Formerly the blog for my daughter Eliza, where we posted from her birth until she began Kindergarten, now all the old posts are integrated into Pattern Recognition.
Back from the first baby shower (with my folks, in Nancy, KY). Got tons of great stuff. All the usual: lots of clothes, some diapers, wipes, toys, wash cloths, bottles, baby bath stuff. Jason will probably report on the more unusual stuff, so I’ll leave that to him. It was actually quite fun, although weird to be in the spotlight opening presents. Felt a little strange, but I’d better get used to it (two more showers to go!).
So, yesterday asked my doctor if it was truly okay that I only passed my glucose test by 1 point. Then, I casually mentioned that diabetes runs in my family (brother, several aunts, cousins). That made her decide that we should do the three hour test “just in case.” So, in two weeks, I have to do a three-hour glucose test, which involves fasting overnight and four needles (which I hate). At first I was horribly depressed about this decision. But the more I think about it, the more I think “better safe than sorry.” It really is a problem in my family, and I’ve gained quite a bit of weight in this pregnancy, so I just want to be sure. Anything I have to do to keep little Eliza safe is okay by me. I can take it.
I am completely overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that seems to be needed for Eliza. And that doesn’t include the stuff that I would just like to have…for instance, a videocamera isn’t a necessity for her.
But it might be for me.
I can’t imagine not capturing as much of her life as possible…especially as an infant. Every day is unique, and they change so fast…I can’t imagine yet how quickly, but I know that I want to document the journey with her so that she can have these memories to look over later in her life. Thats one reason that I started this blog. Partially for Bets and I, but also for her. In 5 years, she can come back to these posts and read about our love for her, before she is even here. I think that’s pretty marvelous, and a sort of magical time-travel that she won’t get any other way.
The hardest part about being pregnant so far has been sleeping. I’ve heard it said that all these sleep problems in the third trimester may be a way for nature to train you to get used to functioning with little sleep, since that’s what you’ll do when the baby comes.
Every night it’s a juggling act. I have two different body pillows (one u-shaped, whole body style and another that just goes around my middle and cushions my back and front). Then I have the two pillows for my head and a special foam pillow that goes between my knees. Poor Jason. I wake him up sometimes, shuffling things around, trading pillows, trying new configurations. Two nights ago, I had insomnia at 3:30. Starving by 5:30, I got up, ate some cereal, and then went back to bed on the couch. Last night I tried sleeping while sitting up (reclined a bit). That worked until 2:00, when I realized my neck was hurting.
It’s a fun adventure. But poor Jason!
Eliza is jumping around so much tonight that you can see my belly move. A foot? An elbow? A hand? It’s hard to tell at this point. I’m not sure how she’s positioned, but it’s pretty weird to see her nearly coming out of my skin. You can’t come out through the belly button, I keep telling her.
I’m on a “no refined sugar diet,” mandated by my doc, since I only passed my glucose test by 1 lousy point. Too bad sweets are the only things I’ve ever craved during this pregnancy (today I want a King Don, aka Ding Dong!). So far, so good, though. I’m mainly eating veggies, fruits, whole grains, and of course lots of protein, and actually enjoying drinking milk (which I normally don’t do). Two and a half more months without sugar!!!!!! But it’ll all be worth it.
29 weeks, 4 days pg
You know that it’s bad when Eliza isn’t even here yet, and I’m in Denver, and I miss her.
*sigh*
Miss Bets as well. 🙁
Our first big gift came the other day, from my friend Jen and her family, a swing!
It reminded us that we’re going to have to put together A LOT of stuff. Babies have sooo much stuff! Three showers in the near future, the first one next weekend.
So far, so good on the pregnancy. I’m in the third trimester now, getting bigger by the minute, but still have a decent amount of energy. I’m a mixture of excited and nervous in anticipation of Eliza’s arrival. I can’t wait to meet her, to see her, to know her. But of course, going into labor and being in the hospital scare me to death! I feel her kicking constantly now…she’s quite the active one. The doctor says she is a bit advanced in that respect, since she’s still quite little to be such a kicker. That’s our girl!
Welcome to Brand New World, the blog wherein Betsy and Jason explore what it’s like to plan for, have, raise, and generally interact with their new baby girl, Eliza. No guarantees regarding either quality or quantity of writing is expressed or implied, but we thought it might be handy to have a place for us to express ourselves.
Betsy is currently 28 weeks along, due on Dec 19, 2007.
And so here we are.