A Look Back: Food

Since this blog has become as much documentation for myself as for everyone else, I thought I'd take the chance to document some things that I'm already forgetting.  Today's topic: food.  Although I haven't really had a desire so strong that I would call it a craving, I've had some interesting food phases.

At first I thought I'd do right by the developing baby by going organic with fruits, veggies, and dairy. And try to cut out artificial stuff.  I wasn't eating much meat anyway so I didn't worry about that.  So there off to Whole Foods we went, buying produce and gummy bears with natural coloring and flavorings.  Then I started feeling yuckier and more tired.  So dragging myself to Whole Foods every few days was not happening.  And then there was the day I realized that I had just popped a handful of peanut M&M's into my mouth.  Yes, those brightly colored gems of chocolate-y goodness that just happened to be full of artificial stuff.  I read the writing on the wall.  Going organic was not going to happen. I guess a week and a half is better than nothing.

So I moved into the eat-anything-that-sounds-remotely-palatable stage.  Because I felt like crap and very little sounded good.  Chocolate milk was a popular item. I consumed quite a few little Horizon chocolate milk boxes (left over from the organic phase).  Saltines were essential, of course.  I bought protein powder and baby spinach to add into smoothies to improve my nutritional intake.  I also bought bottles of Ensure to increase my protein intake in the morning.  String cheese was a go to snack for on the go.  Fruit went down pretty well.  And I always, always needed COLD water.  If I left home without water, I could get a little panicky.

During this time there was also the see it, eat it stage.  I would see something on TV or hear about some food and suddenly think "Hmm, I think I could actually eat that."  Take, for example, buffalo wings.  The thought of a plain, baked chicken breast sounded repulsive.  I saw a commercial with buffalo wings.  And they sounded good.  Plain chicken = bad.  Fried chicken dipped in spicy sauce = good??  The next night we were having dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. 

At some point I entered the various snack foods phases.  I was feeling better so I was able to eat most regular foods, but had preferences for some specific snacks.
-First the snack of choice was Baked Cheetos.  That one lasted multiple weeks.

-Somewhere in there was a brief lived affection for orange soda.  It only lasted for a few days but during that time my snacks were very orange.

-Then it was the infamous Butterfingers.  A previous post suggests that Butterfingers and Cheetos overlapped a bit.  But the Butterfinger phase was on its way out by the time Jeff rudely consumed two of them in front of me.

-Then it was Goldfish.  Mmm, salty.  I was carrying around the smaller bags of Goldfish for a while.  Once I saw this phase was sticking around a while, I gave in and bought the big box.  And about a week later, I was done with Goldfish. Totally over them but still more than half of the box left. *sigh*  But since our special ed teachers are always feeding some of their kids, I found a good home for the poor goldfishies.

-I moved on from Butterfingers (and chocolate in general) to Skittles as my candy of choice. Mmm, fruity.

-The Skittles may be on their way out though.  I've been grabbing strawberry Nerds from our candy bowl.  And yesterday I passed up Skittles in favor of some Starburst.

Who knows what's next?

22 weeks!

Here's the 22 week belly from Friday.

The beginning of the end?

For my belly button that is.

I've noticed it getting a little shallower.  But today it was a little achy, especially at the top and after I reached to get something off of the top of the fridge.  So I suspect this is the beginning of the end, at least for a while.  And I'm sad to see it go.  It's been such a good belly button.

:)

20 week Ultrasound

Today was the big day (well, one of the big days)!  We had our 20 week ultrasound.  Brandi got to lie there while I pried my eyes open.  I do not recommend sitting in a dark room at 5pm after working an overnight shift.  So, below you will find a few selected pictures.  We did find out the sex (and I've opted to observe state and federal child pornography laws, so the picture she gave us of our child's genitalia will not be placed on the web).  The answer is below, after the pictures.  No leads on a name yet, we'll keep you posted.  Enjoy!

The baby's face on the left, body on the right, and part of the hand up top.

Profile of the baby, possibly sucking it's thumb.

The foot, so kindly labeled by the ultrasonographer.

Now for the answer:
It's a GIRL!  Let's try to keep the onslaught of pink to a minimum!

Registry Theater

The scene: Bedroom. Morning. Brandi has just woken up for the day. Jeff has just come home from a night shift and is getting ready for bed. 

Jeff: So what are your plans for the day?

Brandi: [blah blah blah] and if I'm out that way I may head to Buy Buy Baby and do some research so I can finish the registry.

Jeff: What do we need to put on it to finish it?

Brandi: [etc etc] bathtub [etc etc]

J: Bathtub? We have a bathtub.

B: Yes, but they make little baby bathtubs.

J: Isn't that called a bucket? $5. Home Depot.

B: [laughing at the image of trying to wash a baby in a bright orange bucket]

J: How often do you bathe a baby anyway?

B: I don't know. Well, when they're real little, not until the umbilical cord falls off, then maybe every other day or so. Depends on how dirty they are I guess. [I think to myself, but don't say aloud, that if the baby has skin like Jeff's (prone to dryness, sensitivity) we'll need to make sure we're not bathing too often].

J: Dirty? They don't do anything!

B: Sure they do. Spit up, poop...

J: Yeah, but you just wipe up those areas when it happens.

B: This is true.

J: Well, if it has skin like me, we won't be bathing it very often anyway!

Hopefully, between the two of us reasonably intelligent adults, we'll manage to figure out how to take care of the poor, unsuspecting little newborn. 

Ta-da!

20 weeks!  The bump has appeared!

Belly Pics

As promised, here are some pictures of the growing belly. You can click on the image for a larger view.

I've lost my 6 week and 9 week pictures, but they looked pretty much like the 12 week one. The 18 week picture is from September 22nd.  All 4 shirts are non-maternity.  I think week 16 was regular pants (buttoned up normally) but 18 weeks is definitely maternity pants.

So there's still not too much belly-wise to look at up to this point. I've grown just enough to make me feel chubby. And for people at work to say wonderful things like "Ooh, I see a little bulge" or "You got a little something there." For future reference, the most palatable comment thus far has been "Oh, look how cute you are." With that, you've acknowledged that I am growing while making me feel good about it too.

The deep, grumbly voice is back

So Jeff was off partying attending a conference in Vegas last week.  He was gone Monday through Friday night.  I managed to keep myself awake long enough to pick him up at the airport around 10 on Friday night.  Actually, I stayed up until about 11:30, when the lucky guy had to head in to work for a midnight to 8 shift.  Yep, off to work two hours after getting off the plane.  But anyway, we were hanging out on the couch for a little bit before he left for work.  After a while, Jeff asks me if I've had any more wiggly-worms in my tummy.  I stare at him briefly as I work out what he;s referring to (another baby in there? some sort of stomach issue?) and then realize he's asking if I've felt anymore movement.  I inform that actually the baby has been quite active since I picked him up from the airport.  So Jeff identifies what must be exciting the baby...."The deep, grumbly voice is back!" 

This week's baby development email indicates that the baby might be able to hear voices by this point, so it's a reasonable thought.  And one I considered as well.  I also considered the possibility that my being happy that Jeff was home created a change in the hormones/chemicals in my bloodstream.  Or there's the more likely explanation: it was just a happy coincidence.  :)

Annoyances

Pregnancy symptoms I am not loving:
1. Itchy scalp!
Oh my goodness, it's driving me crazy!  It's particularly bad the last 3 or so inches of my scalp, closest to my neck.  Brushing my hair is heavenly since the brush makes a nice scratching implement  Switching the Head and Shoulders dry scalp formula hasn't seemed to help.  No dandruff, just itchiness. I've heard of an itchy belly, but not an itchy head. Suggestions welcome!

2. Insomnia
I know it could be much worse and will likely get much worse as I get big and uncomfortable.  And I've been lucky that it hasn't been too much of an issue in the second trimester.  But lying awake from 4:41 until 7:00 this morning was torture.  Not falling asleep until after 11:30 last night sucked.  I knew I'd be useless and miserable on less than 5 hours of sleep so I used half a sick day to stay home and sleep.  Just after I'd powered through my icky cold all last week to avoid using any sick time! 

But on the good news front....
I felt the first movements this past Wednesday.  Just like what I had heard - like little bubbles or popcorn popping. It's fun to have those little moments a couple times a day. 

And look for the first round of belly pictures later this week!

Pregnancy dessert theater

Act I

Jeff and Brandi are sitting on the couch.

Brandi: Jeff, can you put the cheetohs away and get me some ice cream
(Yeah, it was a productive afternoon)
Jeff: Not now, I'll do it in a little bit.

Brandi seems okay with that.

J: Do you still want ice cream?
B: Yes, please.
J: Okay, but I'm not putting away the cheetohs, they're yours
B: Yes, but you were the one eating them.

Exit Jeff Stage left, sans cheetohs.

Act II

Enter Jeff with ice cream and two bite sized butterfingers. He gives the bowl to his wife, and puts the entire butterfinger in his mouth.

B: I can't believe you just ate that whole thing and didn't offer me a bite!
J: You got ice cream, this is my dessert.
B: But you should still at least offer me a bite.

Jeff turns to watch TV, puts the entire second butterfinger in his mouth.

B (jaw agape): What's wrong with you? You didn't even give me a bite. I said I wanted a bite.
J: You have ice cream.
B: But I wanted a bite of butterfinger.
J: You didn't ask for a bite. You just said that I should have offered you a bite of the first one.

Needless to say, this argument played out for the rest of the evening. I blame baby brain. Read the transcript (verbatim as far as I can recall), she never asked for a bite. I feel I'm in the right here. At least that wasn't the last of the butterfingers, or I'd be sleeping outside (or going to Walgreens to buy more).

Another First

The first pregnancy is full of firsts.  Lots of great things, and some not so good.  I think we can put this most recent one under the not-so-pleasant category...

Yep, it's the first pregnancy cold.

Now, I'm fortunate to have a pretty good immune system.  In fact, when I make those mental lists of traits you hope the kid inherits from one parent or the other, my immune system (as opposed to Jeff's) is pretty high up there.  So I don't get too sick too often.  A couple colds a year that can be pretty well managed with some Sudafed and Advil.  And there's the rub.

There aren't a lot of medications that are safe during pregnancy.  So my options are pretty limited.  A little Tylenol to help with my sore throat is supposed to be safe enough.  But the swollen glands and plugged up ears and congestion are another matter.  Fortunately things seem to be improving a bit here on day 3, after a rough morning.  Hopefully the trend continues so I can meet my goals for the week: attending my first prenatal yoga class tomorrow night and getting a flu shot.

Baby's First Scrubs!

So baby Schulze received its first gifts a few weeks ago.  Grandma Simpson held out on the gift purchasing longer than I expected!

An Amazon box showed up at our door.  Inside were a few CD's with lullabies and classical music for babies. And, a litte pair of scrubs! :) They're sized 0-6 months, so we'll see when they will actually fit.  Here's a picture of baby's scrubs on top of Jeff's shirt for comparison.

Baby Carriage or Stroller or whatever

Brandi dragged allowed me to accompany her to shop for baby carriages. Holy ****! How complicated can this be. These things range from $20-$1000. They come with cup holders, 4-wheel drive, reversible seats, a Ford 450 big-block engine, and optional navigation system. After moping around for an hour carefully viewing the different options, I struck on a plan. Let's look for the one that does not take a PhD and certification from NASA to open and close. Seriously, who builds these things? I consider myself reasonably intelligent and somewhat mechanically inclined. Still, we had to ask the sales guy how to open one of them back up. If he hadn't been standing nearby, my vote would have been to leave it all crumpled on the floor and bolt out of there. That's another thing, why is the baby carriage section of Buy Buy Baby staffed by all males in their mid-20s? Anyways, we finally made a choice (I think). I'm sure it will show up on some registry somewhere (I'm pretty sure Brandi is building those for us). Here's a picture (I think they start at about $1,000,000, so start saving).

Q&A

I've been sharing the news with people at work.  I work in multiple buildings so that's a lot of people.  There have been plenty of questions to answer.  Let's review, shall we?

When are you due?
Feb 23rd.

How are you feeling?
If you've read the rest of the blog, you know the first trimester was no picnic. I think I'm turning the corner though so my standard answer to this questions is "Better." I have to stay on top of things with sleeping, eating frequently, drinking (cold) water, and not getting too hot.  If I manage those things well I can function pretty well.  Things seem to improve by the day.
 
Are you going to find out if it's a boy or girl?
So many people have asked this.  Probably 90% of people I've told. The answer is yes, we will find out.  A couple people have asked the follow-up question of if we'll tell others.  Yes, we will share that information.  If I was planning to find out but not tell people, I don't think I'd tell people that.  I think I'd just lie and say we were going to be surprised and save myself the hassle of explanation.

Was this planned or a happy surprise?
Only one person has been bold enough to ask so far (even though I know people must be curious because I wonder this too.)  To answer the spirit of the question, it was planned.  But things didn't go exactly according to the original plan, so the fact that it finally happened was definitely a happy surprise!

Have you discussed names?
Not much, just a little bit for boy names.  We're holding off until we know the sex, just to make things a little easier for ourselves.

Are your parents excited?
Yep.  Both sets of grandparents are very excited.  My parents have been asking about grandkids for oh, about a decade.   

Are you excited/thrilled/etc?
Yes.  Although if you ask Jeff apparently his answer is "not yet."  Which just made me laugh since that's such a Jeff way of thinking.  I guess his life isn't any different yet so there's nothing to get excited about.  But he's been ready longer than I have, so I know he's happy to have a kid on the way.

You haven't gotten fat yet!
To answer the implied question: No, I'm not showing yet.  My pants are just starting to get tighter.  Haven't even had to use the rubber band in the button hole trick yet.  But I lost weight in the first trimester so that has balanced out any potential belly growth to this point.

How long will you take off?  Will you be back before the end of the year?
The plan is to take the full 12 weeks allowed under FMLA.  I have to talk with personnel for official details.  But based on what I can gather from our contract I can have 6 of those 12 weeks paid for with accumulated sick leave.  I will have to return to work sometime in mid-May for the last 3 or 4 weeks of school. We'll need some temporary childcare for those few weeks.  So if you're interested in the job, let me know.  :)

Second Trimester!

I hit 14 weeks yesterday, officially putting me in the second trimester!  (Pregnancy math is dumb, don't ask.)  I am continuing to feel better, so hooray for that.

I also returned to work this week.  This means I'm getting less sleep than I should.  And I have much less free time. So you get fewer updates.  There are a couple posts in the works though.  I should have them up by the end of the weekend.