Amnesia. That is what people say women have when they choose to have another baby. I say, it's what you have during the pregnancy with the second baby. I didn't forget what everything was like UNTIL I got pregnant. I forgot that my morning sickness lasted into the fourteenth week (THANK YOU BLOG), and I forgot that I had gotten to actually SEE my little one at 12 weeks and not just hear a heartbeat. Trying not to be too sad about that one.
We will get to see Deuce on September 13. It seems like forever but it won't be long. I am pretty excited about that day, though. And getting pictures!!!
One thing that is happening now that did not happen last time is the perpetual constipation and, um, hemorrhoids that go along with it. I feel like an old woman. I feel like crying when I have to poop. Sometimes I do. I eat whole grains and cereals, fresh fruits and veggies, and drink copious amounts of water. All to no avail. The website I mainly go to for information, BabyCenter, has a tendency to make me nervous about bleeding and that I should call my practitioner immediately. At ten o'clock at night!
Some other helpful (or not) advice I've seen is that I should not lift my 30+ pound toddler anymore. Wow. Someone should have told me that I would have to be a negligent mother to my first-born in order to have a second-born. I feel so terrible! How could I not pick up and squeeze my little cutie?
For the most part, I think discretion is everything. As in, leave it to your own. If you feel weird about something, ask someone. If you feel okay, why stress over it if someone else says it's not okay? Who makes other moms the subject-matter-experts on anything but themselves and their own pregnancies? Now, if your doctor or midwife says, "Um, NO," then I would probably resist the temptation to be defiant. But these websites are not created by doctors. The good idea fairy bit one of them who said, "You know what we should do? Make a website for pregnant women and new moms." Thus, the website is born. Now, professionals do consult on these sites, so all the information is not invalid. However, you will find that some vast portions of medical information are cut-and-pasted directly from WebMD or other reputable sites.
So it's still not a hundred percent fun being pregnant yet. I'm sure the second trimester (which will be here in just a few days) will lead to a wonderful change in my mood, my overall wellbeing, and my outlook. For now, I keep checking for movement (I think I have actually felt it already since I know what I'm looking for), and trying to "feel" pregnant as much as possible. Other than not being able to fasten my pants anymore.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Cross-continental driving and toddler regression
One thing I do NOT recommend while 8-11 weeks pregnant is driving. Across the entire continent of North America. With a husband and toddler. For two weeks.
Okay, let me rephrase. If you decide to do this, oh-pregnant-one, YOU will be doing most of the driving, just to avoid the nausea associated with being in a car that you are not busy controlling. We took a 4,000+ mile trip from the state of Georgia to the state of Alaska. It took us about 13 total driving days. It was brutal, exhausting, uncomfortable, and most of all - just not much fun.
Additionally, the confusion of being uprooted from home and subsequently spending one night in a different hotel or house along the way has completely rebooted our toddler's potty-training skills to zero. If we are persistent with getting her on the potty at set times of day, sometimes we get lucky and get a pee or poop in the toilet. Mostly, we're spending our precious pennies on more and more Pull-Ups. We had gotten her down to just two per day. Now, it's a good day if we only use six.
Regression is a big part of toddlerhood when significant emotional events occur. By "significant emotional event" I mean anything from moving homes to moving rooms, switching to a big kid bed from the crib, birth of a sibling, or loss of a close relative (even though they are too young to understand the permanence of death, kids are very perceptive and understand the sense of loss felt by those around them). They don't really have ways of dealing with emotions other than the typical toddler outbursts and... well, wetting or pooping themselves.
To be fair, as frustrating as it is, it's hard to really feel angry about it. I mean, for the first two years of her life, it has been perfectly okay for her to poop and pee in a diaper. The Pull-Up, for all intents and purposes, probably doesn't feel any different to her. The major difference is that she steps into it rather than having us fold it up around her, and even that isn't required because they detach at the sides. So, once we get in a house (still in a hotel now), we intend to put her in cotton training pants that will very clearly feel different to her hind parts. Wetness will be no secret. And, to our dismay, neither will be the poop.
As for my ongoing pregnancy, we're at week twelve now. Hoping for the nausea to subside. I have been able to eat a little more. Still mostly soup. The joys of soup! So complete a meal, and I don't have to chew it. That makes such a huge difference to a woman who feels nausea emerge just because of the surge in saliva that accompanies pregnancy. But, last night I had a dream that our ultrasound revealed a boy. A whole new wave of emotions will go along with that one! But that is for another time.
Happy driving, training, and whatever else you might be doing!
Okay, let me rephrase. If you decide to do this, oh-pregnant-one, YOU will be doing most of the driving, just to avoid the nausea associated with being in a car that you are not busy controlling. We took a 4,000+ mile trip from the state of Georgia to the state of Alaska. It took us about 13 total driving days. It was brutal, exhausting, uncomfortable, and most of all - just not much fun.
Additionally, the confusion of being uprooted from home and subsequently spending one night in a different hotel or house along the way has completely rebooted our toddler's potty-training skills to zero. If we are persistent with getting her on the potty at set times of day, sometimes we get lucky and get a pee or poop in the toilet. Mostly, we're spending our precious pennies on more and more Pull-Ups. We had gotten her down to just two per day. Now, it's a good day if we only use six.
Regression is a big part of toddlerhood when significant emotional events occur. By "significant emotional event" I mean anything from moving homes to moving rooms, switching to a big kid bed from the crib, birth of a sibling, or loss of a close relative (even though they are too young to understand the permanence of death, kids are very perceptive and understand the sense of loss felt by those around them). They don't really have ways of dealing with emotions other than the typical toddler outbursts and... well, wetting or pooping themselves.
To be fair, as frustrating as it is, it's hard to really feel angry about it. I mean, for the first two years of her life, it has been perfectly okay for her to poop and pee in a diaper. The Pull-Up, for all intents and purposes, probably doesn't feel any different to her. The major difference is that she steps into it rather than having us fold it up around her, and even that isn't required because they detach at the sides. So, once we get in a house (still in a hotel now), we intend to put her in cotton training pants that will very clearly feel different to her hind parts. Wetness will be no secret. And, to our dismay, neither will be the poop.
As for my ongoing pregnancy, we're at week twelve now. Hoping for the nausea to subside. I have been able to eat a little more. Still mostly soup. The joys of soup! So complete a meal, and I don't have to chew it. That makes such a huge difference to a woman who feels nausea emerge just because of the surge in saliva that accompanies pregnancy. But, last night I had a dream that our ultrasound revealed a boy. A whole new wave of emotions will go along with that one! But that is for another time.
Happy driving, training, and whatever else you might be doing!
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