Saturday, July 28, 2012

Worries, Stretching, being ALONE!



Worries, Stretching, being ALONE!

Week of Pregnancy: 16 & 17
Food to Fetus Comparison: Sweet Potato/ Around 6 inches and 100 grams.
Cravings: Not a lot. Eating because of boredom and stress, as per pre-pregnancy.
Aversions: Nothing. Like, not even the stuff I’m allergic to... this can’t be good?!
Husband’s excitement metre: Don’t know – he’s abandoned me for the snow...

So I’m tired. Yeah, the energy burst didn’t last forever. Perhaps overdid it during the week of energy. I’m pretty sure I used it all up.
This week (16) we’re back at school, so haven’t had a lot of time to think about what was going on. I’ve been desperately trying to feel movement, but pretty sure I mistake digestion for baby kicking, which I am humble enough to admit. Would really appreciate some movement because, although I’m getting bigger, there are very few actual signs that I am pregnant. Except for scary ones, which is typical, now that I am on my own for 8 days and live in a tiny town an hour and a half from a decent hospital or ultrasound. Awesome. So here’s what’s been going on:
1.      Cramps. Yeah. Not exactly a ‘good’ sign but I’ve been told they are probably round-ligament pains as my uterus is currently the size of a rockmelon (a lot larger than usual, for those who don’t subscribe to ‘Your Uterus and U!’) Was not too worried about these, as google is generally a good judge of medical issues and told me not to worry... UNLESS...
2.      Spotting (light or intermittent bleeding) occurs. Yep. Thanks Google, as soon as I read this, guess what happened. The good news is (probably TMI for most of you) it was definitely old blood, not new, so perhaps a cervix tear as everything expands... and probably from a few days/week ago.
Needless to say, as soon as this happened, I freaked out. Justin is 300000000 km away at Perisher, my Mum and Dad are in Scotland, and my Brother (bless him) never answers his freaking phone, and is still 6 hours away with uni to do. Also, I seem to be having another hormonal surge and cry a lot... for several hours. 

Also I dream about Zombies and have to sleep with the light on.

Fab.

So I call the midwife the next day, during my spare at school. Receptionist promises she will get back to me. Unfortunately we play a bit of phone-tag as I teach three classes and she has patients to see, but finally I call back again, from my car, in my five minutes of spare time before final class on Wednesday.

Me: “Hi Irene, It’s Rhona Bechaz here, I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about my pregnancy.”
Irene: Fire away, that’s why I’m here!
Me: (Tells tale of cramping and spotting expecting a brush off of ‘don’t worry, that’s perfectly normal’)
Irene: Ah. Okay, you need to go home and lie down.
Me: Uh, what?
Irene: Yes, that’s not a great sign – hopefully it will clear up on it’s own but you should really lie down for a couple of days and not do anything.
Me: But... I have athletics carnival tomorrow... I’m integral to the novelty egg-and-spoon event!
Irene: No.
Me: really?
Irene: Go home and stay there for at least two days. In bed. No cleaning, no shopping, no standing.
Me: Holy mother of god what is wrong with me?!?!?!

I then proceed to cry a lot after hanging up. Not great, as I still have to teach a class of grade 8’s in 5 minutes time. I walk into staffroom and cry to Athletics Carnival organisers, who are very understanding. I find out I am not as integral as I thought, and they are able to cover for me. I still feel bad, and kind of in shock, as I rarely take a day off except for when I’m feeling really sick. A couple of cramps and a single spot of blood don’t really rate on my sick metre, but I’m not taking any chances. 

Deputy Principal is also very understanding, but that could be because I look like a panda and am still crying a waterfall. (Hormones and because I’m a bit scared at this point) I attempt to clean my face and teach 70 minutes of grade 8 art, before picking up my stuff and driving home. I sit in bed, cry more, and cuddle my dogs (on the bed... naughty!).

So, all in all, not a fabulous way to end week 16 into 17... but I am guessing my body is telling me to slow down and stop being so busy and stressed. Understandable. 

No cramps today and no spotting since that first time, so I think it was just a warning to slow down and take time doing nothing, which I will attempt to do. It’s really hard, though.
So, wish us luck – Mini-Muffin and Me – until Justin returns to wait on me hand and foot ;).

Love xxx

Friday, July 20, 2012

Dear Mini-Muffin - Week 17


Our Dear Mini-Muffin,

You are Seventeen Weeks and 3 days old today!  
You have grown almost to the size of a small Sweet Potato or a Turnip, according to the blogs your Mummy has been reading.  

You Weigh around 100 grams, and are around six inches long from head to bottom!
We havent felt you move yet for definite, but there have been a few flutters in your Mummys tummy.  
We saw you jumping up and down like a jumping bean on the sonogram a few weeks ago!  
Mummy is getting bigger and bigger each day
 Daddy thinks you might be a girl, while Mummy thinks you might be a boy! 
Our favourite names for you are Max, Sebastian, Tristan, Anastasia, Isla and Eve
We had a little scare the other day when Mummy got a sore tummy, but she rested a lot and now it seems everything is dandy! 
 Mummy sings to you and hopes you can hear her. She sings very loudly, so that is quite probable. 
Daddy is at the snow falling off his snowboard a lot and having lots of fun, but rings up to check on you and Mummy each day. 

This is what he might look like snowboarding:

Or it might be this... We will have to see how many bruises he has when he comes home...

We love you very, very much already and can’t wait to see how you’ve grown in our next Sonogram!

Lots of love, 

Mummy and Daddy

Friday, July 6, 2012

The Commencement of Human-to-Whale Metamorphosis and the Effect it has on My Fragile Psyche


The commencement of human-to-whale metamorphosis and the Effect it has on my fragile psyche...

Week of Pregnancy: 15
Fruit to Fetus Comparison: Large Lemon -  between 50 – 70 grams. Also, his/her legs are no longer tooth-picky! Yay!
Cravings: Fricking junk food. God dammit I am trying so hard to be healthyyyyyy!
Aversions: Squishy fruit and eggs... okay not really ‘aversions’, I just don’t want to eat them. Also, taking my pre-natal vitamin, fish-oil tablet and inner-health plus thingy make me gag.
Husband’s excitement metre: Back to the telling me to shut up about baby names. Jealous that I am on holidays (for another few days) and can take naps every afternoon. YEAH NANA NAPS!

Okay – so the beginning of my human-to-whale metamorphosis is starting. There is a bump. A BUMP! And not just a fat bump (though that’s there too, on top of the baby-bump)!  THERE’S A BABY IN THERE! I can no longer fit in my jeans. Stockings hurt and make it hard to breathe as they crush everything together while trying to make me skinnier. My shirts all make me look podgy, and, to be honest, I kind of am. I still haven't gained much weight (a total of 1.5kgs in 15 weeks!), but I assume I'll be gaining a lot more in the coming months. It's definitely baby weight - it's all in the tummy, very little (extra) on the butt/thigh region, and an immense amount of mass on my copious bust. My bras don't fit (just to make you feel uncomfortable). And very few places stock attractive looking, non-beige, larger-bust bras. Am not looking forward to breast feeding, for fear of crushing my child. (Can this happen? Is this possible?! Please clarify!)

Though sometimes I wonder if I just ate a lot of cookies (which I have been doing lately – and feeling very ashamed), mostly I am having mixed feelings of excitement (YAY! New life, baby joy and all that jazz) and terror (holy crap there’s something growing in my UTERUS! GET IT OUT GET IT OUT GET IT OUT!!) which is quite exhausting.

This week, my energy is back, which I have considered to be a side effect of the weight/mass gain. It is my way of saying 'I"M STILL USEFUL! Don't count me out yet! I may be pregnant but I can still contribute to society! Just because I struggle to button my jeans doesn't mean I can't think, dammit!"

Everyone keeps telling me (midwife included) don’t overdo it - this will wane after the second trimester! Listen to your body! 

Well... I’m listening and all that happens is a packet of cookies is suddenly empty and I’m considering buying a dilapitated house just to have something to 'fix' (though I'm sure the boredom will cease when school goes back on Monday). 

Is this a sign of things to come? Will I be one of ‘those’ mums that begin to write polls on what to have for dinner, or experiments with making different types of cabbage soup? If/when this happens, I give you permission to slap me.

So, yes, going a little insane from my diagnosis of ‘confinement’ – which means 'pregnancy' in olden-day terms when they locked women away to hide their 'condition' from society –but I feel that has mostly to do with the fact that it is holidays. I am no longer allowed to drink away my boredom with friends, but instead must be said designated driver for friends/husband. Which is no problem, really, except I get bored really easily and alcohol has a way of making you forget you’re bored a lot of the time.  I miss Moscato. So, instead, I got busy. I have so far
  • made two tutus
  • read The Hunger Games series
  •  written a new song
  • gone for too many hot-chocolates at the local coffee shop
  •  planted eight new plants into pots on my front veranda
  •  re-arranged and cleaned the house, made a batch of scones and several home-cooked meals from scratch (which are a rarity during term time) And;
  •  watched too many cancelled TV shows (How is Jersey Shore still going into season 5, and Firefly was cancelled?!? Oh the humanity!)
  •  all while knitting too many scarves.
In between, in moments where I planned my next energetic project, I have been trolling internet sites for interesting things to keep me entertained;
·         And have been comparing my life to the People of Walmart photographs, and have felt comparatively better about my figure and dress sense. At least I don’t wear flesh-coloured bike shorts.

So, yes, now I should probably go and, oh, I don’t know, plan all my lessons for the term. Sounds like a plan...

Just so you all know, I’m sure this newfound burst of energy will go on FOREVER!! FOREVER I TELL YOU! Pregnant women are never tired!

Sincerely,

Rhona in Denial.

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