27 September 2008

building

I have officially collected the few items that we have on hand for a nursery. We aren't buying anything for said nursery until we know whether it will be a Little Mr. or Little Miss but I got those boxes at IKEA for a hilariously low price and they are exactly the colours I want for a baby room. The Animalz are from the greatest store on earth The Pajama Squid (http://www.thepajamasquid.com/), which is owned by one of my favourite people on earth Tiffany King. And every child needs a pillow of the greatest president ever. I even went so far as to move all these items into our current guestroom/future baby room (pending negotiations with Mr. Eisele who thinks we should just throw the crib by the computer in his depressing office)(he is going to lose this battle). Anyway, that's it for the nursery for a couple of months.

I'm still nauseated, which I'm not happy about. Some days I just don't feel hungry and the thought of eating makes me want to puke so I don't eat then all the acid makes me sick instead. I had a loaded baked potato for breakfast (shut up) and it hit the spot so I'll be doing more of those I suppose. And I'm keeping the Rolaids on hand. When I reference my baby book and websites, they tell me that my body is working its hardest at the moment building a placenta. That kind of makes me even more nauseous to be honest so I try not to think about it. Major organs are in place, the heart may be beating, it's got a mouth but until it lets me eat in peace this will not be a magical time.

Now I'm off to get the last of my blood results and to make my first prenatal appointment.

25 September 2008

Ruh-roh

Okay, the most frustrating problem I'm having at the moment is clumsiness. I am choosing to blame it on El Guapo (yep, I'm stuck on movie nicknames for the kid now) because I hate to think my brain is just messing with me. Before I knew I was pregnant, I couldn't figure out why I kept tripping over things at work but now it's downright treacherous. I almost hacked a couple of fingers off while trying to chop a carrot so I have two nice Band-Aids on my left hand. Sidenote: why doesn't Australia have baby carrots? I also cut the same hand while moving at work and just this morning I gouged a chunk of skin off my right thumb with my left thumbnail. I'm going to have to separate myself from all sharp objects.

I'm actually nauseated today, which is a first. I haven't been feeling hungry much so I just had olives & cheese for dinner last night. I can't imagine any spawn of mine not liking olives & cheese but I think the universe is trying to tell me that I can't raise a baby in my womb on a diet of hors d'oeuvres. I am not embarassed to admit I had to go to theasaurus.com and get the synonyms of "appetizer" before I could spell that word correctly. Wasn't even getting close enough for it to come up on dictionary.com. So sad. Again, I blame the Littlest Eisele.

All else is good. The Ellis's had their baby this morning (2 weeks early) so I'm dying to go see her tonight! Leisele has been my test case but she had the world's greatest pregnancy so I'm already hearing comments from Marcel along the lines of "Hmmm, Leisele never felt sick." I can't wait to meet the new one and hear what name they came up with for their gorgeous little girl. Yes, it is safe to assume she'll be gorgeous.

Thursday

The belly has gone down a bit, thankfully. I feel a bit more normal now that my pants aren't so tight! We're slowly getting out of our daze as well - it helps that we are talking about it with our family & friends now. Very, very exciting. The first few days it just didn't feel real (okay it still barely does) and while we were happy, we were just zombies. After we told both sets of our parents we were talking to each other and both kind of said how surprised we were that everyone was so excited about the whole thing. I'm not sure what exactly we expected but the outpouring of love & happiness has been pretty cool. Now we're slowly getting excited but still a bit cautious because it's not normal yet. I guess this is one reason why it would have been smart to wait out the first trimester before telling. We just can't keep a secret to save or lives. Oh well.

I'm not going to keep you up to date on my nutrition because it's boring. Just know that I'm eating well & actually managing to drink 8-10 glasses of water a day. We will be exercising as well but that starts next week after I've seen a doctor for my last blood test results this weekend.

Okay, I shouldn't have really updated because there's nothing new to report. I'm trying to keep myself from looking at baby clothes & nursery items online. I am very afraid this will be a spoiled child.

21 September 2008

Belly Check - 21 September 2008


Got my blood test results. Surprise, surprise - I'm pregnant. I'm sorry, look at that gut. I am about 5 weeks along - WHY DO I LOOK LIKE KERMIT THE FROG?? That little bellybutton ring scar will soon be a giant star and that pink heart will be stretched to oblivion. Oh well, then I'll have a reason to get another tattoo to fix it.

I'll keep you updated on my paunchy physique when there's any changes. I've loaded up on my healthy snacks but I'm already getting sick of all the nuts, fruits & vegetables. I hope the penguin doesn't mind if I sneak a frozen Coke once in a while. My book says it's fine. Well, it doesn't actually mention frozen Cokes but I can have caffeine in moderation. The shouting salesman at the fruit market (I don't have the energy to explain) talked me into buying 6 little cartons of strawberries - I got them for the price of 2 cartons but what am I going to do with 6 cartons of strawberries?? I'll be putting them in yogurt, cereal & anything else that sits still. I put 3 cartons in the freezer for smoothies. I'm planning on lots of smoothies so I can trick myself into having enough fruit & dairy. Genius plan.

20 September 2008

No, it's not a puppy.

Welcome to my blog. I feel a bit silly to even be writing this but you and I are so far away from each other and I want to make sure you don't miss out on any tiny, excruciating detail of this experience. You're welcome.

First, I'll explain the blog name to you. My family dubbed me Penguin when I was a wee one. I don't dwell on the reasons for this because certain words don't make me too happy - short, waddle, clumsy, short - you get the picture. Overall I like Penguin, it suits me. Now add that nickname to my dad's favourite story about me. I apparently taught myself to read ... with the Bible ... on the toilet. Dad walked by to hear me on the pot, talking to myself. Naturally he assumed it was regular 4-year old gibberish but he listened more closely and heard me pronouncing "So & so beget so & so, Blah blah blah beget blah blah blah ..." I guess I was just an Old Testament kind of girl.

Anyway, this penguin is now expecting her own little one but we haven't come up with a comfortable way to refer to the Expected One. They throw the word "bub" around here but it puts me into a murderous rage for some reason. Do not call it a bub unless you want me to smack you - ask Marcel. I was particulary fond of Cletus the Fetus for about 20 minutes but it got less funny every time I said it. Cut to the end of this rambling and I think Penguin is a suitable name for the unborn wonder.

I haven't gone to an actual doctor yet so my details are a little sketchy thus far. I went yesterday for my official blood tests at a clinic so I'll go get the confirmation of that pregnancy test (hopefully my two at home tests were accurate or I'm going to feel like a jackass & this blog will disappear very quietly) and start the process of finding myself a doctor here. I do not have private insurance and no, I am not scared. I have friends here who have had or are about to have their babies on Medicare and have been incredibly happy with the service and options they have. The universal health insurance here means I don't pay a penny for anything during my pregnancy - checkups, ultrasounds, hospital stay, etc. It also means I don't get to choose who will delivery my baby - I get whoever's on duty and I will not have a private room. Luckily Australia's baby bonus applies to us ... I think ... I'm going to research that today to ease my mind.

So because I have not visited a real doctor yet, I have turned to the next best thing - the internet. I put in the date of the first day of my last cycle and it churned out that our due date is May 20th. Oh, the magic of the internet. May is awesome on both sides of the world (as the Temptations once wisely said "When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May") and many of my favourite people have celebrations during May: Herbert's birthday, my parents' wedding anniversary, one of our dogs' birthday (the Amish never figured out which registration belonged to whom so it could be Roxy or Saffron) and no I didn't forget Bono's birthday. So if the internet is dependable I'll be happy with May.

Because we've only known about this pregnancy for about 72 hours, nothing has been decided about anything basically. I can assure you of a few things:
1. Our child will probaby have a "unique" name. Deal with it. Whatever it is, it will grow on you.
2. Our nursery will be the single most awesome room you have ever laid eyes on. Bonus points to this if our landlord allows us to paint.
3. There will be cankles. Please don't stare directly at them or I will cry.
4. Marcel is going to be tip toeing around the newfound crazy in our life.

I really, really, really did not think I was pregnant before I took this test. My lady cycle had been all over the place for the past few months so I kept some tests on hand so everything month when I was a week or two late, I could set my mind at ease. This time I had a little surprise. Any symptoms I had basically felt just like PMS so we had a bit of a shock when the test came back positive. Took another one the next day and were still shocked. We'll probably be shocked again when my blood test comes back positive. Of course, the second I saw that 2nd line on the test my stomach felt crampy and started to grow - amazing how that happens to neurotic people like me. I have now gone to Border's (with my 30% off coupon) and gotten my copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting because all of the other books were even more annoying and it tells me that my tummy pooch is more likely "bowel distension" but I don't want to know what that means. Here are the very few symptoms I have had:

1. Cramps - no worse than PMS
2. Tightness - no worse than gas (okay, sometimes it's accompanied by gas as well)
3. Food aversions - haven't craved anything but I want no part of the berry jam I used to always have on toast at work. Makes me gag suddenly.
4. Music sensitivity - this one I may have made up but I've been listening to certain albums a lot recently, then suddenly I just didn't appreciate them anymore and have gone back to the music of my youth (lots of U2 and I have the desperate need to download the Singles soundtrack).
5. A touch of mean. This usually coincides with Marcel giving me advice of any kind and is followed by apologies.
6. More peeing than usual but I'm also upping my intake of water so fair's fair.
7. Tired, tired, tired.
8. The fear of summer. Okay, it's not really a symptom but I'll be pregnant all through summer, without air conditioning so our sea breeze better not fail us. The last couple of months will thankfully be cooling off but I'm terrified of having pregnancy issues while hot and sweaty. Such a bad mixture.

That's all I've got for now. I'm off to get fruits, veggies, nuts and all that shit I suddenly have to eat to make the little penguin happy & healthy. Gone are the days of pregnant women indulging themselves apparently. I'm also told (by my book & the blasted internet) that I have to exercise every day. We'll be adopting any future children.