Month: January 2012

Categories
Pregnancy

Fifteen Weeks

The nicest I’ve dressed since I ripped off my work pants as soon as I got home from work Friday was jeans & a tight pre-pregnancy T on Saturday. But as I said in my we’ve been sick post, I was too tired for a photo shoot when I got home Saturday evening & things went down hill from there. Sorry y’all. I promise for a 16 week photo.

How far along? 15w5d

Maternity clothes? I’ve actually been in normal pj & yoga pants {worn low}, tanks & Ts {worn high} the last four days. But definitely in maternity pants & getting there on tops.

Weight Gain? I probably should’ve known my pre-pregnancy weight, but I don’t. So since I know my current weight from my appt Mon, I think I’m up about 15 pounds.

Stretch Marks? None & hoping it stays this way. But I’m being realistic.

Sleep? Tuesday night I was dehydrated & slept four hours in a row. When I woke up at 630 to pee, I realized I might not sleep four hours straight again for a very long time. I’m getting ok with that.

Movement? I know they’re moving, but I still don’t think I feel them yet.

Genders? We hope healthy babies first. But hope for a mix of boys/girls.

What I Miss? Being sick & just worrying about me. I guess “welcome to {pre}motherhood” right?!

Symptoms? This is the last time on this question. The belly. The hunger. I know I’m pregnant.

Food cravings? This week, nothing, everything, fruit & bread. I wasn’t called Suzanna Banana when I was little for no reason {I was not a fan of that nick name}.

Food aversion? Gah! The smell alone of the guacamole that looked so good at the store was just gross while husband ate the hell out of it. Sorry Mexican food. I hope one day we’re friends again.

Labor signs? No, thankfully.

Belly button in or out? Still in. Those belly button piercing holes though are looking pretty funny.

What I’m Looking Forward to? Seeing family this weekend. Showers that are being planned.

Weekly Wisdom? At fifteen weeks, the babies will kinda fend for themselves in me. So while I was gagging & puking trying to get food down at first, my nurse confirmed Wed morning that they’re fine on my reserves {aka hip fat} & I was okay for a few days just sticking with gatorade & ginger ale, bananas & saltines.

Milestones? The babies are the size of apples {four inches & weigh about 2.5 ounces} this week. They’re moving amniotic fluid through their noses & helping their lungs to develop. Their legs are now longer than the arms & they can sense light. Thanks Baby Center app, which I love but wish they had a multiples edition because when it told me I should’ve only gained 5 pounds & might start need to look into maternity clothes, I had to LOL.

Categories
Everything Else Pregnancy

Cough, Hack, Sneeze

Sweeping off the dust. That’s what I feel like I’m doing after not posting in almost a week. I think this might be the longest maybe ever I’ve gone without being on a computer. I can’t even look at my google reader since I’m about a week behind there too.

But I have pretty good excuses. Pregnant with triplets. Husband sick with super bad cold since NYE weekend. I thought I’d avoided it thanks to him quarantining himself to the guest room. The first work week of 2012 was done & I was looking forward to resting & finishing up the de-Christmasification Sat & Sun.

Main activity of Saturday was two friends stopping by {hi K & P} one with frozen dinners & the other to pass on newborn & size one prefolds! I was feeling a little tired but went off to Target. I love Target & did my usual round of the store. I was spent though when I arrived home.

Sunday I was done. Like more exhausted than ever before. I was probably only awake for three or four hours & those were spent on the couch or reading in bed {I finished a random free book I’d downloaded onto my Kindle Fire. It wasn’t thought-provoking but Double Dare was an easy read}. Oh & I had a temperature of 100.6 Sunday night.

Monday was the MFM doctor appointment I’d been so looking forward to {it’s own post to come}. I barely made it. We both felt awful. I gagged down half a bowl of cereal & grabbed a gatorade for the ride. I told work I wasn’t coming in & went straight to the couch once we got home.

Monday afternoon until this morning is a blur of sore throat, flem, gagging, throwing up a few times, trying to force down BRAT diet food because I was so hungry, then major stomach issues when I did eat. I got little to no sleep at night between trips to the bathroom. Enough said. Thanks to Imodium, Tylenol cold, Gatorade, ginger ale & a sick husband who took care of me, today I’m officially on the mend.  I’ve stuck with very basic food but it’s all stayed in & at 8p, I’m feeling well enough to tell y’all about it. Praying this is the only sick spell in this pregnancy. I have a whole new respect for women who are fighting morning sickness.

Categories
Everything Else Reading

Listening is an act of Love

Listening is an Act of Love by Dave Isay was December’s book club pick. As per my new normal, I hadn’t finished it {I haven’t even read the January book we discussed Wed night}. But back in Dec I’d read enough to be able to talk about Dave Isay’s book.

That’s a nice thing about StoryCorps’ collection of short stories that make up Listening is an Act of Love, you can just pick it up and read it a quick chapter/story at a time. Though once I got into a section & after hearing my friends say how interesting the stories in the last grouping {water & fire} were, I couldn’t help reading one after another quickly & staying up past the trips bedtime.

I feel like I’d heard of StoryCorps before. Maybe in discussion that there was a booth by the 9/11 memorial. Or maybe the mobile booth traveled somewhere locally. I don’t listen to talk radio, but one of my book club friends heard the stories on their Friday morning NPR show. I love the idea that anyone, yes, anyone can reserve time & bring a loved one into their booth and record history. I’ve discovered I really enjoy non-fiction in the past couple of years & Listening is an Act of Love is an awesome example of the power in the everyday American story. How the normal, seen & told through your loved one, is precious & amazing. I wish I did a better job really interviewing my older family members & like that at the end of the book, the author provides a list of sample questions to get you started for your own interview.

While searching for a link to the StoryCorps site, I discovered they have two more books. One a collection of stories about Moms & another coming out in Feb about Love. Listening Is an Act of Love covered both topics in some sense but I bet those books will also be good. I’ll have to remember to add them to my library wish list.

Categories
Photography

Thankful on a Tuesday

As I review the last couple of weeks worth of pregnancy updates, I feel like my love of this pregnancy might not have really shown through. I was changing into pjs last night and took a moment to stretch my hands around & across the babies’ belly. Just to enjoy the moment. To wonder at the miraculousness that is any pregnancy much less my triplet one.

I know all moms-to-be {or at least most of them} are happy to be pregnant, but after all the work & prayers that went into us being pregnant, I can’t help but feel extra grateful. Extra joyous. This is not to mean that those who accidentally get knocked up or that the lucky ones who’s bodies cooperate the first time they tried don’t feel grateful. But I’m thinking about myself & these babies. And our overwhelming sense of love already.

I want to say thank you to friends and family for their generosity so far with this pregnancy. For friends who’ve passed down their maternity clothes to me. For friends who’ve offered to let me borrow their not-being-used baby supplies. For friends who’ve given birthday & Christmas gift cards to maternity & baby stores. For Jenny for giving us 7 bins worth of newborn-6 month clothes. For friends & family who’ve offered to come over to hold babies, bring food, & do laundry. I promise I will take y’all up on that!

To my husband. Who’s already being the sweetest, most excited Dad to these trips. I’m grateful for the times when he brings me water/bananas/ice cream when I’m too tired/hungry to get up to get them myself.  I half woke up Friday night after I’d rolled over to face him to find his hand had reached out to touch & rub the babies’ belly. He was half-asleep himself but making sure I was on my side & that they were doing well.

I always thought it was a little strange when I saw moms-to-be placing their hands on their bellys or even rubbing it. But now I get it. Not only does that make any itchy, stretched skin feel better, even though I can’t yet feel them, I love just knowing that their under my hands. I also am learning that while my pre-pregnancy self would’ve been totally weirded out by someone touching my chub, I don’t mind at all if friends reach out to touch the babies’ belly. I’m just thankful for their concern, excitement, support & love.

Categories
Family/Travel

Christmas 2011

If you remember, Christmas 2010 was not good for my family. My Ma, my Mom’s mother, passed away about 2am last Christmas morning. Christmas is & has always been a big deal for my family. Ma loved Christmas & her Santas so in a sense, it was fitting for her to hang on with us until Christmas day. So I went into this holiday season feeling bittersweet. The trips & their 2012 arrival was a great happiness for Jason & I as well as my whole family this Christmas & also managed to shift sadness to some joy.

I rode down Friday, Christmas eve eve to Charlotte with my aunt & uncle. Friday day we enjoyed a quick lunch, opened birthday gifts {my aunt, Mom & I all have late Nov/early Dec bdays}, ran last minute shopping errands & I snuck off to enjoy Pinkberry with my buddy Sara. Friday night we gathered around my grandfather for dinner at his clubhouse then opened gifts as a family. There were a few tears but more smiles.

Charlotte Christmas dinner
Christmas gift exchange

Mom, Dad & I traveled up I85 Christmas Eve to join my Dad’s parents & Jason at my parent’s house to continue our traditional Christmas celebration. Mom, Nana & I went to a packed house Christmas Eve church service where we sang by candlelight & were able to visit a little with old family friends.

We had a chill Christmas morning then my brother & new sister-in-law arrived with my “niece” Quinn while we were eating a pumpkin pancake bunch. We opened our stockings, then went upstairs to divide out gifts. Every year we swear we’re going to cut back. Mom & I kind of did this year but Nana & Beth have fun purchasing & wrapping up fun things & we were all once again spoiled! The trips are lucky ducks! Mom & Dad gave us all the loot we’d picked up from my triplet mom friend Jenny as well as some Pandora charms for me & tools for husband. Jason gave me a scentsy warmer & a gold & silver Pandora charm while I gave him a tool box organizer thing he wanted. Nana & Pawpaw gave us money as well as some clothes for us both. Beth & Steven went a little crazy with our buy buy baby registry & tiny baby things: the trips now have newborn-sized bear slippers, owl accessories, the frog bathtub pod, the newborn-to-toddler rocker {my bday gift} & a Baby Einstein entertainer.

While Beth & I napped & the guys watching the NBA games, Mom & Nana stepped up to make a delicious Christmas dinner complete with PW’s beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, a lima bean casserole, pineapple casserole & a pumpkin soup to start. We switched things up & enjoyed an ice cream cake for dessert!

Even being 13 weeks pregnant didn’t stop me from joining Mom & Nana on our usual day-after-Christmas shopping trip. We got a later start but still found some deals at Crate & Barrel & Loft before enjoying a Cheesecake Factory lunch. We ventured to Target on our way back to their house where I picked up some containers for the baby clothes Jenny had gave us. I also got a phone call while we were out saying that the third crib had been lost from Walmart.com but we were able to make a quick stop on our way home to a Walmart off 95 & now we have all three cribs. I can only imagine the fun times Christmas 2012 will bring!

Hope you & your family had a wonderful Christmas holiday.