Tuesday, November 23, 2010

13 Weeks and no Avocados

I am now finally beginning to understand those women who say they "love pregnancy, it's a blast, I'd love to be pregnant again!"  I must admit, in the first 12 weeks, I equated pregnancy with death because that's what I felt like.  I thought it was so ironic that bringing new life into the world could make you feel like death!  Ahhhh...hello second trimester.  I can handle you!  In the last couple of weeks I feel like I entered pregnancy heaven - no more morning sickness/nausea, I'm getting my energy back, and finally feel like eating again.

I still have some weird food aversions - like avocados.  I love avocados, in guacamole, on salads, on hamburgers, just plain out of the skin!  But the baby does not like avocados.  I have a favorite sandwich at a little shop just off campus in Kingsville (shout out to Young's) - it's called the avocado.  It's a little piece of heaven - avocado, tomato, and mayo on a nice toasted bun - delightful.  At work, we are interviewing for two new faculty positions and we always take candidates to Young's for lunch.  Well, day one (of five), I ordered my trusty avocado sandwich only to be told by the baby (ever so indirectly) that he/she does not like avocados.  Interesting.  How could this baby be so against something his/her mommy loves so much?  Perhaps a lesson that will be 18+ years in the making...

Dan's favorite pregnancy symptom is my "bloodhound sense of smell."  He hasn't had the pleasure of heading out for ice cream and pickles (yet), but he does get to deal with me yelling, "Baby - come get this!" while running out of the kitchen plugging my nose and trying desperately not to vomit.  The culprit - our trash (and sometimes our dishwasher - that has decided if it doesn't run every other night it likes to smell).  So just about every other morning, Dan gets to sweep in and save the day.  He's now starting to empty the trash about every night, probably to eliminate the possible drama in the morning.  I like to keep him on his toes.

Friday, November 19, 2010

13 Week Appointment

We had a prenatal appointment today, and had another ultrasound.  Dan's favorite part was watching our little basketball star work on his/her hops in the womb.  The baby would kind of crouch down and bend his/her knees, then almost push off my womb to straighten back out.  Can't wait to feel that at 8 months!  We were also amazed at how distinctive all of the baby's features are at this point - being able to see the facial profile was amazing.  It was too early to distinguish any parts, but such a joy to get to see the baby again!  My doctor said everything looks great!


On the way home, we came across one of the craziest accidents I have ever seen.  This poor elderly woman turned at an intersection and then somehow lost control of her car.  It seemed like she had lost consciousness or something because, as Dan said, it looked like no one was driving the car.  She veered into the far lane and basically jumped the curb, hit a tree, and the car flipped.  Dan and about 7 other guys jumped out of their cars to run over and help.  The poor woman was hanging by her seatbelt upside down, and wasn't able to unbuckle herself (which was probably good, because I don't think she could have supported herself while upside down and may have fallen on her head causing further injury) or unlock the doors (which, again, I think was good because I'm pretty sure some of the guys trying to "help" at the scene would have pulled her out not thinking at all about possible spinal injuries or injuring her further).  While my heart was breaking for her, I thank Jesus that she did not hit anyone else.  Had she veered the other way, it could have been really ugly.  I haven't heard if she's ok, but she was conscious and talking to us, so hopefully she is!  I knew my blood pressure must have gone up through it all because when I got home and took off the bandaid from my blood draw, the little cotton ball was soaked through!  It was a little bit of a crazy ending to our prenatal appointment!

Monday, November 1, 2010

(Old) Wives Tales

Dan and I are definitely going to find out the sex of the baby - which won't happen until early January.  But we are having a lot of fun reading about (old) wives tales that supposedly predict the baby's gender.  So far, here's what we've found:


1.  HEARTBEAT OF THE BABY - if it's over 140 it's supposed to be a girl, if it's under 140 it's supposed to be a boy.  Baby Gaines was about 150 at 9 weeks.
Verdict: GIRL


2.  CRAVINGS - if Mommy craves sweet and creamy it's supposed to be a girl, if it's sour and salty it's supposed to be a boy.  Mommy Gaines craves chocolate milkshakes.
Verdict:  GIRL


3.  CHINESE BIRTH CALENDAR - uses Mommy's age at conception and date of conception to determine gender. (click here)
Verdict:  GIRL


4.  RING TEST - loop your wedding ring around one of Mommy's hairs and hang it over Mommy's belly.  If the ring circles, it's a boy.  If the ring sways back and forth in a line, it's a girl.
Verdict:  GIRL 


5.  MAYAN CALENDAR - uses Mommy's age at conception and year of conception to determine gender.  If both are odd or both are even, it's supposed to be a girl. If it's one of each, it's supposed to be a boy.  Mommy was 32 in 2010.
Verdict:  GIRL


6.  MORNING SICKNESS - if Mommy is super sick, it's a girl.  If she's not, it's a boy.
Verdict:  GIRL


7.  FRIEND EMILY TEST - if one of your best friends has an intuition, go with it.  We had to call these (old) wives tales, because Emily is NOT old! :-)
Verdict:  GIRL


Is anyone else sensing a theme here??  I think Dan and I better come up with a new name for Baby Gaines...so far it's been E'Tuan Robbie in honor of the upcoming Purdue basketball season.  E'Tuan Robbie may not fit into those big boy pants!