Baby on the Way

So, I am 21 weeks pregnant.   Everything is going well with the pregnancy and it appears that in November we will be adding a new baby to the family.  I am not very good at telling people that I am expecting.  My general approach is just to show up in my maternity wear, mention nothing and make everyone slightly uncomfortable until some brave soul finally asks, "So, um, you're pregnant, right?"  I know this is weird, but I can't seem to find another way to do it. Because of my past history with miscarriages we put off telling people about the baby and now it just seems we waited too long.  We delayed announcing partly because untelling people that you're pregnant sucks, but mostly because I never feel as excited as everyone else expects me to be.  Four months into the pregnancy, I'm still worried about finding a heartbeat while everyone else is wants to talk nursery decor.   But now that we've made it past the 20 week mark, I am feeling more confident.  I'm still getting there on the excited thing, but I'm making progress.    

We did tell Baby M that we'll be bringing home a baby brother for him soon.  His reaction was, "I hope it has duck feet."  He also offered a name suggestion- "Flombu".  We took him to our 20 week ultrasound where we hoped to set his expectations on the feet thing ("Look!  You can see the baby's totally normal human feet!") but he got bored and asked if he could go back out to the waiting room and play with some toys.  Since he doesn't really seem to be getting this whole baby thing, I've been on the look out for some age appropriate books and toys to help him prepare for the upcoming change.

The first book we got was Baby on the Way by Martha & William Sears.  It's a very sweet book which describes pregnancy as feeling like "love is growing inside [you]" and tries to give a children some insight into what's happening to their mother.  Pregnancy symptoms like queasiness, hunger and fatigue are related back to the child's own experiences.  However, with Baby M this approach backfires. When the books states mommy's tummy feels yucky like "when you eat three slices of birthday cake and ice cream" it completely loses Baby M.  How could there be too much cake?  Granted, Baby M has never had 3 pieces of cake in one sitting, but it sure sounds good to him.  And birthdays are fun too.  And I'm going to be 3 on my next birthday.  Can I have a fish superhero party?  Baby M completely loses focus.   I've started just skipping that section altogether.  But I do think Baby M is making progress too.  A friend crocheted Baby M a doll with a removable hat and diaper and he spent an entire afternoon changing the baby's diaper (the doll is awesome, you can check out her etsy store here).  And tonight Baby M walked over, planted a kiss on my belly and said it was for the baby.  Now who couldn't get excited about that?

Food Poisoning!

I thought I was going to make it through this pregnancy vomit-free, but after 8 and half months of avoiding morning sickness I ended up with food poisoning and have spent the last last 18 hours nauseated, vomiting and battling diarrhea. I know 18 hours is much preferable to the 3 months of nausea that many pregnant ladies endure, but I am still feeling icky and sorry for myself.

My husband and I had gone out to dinner at Chaya Venice for our anniversary and quite possibly our last nice dinner out for the next few months. I ordered the baked chicken wrapped in prosciutto. I know prosciutto is on the “bad food” list, but since it was baked (and since I really wanted it) I thought it would be okay. I guess not.

After not being able to keep anything down for hours I decided to call my doctor and make sure the baby wasn't at risk. I figured he'd be okay without food, but I was starting to worry about how the bacteria might affect him. Her office was already closed so I had to call her cell phone, which I always hate to do, but she was very nice about it and said that baby would be fine, but that I would just have to wait out the food poisoning since any of the medications typically used to treat it can't be used during pregnancy. She also reminded me to drink lots of fluids and try to eat bland foods like toast and bananas.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing

So, I am not officially a mom yet, but at 8 months pregnant I decided to go ahead and post a few pre-baby entries, just to get things rolling.

Today my mother-in-law informed me that she and my father-in-law will be attending a “Grandparent's Safety Workshop” at Babies R' Us. The workshop is supposed to let grandparents know what's changed since they were parents and teach them about “proper selection and safe use of baby products.”

I think it is very sweet that they are excited about the workshop and it's great that someone else is going to get to explain to them that, yes, the baby really does need to sleep on his back and no, the baby doesn't need to be eating pureed steak at 2 months old in order to get enough iron. On the other hand, I am a little wary about them becoming baby product “experts.”

One thing you should probably know about my in-laws is that product research and shopping is their hobby. They can tell you the cheapest place to buy a cantaloupe and the highest rated electric toothbrush without breaking a sweat. This is useful when it is time to buy a new television set, but annoying when I'm told that I'm not using the right kitchen sponge or paying too much for oatmeal.

So although I'm happy to know that my little guy will be safe at Grandma's house, I am concerned that when Grandma comes to my house we'll be put through a military style inspection (and fail miserably-- I've already forgotten how to unfold our stroller!) or be asked to justify why we have the Tiny Love playmat instead of the one by Fisher Price.

I know I should stop worrying, or at least worry about something more pressing like writing my birth plan or putting away the mountains of shower gifts. Sometimes it just seems that everyone else is more excited and ready for this baby to be born than I am. I keep waiting for the “I'm so sick of being pregnant, bring on the labor” feelings to start, but so far I'm happy to go on being fat, well-rested and contraction free.