38 Weeks

I just got back from my 38 week appointment. More progress has been made toward C-Day! Gina, my nurse practitioner, did a pelvic exam/cervical check and Holy Hell did that hurt! But I guess it hurt because I'm now a full finger dilated and 60% effaced. She was able to figure out where the baby's head was and determined that Charlotte is at -2 station. Basically what this means is that the baby's head is 2 centimeters down into the pelvis. When the baby is at 0 station, she is fully engaged. Gina said that the baby could come at any point, so we'll see! My guess is still sometime the week of June 11th, but you never know. Gina didn't estimate how big the baby is, but she said "wow that belly is all full of baby!" And it's true, I don't know what baby parts are poking out these days, but it feels like she's everywhere!

This is also my first week of maternity leave. It's been going well so far. I have a list of things to do to keep me occupied, but it's also horribly hot outside, so I've been limiting my errands to a couple things a day.

For your amusement, here's the list and what has been crossed off so far:
1) Find childcare for Charlotte
2) Deposit checks and rolled coins
3) Donate books to library
4) Buy breast pump
5) Clean out closet
6) Clean out cupboards in bathroom
7) Install carseat
8) Buy storage container for outgrown maternity clothes
9) Organize computer room
10) Get oil changed in car
11) Buy lamp shade for nursery
12) Buy Father's Day Cards
13) Make Labor Playlist for iPod (suggestions welcome!)
14) Buy/plant flowers for backyard
15) Buy baby swing
16) Photograph the nursery

I'm sure there are plenty of others to get through, and obviously all the absolutely necessary things (like installing the carseat) have been taken care of. It would be great if I could get the childcare question taken care of, but since I won't need it until October, I'll still have time once Charlotte arrives.

In any event, we'll certainly keep everyone posted!

4 Month Weekend

Well, not much to report other than today was my last day of work for 4 months! I decided I was just way too tired and mentally checked out to last another week. I know it will be hard to let go of work, especially not being in the loop with all the crazy things happening at the state and federal level, but I'm sure I'll find a way to get over it (particularly when Charlotte arrives).

The other piece of news is that as of yesterday I am now officially considered full term. This means that I can basically deliver anytime between today and 5 weeks from now (oh please don't let me go until 42 weeks!).

Now I just need to make my list of things to do and try and cross them off before Charlotte makes her grand appearance.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

By the way, I'm fully aware that my time off won't be a vacation. But it sort of feels like that today.

Stepping on my Soap Box

I'm taking a break from my normal pregnancy-related rants to write about something I watched that really made me think.

Last night, I had the opportunity to see a sneak preview of Food Inc., a documentary about the corporate food industry in the United States. It was shown at the Crest Theatre and was sponsored by the local Humane Society and State Senator Dean Florez. And of course, how can I fail to mention the two super celebrity guests in attendance, Alice Waters (founder of Berkeley's esteemed Chez Panisse restaurant) and Martin Sheen, one of my favorite actors/activists.

The movie was difficult to watch at times and it made me angry, just as Mr. Sheen said it would. The entire way that food is made in this country is degrading -- not only to the animals, but to the workers and the environment. In the past and what is still the case in Europe, although that too is changing rapidly due to globalization, people would buy what they needed at local markets. Today, the average grocery store sells upwards of 50,000 products. And while that may seem like a lot of consumer choice, a handful of major food companies own most of those.

The point of the documentary is not to make someone become vegetarian, but to make people think about where their food actually comes from. Guaranteed that those ads showing happy cows eating grass are meant to deceive -- the majority of dairy cattle and cattle raised for consumption are from massive factory farms. Anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy food -- I love to cook and I love to go out for good meals. I've defended eating meat, basically thinking it's an all or nothing proposition. Making a decision to eat meat, in my opinion, meant eating any kind of meat (what makes not taking the life of a cow more acceptable than taking the life of a chicken?). But the film definitely made me think -- because every time you buy something at the grocery store, you're making your preferences known. So if I can try to eat meat less, while at the same time making a conscious decision to eat meat raised in sustainable ways, I can be a more conscientious food consumer.

The real problem I have and what was made abundantly clear from the film, is that because the government heavily subsidizes certain so-called commodity producers (corn and soybean conglomerates for example), food that is not healthy is often much cheaper. So a poor family can spend a dollar and get a burger from a fast food restaurant, or they can buy half a pound of broccoli. What would you choose with your one dollar? One wonders why obesity generally is skewed toward the poor and people of color. I am lucky that I can use my income to make my food preferences known, but what about those who have very few choices to make with their limited income? What policy decisions can we make to give people, particularly those with limited incomes, the option to buy fresh fruits and vegetables over French fries and hamburgers?

So anyway, the movie won't be widespread in theaters until mid-June, but I encourage all of you to go and see it. It was eye-opening, particularly as someone who is about to become a parent for the first time. When I heard that a third of children born after 2000 will develop Type 2 diabetes, it scared me. I want my children to be healthy and to make the right decisions, but I also acknowledge that it's an up hill battle. After seeing this film, I know I will try to read food labels more and vote with my wallet. And who knows? Chris and I have already talked about eating less meat and more vegetables -- maybe we should implement Meatless Mondays like The Omnivore's Dilemma author Michael Pollan.

28 Day Countdown!

Hello Friends,

Yesterday marked 36 weeks or 4 weeks to go! I went to my 36 week appointment, and everything seems to be moving toward D-Day (or C-Day, that is).

The weight gain has finally slowed down. In fact, I think I was up yesterday because of the fabulous berry streusel muffins I made on Wednesday -- they were so good that I ate 5 of them throughout the course of the day. Think coffeecake in delectable muffin-sized portions.

Blood pressure is great. Charlotte is head down, but her head has not yet engaged into the pelvis, so there is always some concern that she'll move around. I'm not too concerned considering her legs have been poking out my right side for weeks now and any time she has hiccups I feel it way down low on the left side. That to me means she's pretty happy where she is. I'm measuring perfectly at 36 cm and the doctor estimated that if Charlotte were born today, she'd be about 6 1/2 pounds! Our little girl is going to be a big baby!

And because I've been having more and more Braxton Hicks contractions (none are particularly painful, but sometimes it feels like the wind has been knocked out of me and I have to breathe really slowly through them), the doctor decided to do a cervical check to see if any progress has been made. Turns out, I'm a fingertip dilated and things are starting to thin out. The doctor was pleased with this because she says that some women at 36 weeks are completely hard and closed, meaning that they're more likely to go past 40 weeks. So all in all, good news! I'm trying not to get my hopes up that I'll be early, but if things continue to progress, who knows?

The next appointment isn't until 38 weeks. A lot of people are astounded to hear that I'm only being seen every other week, but I'm not too worried. We wonder about why health care costs go through the roof and maybe part of it is too much continual monitoring of otherwise healthy pregnant women. I completely understand the women who have issues arise like gestational diabetes or high blood pressure -- those women should be seen more often. And I've been assured that should I feel the need to come in, I'll be seen.

Now the big question left to figure out is when to officially stop working. I can start getting paid disability leave at 36 weeks for a normal pregnancy, but I was going to wait until the last Friday in May (two weeks from today) . However, being at work is really taking its toll on me. I'm tired, my feet swell up a whole lot more, and I just feel a lot better overall when I'm at home and can lie down. My boss has been very understanding and I've been trying to work two days from home a week, but considering the baby might come early, I'd like as much time to get things in order as possible. Anyway, I have to make a decision so that my doctor can fill out the paperwork. I guess I'll think about it more over the weekend.

Uggh. The weekend. Sacramento is having its first triple digit heat spell of the year starting this weekend. A high of 101 on Sunday and high 90s tomorrow! It's going to be awful considering the last time it even got close to 90 degrees I thought I was going to pass out. Luckily a friend is throwing a party Saturday night and she has a pool, so that's where I'll be hanging out (let's not think about the fact that I don't currently own a maternity bathing suit). Sunday, I may just pour a bunch of ice cubes in the bathtub and sit there. :) I hope everyone else has a fabulous weekend, though!

Baby Berry Shower

I had quite the eventful weekend! My good friend Nancy and my next door neighbor Peggy threw me an absolutely beautiful shower. It really was more wonderful than I could have hoped for. The weather was perfect -- sunny and warm (although a tad hot for me with my Easy Bake Oven), my mom came up from San Diego, and Nancy and Peggy really outdid themselves. The theme was a tea party, so Peggy made cute little tea sandwiches and had lots of tea pots and china. Chris and Nancy's husband, Eric, amused themselves by watching the Star Trek movie, but came back just in time for me to open the presents! We got truly adorable presents from everyone, including a handmade security blanket from my former boss Julie. I don't think I have a picture, but it was great. We also received tons of White Sox baby clothes, courtesy of Chris' parents, as well as two Cubs onesies from Peggy's friends Helen and Woody. Chris gives Woody a hard time about the Cubs every time we see him, so it was so sweet of him to order Cubs onesies. Chris assures us that Baby Berry will be a White Sox fan. Finally, Peggy asked everyone to bring a favorite children's book to build up our little one's library -- I don't have a picture of this, but I know we'll have so much fun reading to our little girl. It really was a wonderful shower, and I'm so overwhelmed by the love from everyone!

And because I don't believe I've actually announced our dear little one's name officially on this blog, Charlotte Kay Berry is due in just over 4 weeks! Charlotte, besides being of French origins and sounding perfect with Berry, is also what the French call Strawberry Shortcake (Charlotte aux Fraises). We can't wait to meet her.

Nancy, creative girl that she is, sewed the Charlotte letters! This will be going in her cute little room above the crib.

All the wonderful loot!

Here I am with the three planners - Peggy, Nancy, and Helen

My favorite cake from Freeport Bakery! A Raspberry Cream Torte for our little Berry Girl.

Nancy also made this adorable blanket for Charlotte, which of course fits in perfectly. At some point, once I've gotten everything organized, I'll take pictures of the (almost) complete nursery.

My friend Elizabeth got me, among other things, this little pair of elephant pajamas. When she saw the nursery after the shower was over, she was amazed that we had a pink elephant theme! :)

35 Weeks Showering Down

So I promised (myself, that is) to post belly pictures because it's been over 4 weeks. Well, yesterday my office was nice enough to throw Baby Berry and me a shower! We received TONS of clothes (because I guess no one can resist buying cute little baby girl clothes) as well as a lot of nice things off our registry. Below are a select few from the fun event!

They decorated the Conference Room with cute baby elephants and giraffes, just like the nurery!

Yummy Strawberry and chocolate cake, along with "Berry Sherbet" Punch

35 Weeks next to all the gifts!

Because who can resist an itty bitty shrug with Pooh on it?!

A cute little bathing suit for Baby Berry, including a pink polka dot hat and pink sunglasses. Too cute!

Crazy Baby Boards

Okay, so the baby boards online are like a train wreck. You want to stay away and stop looking, but you just can't. What I've realized is that you don't need any sorts of qualifications to have a baby. People have them all the time -- degree, no degree, job, no job, money, no money. What I really don't understand is why pregnant women turn to other completely clueless pregnant women for advice.

These are a few of the more ridiculous questions that I've come across in the past few months (no editing of these):

1) Could iceing my crotch give baby brain freeze?
* A responder told her, tongue-in-cheek obviously, to swallow a sweater. Another said "oh and if you eat soup, you'll give your baby third degree burns!"

2) I might sound dumb asking this question but my favourite movie is out today "Wolverine"!! I was wondering can I go the movie theatre or is it way too loud?? I am afraid it's too noisy for the womb....am I over reacting??
*Surprisingly the answers weren't "you're nuts," but just don't sit too close to the speakers. I should have responded, you should go, but put ear muffs on your belly.

3) My wife is due with our first on June 16. We are having a boy and are very excited. I have been reading the posts on here for a while and haven't seen this question yet. Since this is our first my wife have breastfed yet and we are just wondering at what point do the breasts get the hole in them. I didn't know how to word that any better.
*I just really can't react to this one at all.

And of course the piece de resistance (I'm paraphrasing b/c I don't have the link anymore):

4) I'm 9 weeks pregnant and wondering what birth control you're using now because don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be pregnant, but I don't want to get pregnant again.

*There were hundreds of responses to this, mostly in the form of you obviously don't know your body at all. But what really got me was when the poster then responded, I don't understand why all of you are reacting this way - Irish Twins is a real thing. It's when you have children less than 12 months apart, which can only mean that you're not done being pregnant with the first before becoming pregnant with the next. To which one person responded, yeah, but you're not pregnant for a YEAR!

Anyway, I just felt like I should share these. I know it's probably bad of me, but I can't help feeling just a tad bit more prepared for labor, breastfeeding, taking care of a real-life human being... and yes, just a little bit smug.