I have always had problems shaving under my arms, and I always hated the "moustache." So I went and had something done about it. From late 2005 to early 2006, I had laser hair removal. It was expensive - even with my Super-Duper discount for having been pals with the gal who does it. My mom took her wedding pictures for discount rates, so she felt it nice to return the favor and we both got discounts.
Pregnancy hormones are evil. $300 and lots of owwies later, I am growing hair again. I have pit hair, le moustache, chin stubble, and a few long ones on my breasts. I will not even begin to discuss "down there." I shave, pluck, and scowl at the ever-growing problem. I'm starting to wonder if I've wasted that money or if maybe after the hormones die down everything will resume some semblance of normalcy.
I know it won't be that inexpensive if I have to do laser removal again. So the cost will outweigh the benefit. My baby will need diapers. And I will need lotions and ointments to soothe the burning rash I inevitably get from shaving under my arms. And I will need ice packs to put on my face after I yank out my moustache and goatee.
It's funny. Pregnancy is the most girlie thing a female can do. Yet it makes us look like men. Or yeti. How odd!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Ultrasound One
I don't need to say much. It was amazing. And you can see the baby move, and its little heart just pumping away! We got to hear the REAL heartbeat today (way different from the Doppler swoosh).
The upper picture is with baby all curled up. He or she stretched afterward. The lower picture has the baby's hand near its mouth (thumb-sucking is still a ways off, but the baby's checking them out anyway). The bright white lines on its face are its jawbones. The little skinny things sticking out front are legs.
Okay, I'm done talking. Take a look! (Click the pictures to get a better view.)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
There's no sex when you vomit
For those who recognized the (very) loose Bush reference (that would be the band, not the President), congratulations. Now, on to the subject at hand.
One relatively alarming (well, for the daddy-to-be, anyway) side-effect of pregnancy is the loss of libido. Well, some say there's an increase but not for me. I went from (well, never mind where I used to be) down to flat zero sex drive. It isn't anything in particular I can pinpoint, so I'll just list a few things that I think contribute.
1. Feeling "unsexy." This can be likened to that bloated, gassy feeling you might have after eating way too much, or maybe you just don't feel pretty. Or that you think you look like a whale because you can't zip your favorite jeans up anymore.
2. Nauseous Maximus. This would be that queasy feeling not unlike seasickness that I feel nearly every day at varying points in the day. Could be that I ate too little, or maybe I ate too much. Maybe I ate something that the baby hated and hasn't had the nerve to develop any language skills to tell me yet. Either way, this unfortunate side effect often leads to....
3. Spewage. Disgusting, surprising, repulsive, whatever you want to call it. It's vomit. It's bad enough when you've just eaten what you thought was a nice, healthy breakfast. It's much worse when you've fasted for 12 hours in order to have your base level glucose measured in a blood draw and all you have is disgusting yellow stomach bile. (Side note: Stomach bile looks a lot like a thoroughly whisked runny egg yolk when it goes in the toilet, which made me laugh at the thought, right before I heaved more of it this morning.)
4. Pregnancy-induced psychosis. This may need explaining. I've gone completely mad. I love you one minute, hate you the next. I am happy and then utterly depressed. I am fixated on cleaning, then I can't possibly be expected to lift a finger while I'm growing a baby inside me. My poor husband deals with this on a regular basis and hasn't tried to kill me yet. Although my pillow was on top of my head this morning.
5. Desire mixed with Revulsion. This last one is harder to explain. It's the same feeling I have when I eat, even though I don't want to. I'm hungry and desire the food, but I'm not sure if I'll feel good afterwards or if I'll go yak it up again. The only thing that makes me eat anyway is the prospect of harming my little fetus if I don't. There is no such catch to failure to orgasm. Or even failure to want to pretend to try. So I gaze over lovingly at my husband because I want to... but then something inside me says, "But you might get seasick or be in pain or it might not be good or you might need to change positions ten times or you're too picky anyway, or..." you get the idea.
The worst part is, he's so in tune with my emotional state (crazy as it may be right now), that he can tell if I'm not really into it and only doing it for him (which I did already try once). This, in turn, makes it totally not fun for him. So I have given up for now. I just hope that when the second trimester comes, all the nasty part of being pregnant will vanish with the first trimester and we can be close to normal again. Maybe, everything will even be zen.
One relatively alarming (well, for the daddy-to-be, anyway) side-effect of pregnancy is the loss of libido. Well, some say there's an increase but not for me. I went from (well, never mind where I used to be) down to flat zero sex drive. It isn't anything in particular I can pinpoint, so I'll just list a few things that I think contribute.
1. Feeling "unsexy." This can be likened to that bloated, gassy feeling you might have after eating way too much, or maybe you just don't feel pretty. Or that you think you look like a whale because you can't zip your favorite jeans up anymore.
2. Nauseous Maximus. This would be that queasy feeling not unlike seasickness that I feel nearly every day at varying points in the day. Could be that I ate too little, or maybe I ate too much. Maybe I ate something that the baby hated and hasn't had the nerve to develop any language skills to tell me yet. Either way, this unfortunate side effect often leads to....
3. Spewage. Disgusting, surprising, repulsive, whatever you want to call it. It's vomit. It's bad enough when you've just eaten what you thought was a nice, healthy breakfast. It's much worse when you've fasted for 12 hours in order to have your base level glucose measured in a blood draw and all you have is disgusting yellow stomach bile. (Side note: Stomach bile looks a lot like a thoroughly whisked runny egg yolk when it goes in the toilet, which made me laugh at the thought, right before I heaved more of it this morning.)
4. Pregnancy-induced psychosis. This may need explaining. I've gone completely mad. I love you one minute, hate you the next. I am happy and then utterly depressed. I am fixated on cleaning, then I can't possibly be expected to lift a finger while I'm growing a baby inside me. My poor husband deals with this on a regular basis and hasn't tried to kill me yet. Although my pillow was on top of my head this morning.
5. Desire mixed with Revulsion. This last one is harder to explain. It's the same feeling I have when I eat, even though I don't want to. I'm hungry and desire the food, but I'm not sure if I'll feel good afterwards or if I'll go yak it up again. The only thing that makes me eat anyway is the prospect of harming my little fetus if I don't. There is no such catch to failure to orgasm. Or even failure to want to pretend to try. So I gaze over lovingly at my husband because I want to... but then something inside me says, "But you might get seasick or be in pain or it might not be good or you might need to change positions ten times or you're too picky anyway, or..." you get the idea.
The worst part is, he's so in tune with my emotional state (crazy as it may be right now), that he can tell if I'm not really into it and only doing it for him (which I did already try once). This, in turn, makes it totally not fun for him. So I have given up for now. I just hope that when the second trimester comes, all the nasty part of being pregnant will vanish with the first trimester and we can be close to normal again. Maybe, everything will even be zen.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Pregnancy Week 9
The ninth week so far has been okay. I've done a lot this week, including attend a college orientation with Devlyn and attend a Police concert at Key Arena!
I have lost a total of ten pounds, mostly from the changes in eating habits. I eat a lot more often, but tend to eat a lot less at a time. My overall caloric intake has dropped a little, but it seems that the eating all day has made the biggest change. I know I'll start gaining soon. I'm trying not to be too alarmed just yet. Maybe it's ten pounds I didn't need (unhealthy ones) or maybe it's loss of muscle mass from the changes I've made in my workout. I'm not sure, but I'm trying to not let it bother me.
Mostly what I've noticed is the fatigue and the nausea when I don't eat. Of course, sometimes it's even when I DO eat. Then there's the gas. Nobody ever told me that flatulence and belching were going to be at an all-time high during pregnancy. It's uncontrollable, and sometimes it's painful!
At least I have a general idea of how my grape-sized baby is doing. A lovely woman I met at Devlyn's college orientation said the way I feel is a sign that things are going normally. I use that to make me feel better when the "symptoms" get ridiculous. Here's a picture of what my little nugget looks like (in theory) by now.
The good news is, I'll get a real chance to see him or her for the first time coming up in a couple of weeks. My first appointment with the midwife is on the 18th, and my first ultrasound (thanks to that gall bladder study) will be on the 21st. So I'll have a cute little picture like this one (but not this one) to show off!
I'm growing a little bit more anxious, but that feeling comes and goes. My belly is starting to look a little "swole" (maybe actually from my grapefruit-sized uterus now rather than from all the bowel distension), so I'm starting to feel more pregnant than before. Even though the skin isn't really stretching yet, I have scratched my tummy a few times without thinking. It's not even itchy! I also do the subconscious belly rub and the "hold" a lot. All moms, I'm sure, know what I mean by the "hold" but just to explain to those who don't know, this is when I rest my hand(s) on my belly around the tiny bulge.
Things are moving along, and life is good. When I get more obviously round, I'll post a picture of me on here. I know, the anticipation is probably more than you can handle. Hang in there!
I have lost a total of ten pounds, mostly from the changes in eating habits. I eat a lot more often, but tend to eat a lot less at a time. My overall caloric intake has dropped a little, but it seems that the eating all day has made the biggest change. I know I'll start gaining soon. I'm trying not to be too alarmed just yet. Maybe it's ten pounds I didn't need (unhealthy ones) or maybe it's loss of muscle mass from the changes I've made in my workout. I'm not sure, but I'm trying to not let it bother me.
Mostly what I've noticed is the fatigue and the nausea when I don't eat. Of course, sometimes it's even when I DO eat. Then there's the gas. Nobody ever told me that flatulence and belching were going to be at an all-time high during pregnancy. It's uncontrollable, and sometimes it's painful!
At least I have a general idea of how my grape-sized baby is doing. A lovely woman I met at Devlyn's college orientation said the way I feel is a sign that things are going normally. I use that to make me feel better when the "symptoms" get ridiculous. Here's a picture of what my little nugget looks like (in theory) by now.
The good news is, I'll get a real chance to see him or her for the first time coming up in a couple of weeks. My first appointment with the midwife is on the 18th, and my first ultrasound (thanks to that gall bladder study) will be on the 21st. So I'll have a cute little picture like this one (but not this one) to show off!
I'm growing a little bit more anxious, but that feeling comes and goes. My belly is starting to look a little "swole" (maybe actually from my grapefruit-sized uterus now rather than from all the bowel distension), so I'm starting to feel more pregnant than before. Even though the skin isn't really stretching yet, I have scratched my tummy a few times without thinking. It's not even itchy! I also do the subconscious belly rub and the "hold" a lot. All moms, I'm sure, know what I mean by the "hold" but just to explain to those who don't know, this is when I rest my hand(s) on my belly around the tiny bulge.
Things are moving along, and life is good. When I get more obviously round, I'll post a picture of me on here. I know, the anticipation is probably more than you can handle. Hang in there!
Saturday, June 2, 2007
More than fatigue
I'm not showing yet, and here's why. That baby takes up NO space yet. I read in yet another pregnancy guide that my belly is all swole because of my "excessive bloating and distended bowel from gas or constipation." So my pants may be tight, but it isn't baby... I just have to fart.
The newest change for me is the fatigue. I'm pretty sleepy all day. Not sure if it's from getting up to go pee at various times during the night, if it's the strain of growing a parasite from scratch, or both. I'd say, both. It's really hard to get used to the fact that my heart is pounding just from walking up the stairs to go to bed. And I'm all out of breath, and not even working that hard!
Turns out, I'm increasing blood volume to support the little growth I have inside me, which makes my heart work harder, thus making me a big wimp when it comes to "strenuous" activity. I got all hot and tired today after watering the grass. WATERING THE GRASS!!!
We've been given the option of seeing either an obstetrician or a certified nurse midwife (CNM) for this pregnancy, thanks to the Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis. Since I'm in good health and this doesn't seem to be a high-risk pregnancy so far, we've opted for the CNM. If I decide that she's too "touchy-feely" for me, I can switch over to the doc at any time. Also, an obstetrician will be on-call for me during the birth so if anything goes horribly wrong that the midwife can't handle, a doc is right there anyway.
I've registered on Babies-R-Us and "spent" a friggin' fortune already. I had no ideas babies were so expensive. And I'm not even looking at the nice, expensive stuff. I sort by lowest price before clicking. To give you an idea, when you click the Babies-R-Us link, click on Registry, and then put in this number: 47809796 (or you can search by my name). I'm not even close to being finished with the stuff we need, and it's already crazy-high!
All this excitement has gotten me (yet again) a bit sluggish. So I think I'll take a late-day nap. Or maybe just go to bed at 6:30. Either way, I need to rest.
The newest change for me is the fatigue. I'm pretty sleepy all day. Not sure if it's from getting up to go pee at various times during the night, if it's the strain of growing a parasite from scratch, or both. I'd say, both. It's really hard to get used to the fact that my heart is pounding just from walking up the stairs to go to bed. And I'm all out of breath, and not even working that hard!
Turns out, I'm increasing blood volume to support the little growth I have inside me, which makes my heart work harder, thus making me a big wimp when it comes to "strenuous" activity. I got all hot and tired today after watering the grass. WATERING THE GRASS!!!
We've been given the option of seeing either an obstetrician or a certified nurse midwife (CNM) for this pregnancy, thanks to the Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis. Since I'm in good health and this doesn't seem to be a high-risk pregnancy so far, we've opted for the CNM. If I decide that she's too "touchy-feely" for me, I can switch over to the doc at any time. Also, an obstetrician will be on-call for me during the birth so if anything goes horribly wrong that the midwife can't handle, a doc is right there anyway.
I've registered on Babies-R-Us and "spent" a friggin' fortune already. I had no ideas babies were so expensive. And I'm not even looking at the nice, expensive stuff. I sort by lowest price before clicking. To give you an idea, when you click the Babies-R-Us link, click on Registry, and then put in this number: 47809796 (or you can search by my name). I'm not even close to being finished with the stuff we need, and it's already crazy-high!
All this excitement has gotten me (yet again) a bit sluggish. So I think I'll take a late-day nap. Or maybe just go to bed at 6:30. Either way, I need to rest.
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