I don't know how people have more than two kids. A few weeks ago I started having some SERIOUS pains in my pelvis. I thought maybe I had pulled something while lifting Lily, or maybe I had run into a wall pelvis-first and bruised it. I had a doctor's appointment soon after the pain started so I asked about it, and the doctor said it was very common. No, actually she said it's very common in your second pregnancy to have so much pain from your pelvis expanding (cause that's what's going on) and that it just got worse with every pregnancy. In all honesty- how do people have more than two kids!?!?!?...
So, sitting is fine. For the most part. Sitting on the floor with Lily kinda sucks cause I have to pivot and stuff to watch her (cause that monkey does not like to stay still!). So pivoting hurts. Getting up from sitting on the floor hurts. Putting on my pants, socks, shoes, hurts. Changing positions in bed hurts- which really sucks cause I can't lay on one side for too long. Getting out of bed hurts. And just walking also hurts. Not all the time, but sometimes.
Chris has a shirt that he got while in the Marine Corps, and it says "Pain is weakness leaving the body." Chris likes quoting that shirt quite frequently. He didn't do it when I told him about my pelvic pain (which is good for him, cause then he'd be dead/or seriously injured right now), but he also didn't fully understand the pain I was describing to him. So then I told him that it was as if there were a ten, maybe even fifteen pound weight that was just sitting on my pelvic bone. Or maybe hanging from my pelvis. At any rate, I explained to him that this weight felt like it was cracking my pelvic bone ever so slowly. He still didn't get it, so I told him to let me stand on his pelvis for two minutes. While wearing heels. For some reason, he declined the offer.
The funniest thing about this whole pelvis thing (the only funny thing about this pelvis thing) is that the day after I complained about it to Chris, he was at Home Depot with Lily. They were at the check-out counter being served by a woman who is as pregnant as I am. She commented on how cute Lily is, and how she doesn't look a thing like Chris (which is completely untrue). Then she was complaining about how Her pregnancy has been really painful. And Chris, being the sensitive man that he is, told her that I was pregnant and had been having a bunch of pain too. So, without thinking there was anything weird about it, he asked her- "Is it your pelvis that is hurting?" And she simply said "yes." Chris told me about this later, kinda proud with himself for being so astute to pregnant women's pains. But I told him it was bad form to talk about pelvises in public, especially with complete strangers. But talking about it on a blog and saying the word pelvis/pelvic bone fourteen times in four short paragraphs is ok...
Friday, February 22, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Advice for the Expecting #3: Long Socks
The other day I went to the doctor's for my two-week check up. Everything was going just fine until she asked me if I had been having any heartburn. I told her that I had it twice so far in my pregnancy, the first time almost killed me, and the second time was not too bad. However, it had been a long time since the last one. And of course, that very night, I had heartburn. (Apparently broccoli is not my friend.) Isn't it strange though, how once the doctor asks you about a weird symptom, even if you have never had it before, the chances that you will experience that symptom that very day seems to hover at about 99.9%?
During my first pregnancy I definitely noticed this phenomenon. and I remember it accutely happening when my doctor asked me if I had been having leg cramps. Apparently that is common for pregnant women to have. I hadn't had any before my doctor asked me about it, but lo and behold- that night, I had my first leg cramp. And it nearly killed me. I thought maybe the baby was trying to come out of my calf. I just lay in bed grabbing my leg and praying for the pain to go away. It eventually did, but not before some scary thoughts ran through my mind- namely, how was I ever going to survive child birth if I couldn't handle leg cramps?
My next doctor's appointment I asked the doctor what I should do about these pesky leg cramps. He gave me the standard text book answer- "Well, it has to do with a deficiency in your diet, as well as circulation. You can eat more bananas, tomatos, etc. etc... But the practical answer to your question is- wear long socks, or leg warmers when you go to bed." It was as if the heavens had opened up. Finally, a practical remedy for a very serious, and annoying and painful problem!
Although going to bed wearing long socks is not the sexiest look ever, guess what? It beats screaming and crying in the middle of the night and giving your husband a near heart attack because he thinks you are having the baby, or you are being robbed, or that the apocolypse has in fact just occured.
During my first pregnancy I definitely noticed this phenomenon. and I remember it accutely happening when my doctor asked me if I had been having leg cramps. Apparently that is common for pregnant women to have. I hadn't had any before my doctor asked me about it, but lo and behold- that night, I had my first leg cramp. And it nearly killed me. I thought maybe the baby was trying to come out of my calf. I just lay in bed grabbing my leg and praying for the pain to go away. It eventually did, but not before some scary thoughts ran through my mind- namely, how was I ever going to survive child birth if I couldn't handle leg cramps?
My next doctor's appointment I asked the doctor what I should do about these pesky leg cramps. He gave me the standard text book answer- "Well, it has to do with a deficiency in your diet, as well as circulation. You can eat more bananas, tomatos, etc. etc... But the practical answer to your question is- wear long socks, or leg warmers when you go to bed." It was as if the heavens had opened up. Finally, a practical remedy for a very serious, and annoying and painful problem!
Although going to bed wearing long socks is not the sexiest look ever, guess what? It beats screaming and crying in the middle of the night and giving your husband a near heart attack because he thinks you are having the baby, or you are being robbed, or that the apocolypse has in fact just occured.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Dreams
They say you have much more vivid and crazier dreams when you are pregnant. I would have to vouch for this, although I have basically been pregnant for two years in a row, so maybe I forget what it's like to dream as a non-pregnant person. But they say that sometimes the expectant father will also have crazier dreams while his wife is pregnant, and this I can attest to.
Chris' first soon-to-be-a-daddy dream with Lily was pretty funny. We hadn't found out that she was going to be a she yet, so this dream made him think that we were having a boy. And as a disclaimer, for the most part Chris does not remember his dreams in much detail. Thursday to Sunday nights, if he has a dream, it's usually about arresting, or fighting someone, cause those are the nights that he works. So this one night he has a dream that we have the baby, and it's a lizard. Not a baby that looks lizard-like, but an actual lizard. So he and lizard-baby spent a bunch of time together, it would sit on his shoulder when he went to work, and he also fed it a bug or something out of the palm of his hand. The highlight of his dream was that our lizard child was up on a high ledge and jumped down, and Chris caught it in his hand. Apparently there was a great deal of bonding though all these different scenarios and Chris woke up so excited to be a dad. To a lizard... Anyway, all these activities that occured in his dream made him think that he was going to have a son with whom he could bond with, so he was a little bit perturbed when he found out we were having a girl. (I think he was more perturbed that he was not prophetic more than the fact that we were having a girl.)
My older brother suggested we name our daughter Lizzie in honour of the dream, which he found hilarious. We had already decided on Lily, after my mom, but Chris was all about the Lizzie idea. Lily Lizzie Watson? No thanks. It took a very long time, but Chris eventually dropped the issue. We now have a family rule that if we are having a girl- I get to name her, and if we have a boy- Chris can name him. Discussion can, and is often had, but the final say belongs to the parent that has the same genitalia as the child. This rule has basically saved our marriage.
Anyway, it took Chris a long time to finally have a daddy-to-be dream with this second pregnancy, but he finally had one. Apparently he went golfing with our little one, but by the time he got to the first hole, our son was fast asleep in the cart. Chris started to get upset, but then realized that his golfing partner was still just an infant. How cute is that? A short and simple dream, but I think it is so sweet that my strong and macho husband goes from Super Cop mode, to cute and cuddly daddy mode at the drop of a dime. I am one lucky lady.
And while we are on the subject of dreams, my girlfriend was just telling me that her two year old came into her room the other day after her nap, sucking her thumb, blankie slung over her shoulder and she said 'Mom, I just had a dream about baby chicks.' And this is why we need to do everything in our power to make sure our kids have safe and happy childhoods- so that they can have sweet and innocent dreams about baby chicks and not have a worry in the world.
Chris' first soon-to-be-a-daddy dream with Lily was pretty funny. We hadn't found out that she was going to be a she yet, so this dream made him think that we were having a boy. And as a disclaimer, for the most part Chris does not remember his dreams in much detail. Thursday to Sunday nights, if he has a dream, it's usually about arresting, or fighting someone, cause those are the nights that he works. So this one night he has a dream that we have the baby, and it's a lizard. Not a baby that looks lizard-like, but an actual lizard. So he and lizard-baby spent a bunch of time together, it would sit on his shoulder when he went to work, and he also fed it a bug or something out of the palm of his hand. The highlight of his dream was that our lizard child was up on a high ledge and jumped down, and Chris caught it in his hand. Apparently there was a great deal of bonding though all these different scenarios and Chris woke up so excited to be a dad. To a lizard... Anyway, all these activities that occured in his dream made him think that he was going to have a son with whom he could bond with, so he was a little bit perturbed when he found out we were having a girl. (I think he was more perturbed that he was not prophetic more than the fact that we were having a girl.)
My older brother suggested we name our daughter Lizzie in honour of the dream, which he found hilarious. We had already decided on Lily, after my mom, but Chris was all about the Lizzie idea. Lily Lizzie Watson? No thanks. It took a very long time, but Chris eventually dropped the issue. We now have a family rule that if we are having a girl- I get to name her, and if we have a boy- Chris can name him. Discussion can, and is often had, but the final say belongs to the parent that has the same genitalia as the child. This rule has basically saved our marriage.
Anyway, it took Chris a long time to finally have a daddy-to-be dream with this second pregnancy, but he finally had one. Apparently he went golfing with our little one, but by the time he got to the first hole, our son was fast asleep in the cart. Chris started to get upset, but then realized that his golfing partner was still just an infant. How cute is that? A short and simple dream, but I think it is so sweet that my strong and macho husband goes from Super Cop mode, to cute and cuddly daddy mode at the drop of a dime. I am one lucky lady.
And while we are on the subject of dreams, my girlfriend was just telling me that her two year old came into her room the other day after her nap, sucking her thumb, blankie slung over her shoulder and she said 'Mom, I just had a dream about baby chicks.' And this is why we need to do everything in our power to make sure our kids have safe and happy childhoods- so that they can have sweet and innocent dreams about baby chicks and not have a worry in the world.
Friday, February 8, 2008
To Each Her Own
Chris' brother, and wife just had their first baby this morning. Welcome to the world little Gabe.
Your entrance was RIDICULOUS.
Lindsay, the proud new mama, had her regular check up at about four in the afternoon. She went, they checked her out, and she was 2 cm dialated. That's it. No effacement. So we all figured that Gabe was going to stay in the womb for another week, if not more. Lindsay and her hubby continued on with their day- going to church to lead bible study, then coming home to watch LOST, which they had recorded. Before they started watching though, Lindsay was in the bathroom and she felt a trickling, which she was pretty sure wasn't urine. She had just read a day or two ago that when your water breaks, it can either be a rushing river, or a trickling stream. She was experiencing the latter. But because she hadn't had any contractions yet, she decided to lay low. So she watched the hour-long episode of LOST, during which time she did start having contractions, and then they proceeded to go to the hospital.
My sense of time of all this is not exactly accurate, but it's close. So her water broke at about 11:30 pm, and they went to the hospital at 1:00am. Chris, who was working, gave me a call to let me know what was going on. He suggested that we go to the hospital when he got home from work, which would be in about two or three hours. At first it seemed like a good idea, but Lily was fast asleep in her crib, and I really didn't want to wake her up just so we could go to the hospital just to say 'Hi' to the expecting parents. But by the time Chris got home two hours alter- Gabe had made his grand entrance! And i was pissed/ jealous! Chris tried to assure me that what happened to Lindsay was probably normal- that not all women sit around dialated at 4 cm for a week before having their baby. But what does Chris know? Especially about birthing babies? He's so cute for trying to console me.
I am so happy for Lindsay, and Robert and Gabe. I know she was terrified of the birthing process. I can only hope and pray that my baby torpedoes out of the womb the way hers did. This just goes to show that every woman is so different, and evey birthing story is so unique. Pretty amazing all in all.
Your entrance was RIDICULOUS.
Lindsay, the proud new mama, had her regular check up at about four in the afternoon. She went, they checked her out, and she was 2 cm dialated. That's it. No effacement. So we all figured that Gabe was going to stay in the womb for another week, if not more. Lindsay and her hubby continued on with their day- going to church to lead bible study, then coming home to watch LOST, which they had recorded. Before they started watching though, Lindsay was in the bathroom and she felt a trickling, which she was pretty sure wasn't urine. She had just read a day or two ago that when your water breaks, it can either be a rushing river, or a trickling stream. She was experiencing the latter. But because she hadn't had any contractions yet, she decided to lay low. So she watched the hour-long episode of LOST, during which time she did start having contractions, and then they proceeded to go to the hospital.
My sense of time of all this is not exactly accurate, but it's close. So her water broke at about 11:30 pm, and they went to the hospital at 1:00am. Chris, who was working, gave me a call to let me know what was going on. He suggested that we go to the hospital when he got home from work, which would be in about two or three hours. At first it seemed like a good idea, but Lily was fast asleep in her crib, and I really didn't want to wake her up just so we could go to the hospital just to say 'Hi' to the expecting parents. But by the time Chris got home two hours alter- Gabe had made his grand entrance! And i was pissed/ jealous! Chris tried to assure me that what happened to Lindsay was probably normal- that not all women sit around dialated at 4 cm for a week before having their baby. But what does Chris know? Especially about birthing babies? He's so cute for trying to console me.
I am so happy for Lindsay, and Robert and Gabe. I know she was terrified of the birthing process. I can only hope and pray that my baby torpedoes out of the womb the way hers did. This just goes to show that every woman is so different, and evey birthing story is so unique. Pretty amazing all in all.
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