I called my GP this morning to get an appointment, since my OB doesn't want to deal with my injury anymore now that WSIB is involved.
Apparently my GP doesn't want to be involved either. I was told that because he wasn't the first practitioner I saw, he wouldn't be involved with my claim. So I have two doctors who don't want to take care of me here. Awesome.
This may not seem out of the ordinary to most of you, because you're from the states and your health care is drastically different over there. But over here it's all paid for by the government, so to have doctors say that they don't want to deal with the case is like, almost unheard of.
Unfortunately, my GP just recently joined this new billing program where he gets paid per patient per year instead of per visit. I just found this out from my mom last night (before I tried to call his office) and I was immediately concerned. What motivation does a doctor have to try and fit you in during the day if they aren't being paid per visit? What motivation do they have to see you at all, if they get paid $2000-$3000 a year, whether they see you or not? It really seems like a stupid move on the part of the government to put this program into place. I don't know what they were thinking.
I was freaking out a bit, so I called my claims representative. She called back quickly and I told her the situation - how my OB doesn't want to deal with my injury for fear that it will harm my claim, and my GP won't deal with my injury because he wasn't the first practitioner to see me and it's WSIB related.
I told her that my chiropractor is more than willing to file forms on my behalf, give me a diagnosis, and write me notes for work. Thankfully, she said that that situation is just fine. The chiropractor was right. In the eyes of the WSIB, chiropractors do have as much authority and legitimacy as a medical doctor. I don't think the rest of society sees it that way, but this suits my purposes excellently, seeing as I have a super over-eager chiropractor who apparently loves to deal with WSIB (is he insane?)
So there you go. I've been rejected by my two doctors, but my chiropractor is embracing this situation with open arms. Good thing. He costs a fortune!
I feel so relieved that I have a practitioner who is taking this situation seriously and is willing to fight on my behalf. And I'm very relieved that WSIB takes him as seriously as they take a medical doctor.
After hearing that, I had no problem sending his note to my principal. If he's good enough for a big insurance corporation, he should be good enough for the principal of a little private school. I am officially off work until February 8. We'll just have to see what happens over the next week.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
31.5 Week OB Appointment, Injury Update, and Nesting
OB Appointment
I had my regular OB pregnancy checkup today. I haven't gained any weight since last week, which means I've lost 2 pounds since I was 25 weeks. My uterus measured a week ahead, just like 2 weeks ago. And little Bambino's heartbeat sounded like a horse clip-clopping over a bridge. He's sounded like that for the past couple of visits. It makes me smile.
Small issue - my normally very low blood pressure has been high the past couple of visits. At this visit it was 144 over 82. My OB didn't mention it as a concern. I brought it up, and he said it's not great, but it's nothing to worry about right now; it's probably partially from me walking around in pain. In fact, both of the visits where it was high were post-injury. I'm not going to worry about it at all at this point. I'm not bloating or anything, so I'm pretty positive I'm not at risk for pre-eclampsia.
Injury Update
My OB seemed a bit disgruntled to have received a WSIB form to fill out. He's never had to do that before (as his secretary said, not a lot of people get pregnant at work). He said he'll fill it out, but he doesn't want to do anything else related to my injury, like write me any doctor's notes, now that WSIB is involved. He thinks it won't be beneficial for me, since he's an OB. He compared it to me visiting him over a broken ankle. He doesn't think they'll accept his opinion in this area, so he's telling me to see my regular GP.
I'm going to call my GP in the morning (I wish I had known this was going to happen - I could have seen him this week already). In the meantime, I saw my chiropractor right after the OB appointment and told him about how I need to see my GP because I'm still in too much pain to work on Monday, but I need a doctor's note to be off for another week.
I feel like my chiropractor has an inferiority complex, because he immediately launched into a tangent about how he is a primary care practitioner just like a doctor, and chiropractors actually have to go to school longer than doctors, and their opinion matters just as much, they just can't write prescriptions, and he deals with WSIB all the time, he can file a claim on my behalf, and he can write me a doctor's note to get me out of work. Yes, his rant was quite long.
Now, I will grant that a chiropractor would know a lot more about injury to the skeleton than a GP. But something just doesn't seem right about giving my principal a note from a chiropractor saying that I will be off work for another week. Having a note from a Medical Doctor seems so much more legitimate than having a note from a Doctor of Chiropractic.
Regardless, he wrote me a note, which I will now have to scan and send to my principal. I feel so weird about doing this. It just doesn't seem right. But at this point I really don't think it is a good idea for me to be going back to work. It involves too much walking. I just can't sit down all day. And even doing normal activities around the house causes me a lot of pain. So working all day and then having to do normal household activities on top of that... just doesn't seem like a good situation for my poor pubic bone.
I tried being somewhat normal today. I made banana pancakes, and then I helped Justin reorganize two of our bedrooms. Before I went to the doctor I wanted to see what the pain would be like if I wasn't resting so much. Apparently that was a big mistake, because I now have shooting as well as aching pain in my pubic bone again, even when I'm just sitting down. Walking has become much more of a challenge.
Nesting
On the plus side, those rooms are organized now! We have 6 bedrooms in our house, and we use pretty much every one of them for some sort of storage. One of the rooms is really just dedicated to storage - it doesn't have any other function (like as a bedroom or an office). But it occured to me that if we're doing that, why don't we just move everything that we're storing in the bedroom next to it into the dedicated storage bedroom? So we did. We tidied and reorganized that whole storage room and its closet, so it's much neater now. And we finally moved my wedding dress and bridesmaid dress out of Bambino's closet into the closet of that storage bedroom (something we'd been talking about doing for months, but it required reorganization of the closet in order to accommodate the dresses).
The only thing we're waiting for is an opportunity to get rid of a bunch of huge cardboard boxes that were storing in that room. Boxes from our stroller, the 42" TV I bought a few months ago, and a few other things. It'll be nice to get rid of those. They take up a lot of space, and it bothers me that we have garbage boxes in a bedroom (even though it's not being used as a bedroom).
The next phase of my nesting is to make the downstairs guest bedroom that we just cleared out into a better bedroom. Right now it has a futon in it, but the mattress isn't very comfortable. I want to buy a double bed mattress to put on the futon frame instead of the futon mattress. I also want to buy a new set of double sheets. The ones on there now are navy blue jersey knit sheets. Cat hair sticks to them like CRAZY. And they weren't very good quality, so washing them totally warped them. I don't need a great set of sheets. Just non-warped cotton sheets that cat hair won't stick to.
I also want Justin to hang the blinds in that room. We have them now, they're just not installed. Then I want to get my hope chest from my grandparents basement (and while I'm at it, my lazy boy recliner!). I have a whole bunch of bags and blankets that I want to store in the hope chest instead of a closet. So we can put the hope chest in that bedroom along with the futon. And then we can get a small little lamp to put in there, and it will be a much more hospitable guest room.
It's not that we don't have a guest room. We have one with a queen bed upstairs. But Justin keeps all his clothes in that room (because I hog the whole closet in our bedroom... which is the sorriest excuse for a "walk-in-closet" that I've ever seen). And they would have to share our cheater ensuite bathroom with us, which I would prefer not to happen! If we have a better room downstairs, I'll feel more comfortable putting a guest or two down there. Then they can use the downstairs bathroom and we can all have more privacy.
So that's where I'm at right now. Since Bambino's room is done, my nesting instincts have led me toward other bedrooms. Bedrooms that people will hardly ever use, but it makes me feel better about life.
I had my regular OB pregnancy checkup today. I haven't gained any weight since last week, which means I've lost 2 pounds since I was 25 weeks. My uterus measured a week ahead, just like 2 weeks ago. And little Bambino's heartbeat sounded like a horse clip-clopping over a bridge. He's sounded like that for the past couple of visits. It makes me smile.
Small issue - my normally very low blood pressure has been high the past couple of visits. At this visit it was 144 over 82. My OB didn't mention it as a concern. I brought it up, and he said it's not great, but it's nothing to worry about right now; it's probably partially from me walking around in pain. In fact, both of the visits where it was high were post-injury. I'm not going to worry about it at all at this point. I'm not bloating or anything, so I'm pretty positive I'm not at risk for pre-eclampsia.
Injury Update
My OB seemed a bit disgruntled to have received a WSIB form to fill out. He's never had to do that before (as his secretary said, not a lot of people get pregnant at work). He said he'll fill it out, but he doesn't want to do anything else related to my injury, like write me any doctor's notes, now that WSIB is involved. He thinks it won't be beneficial for me, since he's an OB. He compared it to me visiting him over a broken ankle. He doesn't think they'll accept his opinion in this area, so he's telling me to see my regular GP.
I'm going to call my GP in the morning (I wish I had known this was going to happen - I could have seen him this week already). In the meantime, I saw my chiropractor right after the OB appointment and told him about how I need to see my GP because I'm still in too much pain to work on Monday, but I need a doctor's note to be off for another week.
I feel like my chiropractor has an inferiority complex, because he immediately launched into a tangent about how he is a primary care practitioner just like a doctor, and chiropractors actually have to go to school longer than doctors, and their opinion matters just as much, they just can't write prescriptions, and he deals with WSIB all the time, he can file a claim on my behalf, and he can write me a doctor's note to get me out of work. Yes, his rant was quite long.
Now, I will grant that a chiropractor would know a lot more about injury to the skeleton than a GP. But something just doesn't seem right about giving my principal a note from a chiropractor saying that I will be off work for another week. Having a note from a Medical Doctor seems so much more legitimate than having a note from a Doctor of Chiropractic.
Regardless, he wrote me a note, which I will now have to scan and send to my principal. I feel so weird about doing this. It just doesn't seem right. But at this point I really don't think it is a good idea for me to be going back to work. It involves too much walking. I just can't sit down all day. And even doing normal activities around the house causes me a lot of pain. So working all day and then having to do normal household activities on top of that... just doesn't seem like a good situation for my poor pubic bone.
I tried being somewhat normal today. I made banana pancakes, and then I helped Justin reorganize two of our bedrooms. Before I went to the doctor I wanted to see what the pain would be like if I wasn't resting so much. Apparently that was a big mistake, because I now have shooting as well as aching pain in my pubic bone again, even when I'm just sitting down. Walking has become much more of a challenge.
Nesting
On the plus side, those rooms are organized now! We have 6 bedrooms in our house, and we use pretty much every one of them for some sort of storage. One of the rooms is really just dedicated to storage - it doesn't have any other function (like as a bedroom or an office). But it occured to me that if we're doing that, why don't we just move everything that we're storing in the bedroom next to it into the dedicated storage bedroom? So we did. We tidied and reorganized that whole storage room and its closet, so it's much neater now. And we finally moved my wedding dress and bridesmaid dress out of Bambino's closet into the closet of that storage bedroom (something we'd been talking about doing for months, but it required reorganization of the closet in order to accommodate the dresses).
The only thing we're waiting for is an opportunity to get rid of a bunch of huge cardboard boxes that were storing in that room. Boxes from our stroller, the 42" TV I bought a few months ago, and a few other things. It'll be nice to get rid of those. They take up a lot of space, and it bothers me that we have garbage boxes in a bedroom (even though it's not being used as a bedroom).
The next phase of my nesting is to make the downstairs guest bedroom that we just cleared out into a better bedroom. Right now it has a futon in it, but the mattress isn't very comfortable. I want to buy a double bed mattress to put on the futon frame instead of the futon mattress. I also want to buy a new set of double sheets. The ones on there now are navy blue jersey knit sheets. Cat hair sticks to them like CRAZY. And they weren't very good quality, so washing them totally warped them. I don't need a great set of sheets. Just non-warped cotton sheets that cat hair won't stick to.
I also want Justin to hang the blinds in that room. We have them now, they're just not installed. Then I want to get my hope chest from my grandparents basement (and while I'm at it, my lazy boy recliner!). I have a whole bunch of bags and blankets that I want to store in the hope chest instead of a closet. So we can put the hope chest in that bedroom along with the futon. And then we can get a small little lamp to put in there, and it will be a much more hospitable guest room.
It's not that we don't have a guest room. We have one with a queen bed upstairs. But Justin keeps all his clothes in that room (because I hog the whole closet in our bedroom... which is the sorriest excuse for a "walk-in-closet" that I've ever seen). And they would have to share our cheater ensuite bathroom with us, which I would prefer not to happen! If we have a better room downstairs, I'll feel more comfortable putting a guest or two down there. Then they can use the downstairs bathroom and we can all have more privacy.
So that's where I'm at right now. Since Bambino's room is done, my nesting instincts have led me toward other bedrooms. Bedrooms that people will hardly ever use, but it makes me feel better about life.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Church Shower
I had my church baby shower today. As I mentioned before, my church doesn't do showers. This is the first one ever. I wasn't anticipating much of a turnout. I actually had visions of only 5 of us being there - the two girls it was for, the two girls throwing it, and my mom.
It turned out there were 15 people there altogether (including the 5 of us I already mentioned). It was a teeny bit awkward at times, but mostly it was really nice. We played a couple of games and then Stacey and I opened gifts.
I was wondering how things would turn out in the gift department. I thought I might get a lot of useless stuff, a lot of newborn outfits (which I don't think our baby will ever even fit) or a lot of seasonally-innappropriate clothing. But pretty much everything was great! There was only one outfit that there is no way I'm putting on my child. It's a pair of pants, a sweater, and a onesie, all in yellow, with Bambi all over it. It's an 18 month outfit... there is no way I'm putting an 18 month old boy in a Bambi outfit. So that's either going to sit in a drawer until we maybe have a girl, or I'll find someone to regift it to. The problem with regifting it is that I don't really like it, so I would feel guilty giving it to someone else.
Another problem I've run into is that I have waaaay too many onesies now. I know that maybe I was being silly, but I had already bought enough onesies to last me until 6 months. I was shopping in the states and found really adorable ones on sale. Well, I have received many more onesies, and now I have at least twenty 0-3 month onesies, and twenty-five 3-6 month onesies. I really don't think I need that many onesies. And I still have 2 showers to go!
I could probably use most of the 3-6 month ones just because those will be used during the summertime, when the baby will probably spend most of his time in onesies anyway. But 0-3 months? He'll only be wearing them underneath sleepers, and I don't think I need twenty of them!
Sleepers, on the other hand, I do not have enough of. I have nine 0-3 month sleepers, but after that it's hit and miss. A couple in this size, a couple in that size. I'm supposed to have 8-10 in each size. Unfortunately, everyone seems to want to buy onesies, not sleepers!
Luckily all the stuff I bought I have kept the receipt and still have the tags on. I can return them. I just need to go over the border to do it, which is a pain in the rear-end. I'm not doing it until I've had my other two showers, because I might end up having to return every onesie I've bought!
I wish I could request specific things and have people actually listen. Like "I need 6-9 and 9-12 month onesies. Or sleepers for age 3 months and up." Unfortunately, a lot of people don't look at registries, and I certainly can't have my mother and MIL put that request in the invitation!
If only I knew someone having a baby boy... someone who's shower I would actually be required to attend. I have all these brand new clothes I could give them. Maybe something will come up.
It turned out there were 15 people there altogether (including the 5 of us I already mentioned). It was a teeny bit awkward at times, but mostly it was really nice. We played a couple of games and then Stacey and I opened gifts.
I was wondering how things would turn out in the gift department. I thought I might get a lot of useless stuff, a lot of newborn outfits (which I don't think our baby will ever even fit) or a lot of seasonally-innappropriate clothing. But pretty much everything was great! There was only one outfit that there is no way I'm putting on my child. It's a pair of pants, a sweater, and a onesie, all in yellow, with Bambi all over it. It's an 18 month outfit... there is no way I'm putting an 18 month old boy in a Bambi outfit. So that's either going to sit in a drawer until we maybe have a girl, or I'll find someone to regift it to. The problem with regifting it is that I don't really like it, so I would feel guilty giving it to someone else.
Another problem I've run into is that I have waaaay too many onesies now. I know that maybe I was being silly, but I had already bought enough onesies to last me until 6 months. I was shopping in the states and found really adorable ones on sale. Well, I have received many more onesies, and now I have at least twenty 0-3 month onesies, and twenty-five 3-6 month onesies. I really don't think I need that many onesies. And I still have 2 showers to go!
I could probably use most of the 3-6 month ones just because those will be used during the summertime, when the baby will probably spend most of his time in onesies anyway. But 0-3 months? He'll only be wearing them underneath sleepers, and I don't think I need twenty of them!
Sleepers, on the other hand, I do not have enough of. I have nine 0-3 month sleepers, but after that it's hit and miss. A couple in this size, a couple in that size. I'm supposed to have 8-10 in each size. Unfortunately, everyone seems to want to buy onesies, not sleepers!
Luckily all the stuff I bought I have kept the receipt and still have the tags on. I can return them. I just need to go over the border to do it, which is a pain in the rear-end. I'm not doing it until I've had my other two showers, because I might end up having to return every onesie I've bought!
I wish I could request specific things and have people actually listen. Like "I need 6-9 and 9-12 month onesies. Or sleepers for age 3 months and up." Unfortunately, a lot of people don't look at registries, and I certainly can't have my mother and MIL put that request in the invitation!
If only I knew someone having a baby boy... someone who's shower I would actually be required to attend. I have all these brand new clothes I could give them. Maybe something will come up.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Off Work
So after that horrible ordeal yesterday I ended up going home. I was in so much pain I was sobbing the entire drive - considering that, I actually shouldn't have been driving.
I called and told my school I wouldn't be back Thursday or Friday, and I sent my husband to my parent's house to pick up a pair of crutches. Walking was just way too excruciating, and I found that if I supported some of my weight on a counter or something it was more bearable. So crutches it is.
Today I went in to see my OB, who gave me a note to stay home from work until February 1. I mentioned getting a note to say something about modified duties (I obviously can't do yard duty or teach kindergarten gym in this condition), but he said that's not a good idea and that I should just take the week off. I'm going back to see him on January 28 and we will reassess the situation then. If the pain is still this bad then I won't be going back on February 1. In the meantime, my work is filing a claim with Worker's Compensation, and I am also supposed to file a form... what form? I have no clue.
I was talking to my boss, who was trying to get me to go on my maternity leave sooner... umm, screw you. I have 20 sick days a year, and an injury should count toward using those days. If I went on maternity leave I would be using up time that I want for after the baby is born. I don't want to have to go to work earlier (if I go back to work) just because I got forced into an earlier maternity leave!
If I qualify for Worker's Comp, I may just go off on that until the baby comes. My dad is currently on Worker's Comp and apparently you get paid pretty much exactly what your employer was paying you.
If I don't qualify, I will still consider going off on short term disability until the baby comes. The only problem is that I won't get paid the same amount as I work through Worker's Comp. But I wanted to go off on disability anyway because of all my discomfort and pain and my insomnia. So now my OB, if I'm not any better by my next appointment, will file the forms for me to go on disability.
Of course, I could actually feel completely better by February 1, and then I'll probably just go back to work as normal. No matter what, I'm not starting my maternity leave earlier. I will be as big a pain as I need to be to my boss to make him find people to cover my yard duties and switch the coverage I do in kindergarten to a different subject. I'll also need to have students doing photocopying for me, because I can't carry anything while I'm hobbling around on crutches. But I am not going on maternity leave early.
The only thing hanging over my head right now is wondering if my principal is going to try and not pay me during this time. Technically I'm not "sick," I'm "disabled." That should count toward my sick days, but what if he tries to find a way to not have it count toward my sick days? I have no idea where my contract is and I'm in no shape to try and find it. So I don't know what exactly my contract says about this situation.
*Just as a quick side note - I was 2 lbs lighter at the OB today than I was last week. I'm assuming it's because I went in the morning, as opposed to the afternoon, when I normally go. But that does put my weight gain at only 11 lbs since 8 weeks (since my 8 week appointment was also in the morning). I'm very surprised by this.
I called and told my school I wouldn't be back Thursday or Friday, and I sent my husband to my parent's house to pick up a pair of crutches. Walking was just way too excruciating, and I found that if I supported some of my weight on a counter or something it was more bearable. So crutches it is.
Today I went in to see my OB, who gave me a note to stay home from work until February 1. I mentioned getting a note to say something about modified duties (I obviously can't do yard duty or teach kindergarten gym in this condition), but he said that's not a good idea and that I should just take the week off. I'm going back to see him on January 28 and we will reassess the situation then. If the pain is still this bad then I won't be going back on February 1. In the meantime, my work is filing a claim with Worker's Compensation, and I am also supposed to file a form... what form? I have no clue.
I was talking to my boss, who was trying to get me to go on my maternity leave sooner... umm, screw you. I have 20 sick days a year, and an injury should count toward using those days. If I went on maternity leave I would be using up time that I want for after the baby is born. I don't want to have to go to work earlier (if I go back to work) just because I got forced into an earlier maternity leave!
If I qualify for Worker's Comp, I may just go off on that until the baby comes. My dad is currently on Worker's Comp and apparently you get paid pretty much exactly what your employer was paying you.
If I don't qualify, I will still consider going off on short term disability until the baby comes. The only problem is that I won't get paid the same amount as I work through Worker's Comp. But I wanted to go off on disability anyway because of all my discomfort and pain and my insomnia. So now my OB, if I'm not any better by my next appointment, will file the forms for me to go on disability.
Of course, I could actually feel completely better by February 1, and then I'll probably just go back to work as normal. No matter what, I'm not starting my maternity leave earlier. I will be as big a pain as I need to be to my boss to make him find people to cover my yard duties and switch the coverage I do in kindergarten to a different subject. I'll also need to have students doing photocopying for me, because I can't carry anything while I'm hobbling around on crutches. But I am not going on maternity leave early.
The only thing hanging over my head right now is wondering if my principal is going to try and not pay me during this time. Technically I'm not "sick," I'm "disabled." That should count toward my sick days, but what if he tries to find a way to not have it count toward my sick days? I have no idea where my contract is and I'm in no shape to try and find it. So I don't know what exactly my contract says about this situation.
*Just as a quick side note - I was 2 lbs lighter at the OB today than I was last week. I'm assuming it's because I went in the morning, as opposed to the afternoon, when I normally go. But that does put my weight gain at only 11 lbs since 8 weeks (since my 8 week appointment was also in the morning). I'm very surprised by this.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Pubic Bone Pain
I have mentioned this is passing before. I've never gone into much detail, simply because I hate the word "pubic." I hate hearing it, I hate saying it, I hate writing it, and I hate reading it. It's just one of those words I hate.
But man alive my pubic bone is friggin KILLING me. The pain is so bad I just want to cry. It's been hurting like this for at least a month. It is the worst pain I have experienced this entire pregnancy, and I have had a pretty uncomfortable pregnancy. But this is just like, a stabbing, piercing, screaming pain!
I was just teaching kindergarten gym, and when I lunged to grab the hand of a kid who was misbehaving (I hate this class so much) the pain was so bad I seriously felt like someone had just shot me in the pubic bone. My first thought was "Oh my gosh I actually just broke my pubic bone in half!" I thought I was going to throw up - and then pass out - from the pain.
So I finally googled pubic bone pain during pregnancy. Apparently this is an actual condition called "Pubic Symphysis Diastasis." Yes, diastasis. My pubic bones are seperating. I had no idea they could seperate. I had no idea they were even two seperate bones that are joined in the middle. All this time I've been thinking to myself that this baby has fractured my pubic bone somehow and that's why I'm having so much pain. Apparently, this is kind of true. And it is the worst pain ever.
Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about it. So for the rest of my pregnancy, everytime I move, I'm going to have excruciating pain in my pubic bone. You can't even imagine how bad it hurts unless you've experienced it. It makes me never want to move again.
I really wish I could just go on disability for the rest of my pregnancy.
But man alive my pubic bone is friggin KILLING me. The pain is so bad I just want to cry. It's been hurting like this for at least a month. It is the worst pain I have experienced this entire pregnancy, and I have had a pretty uncomfortable pregnancy. But this is just like, a stabbing, piercing, screaming pain!
I was just teaching kindergarten gym, and when I lunged to grab the hand of a kid who was misbehaving (I hate this class so much) the pain was so bad I seriously felt like someone had just shot me in the pubic bone. My first thought was "Oh my gosh I actually just broke my pubic bone in half!" I thought I was going to throw up - and then pass out - from the pain.
So I finally googled pubic bone pain during pregnancy. Apparently this is an actual condition called "Pubic Symphysis Diastasis." Yes, diastasis. My pubic bones are seperating. I had no idea they could seperate. I had no idea they were even two seperate bones that are joined in the middle. All this time I've been thinking to myself that this baby has fractured my pubic bone somehow and that's why I'm having so much pain. Apparently, this is kind of true. And it is the worst pain ever.
Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about it. So for the rest of my pregnancy, everytime I move, I'm going to have excruciating pain in my pubic bone. You can't even imagine how bad it hurts unless you've experienced it. It makes me never want to move again.
I really wish I could just go on disability for the rest of my pregnancy.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thoughts on Tuesday
I had another decent night of sleep last night. That's two in a row! I'm so happy about that. I'm still utterly exhausted, though. This morning I was just dragging. I forced myself to row 2km before I showered, but it required a serious amount of forcing. I was going so much slower than my usual pace, and I just couldn't speed up. I was actually rowing with my eyes closed for a significant period of time! However, despite my fatigue, I'm in such a better frame of mind when I know I'm getting enough sleep. And the knowldge that I don't need to go to any appointments after work today and tomorrow is just wonderful.
Just in the past few days some of Bambino's movements started to feel different. Sometimes I can literally feel his body parts hitting against each other and hitting my stomach at the same time. His movements are like, out of control! I can't believe there's still almost 10 weeks left until his due date; he just feels so big and strong already!
I've mentioned that I have a shower this coming Saturday, thrown by people at my church for the ladies from my church to attend. I've been feeling a bit awkward about this, because our church has never done showers before, and I wasn't sure how many people would want to go. However, I feel even more awkward now than before.
I was just talking to one of my friends who is hosting the shower, and I guess there has been talk about this. Once you start throwing church showers, do you then throw a shower for the girls who get pregnant out of wedlock? What about bridal showers? Do you throw a church shower for someone who is marrying someone who doesn't go to church and has no faith? It's not that these people don't deserve showers, but having a "church" shower for them implies that the church itself condones the behaviour of marrying a non-Christian or getting pregnant out of wedlock.
There is a fine line here, and I don't know where I stand on it. But I do know that I hadn't thought about these particular issues before. I'd thought about the whole "If you do it for one person you have to do it for everybody" issue. But I hadn't thought about questionable situations that could and would be faced.
Can you see why I feel awkward? This shower wasn't my idea, and when someone wants to throw you a shower you can't exactly say "No thanks." I just hope people don't resent me because two other people wanted to do something nice for me and another new mom.
Just in the past few days some of Bambino's movements started to feel different. Sometimes I can literally feel his body parts hitting against each other and hitting my stomach at the same time. His movements are like, out of control! I can't believe there's still almost 10 weeks left until his due date; he just feels so big and strong already!
I've mentioned that I have a shower this coming Saturday, thrown by people at my church for the ladies from my church to attend. I've been feeling a bit awkward about this, because our church has never done showers before, and I wasn't sure how many people would want to go. However, I feel even more awkward now than before.
I was just talking to one of my friends who is hosting the shower, and I guess there has been talk about this. Once you start throwing church showers, do you then throw a shower for the girls who get pregnant out of wedlock? What about bridal showers? Do you throw a church shower for someone who is marrying someone who doesn't go to church and has no faith? It's not that these people don't deserve showers, but having a "church" shower for them implies that the church itself condones the behaviour of marrying a non-Christian or getting pregnant out of wedlock.
There is a fine line here, and I don't know where I stand on it. But I do know that I hadn't thought about these particular issues before. I'd thought about the whole "If you do it for one person you have to do it for everybody" issue. But I hadn't thought about questionable situations that could and would be faced.
Can you see why I feel awkward? This shower wasn't my idea, and when someone wants to throw you a shower you can't exactly say "No thanks." I just hope people don't resent me because two other people wanted to do something nice for me and another new mom.
Monday, January 18, 2010
So Much Accomplished So Early in the Day
I had a pretty good sleep last night, which I am so thankful for. The previous two nights I woke up at 4am and never got back to sleep. So that fact that that didn't happen to me last night makes me very pleased, especially since I have to work today.
This morning I feel like I've already gotten so much accomplished. We got up at our normal time before 6am, I got to get some exercising done (albiet half the amount that I usually do because I had to leave the house earlier than usual). I was ready on time to drive 20 minutes into town and get to the chiropractor at 8. I got out of the chiropractor at 8:07 (don't even get me started on how annoyed I am at the amount of money I spend for 3 minutes of his time. I've already pre-paid and there's nothing I can do about it). I got to work just before 8:10, I've checked my emails, now I'm writing a blog. After I'm done this I will go look at my math lessons for this morning.
Now, while all this was going on with me, my dear dear husband made lunches and breakfast, which he does everyday because he's such a wonderful guy. He also unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, which is awesome because then I don't have to do it tonight! We had many many dishes used yesterday because it was Justin's birthday and we had people over. It was a good time.
I have a staff meeting after work tonight, and then for the next two days I don't have any appointments after work! Yaay!
Our cats seem to be getting along better. Emmie is still too liberal with the hissing, and they're not as close as they used to be, but we did catch them cuddling on our bed for a period of time yesterday during Justin's birthday party. That was nice to see. I have hope that everything will return to normal. We're no longer locking Lexie in the laundry room because it seems to make Emmie regress after she gets let out again. So he's just going to have to deal with her presence.
This is a good start to the week. Hopefully today continues to go well. Mondays aren't a great teaching day for me, and we have a staff meeting - those can sometimes not go so well. And there's an item on the agenda that I don't like the sounds of... hopefully it'll all be fine.
This morning I feel like I've already gotten so much accomplished. We got up at our normal time before 6am, I got to get some exercising done (albiet half the amount that I usually do because I had to leave the house earlier than usual). I was ready on time to drive 20 minutes into town and get to the chiropractor at 8. I got out of the chiropractor at 8:07 (don't even get me started on how annoyed I am at the amount of money I spend for 3 minutes of his time. I've already pre-paid and there's nothing I can do about it). I got to work just before 8:10, I've checked my emails, now I'm writing a blog. After I'm done this I will go look at my math lessons for this morning.
Now, while all this was going on with me, my dear dear husband made lunches and breakfast, which he does everyday because he's such a wonderful guy. He also unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, which is awesome because then I don't have to do it tonight! We had many many dishes used yesterday because it was Justin's birthday and we had people over. It was a good time.
I have a staff meeting after work tonight, and then for the next two days I don't have any appointments after work! Yaay!
Our cats seem to be getting along better. Emmie is still too liberal with the hissing, and they're not as close as they used to be, but we did catch them cuddling on our bed for a period of time yesterday during Justin's birthday party. That was nice to see. I have hope that everything will return to normal. We're no longer locking Lexie in the laundry room because it seems to make Emmie regress after she gets let out again. So he's just going to have to deal with her presence.
This is a good start to the week. Hopefully today continues to go well. Mondays aren't a great teaching day for me, and we have a staff meeting - those can sometimes not go so well. And there's an item on the agenda that I don't like the sounds of... hopefully it'll all be fine.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Nursery Pictures
This has been a long time coming and a lot of people have been asking to see these pictures. I finally got them on the computer, so I'm finally posting them! Here are pictures of our completed nursery... minus any pictures hanging on the walls.
Here's are a couple of wide angle shots that give you a fuller view of the room:
Bambino's rocker and dresser:
Bambino's crib:
(Note the blue wall on the left and the green wall on the right.)
I love this quilt:
Bambino's change table... there's a lot more stuff underneath it now!
My cousin made these receiving blankets and burp cloths... I love the baseball ones, since Daddy is a baseball player:
Here's are a couple of wide angle shots that give you a fuller view of the room:
Pregnancy and Pictures at 30 Weeks
How far along: 30 weeks
Total weight gain: Only 13 lbs since 8 weeks. Apparently I've been wrong about my weight gain this whole time. I think I've gained 15-18 lbs altogether.
Stretch marks?: I have some old stretch marks on my sides and a couple of them have a little tinge of pink along the top. I'm wondering if they're growing a tiny bit or if they're just getting red.
Sleep: Continues to be terrible. I have maybe 2 decent nights a week, but I'm pretty much an insomniac who is in pain all night long.
Best moments this week: Finding out that I didn't gain any weight since my OB appointment at 25 weeks. Also, I started wearing yoga pants to work instead of dress pants. They totally camoflauge, but they're way more comfortable and put me in a better frame of mind.
Food cravings: Deli meat. I've never really liked it, but because it's "forbidden" during pregnant, all I want is to eat deli meat!
Sex: A strong, hyper little boy
Labor signs?: I'm about 1 cm dilated and have at least 40 Braxton Hicks contractions everyday. Sometimes I have at least 10 in an hour. A few times I've had 8 in half an hour.
New Symptoms: I started having some mild heartburn a few weeks ago. Nothing terrible at this point, but it was new for me. I'm also very dizzy and lightheaded a lot of the time. My hemoglobin has dropped 17 points since 8 weeks, which is why I'm feeling crummy.
Belly Button: Popped.
What I miss the most: Just being comfortable.
What I am looking forward to the most: The very most? The baby being here. I also have 3 baby showers in the next month and a half that I'm looking forward to, and I'm looking forward to being comfortable again!
Milestones: 30 weeks! 30 weeks feels so much safer than any of the milestones before this. I kept looking forward to 30 weeks for that reason. Now it's here! Yaaay! Also, I passed my Gestational Diabetes test, so no issues there.
Pictures:
Friday, January 15, 2010
Cats, Weekends, and a Baby Octopus
Lexie is doing so well at home now. She's back to her normal self with hardly any meowing (just the small amount of meowing she used to do). It's actually weird to have her walk around quietly after dealing with her being in heat for 4 weeks.
I let her out last night when I got home from work, thinking that Emmie would be over his hissing issues. Apparently he is not. He hissed like crazy at her, and even tried to swat at her head. I guess Lexie doesn't smell like herself to him yet. It makes me so sad for her that he's acting like this, because Lexie still loves him and now she's afraid of him. Also, I hate that we have to keep Lexie locked in when we're not home because we're worried about what Emmie will do. I'm actually afraid that Emmie's behaviour will stress Lexie out to the point that she starts peeing again.
Speaking of pee, last night when I got home from work Lexie kept sniffing this one spot on the couch. I went and smelled it and discovered another spot of old dried pee. How thrilled was I. I had a friend coming over for tea in 10 minutes, so I couldn't do anything about it. So all during the visit with my friend, all I could think about was how Emmie is being so mean to Lexie, and how many other old pee spots I'm going to find before they're all cleaned up. That makes for a less than enjoyable visit! But the pee thing is a big deal, not just because I have to clean up all the spots (which is quite a process), but because if you don't get rid of the smell, the cats are much more likely to keep peeing in the same spot over and over again.
The problem is that there's no way for us to find all the spots on our own. We can't see them, and we certainly can't go around our entire house on our hands and knees sniffing every inch of everything. We have a big house! So we just have to watch our cats all the time to see where they start sniffing, and then smell that spot ourselves. It'll be a long time before I feel confident that nobody is going to pee anywhere inappropriate.
I haven't had time to make a proper dinner all week! I get home too late after my appointments, and then I always have to deal with some sort of cat issue. I feel bad for my poor husband.
Thank goodness it's the weekend. Justin is out of town at a basketball tournament tonight and tomorrow, but I have no commitments so I should have some time to get things done. I also have to prepare to have our parents over on Sunday for Justin's birthday. The house needs to be cleaned, laundry needs to be done, groceries need to be bought, and food needs to be made. I think I'm just going to make a pot of chilli for lunch on Sunday, but I'll have to get some snack foods too.
Hopefully I can get some more sleep this weekend! The past 3 nights have pretty good. I haven't had the horrible nights I was having, but I'm still probably getting only about 6 hours a night. I'm a 9 hour kind of girl.
The past several days Bambino has been CRAZILY active, and positioned in a way so that I feel every movement and always have limbs poking out of my stomach. It's so wonderfully weird... I'm going to miss this feeling! It feels like I have an 8 legged baby inside of me.
I let her out last night when I got home from work, thinking that Emmie would be over his hissing issues. Apparently he is not. He hissed like crazy at her, and even tried to swat at her head. I guess Lexie doesn't smell like herself to him yet. It makes me so sad for her that he's acting like this, because Lexie still loves him and now she's afraid of him. Also, I hate that we have to keep Lexie locked in when we're not home because we're worried about what Emmie will do. I'm actually afraid that Emmie's behaviour will stress Lexie out to the point that she starts peeing again.
Speaking of pee, last night when I got home from work Lexie kept sniffing this one spot on the couch. I went and smelled it and discovered another spot of old dried pee. How thrilled was I. I had a friend coming over for tea in 10 minutes, so I couldn't do anything about it. So all during the visit with my friend, all I could think about was how Emmie is being so mean to Lexie, and how many other old pee spots I'm going to find before they're all cleaned up. That makes for a less than enjoyable visit! But the pee thing is a big deal, not just because I have to clean up all the spots (which is quite a process), but because if you don't get rid of the smell, the cats are much more likely to keep peeing in the same spot over and over again.
The problem is that there's no way for us to find all the spots on our own. We can't see them, and we certainly can't go around our entire house on our hands and knees sniffing every inch of everything. We have a big house! So we just have to watch our cats all the time to see where they start sniffing, and then smell that spot ourselves. It'll be a long time before I feel confident that nobody is going to pee anywhere inappropriate.
I haven't had time to make a proper dinner all week! I get home too late after my appointments, and then I always have to deal with some sort of cat issue. I feel bad for my poor husband.
Thank goodness it's the weekend. Justin is out of town at a basketball tournament tonight and tomorrow, but I have no commitments so I should have some time to get things done. I also have to prepare to have our parents over on Sunday for Justin's birthday. The house needs to be cleaned, laundry needs to be done, groceries need to be bought, and food needs to be made. I think I'm just going to make a pot of chilli for lunch on Sunday, but I'll have to get some snack foods too.
Hopefully I can get some more sleep this weekend! The past 3 nights have pretty good. I haven't had the horrible nights I was having, but I'm still probably getting only about 6 hours a night. I'm a 9 hour kind of girl.
The past several days Bambino has been CRAZILY active, and positioned in a way so that I feel every movement and always have limbs poking out of my stomach. It's so wonderfully weird... I'm going to miss this feeling! It feels like I have an 8 legged baby inside of me.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Good Stuff
I feel like I've had a string of posts where I've been talking about frustrating things that are happening. I don't want to sound like a really negative person, so I'm going to talk about some good things that have happened, too!
I got an email this morning from my pastor's wife (she's only 26 or 27) saying that her and my friend Nicole want to throw me and Stacey (a girl who just had a baby at the end of December) a baby shower next weekend! I was very surprised by this, and thought that was so nice of them. It's going to be held at my church, with ladies from the church being invited. I have no idea who will come or what they'll get for the two of us. I don't know if the girls will tell anyone that I'm registered (I don't even know if they know that I'm registered). I'll very likely end up with a lot of gender neutral stuff (from people who don't know we're having a boy) and outfits that won't fit Bambino during the correct seasons. But I still think it's a very nice gesture, and it'll be fun. And hopefully I can exchange things that we can't use. And maybe I'll get some practical things out of the deal. I just think that it's so nice of them to do this for us.
I went shopping after my OB appointment on Tuesday and got myself a nice pair of black yoga pants. They have a wide waistband and fold right under my belly. I'm not sure how well they'll fit after the baby is born. Right now they fit okay, but my hips are a few inches wider around than normal because my joints have spread out. The pants stretch out a bit as I'm wearing them, and I have some concerns about them being way too big once I'm down to my normal size. But they were only $30, and I bought them with a gift certificate I got for Christmas. And they'll fit for at least a little while afterward. You need some nice comfy clothes to wear during the awkward "my pre-pregnancy pants don't fit but I don't want to look like a slob in sweatpants all the time" phase. I also bought a cute new pair of boots to wear with my two pairs of yoga pants. I can tuck the bottoms of the pants into the boots, which I need to do outside in this weather since both pairs are so wonderfully long on me.
The past three days of work all I've worn are yoga pants, because they camoflauge perfectly as dress pants. My lulu.lemons are dark grey, and the other pair are black. Wearing comfortable, soft pants to work does wonders for your state of mind, especially in the morning when you're getting dressed. There's just something about pulling on cozy clothes that look really cute and knowing you get to wear them all day at work, instead of stiff dress pants. I now wish I had never even bought maternity dress pants. They are too short (even though they're "tall"), and I'll never wear them when I'm not pregnant (obviously), so they were kind of a waste of money. However, I hadn't even thought of just buying yoga pants before. I wish I had. They're so much more comfortable, and they last long after the pregnancy is over. Hindsight is 20/20.
Lexie didn't meow all night last night, and I actually slept pretty well! Pretty well for me means I didn't have 3 solid hours of awake time during the night. I still woke up in pain often and had to pee often, but I fell back asleep afterward, and that's what matters. That's now two decent nights of sleep in a row, which I'm thrilled about!
I've managed to still exercise everyday, usually twice a day, even with all the cat drama and appointments I have. I'm glad we have such a nice rower (read: expensive), because it works out your entire body at once, which cuts down on the amount of time you need to get a full-body workout. Unfortunately I have not had hardly any time in the past week or two to do my chiropractic stretches or Bradley exercises. I'm not just saying that either - I truly haven't had time. When I do have time, I do them! Right now with the amount of energy, effort, and attention my cats are taking up, I'm realizing how crazy things will be when Bambino is here, and how hard it will be to find time to do the things that need to be done and still find some "me" time. At least I won't be working for the first year, and after that if I'm working it'll only be part time.
I got an email this morning from my pastor's wife (she's only 26 or 27) saying that her and my friend Nicole want to throw me and Stacey (a girl who just had a baby at the end of December) a baby shower next weekend! I was very surprised by this, and thought that was so nice of them. It's going to be held at my church, with ladies from the church being invited. I have no idea who will come or what they'll get for the two of us. I don't know if the girls will tell anyone that I'm registered (I don't even know if they know that I'm registered). I'll very likely end up with a lot of gender neutral stuff (from people who don't know we're having a boy) and outfits that won't fit Bambino during the correct seasons. But I still think it's a very nice gesture, and it'll be fun. And hopefully I can exchange things that we can't use. And maybe I'll get some practical things out of the deal. I just think that it's so nice of them to do this for us.
I went shopping after my OB appointment on Tuesday and got myself a nice pair of black yoga pants. They have a wide waistband and fold right under my belly. I'm not sure how well they'll fit after the baby is born. Right now they fit okay, but my hips are a few inches wider around than normal because my joints have spread out. The pants stretch out a bit as I'm wearing them, and I have some concerns about them being way too big once I'm down to my normal size. But they were only $30, and I bought them with a gift certificate I got for Christmas. And they'll fit for at least a little while afterward. You need some nice comfy clothes to wear during the awkward "my pre-pregnancy pants don't fit but I don't want to look like a slob in sweatpants all the time" phase. I also bought a cute new pair of boots to wear with my two pairs of yoga pants. I can tuck the bottoms of the pants into the boots, which I need to do outside in this weather since both pairs are so wonderfully long on me.
The past three days of work all I've worn are yoga pants, because they camoflauge perfectly as dress pants. My lulu.lemons are dark grey, and the other pair are black. Wearing comfortable, soft pants to work does wonders for your state of mind, especially in the morning when you're getting dressed. There's just something about pulling on cozy clothes that look really cute and knowing you get to wear them all day at work, instead of stiff dress pants. I now wish I had never even bought maternity dress pants. They are too short (even though they're "tall"), and I'll never wear them when I'm not pregnant (obviously), so they were kind of a waste of money. However, I hadn't even thought of just buying yoga pants before. I wish I had. They're so much more comfortable, and they last long after the pregnancy is over. Hindsight is 20/20.
Lexie didn't meow all night last night, and I actually slept pretty well! Pretty well for me means I didn't have 3 solid hours of awake time during the night. I still woke up in pain often and had to pee often, but I fell back asleep afterward, and that's what matters. That's now two decent nights of sleep in a row, which I'm thrilled about!
I've managed to still exercise everyday, usually twice a day, even with all the cat drama and appointments I have. I'm glad we have such a nice rower (read: expensive), because it works out your entire body at once, which cuts down on the amount of time you need to get a full-body workout. Unfortunately I have not had hardly any time in the past week or two to do my chiropractic stretches or Bradley exercises. I'm not just saying that either - I truly haven't had time. When I do have time, I do them! Right now with the amount of energy, effort, and attention my cats are taking up, I'm realizing how crazy things will be when Bambino is here, and how hard it will be to find time to do the things that need to be done and still find some "me" time. At least I won't be working for the first year, and after that if I'm working it'll only be part time.
Lexie is Home
Yesterday I picked up Lexie from the vet, and it was awful! When the assistant went back to put her in her carrier I heard this awful angry yowling and hissing. When they brought her up to me she was still doing it. The one girl was like "Yeah... she hasn't been very happy with us..." I felt terrible, for them and for Lexie. Emmie was nothing like that when he was there! I was shocked! And then I was worried, because who's going to be nice to a cat who is behaving like that? So she probably didn't get any affection or love while she was there because she was so difficult. Poor girl.
The 25 minute drive home was absolute torture. Lexie was absolutely furious. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, the most angry noises I've ever heard come from a cat before. She was violently trying to get out of the carrier the whole time, which isn't good for a cat who'd just been sliced open and declawed.
Once we got home I just put her carrier on the floor. I didn't open it right away; I wanted to take her to the laundry room because I was worried I wouldn't be able to get her in there otherwise, and she had been so angry I was afraid she would pee somewhere. Interestingly, even though she was still in the carrier, as soon as she was in the house she basically calmed down. It was like she saw the familiar stairs and smelled the familiar smells and was like "Okay, I'm home... I can relax." She was still meowing a bit agitatedly, but nothing like the screams that were happening in the car and at the vet.
I took her to the laundry room and she ate like she hadn't eaten for a week and kept wanting me to pet her. She was doing much better than Emmie was after I got him home. Emmie was mad at me and didn't want to be near me for a couple of hours (he got over it though, and that night he slept with me... Justin was out of town). Emmie also seemed to be in so much more pain than Lexie does. He limped around sadly and couldn't sit on his bum (because that's where he had been operated on). It took like 5 or 6 months for him to stop limping on his paws. But Lexie seems so much better than Emmie. Her paws only seem slightly irritated. And I guess it helps that she can sit down on her bum, since her incision is on her tummy.
Unfortunately, Emmie now despises Lexie. I was so upset by this! They're usually best friends and always cuddle and lick each other. I let Emmie in the laundry room with us and Lexie went right up to him so he could lick her; Emmie sniffed her for a few seconds and then started hissing and growling at her! Lexie was so scared! Poor little thing. I tried a few more times over the course of the evening, but Emmie behaved the same way. It's so strange, he's usually such a sweet, good-natured, cuddly cat.
I think this is because Lexie spent about 30 hours at the vet and now smells funny to Emmie. I have them seperated now, like they were at the beginning when we first got Lexie. I guess I'll just have to use the same procdure we used back then to acclimate them again.
Poor Lexie though, she hates being locked in. At least when she was a kitten she was locked in our bedroom and ensuite bathroom and we could easily spend a lot of time with her. But right now I still don't trust her not to pee in innappropriate places, so she can't be in there. I spent most of yesterday evening sitting on the freezing cold hard floor of the laundry/furnace room with Lexie in my lap. It was less than ideal!
The 25 minute drive home was absolute torture. Lexie was absolutely furious. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, the most angry noises I've ever heard come from a cat before. She was violently trying to get out of the carrier the whole time, which isn't good for a cat who'd just been sliced open and declawed.
Once we got home I just put her carrier on the floor. I didn't open it right away; I wanted to take her to the laundry room because I was worried I wouldn't be able to get her in there otherwise, and she had been so angry I was afraid she would pee somewhere. Interestingly, even though she was still in the carrier, as soon as she was in the house she basically calmed down. It was like she saw the familiar stairs and smelled the familiar smells and was like "Okay, I'm home... I can relax." She was still meowing a bit agitatedly, but nothing like the screams that were happening in the car and at the vet.
I took her to the laundry room and she ate like she hadn't eaten for a week and kept wanting me to pet her. She was doing much better than Emmie was after I got him home. Emmie was mad at me and didn't want to be near me for a couple of hours (he got over it though, and that night he slept with me... Justin was out of town). Emmie also seemed to be in so much more pain than Lexie does. He limped around sadly and couldn't sit on his bum (because that's where he had been operated on). It took like 5 or 6 months for him to stop limping on his paws. But Lexie seems so much better than Emmie. Her paws only seem slightly irritated. And I guess it helps that she can sit down on her bum, since her incision is on her tummy.
Unfortunately, Emmie now despises Lexie. I was so upset by this! They're usually best friends and always cuddle and lick each other. I let Emmie in the laundry room with us and Lexie went right up to him so he could lick her; Emmie sniffed her for a few seconds and then started hissing and growling at her! Lexie was so scared! Poor little thing. I tried a few more times over the course of the evening, but Emmie behaved the same way. It's so strange, he's usually such a sweet, good-natured, cuddly cat.
I think this is because Lexie spent about 30 hours at the vet and now smells funny to Emmie. I have them seperated now, like they were at the beginning when we first got Lexie. I guess I'll just have to use the same procdure we used back then to acclimate them again.
Poor Lexie though, she hates being locked in. At least when she was a kitten she was locked in our bedroom and ensuite bathroom and we could easily spend a lot of time with her. But right now I still don't trust her not to pee in innappropriate places, so she can't be in there. I spent most of yesterday evening sitting on the freezing cold hard floor of the laundry/furnace room with Lexie in my lap. It was less than ideal!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
29 Week OB Appointment
29 weeks 2 days
My 29 week OB appointment was... less than dignified. I went there sore all over my body and exhausted after only getting 4 1/2 hours of sleep each night for the previous 3 nights. When my OB walked into the room and said "So how are things going?" I burst into tears.
He tried to make me feel better about things. He told me I'm completely normal (which I already knew, but thanks), and it's my "obstetrical right" to be exhausted and overwhelmed and start crying. I thought it was funny that he used the words "obstetrical right."
On the plus side of things, I didn't gain any weight in the 4 weeks between appointments. Which means I lost fat, because the baby gained about a pound and a half and I would have gained weight in fluids as well. I guess all my exercising and watching what I eat more carefully after Christmas really paid off.
I've only gained 13 lbs since I was 8 weeks pregnant. So I'm pretty positive that at the most I've only gained 20 lbs so far. It's actually probably several pounds under, because I don't think there's any way that I gained 7 lbs between 4 and 8 weeks. At first I thought I was going to gain about 40 lbs this pregnancy. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just don't want to have to deal with losing a pile of weight afterward. I hate losing weight. Pounds don't just melt off of me like they do for some people.
Also, my glucose tolerance test was normal. My level was 6.2... I'm not sure what the normal range is, but I was told this was normal. I'm glad. I wouldn't have minded the gestational diabetes diet (it's basically what I'm doing already), but I would have minded the increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in my life. I'm glad I'm not prone to that!
My hemoglobin has fallen from 133 to 116, which is probably why I'm feeling light headed. For women they like it to be at least 120. They expect it to drop during pregnancy, but it dropping to 116 would most likely be the cause of my lightheadedness. My OB doesn't want to prescribe me any extra iron because of my bowel issues, so I guess I'll just have to deal with the fuzzy feelings.
I also measured a week ahead at 30cm. Which means nothing. People go by those measurements too much. But it does indicate that even though we know exactly when Bambino was conceived, he seems consistently to be a week ahead in growth. Since my 11 week 4 day ultrasound he's been a week ahead in his measurements. And now my uterus is still a week ahead (at least it's not 4-5 weeks ahead anymore!).
My next appointment is in 2 weeks. I'm curious to see how much weight I'll have gained by then!
My 29 week OB appointment was... less than dignified. I went there sore all over my body and exhausted after only getting 4 1/2 hours of sleep each night for the previous 3 nights. When my OB walked into the room and said "So how are things going?" I burst into tears.
He tried to make me feel better about things. He told me I'm completely normal (which I already knew, but thanks), and it's my "obstetrical right" to be exhausted and overwhelmed and start crying. I thought it was funny that he used the words "obstetrical right."
On the plus side of things, I didn't gain any weight in the 4 weeks between appointments. Which means I lost fat, because the baby gained about a pound and a half and I would have gained weight in fluids as well. I guess all my exercising and watching what I eat more carefully after Christmas really paid off.
I've only gained 13 lbs since I was 8 weeks pregnant. So I'm pretty positive that at the most I've only gained 20 lbs so far. It's actually probably several pounds under, because I don't think there's any way that I gained 7 lbs between 4 and 8 weeks. At first I thought I was going to gain about 40 lbs this pregnancy. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just don't want to have to deal with losing a pile of weight afterward. I hate losing weight. Pounds don't just melt off of me like they do for some people.
Also, my glucose tolerance test was normal. My level was 6.2... I'm not sure what the normal range is, but I was told this was normal. I'm glad. I wouldn't have minded the gestational diabetes diet (it's basically what I'm doing already), but I would have minded the increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in my life. I'm glad I'm not prone to that!
My hemoglobin has fallen from 133 to 116, which is probably why I'm feeling light headed. For women they like it to be at least 120. They expect it to drop during pregnancy, but it dropping to 116 would most likely be the cause of my lightheadedness. My OB doesn't want to prescribe me any extra iron because of my bowel issues, so I guess I'll just have to deal with the fuzzy feelings.
I also measured a week ahead at 30cm. Which means nothing. People go by those measurements too much. But it does indicate that even though we know exactly when Bambino was conceived, he seems consistently to be a week ahead in growth. Since my 11 week 4 day ultrasound he's been a week ahead in his measurements. And now my uterus is still a week ahead (at least it's not 4-5 weeks ahead anymore!).
My next appointment is in 2 weeks. I'm curious to see how much weight I'll have gained by then!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Bah.
I think there's a tug of war going on with my mental state. Yesterday I blogged about how I was doing better.
Then I got home.
Lexie promptly peed on Justin's sweatpants, which were lying on the bathroom floor. I had an almost full load of laundry, so I threw his pants in there and washed them. Then, as soon as that load of laundry was finished cycling, Lexie peed on my sweatpants and t-shirt that were folded on the floor. Unfortunately, there was no longer any other laundry to put in the washer. So I will have to wait several days to wash those.
Last night my whole body hurt. My stomach hurt, my hips hurt, my bum hurt, my back hurt, and I had growing pains throughout both of my legs. Also, this is something I haven't mentioned before, but I have extreme pain right by my pubic bone. I've had this pain for weeks. It hurts the most when I'm lying down and have to change positions, but it also hurts when I'm just doing regular activities. I'm not sure if it's my pelvic floor muscles or what, but it KILLS. It feels like I sprained my vagina or something. I had never heard of this pain before, but last night when I finally complained to my mom about it she knew exactly what I was talking about. She said she had it with her third and fourth pregnancies.
Then my sleep last night was horrible, AGAIN. Two nights in a row that I spent a ton of time lying awake. After I went to bed I slept for 2 hours, woke up for half an hour. Slept for 2 more hours, and then I woke up for over 3 HOURS. I finally got to the point where I could fall asleep again, and my husband kept making sleep noises that were keeping me awake. At about 5:15 am I put in earplugs, but by then I was uncomfortable again. I managed to doze until the alarm went off at 6. I'm feeling bitter. It was a horrible night. And when I don't get enough sleep, I don't have a good outlook on life.
Then this morning, Lexie knocked a dish cloth off the kitchen counter and peed on it. Well, it and the floor. After she peed in inappropriate places 3 times in like, 15 hours, I didn't feel bad taking her to the vet to be cut open this morning. She was actually quiet the whole 25 minute car ride. However, as soon as we got in the vet office she was NOT happy and squirmed and meowed nonstop. Spaying her had BETTER put an end to this crappy behaviour of hers.
Here are the good parts of today, so that I end this on a better note:
-Bambino was kicking like mad the entire time I was awake last night. He didn't sleep for hours. If I'm going to be awake, he might as well be up with me!
-I am wearing my new lulu.lemon pants at work today. Yes, I am wearing yoga pants to work. And I am quite happy about it. I've always been jealous of my husband that he's a high school phys ed teacher and gets to wear sweat pants to work everyday. Now I get to wear comfortable pants!
-I have an OB appointment after work... I don't know why this is good, except that I just like to get these appointments out of the way because I feel like I've reached another milestone. I also am always curious about my weight gain.
-My husband's Nona made us pasta, so I don't have to make dinner tonight. This might give me time after my OB appointment to go try and find a pair of boots to buy.
Maybe the week will go by fast.
Then I got home.
Lexie promptly peed on Justin's sweatpants, which were lying on the bathroom floor. I had an almost full load of laundry, so I threw his pants in there and washed them. Then, as soon as that load of laundry was finished cycling, Lexie peed on my sweatpants and t-shirt that were folded on the floor. Unfortunately, there was no longer any other laundry to put in the washer. So I will have to wait several days to wash those.
Last night my whole body hurt. My stomach hurt, my hips hurt, my bum hurt, my back hurt, and I had growing pains throughout both of my legs. Also, this is something I haven't mentioned before, but I have extreme pain right by my pubic bone. I've had this pain for weeks. It hurts the most when I'm lying down and have to change positions, but it also hurts when I'm just doing regular activities. I'm not sure if it's my pelvic floor muscles or what, but it KILLS. It feels like I sprained my vagina or something. I had never heard of this pain before, but last night when I finally complained to my mom about it she knew exactly what I was talking about. She said she had it with her third and fourth pregnancies.
Then my sleep last night was horrible, AGAIN. Two nights in a row that I spent a ton of time lying awake. After I went to bed I slept for 2 hours, woke up for half an hour. Slept for 2 more hours, and then I woke up for over 3 HOURS. I finally got to the point where I could fall asleep again, and my husband kept making sleep noises that were keeping me awake. At about 5:15 am I put in earplugs, but by then I was uncomfortable again. I managed to doze until the alarm went off at 6. I'm feeling bitter. It was a horrible night. And when I don't get enough sleep, I don't have a good outlook on life.
Then this morning, Lexie knocked a dish cloth off the kitchen counter and peed on it. Well, it and the floor. After she peed in inappropriate places 3 times in like, 15 hours, I didn't feel bad taking her to the vet to be cut open this morning. She was actually quiet the whole 25 minute car ride. However, as soon as we got in the vet office she was NOT happy and squirmed and meowed nonstop. Spaying her had BETTER put an end to this crappy behaviour of hers.
Here are the good parts of today, so that I end this on a better note:
-Bambino was kicking like mad the entire time I was awake last night. He didn't sleep for hours. If I'm going to be awake, he might as well be up with me!
-I am wearing my new lulu.lemon pants at work today. Yes, I am wearing yoga pants to work. And I am quite happy about it. I've always been jealous of my husband that he's a high school phys ed teacher and gets to wear sweat pants to work everyday. Now I get to wear comfortable pants!
-I have an OB appointment after work... I don't know why this is good, except that I just like to get these appointments out of the way because I feel like I've reached another milestone. I also am always curious about my weight gain.
-My husband's Nona made us pasta, so I don't have to make dinner tonight. This might give me time after my OB appointment to go try and find a pair of boots to buy.
Maybe the week will go by fast.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Feeling Better
29 weeks
Compared to how I was feeling near the beginning of last week, I am doing much better now. I'm still not quite where I was on the Sunday night before I went back to work, but I do feel like I have things much more under control.
I have continued to work out faithfully everyday. I have literally worked out every single day for the past 2 1/2 weeks. I feel good about that. According to my bathroom scale I have not gained any weight since my last OB appointment. However, my bathroom scale is notoriously inaccurate. We'll see what the evil OB scale says tomorrow.
My car has now been serviced, which is a load off my mind.
Tomorrow Lexie is going in to be spayed and declawed. As much as I feel terrible bringing her to the vet in that carrier (it really is torture to drive 25 minutes with your baby kitten meowing sadly beside you) and having to pick her up again when she's in tons of pain, at least steps are being taken to correct our issues with her.
Lexie hasn't peed anywhere in several days. We keep her locked in when we're not home, and watch her like a hawk when we are home. So she doesn't have much of a chance to pee anywhere. But she could still do it and she hasn't (that's not saying she wouldn't if she was given the opportunity). Amazing what a few days off from cleaning up cat pee can do for your mental health.
Last night I turned the heat up before I went to bed (so it was warmer than I'm usually comfortable with) and then turned it waaaaay down, so that the temperature would have to drop 12 degrees before the furnace would click on. Lexie hates that furnace. It totally worked, and Lexie didn't meow all night.
However, I slept like crap anyway. It was just one of those nights. Sleep for 2 hours, awake for 30 minutes, sleep for 2 hours, awake for 30 minutes, sleep for 40 minutes, awake for 20 minutes, repeat, repeat, repeat, awake for 2 hours, sleep for 40 minutes, alarm goes off. Man, I used to love bedtime. I really have a love-hate relationship with it now.
My friend is heading out of town today and is going to exchange a pair of pants that my cousin got me as a gift from Lululemon. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but my cousin bought me a wonderful pair of lululemon pants to wear during and after my pregnancy. They literally cost $100 (it was a very generous gift!), but they were just one size too small. They totally fit for just wearing around the house, but they're snug through the bum. The material is that stretchy kind of fabric that shows underwear lines and cellulite. So I'm hoping a size up will show less and I'll be comfortable wearing them outside of the house. I don't want to have a $100 pair of pants that I only wear around the house. That just is not worth it.
Anyway, the nearest lululemon store is an hour away, and I had no reason to go in that direction at all. My friend/neighbour (the pregnant one) knew she was heading to there sometime in the next week, so she offered to exchange them for me! Surprisingly, she ended up heading there today. She called me in the middle of me teaching to tell me, instead of just apologizing that she couldn't do it after the fact because I was working. So I gave her the garage code, told her where the pants were, and she's on her way to exchange them. I hope they have the right size, because I love this style of pants!
My only remaining issue now is that my staff did not receive my message about not being able to make it to the staff party on Saturday, because the host didn't receive it until Monday morning. As a result, I am avoiding my entire staff so that I don't need to deal with questions about my whereabouts. I ate my lunch in my classroom instead of the staff room. It's just as well, since I don't want to be around my boss right now.
Compared to how I was feeling near the beginning of last week, I am doing much better now. I'm still not quite where I was on the Sunday night before I went back to work, but I do feel like I have things much more under control.
I have continued to work out faithfully everyday. I have literally worked out every single day for the past 2 1/2 weeks. I feel good about that. According to my bathroom scale I have not gained any weight since my last OB appointment. However, my bathroom scale is notoriously inaccurate. We'll see what the evil OB scale says tomorrow.
My car has now been serviced, which is a load off my mind.
Tomorrow Lexie is going in to be spayed and declawed. As much as I feel terrible bringing her to the vet in that carrier (it really is torture to drive 25 minutes with your baby kitten meowing sadly beside you) and having to pick her up again when she's in tons of pain, at least steps are being taken to correct our issues with her.
Lexie hasn't peed anywhere in several days. We keep her locked in when we're not home, and watch her like a hawk when we are home. So she doesn't have much of a chance to pee anywhere. But she could still do it and she hasn't (that's not saying she wouldn't if she was given the opportunity). Amazing what a few days off from cleaning up cat pee can do for your mental health.
Last night I turned the heat up before I went to bed (so it was warmer than I'm usually comfortable with) and then turned it waaaaay down, so that the temperature would have to drop 12 degrees before the furnace would click on. Lexie hates that furnace. It totally worked, and Lexie didn't meow all night.
However, I slept like crap anyway. It was just one of those nights. Sleep for 2 hours, awake for 30 minutes, sleep for 2 hours, awake for 30 minutes, sleep for 40 minutes, awake for 20 minutes, repeat, repeat, repeat, awake for 2 hours, sleep for 40 minutes, alarm goes off. Man, I used to love bedtime. I really have a love-hate relationship with it now.
My friend is heading out of town today and is going to exchange a pair of pants that my cousin got me as a gift from Lululemon. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but my cousin bought me a wonderful pair of lululemon pants to wear during and after my pregnancy. They literally cost $100 (it was a very generous gift!), but they were just one size too small. They totally fit for just wearing around the house, but they're snug through the bum. The material is that stretchy kind of fabric that shows underwear lines and cellulite. So I'm hoping a size up will show less and I'll be comfortable wearing them outside of the house. I don't want to have a $100 pair of pants that I only wear around the house. That just is not worth it.
Anyway, the nearest lululemon store is an hour away, and I had no reason to go in that direction at all. My friend/neighbour (the pregnant one) knew she was heading to there sometime in the next week, so she offered to exchange them for me! Surprisingly, she ended up heading there today. She called me in the middle of me teaching to tell me, instead of just apologizing that she couldn't do it after the fact because I was working. So I gave her the garage code, told her where the pants were, and she's on her way to exchange them. I hope they have the right size, because I love this style of pants!
My only remaining issue now is that my staff did not receive my message about not being able to make it to the staff party on Saturday, because the host didn't receive it until Monday morning. As a result, I am avoiding my entire staff so that I don't need to deal with questions about my whereabouts. I ate my lunch in my classroom instead of the staff room. It's just as well, since I don't want to be around my boss right now.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Relief is in Sight... Kitten-Wise
Last night the cats were again locked in the laundry room, which is right under our bedroom. The laundry room also happens to be the furnace room. And everytime the furnace clicked on last night (which was often, because it was like, -20 here) Lexie started meowing. I put in earplugs, but I could still hear her. PLUS my ears were killing me from the plugs. I knew the peacefulness of the night before wouldn't last.
However, there may be an end in sight!
Today we brought Lexie to the vet for her rabies shot, and I kept asking him what the heck we can do about Lexie's constant screaming meowing and "innapropriate elimination." He gave us a couple of suggestions about litter (apparently we need to change to unscented clumping litter... the exact opposite of what my mother told me to get before we got Emmie... blasted mother!), but didn't give us any drugs. I was honestly hoping we could tranquilize my cat.
However, he did get us an appointment to get her spayed for THIS TUESDAY! Yaaaaay! That's two weeks earlier than our original appointment with them, and the receptionist had said it would be impossible to get her in any earlier, even after I almost cried over Lexie meowing and peeing everywhere. But he got us right in, no problem. Thank goodness!
This is our original vet, the one who only requires a 1 night stay, as opposed to the other vet we were going to try who required 2 nights, and was also inconvenient so we were going to have to add another night by dropping her off the evening before. However, this vet is also $80 more expensive... which works for me, considering it gets her in a week earlier than the other vet was going to!
Now, this doesn't guarantee an end to the peeing. But it does bring us a lot closer. Hopefully by the time two weeks is up and her hormones have stopped being produced, she will be back to her little trustworthy self. The one who didn't pee everywhere she wasn't supposed to.
We found a recipe online that cleans cat pee out of carpets, mattresses, and upholstery. It's a complicated process involving water, vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, and a vaccuum cleaner. But it seems to work! I don't think we can smell any cat pee on our couches anymore (we found a second spot). Although that may just be because all we can smell is vinegar and green apple scented dish soap! We'll see how things are a week from now after the couches have dried and aired out. I think the problem has been dealt with, though.
3 more days and 3 more nights... I can handle this. Maybe by then her hormones will have calmed down a bit and it won't take 1-2 weeks for her to quit acting like an idiot.
Wishful thinking?
However, there may be an end in sight!
Today we brought Lexie to the vet for her rabies shot, and I kept asking him what the heck we can do about Lexie's constant screaming meowing and "innapropriate elimination." He gave us a couple of suggestions about litter (apparently we need to change to unscented clumping litter... the exact opposite of what my mother told me to get before we got Emmie... blasted mother!), but didn't give us any drugs. I was honestly hoping we could tranquilize my cat.
However, he did get us an appointment to get her spayed for THIS TUESDAY! Yaaaaay! That's two weeks earlier than our original appointment with them, and the receptionist had said it would be impossible to get her in any earlier, even after I almost cried over Lexie meowing and peeing everywhere. But he got us right in, no problem. Thank goodness!
This is our original vet, the one who only requires a 1 night stay, as opposed to the other vet we were going to try who required 2 nights, and was also inconvenient so we were going to have to add another night by dropping her off the evening before. However, this vet is also $80 more expensive... which works for me, considering it gets her in a week earlier than the other vet was going to!
Now, this doesn't guarantee an end to the peeing. But it does bring us a lot closer. Hopefully by the time two weeks is up and her hormones have stopped being produced, she will be back to her little trustworthy self. The one who didn't pee everywhere she wasn't supposed to.
We found a recipe online that cleans cat pee out of carpets, mattresses, and upholstery. It's a complicated process involving water, vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, and a vaccuum cleaner. But it seems to work! I don't think we can smell any cat pee on our couches anymore (we found a second spot). Although that may just be because all we can smell is vinegar and green apple scented dish soap! We'll see how things are a week from now after the couches have dried and aired out. I think the problem has been dealt with, though.
3 more days and 3 more nights... I can handle this. Maybe by then her hormones will have calmed down a bit and it won't take 1-2 weeks for her to quit acting like an idiot.
Wishful thinking?
Friday, January 8, 2010
Change of Plans
Alright, plans have changed.
Lexie is driving me insane. Last night I had a friend over for tea and for the entire hour and a half she meowed. Constantly. And not a cute little meow. A loud, screaming, grating meow. And then Justin told me that she peed on a couch.
A couch. The worst thing she could pee on! A bed, I can deal with. I can wash sheets and a comforter. A carpet... well that's even easier to clean than a couch. But how do I wash a couch?!?!
She is actually making me lose my mind. We are keeping her and Emmie locked in the laundry room from now on until Lexie cuts this out. Thankfully (you have no idea how thankful I am for this) I didn't hear her meow once all night. The laundry room is right under our bedroom and I thought for sure she would meow all night like she does outside our bedroom door. But she didn't! That's not to say that she won't tonight, but at least she didn't last night. However, when we let them out this morning she started with the constant meowing again, so eventually Justin just put them back in the laundry room.
I feel bad for Emmie in all of this because he's such a good cat and doesn't deserve to be locked in a small room for 20 out of 24 hours in a day. But I also feel bad separating them. Plus, if Emmie wasn't in the room with Lexie she would probably meow more.
The bottom line is that I cannot handle this anymore. It is stressing me to the max that my cat won't shut up and is still peeing everywhere. So we're going with the earlier, less convenient appointment to get her spayed. Which means we have to take her to the vet tomorrow morning to get her rabies vaccine. And she also needs to spend 3 nights at the vet the week of the 18th, instead of 1 night the week after.
At this point, I'm almost okay with the 3 nights she'll spend at the vet. She is driving me absolutely insane (I was ready to give her away last night, which is crazy for me because I am so in love with my cats), and it'll be nice to be able to finally relax without listening to her incessant meowing and looking for where she most recently peed.
Lexie is driving me insane. Last night I had a friend over for tea and for the entire hour and a half she meowed. Constantly. And not a cute little meow. A loud, screaming, grating meow. And then Justin told me that she peed on a couch.
A couch. The worst thing she could pee on! A bed, I can deal with. I can wash sheets and a comforter. A carpet... well that's even easier to clean than a couch. But how do I wash a couch?!?!
She is actually making me lose my mind. We are keeping her and Emmie locked in the laundry room from now on until Lexie cuts this out. Thankfully (you have no idea how thankful I am for this) I didn't hear her meow once all night. The laundry room is right under our bedroom and I thought for sure she would meow all night like she does outside our bedroom door. But she didn't! That's not to say that she won't tonight, but at least she didn't last night. However, when we let them out this morning she started with the constant meowing again, so eventually Justin just put them back in the laundry room.
I feel bad for Emmie in all of this because he's such a good cat and doesn't deserve to be locked in a small room for 20 out of 24 hours in a day. But I also feel bad separating them. Plus, if Emmie wasn't in the room with Lexie she would probably meow more.
The bottom line is that I cannot handle this anymore. It is stressing me to the max that my cat won't shut up and is still peeing everywhere. So we're going with the earlier, less convenient appointment to get her spayed. Which means we have to take her to the vet tomorrow morning to get her rabies vaccine. And she also needs to spend 3 nights at the vet the week of the 18th, instead of 1 night the week after.
At this point, I'm almost okay with the 3 nights she'll spend at the vet. She is driving me absolutely insane (I was ready to give her away last night, which is crazy for me because I am so in love with my cats), and it'll be nice to be able to finally relax without listening to her incessant meowing and looking for where she most recently peed.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Another Day...
28 weeks 3 days
My back is killing me. Last night I was lying down for awhile while Justin was rubbing my feet (what I good husband... I really needed it), and when I got up to turn back the covers of the bed so I could go to sleep, I had STABBING pain in my lower back every time I stepped on my right foot.
Now today at work it's the same story. I've been sitting down all morning while teaching, because I am once again limping around. My back hurts constantly, but as soon as I put any significant weight on my right leg the pain is crazy.
Last night I also had what I think is the most excruciating hip pain I've had this whole pregnancy. I think I mentioned that I have burcitis in both my hips. Sleeping is terrible since I always have to sleep on my side. It doesn't matter which side I'm sleeping on, both sides absolutely kill all night. Last night my left hip had screaming pain. Luckily I was crazily overtired from the lack of sleep the night before, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to sleep a wink. As it was, I was up every hour. But that's normal for me.
Unfortunately, Lexie was also horrible last night. She meowed loudly outside our door every half hour to every hour. I put in earplugs, but I could still hear her through them.
Also unfortunate about Lexie is that I can't get her spayed and declawed until the end of January. It's a three week wait. I tried calling other vets to get her in earlier, and I found a much cheaper vet, but he's also much less convenient. First of all, they require the rabies vaccination to be given at least 10 days before the surgery. I think that's ridiculous, and my original vet doesn't require that wait. I don't want to have to take her to two vet visits, especially considering how busy I am right now.
Also, the hours at the new clinic won't allow me to drop Lexie off in the morning before work, so I'd have to drop her off the night before. And they make her stay for 2 nights instead of 1. So if she went to this vet she'd be gone for 3 nights. That feels way too mean to me. She'll feel so abandoned and unloved.
So I'm just going to bite the bullet, pay the extra $80 and wait the extra week so that I can take Lexie to the original vet. I know what it's like there and I like it. They were so nice to Emmie when I brought him to be neutered. And Lexie will only need to spend one night away from home.
I made my car service appointment for tomorrow after school, so that will be out of the way. And I'm not going to my staff party Saturday night, even though it's kind of required. Justin is coaching in a basketball tounament and might have a game at 6:30pm. The party starts at 6, and it's a dinner party, so we'd miss pretty much the whole thing. I'm just going to say I can't go. It takes one thing off my list of things I have to do.
I ALSO had a really horrible day yesterday due to a run-in with my jerk of a boss. It was the kind of thing that ruins your entire attitude and your entire day. It made me more impatient with my students because I felt like crap, mentally. And it made it so much harder to put everything into perspective. When I got home I was still so bothered by it that I couldn't bring myself to make dinner. I made Justin a couple of nice big sandwiches, and I ate an apple with peanut butter, a hot chocolate made with milk, and a tiny scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
I can't wait to get out of here. 44 days left... 44 days left...
My back is killing me. Last night I was lying down for awhile while Justin was rubbing my feet (what I good husband... I really needed it), and when I got up to turn back the covers of the bed so I could go to sleep, I had STABBING pain in my lower back every time I stepped on my right foot.
Now today at work it's the same story. I've been sitting down all morning while teaching, because I am once again limping around. My back hurts constantly, but as soon as I put any significant weight on my right leg the pain is crazy.
Last night I also had what I think is the most excruciating hip pain I've had this whole pregnancy. I think I mentioned that I have burcitis in both my hips. Sleeping is terrible since I always have to sleep on my side. It doesn't matter which side I'm sleeping on, both sides absolutely kill all night. Last night my left hip had screaming pain. Luckily I was crazily overtired from the lack of sleep the night before, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to sleep a wink. As it was, I was up every hour. But that's normal for me.
Unfortunately, Lexie was also horrible last night. She meowed loudly outside our door every half hour to every hour. I put in earplugs, but I could still hear her through them.
Also unfortunate about Lexie is that I can't get her spayed and declawed until the end of January. It's a three week wait. I tried calling other vets to get her in earlier, and I found a much cheaper vet, but he's also much less convenient. First of all, they require the rabies vaccination to be given at least 10 days before the surgery. I think that's ridiculous, and my original vet doesn't require that wait. I don't want to have to take her to two vet visits, especially considering how busy I am right now.
Also, the hours at the new clinic won't allow me to drop Lexie off in the morning before work, so I'd have to drop her off the night before. And they make her stay for 2 nights instead of 1. So if she went to this vet she'd be gone for 3 nights. That feels way too mean to me. She'll feel so abandoned and unloved.
So I'm just going to bite the bullet, pay the extra $80 and wait the extra week so that I can take Lexie to the original vet. I know what it's like there and I like it. They were so nice to Emmie when I brought him to be neutered. And Lexie will only need to spend one night away from home.
I made my car service appointment for tomorrow after school, so that will be out of the way. And I'm not going to my staff party Saturday night, even though it's kind of required. Justin is coaching in a basketball tounament and might have a game at 6:30pm. The party starts at 6, and it's a dinner party, so we'd miss pretty much the whole thing. I'm just going to say I can't go. It takes one thing off my list of things I have to do.
I ALSO had a really horrible day yesterday due to a run-in with my jerk of a boss. It was the kind of thing that ruins your entire attitude and your entire day. It made me more impatient with my students because I felt like crap, mentally. And it made it so much harder to put everything into perspective. When I got home I was still so bothered by it that I couldn't bring myself to make dinner. I made Justin a couple of nice big sandwiches, and I ate an apple with peanut butter, a hot chocolate made with milk, and a tiny scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
I can't wait to get out of here. 44 days left... 44 days left...
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
I Want My Good Feelings Back!
On Sunday evening I was feeling so settled and content and fantastic. I want that feeling back! Things are piling up and I'm starting to feel like I don't have any control anymore.
After a week's break, Lexie has started to meow a LOT again. We're very afraid that she's going into heat again. I can't believe she'd go in so soon! I really have to make that vet appointment to take her in to be spayed and declawed, even though it breaks my heart to do that.
The procrastination of this action has been helped along by the fact that last night we discovered a very larged spot of dried cat pee on our bed. We couldn't see it and we couldn't smell it, but I had noticed that Lexie and Emmie had been spending a lot of time sniffing around that area for the past few days. Finally I smelled it (I had to put my nose right up to it) and realized that Lexie had peed there. I don't know when, but it was sometime in the past week, probably on Sunday when we weren't home until about 4pm. It had dried completely and didn't leave a stain on our patterned bedspread, so I've been sleeping in between peed-soaked-and-then-dried sheets for who knows how long (that's right, it was on my side of the bed).
Thankfully because Lexie had been meowing so much and I was afraid she's pee on our bed again, I had the foresight that evening to wash three sets of sheets. So when we discovered this problem at 9:30pm we already had clean sheets we could put on the bed. We had also recently washed the comforter from the spare bedroom, so we put that on our bed. However, it doesn't match our bedskirt, which bothers me. I know it shouldn't, but it does. It makes my life feel more jumbled.
I think I'm going to keep clean sets of sheets around from now on, instead of washing them right before we put them on. I like fresh clean sheets on the bed, but we have run into the pee issue so many times in the past month that it beginning to be impractical.
I think instead of washing the entire comforter again, we'll hand wash the part that she peed on. I don't want our comforter to be destroyed by being washed too often. It's an enormous comforter, so it'll take both of us. But I'll feel better than if I was putting it in the washer and dryer.
During my only 20 minute break today I need to call the vet to make an appointment to bring Lexie in. I'm dreading this. I'm going to make Justin put her in the carrier (I had to force poor Emmie in last June). I'm trying not to think of how much pain Emmie was in for so long after his surgeries. It'll be much worse for Lexie because she's actually being sliced open:( It makes me want to cry.
After that appointment has been made I have to call to get a service appointment for my car. The issue is that I have three appointments after work next week, and I'll also probably be picking Lexie up after work on another day that week (if I can get her in on a convenient day so that I can actually make it after work to pick her up). Unfortunately I can only do one thing after work each day. Business hours only last for so long.
Last night after the "peescapade" I couldn't fall asleep until almost 11. After waking up at least 6 times (the usual), finally at 4am I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. I just laid there until the alarm went off at 5:50. I was supposed to work out when the alarm went off, but I was feeling too out of control of my life and I couldn't. Instead I ran around the house throwing laundry in the washer, organizing my closet, cleaning off my dresser, putting gift bags and boxes away, cleaning the bathroom, gathering shopping bags from the floor of the closet to put under the sink to use as garbage bags, hanging up clothes, folding sheets, folding blankets... Amazingly, I managed to make it to work on time this morning!
I just need everything to be complete. I need everything to be clean, I need everything to be tidy, I need everything to be in it's proper place. I need all the things on my to-do list to be done, and I need to have a week where I have no appointments... impossible, unfortunately. I just feel like things are flying out of control and I need to get a handle on everything!
On a good note, yesterday I got everything at work organized so that if I suddenly went into labour or was put on bed rest, somebody could step in easily for the rest of the year. I had to make some changes to my long-range plans, and I also had to make changes to my resource student notes. I wouldn't have needed to change my long-range plans if I wasn't going to be leaving, because things weren't drastically different. But there were some timing issues with different units that caused things to change. Now everything is all organized and set up. If I suddenly had to leave, all that would need to be done is me coming in to pack up my personal stuff.
At least that part of my life is organized.
After a week's break, Lexie has started to meow a LOT again. We're very afraid that she's going into heat again. I can't believe she'd go in so soon! I really have to make that vet appointment to take her in to be spayed and declawed, even though it breaks my heart to do that.
The procrastination of this action has been helped along by the fact that last night we discovered a very larged spot of dried cat pee on our bed. We couldn't see it and we couldn't smell it, but I had noticed that Lexie and Emmie had been spending a lot of time sniffing around that area for the past few days. Finally I smelled it (I had to put my nose right up to it) and realized that Lexie had peed there. I don't know when, but it was sometime in the past week, probably on Sunday when we weren't home until about 4pm. It had dried completely and didn't leave a stain on our patterned bedspread, so I've been sleeping in between peed-soaked-and-then-dried sheets for who knows how long (that's right, it was on my side of the bed).
Thankfully because Lexie had been meowing so much and I was afraid she's pee on our bed again, I had the foresight that evening to wash three sets of sheets. So when we discovered this problem at 9:30pm we already had clean sheets we could put on the bed. We had also recently washed the comforter from the spare bedroom, so we put that on our bed. However, it doesn't match our bedskirt, which bothers me. I know it shouldn't, but it does. It makes my life feel more jumbled.
I think I'm going to keep clean sets of sheets around from now on, instead of washing them right before we put them on. I like fresh clean sheets on the bed, but we have run into the pee issue so many times in the past month that it beginning to be impractical.
I think instead of washing the entire comforter again, we'll hand wash the part that she peed on. I don't want our comforter to be destroyed by being washed too often. It's an enormous comforter, so it'll take both of us. But I'll feel better than if I was putting it in the washer and dryer.
During my only 20 minute break today I need to call the vet to make an appointment to bring Lexie in. I'm dreading this. I'm going to make Justin put her in the carrier (I had to force poor Emmie in last June). I'm trying not to think of how much pain Emmie was in for so long after his surgeries. It'll be much worse for Lexie because she's actually being sliced open:( It makes me want to cry.
After that appointment has been made I have to call to get a service appointment for my car. The issue is that I have three appointments after work next week, and I'll also probably be picking Lexie up after work on another day that week (if I can get her in on a convenient day so that I can actually make it after work to pick her up). Unfortunately I can only do one thing after work each day. Business hours only last for so long.
Last night after the "peescapade" I couldn't fall asleep until almost 11. After waking up at least 6 times (the usual), finally at 4am I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. I just laid there until the alarm went off at 5:50. I was supposed to work out when the alarm went off, but I was feeling too out of control of my life and I couldn't. Instead I ran around the house throwing laundry in the washer, organizing my closet, cleaning off my dresser, putting gift bags and boxes away, cleaning the bathroom, gathering shopping bags from the floor of the closet to put under the sink to use as garbage bags, hanging up clothes, folding sheets, folding blankets... Amazingly, I managed to make it to work on time this morning!
I just need everything to be complete. I need everything to be clean, I need everything to be tidy, I need everything to be in it's proper place. I need all the things on my to-do list to be done, and I need to have a week where I have no appointments... impossible, unfortunately. I just feel like things are flying out of control and I need to get a handle on everything!
On a good note, yesterday I got everything at work organized so that if I suddenly went into labour or was put on bed rest, somebody could step in easily for the rest of the year. I had to make some changes to my long-range plans, and I also had to make changes to my resource student notes. I wouldn't have needed to change my long-range plans if I wasn't going to be leaving, because things weren't drastically different. But there were some timing issues with different units that caused things to change. Now everything is all organized and set up. If I suddenly had to leave, all that would need to be done is me coming in to pack up my personal stuff.
At least that part of my life is organized.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The Pain is Back... Literally
28 weeks 1 day
So the back pain that haunted me from 9 weeks until... I'm not sure when... is back. I'm limping around at work like an idiot. I'm mad too, because I spent $650 at the chiropractor's to avoid this. My pain had gotten better before I started seeing him at the beginning of December, but chiropractic care has shown to decrease labour time by up to 50%. To me, that's a great investment, and my chiropractor specializes in pregnant women. Between our two insurance plans, I'll only end up spending about $200 of that money out of pocket. I bit the bullet and did it.
I just had an appointment last night, so I didn't figure that I would be experiencing the pain. But OUCH!
Over the course of the day the pain has gotten better. I think maybe Bambino was in a bad position up against my SI joint, and he seems to be more forward right now than he was this morning. But I'm still achy. It's kind of an all-over ache, instead of being concentrated in just my lower back.
I think I need to take a day off of exercising. I've been extremely faithful, and have exercised everyday for over a week. The problem with taking a day off is that I worry that I'll get out of the groove and not get back into it! I've always been an all or nothing kind of person. I don't want to lose my drive.
Between my rowing and strength training, the exercises my chiropractor wants me to do to open up my pelvis, and the exercises Bradley says to do to aid in natural childbirth, I'm spending about an hour and a half a day exercising! Of course, the chiropractor and Bradley stuff is more like stretching. But still. It's a lot of time to devote when you're still working fulltime.
This doesn't even include the "practice" coaching Justin and I are supposed to be doing to prepare for the labour. Bradley wants us to do it daily, but I really don't think that's anywhere close to feasible. I think we'll aim for once a week.
So the back pain that haunted me from 9 weeks until... I'm not sure when... is back. I'm limping around at work like an idiot. I'm mad too, because I spent $650 at the chiropractor's to avoid this. My pain had gotten better before I started seeing him at the beginning of December, but chiropractic care has shown to decrease labour time by up to 50%. To me, that's a great investment, and my chiropractor specializes in pregnant women. Between our two insurance plans, I'll only end up spending about $200 of that money out of pocket. I bit the bullet and did it.
I just had an appointment last night, so I didn't figure that I would be experiencing the pain. But OUCH!
Over the course of the day the pain has gotten better. I think maybe Bambino was in a bad position up against my SI joint, and he seems to be more forward right now than he was this morning. But I'm still achy. It's kind of an all-over ache, instead of being concentrated in just my lower back.
I think I need to take a day off of exercising. I've been extremely faithful, and have exercised everyday for over a week. The problem with taking a day off is that I worry that I'll get out of the groove and not get back into it! I've always been an all or nothing kind of person. I don't want to lose my drive.
Between my rowing and strength training, the exercises my chiropractor wants me to do to open up my pelvis, and the exercises Bradley says to do to aid in natural childbirth, I'm spending about an hour and a half a day exercising! Of course, the chiropractor and Bradley stuff is more like stretching. But still. It's a lot of time to devote when you're still working fulltime.
This doesn't even include the "practice" coaching Justin and I are supposed to be doing to prepare for the labour. Bradley wants us to do it daily, but I really don't think that's anywhere close to feasible. I think we'll aim for once a week.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Feeling Good
28 weeks
I'm sitting here with my little munchkin trying to push his way through the wall of my abdomen (sorry little guy, that's not the way to get out of there:) and I'm feeling really good. Yes, my back is killing me and my big belly is making me uncomfortable, but in my head I feel good.
I have rowed about 4k everyday for the past 5 days. I've been faithful with my regular squatting and strength training exercises. I've also started my birth preparation exercises about a week ago (kegels, pelvic rocking, and sitting in a squat so deep that my bum is basically touching the floor - this is to stretch my perenium so I hopefully don't tear, since I'm refusing an episiotomy).
Justin and I spent the afternoon at my parent's house after church this morning. My mom and I nailed down a baby shower date of February 20. I also just found out (through my husband) that my mother in law is, in fact, planning a small baby shower for me on February 14th. Since she hadn't mentioned such a thing the whole time I've been pregnant, and we recently found out that Italians "don't do baby showers" I had completely crossed this off my list of things to expect. So this was a pleasant surprise!
I counted the days I have left of work and it's only 47! Technically it's 48, but I'm going to plan my personal day somewhere in there, so I'm saying 47.
I also took another look at our finances, and with the extra training money Justin takes in I actually think I'll be able to stay home full-time after my maternity leave is up in March 2011. It's hard to know for 100% sure, but it's looking good. Better than it looked before. The only expenses his regular salary doesn't cover is any incidentals that come up (like gifts for people, services on the cars, etc). I wish we hadn't bought my car in June... it would have been nice to not have that $400 car payment to cover. Then his salary would be more adequate. But we do have the training money he brings in... he's such a good provider:) Regardless, my maternity leave gives me 60% of my gross income for an entire year. I am so thankful for where we live, and that I know I can stay home with our baby for a full year without being worried about income. And I'm so thankful that even if I do have to go back to work, I'll only have to go back part time. Maybe I could just privately tutor a couple of students one or two evenings a week and make the extra money that way. That would be ideal, since Justin could take care of the baby during those few hours.
I have a ton of things on my to-do list: cleaning my house, getting Lexie spayed ASAP before she goes into heat again, getting my car serviced since it was due 2000km ago, 3 or 4 appointments after work every week for the next 2 months at least, sending away insurance claims forms, applying for maternity leave, and the list goes on. I am also sore as the dickens, between my back, hips, belly, and shoulder pain.
I'm chosing to ignore those things. I want to stay relaxed, actually take the time to relax, and just deal with things as they come on a day by day basis. Maybe I really am experiencing good endorphins from all the exercise I've been getting! I never believed in those before.
I'm sitting here with my little munchkin trying to push his way through the wall of my abdomen (sorry little guy, that's not the way to get out of there:) and I'm feeling really good. Yes, my back is killing me and my big belly is making me uncomfortable, but in my head I feel good.
I have rowed about 4k everyday for the past 5 days. I've been faithful with my regular squatting and strength training exercises. I've also started my birth preparation exercises about a week ago (kegels, pelvic rocking, and sitting in a squat so deep that my bum is basically touching the floor - this is to stretch my perenium so I hopefully don't tear, since I'm refusing an episiotomy).
Justin and I spent the afternoon at my parent's house after church this morning. My mom and I nailed down a baby shower date of February 20. I also just found out (through my husband) that my mother in law is, in fact, planning a small baby shower for me on February 14th. Since she hadn't mentioned such a thing the whole time I've been pregnant, and we recently found out that Italians "don't do baby showers" I had completely crossed this off my list of things to expect. So this was a pleasant surprise!
I counted the days I have left of work and it's only 47! Technically it's 48, but I'm going to plan my personal day somewhere in there, so I'm saying 47.
I also took another look at our finances, and with the extra training money Justin takes in I actually think I'll be able to stay home full-time after my maternity leave is up in March 2011. It's hard to know for 100% sure, but it's looking good. Better than it looked before. The only expenses his regular salary doesn't cover is any incidentals that come up (like gifts for people, services on the cars, etc). I wish we hadn't bought my car in June... it would have been nice to not have that $400 car payment to cover. Then his salary would be more adequate. But we do have the training money he brings in... he's such a good provider:) Regardless, my maternity leave gives me 60% of my gross income for an entire year. I am so thankful for where we live, and that I know I can stay home with our baby for a full year without being worried about income. And I'm so thankful that even if I do have to go back to work, I'll only have to go back part time. Maybe I could just privately tutor a couple of students one or two evenings a week and make the extra money that way. That would be ideal, since Justin could take care of the baby during those few hours.
I have a ton of things on my to-do list: cleaning my house, getting Lexie spayed ASAP before she goes into heat again, getting my car serviced since it was due 2000km ago, 3 or 4 appointments after work every week for the next 2 months at least, sending away insurance claims forms, applying for maternity leave, and the list goes on. I am also sore as the dickens, between my back, hips, belly, and shoulder pain.
I'm chosing to ignore those things. I want to stay relaxed, actually take the time to relax, and just deal with things as they come on a day by day basis. Maybe I really am experiencing good endorphins from all the exercise I've been getting! I never believed in those before.
Friday, January 1, 2010
The Year of Bambino
I haven't blogged in almost 2 weeks, so I think this is a bullet post so I don't forget anything.
-Last night, New Year's Eve, Justin and I enjoyed our tradition of staying home together and eating oriental food. We played Wii (Justin got Wii Sports Resort for Christmas - or rather, he traded in one of two copies of Lost that he received for Christmas and got Sports Resort instead), watched Lost, read books, and just hung out together. It was awesome. I didn't think we would stay up until midnight, but since we were still awake at 11 I figured it was worth it. We were watching the show from Time's Square, and at 11:51 I was tired and decided to close my eyes until the ball dropped. Suddenly Justin kissed me out of my sleep and said "Happy New Year." That's right. I fell asleep about 2 minutes before that flippin ball dropped. And I love watching the ball drop!
-It is now 2010, or, as we call it, the Year of Bambino. So much is going to happen this year. I want the next 12 weeks to fly by, but then after that I would like things to slow down to a crawl. I want to enjoy every second with our new baby, and not have him grow up too fast.
-I went for my glucose tolerance test a few days ago. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I had heard such horror stories about the drink they make you have, but it was totally fine. I wish I had known. My friend had told me not to go on an empty stomach because the drink made her throw up. So I ate beforehand. But I found out afterward that you have better results if you don't eat beforehand (even though I asked the lab if I had to fast and they said no). If I fail this test because of that I will be very upset. I don't want to do the 3 hour test!
-The baby doesn't kick as much as he used to. I think he's just getting too big. Instead of kicking he's just constantly moving around. Last night (New Year's Eve) was the first time he's kicked me and actually caused pain. It was only mild pain/strong discomfort, but before this the only "discomfort" he had caused by kicking was when he uses my bladder as a punching bag. That's always fantastic.
-Bambino is getting so big that I can almost always touch him through my abdomen. I can push his little limbs and feet around - and then he kicks me back! It's such an amazing feeling.
-As a Happy New Year to me my uterus has given me a lovely gift of at least 40 contractions so far today. I am really hoping that my overactive uterus means I will give birth easier... and earlier.
-Our kitten, Lexie, went into heat for a good week over the holidays. I didn't even know a 7 month old cat could go into heat. I felt so bad for her. She would just writh around on the ground, rubbing her face against things, wanting to be petted. While we were petting her she made cute little purr-meow sounds nonstop. She seemed so confused over what was happening to her. It was awful!! If we weren't petting her, she meowed nonstop. She also peed in inappropriate places at least twice a day - something I did not know came along with being in heat. Everytime we would get home and everytime we woke up in the morning we would go hunting for where she peed. For some reason every night she peed on the counter. Usually on a dish cloth, but one time there was no dish cloth, so she peed right on the stove. We've had to wash every comforter in our house. She peed on our bed twice! That comforter is extremely difficult to wash, and has now been washed 4 times in about 1 year. That's not right. Her final peeing escapade was 3 nights ago. She seemed like she was going to pee on the bed, so I kicked her off. She then went over to my only pair of maternity jeans and peed on them. I guess that's better than peeing on the carpet!
-In two more days I have to go back to work, and then work for the next 10 weeks before my maternity leave starts. I am dreading this. In some ways it feels like the baby is coming so soon (12 weeks!), but when I think about working 10 more weeks it suddenly feels very far away.
-Last night, New Year's Eve, Justin and I enjoyed our tradition of staying home together and eating oriental food. We played Wii (Justin got Wii Sports Resort for Christmas - or rather, he traded in one of two copies of Lost that he received for Christmas and got Sports Resort instead), watched Lost, read books, and just hung out together. It was awesome. I didn't think we would stay up until midnight, but since we were still awake at 11 I figured it was worth it. We were watching the show from Time's Square, and at 11:51 I was tired and decided to close my eyes until the ball dropped. Suddenly Justin kissed me out of my sleep and said "Happy New Year." That's right. I fell asleep about 2 minutes before that flippin ball dropped. And I love watching the ball drop!
-It is now 2010, or, as we call it, the Year of Bambino. So much is going to happen this year. I want the next 12 weeks to fly by, but then after that I would like things to slow down to a crawl. I want to enjoy every second with our new baby, and not have him grow up too fast.
-I went for my glucose tolerance test a few days ago. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I had heard such horror stories about the drink they make you have, but it was totally fine. I wish I had known. My friend had told me not to go on an empty stomach because the drink made her throw up. So I ate beforehand. But I found out afterward that you have better results if you don't eat beforehand (even though I asked the lab if I had to fast and they said no). If I fail this test because of that I will be very upset. I don't want to do the 3 hour test!
-The baby doesn't kick as much as he used to. I think he's just getting too big. Instead of kicking he's just constantly moving around. Last night (New Year's Eve) was the first time he's kicked me and actually caused pain. It was only mild pain/strong discomfort, but before this the only "discomfort" he had caused by kicking was when he uses my bladder as a punching bag. That's always fantastic.
-Bambino is getting so big that I can almost always touch him through my abdomen. I can push his little limbs and feet around - and then he kicks me back! It's such an amazing feeling.
-As a Happy New Year to me my uterus has given me a lovely gift of at least 40 contractions so far today. I am really hoping that my overactive uterus means I will give birth easier... and earlier.
-Our kitten, Lexie, went into heat for a good week over the holidays. I didn't even know a 7 month old cat could go into heat. I felt so bad for her. She would just writh around on the ground, rubbing her face against things, wanting to be petted. While we were petting her she made cute little purr-meow sounds nonstop. She seemed so confused over what was happening to her. It was awful!! If we weren't petting her, she meowed nonstop. She also peed in inappropriate places at least twice a day - something I did not know came along with being in heat. Everytime we would get home and everytime we woke up in the morning we would go hunting for where she peed. For some reason every night she peed on the counter. Usually on a dish cloth, but one time there was no dish cloth, so she peed right on the stove. We've had to wash every comforter in our house. She peed on our bed twice! That comforter is extremely difficult to wash, and has now been washed 4 times in about 1 year. That's not right. Her final peeing escapade was 3 nights ago. She seemed like she was going to pee on the bed, so I kicked her off. She then went over to my only pair of maternity jeans and peed on them. I guess that's better than peeing on the carpet!
-In two more days I have to go back to work, and then work for the next 10 weeks before my maternity leave starts. I am dreading this. In some ways it feels like the baby is coming so soon (12 weeks!), but when I think about working 10 more weeks it suddenly feels very far away.
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