7 week flashback

I've gone a little overboard with my 30 week photos, especially if you check facebook. It occurred to me that I never posted many of my earlier photos in either location, so here are a few 7 week photos.

At 7 weeks I really hadn't gained much weight, but I could tell a little difference in my belly. Frankly, I think I look fairly hot at 7 weeks. Huge improvement with that recent ,  15 ish lbs  I lost just before getting preg.

Depends Mommy, Mommy Depends.

I bought my first diapers this last weekend.

Let me rephrase that:
I bought MY first diapers this last weekend.

Notice, they are size 5? I'm told that I get to put them in my mesh panties (sounds sexy, no?) to absorb all the joy I can no longer contain after I expel adorably slimy little humans from my lady parts.

Birth is going to be so much fun!

Baby real-estate

It may not look like there are babies in my butt... but I promise you, they are there.

For the longest time their favorite playground was just above my pubic bone, but over the last week or so, they've decided it was time to relocate the workforce, and the bulk of their efforts. Now they like my buttox. I have NO IDEA how they got in there, but they love it. They spend most of their energy doing what I can best deduce as "blowing large bubbles in my butt.

No, not out of my butt (that would be me, and we would call that gas), but IN my but. Playing with bubbles IN my butt.  Strange babies with strange hobbies.

Front and Back... Side to Side

They are mostly front-loaded babies... at least for now. 

walk o' the weeks

See. you guys are spoiled. I could put these on Facebook, but I thought I'd put some extras here... at least first. You get some bonuses for pretending I'm interesting

7-17-23-30

Fundal Height:

8 cm =  aprox size prior to preg. 

15cm @ 14 weeks 

24cm @ 18 weeks

30cm @ 22 weeks 

34cm @ 26 weeks

41cm @ 30 weeks

Button Change

I used to be able to fit quarters in this belly slot.

Not so deep anymore, is it?

Thirty

I've been 30 now for 10 months. AND I FEEL LIKE AN OLD MAN. 

Don't get me wrong, I actually feel in pretty good shape: I have energy, I don't feel like I'm falling apart, but there have been some new health/behavioral developments that, when I think about them, make me sound like an old FART. I think about them, and I say to myself " Charlo, you are an old fart." To this I reply "yes, yes you are."  Granted, many of them are directly related to pregnancy, but not all. Let me explain. 

 T is for Thrifty: 

So thrifty, I don't flush the toilet between the hours of midnight and 8 am, because that would be wasteful.  Seriously, all those tanks of water flushing down miniscule amounts of urine. What a waste. 

Pregnancy hasn't been a big help with this one.

H is for Hemroids:

 When I think of Hemroids, I think of Old People. Young people don't get throbbing pain as their vericose veins pop out of their bottom.  Well, of all the stereotypes for pregnancy that I didn't get (bad nausea for one),  I was lucky enough to get this one, even though I had NEVER heard about it happening with pregnancy.  Pain was helped with WITCH HAZEL on cotton balls (homemade tucks pads). Now I rarely feel them, though they are there.  when they itch, I pull out the witch hazel.

I is for Insomnia and Bladder Infections:

Fortunately, the insomnia isn't constant. It comes in few day incrimints wherein I can only sleep in 3-4 hour time slots before I am completely awake... and it's not just the peeing. I can fall right back asleap most of the million times I wake to pee. It's not even baby discomfort. It's just hormones, I guess. Makes me think of Grandpa Jim. I swear the man never slept. He took naps. Lots of them.

Oh, the bladder infections.  I startedg getting mild ones several times in the last several months. Not so bad now, but part of that is because I've learned to pee even at the slightest inkling to avoid backwash. This means I might get up 5 times in a 15 minute period when I've just laid down to sleep, hence my reluctance to waste water by flushing 20 times.

 R is for REFLUX, RIBS, and RECEDING GUMLINES:

Oh, the Old people and their silly " I can't eat that, it will give me heartburn."  I loved my spicy food and acidic fruits, and tomato sauces.  I secretly thought I would never have to worry about that stuff. I was tough. I was imune. 

I was stupid. In the begining of February Heart burn came out of no where and ruined my life.  Then, it evolved from my standard discomfort, to deep discomfort, to actually being able to feel the fluid move up my throat. Yuck. Sometimes I'd have to sleep sitting up. Cayenne pepper in water, oddly, helps a lot with this though. 

RIBS: So last week I had to start holding my rib when I coughed. BECAUSE IT HURT SO BAD.  Holding in your rib while you cough does not make you feel spry. 

RECEDING GUMS: Yup. I had to switch to a "SOFT" toothbrush, and change my toothpaste.  I couldn't see the recede, but I wen't into the dentist and confirmed that the pain at the top of my tooth near the gum line was receding gum lines.  My mother had success with putting coconut oil on hers, So I switched to using baking soda mixed into coconut oil as my toothpaste, and slowly the pain went away. Now I don't notice when I eat, though I can still find some peircing pain with my finger nail if I look for it. BUT ON LESS TEETH! yip yip. 

 T is for Temperpedic:

Ahhh. The mattress of the Octogenarian. Old people love them. I love them.  I was hating our mattress, my back hurt, I wanted space. We tried a Costco nock off. returned it, then come black friday, we splurged. We got the mattress I'd been eyeballing for 6 months "on sale" for 2K. Who the heck spends 2K on a mattress? Me. I did. If I didn't want it before I was preggers, I sure wanted it now that I was 2 months preggers.  I had brett massaging my back every night at that point.  A couple more back rubs and 2 weeks of breaking myself into the temperpedic (I didn't like it at first, but they don't let you trade until 30 days) and AHHHHHHHHHH. no more back pain. Amazing support. Better sleep... and since we got a King, no more sweaty Brett legs pushing me off the bed. 

Y is for Yada yada yada:

First of all, Do you know where I am typing this from? My Balcony. I put a chair on my balcony so I could sit here and people watch while I do this. If it were a rocking chair and I had a bowl of cherries next to me, it would be even better.

I finally have a fairly consistent bed time,a nd sometimes I will even go to bed crazy early. I have never gone this long without staying up crazy late. I even leave peoples houses because it is 10:30 and I need to get ready for bed.

THE PILL BOX: So I totally have a weekly pillbox now so I remember to take everything... and I put an alert/ checklist in my phone to remind me to take them, so that I could disperse them throughout the day.



It's compartmentalized, isn't it beautiful? Fortunately, I'm not on everything anymore, but at one point I had:

4 vitamins
2 Cranberry concentrate pills (bladder infection)
1 lysine (Cold sores were coming like crazy any time I stoped taking them in the winter)
2 Cod liver oil
2 Herbal Laxatives/stool softeners.  (Hemorrhoids, because apparently once a day isn't often enough)

Measurable changes

Weight: @ 23 weeks, I weighed the same as I weighed 7 months ago.  Goes to show, going off all sugars for 2 months, than only eating it once a week for the third month really makes a difference... In fact, only thing that has EVER made a difference for me with weight loss. Loosing weight just to get pregnant and put it back on might seem like a waste of time, but I'm quite happy with this transition. 

So,  since getting pregnant, I've now (@24 weeks) only gained about 13 lbs. 16, if you count gaining back the 3 I lost the first month of pregnancy. I'll admit. This worries me a bit. with twins, I'd think I should've put on a lot more by now... but some people put it on at the end and my belling is growing satisfactorily. Plus, as I've learned from some other measurements I took, I'm pretty sure the babies are stealing fat from other places.  Good babies. 

Hips: Grown added about an inch and a half since getting pregnant.

Waistline: Grown about 5 inches

Bra:  I've had to buy a new bra twice. That's all you need to know. 

Neck: Strange, I know, but since men's dress shirts come with neck sizes, I've been curious about this and measuring for over a year.  I've actually LOST  half an inch in my neck since getting pregnant.  See what I was saying? The babies are stealing my fat. Best babies ever. 

Forearm: What? You don't measure your biceps/ triceps, and deciceps? What can I say, I measured a while before going off sugar to see what it would effect, but my forearms stayed pretty consistant. Since getting pregnant, however, I have definitely lost a quarter of an inch in my arms. Maybe the babies are stealing muscle too. 'Cause I was ripped baby (har har har.).

Thigh: I lost an inch going off sugar, but gained back an inch and a half since getting pregnant. 

Fundal Height:  So there is this funny little thing they measure in pregnancy. It's called your uterus. They start a tape measure at your pubic bone, and run it up your belly until they can feel the top of your uterus muscle. Uterus' vary from individual, but what I've googled says they average about 7.5 or 8 ish centimeters tall, and could contain a volume of LESS THAN a quarter of a cup. 

This muscle is going to contain the volume of 2 babies and all their fluid and 2 new temporary organs (placentas). This amazes me. What other muscle could stretch like this with out being destroyed? ANYHOW, this measurement is one of those factors that often tip doctors off to the fact that you might be having twins, because your uterus gets bigger faster with twins.  

8 cm =  aprox size prior to preg. 

15cm @ 14 weeks (aprox doubled! no wonder I was cramping)

24cm @ 18 weeks

30cm @ 22 weeks (doubled again in 2 months)

Grow, belly, grow

Sick of this yet? Too bad. Pregnancy is fascinating. 

So over a year ago, as a reaction to the "lingerie booby grabbing belly photos" I'd been seeing, I decided that if I ever got pregnant, I'd do silhouettes—which, as you've all seen I'm sure, I did end up doing.

I figured it was the perfect balance between showing your real shape minimally disguised by clothing, and not being porn for creeps with pregnancy fetishes.

One of the things I wanted to do with the silouhettes was a belly shape evolution/progression. I actually wanted to do different posses each time, but this seams to show it the best for now. Maybe I'll mix it up on the last one.

boudoir babies.

BELLY PHOTO that will put your now 16 year old son in THERAPY for life:

And NO, This is NOT ME. NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER.

Seriously. Who really thinks this is the best way to remember their "bump?"

Belly photos that will simply make him roll his eyes and say "My mother is certifiably demented."

Just sayin' people...I think the choice is clear.

Lap dog

I think Polo is feeling a little dis-placed.

Happy clothes

I've been quite luckily given/lent a bounty of hand-me-downs (Maternity clothes, baby clothes, infant car seats, breast pump, crib, etc.), but nothing is quite as much fun as figuring out "ohhhhh, that's how a nursing bra and/or nursing top works."

And unhooking this maternity top taught me a lot of things... Like how a well designed lace trimmed neckline makes for a very happy tank top.

I drew you a picture

In an effort to avoid being a boring person who only writes blogs about her pregnancy, I DREW you something. Something Special.

 

I hope you like it. Because I should have been working, not drawing. 

It looked better in my head.

I thought it would be clever. Turns out, it's just creepy.

Post Natal Style.

I've stumbled upon a secret I wish I had found out years ago.

A few weeks ago I went to a used kid stuff store, and got me some pregnancy jeans. 2 pair of NEW looking & well constructed pregnancy jeans for 18 bucks. No, not each, TOTAL for both.  Looked 'em up. One brand retails for $150  (what kinda idiot?), the other for $70. I swear to you, they look like maybe they've been washed a max of 3 times.

But this is not the secret.

The secret is that pregnancy pants are the best pants ever, and everyone should wear them. No lie, if I could go back in time, I'd've warn these sexy things for years.

Reason's Pregnancy Jeans are awesome:

1. Apparently, when jeans are jean from the hip down, and spandex up from there, they are as comfy to lounge around the house in as spandex. If you think I say this in hyperbole, you'd be wrong. Before I purchased these, I'd wear spandex/thick leggings around the house, saving jeans for outings. Now, even if I don't think I'll leave the house, I'll put on jeans just to watch TV.

2. They fit like a dream. No need to find ones that fit your legs well, as well as your waistline.  I swear they look cuter on me than any jeans I've worn in the last 3 years. Snug on my legs, cute on my bottom, and even before I "popped," the spandex above the hip was awesome. No need to worry if the top band is cut too slim for for my curve, or so loose it shares my butt crack with the world... as long as it fits my legs, it wins!

3.  The perfect Thanksgiving Pants. Need I say more?

4. Potty time made simple. No unbuttoning and un zipping. The convenience of a pull-up in adult pants.

Pregnancy according to Seuss

I "popped" this weekend. I swear—Thursday, I was like "this." Friday, I was like "THIS." Helpful description, I know.

Babies wanted to make sure I was ready in time for the 2nd trimester. Either that, or they  think that the Star Belly Sneeches are awesome, and conspired together.

Marie: "Wouldn't it be soooo cool if our momma were a Sneech?"
Donnie: "Awww, heck yah. I bet we could do some re-aranging down here and make it happen."

I can dig it, but if they think I'm gunna put myself through a belly tattoo machine, they're seriously disillusioned.

From Whistle Wok to Saltines and 7-up

We keep passing this place called Whistle Wok Ice Cream Chinese. The name cracks me up every time.  Friday, Brett decided to try it. I wasn't hungry (don't worry, I spent the rest of the weekend with an unsatiable hunger), but Brett had the joy of getting more food than Panda for lest cost than Panda, and not supporting a chain, all in one go.

Unfortunately, the food (according to Brett) was worse tasting than Panda... something I didn't know was possible.  I hate Panda. I used to think I hated Chinese... but mostly I hate Panda Express.

He then spent all of Saturday on the couch/in bed, sending me to the store, and very insistent it was food poisoning. He would not be getting his precious prego wife sick.

He got his prego wife sick. I threw up more times last night while I was trying to sleep, than I have in the last few weeks of pregnancy. (Week 10 picked up, and I threw up 3 full stomaches... but still no nausea and still like ripping off a band-aid Hazzah!)

I 've spent 30 minutes to "drink" a quarter cup of ice chips, just to throw it up. I've had to stop in the middle  of exploading from the "other end" just to turn around and vomit in it. I've had chills when I vomit, and something akin to nausea. A spoonful of applesauce burning my raw throat.

B spent the first half of the morning saying things like "I don't get how I could have gotten you sick?" That's right, my love. I might have all the same symptoms as you, but you couldn't possibly have given me "food poisoning." I must have something else.

Oh, true love. My sillly true love.

Anyhow, now I am lying on the couch, happily munching on the only thing I can keep down—a sleeve of  saltines—like some sort of pregnant woman

Dignity

I got teary today at a stupid video.

I want my dignity back.

Week 10- things you don't care about.

Boring PG things I thought I should write down for future reference

Food cravings— not really. More of food ennui.  I have turned my nose at a few things, or thought, "I guess I can eat that/that sounds better than anything else right now,"  but none of it feels like the food super powers (or supper power, har har har har) that I've been led to expect from this my entire life. I REALLY MISS ENJOYING FOOD.  Even good food isn't as enjoyable. It's all force feeding my lack of appetite.

Nausea— I like to deny this one too.  Maybe I have it, it's just not as I expected it to be. I don't get nausea, though I do get "blah tummy." It's a symptom easily solved by force feeding myself stuff that I have no interest in.  I have thrown up 5x, all very small amounts (about 2 TBSP), only 2 of which contained food,  and none preceded by nausea.  In fact it is usually a cough, that irritated my gag reflex, which somehow triggers a serries of violent" burps." That's right, burps. A gagging attempt to get gas out of my tummy.  Lasts about a minute, then I'm fine. Almost always if I sit up to fast in bed.  Like I said, mostly just "clear foam" so far, no bile... though the stuffing & lemonade was probably the worst tasting vomit I have ever had to date.  If this is as bad as it gets, I'll take it over nausea any day.

Fatigue— I'll say. I wake up several times at night, but can now sleep through 7 or 8 hours if I just i go back to sleep. As a result, I wake at about 8 which is odd for me. Then, I need a nap about 2 hours later. They range from 30 min to 4 hours.  I get tired again later in the day, but can rarely nap again—though I try to nap just as hard as I try to deliberately split infinitives.

Back— does get tight easier. Either that or same knots just sticking around. I can usually get B to give me a 5 minute massage. He's the best.

Circulation— OH MY GOODNESS. Polo is needier lately. Always wants my lap. 5 minutes later, my legs are numb. Can't cross my legs for very long without feeling like my leg need blood. Can't sit on my feet (which I always do at a desk), need to put my feet up on ottomans/people more often than before, and about once a day MY EYES BLACK OUT if I stand up too quickly, or in the shower (heat).  B says this has only happened to him maybe once in his life. I've gotten it a few times a year for decades. It's my bodies version of dizzy, I think. I steady myself for about a second, and it my sight comes back. Always happened from standing up quickly (though not every time I stand up quickly) or standing up that takes me from shadow to light (or vice versa).  I've come to understand that your blood vessels expand/get bigger  during this whole process, sot hat is what I am blaming it on.