Sunday, April 29, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Clothes and Cramps
I'm officially tired of my maternity clothes and I don't want to buy anymore. I have few things to select from for work attire and it's frustrating me. There are some really cute summer tops out there now but I have to wear shirts that cover most of my bicep due to the tattoo I have on my left arm. For skirts, I have a tatoo on my right leg so I can't expose that.
I think I'm going to hit a consingment store in Vancouver this weekend and see what they have that's reasonable. I found a few things on sale at Gap.com I just don't want to spend the money. I'll probably want to buy a pair of capris and a couple of summery tops too so I'm not dying of the heat in May or June.
Last night I had the WORST leg cramp of this pregnancy. I tend to stretch my legs in the middle of the night and I did this last night and my right leg cramped. I could feel it coming on so I tried to adjust so it wouldn't become a full blown leg cramp. Well, that didn't work. It was so bad I had to get out of bed and stand on my leg to get rid of it. I was almost crying it hurt so bad, definetely moaning. I thought I read not to point your toes so when I stretched that leg my heel was flexed and I was still getting the cramp. I tried to massage it but nothing worked until I put pressure on it by standing. I kept saying, "they say to flex your heel, my heel is flexed and the cramp won't go away, it's getting worse." It was really painful and my leg still hurts.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Labor Dream
I'm still getting wacky dreams. This weekend I had a dream about labor. It's true, I may be getting a little worried or anxious about labor, especially with the information that we get in our lamaze class and the videos we watch. Last week one of the videos was very intense for me and I think this precipitated my latest dream. We watched all of these women who were in the "pushing" stage of labor and basically just watched them in contractions, moaning, hitting their partners, etc. and then giving birth. Okay, can you say traumatizing. First of all, I have never been to a live birth so seeing these babies coming out was in and of itself frightening. Secondly, to go from one woman to another who is either moaning, screaming, hitting their partner, chanting, etc. with no break for about 30 minutes was almost too much for me. I was near tears through the entire video. Since this class, I've been doing more reading and actually the doulas reassured me of some of the fears I have in general of labor so I'm doing okay with all of the information now, so I thought...then I had this dream:
My dream was about delivering the baby and I was in labor for 34 hours AND the doctors put me under. So I was unconscious throughout the entire labor. When I came to, they handed me my baby and I was convinced it wasn't mine, I mean how did I know that they didn't just give me someone else's baby. I was very upset with the doctors for putting me under as I wanted to experience my labor and see my baby enter the world. It was pretty creepy and that's all I remember of the dream.
When I woke up that morning, I was sharing my dream with Sharon. She didn't seem alarmed by the dream and I emphasized, "they put me under, how do I know that was my baby." She said, "it was our baby, I was right there with you." I said, "how do you know?" And she said, "You were unconscious, I'm just filling in the missing pieces." It was very sweet.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
What an Evening.
Well last night was quite an event. As a prelude to this funny story, I walked home across the Hawthorne Bridge after work and had a very humbling experience. I have always been a fast walker and I am also very competitive so I race people (strangers) when I walk. Either I race them across the street if we're going the same direction or I make sure no other walkers pass me. Well, being pregnant, that is just not the case anymore. I was passed by a man with a limp last night. Yes, that is right. He stopped on the bridge, I passed him, then he passed me - he shuffled his feet when he walks so I could hear him behind me yet I couldn't gain anymore speed. Then he slowed down a bit and when I was catching up to him he sped up! It was pretty funny.
Okay, here is where the traumatic events of last night come in:
It all began when I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat for dinner. Sharon is out of town so I had to either cook dinner for myself - not what I wanted to do - or go get something - also not what I wanted to do because I had no idea what I wanted. So about 7:30 I decided that I would go to Burgerville because nothing else sounded good. I walk outside my house and head toward the garbage cans to put something in there and I see this little jack russell terrier running around outside at a house right on the corner of my street and Burnside. I am not one to rescue strange dogs or even help strays but I was concerned because he was very energetic and I didn't want him to get hit on Burnside. So, I call him to me and he comes running right away-super friendly little guy, jumping in my face, licking, etc. He let's me look at his collar and I find a phone number and his address. Well his address says, SE Clinton and SE 40th Street and I thought that was a pretty long way from home. This house he was running around at was just recently rented so my thought was it was the people that lived there and I just so happened to see them leave earlier, walking down Burnside so I knew they weren't home.
So I call the number, no one answers and now am trying to figure out what to do with him. Well in the meantime he runs up to our front porch and finds the porch kitty Maya. This is bad-very very bad. He has a face off with her and she takes off running, well he follows her and chases her up a tree into my neighbors backyard. He is totally obsessed with getting her in that tree. So my neighbor comes out of his house and gives me some good advice, to get a leash and bring him back to my house so I do that, he also makes some comments that totally irk me but at the time I just blew them off. One such comment was, "well you could put him in your garage. Do you have a garage? Oh yeah, well he probably wouldn't fit in your garage." Basically saying that we have too much stuff in our garage or some such thing...I just said, "well I wouldn't put him in the garage because that's not a safe area for him to be in for one thing." He didn't respond.
Okay, so I grab a leash, grab the dog and proceed to stand outside waiting for these people to come home. It's getting later and later, I know I need to eat and I don't know what to do with him. I was going to put him in our kennel so I bring him up to the front porch and tie him up. In the meantime, my dogs are barking because they can hear what's going on. I go inside and now my dogs are barking and this dog is barking out front-barking loud. I decide I can't leave him in the kennel and leave because he'll just keep barking and annoy my neighbors.
I decide to leave to go to Burgerville, my original plan and take him with me. But first, I thought I would drive up to the neighborhood coffee shop and restaurant to see if I could find the two who I think he belongs to. We drive up there, I don't see them and I didn't want to go into the restaurant so we head to Burgerville. Once at Burgerville there is a long drive-up line. I call my friend Cissy in the hopes of getting some advice, I tried Sharon and she didn't answer. Cissy doesn't answer. I call Sharon on her work phone, she answers. I tell her what's going on with this dog, she gives me some advice it's fine. . . .. . . ..THEN, I tell her about our neighbor's comment and I start to cry as I'm spewing expletives about my feelings for this guy. She hears me crying and asks what's wrong. I say, "I'm tired." She says, "yeah" in a understanding tone. Then I say, "I'm tired and I'm in the Burgerville drive-thru and I don't want Burgerville and I have this dog and I don't know what to do with him". Immediately she asks who's in town (of our friends-the majority are currently in Mexico). I say I just called Cissy and she didn't answer. She asks what Connie's number is (another friend) and I give it to her, she says okay and hangs up. I am now crying and ordering my food, still a long line. Connie calls about five minutes later.
In the meantime this dog has warmed the hearts of the workers at Burgerville. Apparently he knows that he gets biscuits at drive-thrus so he's working it. I get my food and call Connie back. She asks if I'm okay, I tell her that I am, just having a hard time, I tell her my cat's in a tree and I haven't told that to Sharon yet. She says she's coming over to hang out and get the cat. I say okay. Sharon calls me back, I say Connie is on her way and as I pull up on my street I see lights on at the house where I think this dog belongs. I then see the two women outside and I wave because I can tell they're looking for this dog. I hang up with Sharon, park the car (still running) and get the dog out. Yep - it's their dog, well actually it's not their dog, but they are watching it. They are so excited to see him, Weabil is his name. I guess he jumped out the window on the second floor came down the eave and jumped onto the ground. Their names are Gillian and Wendy.
He's safe, I can now eat. I scarf down my food and strawberry shake and Connie comes over. Connie gets there I'm still drinking my fresh strawberry shake and she immediately wants to get the cat, I grab a flashlight we head over to the neighbors house. I ring the bell to ask if I can go into their backyard, they say yes we head back there. She's still in the tree, she hasn't moved. We try to call her down she doesn't move. Connie wastes no time and starts climbing the tree. She gets up to where Maya is, grabs her and starts the decent. Maya was stuck which is why she hadn't moved. Maya's now latched onto Connie and purring while Connie is trying to figure out how to get down. The going up was much easier. I try to get Maya from Connie so she can get down, Maya won't let go of Connie. A few minutes later, Connie figures out how to get down and they're both safe and sound. We bring Maya home and go inside, it looks like Maya may be bleeding as Connie has some blood on her shirt. Maya has a little blood on her back claw, she may have scraped her toenails, not sure, I wash it off and keep her inside for the night.
Finally, the trauma is over! Whew, what an eventful night. Connie was saying when Sharon called the first thing Connie thought was where is everyone (our friends) and she remembers, they're all gone, they're all in Mexico..Oh no!
This just goes to show that it takes a village to take care of Pregnant Amanda!! No wonder I need a filler when Sharon's gone.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
It's a GREAT day in Oregon for EQUALITY!
Yesterday, two civil rights bills passed in the Oregon House. SB2 will ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in areas such as employment, housing, public accommodation and public education and HB 2007 which will create a new statute in Oregon law, separate from Oregon's marriage statutes, to provide same-sex couples with Domestic Partnerships. These Domestic Partnerships provide Oregon's same-sex couples and their families with many of the basic protections, rights, and responsibilities under state law, currently only afforded through a marriage contract.
Unfortunately I was unable to go to Salem for this historic moment, but I did read the blog updates from two area bloggers reporting on the debate throughout the day. This is a huge moment in Oregon because for one, SB2 has been in the legislature four times in 34 years. Here's a press release from the Speaker of the House Jeff Merkley.
http://www.leg.state.or.us/press_releases/merkley_041707.pdf
Here's a couple of statements from the debate that impacted me. These are taken from Amy Ruiz who was blogging for the Portland Mercury at http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com
10:54am—Rep. Chip Shields, Northeast Portland's Democrat, says this moment "is bittersweet."
"Let's be clear. This is not equality. Not even close." Oregon couples would still be denied "over 1200 rights" afforded by federal law. The DPs aren't portable. And couples would be denied "access to full equality that is marriage itself."
Looking back, he thinks the legislators will be "pained by our ignorance." It upsets him to vote for this bill, but he will—because it's an advance on the road to equality. "I will continue to advocate for full equality under the law."
11:01am—Democratic Rep. Sara Gelser, a "married mother of four, a Christian, a youth pastor," is standing up to support this bill.
Her daughter's godmother was in a car wreck—the woman's partner had to call their attorney before she could head to the hospital to make medical decisions, then she called Gelser. Doctors told them everyone had to leave except for family. Then they told her partner and Gelser to take the woman home—her arms were still filled with glass, she was in pain, she was in no shape to leave. "If I had been laying in that hospital room, my husband would have been there, able to say 'we're not taking her home.'"
"These are the protections that people who are in committed, loving, gay and lesbian relationships need," Gelser says. "We aren't legislating families or creating new families. Families exist. Soccer games happen, bills are paid... these families will continue regardless of this law. Our families operate on a power greater than the law... What we are doing today is protecting the abilities of families that already exist to be next to each other in the times that matter most."
Both of these bills are now going to the Senate. SB2 already passed the senate but there were amendments made so the amendments have to be voted on. HB2007 will move to the Senate for a committee hearing and the to the floor vote. Both of these bills are expected to pass the Senate. When that happens, they will go to the Governor to sign and he has pledged to sign both of these bills.
YEAH FOR OREGON!!!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Check-up is All Good
We had our doctor check-up last night, they are such brief visits. The doctor measured my belly, it's normal, we heard Cooper's heartbeat, it's strong and loud. We're going to schedule another ultrasound at our next visit in a month to check on Cooper's kidneys.
I took the glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. You have to drink this orange drink type thing within five minutes (I did it in 2 because I was being competitive!!) and then wait an hour and have your blood drawn. My glucose is fine, within normal range. They also looked at my bloodcount, which is slightly low, my doctor said normal for pregnancy. So I'm healthy and Cooper's healthy.
We talked with the doctor about circumcision and are still deciding about whether or not to have the procedure.
That's it, our next appointment is in May, I'll be 31 weeks. I'm almost to the third trimester, I have one more week in the euphoric second trimester.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Another Bad Dream (Make that two)
Last night I had the most horrible dream. I was up most of the night tossing and turning and I guess able to dream as well. I dreamt that Sharon died. I had this dream twice last night. The first time I woke up in hysterics and fortunately Sharon was home to comfort me. She hugged me and told me she was right here. I was sobbing in my dream, screaming no, it was awful. I kept telling the doctor that she's only 44. Oh, it was terrible. The second time I dreamt that she died I don't remember as much what happened. That first one was so vivid and frightening.
Also, I had a dream, last week on Thursday night. I had the day off Friday and Sharon called me at 5:52am. I was still in my dream and she just left me, so when she called I told her she just left me and that it was awful and Holly and Angie were pissed that she left without saying anything. She bolted-didn't tell me anything, just left me and Cooper. It was so bad. So I was quite upset. I was telling my chiropractor later that morning and I was in tears talking about it..
These dreams are so vivid and I'm remembering them and they are tragic!!! Pregnancy hormones are not a friend of mine.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Lamaze
We had our first lamaze class last night. There were four couples total in the class, which is nice and small. It was a good class, we learned some things we didn't know and started this thing called belly mapping. That was pretty cool, and Sharon could mostly tell that his feet were up near my ribs. The idea is to figure out what position the baby is in by touching your belly. I've been convinced that one of Cooper's body parts is hitting my ribs because I'm in a lot of pain up there. So we palpated and the instructor came by to see if she could tell. She thinks Cooper is in a posterior position (not optimal for birth but he still has plenty of time to move to the anterior position). So posterior is his head is down near the birth canal and he's facing my abdomen, his feet are near my ribs and possibly hooked on one. So the kicks/hits I feel on my bladder are his hands as he's reaching up to his head or sucking his thumb. There is a lot of empty space in the middle of my belly - when he turns, I should be able to feel his shoulder or butt. So, I've been trying to move him by sitting forward. I don't think he's moved yet and if he has my ribs are still sore and will continue to be for awhile because of the pressure.
I like the class because it takes more of the fear of labor out of the picture. The instructor is taught by a Doula with Mothertree Services and she's really intelligent and has good information. She's been to over 100 births, has two babies of her own and has information for hospital births and home births. She's a great resource and will be really helpful from now until I give birth and after for that matter.
It was also great to bond with Sharon. We did some massages, where the partner massages the mama and that was nice to incorporate touch and get in tune with each other. So much emphasis is on the baby that is was great to bring us together and do things to support one another.