My pregnant friend E suggested I read Teresa Strasser's blog, 'Exploiting My Baby.' E knows that I love TMI, and Teresa tells it straight. For those that don't know her (I didn't), she is now 6 months+ pregnant, a successful journalist and co-host on the Adam Carolla show. To me she looks pretty damn glamorous and put together, but her honest and witty blog is a first hand account that even seemingly calm, cool and collected celebs don't always feel that way, particularly when slightly unhinged by a surge of pregnancy hormones.
I especially related to Teresa's forays into the genius turned devil that is google. It's my first pregnancy and I'm a novice who needs to learn fast as the 9 months quickly recede before me. Trying to stay informed throughout my first trimester I found myself googling a host of pregnancy issues/topics/conditions.....'avoiding varicose veins'....'avoiding constipation'.....'signs of miscarriage'....'are essential oils dangerous in pregnancy'.....'are herbal teas safe'.....'running in pregnancy'.....'toxoplasmosis'......'toxoplasmosis and cats'.....and on and on an on until I had the urge to throw my computer out the window in a mix of fear/disgust/worry. Fortunately I avoided defenestration, and instead tested the patience of Chris and my dear mother by asking ridiculous questions based on my online adventures to which I was given a swift reality check.
Google searches take you to all sorts of crazy articles and forums that may not be credible and usually lead to scare mongering. So if you are a pregnant lady seeking insights through google, I suggest you stop now before you cross the fine line between being aware and a being a little more crazy than you already are. Otherwise before you know it, you'll be throwing out all your lotions and herbal teas, washing your hands every time you touch the cat and sitting at home in a 'safe' bubble missing the world go by. Let's hope I can keep my own advice....information overload is dangerous craving for many of us pregnant gals.
Teresa also mentions in her blog that she gained 14 pounds during her first trimester, which made me reconsider my remarks about not having a baby bump and kind of wanting one so I can really 'feel' pregnant. I guess I should be grateful that I still fit into my regular clothes and can sleep without discomfort. I reflected on this during my lunch break as I popped a couple of rollos in my mouth and then polished off a 'small' bag of fizzy laces, taking comfort in the fact the laces had no artificial colors or flavorings. At that rate, I won't be far behind.
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Monday, 13 July 2009
Poke, poke....Anyone in there?
I snuck through my first trimester without morning sickness, my worst symptoms being increased tiredness and a sudden aversion to salmon and asparagus. I'm not complaining or pining for nausea, however without some of the stereotypical tell-tale signs of pregnancy, sometimes I wondered if there really was a little one in there. Girls that were holding their head over a toilet bowl 4 times/day may want to scoff at me, but it's how I felt. With no bump and nothing but tender and slightly enlarged breasts to show for my new status, at first I found it hard to connect with our baby.
I've since read that by now our little lemon (according to Babycenter.com that is the size of our baby this week) can feel it if I poke my belly, so I've been poking away and encouraging Chris to do the same. He doesn't like to poke too hard, but I take a more firm approach. I want to let the lemon know that mom and dad are saying hello. So we're now starting to connect.
I'm also just starting to show. I'd say around 13 weeks my waist began to "thicken," with no blatantly visible bump in regular clothes but with a new fullness that is more visible in tighter outfits. There hasn't been any great change in the last week, however today I got my first "I thought you could be pregnant comment." Lucky that I am.
I was waiting to ask my pilates teacher a question after class and decided to share my news with another woman who was about to hear my pregnancy related question. She smiled at me and said something like: "I thought you might be pregnant. You are usually so small with a flat waist, but today I thought you looked either pregnant or like you'd had a big meal." Whew that I actually am pregnant, or else clearly all the pizza, bagels, dinners out and home cooked food a la mama had taken their toll on my body! At least she waited for me to share the news at the risk of deflating my perceived body image.
Maybe one of these days one of the kind folk on the train will take similar notice and offer me a seat on the way into work? I do love standing in sweaty manpits but think I could make the sacrifice without too many tears. I think I may still have a little way to go there though. And I suspect I may have to not be so British about it and just ask for a seat if I need it. Hey, I've been standing for years and will stand in future - my time in a guaranteed seat is surely dawning!
I've since read that by now our little lemon (according to Babycenter.com that is the size of our baby this week) can feel it if I poke my belly, so I've been poking away and encouraging Chris to do the same. He doesn't like to poke too hard, but I take a more firm approach. I want to let the lemon know that mom and dad are saying hello. So we're now starting to connect.
I'm also just starting to show. I'd say around 13 weeks my waist began to "thicken," with no blatantly visible bump in regular clothes but with a new fullness that is more visible in tighter outfits. There hasn't been any great change in the last week, however today I got my first "I thought you could be pregnant comment." Lucky that I am.
I was waiting to ask my pilates teacher a question after class and decided to share my news with another woman who was about to hear my pregnancy related question. She smiled at me and said something like: "I thought you might be pregnant. You are usually so small with a flat waist, but today I thought you looked either pregnant or like you'd had a big meal." Whew that I actually am pregnant, or else clearly all the pizza, bagels, dinners out and home cooked food a la mama had taken their toll on my body! At least she waited for me to share the news at the risk of deflating my perceived body image.
Maybe one of these days one of the kind folk on the train will take similar notice and offer me a seat on the way into work? I do love standing in sweaty manpits but think I could make the sacrifice without too many tears. I think I may still have a little way to go there though. And I suspect I may have to not be so British about it and just ask for a seat if I need it. Hey, I've been standing for years and will stand in future - my time in a guaranteed seat is surely dawning!
Sunday, 12 July 2009
The Cat is out of the Bag
Yes, it’s definitely the bag the cat is out of, not the fridge. You may know the lamentable tale of our several month old kitten getting locked in our fridge while Chris and I went to work and then enjoyed a Friday night on the town. Before you report us to Cats Protection, let me clarify that our fridge door doesn’t always close firmly and we surmise that opportunistic little Rico sealed his cold fate when curiosity got the better of him. We can smile about it now because even though we arrived home to discover him curled up in the vegetable drawer shaking like a leaf, he turned out to be 100% fine once we warmed him up at the advice of the emergency night vet. Checking our refrigerator door is now a top item on our “daily obsessive” list.
Now that I’ve painted such an inspiring picture of our ability to care for the young and dependent, it’s opportune for me to share that I’m pregnant – 14 weeks pregnant Friday! We are thrilled to have finally started sharing the news with our family and friends over the last few weeks following our “first” and “second” ‘12’ week sonograms, or scans as they are commonly referred to in the UK. (It turned out I was only about 10 weeks 5 days at the first scan so we booked in for a second one three weeks later).
Even if you are hoping to get pregnant, nothing totally prepares you for first viewing that faint blue line that indicates that there is now officially a little person growing inside of you. It takes the wind out of you, and in my case I realized that I don’t really have a clue about pregnancy and what I should/should not be doing to develop the bun in my oven. I don’t have any siblings or many friends who have taken this journey and if it weren’t for my two girlfriends E and B are both currently pregnant, I would be even more lost.
So I’m learning. I’ve survived my first trimester without real morning sickness. I’m more tired but that’s fading a little now. Chris is kindly cleaning out Rico’s litter tray and I’m toning down my running, avoiding sushi, soft cheeses and the breast stroke. I’m taking tips and reading things from the UK and the USA in an effort to get a clue and stay informed, but there is an awful lot, too much, information out there and you could drown in it if you’re not careful. I’m trying to stay sensible, but sometimes Chris has to pull me up for air and I expect I’ll both succeed and temporarily fail in this department as this journey continues. I hope you will join me for the ride.
Now that I’ve painted such an inspiring picture of our ability to care for the young and dependent, it’s opportune for me to share that I’m pregnant – 14 weeks pregnant Friday! We are thrilled to have finally started sharing the news with our family and friends over the last few weeks following our “first” and “second” ‘12’ week sonograms, or scans as they are commonly referred to in the UK. (It turned out I was only about 10 weeks 5 days at the first scan so we booked in for a second one three weeks later).
Even if you are hoping to get pregnant, nothing totally prepares you for first viewing that faint blue line that indicates that there is now officially a little person growing inside of you. It takes the wind out of you, and in my case I realized that I don’t really have a clue about pregnancy and what I should/should not be doing to develop the bun in my oven. I don’t have any siblings or many friends who have taken this journey and if it weren’t for my two girlfriends E and B are both currently pregnant, I would be even more lost.
So I’m learning. I’ve survived my first trimester without real morning sickness. I’m more tired but that’s fading a little now. Chris is kindly cleaning out Rico’s litter tray and I’m toning down my running, avoiding sushi, soft cheeses and the breast stroke. I’m taking tips and reading things from the UK and the USA in an effort to get a clue and stay informed, but there is an awful lot, too much, information out there and you could drown in it if you’re not careful. I’m trying to stay sensible, but sometimes Chris has to pull me up for air and I expect I’ll both succeed and temporarily fail in this department as this journey continues. I hope you will join me for the ride.
Monday, 15 June 2009
Rally On!
Contrary to earlier reports, Mousavi had joined his supporters in protest in Tehran's Revolution Square. Good for them for exercising peaceful protest - I hope that with the world watching and criticism already pouring in from initial use of force, the Government militia-led response will be kept at bay....
Chaos in Iran
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejab may claim that his recent re-election result was "real and free," though emerging stories suggest the antithesis. Iran's defeated moderate candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has urged Iran's Guardian Council to annul the election on the grounds of fraud, urging peaceful and legal protest from his supporters.
Yet this morning the BBC reports that Mousavi has called off an election protest rally after being threatened by Iranian authorities that militias policing the rally would come armed with live rounds (news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8099952.stm). This warning looks particularly ominous as additional reports of violence emerge, notably a Monday morning attack on student demonstrators at Tehran University. Andrew Sullivan highlights the brutal and acrimonious response to this and other protests on his Daily Dish. This makes disturbing but real reading that should be further brought to light by the mainstream media, in my opinion.
In the wake of the UK's MP expense scandal hype and the current political in-fighting, situations like this are a wake up call as to how lucky we are to live in a democratic country and should remind our leaders of what they represent. It's important that MPs use our egalitarian political system to tackle real issues, rather than resorting to expense greed and boundary pushing politics for the sake of politics. Our democracy should be upheld and used to productive ends. This country and the world clearly have far greater issues at stake that need to be a focus.
Yet this morning the BBC reports that Mousavi has called off an election protest rally after being threatened by Iranian authorities that militias policing the rally would come armed with live rounds (news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8099952.stm). This warning looks particularly ominous as additional reports of violence emerge, notably a Monday morning attack on student demonstrators at Tehran University. Andrew Sullivan highlights the brutal and acrimonious response to this and other protests on his Daily Dish. This makes disturbing but real reading that should be further brought to light by the mainstream media, in my opinion.
In the wake of the UK's MP expense scandal hype and the current political in-fighting, situations like this are a wake up call as to how lucky we are to live in a democratic country and should remind our leaders of what they represent. It's important that MPs use our egalitarian political system to tackle real issues, rather than resorting to expense greed and boundary pushing politics for the sake of politics. Our democracy should be upheld and used to productive ends. This country and the world clearly have far greater issues at stake that need to be a focus.
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