9 posts tagged “baby”
Hello again, everyone.
On December 25th, Kol will be 7 months old. It has been one hell of a half year and I look forward to closing his first year next May with his very first "cake in face" or "face in cake" moment. He loves his food...
I am currently jobless as the market has turned sour and there isn't much call for A/P Consultants right now. End of year things might light up as a few companies will discover that sometimes it takes another person to process the end of year closings while the rest just try to keep up with the flow of every day work. My headhunter has a good lead on a local project though so with a little luck I'll have something by the end of the week.
That's about all for the moment, gotta go change a diaper and clean the house... big party here this weekend, gotta get ready.
Hope you have been well and I look forward to hearing from you again!
I ache today, bones hurt… joints popping.
It's really just my knuckles, knees and hips. OMG, I'm getting old. No, really… it hurts like a bitch. Took some Tylenol, hasn't taken the edge off. Can't take anything good. Fucking pregnancy. I just want my son to be here already.
Went to the first birthing class last night, it was as bad as I feared. I felt like we were in kindergarten. Played some group ice-breaker games to get to know one another. I was hoping it would be a MUCH smaller class, there were about 40 people there and the "instructor" couldn't explain how to get out of a cardboard box. I was shocked at the number of people who knew NOTHING about pregnancy/labor/birth.
Really, how can you go 8 months and not look up ANYTHING? I don't claim to know everything, not in the slightest but some of these people were doing good if they knew what a baby is. The worst part? The instructor pretty much caters to people who DON'T know anything about pregnancy. Good grief… what have I gotten myself into this time? I thought it would be more of a BIRTHING education… you know, Lamaze, breathing techniques, relaxation techniques, what to expect from the staff, what the staff expects from you and most importantly, stuff about BIRTH.
I felt like the majority of the time was spent on going over the same topic, how the baby goes through the pelvis… ok. Yes, I understand that the baby must go through the pelvic bone, not rocket science and nothing we can do ourselves will change how it happens. Moving on?? No, no… let's demonstrate how the baby goes through the pelvic bone again. Didn't catch that the first 50 times? Well, here's another go. Exciting. May I have another demonstration please?
We'll spend a few seconds talking about the difference between Braxton-Hicks and REAL contractions. Now let's spend an hour talking about labor contractions. Shouldn't that be the other way around? I'd much rather know the difference between the two instead of looking at a chart for an hour about how contractions look on the monitor. As if I'll be caring when it comes time. I doubt I'll be looking up and getting excited when the "needle" goes bouncing. No, I have a feeling I'll be curled over in pain spewing vile curses upon the houses of the attending staff. Don't think I'll be too interested in that chart when I've got a big one coming on. I just want to know when it's for real, k thx bai.
Also, what kind of idiocy is this? It's 9:30 at night… with a room full of pregnant women. At what point does one decide that it's a GOOD idea to end the last 15 minutes with all of us on the floor with the lights dimmed and relaxing music playing? I THINK she was trying to get us to meditate and relax but instead it was more like putting us all to sleep JUST before it was time to get BACK up off the floor and drive home? Couldn't we have done that at the beginning of the night? Why, for a 3 hour class does she wait to use the pillows and mats we brought for the last 15 minutes nearly putting us all to sleep???
Next week? We're supposed to bring Massage Oil. Normally, this would interest me a bit… but right now? I'm thinking… what the hell are our partners going to massage if we're fully clothed and in public? Our arms? Hands? Feet? I'm not a big fan of getting oil on my clothes, maybe I'm a rare breed but I'm not taking my shirt off in front of 19 guys and 20 something women I don't know. Sorry. Not too keen on getting a leg rub right now either… kind of hard to shave them now.
Rant over.
Yes, I know it's not the best quality and the start is a little shaky... but I can't watch it enough. It is more special to me than it is to anyone else and I know that but I HAVE to share. I promise that I won't be that person that shoves everything my kid does in other peoples faces but this is cool on more parts than that, I mean... there's science involved, technology and a feeling of kind of seeing into the future with an Ultrasound. You can see the little spine, so bright... and waving hands and practice breathing. It's amazing.
Without further rambling, I introduce to you my 75% chance that it's a boy... Kol Darwin Kamnitzer, the boy who is going to keep the Kamnitzer name alive. Future computer & science geek (just like his mum) and math & pinball wizard (more like dad!)
Like I said, I know it isn't half as interesting for you as it is for me... I'm just proud. : )
Thinking about doing the 4D for about $100 to get a better "guess" at the gender. I'd hate to start sewing all the nursery stuff just to find out I need to do a color change! LOL
Have a little fun! You do not have to register to play!
It has been a weird winter in Central Ohio so far... had a warm birthday and Christmas day. Not much snow either. Makes me kind of sad. Snow is my favorite part of winter.
Made out with ton of loot this year.
A stepladder for the kitchen
A new rice cooker with timer
"Ranma 1/2" Seasons 1&2
A tripod for my camera (Woot!)
Spice Racks for my dozens of spices
Lots of other stuff including some old family photos that I will scan in to preserve.
Also gave out some good gifts this year. Emma's "Beatles" messenger bag turned out to be a hit (I was so worried) and Erica was trilled to have her FuFu Berry Jone's Soda and "Sims" game. Darren was happy with his "Home Movies" Seasons 1 & 2 and whatnot and I think Mom liked her perfume and stuff. There was a lot more but I don't really think you want to read about it.
My belly "popped" you can really tell that I'm prego now. Yay, I don't just look FAT anymore! ^ ^
New Years Eve we'll spend at home together. Just me and my Darren (and the cats) We'll have some escargots and sparkling apple cider. : ) Simple and nice. Still wish I could have my sashimi though. Oh well.
How was your Christmas/Yule and what do you plan to do for New Years Eve?
Ok, those little form pillows that people sleep with between their knees might work for most people but they just annoy the utter hell out of me. They help at night to dull the searing back pain that comes from laying on your side when you're prego (BTW, you can kiss back and tummy sleeping goodbye!) They help, but not THAT much and I usually just kick it away in the night.
Tomorrow I have an appointment with Dr. Balaloski and or Lisa, not sure which or both. I have high hopes that they will schedule an ultrasound shortly so I can see if my Bebe is a he or a she. That is, if he or she enjoys showing off their "naughty bits" as a friend on BabyFit put it. I found that hilarious! So from now on, instead of saying I'm going to check the sex or gender. I'm going to say that I hope to see if my little one will enjoy showing off his or her naughty bits! I think I have 2 more weeks to talk about it before it gets here so I'll enjoy that for a while. : )
I need to take pictures of the crib and changing table... they're an unlikely pair (pieces from two different collections) but both were on clearance and are extremely well made so who am I to complain?
Darren kissed my belly last night... aww. "MiniKam" as been kicking the shit out of my uterus. You can tell that he/she's the offspring of a couple of futball nuts. Well, he's more of a nut than I am but I used to play a lot when I was younger. Anyway we've got a kicker, Mommy's little Forward. Daddy's little soccer star!
So we're going to go to Build-a-Bear and make a little soccer bear. Awww. Ok, maybe not a soccer bear... but something cool nonetheless. I didn't realize how inexpensive Build-a-Bear is! It used to be mad cash but now it seems pretty reasonable. : )
In other news: I had part of a banana split yesterday... I'm not really an ice cream person and less of a banana split person but yesterday, it just tasted good.
I will post pictures of our new ornaments tonight or tomorrow. We blew them last weekend and they turned out lovely! Well, Darren's ornament turned out much nicer than mine this year as mine was the better of the two last year. You'll see. It's still awesome to blow your own glass anything... I suggest it to everyone if you have a glass works type of place nearby.
Had a little twinge feeling the other day in my tummy. It went away as fast as it came. Had it again earlier today. At lunch it got a lot worse. Little pangs of pinching feelings.
Reading up, it sounds like "fluttering." Fluttering is what women call the first few round-house kicks and sucker punches your baby produces. I'm calling these little jabs by their full names because I know that in a few months, that's exactly what they'll feel like. Most women feel fluttering around 16 weeks and on. Some don't feel it until 20 weeks and very few feel it later. I'm at 15 weeks and 1 day so it's kind of early... but there is no mistake that these little pangs aren't gas bubbles. (Which is one of the ways that they're discribed. That and butterflies or goldfish.)
Darren & I walked over to the Rossi for lunch and it started again shortly after we started eating. For something so tiny and weak, I'm amazed at how much energy and thrust MiniKam has!
Can't wait to go see Dr. Balaloski next Tuesday. I hope he can slide us into the ultrasound room for a quick peek at our little acrobat. Maybe find out what MiniKam's name will be?
Will it be little Ivy Ophelia or Kol Darwin?
I need to get to Joann's to pick out some fabrics for the nursery. I'm looking for organics and baby-safe fabrics but I'm also kind of picky on colors. I'd like to know if I can accent it with pink or blue... gawd, how I hate pastel yellow & green. *BARF* Either way, I need to start sewing. I just can't stand the thought of spending $1000 on infant bedding that I only kind of like or hate alltogether so the only way to be sure I'm getting my moneys worth is to make it myself... also save about $900 in the process!!!
Got my Christmas shopping done, not doing Hanukkah shopping this year as Darren's family has said "no gifts" and there isn't much to shop for on the Yule aside from my log cake which I NEED to survive, it's chocolate... ok? But I'm pretty much ready for the holidays this year... still gotta get those cards out though. I'm lazy. : P
Gotta take some belly pics...
Oooookeee…
Well, I’m back. Ta-da!
Update time.
On October 2nd I had my first positive pregnancy test, on October 3rd I had my second. (Just to be on the safe side.) Of course, October 3rd was the “Shiny Toy Guns” concert at Promo West so we did a little rock-out and left right after the set.
Note about pregnancy tests: I know they tell you to wait 2 or 3 minutes or whatever before you read it but I swear that I had barely set it down and finished up peeing before it came up with that + with the control line lighter than the result line on both occasions. Silent shock took over.
On October 9th we went in for our first “confirmation” (where they do an in office pregnancy test) appointment with Dr. Balaloski who came highly recommended for personality and knowledge… later to find out that our good friends (and old neighbors) Zach & Lisa also had Dr. B. as their OB for their daughter Mekenna. Unfortunately for Dr. B. (Very fortunately for Lisa) he didn’t make it to the hospital in time for the delivery as the labor was very fast.
On October 19th we went in for our second “consultation” visit plus first ultrasound! This is where it gets interesting… the Doctor and Nurses thought I was 13 or so weeks along because my last recorded menstrual cycle was July 7th. I assured them that THIS particular information could be very misleading as I have never had a regular cycle and it was highly possible that I simply did not bleed in August when my cycle came around. It was no surprise to me that this held true. I was in fact 8 weeks and a few days along, not 13 as would have been right if they counted from my last CONFIRMED cycle.
The ultrasound shows the womb, the black mass inside said womb is the placenta… the shape inside is my bean. The live feed of the encounter showed a steady fluttering heartbeat in the middle of that bean shape. Wow. It hit home. Nothing can prepare you for the wonder of seeing this mythological thing that you hear of other people having, you know you once were but never really believed would be happening TO you but THERE IT IS!!! It does exist!
We have MiniKam! (For lack of a proper gender name) BTW, it's either Kol or Ivy.
Another note: The technician found a rather large cyst on one of my ovaries. Apparently this is not uncommon after taking Clomid. BTW, I had stopped Clomid in May… she’s still trying to credit it for the pregnancy. I’m not 100% sure on that myself but she seems to think so.
I had been having occasional morning sickness off and on, “Preggie Pops” and “Preggie Pop Drops” work beautifully. It’s basically sugar with flavoring. They sell the same thing under another label for motion sickness and nausea so that people who AREN’T preggers can take them without having people look at them funny. Morning sickness has pretty much gone away, now I just cough myself sick… ungh.
On November 6th we had our first “social” visit where we went through some of the changes, voiced concerns and had questions answered. We told Dr. B. about my sinus/upper respiratory infection plus poison ivy. Neither are harmful to an unborn baby, for the record. It’s common for a cough to linger for pregnant women after a serious cold. As unfortunate as this is, there’s not much that you can do about it. No cold medicine, no Vicks Vapor Rub, no cough drops and no menthol in your vaporizer. *sigh* AFTER 13 weeks, it’s generally considered ok to take Sudafed.
I am currently 12 weeks and 2 days according to the due date that our ultrasound technician gave us. Interesting note on ultrasounds and babies… the earlier along you are the more accurate the predicted due date is within a couple of days because the fetus progresses and changes rapidly over those first 10 weeks. After that it looks about the same (save for changing size) though the rest of your pregnancy.
Our next appointment “social” visit is on December 11th. We will be 16 weeks pregnant (the earliest that they could possibly check gender with ultrasound. From there Dr. B. will schedule our next ultrasound which will hopefully be the “And our baby is…” day. It’s killing me to not know, the last thing I want in my nursery is pastel yellow and green. GROSS!!! I’d like to know if I can do blue or pink and I’ll like even more to not have to do it all the day after I deliver.
I’ve had a few people scoff at me for wanting to know the gender, my reply is “Why not?” and their reply is usually “because it’s supposed to be a surprise!!” To which I use my infinite logic and retort “It’s still a surprise, now or later, it’s still a surprise! You just choose when you want to receive it and I’m satisfied with knowing that the day that I deliver will still be a delight beyond delight, even knowing already what it will be.” After that, they usually shut up and go away because it is realized that not everybody shares a same viewpoint and it’s wrong to try to force yours on another person.
We imagine that the end of December or early January will be the telling date. If not, we’ll schedule a 4D with one of the clinics around town… It’s surprisingly less expensive than I thought. $260 for their most expensive package. Not bad, not bad at all… though I’m not going for that one, I’ll go for the $165 one methinks. Good balance in cost and included package things.
So that’s where I sit. Can’t wait for my pillow to show up on the 19th and I can get some decent sleep again. I’ve never been a sound sleeper but pregnancy is exhausting. Not being comfortable when you sleep makes it worse so I recommend taking early sleeping precautions, get used to pillows between the knees… avoid back sleeping (because you’re going to HAVE to shortly) Laying flat on your back restricts and can even STOP the flow of blood to your uterus. Bad thing. Also, if you’re a belly sleeper like myself, you better learn to like side sleeping and quick!
I joined a free site that has a lot of women who are trying to conceive, women who are already pregnant and women who are mothers. It’s been fun and educational… everyone is so nice. The forums are full of useful info on fertility and conception to what kind of sippy cup should your toddler use. If you’re reading and have an interest, send me a private message with an email and I’ll invite you. (Yes, I get referral points but it’s no big deal, it’s just for the leader boards in your Mommy Teams.)
Ok, I’m winded… sorry so much in a single post but I’m too lazy to break it down. : )
Weekends are never long enough. 
Finally had some time to do NOTHING on Friday night. It was good. Stayed up and watched Weird Al polka videos on YouTube (as well as looking up favorites, of course.) Found some bunnies behind the house, been watching over them all weekend… I have a holey bucket covering them by day to protect them from the neighborhood calico whom has been known to leave dead bunnies in her owners back yard. By night I remove the bucket so momma can come feed her babies. Wild rabbits nurse once a night for about 15 minutes, the rest of the time they spend away so they don't draw attention to the babies.
They are doing very well! When I come out in the mornings, they have fat little bellies and they're just a little fussy. In the evening the fat bellies are gone and they start to get a little needy... it's cute.
Saturday was the big community block party… not that many people showed up. Minor disappointment. We had the Jefferson Fire Department come out, we fed them burgers and they gave the kids little bags full of fire safety coloring books, pencils and toys. That's awesome! I had to run interference on the babies after Lexi told some people about them. We all hung out until 8 or so and then some people went home while others headed over to our house to sit by the fire pit a while. Marshmallows were roasted. We hung out until midnight or so. Apparently, I'm still a kid magnet because I got a lot of love and nobody wanted to go home.
Sunday I woke up uber late… seriously, it was 12:30. Dave & Sonny were coming over in a couple hours so we got to work thawing another 25lb. block of ribs. We used the utility sink this time and they thawed a lot faster and easier. We set out four quarters of a rack and vacuum sealed the rest for the freezer. The boys came over around 5, they played cards while I finished making another batch of my BBQ sauce. I need to put a label on that stuff. It is teh yum. We had dinner, corn on the cob & ribs! After a good hand washing, they played cards well into the evening.
I went out to uncover the babies around 9 and they kept trying to crawl out of the nest! Every time I'd get them covered up by the bits of fur fluff, one would wiggle its way out. So I just poked the furry little head back into the rabbit hole one last time and went inside hoping that they'd realize that I wasn't mom ready to nurse and settle down.
Around 4 or 5 this morning the storms woke me up. I closed the bedroom window and lay awake thinking about the poor little darlings getting drenched. I kept reminding myself that nature has a way of helping outdoor animals cope with rain and storms but I couldn't help thinking that will all the rain out there, they could very well drown if enough water got into their nest.
I came out this morning to either A) Cover them with the bucket or B) Scoop them all up into a bowl to bring with me to work… I wasn't sure how good/bad a night they had. I came out and they were well covered and sleeping peacefully. They had a guest… a pinkie sized yellow slug. Ew. I removed it from the nest. They were all pretty damp but when I picked up "Spike" his belly was full and round. I did a quick head count. All accounted for. Might as well leave them to be for the day with the bucket to protect them from the storms. Momma will be back again tonight to care for her babies.
Awful lot of slugs in our back yard though… I counted 6 from the steps to the bunny nest. Ew. I dislike slugs.
I'll take more photos when I get home this evening.
A few people have asked why I haven't just taken them inside... well, I want to do what is best for them and taking them inside would only cause them a slow and painful death as they wouldn't get the very special imunity and important stomach bacteria they need from eating their mothers CTs, which is a type of fecal matter that they produce and eat only at night. Sound gross? Not really, many animals do that. Just be glad WE don't.
Anyways without that special night fecal snack, they would die shortly after eating solid foods because their body couldn't process the solids and they would have horrible diarhea on their way out the door. Sorry, I just can't do that. They've got to have a chance to live. I can protect them half of the time, at night... they're on their own.
I've had a rough week and a half. Been an emotional train wreck and a physical dump.
Yes, I had my cycle (I know you were just dying to know that) and it wreaked havoc on my body & soul. Drained every ounce of life out of me till Monday I just came home, hit the treadmill for 15 minutes and crashed. I slept for 13 or so hours till 6 AM the yesterday morning. I've been so down that Darren actually said today, "Well you must be feeling better, your homicidal tendencies are coming back!" after a round of my rantings at a particularly offending driver who dared to look at me.
Truth be told, yeah I'm feeling a little better today. More angry at the world than depressive and tired. I swear, if I were shot down right now, my body would bounce back up and I'd go all rage-zombie on the world or something. Ok, so maybe I'm not THAT bad... but it WAS a fun imagination sequence. "RAWR!!!!"
Not taking the Clomid this time around, didn't call the Dr. either. I don't care. I'm not worried about it anymore. I'm just going to concentrate on making myself better. I want my husband to look at me and see the girl that he fell in love with... not this sad excuse for a water retaining sea cow "Oh my god, that's your wife?" person.
Maybe if I lost the extra 67lbs. (Which is after all of my banner photos were taken, thus why I used my old photos) I'd feel better about myself, more confident and I wouldn't get so depressive about the whole baby thing. Then I can try that again.
I donno.
Been feeling pretty low about some of my friends lately too... I'm always there for them, they're rarely there for me. Then again, I don't really go around blabbing my problems to everyone and I refuse to ask for help from anyone. I have personal issues that I don't talk about publicly, not to friends, not in blogs. Not my friends because I don't bother people with most of my issues and the blogs are pretty obvious.
Anymore I can't even do something nice for someone else because it's like they expect me to do these nice things and don't care if I get stepped on. It's like my feelings don't matter but I had better be there to make things right for someone else. I don't ask for anything in return.
I don't mean I want anything back from anybody, I just mean that it would be nice if I didn't get the shaft all the time. It sucks to fall for guilt trips like I have been lately. It sucks to be nice. No wonder I've been a bitch this week.
