Waiting Game

WARNING****Complaining and possibly too much information for some in this post.

Currently, I'm playing a waiting game. I hate waiting. I've always been pretty impatient. I was so tired of waiting to graduate high school, then marriage, then college graduation, job searching, etc. Now, I'm tired of waiting for my son to arrive on the outside world. I am so very ready for him to quit "cooking." I'm tired of not being able to breathe or sleep. I constantly have to go the bathroom. My hips hurt and I am uncomfortable about 110% of the time. I am tired of thinking, "Is today the day?" I'm tired of answering when I'm due, if I'm coming back to school when school starts, how long I'm taking off, and if people are on my call list for when I go to the hospital. I'm tired of wondering if this contraction I'm currently feeling is the start to the real thing and when will my next contraction occur. I'm tired of not being able to bend over to paint my toenails. I'm tired of being self conscious about my water breaking in public, intense heat causing embarrassing sweat stains, and all sorts of other weird things that happen to a pregnant body that can cause embarrassing situations (i.e. leaking boobs during class, smells, etc.). I am just very tired of waiting.

Gabe update

I'm 27 weeks pregnant and feeling huge. I've gained 8 pounds in the last four weeks. The good news is, I'm still way below my target weight. The bad news is that if I continue to gain weight at this rate I'll gain 26 more pounds before the baby is here. That's how much I'm supposed to gain total!!! I've got to slow way down. All that being said, Gabe is doing great. He's got a good heart rate. My blood pressure is good and so is my blood sugar. I'm doing well. The doctor said he expects Gabe to come around the middle of August instead of the first weekend in September. He said he would make sure that Gabe was born before school started if that's what I wanted. To some extent I want to go into labor naturally, but the logistics of having Gabe before school starts would be great. That means that I would be able to be home with him longer, and I wouldn't have to be teaching seventh graders at nine months pregnant. On the other hand if I had Gabe on his due date or later, I could get my students started on their routine before I'm gone, and the sub wouldn't mess the rest of the year up for me as bad. The truth is, I'm not sure what is best for me and the baby. I'll be praying a lot about this situation and you are welcome to join in on this as well. I feel great however my back hurts because Gabe likes to sit on my sciatic nerve on my left side. He does lots of flips and kicks. My whole belly moves around at night when I lay down. That is when Gabe is very active. We have the crib and the bedding. We need the dresser/changing table and to move a few shelves and then his room will be finished. My siblings came to visit this weekend and we received lots of goodies from them (ex. bassinet, pack-n-play, bath tub, maternity clothes, baby clothes, and lots of other gear). I'm looking forward to being out of school for the rest of my pregnancy, so I can relax and try to limit the swelling of my feet.

Food

I've always heard about craving food while pregnant. I haven't been craving things, but I can say this. EVERYTHING TASTES SO GOOD!!! I could eat all day even when I'm not hungry (which isn't often). I love sweet things especially anything with fruit. I never knew that the sense of taste was so enhanced during pregnancy.

Random fact: Amniotic fluid tastes like the food that you eat. The baby's tastebuds are almost fully developed by the 21st week in utero. Pregnant women really like sweet things because their breastmilk is sweet and the flavor of the amniotic prepares the baby for sweet things. It has been seen on some women's ultrasounds that the baby spat out the amniotic fluid when they ate something really sour before the ultrasound. I might try that on my next ultrasound.

I'm definitely pregnant

I cried tonight because Ty tried to get me to eat a cashew, and I hate cashews. As I got up to go get tissue I had to step over a babygate (at a friend's house), Ty said I wouldn't be able to do that in two or three months. So the crying continued. I'm definitely pregnant!

Predictions

Although I have said that I don't care if I have a boy or girl, I want it to be healthy. However, the more I think about it, the more I want a boy. There is something so special about having a big brother, so I want my first to be a boy. All that being said, I think I'm having a girl. I went to the doctor today. The baby's heartrate was 150-160 beats per minute. I just feel like it's a girl. Everything that is pink is so cute to me. I just feel deep down that it's a girl. I will find out April 10th or 11th. Tune in for the details later.

Pants Matter

I've always prided myself in maintaining my weight. Have I always been happy with that weight? No, but can I maintain it? Yes! I have only gained 13 pounds since I graduated from high school nearly 7 years ago including during my pregnancy so far. In all actuallity, most have that has been gained since I've been married. School lunches will do that to you, I guess.

Today was a sad day. My pants would no longer button. Not even sucking in and laying on the bed would allow the button hole and button to meet. So, being the money saver and time saver that I am (I'd already ironed them for crying out loud), I improvised. I pulled extra pony tail elastics out of the closet and hooked it through my belt loop. I have now made my pants last a few weeks longer by having some give to the pants. The 2 pounds since the pregnancy has really increased my pant size. More so than the 11 since graduation. That is so weird to me. I'll take pictures sometime soon of my small growing belly. In the 14 week now. 26 to go.

Dogs

Finally, I have a fenced in backyard. Ty and his friend worked all afternoon on it. My dogs are currently playing outside. Thank goodness for spring and me being pregnant. That got me out of the manual labor and speeded up the fence being put up. I'm 13 weeks today, and no one but me can see my bump. I'm sure it will start showng soon because I have no where to go but out. My five foot self just doesn't have much room to hide a baby. I haven't been sick in a long while, so that's good. I feel great. I go back to the doctor next week. I think that we will find out what it is at the beginning of April. I'm really enjoying talking with my students about the baby. I showed them my first ultrasound and they got to see the baby move. This has led to great discussions about abortion. The students really understand that the baby is a living thing even before it looks like a baby. They ask me questions daily and touch my belly often. I'm no longer called Mrs. Gentry by most of them. My new name is Mamma G.