving we would spend without our baby.
Dr’s appointment on 11/21
I had my monthly check-up the day before Thanksgiving and it was pretty uneventful. We got to hear the baby’s heartbeat again and though this Doppler didn’t measure the beats per minute, the nurse said it sounded like a “girl heartbeat.” Whatever. It was cool just hearing the heartbeat and knowing that my baby is doing well. The doctor told me that the results from my toxoplasmosis test came back showing that I am immune to this disease, more than likely because I grew up with cats all my life. She also said that I could get bitten by a cat with the disease tomorrow and I still would not catch it, so that was very reassuring.
I told my doctor that I had been having BH contractions, which she said were normal. I also told her that I had had bouts of what felt like hypoglycemia that week, that I felt listless, tired and got the shakes if I didn’t get some sugar in my system. The doctor reassured me that my levels of sugar were fine based on my urine tests, that I was not diabetic, but that my blood tests showed that I am slightly anemic. I sort of felt that diagnosis coming mainly because the lids of the insides of my eyes are white and also because every time I blow my nose, it’s bloody. The doctor prescribed me some iron pills which have definitely improved my feelings of lethargy, however I can no longer go to the bathroom. I think I will try to take the iron pills every other day along with my prenatal vitamin and see if that doesn’t help.
Some of the other pregnancy symptoms/conditions I have been experiencing lately include heartburn (not pleasant) and dizziness, but aside from that, nothing major. One notable visible aspect of my pg occurred on Thanksgiving morning. It seems that I have finally developed the infamous linea negra, (dark line running down the middle of my stomach). It is not really dark but it is definitely noticeable. It is supposed to only get darker with time. I have to admit, I sort of like it.
By Thanksgiving evening I was so exhausted I could barely function. My sciatic nerve was killing me but I also had these other really weird pains in my legs and feet. I don’t know if anyone else has ever experienced this but my heels felt like they were itchy and hot and like I had been walking on nails all day. The pain felt like what I imagined tendonitis to feel like. Also, on my right inner leg, from about mid-calf to mid-thigh I had the most excruciating pain. It felt as though a tendon or a muscle were infected and by the time I went to bed that night, I thought my leg was going to fall off. All I remember is getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom several times, and the pain being so bad that I would get back in the bed and cry for ten minutes before falling back to sleep. By morning, the pain was mostly gone and by the following day, the pain was completely gone. I assume that I did so much running around to the stores, then cleaning the house for guests, then cooking and cleaning afterwards that I just overdid it. Charles helped with the majority of all the preparation but still, my body was simply not used to all that activity and I guess it caught up with me. I feel perfectly back to normal today, especially after spending all of Sunday lounging around the house, moving only from the sofa to the bed and back again.
Wedding
On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of one of my good friends, Mary. I met Mary through the Preconception website after she read my diary and contacted me via email. Once I moved down here, we met and became very good friends. This past spring, Mary got engaged and was married this past Saturday. The wedding was beautiful, as was the reception. Mary’s friends and relatives were all so friendly and welcoming as well, so despite the fact that we didn’t really know anyone there, we still had a great time.
Of course, there was one aspect of attending the wedding that was hard - finding something to wear! After much searching, I finally found a dress at imaternity, a black crepe, sleeveless dress that comes right to the knee. The dress is ever so slightly A-line, (not that you can tell with my wide girth), and ties in the back. The only detail is along the hemline are sewn tiny black beads which adds a bit of flair to the garment. I also bought a wrap to go over my shoulders that had the same beading. Despite being a fat pig, I was pleased with the way the outfit turned out, especially since I got the whole thing for just over $100. What’s even better is that I will be able to wear this outfit again this coming weekend to Charles’ company’s Christmas party.
Dreams
I have been having so many dreams this week, many more than I have ever had during this pg. I had one dream where I went in for a doctor’s appointment and the doctor said to me “Well, you must be so happy to know that you are having a girl, it’s what you wanted, right?” and I remember in my dream that I was SO DISAPPOINTED because the doctor had ruined the surprise. Regardless of the sex, I did not want to be told in the doctor’s office and I remember waking up very sad about it all. However, it reconfirmed my convictions that I made the right decision in waiting to find out.
I had another dream the other night that we had already had the baby. In the dream, Charles and I woke up one morning and decided to go wake the baby up. Charles then went out onto the deck where the baby was sleeping in a stroller in the cold night air. I asked Charles why did we put the baby out on the deck, couldn’t he freeze and Charles said, “God, I hope not.” Great parenting, isn’t it? Anyway, the baby was indeed a boy and when I brought him inside and unwrapped him from all the blankets, he was very tiny. But in a matter of minutes, he grew to the size of a two year old, with a ton of blond hair just like Brad Pitt. Naturally, every ounce of this dream is ridiculous, because not only would we never put out baby outside, we would never have a baby that looked like Brad Pitt, obviously. I mainly remember that I was so disappointed because our baby was so big already and that I had somehow missed his infancy.
There is one recurring dream that I have been having over and over again for the past month. It is a very disturbing dream and I am still trying to decipher exactly what it means. In this dream (and it varies all the time, but the theme always remains the same), my mother is yelling at me, telling me what a bad mother I am going to be, how I will never amount to anything and how ashamed she is of me. My mother and I get along really well and never fight. Never in her life has my mom ever yelled at me and told me such horrible things so why am I now having dreams about her like this? What does it all mean? Every time I wake up from one of these dreams I feel so depressed. Let’s hope they stop soon.
Pottery Barn Kids
Finally, I just wanted to mention that a Pottery Barn Kids opened up in our mall last week. All I have to say is - what a waste! Sure, they have some really cute things but the prices are not worth the product, in my humble opinion. Well, let me rephrase that - the smaller items, like toys, linens, etc. are not really overpriced but the furniture is definitely is. We saw cribs for $800 that were beautiful, but no more beautiful than a lot of cribs we saw in other stores for $500 or less. In fact, I saw a crib in Ethan Allen that was $650 and the quality was clearly better.
What I did like about the store is that a lot of the stuff I had once planned on ordering (toys and linens), I can now simply go buy myself without having to pay shipping costs. One thing I can’t wait to buy (once we decide on baby’s name), are these really cute wooden letters in white or pink. We want to spell out the baby’s name and put it on the wall or somewhere near the crib for decoration.
All in all, I am glad the store is there but was just surprised at some of the prices.
Well, that’s about it for this week. I now plan on lying down for awhile on the sofa with a cup of tea and waiting to feel my baby kick. He/she kicks quite a lot these days and this activity has become my new form of self entertainment. Charles noticed the other day that he can see my belly move a little when the baby kicks. I unfortunately cannot, because these visible kicks always seem to occur on the underside of my belly, which I cannot see. Hopefully as the baby grows and moves up along my stomach, I will soon be able to see these kicks too.
One thing that I think is totally cool about this whole experience is that no matter what, for as long as I am pg, I am never alone. It really is neat when you stop to think about it. I have my little “friend” with me all the time, no matter what. Sometimes I’ll even have conversations with him/her and I don’t even feel stupid doing it anymore. Especially now that I know they can hear me better, I am trying to talk to him/her more often so he/she will become better accustomed to my voice.
I am torn in a way though because though I am dying to hold this baby in my arms, at the same time I will be sad that I am no longer pregnant. I really have enjoyed this time and I really love being pregnant. In these 5 short months, I have experienced so much and enjoyed so many sensations that I never thought possible. At the risk of sounding greedy, I can only hope that I have the chance to do it all again. Sooner than later.
Until next week,
Corinne and her baby
EDD 4-1-02
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