Pregnancy Artbook – Dreaming of Baby Items Invasion

Another spread from my pregnancy artbook. Well, they are sort of two separate illustrations – but on the same theme.

I was walking down the stairs one day and, looking at the mess of shoes in out hallway, had a strong vision of how it will be in the future: how there will be baby rain boots and shoes and teeny-tiny crocs… I had to paint this thought.

And then I thought of another future inhabitant of our entry hall: a baby stroller. So the right side of the spread was devoted to it.

We didn’t buy a stroller yet – or even choose one. I just picked a picture online that I wanted to draw from (and coloured it differently).

These are dreams. Reality will come next year… and will get photographed

As always, the images are clickable (in case you wanna read my scribbles ))

PS I drew this when I was 13 weeks.

Baby Bump In Progress

Here are my baby bump pics from 6, 10, and 14 weeks.

The 6-to-10 progress is slight, but it’s there. The 10-to-14 progress is much more obvious.

All pics were taken in mornings, when I was not bloated from progesterone suppositories (even now, at 16 weeks, I am smaller than on some of those progesterone-bloated days… man, did it hurt!)

Self-Education

While I started focusing on ‘how to choose’ questions (stroller, carseat, etc.), people reminded me I also need to read. About breastfeeding, about birth, about, well, just plain raising the kid.

All of a sudden, I am feeling overwhelmed. There just SO much I need to learn. And if things like how to bathe or change a baby someone can show me (my sister is coming for a month to stay with me to help me with everything), I still need basic understanding of troublesome signs of ailments, the shots, the feeding…

Like, I remember someone telling me you have to start rubbing your nipples with a rough towel a few months prior to birth – to prepare them for breastfeeding. Apparently, your nipples can all crack up to a point your baby will be giving you a blooded smile while breastfeeding *shudder*.

Or someone else insisted you should rub your vagina and perineal with wheat germ oil – to avoid ripping. And to rub belly – to prevent stretchmarks.

There’s just so much stuff you hear, and it’s all confusing, and you want what’s right for baby and you, and it’s all coming at you at once, and it’s all so confusing and overwhelming… And no one on this continent I can truly talk to about this.

And my husband doesn’t quite get it. He shrugs his shoulders and says: well, women did this for centuries without any books.

Argh. Panicking.

Changing Body

All of a sudden, my sweet tooth made a comeback. I ate 2 pieces of cake at a part 2 nights ago. Like I used to.

And overall I noticed I started craving sweets again – chocolates, pastries, cakes… I still eat my bagel’n'cream cheese in the mornings, but I suspect it’s just inertia. I will probably stop soon.

Amazing how things change.

Like painters go through periods (red, or blue, or whatever) – pregnancy goes through those, too. Apparently.

New pregnancy entrant: heartburn. Which can plague me even a couple of hours after I’ve eaten. I never used to have heartburn before, so this one puzzles me. I am not sure what to do about it (if there is anything to be done).

I also noticed I started rubbing my belly in public. I am kind of curious whether I do this because it’s so weird to have this huge belly, or because I like the connection with the baby, or because I want to let people around me know that I am not ‘just fat’? I don’t know. Whatever the subconscious reason. I am doing it now. And I am liking it. Once again, it’s one of those things that help me feel the pregnancy. That make this whole experience real.

My belly is always visible now. It’s not like it used to be: I bloat, I have belly, I de-bloat, I look fairly normal. I have a belly now all the time. It might be bigger or smaller, but it’s always there. Very noticeable – to me. It already awes me that it’s gonna be even bigger. Hard to imagine!

I think I’m gonna go now to the polish food store across the street and buy some pastries. Mmmmm, pastries I guess that’s my sweet welcome into trimester number two!

Telling at Work And Other Pregnancy Miscellanea

While I told my boss I am pregnant, I am not quite sure how to break the news to others at work.

Funny thing: my male colleague and I had a conversation maybe 2 weeks ago: I asked him whether they’re planning on having kids (he told me that they just got married last year). He answered in such an evasive way that I immediately grew suspicious. Especially since he asked me the same question and I heard the same evasiveness in my answer. It turns out his wife is pregnant – she’s less than 2 weeks behind me. Funny

But I still don’t know how to tell everyone. I am new there, so don’t have ‘close friends’. And I don’t feel like announcing at the lunch table. Maybe I’ll just wait until they notice? My belly is getting more noticeable every day. Which reminds me: I should take a picture of myself!

And someone already asked me at a party last night whether I drink alcohol. They’re bound to find out in any case.

On a separate note, I am down to 1 progesterone suppository a day. There used to be three, then 2 – and now one! Next week I’ll wave bye-bye to progesterone.

However, with the lowered dosage, I started getting constipated. Which isn’t fun at all. Want some TMI? Really gross? When I do poo, my poo comes out flat, not round. I am guessing my womb is resting on my intestines – or colon. My guess is based, in part, on the fact that my womb was tipped backwards to begin with.

And I my headaches get more and more frequent. My eyes get irritated by the sun so much that if I need to go out for an extended period, I HAVE to wear sunglasses AND baseball cap. I often wake up with headaches and they last all day until I go to bed. I had three days like this in the past week. My book says it’s part of being pregnant. Sigh.

Round ligament pains presented themselves today after 3 weeks of absence. Bad timing – we’re having a tango lesson today.

I think these are all the recent developments.

Oh, I also noticed today that since the bi-weekly ultrasounds stopped, I became less obsessive, less aware of the week and day of my pregnancy – and even have no idea how big my baby is supposed to be – in centimeters or inches. I only know that my baby is the size of a medium shrimp. Do you know what size of a shrimp is medium?..

Told My Boss About My Pregnancy

Yesterday I told my boss about my pregnancy.

We scheduled a 5 pm meeting to go over some things – my boss was too busy to meet earlier. Since it was after hours, we had a good conversation, not rushed and relaxed. For an hour, we discussed all the ongoing projects, plans, initiatives… And then when the discussion died down, I said: there is something else I need to tell you: I am 13 weeks pregnant.

She beamed – I don’t know if she was really that happy or whether, as a boss, she got really good at putting on a big smile – but either way, she warmly congratulated me, asked me how I feel and for how long I will be able to stay.

I told her that while my contract with them is up in the e/o December, my due date is early February – she said she sees no problem extending it if I want.

And overall she told me this is great news and not to worry, they will survive and plan my succession . Which made me feel really good – I felt awkward when the day after I accepted their offer I found out I was pregnant. I felt like I was cheating, accepting job knowing that I will be leaving them (if all goes well) in 8 months.

So I feel relieved and at peace. Time to start planning vacation. We want to go south for a week, just the two of us, to fully enjoy the quiet time, recharge, reconnect, and prepare for the coming changes,

13 weeks and Moving Along

I subscribe to newsletters from a couple of websites – and it’s amazing how helpful they are.

For example, over this past weekend I started feeling a tiny cold pinprick in the centre of my right nipple, feeling like it’s wet – and cooled by wind (although it’s hidden in a snug bra with no air – and even if I were naked, I would be hard pressed to find any cold air in this heat wave!). One morning I woke up and there was cottage cheese like substance.

I also started seeing an increase in discharge – and change in its texture.

And then I got home from our camping weekend, and received the newsletter which mentioned that I am now likely to start producing the pre-milk substance (I forget it’s proper name) – the stuff that I will be feeding my baby with right after birth, before the real milk shows up.

This same newsletter also mentioned that I shouldn’t freak out if I see changes in my discharge.

Isn’t that amazing? I barely had the time to notice these changes – and here they are, explained!

Today there was a link about giving birth. I read through it – mostly, I knew everything (maybe not laid out in stages and phases), but then I read these words and they took my breath away. All of a sudden, I had such a strong visualization of this moment!

If there are no complications, baby’ll be lifted onto your bare belly so you can touch, kiss, and simply marvel at him. The skin-to-skin contact will keep your baby nice and toasty, and he’ll be covered with a warm blanket — and perhaps given his first hat — to prevent heat loss

For some reason, the first hat really did it for me. Make it feel very real.

For myself, I am saving the link to this whole article: http://www.babycenter.com/stages-of-labor?page=1