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Odds 'n ends catchup.

2008-01-25 - 10:24 a.m.

I wrote the following on Monday evening, intending to post on Tuesday, but then was unexpectedly out on Tuesday, and had off-site training Wednesday and Thursday, so this is the first chance I�ve had to post it�.

Coming back to winter has been particularly brutal this time. After a week of being enveloped in warm, sultry air, the dry cold here in the Great White North took an almost-immediate toll on me. Within 12 hours of landing on the frozen tarmac I had several patches of skin on my face that were dry enough to require the liberal application of a heavy-duty moisturizer, on top of my usual overall-coverage moisturizer. After every shower I have to apply my face stuff, oil my belly, and body-butter my legs and arms.

On top of this I�ve suffered minor nosebleeds a couple of times in the last few days. I know this is partly due to the fact that pregnant women are more susceptible to such things, but it�s the first time it�s happened and I can�t be convinced it�s a coincidence.

Why do I live here again?

::

I am SO looking forward to the ultrasound I�ve got booked for this Friday. In addition to the chance to check on the Biscuit in general, I�m hoping to find out whether we�re expecting a boy or a girl (previous ultrasounds have already eliminated �kitten� from the possibilities). I have to admit too, I�d like some reassurance that all is well. Last pregnancy I�d gotten some good thumps starting at 17 � week and by this time they were even visible and �feelable� from the outside. This time I�ve only had a few vague squirmings most days in the last week or so, some days none at all, and I�m at 19 � weeks and thought I was supposed to feel movement earlier with my second pregnancy. Do I have a weakling in there? Is something wrong? Or is it something innocent like the placement of the placenta blocking the karate chops? Bring on the grainy grey images!

::

I�m a little bummed. My work is having a going-away lunch for three of my about-to-be-former colleagues and they waited for me to come back from vacation so I could be there� but failed to check my availability and scheduled it for Wednesday when I�m off-site on a training course. Not only do I miss out on the goodbyes and the camaraderie and team-building of a group outing, but I miss out on the yummy Thai food that will be consumed. Phooey!

::

Okay, on to a more current part of this entry: I'm 20 weeks today and the ultrasound is at 3:00 pm EST. That means I may know the Biscuit�s sex in just over 5 hours! I hope the wee beggar cooperates. Any guesses out there? I can tell you that, still, everybody that�s guessed in person so far has guessed �girl� but I have an innate feeling of �boy�. I think this may be in part due to the fact that this pregnancy is not quite the same as the last, though I know intellectually that that doesn�t mean anything. For instance, my lactose intolerance didn�t disappear with this pregnancy, I�ve been more prone to headaches, and I�m feeling a lot less activity and not leaking any colostrum yet (the last two of which I experience from 17 � weeks onward the first time with Grommet). Bear in mind that I�ve been wrong 100% of the time when guessing the sex of other people�s babies�.

Feel free to post a guess in the comments section. Last chance (hopefully)�

In other Belly-watch news, I can once again officially confirm that my belly button does have a bottom. You see, normally my navel is so deep that it seems to just end in a fold where it collapses in on itself. No longer. The growing Biscuit has officially pushed the bottom of my belly button up and the skin of my belly out enough that I can once again see the bottom. It�s a weird feeling, to be able to see and even touch the soft skin of the inside of my belly button.

Still no big kicks since I wrote the paragraph above. By this time last time with Grommet, I was getting some good, solid kicks and flutters. I remember thinking it was like the baby had swam from the back to the front of my huge pool of a uterus, then did a tuck �n roll turn once she reached to front, only to head back into the murky depths. A sugary donut could reliably be used to start my internal Riverdance entertainment. In contrast, this time I get a few gentle wiggles and nudges throughout the day from the Biscuit just as gentle reminders that he or she is there and alive, but nothing strong or reliable. I guess I�m not really worried about whether or not the Biscuit is viable, but I�m kind of worried that there might be something wrong that might be making the Biscuit kind of, well, feeble. I�m clinging to the reminder that not all pregnancies are the same, and who knows? Maybe after my c-section I�m not as sensitive to kicks now? I still have a band just below the scar where I don�t really feel much as a result of the nerves being severed.

I�ll definitely post before the end of the weekend if I have news of any sort from the ultrasound. Otherwise, assume everything�s fine and we couldn�t determine the boy- or girl-ness of the Biscuit. We�re celebrating Grommet�s second birthday (!!) (which was yesterday) at the two sets of grandparents on Friday and Sunday, and I�ve got a date with a man who isn�t J on Saturday, oh my!

(Settle down, it�s with my father, who needs an escort to a Robbie Burns celebration.)

(Still, admit it, for a split second, I had you going, �What the heck?!?�)

Before - After


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