Week 27, Day 4

Picture heavy post today.
I'd like to say this was a great week, but it certainly didn't start out that way! On Monday I had an end of day meeting at work in a warm room that just got warmer as the meeting went on. The day was actually quite clement so I though just having the window open would be fine, but no. I ended up turning on the AC and standing over the vent for the last half hour. After the meeting I ran off to my chiropractor appointment which involved a wait for the B line in unairconditioned, packed Park Street station. By the time I crammed into the train I was ready to faint, not that the two seated men I was standing (swaying) in front of noticed. Fortunately, a woman a little further down the train did notice and as soon as it emptied out enough for either of us to move she gave me her seat (thank you random stranger!)

So suffice it to say I don't do well in heat.

After the chiro I went to buy some veggie hot dogs. Sprog is craving trashy food again and I really wanted chili-cheese dogs even though I was still feeling a bit ill. There was half a tube of Gimme Lean "beef" still in the refrigerator at home with which I could make chili too. Bad idea. It had been in there a little long I'd say. So on top of feeling faint and nauseous from heat, I ended up giving myself a bit of food poisoning to boot!

The following day I had an appointment at the hospital with the endocrinologist and decided to just go home after that to sleep more and recover rather than try to go to work. Things went well at the hospital and they want me to follow up in three weeks. I told her I'd make an appointment after seeing my OB. I'm still checking my blood sugar, but given there are no other indicators of GD, I'm still skeptical of their diagnosis.

The rest of the week was rather uneventful. I'm gearing up for making a short movie with a friend in August. Next week we'll be running through the fight scene (yes, fight scene!) and we need to schedule read throughs of other scenes as well.

And speaking of performance, Spouse and I had the pleasure of joining our friends Walter Sicker and the Army of Broken Toys last night at The Middle East Downstairs. In addition to music, Walter is also a wonderful visual artist and I insisted that he decorate my belly for the show. He did a lovely portrait of us for his Inkdrip series last year as well that I bought Spouse for our last anniversary. While this is not the first time he's worked on skin, it's the first pregnant belly he's done and I think it turned out lovely.

I only wish I had a picture of the full outfit as I felt rather lovely myself. Unfortunately I can't seem to work the camera on my phone very well at 1:00am so I'll have to wait for Spouse to go through his and ask him to upload one. He looked quite dapper himself in bespoke suit and Christies bowler. With luck we'll see some nice pictures of us from the actual show as well.

That's all for now. Do enjoy your weekend! I'll leave you with this photo taken from the audience last night by our friend Randy.

Trimester

Makeup post

While I did take my picture last week (left,) I never did get around to posting it. The week was somewhat tough for me as I've been rather angry about some medical issues. I was diagnosed wit gestational diabetes and sent to see a nurse, dietitian and endocrinologist at the hospital. The nurse was okay, the dietitian good but I really didn't like the endocrinologist.

In my research I have found that different doctors use different parts of the scale to set our maximum blood sugar. Many, see 100 as a max fasting number, but mine says 90. 91-93 is FAR too high for her. This is not the only problem I have with her (much more is based on manner, such as grabbing and poking at my hands and feet without asking or saying what she was doing,) and after my next appointment on Tuesday I don't know if I'll see her again. Their office is only open Tuesdays 8:30-12 and the following week I have a morning OB appointment across town. I will talk instead with my OB, who I like and trust (not patronizing for one) and see if we can come to a good plan.

So other than changing my diet to low carb other things we've done is go in for an anatomy ultrasound. All organs present and correct! Sprog is on the small side though (the exact opposite of what's expected with GD) but still within normal range. We got some great views of the face, which took a bit as there was a lot of squirming going on in there. A very cute yawn and lip smacking happened though, which made us both melt.

In spite of the small size, sprog has moved up. Mobility is a bit of an issue for things such as getting out of taxis, or even off the couch. There has been a great deal of kicking going on this week too. Nothing hurts or is weird places like my ribs but there sure is a lot of activity! That and how wonderfully pregnant I look now is just thrilling. Every time I catch my reflection I just smile. We're going to have a baby!

Whoops!

I forgot to post my Saturday picture! Actually, I forgot to take the Saturday picture, so here is Sunday, before the pin curls came out.

Yesterday we had the second of our natural childbirth classes at Isis Parenting in Boston. I have to say, the class was better than expected. I felt like we learned a lot of strategies for getting through labour and that we both really have a plan now. JaLynn, the doula teaching the class was knowledgeable, funny and really personable. I highly recommend classes there if she's the standard of in instructor they get. If she did her doula work in this area, I'd hire her for that too in a heartbeat!

We also got a chance both weeks to browse around the Isis shop as well. We both loved the exercise balls in the class so much that we bought two for home. They're great as a computer chair or leg rest! One nice thing I've found as well is that sitting on one and hulaing my hips helps when I have RLS at night too. One thing we looked at but didn't buy was a baby carrier. Instead I decided to try and make a sling myself. I've actually blogged that separately over at my main blog urban earth mother.

This week I am determined to do something about my hand numbness. JaLynn said it was carpel tunnel so I'm going to call Harvard Square Shiatsu and see if they can get me in this week to work on it. In the mean time I have splints for both wrists that I'm trying to wear as much as possible.

I feel a bit like Robo-Girl with them on, but they are helping make typing less uncomfortable. Now if only they came in fashion colors...

And on a final note, speaking of fashion Fleur De Guerre's post on Maximum Glamour really hit home for me. I've been using the excuse of being uncomfortable pregnant in the summer to look rather frumpy lately. While I do wear lippy every day (and yes, I fully intent to give birth in red lipstick), my hair has been either in braids or a bun for far too long. Sunday some solid Victory Rolls made their return appearance to my head (with an encore at work today) and I really noticed a difference in how I felt. So while I am clearly a hippy at heart in terms of many of the parenting decisions we're making (co-sleeper, cloth nappies, breast milk for at least a year (hopefully longer), baby wearing) that little extra bit of glamour makes all the difference in how I feel about me. Shallow? Perhaps a bit, but you try being a bloated whale in July and you'll look for a little boost where you can.

Week 23, Day 4

Kick, kick, kickity kick! The wee one isn't kicking much but I'm starting to feel it from the outside. Things haven't been timed right yet for Spouse to feel it, but I'm sure he will soon.

Tomorrow we have our first of two, six-hour childbirth classes. I finally downloaded the "class materials" (schedule and reading list mainly) and don't actually have high hopes. Maybe I already know too much? Best case is the Spouse and I will be on the same page with things and he can help me out during labour.

My next OB appointment is on Tuesday afternoon. In the morning I go in for a glucose tolerance test before work, checking for gestational diabetes. While I'm certainly swollen, I think that test will come out normal like all the others have.

I will probably do another video on Tuesday. It may just be another day-in-the-life, but hopefully I can get something more interesting done instead.