Gametes In Love

Have you ever filled out a new patient form for a doctors office and paused at some of the questions you were asked? And I don’t mean paused in a “I don’t remember” kind of way. I mean more in a “What the $&$^#^?” kind of way.

Well, I was filling out a patient form ahead of a chiropractic appointment I have set in the morning when I came across the following question:

“What caused this complaint or how did you do it?”

I responded simply “Pregnancy” while doing my best to keep my smart-ass in check. Why? Because here’s what I really wanted to say:

“Well, you see, when a man and a woman REALLY like each other they do this ‘hug’…”

I also contemplated drawing some stick-figure pictures. (Although in my case drawing me in stirrups with 4 people around me might have confused them)

However, I was only given one line (and a quarter) to respond, so I just kept it simple 🙂

My inner 13-year old really wants out.

How far along: 22 weeks
Weight: 134.2lb
Sleep: Good
Gender: Boy
Movement: Yep. S2 is a wiggly one.
Feeling: Good. My energy level is OK, but my ability to be on my feet is getting limited.
What I miss: Nothing right now
Weekly Wisdom: Pee before bed. Otherwise bad dreams happen.
Milestones: My belly-button popped out.
Food cravings: I was craving watermelon and Pearl tea pretty badly on Friday. I got lucky and had both yesterday.
Fetal development:
At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he’s even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you’d be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he’ll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

We had a playdate with Special-K last night. It’s been so amazing watching these two grow up around each other. They went from not realizing/caring the other was in the room to now interacting with each other. G chases after her yelling out her name, and I get a saccharine lump in my stomach.

Last night though, I found it amusing that G’s played at K’s house with the following activities:

• The play-kitchen, by washing his hands (and also instructing everyone around him to do so too) and then warming up milk and the like
• Pushing K’s baby in a little doll stroller
• Mopping the floors with a toy mop

What was K doing meanwhile? She had her bag and went off to work. So yeah, K went off to work, while my son was chasing after her with a baby doll in stroller. It made me go “Huh!” I can’t promise any partner in his future that he will continue to have these domesticated desires, but I will say that if my son and his chosen one are financially able to have one of them being a stay at home parent, I’ll be proud of him if they made the choice for him to stay home.

Now…. any tips on how to get him to mop OUR house?

G’s first pony ride:

G likes to gift Jammies. Pre-cuddling is part of the package. Also please observe his latest “buggie” tattoo.

My belly button is becoming an outie 🙁

I really like my innie. No offense to you outie folk, but I really, REALLY prefer my innie.

I’m 21 weeks in and the poking out is starting to scare me a bit. I’ve been joking saying that I know I’m done baking when my belly button pops out. Well S2 had better NOT decide to run for the exit anytime soon. He has an open invitation to join the party in 19 weeks (and preferably no sooner).

Enforcing the saying that every pregnancy is different, the pregnancy-faerie is having some fun with my joints. I feel pretty stiff and in quite a bit of  pain from time to time. I have good days and not so good days, and the fact that I feel so stiff and achy mid-way through pregnancy, I fear,
does not bode well for me come October and November.

I’m acknowledging that I need help… of the exercise variety.

While pregnant with G, I started meeting with a personal trainer twice a week from week 13 on. Plus I was in decent shape when I got pregnant. Now, it’s been two+ years later, with no regular exercise to speak of. And sadly, my body can tell.

So I joined a prenatal exercise class. It meets twice a week, which is perfect and it’s close to home. It’s low impact, but still gets me moving and doing things I won’t on my own. The woman who leads it is a doula and childbirth educator, which is an interesting bonus, but not a personal trainer by any means, which in a minus. Luckily through all my previous sessions with a PT I know what’s a bad idea to do, so I can watch myself to prevent injury. Her sessions are exercise plus added childbirth/pregnancy/what’s on your mind conversations. It’s entertaining at the least.

I’m hoping that introducing some exercise in my life right now will help loosen up those muscle cob-webs and get rid of the joint pain. But above all else, I’m hoping that my c/s recovery will also be made easier. I really want to feel the same way as after G: no pain meds and walking around with ease days after surgery.

A girl can hope, right?

A few weeks ago G scored some adorable temporary tattoos from little N’s birthday party. As it turns out S is a master tattoo applier, and I came home one afternoon to have G show off his “Buggy”. He was sporting a fancy ladybug on his forearm. He was very proud of it, and was showing it off to everyone he met (and didn’t feel shy around).

(By the way, I was lame and didn’t take a photo.)

This prompted S and I to joke around putting some tattoos on G’s hiney for daycare’s benefit. S wanted, ideally, some rash looking tattoo just to mess with Miss J and Miss S. However, seeing as the birthday party was bug themed and not “random flesh eating illness” themed, we were all out of rash tattoos.

Instead, tonight we put a lizard on G’s tushie. I’m happy to report that G stood still for that one, and now there’s a bright yellow lizard hiding in his diaper.

(For ‘I want my son to like me when he’s 15’ reasons, there won’t be a photo of this tattoo either. I’m sure you’ll understand)

I can’t wait to hear school’s reaction tomorrow.

We went to pick strawberries today. I’ve always wanted to go berry picking, and now that G is a bit older, and has an unreasonable obsession with strawberries and bananas, I thought it would be a fun week-end activity. My sister and L came by this afternoon and I dragged them to Swanton Berry Farm.

I was pretty impressed with the place. Organic fruits, nice people, and as far as a place of dirt goes it was pretty clean! They were also pretty prepared for the ‘I don’t need anything more than a diaper bag, right?” non-planners such as me, and had boxes, carry handles, and even little wagons considerately provided.

G napped on our drive over, and started getting his bearings while L was pulling him in our borrowed, little wagon. G loves little wagon rides so this was a good way to start off our adventure. We parked half-way up the strawberry aisles and waddled in. It took the little man a minute or so to realize that he was looking at his favorite red fruit and go “Oooh!” He then proceeded to pick and shove berries in his mouth. Sometimes double fisting. He learned the hard way what an un-ripe berry tastes like. I told him to only go for the red ones, but he spotted a big yellow one and insisted he try it. Well, a “Ewwwww!” sound later, I watched said yellow berry get hurled into the dirt. I warned you, Kid.

Aunt P and L were very, very helpful. I will admit they picked almost all the berries today. G’s idea of helping was lightening the load by directing fruit straight to his belly. I helped best I could, but watching (and taking photos of)  G smear strawberry juice over his hands and mouth was a bit more fun.

Here are some pics of our day.

Arriving in style.

Strawberries as far as the eye can see

“Mamma said to pull hard”

“This is mine, right?”

Yummy!

Free labor!

“Right hand, left hand… I can’t decide which one tastes better…”

L’s Gremlin strawberry

“Look, Mama! I found a rock.”

“No! I said LOOK AT MY ROCK!”

Strawberry vampire

The fruits of our labor… well really the fruits of Auntie P and L’s labor

Overall, it was a good trip. We’ll be back.

How far along: 21 weeks
Weight: 131.4lb
Sleep: Good. I’ve now arrived at the point where I can’t sleep on my back anymore. It’s making sleeping a it more limited, but ok.
Gender: Still boy.
Movement: S2 is definitely a mover. He’s not a rediculous wiggle worm, actually he’s quite mellow… just a lot more willing to let me know when he’s swimming around that his brother did. It will be interesting to see how he takes advantage of his temporary home in the new few weeks.
Feeling: Good overall. I have moments of feeling sore and stiff, and those aren’t good, but are controllable for now. I’m just really ready for another pre-natal massage. I’m a little worried that the last few months of this pregnancy I won’t be very comfortable. I feel a little fortunate that we’ll be in cold season though at that time, and at least I won’t be hot AND uncomfortable.
What I miss: Nothing comes to mind
Weekly Wisdom: A pillow in between the knees makes sleep a lot better. Also stone fruit. It’s good for you 🙂
Milestones: No major milestones this week, but I just realized that my last trimester is only a month away. Holy cow!
Food cravings: I’m starting to crave sweets again.
Fetal development:
Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like he’s practicing martial arts as his initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to his activity as you get to know him better. In other developments, your baby’s eyebrows and lids are present now.

It’s happened. G fights diaper changes now oh, roughly about 50% of the time. And by fights, I mean “battle-on, catch-me-if-you-can, scream-the-whole-time” fights. He squirms and flips over, and tries to slide down the dresser (where his changing pad is). It’s like trying to change a diaper on a cat… or what I imagine changing a diaper on a cat would be like.

I know I’ve talked about this in the past, but now there’s no rhyme or reason to a diaper change. The battle begins the moment I interrupt his activity of the moment to change his diaper. Even giving him a heads up is problematic. Then the running away starts just to catch him to get him to a change. I’ve tried books, toys, different things to keep him happy, but they typically get hurled at me and I don’t think that wearing a helmet should be necessary for a simple diaper change.

What’s really prompting this re-consideration is the planning for G’s new big(ger) boy room. I’m trying to decide if we should set up a diaper changing station for him, or let loose and go for the bed/floor option instead. Here’s the deal:

– I REALLY like having the diapers, the wipes, the protective cover, the butt creme all in one place.We have this today on top of a dresser and it rocks. Floor changes just don’t offer the convenience of all my supplies in the same place.

– I REALLY like that we have our diaper pail (well, really an automated kitchen trash can) about 1ft away from the changing table and I can literally dump dirties with the wave of a hand.

– I really DON’T like the fact that G is squirmy so much these days. While I can manage to change him none-the-less, the fact that he flips over and tries to slide off the changing station is not cool. Diaper changes are becoming a 2-person job around here, which let’s face it, is just not realistic.

– I really DON’T like that if I change him on the floor, he just crawls or runs away. While I’ve been lucky not to have to deal w/ a smeary, poopie butt yet, cleaning poop off the carpet if not my idea of a swell time.

– I REALLY like that my changing station is my height, and I don’t have to bend over. My body is hurting through this pregnancy and anything that requires me to lean over, or even sit on the floor causes me notable pain in getting up and even ceases my back at times. Plus I just can’t crawl as fast as he does. When he’s running/crawling away on the floor I just can’t go after him fast, and a giggling kid while I swear under my breath in pain is not my idea of a good time. I feel like a 90yr old trying to change my 2yr old’s diaper.

I’d love it if G would be ready to potty train, but he’s not. He’s far, far from it… at least for now, so I need to plan for more diaper changes in his future.

We’re trying to play around with standing diaper changes. I’m working on this, but the diaper just feels kind of saggy and loose. Even though I tighten as best I can, it doesn’t feel as secure when applied in a horizontal position. Obviously I’ll get better with practice, but I haven’t even had to tackle a stinky diaper change with G standing up. Plus, even though he’s standing, it doesn’t keep him still. If anything it makes it easier to run away. Ugh… now the thought of a running, butt-naked child with poop drooping of his behind is really not sounding appealing.

Advice is welcome.

My thoughts for now is to keep doing what we’re doing. It’s not great, but it still works even though changes take twice as long. At least my back hurts twice as less 🙂

I think what I’ll do for now is plan for another diaper changing pad. I want to get a dresser for G’s new room regardless, so the furniture piece won’t be a wasted purchase. Worst case, I end up getting a changing pad I won’t need and will resell/donate it. I’ll investigate getting a little diaper supply caddy too for those changes “on the run”.

I really thought that changing should be getting easier now, not harder. I mean… why would you want a wet or stinky diaper on you?