38 weeks

At 38 weeks I'm craving soda pop and beer.
Yes, beer (doesn't mean I'm drinking it though).

My appetite has calmed down a lot but if I stay up late I turn into a PB&J munching maniac- consuming at least 2 sandwiches in the matter of minutes with room for more.

Down to the nitty gritty.

Let's face it: I'm focusing on blogging about my pregnancy right now and pregnancy ain't always pretty so here goes...

I have hemorrhoids for the first time in my life.

I keep hearing that this is a good sign because it means that labor is close but I can't bear the thought of trying to push a baby out myself while my bum is in such a terrible state.

I went to the ER just a few minutes after ringing in the new year but everything is fine I guess. 

I had a yucky heavy headache for almost a week straight and was having a couple of other signs of pre-eclampsia. My tests have all come back clean and my blood pressure is perfect... just a headache.

*************************

Oh my.

Hemorrhoids. Why?

late Christmas night

 After spending most of Christmas day at the in-law's, me and Caleb checked out a little early because I was absolutely exhausted. When we got home I got a sudden burst of energy and a powerful craving for fresh waffles. We headed out to go to Waffle House but I predicted it would be pretty busy, so we went to Ihop instead. Dang good choice.

What really made the evening exciting was that this was the first time it's snowed in the area on Christmas day since like... well ever.

I ordered a super cheap special with crepes instead of waffles and when I got my food in I realized  "Um at 37 weeks pregnant, I'm going to need more crepes. I'm a hungry, hungry hippo." So I ordered an extra plate of crepes. No shame. No shame at all. 

... and I ate it all.

I was miserably full afterwards, but those darn crepes were the best.

I'll post more about Christmas day maybe tomorrow.

Right now, I gotta go fetch a lasagna outta the oven.

Happy Holidays!

I'm a cheap date

Last night at about 7pm I started to go absolutely stir crazy. I realized that the only time I leave the house is to go grocery shopping- I was ready to get out do something... anything. So I asked the husband if he would like to to Books-A-Million and he said sure. I was stoked.

On the way there I asked out of the blue, "Would you like to go to the mall?"

"Not particularly," he replied. I knew I could expect this kind of answer from him. Heck... let's face it- we both hate going to the mall. In fact I don't think we've ever been to the mall together. But I figured since it's Christmastime, there must be something there worth seeing or doing...

Since we got out so late we only made it to Romancing the stone- which is my favorite store anyway and I knew my husband would appreciate it's exotic wares.

I wish this "foot stool" was more in my price range- I would have bought it right then and there. 

I'm not much for jewelry boxes, but this one really took my breath away.

We managed to escape the mall without buying a thing- but I made sure to make a big deal over the things that tickled my fancy so that, er, maybe someone would go back and get me a treasure or two?

After the mall we went to Book-A-Million.

My back and hips were killing me so we relaxed in Joe Muggs coffee shop for a spell.

I've been craving iced Chai tea for a couple of days so that's what I reuested. My husband was a little reluctant to let me have one- "Can you drink that?" he asked.

"I dunno."

"You wanna try to look it up in one of the pregnancy books here first?"

"Just gimme an iced Chai tea!" I squealed at him through clenched teeth.

"Ok! Ok!" he laughed and hauled butt to the counter.

ONE iced Chai. ONE delicious ice cold Chai tea. That's all I ask!

Satisfaction guaranteed.

Aaaah yeah. Public bathroom portrait.

Afterwards we went to Red Lobster for some clam chowder and cheddar biscuits.

 ... and a few crab legs. I haven't had real crab in ages and they were SO DANG GOOD.

Our bill was only $20!

We had a blasty blast on our cheap little date. Me and my husband always have fun when we go out, no matter what we do because we both love to be entertained in the same ways. I really hope we can squeeze in a couple more dates like this before I get too big pregnant and miserable though. 

With less than five more weeks to go, I'm getting there fast!

Christmas Q&A #3 and 34 weeks bumpdate

3. Real tree or fake tree?

Oh, dear. Fake. Growing up we did a real tree once. Once. The needles from the tree got stuck in the carpet and were aaaaall over the place for years. No amount of vacuuming would help. If you walked over into the area where the tree once stood without shoes, it was guaranteed you were going to get something stuck in your foot. I'd much rather assemble a stinky old synthetic tree from a box and than to be afraid to tread near something that's supposed to be so jolly and harmless.
Right now, we don't even have a tree up. Honestly, I'm not even interested in getting one. Maybe we'll get one after the baby is born and old enough to appreciate it. Until then, we're just going to artfully stack our gifts into a corner and maybe dump some stringed lights on them for extra pizzazz.

34 Weeks!

At the midwife's office for a checkup

Cravings
breakfast cereal with super cold milk, strawberry yogurt

Physical Symptoms
I get up to teetee about five times a night now
I still sleep 12 hours a day
I've gained a super 35 pounds!
My pelvis and groin area feel like I'm recovering from a "who can do the splits the longest" contest
I have been waking up with some teeerrible gas, stomach bubbling and nausea almost every night now. Methinks I might be lactose intolerant. NO GOOD! This better be a temporary pregnancy thing because I love my Cinnamon Toast Crunch.... with milk....milk from a COW.

Emotions
My patience runs low fairly quickly now and things like people forgetting their manners and basic rules of courtesy REALLY irritates me. The other day at Walmart I almost thumped a lady in the back of her head for reaching in front of me to get hamburger meat without excusing herself first. Here's the thing though: not only did she reach in front of me, she flippin' decided to walk IN FRONT of me and just stood there looking at the meat like I didn't even exist!
I wonder if I would have gotten in trouble if I bopped her head for that...

Baby Movement
The baby is getting bigger, stronger and running out of room. Now I'm getting little fists and feet stretching and reeeeaching all over the place.

What the Midwife Says
The baby is head down in the posterior position (sunny-side up) like in the first photo. He should be the other was around like in the second photo.

   

During labor, a baby in posterior position usually gets turned around into the right position but this can cause longer and more painful labor. If the baby never turns, vaginal birth is still completely possible but might result in severe perineal tearing and a greater risk of a postpartum hemorrhage.

"...a baby's position at the onset of labor does not predict his position at birth. Many babies who are posterior at some point in labor rotate on their own to the face-down position before birth." {source}

The midwife showed me some exercises that will help get the baby into the correct position before labor just in case. I'm going to try them out tonight! I like to move it, move it...

easy & delicious couscous... stuff

So I was totally craving couscous the other day... 

the things is, I've only had it twice. The first (and only) time I made it, it smelled and tasted kind of old and cardbaordy. But something in me made me want more of the stuff. So I bought some  couscous from a different store in hopes that it would taste little more fresh than last time and bought some shrimp, green onion, black olives and mushrooms to add in. I wasn't following a recipe, I just bought what sounded good.

If you want to make this delicious dish here's how I did it:

Start heating up your water for the couscous first. By the time it's reached boiling, you should be done cooking the shrimp and other goodies.

I cooked the shrimp in grape seed oil with a teaspoon of margarine for taste and seasoned it with sea salt and Mrs. Dash Mediterranean seasoning blend.

Then I added the olives, mushrooms, and green olives into the pan with the shrimp and continued cooking on a lower heat, seasoned those with a little sea salt as well. Be careful not to cook your veggies to long or they'll start to lose their natural flavors.

When the couscous was done I simply blended all the ingredients together.

I feel that there was WAY too much couscous in the dish and not enough of everything else, so next time I make it I'm going to just use half a box.

I served it with warm wheat flat bread just to give my husband some more substance for dinner. He might be a skinny guy, but MAN he requires a lot of food.

There's still some in the fridge right now. This makes a LOT of food (if you use the whole box of couscous). This dish would be great for a party or potluck because there will be plenty!

26 weeks

Cravings

Sprite, soft serve ice cream.

Not craving, but hooked on raw almonds now.

Physical Symptoms

I have more energy and I'm no longer sleeping twelve hours a night.

Pre-existing stretchmarks on the sides of my belly are looking pretty terrible and I've developed some dark splotches on my face.

Emotions

I'm am a little weepy and my patience runs out a little quicker now. In fact I've been pretty grumpy all day today.

Fashion

Now that the weather is cooler, I have so many more options and plenty of clothes I can still wear from pre-pregnancy days.

Baby Movement

The baby has sudden bursts of energy throughout the day. During these times, it feels like he's spazing out on an invisible elliptical machine. 

What the Midwife Says
Baby's heartbeat is good and my belly measurements and blood pressure are spot on. We will be doing one of those glucose test thingies at the next visit in two weeks.

25 Weeks

Cravings

Sprite, Taco Bell  and fruit juice

Physical Symptoms

Ravenous appetite especially late in the evening

Sleeping up to 12 hours a night

Emotions

I'm pretty stressed out right now. My three-day Renaissance faire opens this Thursday and there's still some major work left to do. I reeeeeeally need a secretary.

Fashion

I'm so busy, I haven't really had time to put much effort into what I wear. When I go out, I just put on whatever I can still button or zip. I'll be in Renaissance garb for three days straight  this week so when this is all over, I'm going to try to go back to being a little more fashion focused.

Baby Movement

 My belly usually has a pulsating bulge on the left side because the baby likes to camp out over there and punch and kick roll around for hours. Cool thing yesterday: I stuck my finger in my belly button when the baby was in the center of my belly and I swear I could feel the it's heartbeat for about five seconds, then it moved.

(Look in the lower right hand photo in the collage up there. You can see the baby bulging out on the left side of my belly.)

What the Midwife Says
We'll find out at our next appointment... which is.... um... I don't know.

pepperoncini-tini

When the baby comes, instead of champagne, I think this will be our celebratory drink: The pepperocic-tini.

I think it's pretty appropriate because pepperocini peppers were the first and really the only unusual craving a had during the first four months of pregnancy. I wanted pepperocini served on and with pretty much everything except my breakfast cereal. 

January 15, 2013, we will toast with a pepperocini-tini!

Drink recipe from Santa Barbara Chic.

24 weeks

Cravings

Sprite, Taco Bell, strawberry instant oatmeal and pastries of any kind. Especially donuts. 

Physical Symptoms

Thank God no new stretchmarks, just pre-existing ones becoming very angry.

I'm still sleeping about 10-12 hours an night. I thought my excessive sleeping was due to my anemia, but I'm still sleeping like that even with all the iron supplements and stuff.

I am very hungry, especially at night.

I haven't weighed myself in months, but if I had to guess, I'd estimate I've gained about 10-15 pounds total.

Emotions

I had my first hormonally charged crying jag Sunday. I really hope it's my last. I spent the rest of the day recovering from the post-bawling runny nose, swollen eyes and headache. Other than that, I'm not cranky, snappy or weepy. Mmm... well I kind of take that back. If a person got on my nerves before I got pregnant, they REALLY get on my nerves now.

Fashion

The only time I go out is to go shopping for groceries and to deliver flyers for my faire. When I do go out, I usually wear a dress with detachable sash to give the dress shape. If the dress get's too hiked up by the bump, I just wear a pair mid-calf legging under it.

Baby Movement

It's a dancer! Especially after my first meal of the day. I found out a couple of weeks ago that I can see the baby's movements outside my belly and my husband and I love watching  that little one dance.

What the Midwife Says
Baby's heartbeat is great and my anemia seems to be doing better. We'll be going another blood test at the next visit to make sure.