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December 10, 2001
December 10, 2001
24 Weeks
Hello everyone,
I think I have reached the point in my pregnancy where things get a little ho-hum. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining about this. Actually, I am sort of beginning to like it, I like the boring ol’ simplicity and yet comfort that comes with a quietly growing, healthy baby. The excitement of my week now consists of feeling the baby kick quite frequently and watching the baby kick at least 2-3 times a day. I don’t know exactly what my next major milestone in this pg will be, perhaps it will be seeing an elbow or a foot make its unsure first journey across my lower abdomen. Don’t really care, as long as the baby continues to grow healthily and happily.
Unfortunate Events
This past Friday, a day before my father’s 64th birthday, my mom called to tell me that my father had to go to the hospital. My parents are presently in Palm Springs, CA where they were vacationing for two weeks. On Friday, my father began experiencing severe and painful cramps in his leg, so incapacitating that he asked to be taken to Emergency - a definite sign he had to be in a lot of pain. As it turned out, my father had a blood clot in his leg. In order to avoid it traveling to the heart (and thus killing him), he had to be immediately admitted to the hospital and put on blood thinner to remove the clot. Thankfully, he should be all right but my God, what a scary thing. My dad who is normally as healthy as a horse, is not a person you would ever envision in a hospital. My dad hates birthdays and getting older (who doesn’t), and worries about becoming incapacitated in his old age. Imagine how depressed he had to be spending his birthday in a hospital bed with a bedpan to boot - poor guy. At least he should come out of this virtually unscathed and will be going home in about 3 or 4 days from now.
On a much less severe level than my dad’s illness, I had another little mishap this week - my car died. Talk about annoying, the car is not even old, though admittedly I have racked up the miles on it. I had an oil change done right before Thanksgiving and just a week later, while on my way to visit a girlfriend, the oil light came on. Not wanting to pull off on a busy highway and risk killing myself, I got off the first exit and pulled over. Just as I reached a safe spot, the car had a mini-internal explosion spewing liquids and steam all over the place. We had the car towed to our mechanic who hasn’t even had time yet to look at it. We are of course suspicious of the fact that the car engine suddenly seizes less than a week after an oil change and are looking into this matter. I will be very, very sad if I have to get rid of my car. I LOVE this car and do not want to get a replacement. More importantly, I do not want a car payment if I can help it right now. Boy, I tell you, when it rains it pours, doesn’t it?
How I Look and Feel
I really don’t look any different in the belly, and I haven’t noticed my clothes getting tighter at all - thank God. Now, that doesn’t mean I haven’t gained any weight, I would bet good money that I have because that’s just the way it is for me during this pregnancy. I have noticed, however, that the freckles on my face, which more accurately resemble tiny little moles, have grown in both size and quantity. In particular, there are two little brown patches on each cheek, each about the size of a grapenut, that have darkened on my face throughout this entire pregnancy. They look like minuscule dirt smudges to me and annoy me to no end, but they aren’t that big a deal. I am sure (I hope) they will fade after the baby is born.
I have experienced random bouts of nausea every now and again, but for the most part, I feel pretty good. I tire easily but I feel healthy. However, one thing that has been plaguing me a lot this week are the constant Charlie horse-like cramps that I get every night and even sometimes during the day. If I unconsciously flex my leg(s) during the middle of the night as I sleep, I will undoubtedly be woken up to my own screams as dagger like pains run through my calves. Of course, I must be quite a sight for Charles who sees nothing but a half naked woman (I can no longer sleep with anything except my ugly maternity underwear, it is simply too hot), hair all askew, screaming like a banshee as I slap my legs for the next 2 minutes, begging for mercy: “Oh God - make it stop!.” To combat this problem, I have taken to drinking a ton of water and eating a ton of bananas - apparently the potassium in bananas is supposed to help. Another trick I’ve heard about is to stand on a cold floor. However, in this incredibly disgusting warm weather, finding a cold floor to stand on is as difficult as willing the sun to rise. Despite these horrible cramps, I feel pretty fortunate that this is the worst I have had to deal with.
Great Book Suggestions
We went to a holiday party (yet again) on Friday night where the hostess (a co-worker of Charles), is due with her first child on March 21. While she and I chatted over various baby-related issues, she eventually asked me if I had bought this fabulous book - “Baby Bargains” by Denise and Alan Fields. When I told her that I hadn’t, she said that is was the absolutely best book she has bought so far during her pg and that I should go out and get it immediately. This book rates every baby product you could ever hope to buy, from price to quality to features - you name it, it’s listed.
The next day, I went to Borders and bought the book. I was surprised to see that the authors are the same people who wrote “Bridal Bargains,” a book I had purchased when I got married. If you have not purchased this book and are interested in learning about which are the best products, I highly recommend this book. I have pored over it all weekend and was happy to find that a lot of the things I have already registered for and/or bought were some of the higher-rated items. I was also intrigued at how much I have learned simply from reading this book. For example - one of the issues that Charles and I had discussed was whether or not we should buy a walker/exersaucer. When we checked out the ones at the various stores, we were disappointed at how bulky and unattractive they were with their blindingly grotesque colors and big, chunky, plastic parts. To us, these walkers/exersaucers looked nothing like those of the yesteryear and seemed so out of place, so cumbersome, so much like mini cages (especially the exersaucers since they don’t even move). Not sure if we really needed this item, we decided to hold off on this purchase and solicit advice from other parents.
After reading what was written in Baby Bargains, there is no way in hell I would buy a walker or an exersaucer. Here’s why: the book begins a discussion on the dangers of walkers, how 9000 babies are injured or die/year due to this deathtrap - that’s the book’s reference, not mine. Still, this was not the reason we decided not to buy this product. As I read on, I learned that studies show that “infants who use walkers and play centers suffer from developmental delays when compared to babies who don’t use them.” According to a study in the October 1999 Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, researchers at Case Western Reserve University found “babies who were placed in walkers/stationary play centers were delayed at least a month on average in sitting up, crawling and walking. Non-walker using kids also scored 10% higher on mental development tests than walker users.” The authors then conclude their discussion by explaining the probable cause of walkers having such a dramatic effect on a child’s development. Apparently, “(r)researchers speculate that “the opaque trays placed on the newer walkers as a safety device prevent the children from seeing their legs, blocking the feedback they get from moving a limb and seeing the leg actually move.’”
Before everyone jumps on the bandwagon and posts messages to me defending their decision to use walkers, please don’t take what I wrote as a criticism of those who use them. I understand that a lot of parents like this product and have perfectly, normal, healthy, intelligent, perhaps even genius-level babies. I also realize that the authors are stating their opinion, citing references and studies that they themselves sought out. To be honest, I don’t even know if I believe what is being said. But I do know this: as a child, I was in a walker pretty early. When I flip through various baby albums or myself (when you are an only child, you tend to have a lot of baby pictures), I notice that I am in a walker in a lot of the pictures. According to my mother, I did raise my head and roll over pretty early, earlier than most infants. But - I never crawled at all and I walked later than the average toddler. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Yet and still, since Charles and I were never sold on this baby item in the first place, this little bit of information provided by “Baby Bargains,” was enough to influence our decision. We were never that thrilled with the product in the first place, so if there is even a remote chance or possibility that this product can negatively affect our child, why should we even bother?
The book did offer opinions that differed from ours regarding other products we have chosen, and sometimes, even though we read the information provided, we still decided to stick with our original decisions. I guess some things just boil down to making a personal decision. The book also provided a plethora of information on some items that we had yet to consider, such as crib mattresses - foam vs. coil, firm vs. soft, etc. Now when we go to buy a mattress, we will know and understand exactly what we need instead of guessing, hoping or even worse, relying on the incompetents at Babies R Us. Bottom line, we really loved the book and would recommend it to anyone who was considering buying it.
Another book that I picked up while at Borders is “Chicken Soup for the Expectant Mother’s Soul.” I already have a couple of these books which generally are stories written to inspire the reader. So, in this case, the book contains inspiring stories about pregnancy, birth, adoption, infertility, etc. A lot of them are tear-jerkers, all of them are heart-warming. If you are pregnant, bored and in search of a good read, I highly recommend this book as well.
I Will Miss Being Pregnant
Recently, a girlfriend of mine, Rosanne, had a baby and she emailed me tonight telling me that she missed being pg. Oh, of course, she loves having the baby more, but still she misses being pg. It’s funny that she wrote that because tonight I mentioned to Charles that even though I have a ways to go, I KNOW I will miss being pg. Right now, this child belongs to me and only me for all intents and purposes. I am the one who feels him/her move, I am the one who nourishes him/her, I am the one who physically lives and breathes for this child. Once he/she is out of my body, I am certain I will really miss all of that. Being pregnant, no matter where I go, no matter what I am doing, no matter what time of day, my baby is always with me. After he/she arrives, I will have to learn to share. I hate that. : )
While I hate being fat and laden with extra padding in places other than my stomach, I will miss my pg body. I will miss the fact that I waddle a little when I walk.. I will miss the warm smiles and knowing looks I get from strangers and other expectant mothers. Most of all, I will miss knowing that a chapter of my life is ending, despite the fact that new and better one is just beginning.
Even though I will my pg, I feel so lucky and so blessed to have been given such a special gift at all, even if it will eventually end. I am glad I will have this diary to remind both me and my child how much I loved them before I even knew them. I am glad my child will know that during this pregnancy, I grew to understand what mothers mean when they say they would die for their child. I honestly never thought I would understand, but now I really do. Pregnancy has changed so much of my life, has changed so much of me. It’s not at all like I expected - pregnancy is way harder but, way BETTER than my simple little mind could have ever imagined.
I certainly will miss it but then again, there is hopefully always a next time.
Love always,
Corinne and her baby
EDD 4-1-02
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