excerpting
I want to talk a little about the stuff going on with me, but I don't really feel like re-writing everything from a recent e-mail, so... (I'm sorry, Jen), I'm just going to copy and paste what I've already written. I'm sorry about the laziness, but school's kicking mah butt these days. =/ Voila:
It's funny you should have that baby dream since Bert and I went to the OB/GYN today for the monthly appointment. I had to drink a sugar-y drink (think "melted orange popsicle" and you'll be right on track). It's for a glucose tolerance test. They want to make sure I haven't developed pregnancy diabetes. I won't know the results until the next visit. Speaking of visits... I have to go to the doctor's twice a month from now on until I'm 36 weeks pregnant, at which point I'll go in once a week. @_@ It really puts this whole "time flying by" thing into perspective.
I asked the doctor to do an ultrasound today so that Bert could see the baby. I didn't get a good look at it this time, but I did happen to see baby waving its arms around. They printed out a picture for us, but you can't see anything because the picture is underexposed. :( Even so, I'm glad that Bert got to see our baby moving around on the ultrasound screen. I was talking to a friend from class (a 40ish guy from Classical Mythology), who told me that his kids weren't "real" to him until he actually held them in his hands. I know that, conceptually, the baby is real to Bert, but it isn't "real" the way it is to me, who deals with it on a minute-by-minute basis. You know? Having this ultrasound helped make it "real-er" for Bert, I think. You could really tell it meant a lot to him.
I also had to get more blood drawn, which sucked. :_( I was a big baby about it, but Bert was there to hold my hand. And, the lab technician was very nice. I think one of the top three reasons for my not wanting to get an epidural is because it's essentially the biggest needle ever and it's injecting stuff INTO MY SPINAL FLUID. I mean, who knows? I might be in so much pain that I won't notice the needle... Still... REALLY BIG NEEDLE.
I had a talk with my doctor today in regards to not wanting an epidural during labor. I was a little nervous about it because I didn't want to get the "I'm a doctor; I know better" speech, so I told him that the biggest reasons for not wanting to get an epidural were my fear of needles and my mom's lower back pain in the area where she got HER epidural. I feel weird trying to explain my really real reasons to a doctor (I don't believe in taking medications unless absolutely necessary, that pain isn't always a reason to take medication, that I don't want to expose my baby to drugs that early in its life...). He was pretty open to the ideas I shared with him, though. We decided I'd hold out through labor for as long as I can, but that I'll get an epidural if I can't stand it. I'm not sure he knows how stubborn I am.
Speaking of labor, did I tell you about this really neat talk I had with the lady giving me a facial? She told me that the first part of labor didn't really hurt that much when she had her kids. She's had IBS her whole life. Apparently, the labor contractions hurt LESS than the IBS cramps. It's sort of what I'd suspected this whole time. I mean, yeah... Labor is now less than/equal to to IBS cramps that last for hours and hours =/, but... It's good to have a perspective. The unkonwn is the scariest part of this whole pregnancy thing. Now, I have a better idea of what to expect.
Woah, that was a long essay on baby-related stuff.
My parents changed their travel plans to the weekend following the baby shower, so no worries. Actually... My mom had the balls to say, "is this something where my presence is needed?" It sounds bad, but it's really a matter of cultural difference. So far as I know, baby showers don't exist in Spain. It goes to show that even *I* don't notice all of the differences between the way my mother group up and the way I grew up, sometimes. Anyway, I told her that her presence is absolutely needed. Sheesh. I also told my dad that I wanted it to be a co-ed thing, which ellicited the typical "my dad" response: "why would *I* want to go to a baby shower?" No one gets how little I care for gender stereotypes. I told him a little about how I want to eat his barbecued ribs on the day of the shower to butter him up. Basically... You should be fine talking to my parents today (or whenever). I've prepared them!
It's really good to have Bert home, but I'm experiencing the same sense of vertigo I had when he got home from the last deployment. His experience of deployments and mine are so different, ya know? He's out there, missing home and getting through the days. I'm at home, living my life and getting through the days. In some ways, it's like he's paused his life, but I've continued living mine. It makes it kind of weird when he gets back because he acts like he did four and a half months ago, but I feel like a slightly different person... Plus, I like having my schedule and routine. His coming home means I have to change the routine, which always makes me feel a little off.
There was this cute moment in the kitchen yesterday morning. He and I were jokingly going back and forth over the "best way to eat a peanut butter sandwich." The way we do. At one point, we paused and smiled at each other. Bert asked, "how'd you get by all these months without me around to argue with you?" And, it's true. Having him home makes me take stock of just how much I've missed having him around, which also makes me a little sad. I can't wait until we both settle into our normal life together.
It's funny you should have that baby dream since Bert and I went to the OB/GYN today for the monthly appointment. I had to drink a sugar-y drink (think "melted orange popsicle" and you'll be right on track). It's for a glucose tolerance test. They want to make sure I haven't developed pregnancy diabetes. I won't know the results until the next visit. Speaking of visits... I have to go to the doctor's twice a month from now on until I'm 36 weeks pregnant, at which point I'll go in once a week. @_@ It really puts this whole "time flying by" thing into perspective.
I asked the doctor to do an ultrasound today so that Bert could see the baby. I didn't get a good look at it this time, but I did happen to see baby waving its arms around. They printed out a picture for us, but you can't see anything because the picture is underexposed. :( Even so, I'm glad that Bert got to see our baby moving around on the ultrasound screen. I was talking to a friend from class (a 40ish guy from Classical Mythology), who told me that his kids weren't "real" to him until he actually held them in his hands. I know that, conceptually, the baby is real to Bert, but it isn't "real" the way it is to me, who deals with it on a minute-by-minute basis. You know? Having this ultrasound helped make it "real-er" for Bert, I think. You could really tell it meant a lot to him.
I also had to get more blood drawn, which sucked. :_( I was a big baby about it, but Bert was there to hold my hand. And, the lab technician was very nice. I think one of the top three reasons for my not wanting to get an epidural is because it's essentially the biggest needle ever and it's injecting stuff INTO MY SPINAL FLUID. I mean, who knows? I might be in so much pain that I won't notice the needle... Still... REALLY BIG NEEDLE.
I had a talk with my doctor today in regards to not wanting an epidural during labor. I was a little nervous about it because I didn't want to get the "I'm a doctor; I know better" speech, so I told him that the biggest reasons for not wanting to get an epidural were my fear of needles and my mom's lower back pain in the area where she got HER epidural. I feel weird trying to explain my really real reasons to a doctor (I don't believe in taking medications unless absolutely necessary, that pain isn't always a reason to take medication, that I don't want to expose my baby to drugs that early in its life...). He was pretty open to the ideas I shared with him, though. We decided I'd hold out through labor for as long as I can, but that I'll get an epidural if I can't stand it. I'm not sure he knows how stubborn I am.
Speaking of labor, did I tell you about this really neat talk I had with the lady giving me a facial? She told me that the first part of labor didn't really hurt that much when she had her kids. She's had IBS her whole life. Apparently, the labor contractions hurt LESS than the IBS cramps. It's sort of what I'd suspected this whole time. I mean, yeah... Labor is now less than/equal to to IBS cramps that last for hours and hours =/, but... It's good to have a perspective. The unkonwn is the scariest part of this whole pregnancy thing. Now, I have a better idea of what to expect.
Woah, that was a long essay on baby-related stuff.
My parents changed their travel plans to the weekend following the baby shower, so no worries. Actually... My mom had the balls to say, "is this something where my presence is needed?" It sounds bad, but it's really a matter of cultural difference. So far as I know, baby showers don't exist in Spain. It goes to show that even *I* don't notice all of the differences between the way my mother group up and the way I grew up, sometimes. Anyway, I told her that her presence is absolutely needed. Sheesh. I also told my dad that I wanted it to be a co-ed thing, which ellicited the typical "my dad" response: "why would *I* want to go to a baby shower?" No one gets how little I care for gender stereotypes. I told him a little about how I want to eat his barbecued ribs on the day of the shower to butter him up. Basically... You should be fine talking to my parents today (or whenever). I've prepared them!
It's really good to have Bert home, but I'm experiencing the same sense of vertigo I had when he got home from the last deployment. His experience of deployments and mine are so different, ya know? He's out there, missing home and getting through the days. I'm at home, living my life and getting through the days. In some ways, it's like he's paused his life, but I've continued living mine. It makes it kind of weird when he gets back because he acts like he did four and a half months ago, but I feel like a slightly different person... Plus, I like having my schedule and routine. His coming home means I have to change the routine, which always makes me feel a little off.
There was this cute moment in the kitchen yesterday morning. He and I were jokingly going back and forth over the "best way to eat a peanut butter sandwich." The way we do. At one point, we paused and smiled at each other. Bert asked, "how'd you get by all these months without me around to argue with you?" And, it's true. Having him home makes me take stock of just how much I've missed having him around, which also makes me a little sad. I can't wait until we both settle into our normal life together.