There's a lot of different questions you get asked over and over if you're pregnant - one of the more benign topics, though, has to with the nursery. Have you picked a theme? Is it done? What does it look like? It’s certainly an easier topic than symptoms or complications.
Belly Art
A few years and pregnancies ago, a friend gifted me a copy of The Belly Art Project book - signed and personalized, no less! It’s full of super cool pictures of women with their pregnant bellies painted with all sorts of creative ideas. It’s super cute, and something I always wanted to do, but a few things were holding me back.
First, I wasn’t sure who would do it. Could I paint my own belly? Talk a friend into it? And then if I did, I wasn’t sure what I should paint. So many of the ones in the book are either super personalized or very clever, and I was having a hard time coming up with something that wouldn’t be completely random.
Water Water
So I’ve always felt a little bad about how poor my swimming skills are. To be fair, I’ve never really enjoyed the water, I don’t want to get my face or hair wet, and so I don’t mind that I can’t swim very well. But it’s still a bit embarrassing (especially since my best friend, husband and both parents are life guard level swimmers). Now that I have children, though, it’s come to the forefront again.
One, because I don’t feel like I can swim strong enough to save a drowning child, which means they need to learn how to swim ASAP. And two, because watching my children has made me realize that children really may just be born predisposed to loving water or not. And it makes me feel better about myself - because maybe it’s not all my fault.
Someone's Not Behaving
Apparently this baby was listening when I mentioned that I was feeling pretty good this pregnancy, and again when I jokingly called this baby my favorite and easiest child. I should have learned from E & G by now, because they love to prove me wrong, and apparently baby does too.
At my last appointment I mentioned two things to the midwife which made her pause and make a face - I was feeling extremely nauseous again, and baby’s movements had changed. I think she actually said “uh oh” before seeing if her hunch was right.
The End is (Not so) Near
So the good news is that I’m recovered from my cold and feeling much better. Iron has kicked in, so I’m not living in a fog anymore either. The bad news is that I’m just done. I never understood needing to go on maternity leave early, but I think I might need to this time. I’m big and slow, yes, but mentally I’m just at the end of what I’m able to do. My feet have also reached that point - I can’t stand for very long before they start hurting either.
Vacation Week
So our lovely daycare decided to close for a week, with not a ton of notice, which meant there weren’t a lot of options for us. All vacation homes within a few hour drive were booked or too expensive or missing something essential. So instead of meeting my parents at the beach somewhere, we decided to just head to Vermont. Honestly the kids probably enjoy Vermont better than the beach anyway. There are tractors and land to run around on, and they can eat all my dad’s peas from his garden.
A Few Firsts
So these probably aren’t the normal first that we usually celebrate, but we’ll mention them here just the same. They’re still a part of life, and worth documenting.
Starting with, a first for our eldest tiny human - E’s first bee sting! For some a childhood rite of passage, while others reach adulthood without ever getting stung. Oddly enough I had just been talking to my best friend about how her daughter (and one of E’s best friends) had stepped on a bee two days earlier and gotten stung. I never imagined that he’d be following right behind her!
Let's Do an Update
So here’s what I’ve learned about iron infusions (which I’m still in the middle of - not done yet!). They’re amazing and have given me a lot of energy back. I can actually stay awake for most of the day now, which I couldn’t say before them. They’re also super weird, and do things like make my limbs heavy and feel odd as the iron flows through my body - and yes you can feel it. My arm was getting uncomfortably heavy and feeling a lot of pressure when the nurse was inserting the iron one day, and she flushed the IV with saline and I could feel the iron leaving my arm.
The iron also sucks all the water from your body, dehydrating you like crazy. (Which is also what the baby is doing). Knowing this, I drank about 60oz of water before my appointment, and still needed to drink another 60oz after until I finally felt hydrated again. It’s a lot of water.
Official Start to Summer
There haven’t been many food cravings lately, but there was one thing I was looking forward to. Strawberry season - specifically strawberry shortcake season! So I’d been watching my favorite small farm closely for news of their opening. And when it came, we just so happened to not have any plans. We had to go!
It’s definitely not the flashiest farm in the area, but that’s why I love it. I get too overwhelmed at the big places, especially with small children. This one opens early, has yummy food, and plenty of space to run around. It also has enough animals that it keeps the children happy. Remember that zoo trip we tried? It has nothing on farm animals!
Anyone Else Taste Metal?
I’m going to purposely look at this update as a good thing. Yes, I’ll be in the hospital five times in the next two weeks, but I’m thinking about how thankful I am that my doctors realized something was wrong, and had a solution to fix it. I’m thankful that I’m going to start to hopefully feel a lot better in the next few weeks, and get some energy back!
Sugar Sugar
Anyone who’s been around for my previous pregnancies knows my history with the glucose tests - as in I’ve never passed the 1 hour test and have had to take the 3 hour test each pregnancy (which I passed for both E and G!)
So this time I talked to one of the doctors about my history and whether jumping to the 3 hour test would make sense. She agreed, and so it was scheduled during a time I needed labs drawn anyway. So that’s how I found myself enjoying my day off in the lab of the local hospital.
Another Weekend, Another Hotel
Look at us! ANOTHER VACATION!?
Partly because we have a year to make up for, and partly because we won’t be traveling this fall once the baby is here, so we’ve got a lot of vacation days to take this summer! And why not? It’s gorgeous out, we’re feeling a bit more comfortable, let’s do it!
So this time, we traveled about an hour from home to visit a zoo! No real reason, Tom and I both don’t really like zoos but apparently kids do, we were just looking for an excuse to get away. We’re also trying to get the kids used to riding in the car again, since about 2 minutes down the road the “Are we there yet?” starts. Seriously, who teaches that to a kid? Or does it come pre-programmed?
A Weekend Away
Well that feels weird to write. After a year+ of mostly staying home, we went on an actual vacation recently. Considering G has been to Maine once when he was not even crawling, and Vermont over a year ago, it was a big accomplishment. Both kids were equal parts excited and confused.
But we had a four day weekend and so we figured that going somewhere for a few days and dealing with whatever crazy that would bring would be better than being trapped at home and dealing with the crazy we knew would come. So we packed up and drove into the city. It seemed like such a funny vacation to take normally, but we all know these aren’t normal times.
Orange Frazzle Birthday Party
Even if you watch Sesame Street and consider yourself and expert, you might not know who Frazzle is. We were first introduced to him via the “Fuzzy and Blue” song (which I’ll admit is hilarious), and E quickly fell in love. I’m pretty sure the Frazzle book we own is the only merchandise in existence right now, and we’ve only managed to find a handful of videos on youtube where he exists. He simply isn’t used that much or at all anymore. My theory is because he’s super scary looking and doesn’t speak English, but that hasn’t stopped E from loving him.
And so every time I asked E what he wanted the theme for his birthday to be, he would tell me “Orange Frazzle Party.” And yes, I tried to suggest other things, wait to see if he’d change his mind, anything. Nope, this is what he wanted.
FOUR
I think I have to stop calling you a toddler. You are suddenly so grown up, and I have no idea how this happened. I miss my baby a bit, but it’s also a lot of fun to watch you become who you are.
You are still my sweetness, completely. You often come up to me and tell me that you have four things for me, and then you give me a kiss, a hug, a squeeze and a cuddle. While you fight with your brother often, you are just as often sweet and caring to him as well.
Pregnancy is so Fun
How about a random pregnancy facts and symptoms post?
We all know the fun fact that blood volumes increases in pregnancy, right? Up to 50% more than a woman usually has in her body, which can lead to some weird symptoms. Like pulsatile tinnitus. The current bane of my existence. All day long, instead of hearing co-workers, my children, or the TV, I hear “Woosh woosh woosh woosh.” And if I dare bend over, walk up the stairs or do, well, anything.. it gets louder and appears in both ears instead of just one.
Happy Birthday to Me!
Mostly here to remind myself - I honestly woke up this morning and had no clue. I’ve been doing this thing lately where I focus so much on E’s birthday, that I completely forget about mine. My birthday, which I used to spend 2 months planning and thinking about. Instead I spend that time thinking about how to make E’s birthday special. Nothing particularly wrong with that, I suppose, but my goal for the next year is to try not to forget about myself so much. I’m sure it would be easy to do with 3 small children, so maybe if I make a promise to myself now, I’ll at least be thinking about it.
Anyway, happy birthday to me!
A Sad Day
Daycare during a pandemic is really hard. We’re not allowed in the building, and we’re not supposed to chat with the teachers when we pick up or drop off. That leaves us knowing very little about what goes on in the classrooms. I used to know the name of every kid in the room, and would spend 10-15 minutes in the room when I picked E&G up. Checking how many diapers they had, if they needed a change of clothes, picking up their artwork, but also seeing how the room functioned and getting to know the teachers. I could see who E&G were friends with, how they interacted in the room, and I felt like I knew what was going on.
All that’s gone now, of course. We get pictures and daily reports, but it’s not quite the same. I have to rely on what E&G tell me directly, which is partial information at best.
Mother's Day
I was having a conversation recently about Mother’s Day, and how I don’t feel like it’s for me. Which is weird. I obviously feel like a mom – I spend a good portion of every waking hour focused on doing mom things and thinking about my kids. I’m deep in all the mom stuff. I’m currently pregnant with our third child. So why does Mother’s day make me feel so odd? Is it all the commercials of breakfast in bed and specialness of the day? Is it seeing everyone else so focused on brunch reservations and fancy family photos that makes me feel like I should be doing something I’m not interested in? That I’m not living up to my Mother’s Day potential?
Oh Right, I'm Pregnant
Second trimester - the small window of time where I can go moments or hours where I feel normal and forget I’m pregnant. Which I realize sounds crazy because there’s also some baby doing cannonballs in my belly, but it’s easy to be distracted when you’re chasing a 2 and 3 year old around.
Sure there are symptoms - pains here and there, I’m bigger and slower and quickly out of breath. Heartburn is returning, it’s harder to eat big meals - all things I’ve dealt with before. Maybe that’s why I can still feel “normal.” Although the tinnitus is new, and one symptom I definitely would be okay with going away…