The Fuzzball Chronicles: the Life and Times of Curly Mommy

After a short and easy labor, I delivered a healthy baby girl on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 6:07 pm. Weight: 7 pounds 1 ounce Length: 17.9 inches

Pocohontas and several other friends got together to have a baby shower for me yesterday. We didn't really have a theme, and we didn't play games. We simply relaxed, ate some really good food, talked, and laughed a lot. It was wonderfully low key--just what a girl needs when she feels like she is about to explode. Pocohontas wrote in my baby book as I opened the gifts. In this picture, I was just about to open the gift the W brought. After a while, I remembered to ask my mom to take a picture of the food table. As you can see, we had already attacked the food. The Cheesecake was fantastic! Mom and me. I'm so glad she was able to attend! Poor little Flit wasn't feeling well, but he was just as sweet as always. Pocohontas's niece and Tater provided the "entertainment." Look at Tater's fingernails. Before the shower, Mom took Tater, and me to a nail salon. Mom and I had pedicures while Tater got her fingernails and toenails painted. It was a really ...

* Sunday afternoon, my friends M and S had a baby shower for me. This is my friend S. This is my friend M. We started with food. Mmmmm . Everything tasted great! Then, we played games. I discovered that I have a talent for remembering nursery rhymes. Who knew? I wasn't so great at singing lullabies, or pricing baby items, but playing was fun. After games, I got to open the presents! Such precious little things. When we finished the gifts, we cut this cute cake. M made it. I was impressed that she made her own fondant. You can't tell from this picture, but the bed was held up by four cupcakes. Nothing supported the center. Oh, and it tasted great! Chocolate with chocolate frosting. Yummm . Ladies, thank you for everything!

Little Man wanted to take a picture just like Mommy. What a cute tummy!

I saw my midwife today. She noted something like this about me. 32 year-old gravid female 35 weeks gestation G4, P2, T2, A1, L2 Patient states that she is tired and tired of being pregnant, and that she feels 100 months pregnant. Patient complains of intermittent mild contractions upon exertion and during periods of rest. Fundal height: 37 cm (last week it was 34 cm) Dilation: 0 cm Effacement: 50% Station: -2 After my exam, my midwife told me to get out and enjoy the beautiful weekend AND to take it easy. We are going to a wedding tomorrow. Now I must go to my closet to see if I have a dress that fits.

Tomorrow I will begin my 25 th week of pregnancy and things are going just fine. I am feeling great most of the time. The minor discomforts of the second trimester are so much easier to tolerate than the nausea of the first trimester. This baby seems to move more than my other two did. She is now big enough that others can easily feel her move when they place a hand on my belly. Sometimes, she moves so vigorously that I can see my belly move. I can eat what I want, in large quantities. But, I'm beginning to have heartburn. Soon, I will have to be more careful about what I eat and how much I eat. Zantac will become my best friend. I stay inside most of the day to avoid the heat. Today the high temperature was 97 degrees. However, the heat is not as bad as I expected it to be. I was comfortable in church this morning, but the pregnant lady in front of me seemed like she was about to melt. She is six weeks further along, so I wonder if her intense heat intolerance is personal differ...

Mom, Dad, and Cabbagehead came over to our house for Father's Day lunch. We had Greek dip, salad, steak, potatoes, bread, fruit salad, Jell-O, and of course, sweet tea. Lunch was great, even if I do say so myself. Little Man was the potato washer and maker of strawberry Jell-O. Tater was the strawberry slicer and maker of cherry Jell-O. Daddy (my Yardboy) Papa (my Dad) I gave Yardboy this book. Remember Kevin Nealon from Saturday Night Live ? It's never a good idea to ask a woman if she's pregnant. If she's not, you're in huge trouble. I don't care if she's in the delivery room and the baby is halfway out. I would just play it safe and say, 'Excuse me, you got a little something on your leg, there.'" --Kevin Nealon

GIRL! Yardboy took me to the imaging center today for my "official" 20 week ultrasound. The baby was very cooperative. SHE showed us everything we needed to see. Tonight at dinner we were talking with Little Man and Tater about the baby. Tater is excited about having a little sister. Little Man's eyes welled up as he cried, " Nooooo , I wanted a boy!" He lightened up a little when I told him that he would be the ONLY brother. Little Man has insisted all along that the baby is going to be named "Suzie," because, "Suzie is a boy name." He still likes the name the name for a girl. Tater has insisted all along that the baby is going to be a girl. A few weeks ago she decided that she wanted to name the baby "Mot," because, "M-O-T spells Mot." She has also suggested "Kayla" and "Cindy." I informed the kids that they will not be naming the baby sister, Yardboy and I will. I guess we have to start thinking ab...

Well, I'm at 17 weeks now, but I said I would give an update on my 16 week checkup. Everything looked fine. The baby's heart rate was in the 140's and 150's. I did go up a couple of pounds, but the midwife still commented on my meager weight gain. The nurse drew more routine blood work . I got the results today, and everything was "within normal limits." She also scheduled me for an official ultrasound at a local imaging center. We should be able to determine the sex of the baby then. I hope the baby takes lessons from his/her big brother. Little Man let us see EVERYTHING in his 20 week ultrasound. I hope the baby doesn't take a cue from his/her big sister. Tater was a very modest fetus. She kept her back to the probe with her legs tightly crossed. The sonographer thought she was a girl but was very uncertain. We had lots of yellow and green for her.

I saw my midwife, Jane, today for my 12 week checkup. I lost one pound, all of my lab work came back fine, and the baby's heart rate was 155 beats per minute. Jane was pleased. Jane said that the nausea and vomiting should stop soon. Then she told me to try to gain weight. Ha! I told her that I am trying. Pregnancy is the only time in my life that I am told to try to gain weight. Any other time pounds jump on me uninvited. I go back again in one month.

I went to the OB office this morning. They drew blood for the third time in a week. I had my second ultrasound in a week too. There IS a baby with a heartbeat! What a beautiful heartbeat! The baby (only one) measured to be 7 weeks, 0 days. That makes the due date 11-3-08. I left the office with three ultrasound pictures of my baby, an appointment for next week, and two more prescriptions for nausea. Thank You, God!

LMP: 1-21-08 That would make conception somewhere around 1-4-08, but that isn't possible. Conception happened on 2-10-08, or a few days later. By LMP , I am at 7 weeks, 5 days, but I know that date is screwy. Remember, I have crazy cycles. By the date that I believe I conceived, I am at 6 weeks, 6 days. Nausea and vomiting has been miserable this week. I've spent most of my time in bed (except when removing Silly Putty from hair and other essential tasks of motherhood). I have done a pretty fine job of shutting others out. I am supremely grouchy. My motto this week has been: Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Don't walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the heck alone! Tuesday morning I was feeling a little less than terrible, so Little Man and I went into the pregnancy center where I volunteer. I had my friend and nurse manager do an ultrasound on me. We saw a great gestational sac and a pretty little round ...

I've been putting off writing this post. Is it codependency or just being sensitive to the feelings of others? I don't know. That fine line still confuses me. I am surrounded by friends that want to have babies, but for some reason or another, haven't been able to do so. It breaks my heart. I don't understand why it happens so easily for some, and not for others. We had a small taste of the bitterness of infertility when we worked to get pregnant with our daughter, Tater. When we began trying to have a second child, we had a miscarriage. Immediately after the miscarriage, we conceived our son, Little Man. We don't take the fact that we have two great kids for granted. We are truly grateful that our struggle was so short-lived, and that we didn't lose more pregnancies. Now for the big news: I am pregnant again, about six weeks along. Did we plan to get pregnant? Nope, but we are excited. I did four pregnancy tests, expecting each to be negative, but hoping for po...

Recently I completed training in limited obstetrical ultrasound at a local crisis pregnancy center. I volunteer on Monday mornings when my kids are in school. Scanning pregnant bellies is awesome! There aren't many things more amazing to see than the first flicker of a heartbeat or tiny hands and feet. I find it hilarious that almost every client comments on how big the baby's head is. Then, they blame the the baby's father, "He's got a big head, just like his daddy." Ha! However, things aren't always cheerful in the ultrasound room. I know from personal experience that it really sucks to be the woman on the table when the person performing an ultrasound says, "That's an empty uterus." It really, really sucks! Now I also know that it really, really sucks to be the person performing an ultrasound when an unborn baby's heartbeat can't be found. I realize long before the mother that the baby is not alive, but I have to keep silent until ...