Our little pineapple

Every Thursday I receive an e-mail from babycenter.com giving me an update on the size of the baby and other things particular to where I'm at in the pregnancy for that week. Most of the comparisons are to fruit or vegetables so it's always entertaining to see what the comparison will be each week. Today's update said Pat is now 4 lbs, roughly the weight of a pineapple, and 17" long. I'm glad Pat isn't shaped like a pineapple or rough on the outside like one because that would not be a pleasant experience delivering that. 

In other Pat related news, the nursery is coming along quite nicely. The crib is up! Yay! There are still at least 20 other things we need to do still but at least the crib is up. That was my big goal for the room even though the little pineapple will sleep in a bassinet in our room for the first weeks. By the way, if you're expecting or planning on becoming pregnant at some point, you should know that cribs do not come with mattresses. I did not know that until Christian assembled it. Now we need to go out and get one and believe me, it's not that simple of a process as you have to have THE right mattress for your crib. In my initial reconnaissance work, I've discovered that mattress sizes are not standardized. Oh, and it needs to be firm and the cheaper mattresses sag in the middle after awhile (according to reports I've read online). It's not that big of a deal, going out and getting a mattress, I'm just saying I wasn't expecting it. But we'll add that to the to do list and I'm sure we'll get it prior to December 31st, Pat's due date.

Now I'm craving pineapple. Is that weird?

I literally threw up in my mouth a little bit

Why, you might ask? Because at our childbirth class tonight we watched THE birth video, which I somehow managed to never see in sex ed class in elementary or highschool. When I saw the placenta come out I:

1. Threw up a little in my mouth (I have some nasty heartburn right now so it was most likely due to that)

2. Said out loud "What is that thing?! That is absolutely disgusting!", which I didn't realize I'd said out loud until the people around me started to laugh.

Again, good thing there are no patchouli-wearing, armpit-hair growing hippies in our class because they probably would have thrown their Birkenstocks at me in disgust over my disgust of the placenta.

And now, for my almost 33 week photo op. You can see for yourself why my friend's mother-in-law told me I was huge. See it for yourself.

I think if my boobs were bigger, maybe they'd make my stomach look smaller. Not sure on that theory. Maybe my stomach is really just that big!

"You're huge!!!"

That's what my friend's mother-in-law told me yesterday when she saw me. I'll post my 32 week shot tonight or tomorrow. We've (Christian) been busy on Pat's room and you know how time flies when you're having fun!

While we've been busy with crown molding, painting, installing, etc, we did take time on Saturday night to watch a really good movie that I highly recommend. The Brothers Bloom. Watch it. I think the rating must be PG or something as there's no nudity, no eff words (at least I didn't hear any) and no or very little violence. But a clever and entertaining hour and 20 minutes or so. That's all I'll say about it. You can google it if you want more info. 

Meet Fred, my cankle

WARNING! ACHTUNG! BE YE WARNED! The image you will see is quite disturbing and may cause sudden vomiting, blacking out, general disgust, or might mean you won't be able to look me in the eye ever again.

Meet Fred (as in Flintstone), my foot and ankle that has morphed into something non-human. You can see why my co-worker shrieked in horror a couple of weeks ago. I must admit, it's pretty grotesque. But I really don't know what to do about it. I elevate it whenever I can, I drink a minimum of 10 glasses of water a day (everyone says to drink more water to flush out the swelling), and I massage it. Maybe I need to perform an exorcism on it. Oh well, just one more thing to ask the mid-wife about later today.

By the way, I'm just glad it's not the summer right now. I have a feeling Fred would be even larger!

Where have all the hippies gone?

When I signed Christian and myself up for a natural childbirth class, I honestly thought we'd be the only non-Patchouli wearing, armpit shaving, meat-eating people in the class. Last night was our first class and boy was I wrong! Everyone in class was just like us--WASPS (or WASMS, the M replacing the P due to the Mormon factor). I could tell Christian hated every minute of class and I'm really surprised he hasn't asked me if he has to go to another class. I think he might just realize that I would literally tear his face off if he asks such a question. But I know he wants to bail out.

So we learned all about proper diet and exercise during pregnancy (did you know a pregnant woman should consume a minimum of 6 servings of whole grains per day? how is that possible? I probably consume 3/day since I am a protein girl, not a carb girl), basic anatomy, how much weight gain is appropriate, what the weight gain is comprised of (baby, placenta, boobs, blood, fluid, etc) and other stuff I already know SIDE NOTE: I didn't know that I can't take my pre-natal with my calcium supplement because the calcium cancels out the iron in the pre-natal. Oops! Anyway, why are we learning these things we already know about? Oh, maybe because everyone else in the class is barely pregnant. I didn't know you were supposed to take this class earlier in your pregnancy. Here I am 8 weeks out from delivering while everyone else is at 18 weeks into their pregnancies. We're in class with a bunch of eager beavers! One girl isn't due until May! MAY!?! She's going to forget everything she's learned and have to re-take the class.

We finished up class with a relaxation method similar to the cat & cow position in yoga. Then I had to lie on my side while Christian moved my pelvis around. Not my favourite position or feeling. I don't think we'll practice at home. I don't think my body has produced enough relaxin hormone to open up my pelvis yet cause I swear I heard my pelvis creaking.

So, the big question is why. Why are we taking a natural childbirth class? While we're not getting a doula or birthing coach, nor are we learning the Bradley method or hypno birthing (which I think is a crock), I would like to attempt an epidural-free birth. Do I think I can do it? No (sorry all you that have told me that you think I can). But what I want to do is hold off on getting the epidural for as long as I possibly can. I don't want to be one of those women that get to the hospital and immediately get drugged up. I'm not judging you if that's what you did, I just don't want that for myself. And who knows, maybe I'll make it through without the epidural and maybe just a little cocaine, I mean, whatever it is they give you to take the edge off (haven't learned about that one yet...that might be taught at next week's class). So judge away. I'm really okay with people being upset with me for not thinking I can do it. But there's always next time, right?

Tomorrow marks month 8. I'll have my 32 week photo up for your viewing pleasure, although you already saw plenty of it in my Playboy bunny costume.

My fetus: The perfect Halloween prop

Who knew that baring your pregnant belly would be such a hit at a Halloween party? But it was. For the third year in a row, we took home best couple costume for our take on Hugh Hefner and a Playboy Bunny, Misty, that had fallen on hard times (a.k.a. knocked up). We really didn't think we had a shot this year since we thought our costumes were lame, but I guess other people didn't think so. Hey, we'll take it! There were a lot of strangers at the party and they all wanted to know about Pat, like what Pat is, when Pat's arriving, you know, the usual questions. Pat is definitely a conversation starter with strangers. I guess baring my enormous stomach also helped. And for the second year in a row, I was coerced into singing Madonna's "Like a virgin" and even got down on the floor again and crawled towards the crowd. Christian said he heard someone say "Oh no, she's not getting down...oh no...no she isn't...YES SHE IS!" Of course I did. I'm not going to let the fact that I'm 7 months pregnant get in the way of my act. Although almost wetting my pants was different than last year.

Hugh & Misty.

 

MJ resurrected.

 

My favourite costume of the night--A One Night Stand. There was even a clock radio on the night stand.

 

Mrs. Doubtfire & Hugh.

Just like Madonna!

 

Phil & Beckie after Beckie's first golf lesson.

What a strange collection of people: Misty, Michael Jackson, Wonder Woman, A Jill-O-Lantern, and Paula Dean!

I've got nothing for this one.

A likely couple: Rodeo Queen & Sid Vicious.

This is definitely going in Pat's baby book. This is what happens when you steal someone's camera at a party and take a lot of self-portraits.

Then yesterday we were roped into hosting a "trunk" at our church's Fall Fest/Trunk-or-Treat. We didn't think Hugh & Misty were appropriate for little ones so we went as Ken and Barbie, our favourite costume from a couple of years ago. I had a great time interacting with the kids. Some kids even asked to have their photos taken with us (I'm sure if we'd gone as Hugh & Misty some adults would have wanted their photos taken with us). I hope we weren't too creepy looking in the photos. The highlight of the morning was getting to start a fire engine and make the siren go off (they use their feet to do that...I guess that's safer than taking their hands off the steering wheel). Thanks to the Oracle for letting me have my few minutes of fun.

Firefighter/Maternity Barbie.

There's my hero!

And today we had a very productive day of finishing painting trim, doors and a bookshelf, buying blackout blinds for Pat's room, caulking baseboards, buying curtain rods, tidying our disaster of a house, laundry, groceries, making a vat of spaghetti sauce, and getting some other errands done. The husband wants me to clarify that when I say "we", I mean "he" for most of the productivity (but I will claim the spaghetti sauce).

It's a GIRL!!! (take two)

Well, I had my first gender specific dream last night and in it, I gave birth to a girl. And then the next day, my stomach being as flat as it was pre-Pat, my co-worker and I flew to Texas to watch a football game. And then the phone rang and woke me up, so that's all I've got.

I haven't had time to post anything this week as work has been ridiculously busy (in a good and productive way) and I've had a lot of social commitments, chiropractor appointments, and Pat-related errands to get done. More posting this weekend, especially after the Halloween party tonight! For those of you that look forward to our costumes every year, don't get your hopes up too high this year. We'll blame our lame idea on the down turned economy.