Week 14: one trimester down, two to go

Welcome aboard, new readers!  Kevin and I started this blog a few weeks ago to track the highs and lows of pregnancy and, someday, the joys and challenges of parenting.  We'll post about once a week for awhile, then probably more frequently as we get further along.

Why are you calling your kid "Gunior"?  Is that his/her name?
Wondering why we're calling the bun in the oven "Gunior?"  It comes from the children's book "Flap Your Wings" by P.D. Eastman, one of my favorites when I was little.  Not to ruin the suspense for anyone who was planning to read it, but it's about two birds that find a stray egg on the ground and decide to take it up to their nest and raise the little hatchling as their own.  Alas, it hatches to reveal not a baby bird but a baby alligator.  Unfazed, Mr. and Mrs. Bird decide to raise "Junior" anyway, but eventually he grows too big for the nest so they try to teach him to fly, saying "flap your wings!"  He jumps, but being an alligator, he falls...into the pond below, which he decides is a perfect new home.  It seems I had trouble pronouncing my j's (and l's, I was "Ay-en" for awhile) so I would pronounce Junior as "Gunior."  As we were discussing prenatal baby nicknames, Kevin suggested either Gunior or "the alien."  Gunior won.

Here's the namesake:


Where will Gunior be born?
This past week was interesting as we toured the last two options we wanted to consider for where to have our little one.  The easy choice would be to go with an OB at a practice 5 minutes from home with delivery privileges at Las Colinas Medical Center, just a contraction away.  But we both feel strongly about having a natural birth experience with no epidural, induction, or any other intervention that isn't medically necessary and our research led us to consider other options.  So, we visited 3 midwife-staffed birthing centers and Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, known as the most natural-birth friendly in the Metroplex.

Monday, we toured Baylor's labor and delivery and postpartum recovery wings.  We liked the set-up and they do seem very open to natural birth, with options for laboring/delivering in a tub and a bed that can sit up into a chair position and has a spot for a support bar to lean on.  And, should complications arise, it's an excellent hospital with a Level 3 NICU just 7 floors up.  The postpartum suites were nice enough too, but we were disappointed to learn the standard post-delivery stay is 2 nights.  That was the only real issue we found with Baylor.

Friday, we toured the Gentle Beginnings Birth Center in Hurst.  The midwife we met with there was probably my favorite of all we've met but there were a few things with the birth center itself we weren't as fond of.  Number one, our insurance provider apparently doesn't cover it because the midwives are certified professional midwives rather than certified nurse midwives.  Two, the room layouts left a bit to be desired.  Three, while there is a hospital close by, the closest Level 3 NICU is further away.

After considering all our options we've decided to go with a midwife practice with delivery privileges at Baylor.  I had hoped for a birth center, but the midwife at Baylor option seems to be the best fit for us this time.  So, now it's time to call and set up an appointment!

Next up: selecting a doula.

End of the first trimester: Happy times are here again?
First, I have to again say that I'm grateful that my pregnancy symptoms have been relatively mild.  I haven't been throwing up 10 times a day, unable to eat favorite foods, or suffering heartburn.  Having said that, the queasy feeling which has been hanging around the past 6 weeks or so has worn out its welcome and I'm ready for it to go away.  And who wants to get up 3-4 times every night to go to the bathroom?  Not me!  The What to Expect book leads me to believe these symptoms ought to be easing up any day now (hear that, Gunior?  Simmer down in there!) and I'm hoping that proves true.

With the super-cold temperatures forecasted for Dallas toward the end of the past week, I was wishing we'd get a little precipitation so maybe the office would be closed and I could spend the day home relaxing by the fire.  Well, no precip, but I did wind up spending Thursday at home.  Woke up that morning with a fierce headache near the base of my head.  I took some Tylenol and went back to bed for an hour, hoping that would do the trick.  No luck.  Tried a heating pad, still no luck.  Afraid it could develop into a migraine, I called in sick and went back to bed again and woke up to find it unchanged.  Fortunately my chiropractor was able to squeeze me in for an adjustment and the headache finally went away after that.  So, I thought I'd eat lunch and head into work for the afternoon.  Alas, it seems Gunior didn't want to miss out on the fun so a little morning sickness ensued.  I wound up spending the afternoon alternately curled up on the couch with ginger ale and the 90210 gang and napping.  Fortunately no trace of the headache or tummy troubles the next day.

Today brought an interesting new experience and a preview of a new symptom that may be joining us for awhile.  Kevin and I served as readers and chalice bearers in church this morning and had to wear vestments over our regular clothes.  For those unfamiliar with vestments, the stylish get-up looks like this:

Whatever the vestments are made of (polyester?  acrylic?) they are great at trapping body heat.  Wearing those things feels like sitting in a heating blanket.  To put it in perspective, last month the furnace was broken at church and it was probably 65 degrees in the chapel.  Cold to everyone else, but I felt perfectly comfortable in light slacks and top under the cassock and surplice.  Alas, when it's a more comfortable 75 or so in there to everyone else, it's pretty toasty for those in vestments.  (Perhaps Under Armour or Nike could make some from their DriFit material that would wick the body heat away?)

I always get a little warm in those, but today every time we stood up I started feeling a little light-headed.  Later after lunch, I was feeling the same way in the car on the way home and had to open the window to get some air, then take a nap.  Given that I'm usually the cold one when everyone else is comfortable, I attribute this latest development to the bun in the oven.

Another recent development is some pain in my lower abdomen, like I might feel if I was a little over-exuberant in lower ab workouts.  Apparently that would be the muscles and tissues there stretching to accommodate the growing baby and presumably leading me to start showing eventually.

Speaking of the bun in the oven, here's today belly shot.  Still no weight gain yet, my weight is right around where I was pre-pregnancy.  I get hungry and have to eat every few hours though, which I imagine will show up on my waistline soon enough.  According to What to Expect, the kiddo is the size of a clenched fist right now.