It hurts

By kate on February 22nd, 2006

The swelling in my hands has gotten painful. Several joints in my thumbs and index fingers are tender to the touch, and worse when in motion. The only time it feels OK is if I’m not moving my hands at all, or if I’m using the computer. (Believe it or not, mousing/typing is the easiest activity for my hands because they remain in a fairly neutral position.) I have new-found sympathy for arthritis sufferers, because I’m guessing it feels like this. The worst part is that there’s nothing I can do except wait for the birth. Ouch.

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General Update

By kate on February 17th, 2006

This weekend, we cross a big milestone: what we’re calling Term Day. That’s the day when I’ve completed my 37th week, and Zippy is considered “full term.” This is important because after that point, we can give birth in the birth center instead of the hospital. Before that point, I could probably give birth with minimal complications, but afterwards, nobody would worry if I went into labor. We’re celebrating by trying to get our bag packed for the birth center this weekend. I also want to load a bunch of songs and pictures on my laptop to play during labor.

Other than that, my mostly uneventful pregnancy continues. My biggest complaint at the moment is the swelling. First, it was my feet, which look unrecognizable to me at this point. I caved in and bought some Comfortable Shoes last weekend: slip-ons that are an entire size bigger than usual. Then, my hands began to swell, causing the great wedding-ring-swaperoo, which has now been repeated (because I needed yet a bigger ring). The swelling has also been causing the carpal tunnel problems I’ve been having, although those are mostly under control now that I’m sleeping in wrist braces, and wearing them off and on through the day. The most recent problem has been that some finger joints have swollen to the point of being a bit painful. It’s worse at night, but most of the time there’s a bit of soreness. Unfortunately, the unanimous opinion of my doctor and the midwives is that nothing can be done.

(I should point out that, even though I feel like a balloon, one of our midwives looked at my swelling and declared it “nothing” for someone at my stage of pregnancy.)

Our weekly midwife appointments are continuing. This week, we had an appointment with Michelle at our house so that she’ll be able to find it if needed during the birth, or at least for a home visit after the birth. We have another home visit with Tracy in two weeks or so. This week, Michelle’s observations were that I have an above-average amount of amniotic fluid (a good thing, I think) and that Zippy’s head is working its way down into my pelvis (also good). I just hope I’m not one of the ~15% of women whose water breaks before they are in active labor! I think mine’ll be pretty dramatic.

We have one childbirth class left, this Tuesday, during which we’ll learn our final lessons on labor and cover newborn care and breastfeeding. I’m still boasting the largest belly in class, even though there are a few couples due two weeks before us. I don’t feel so bad about it, though, because I’ve heard some of the other women tell stories of continued nausea and worrisomely small fetuses. At least I’m confident that Zippy is well-fed.

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No baby here!

By kate on February 13th, 2006

Steve surprised me tonight with an amazing present: a hand-sewn hat for Zippy! We’ve been looking for a nice hat for her, but hadn’t found anything in stores that we liked. He made it in secret, mostly late at night while watching hockey after I had gone to bed.

When we were in Vietnam, we heard about a superstition among the Hmong who live in the northern mountains. Their infants wear brightly colored hats that are designed to look like a flower, so that evil spirits don’t notice the child (and steal it away). Now, Zippy is also safe from evil spirits:

(Click for larger pictures)

Admire how cute the hat is, and how even the stitches (in a contrasting orange) are. The third picture is the top view – no baby here! Only a pretty flower!

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Conversation # 20,004 and its hidden meanings

By kate on February 7th, 2006

	Actual Conversation	Subtext
CO-WORKER / RANDOM STRANGER / DENTAL HYGENIST / CASHIER / ETC:	So, when are you due?	They’ve noticed I’m pregnant and need to let me know they know. This is how they always start.
KATE:	In March.	To conserve syllables, I omit the actual date. Nobody seems to mind, unless they have a March birthday, in which case it’s very important.
C/RS/DH/C/E:	Wow, it’s not long now! Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?	Everyone takes this cautious tactic, in case we haven’t found out the gender.
KATE:	It’s a girl.
C/RS/DH/C/E:	Wow, how great! [ingratiating smile]	They would say this whether I told them it was a boy or a girl.
KATE:	Mmm hmmm.
C/RS/DH/C/E:	Do you have a name picked out?
KATE:	We’re working on it.	The actual answer is that, yes, we have a short list of names we like, and no, I’m not telling you what they are. I’m not interested in your personal opinions on the name, or hearing about people you know who share it.
C/RS/DH/C/E:	You must be so excited! [insert semi-relevant story about someone they know who is or was pregnant]
KATE:	Mmm hmmm.	I am so tired of having this conversation. Must keep smiling vacantly.

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A sad day

By kate on February 2nd, 2006

Today I had to take my wedding ring off. It’s never been off my finger since we got married, so it felt weird and sad. My hands have been getting a bit swollen (along with my feet and ankles), and I noticed this morning that it was almost impossible to slip the ring over my knuckle. I was worried that if I didn’t take the ring off at this point, it could get too tight and need to be cut off.

I replaced the ring with an aquamarine ring I had that was big enough to fit comfortably. Steve put it on as quickly as possible while removing the wedding ring. I thought about wearing the wedding ring on a necklace, but I don’t want to sleep in a necklace, and we were worried about it falling off and getting lost (worst of all). Instead, I pulled out its original box and stored it safely. Maybe I’ll get it cleaned and polished while it’s off.

I’m home sick from work today. It feels like I have one of those low-level colds where I don’t have serious cold symptoms, but am really low-energy, tired, and kind of achey. The upside of this is that I’m spending the whole day in my reclining armchair, which is now the most comfortable place in the world for me. It’s good for my back (reclined position and good lumbar support) and good to elevate my legs (for swelling).

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Stuff Stuff Stuff

By kate on January 30th, 2006

Zippy’s birth is seeming more imminent now, so today Steve and I buckled down and went on a shopping trip to acquire some things we don’t yet have. At the end of it, I feel like we’re in pretty good shape for the first few months of her life. We have the small stuff and most big stuff (as much as possible of which is borrowed).

We still need to decide on a diaper strategy, and buy some. Current front-runners are Fuzzi Bunz and gDiapers (anyone with recommendations on this are encouraged to talk to us). Also outstanding is a jogging stroller. Steve’s parents have offered to buy us one; we just need to select the one we want. We haven’t bought a crib, but will be borrowing a co-sleeper bassinet for the first few months, so it’s not as urgent.

It was fun shopping for baby clothes with Steve. We’ve received a bunch as gifts or hand-me-downs, but this is the first time we bought our own. We bought boy colors as well as girl colors. We got better at estimating the size of clothes. We learned that you really have to look at the price tag, because prices can vary widely, from clearance-next-to-nothing to $15-30 for one piece. We were unable to find a newborn hat we really liked, but got a small set of good items.

Aside from our shopping trip today, we got another bunch of baby things yesterday when I went to a baby shower given by the Aerialistas. I didn’t want a shower, but they insisted (and there was no saying no). The gifts from them were almost all baby clothes, most pink with stars added by hand. Everyone knows (including them) that I’m not a big fan of pink, but it’s an Aerialista color. I even got a handmade ruffle-butt costume (to go with one of our costumes), which was very cute. The best gift of all, though, was an Aerialista diaper bag. It’s a black R.E.Load messenger bag, with an embroidered Aerialistas logo (like this) that’s the same as the one on our jackets. They got the bag custom-made with a strap designed to be both a shoulder strap and to hook over a stroller. It comes with a matching changing pad. Overall, I was very overwhelmed with the quality and amount of gifts, and how much personal time and effort went into them. (I haven’t even mentioned the hand-made album or hand-made baby blanket yet.)

Until today, we’d been tossing all baby stuff into the stroller in a corner. The time to do something with it all always seemed far away, and I’d never been one to coo over baby things. However, when we came home from shopping today, there was finally so much stuff that something had to be done. We sorted through all the clothes we have, setting aside items that are too big for Zippy’s first few months and carefully folding everything (and removing the packaging). We pulled out a small dresser we had in the basement and put everything into the drawers. Then, we sorted through the non-clothing stuff (like bath things, diaper-changing things, etc.) as well.

I caught myself uncharacteristically exclaiming about how cute a pair of pants is, or how tiny and adorable the socks are. I blame the extra surge of pregnancy hormones. I’m starting to enjoy in these last weeks. I feel good about having Zippy’s things in order, and having a good sense of what we do and don’t have.