27 November 2008

she bore lemon

Made it 14 weeks! Apparently my placenta is built and ready to go, which is awesome news I guess. Apparently I should be less nauseous, less sleepy and be an all around more pleasant person now. We shall see. And my baby is now the size of a lemon so I FINALLY have a reason to sing U2's Lemon as often as possible. If you don't know that song, you need to download it on iTunes straight away and bask in its falsetto goodness - I'll spot you the 99 cents (or $1.69 if you're in the Big Country). Here's the weekly baby update:

Crown to rump, your baby is around 9 centimetres long and weighs 43 grams. The body is now growing faster than the head. This week, its parchment-thin skin covers itself with lanugo (ultra-fine, downy hair that usually disappears before birth). Though eyebrows are beginning to grow and the hair on top of the head is sprouting, this hair may change in both texture and colour after birth. About now, the fetus can grasp, squint, frown, and grimace. It may even be able to suck its thumb. Researchers believe these and other movements probably correspond to the development of impulses in the brain.

I have to say that I absolutely love picturing my hairy sasquatch child squinting, grimacing and frowning. When do the happier gestures kick in or do they just know we're going to have a cynical child?

Also want to take a moment to address the cockroaches from my last story. Please do not think we are filthy or live in squalor. There were 3 roaches. Yes, that's 3 too many but when I moved here people kept telling me that these roaches aren't the dirty kind - they're the outdoor kind that come out in summer and just happen to get into your home. Dirty stinking liars, I say but I'll use it in my defense now. We also had our windows redone this year and the contractors didn't fill in between the new frames and the wall so there's this perfect little gap for the roaches to sneak in through. We'll be filling those in this weekend and the kitchen is staying clean so no more gross visitors.

Oh wait, I have more baby updates from the other website I trust:
Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.

Okay, toe wiggling is better than grimacing but I'd rather not think about my baby peeing while he/she's in there. They don't warn you about these things before you get knocked up, they just don't.

The midwives called me back! Of course I missed that call so I've had to leave them another message but we're making progress. I may actually get an appointmet with them one day at this rate. No more news from me - just trying to keep my pregnant brain focused so I stop forgetting things at work. It's nice to have a fetus to blame.

... she wore lemon to colour in the cold grey night ...

24 November 2008

chow round-up

Still not having major cravings but those that I do have are forcing me to be creative. Here is a sequence of events that happened last night after leaving work (times approximate):

6.10pm - Get to train station, pick up the free MX cool little newspaper.
6.20pm - Get on train, start reading MX.
6.35pm - See a picture of a bowl of soup with Chinese writing on the side (probaby not Chinese)
6.36pm - Immediately need a bowl of eggdrop soup - start thinking of where I can get some
6.45pm - Still thinking because I have yet to find some around us
6.50pm - Crap, have to cave in and realise I may not get eggdrop soup
7.00pm - Refuse to give up - send text to Marcel "Please google recipe for eggdrop soup. Will hurt someone if I can't have it ... will probably be you."
7.10pm - Marcel picks me up from train station with recipe.
7.15pm - Stop at little grocery store near train station - no spices that we need or wontons
8.00pm - Stop at big grocery store to get the spices, stock and wontons (we actually had eggs - huzzah)
8.35pm - Get home, start unloading groceries into dirty kitchen (haven't cleaned in a few days)
8.36pm - Get startled by the summer cockroaches that show up every right about now if we don't keep our kitchen IMMACULATE.
8.40pm - Get whiny and give up on eggdrop soup because the roaches skeeved me out.
8.45pm - Clean the kitchen thoroughly
9.00pm - Decide to make the soup anyway
9.15pm - Eggdrop soup a success, a little too garlicky but will do better next time

Sad, right? I was also forced to find a new source of cheese crackers because they don't have Cheez-Its in this country. But on the flipside, there is a new candy store in the mall that has Sour Patch Kids so I now have two sources for those AND more importantly, they actually had 3 cans of Libby's pumpkin pie mix so we will be having pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving like good Americans!! We will forget the fact that a can of Libby's probably doesn't cost $10 in America but you won't be eating your pumpkin pie by the beach. SNAP!

That's my latest update on food. Nothing else to report. Tomorrow I will be 14 weeks and my next appointment is supposed to be with the midwives in the next few weeks so I have left them a message today. We'll see if they ever call me back or if I have to stalk these ladies to get my pregnant ass in to see them.

Adios!

22 November 2008

ch ch ch check it out

Got my pregnancy massage today and feel like a new woman - all loosey goosey. I'm going to aim to have one every month as a treat to the future mum ... me. Then because I was down in Terrigal anyway, I spent a long while going through our little local shops. I love this town - such cool boutiques, yummy restaurants and a brand new tattoo shop just in time for me to fix the one on my tummy after pregnancy stretches it to smithereens. AND there's a new baby store Bel Bambina that is pretty darn adorable. It's NO The Pajama Squid (http://www.thepajamasquid.com/) mind you but I did buy something there that made my heart soar. Check it out -


Yes, that's right it's one of the Rockabye Baby! series, lullaby renditions of U2. It's so wonderful, I actually got tears in my eyes to hear Sunday Bloody Sunday on glockenspiel and other lullaby-appropriate instruments. Very talented people put this together and it's full of U2 artwork but with teddy bears like the cover (even an adorable teddy bear with Bono's green wraparound shades). They have lots of other artists - AC/DC, Bob Marley, Kanye West, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, etc. so I may have to stock up on more. We live in a magical world, people.

And please remember I had a massage, which is why I look like a greasy relaxed loon.

I think that's all the poop that's fit to scoop on this end. Marcel & I had another fight over the nursery situation so I'm afraid I'm going to have to pull that boy in line. He doesn't seem to remember us shaking on the fact that if he got the boat I got total control over nursery decisions. Luckily we had witnesses so I need to make some phone calls for backup. Grrrrrr.

21 November 2008

Peachy keen.

Baby is a peach now, which is lovely. More details below:

The fetus is now 7 to 8 centimetres long from crown to rump and weighs 23 grams -- about half a banana. Its unique fingerprints are already in place. And when you poke your stomach gently and she feels it, your baby will start rooting -- that is, act as if she's searching for a nipple. (sidenote: SAY WHAT??) If you're having a girl, she now has approximately 2 million eggs in her ovaries; she will have only a million by the time she's born. She'll have fewer eggs as she gets older, and by age 17, the number will have dropped to 200,000. As for you, the fog may be lifting, so to speak. For many women, the side effects of early pregnancy -- frequent urination, intense fatigue, nausea -- diminish sometime in the second trimester. Your uterus, while large enough to announce to onlookers that you're indeed pregnant, isn't so huge that it gets in your way. Even though birth is months away, your breasts may already start making colostrum, the fluid that will feed your baby for the first few days before your milk comes in.

I'm going to admit that much of this pregnancy miracle still creeps me the heck out. I'm sorry but it has to be said. I don't understand why the baby would start searching for a nipple if I poke at it. That is going to take all the fun out of poking at my unborn child, knowing that it's rooting around in there.

But I'm not going to focus on the negative this time. Let me tell you what joy I've discovered. Popsicles. Yes, that's right - popsicles. Or icy poles as they're called here. Lord almighty can I eat some icy poles. For some odd reason it's the cure for what ails me. Nausea goes away, thirst goes away, all my troubles seem so far away. AND did you know they make them clear now? No bright orange liquid melting all over me while I lounge on the couch and no coloured tongue to give away the fact that I may or may not have eaten three of them in an afternoon. Awesome.

Also good news is that the candy store had another stock of cinnamon & brown sugar Pop-Tarts so my murderous Pop-Tart rage has subsided for now ... FOR NOW. If they manage to import Mexican pizzas (minus the beef) from Taco Bell, I will sign over the rights to naming this firstborn child immediately to them.

Oh, speaking of naming this kid I have become obsessed. I'm really worried about giving it a terrible name. I find myself thinking of the most fantastic old lady names and really can't get past them. I think we've watched too many episodes of Golden Girls on DVD (please don't tell Marcel I ratted him out for watching with me)(shut up, that show is HILARIOUS) but I find myself things like "Blanche Eisele is pretty cute. Hmmm ... I need to have Mom find out all of our great aunts' names and email them to me ... hmmm ... what about Sofia Petrillo Eisele?" If Marcel breaks down for half a second, we are doomed to a young elderly-named girl. And then for boys all my creativity goes away - I just keep listing TV characters' names. Jack, Sawyer, Sayid, Hugo, Buster, Gob, Tobias? I'm at a loss. We have two rules: 1. No former pet names - this had to be instituted because I loved the name Theo for a boy (see! another TV name) but Marcel had a dog by that name. This also rules out half of the Cosby family thanks to the selfish Eiseles and their awesome pet-naming skills plus Tiffany, Suzanne, Jeni, Roxy, Serena, Snowy Malone, Saffron, Oreo, Gravy, Austin, Rufus & Ralph plus a million others because there have been many many pets between our two families. 2. We have unlimited veto power so neither of us gets stuck hating our child's name. We will also choose a select few of you to stand on a name committee so you can give us honest opinions to our shortlist when it's ready for judgment. I will be honest, we have one name that we are very fond of but it's a bit quirky so we're keeping it under our collective hat until we know what sex we're having. That way we never have to try it out and see the disappointment in your eyes if we don't have to. It's seriously a fantastic name and you'd agree if you weren't so stubborn and thought about it for a while!

Anyhoo, I'm exhausted and want to go to bed. I'm getting a massage tomorrow! A special pregnancy one (ooh-la-la) and it's at the fancy hotel down the street from us (ooh-la-la) so I'm very excited. This is my "woo-hoo, we made it past the 1st trimester without going crazy" present to myself.

Oh! I told everyone at work today and it was so much fun. Everyone is super excited and supportive - I love working in a company full of ladies!! Seriously, there is exactly one guy who works there and he's 20 & lovely & has already put me in touch with his sister who is due in 4 weeks herself so it's a pretty awesome company I work for.

Have a great night & I'll try to not to poke at my poor baby too much.

14 November 2008

Finally

Well I made it to my second trimester. Hallelujah & hosannah to the highest, my friends! My skin is also improving - the acne is clearing up and not so much oil. Not sure if it's the changing hormones or my obsessive skin routine but I'll give the point to the baby but it's the nice thing to do. The constant nausea is gone but it's been replaced by the intermittent vomiting, which isn't so pleasant. At least it's done & over & I feel better immediately but it's just weird to be sitting at work, typing an email or on the phone with a client and think "Hmmm ... is that vomit or just a gag coming on? Hmmm ... should probably take a brisk walk to the bathroom just in case." Then last night I got food poisoning or a stomach bug or something - had some lovely Thai veggie fried rice witha bit of sweet chili sauce and spring rolls. I felt immediately woozy after eating but Fruit Loops has the same effect so I didn't worry. I woke up at 1am with terrible cramps and actually got really worried for the first time in my pregnancy but they started moving towards the 'run to the toilet' variety and my panic subsided. Instead, I puked more than I've ever puked before. If my toenails weren't attached, I think they would have come up too. I was up 'til 4am and just slept on the couch when I finally settled down. I've got a cracking headache today from dehydration but I've kept cereal and apple sauce (& maybe some sour patch kids) down so I'll survive. Making a dash for Gatorade and snacky foods shortly.

I finally had my first antenatal apppointment with my doctor! Do they use the phrase antenatal in America? I don't think so. I keep accidentally saying anti-natal but that's totally different. Anyway, I really liked the doctor. He looks like Sydney Pollack and that's a face I can trust. I've gained a kilo back from the three I lost (well, after last night I may need to weigh again) and I'm doing well. I was all confused about the doctor situation here because for public Medicare you do "shared care" so you go to a specialist GP then switch over to the midwives or something. So I was highly comforted to see my doctor's OB/GYN certificate on the wall - not just a random GP. They took more blood for testing (no bad reason) and the woman who drew the blood is only 2 weeks ahead of me but already looks about 5 or 6 months, which worries me.

The paunch is visible now and it cracks me up. Marcel still thinks this whole pregnancy is in our heads and I'm just getting pudgy to fit the part but it's a pretty cool little belly now. I'll take a picture tonight and post it. Oh! I also told the people at work and they are very excited for me but not overwhelming me at all and not treating me differently but reminding me to take a break and eat once in a while so I'm very happy with that. And they'll work with me on however I end up taking maternity leave - I realise I have to think about that soon but it's just a little scary.

No other major changes that I can think of. I have slooooowed down a lot and I hate it. I learned how to shop by watching all those ads on Nickelodeon where you could win a 5min shopping spree where you run around and knock everything into your cart and you got to keep whatever you could grab in that 5 minutes. I would have killed to win one of those shopping sprees I tell you. But anyway, I moved like lightning when I shop and there's absolutely no good reason for it because I usually have nowhere else to be. Now I saunter and if you've ever woven through a crowd with me, you know I hate saunterers. Evil people. And I get myself a shopping cart early on and just leeeean against it while roaming around the mall - I hardly recognise myself. I don't rush up the hill to my car from the train station so now I actually get there without being out of breath and my heart racing. I miss my useless speed.

Okay, I'm off to force some water down my gullet so I can rehydrate and get rid of this headache. Adios!

07 November 2008

editorial note

I am keeping all of my spelling mistakes in that blog because I think it's hilarious. That's how hyped up I am from a very small bottle of Coke. Caffeine is awesome.

Put the lime in the coconut

I finally reached 11 weeks this week! We all remember the drama that I managed to get to 10 weeks, then had a rude awakening at the ultrasound that put me back to 9 weeks. Now I'm 11 - huzzah! I also had caffeine today, which is now rare for me, so I apologize for all the exalamation marks!

I have the beginnings of a stomach. I do not care for the term baby bump so I'm stuck with Marcel's very loving & sweet term ... the paunch. That of course leads to calling the baby Pancho Villa, which makes me laugh but doesn't seem to be catching on with others. Anyway, I'll post a picture when I manage to get one that doesn't make me look just chubby. Apparently this child does not want to be captured on camera. Oh my goodness, what if it's a Sasquatch?

The crying drought broke by the way. I promise not to turn this into a political venting blog (note to self: start a political venting blog) but watching Obama's acceptace speech in our boardroom with all my coworkers - it was 3pm Weds our time - in AUSTRALIA was a little too emotional for me. I got all teary-eyed but I wasn't the only one so it was okay. Once I got home, every little clip of his speech sent me to blubbering - if this doesn't clear up, it's going to be a very painful 4 to 8 years ahead for me and this president.

Here are the week 11 stats if you're keeping track:
Measuring from the crown of his head to his rump, your 4-centimetre fetus has all his parts, from tooth buds to toenails. Your baby is busy kicking and stretching; his movements are so fluid they look like water ballet. Fingers and toes have fully separated. Now the fetus's main task during the next six months will be to grow larger and stronger until it can survive on its own outside the womb.
It's the size of a lime, people ... A LIME!

No new complaints luckily. The crazy ladies on the pregnancy forums have posted a way to get rid of the evil taste in the back of my throat that is apparently normal in pregancy. I think anyone who has time to regularly post to forums is crazy for some reason but I hope garling baking powder helps. Still haven't told my work yet - it's been my goal for the last few days but it's been so busy and lots of drama so it never seemed like the right time. I don't want to just drop it in the middle of craziness or make my boss stop for some big announcement. Now she's gone for the day today so it will have to wait for next week, which will bring many new & exciting excuses not to tell. I am a wuss.

02 November 2008

Sunday

So apparently my child enjoys salads. Not the healthy kinds - just the kinds that involve a starch and lots of mayonnaise. I bought myself a big tub of pasta salad that I'm currently wolfing down and I have another tub of potato salad with bacon and egg on standby for later. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that at some point in time I start craving fruit or steamed veggies or something with vitamins in it.

I took a journey to my favourite store in Terrigal today ... the candy store that stocks American sweets. I decided some Pop-Tarts would make me happy. Too bad the ding dong store had every flavour except the two I like. I only eat strawberry and brown sugar/cinnamon (shut up). But noooo, they only had blueberry, cherry, chocolate chip, s'mores & something else evil. I refrained from throwing a temper tantrum but only because there was already someone else having a fit and she was at least 25 years younger than me. I just grabbed a few bags of Sour Patch Kids (which I really don't crave for once in my life) and left depressed. For Christmas, if you feel like spending a stupid amount of money on shipping you can send me a box of strawberry or brown sugar & cinnamon Pop-Tarts. You don't have to ... maybe I'll add them to my baby registry if I ever make one. Getting pregnant so far away from American junk food was one of my less smart decisions.

Okay, I'm off to put my pasta salad back in the fridge, take a prenatal vitamin and read a book. Oh and in a very important due date update, it turns out that our baby is due on Shiloh Jolie-Pitt's birthday. This is spooky because we always look at her as how our baby will look with the super pale skin & hair but ours won't have those lips, unfortunately. Any extra padding will be on the backside of our baby.