Potatoes in the Mist

So I went to the doctor today. I had the strep B swab, and you know, it wasn't bad at all. It just felt like a regular exam. Then she said I was already 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. She explained that this was good and meant my labor would be fast and easy. She said I would be 6 cm dilated by the time I went to the hospital. She said to stay within 30 minutes of the hospital and that the only mistake I could make would be waiting too long...in other words, come in ASAP as soon as the contractions are either: 1) painful *or* 2) fairly close together. She said she tells everybody else to wait till the contractions are 5 minutes apart, but not me. I feel so special :) I hope she's right...fast and easy would be good! Oh, and the busybodies who said I've dropped were apparently right. The doctor said I've dropped a little.

Pregnancy appetite is embarrassing. An hour or two ago I had a grape popsicle (Edy's), and it was as if my brain were chanting, "POPSICLE. POPSICLE." It couldn't be resisted. Just now the voice started up again: "CHEESE STICK. CHEESE STICK." And I had that, too. We've been eating Horizon string cheese...quite tasty, and no rennet. (Not that I try to avoid rennet as a rule...probably too hard to do...but finding cheese that lacks it is a nice bonus.) Today two people said things to me (well, a third woman just looked at me and said, "Wow.") The first person hit upon every major cliche in my life recently (i.e., she managed to say ALL the things I hear on a regular basis). I'll let you pick out the recurring themes: Woman: Any day now? Me: June. Woman: Any day now? Me: June. Woman: Any day now? Me: J-U-N-E. Woman: Twins? Me: No, a boy. Woman: Wow! That's a big boy. You won't make it till June! Too big! God bless you! (disappears.) Wom...

...when you're pregnant. Someone in the elevator in my building told me I was starting to drop and would give birth this month (instead of June as expected). Also, some guy leaned out of a truck today and yelled, "Wow. That is pregnant." Um, yay. I'm curious whether I have really dropped...although the woman in our building is a caretaker for the elderly and probably has no medical training whatsoever. I'll have to ask my doctor when I see her on Friday. AND I filled out my form for my hospital admission. Yay, me...

Took a couple of belly shots for Caro . My mom is putting together a meet-the-baby gathering in MA for September. Of course, she'll be meeting him when he gets here. Am loving my Tide stain stick from Bed Bath & Beyond. I recommend it to all pregnant women and other people who drop stuff on their bellies (salad dressing, etc.)

You'll be happy to know I dragged myself to the pool today. I enjoyed it once I was there. The pink noodle and I swam slow laps for 20 minutes. I also saw my pool friend. I'm usually shy with new people unless they're the friend of a friend, but this woman is very easy to talk to. She spotted my belly when I was getting out of the pool a few weeks ago and asked me a couple of questions. Turns out she is pregnant too -- but does not look it. She actually has a bigger frame than me, not in a fat way but a broad-shouldered, powerful swimmer way -- but her stomach is like a hard little apple. It's nuts! When I got home, I did a search for due date statistics. It turns out most women, 37% or so, give birth between 40 and 41 weeks...June 10th-16th for me. But two of my friends gave birth recently and one was 2 days before her due date (39th week) and the other was 3 days before her due date (39th week). We shall see. Another thing I have noticed is that NO ONE wants to talk a...

Third trimester is, in a way, the most dastardly of all...the energy and well-being of second trimester has fled...now I'm lugging around a bowling ball and trying to find the energy to go about everyday life. Deep fatigue and insomnia are a hideous mix. On the bright side...I love feeling him move. Sometimes he even does it when I walk now (formerly a quiet time for him). And after dinner he wiggles all his limbs, as if to say, "Yay! I just had some potatoes!" It's endearing. One of D's cousins gave me a copy of Belly Laughs... Jenny McCarthy's account of her pregnancy...not something I would have picked up on my own, but I enjoyed it. Who knew a celebrity could be so relatable? She even gained 60 lbs to my 43 (a total I am trying not to raise, although the carrot cake did win the carrot cake vs. popsicle battle tonight). At one point, she says she baked a pan of brownies each night and ate the whole pan by herself...D said, "And she only gained 60 lbs??...

So I was really stressed about my appointment with Dr. ____ today. You may remember, my regular doctor warned me that he would say I had gained too much weight, though she told me she wasn't concerned at all and she gained more weight than me in her pregnancy and she even pointed out that she is 7 inches shorter (which was nice of her. My doctor rocks.) So, anyway, because I'm such a non-anxious person, I got worked up about the visit. I've always been pretty healthy and never been chastised about my weight or whatever. So I was dreading it. But I got there and he was very mild-mannered and nice. Other than the fact that his exam room was hotter than Hades (I was dabbing at my face, neck and arms with damp paper towels before he got there; his sink actually had foot pedals), it was fine. He saw my Lemony Snicket book and told me how his daughter likes that series. He said I was measuring perfectly (they measured my belly). I stiffened when he said, "You had a big weigh...

When you're pregnant, annoying people come out of the woodwork. Granted, I've heard the following so many times... 1) You're big! 2) You're so big! 3) You're big for x weeks! 4) Twins? ...that they barely penetrate. But today, some STRANGER stopped me on the street and asked me where I was going to send E to school. I gave her the polite version of "None of your @*@#^@! business," i.e., "I'm not going to get in a discussion about schools." Even that didn't get her to stop talking! As I walked away, she yelled after me, "Do you live here? There aren't many schools around here." I didn't tell her this, but we're planning to send E to D's school, which is not in the neighborhood, and it's still NONE OF HER BUSINESS. So, if you see a pregnant woman (and this is not directed to my emotionally intelligent blog friends, but rather strangers who may stumble across my blog), you can smile, or leave her alone, or say, ...

Tidbits from today: 1) I went swimming this morning. A while ago, I asked myself, "Who are you trying to impress?" and gave in to the urge to use a pink noodle under my arms while I do the breaststroke. This way, I can do 30 minutes of laps and not get tired. Anyway, the old man I was sharing the lane with said, "You move at a remarkable clip! I thought I would have to pass you, but you were always ahead of me." I wonder if it's that I was fast (thanks to a little help from my pink noodle friend) or he was slow. But it was a nice compliment all the same :) 2) I was contemplating my toenails and realizing I should clip them, but this is a Herculean task that is just not going to get done -- by me, anyway. I'm still shaving my legs but even that involves gymnastic contortions, and toenail clipping requires fine motor skills in addition to the contortions (shaving just requires broad strokes). And I'm too much of a germophobe (and cheap/frugal/whatever) to ...

(If you're allergic to TMI, skip this one.) So I did open that packet from my hospital and skimmed through the materials. Most of them were about innocuous housekeeping matters. Fill out this form! Pick a pediatrician to examine E in the hospital! (They have a referral line you can call, which is pretty cool.) Tell your insurance that you're going to give birth! (The biweekly prenatal visits might have tipped them off, but ok.) Add the baby to your insurance policy! And then...they sneaked this in: "You will be tested for strep B. This is not an STD. 25% of women have this bacteria." Then they described the doctor's test for it. That's when I stopped reading in dismay. Basically, they swab your lady parts, AND your nether parts. Ahem. The irony here is, they really haven't gotten up in my business that much, so I thought maybe they wouldn't. Now I can see that I was wrong. (Is that ironic, or just unlucky? I remember Alanis Morissette's song was c...

I'll be honest...I don't check the mail that often. Sometimes you get a gift, or a card, or an Amazon package, but more often it's bills or coupons for a free rug cleaning. We have a hardwood floor. Today I got a big packet emblazoned with my hospital's name and logo. I haven't opened it yet. The message is loud and clear: Soon you'll be giving birth. You'll be pushing (probably) a 9-lb baby through an area that is really too small for this sort of thing. And yet, I'm relieved. Because I want to meet him!

It's funny how music can transport you to another time and place...I heard "I Wanna Dance (With Somebody Who Loves Me)" tonight and wham, I was in sixth grade. The future was so bright, Whitney had to wear shades. Later, I was trying to listen to Carole King's "Tapestry", but that CD is marred by another, worse association. During first trimester, when I was nauseous for THREE MONTHS, one of the few things that made me feel better was listening to "Tapestry." Now I can't play the CD because it brings back that wavy, shaky, icky nauseous feeling. Sorry, Carole. I was pleased to hear "The Right Stuff" a few days ago, though. Did you know the New Kids on the Block are reuniting? I was never a hard-core fan -- in other words, couldn't match names to faces -- but I welcome the revival of anything '80s. And I did see them open for Tiffany once (although the concert I *really* wanted to see was Def Leppard). I remember being at a sle...

I got weighed today. But the doctor is not worried about my weight gain at all. She calculated my weight gain since October (mind you, I got pg in September, but I hadn't been weighed since May. I was using my May weight as a starting point. But now I'll use the October weight, like my doctor did. Because doctors know best!). Anyway, she said, "I'm not concerned at all. You're probably going to be under fifty. How tall are you?" "Five seven." She made a pshaw-type sound. "I'm five zero , and I gained fifty pounds. I'm not worried at all," she assured me. "Just don't see my partner, Dr. ___. He'll tell you you've gained too much weight." "I'm seeing him next time." "Oh, when he says that...just let it roll off," she said airily. Actually, I have my response planned. If he tells me I gained too much weight, I'll advise him, "If you had ever been pregnant, you would know that you d...

I'm still plugging away with swimming and yoga, because exercise is my Prozac, but much of the time I am really, really lazy and tired...did you know being pregnant (first and third trimester, anyway) is like having mono? I had deja vu and realized I was flashing back to that time. I think my body is transferring iron to E now and that's why I'm so tired. The doctor said it was normal. I think it's the equivalent of giving blood 3-4 times or something. I finished knitting a white sock with red hearts on it, which I will try to photograph when the laziness fades (although I might just put up a pic of the second sock, when I'm done with that! Because the second sock always comes out better). I met the most affectionate cat in the world. Correction: I met her a while ago, but she lived in a watch repair shop where you had to be buzzed in *and* out. It creeped me out that the watch repairman could keep you there against your will (not that he did, he seems nice enough)....

It feels like there is a bowling ball in my pelvis. A heavy one. Not the kind you use with candlepin bowling. But I guess it's normal. The doctor I saw last time told me everyone has pelvic pain and everyone has back pain; the thing to worry about is if my whole stomach gets hard. That's an early contraction. I'm glad she told me that, because I had no idea what a contraction felt like. I should tell you we had a very good dinner tonight. D was going to his doctor and so we met at this Burmese place near the doctor's office. I had steamed vegetables with peanut sauce on the side (they serve it that way :) and yellow rice which had bits of corn in it. The rice might sound iffy to you, but it worked. The dessert (which they gave us automatically) consisted of fresh orange slices. If they were closer, I'd go there more often.

Not too much going on here. In lieu of other news, I'll tell you that I'm really enjoying Turning Tables by Heather and Rose MacDowell. I tend to like books set in the restaurant industry ( Waiting by Debra Ginsberg and Girl Cook by Hannah McCouch are other examples), but this one is especially fun. I also like the font. Isn't it funny how that can make a difference? I think it's the same font they used in Because She Can by Bridie Clark. (D can often identify a font just by looking, because he does some design work as part of his computer job.) E is still moving around, though hopefully staying with his head down. We felt something round and hard a few inches above my belly button the other day. We think it was his bum :)

I went to the doctor today. It was a different one than usual -- they are rotating me among the partners in the practice so I can get to know all of them; any one of them could deliver E (you get whoever's on call when you go into labor). I like my regular doctor a little better -- she's warmer, and gives more opportunity for questions -- but I'll see her next time anyway. And this one was fine. A number of good things happened: I didn't gain any more weight. At least that's what the nurse said. I think I gained a pound. In other words, she says I weighed X both this time and last time; I think I weighed X - 1 last time. But whatever, I can't complain. My blood pressure is normal, as it was last time. E is head down -- the proper birth position! They're supposed to be head down by 34 weeks; I'm only 29 weeks and 2 days. I wonder if this means he will be early. The doctor said I "measured perfectly." Starting a few weeks ago, they've been me...

I used to laugh when I read blogs by women who were about to give birth and frantically ran around cleaning their houses. "Please," I thought. "That will never be me." As with so many things, I spoke too soon. I still have no desire to get down on hands and knees and scrub the bathroom floor, but I have a strong urge to knit goods for E (I started a sweater for him today, it is very petite and cute) and clear out tons of junk. Mindful of the childbirth teacher's warning to the husbands ("Your wives will give all your stuff to Goodwill!"), I am concentrating on getting rid of my own junk. I'm performing a cookbook purge, having realized that I only make a few recipes over and over, while other ones will never be tried. My SIL will be the lucky recipient of three cookbooks, and the rest? Who knows. The laundry room? The dump? Some of them are freakin' heavy, too. In fact, I have a systematic urge to go through every room in the house and throw ou...

As my belly gets bigger, it's increasingly harder not to bump it against surfaces. I just bumped it into the table when I sat down, but he responded by kicking and shifting around, so it must be ok. I'm starting to discern habits and patterns...usually he wakes up slowly in the morning, stretching one leg, then building up to a crescendo of kicking. This morning, though, D was snoring a bit, and E started wiggling enthusiastically on both ends. When he does that, I can't tell if he's waving his head around or his arms. He also seems to curl up and release sometimes, almost as if he's doing crunches. My biggest fear right now is that there won't be time for anything after he's born. I see mothers (or fathers, or couples) bringing their babies to the pool where I swim, so I can do that once he's old enough. But I do feel pressure to race through all my knitting projects, especially the ones for him, in case I can't do them after he's born. It's...

R, who works at the hotel: Now, you told me it was a boy, so next year if I say it's a girl, you can hit me, okay? (I told him, "I'll dress him in blue all week." Yes, we're planning to still make our annual sojourn to Miami after E's arrival. Everyone says OMG, YOU WILL NEVER TRAVEL AGAIN, but we saw lots of babies at the airport and on South Beach.) Woman in the swimming pool locker room, child in tow: Ooh, congratulations! I want another one! I want five more! (I was thinking, "I'd rather just have your body." After E is born, of course. But her figure did give me hope, because if I hadn't seen her kid, I would not have believed she had one.) Many, many men: Congratulations! Is it a boy or a girl? ("A boy," I tell them.) You must be happy! they say to D. On the plane, D said, "It's funny they all think I'll be thrilled because it's a boy." I asked him, "How would you feel if it was a girl?" D said,...