Wednesday, August 18, 2010

being pregnant

39 weeks pregnant. only 1 more grueling week to go (if i'm lucky) or perhaps he'll come early and i won't have to endure the next 7 days. as the end draws near, i have been reminiscing about the past 9 months, and here are just a few things i have learned:


1.) people love to give advice and at times, very strange advice. for example, below are actual quotes from emails i received from either clients or co-workers.


"Stay healthy- no fads, just basics. Say "yes" to help. Breast feeding is very good! (But don't get hung up on "how long" you need to do it) you're body will run it's course (but metoclopramide 10 mg q.I.d p.o may help you extend the time). Don't listen to people who give you stress; mothers have been doing a great job for millions of years!" -an opthamologist client

"So congrats! Just a word of advice....if you get home from the hospital and the baby is screaming in the middle of the night and you stagger to his/her room to do your mommy thing and the following thought enters your head...."Oh My God...WHY did I think this was a good idea? I can't do THIS! What was I THINKING?"......you are NOT a bad mommy. My kid's nine and I sometimes think that even now." -a colleague

"Good for you . Women catch all the breaks. I know You will make a terrific Mom. Best of luck see you in December. My wife was able to squeeze a little more time out of her maternity leave since she breast fed (first 3 months) her GYNOBY found a impacted or infected areola (she didn't know she had) . It gave her a few more weeks." -our contractor

"If you don't immediately fall in love with your baby as soon as he's born, it's okay." -a colleague



2.) people are so complimentary and such well wishers

"you're so skinny! how is it possible you're 9 months pregnant?" -a counterpart from Barcelona

"you look amazing! i can't believe you're due in a week!" -a work neighbor

"good luck with your baby boy! i bet he's gonna have beautiful blue eyes!" -random client

"best wishes to you and your baby." -a stranger sitting across from me on the train

"congratulations! you'll be a great mom!" -the fireman who i gave change to for the fill the boot

3.) people are genorous with gifts, some gifts more welcome than others. for example, the 2 women who clean my showroom, who most likely don't have a pot to piss in, each bought the baby a gift, and a very generous gift at that. a designer in the building where i work bought the baby the cutest outfit ever. but then there are the gifts i would have rather not received. like a t-shirt for the baby with a picture of the woman's dog on it?? or the random sweater vest and weird overcoat that looks like a girl should be wearing it, just those 2 things, no pants to match. and the box filled with fleece pajamas, 3 pairs of them, all the same size, all will be too big for him when he actually needs to wear fleece. a baby blue sweater one piece? just because it's from bloomingdale's doesn't mean it's a good gift.
i don't mean to sound ungrateful, but you have to wonder what goes through people's minds when picking out gifts. do they buy the first thing they see on sale and they don't care what it looks like or do they really think what they are getting is a good practical gift? i don't know.

all in all, being pregnant has been a joy. sure the morning sickness, the backaches, the horomones and everything else were a pain, but i'm going to miss my big ol' belly and everyone saying how cute i look even if they don't mean it. i'm going to miss feeling the baby move inside, letting me know he's okay. i'm going to miss being at my heaviest weight, but still feeling beautiful because it's for a good cause. however, a whole new chapter will begin once he gets here and i can't wait.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

waiting.....

a shooting pain in the side wakes me at 4:00 a.m. the pain comes in waves throughout the morning and has me in tears on my drive into work. at noon the pain has worsened and my husband begs me to call the doctor. at 2:30 pm the pain is so intense it takes my breath away and makes me stumble while walking across my office floor. this kind of pain finally warrants a call to the doctor. it's 3:00 pm on a friday and he's gone for the day. the nurse is going to have the on-call doctor call me back. she does and tells me to immediately go to labor and delivery. i still have 5 weeks to go, labor and delivery is not what i expect to hear.

at the hospital, in a delivery room, i am told to pee in a cup and then i am hooked up to monitors. the nurse casually tells me the pain i am feeling is contractions. the room starts spinning for both me and my husband. two doctors come in along with the nurse pushing an iv cart and an ultra sound machine. a blood pressure strap is wrapped around my arm. questions like, "do you know the sex? do you want him circumcised? are you going to breastfeed? do you have a living will?" are thrown at me. an iv is stuck in my arm while the doctor does an ultrasound. my baby weighs 5 pounds 7 oz, he's in the proper position. the doctor says, "he's ready to come out." holy hell i'm having a baby! beads of sweat the size of golf balls are dripping down my husband's head. he's biting his nails. he asks the doctor if he should be calling people and the doctor says, "not yet".

an exam is performed and numbers like 0 cm and 40% are mentioned. 0 cm, that means no dilation, right? the doctors says i'm not in true labor. miraculously the blood pressure drops back down to normal, my husband's too. the nurse had drawn blood and ran tests on my urine that proved i was dehydrated. dehydration causes contractions. who knew? 3 hours later the contractions have moved to 10 minutes apart. they decide to release me.


should i be on bedrest? nope, continue with normal daily activities. does this mean the baby could come early, my husband asks? the nurse replies, "yes. he could come tomorrow or he could come in two weeks, but nevertheless, early."


and now the waiting begins. contractions are still there, not like they were before, but still there. pressure is so strong on my pelvic and lower back area. i wait. condensation from the water bottle i carry drips down my legs. i think my water broke. it hasn't. my husband makes me sleep on a towel. he makes me sit on a towel. i wait for my water to break. 2 BBQs are on our calendar over the next few weeks and my rsvp response is "maybe". i'm waiting to see if the baby comes. trying to plan something for my husband's birthday at the end of the month is impossible because i'm waiting to see if the baby comes.

september 5th, the actual due date, was fine with me. but now, being told he could come early, makes it that much harder. waiting......i can't wait to meet this little boy.