pregnancy

I’m officially one day past my due date. Sigh.

My belly on my due date, 9/14/13

Last Monday I came down with a sore throat. It lasted all week, eventually manifesting itself into a cold. While my throat is thankfully no longer sore, the cold has reared its ugly head in other ways. A hoarse voice, followed by a painful cough and now a stuffy nose.

It’s probably for the best the baby didn’t come early. Labor and caring for a newborn while being sick would have sucked. And so I can’t help but wonder if the baby is waiting for me to get healthy, which I suppose is very thoughtful!

The fact that I’m just waiting around at this point has been frustrating. But having friends, family and colleagues constantly check in to see if there’s any baby news serves as an even more painful reminder. Poor Princess Kate! I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to have the whole world waiting… and watching!

I’ve been keeping busy for the most part – sitting down to write this blog post is probably the most I’ve sat all weekend. Friday I took Mylo to the park with our friends and neighbors. We then took Griffie (our small dog) to the vet to have her shots. My parents came to Brooklyn for dinner. We ate at Sam’s in hopes that their famous baked ziti would have the same affect on the eve of my due date as it did in 2010 when I was pregnant with Mylo.

The ziti did zilch for me this time :(

On Saturday we enjoyed some quality family time in Brooklyn. Jason took Mylo to the park with our friends and neighbors while I did the grocery shopping. After Mylo napped we drove to Jones Beach. The sun was peaking through the clouds but also on the verge of going down. Between the fall sun on our faces and our cozy sweatshirts, it was the perfect evening to be at the ocean.

One of Mylo’s last days as an only child.

In the car on our way home from the beach I had four tolerable contractions in the span of a half hour. It was exciting but then just like that, they were gone.

Today we went with our friends and neighbors down to the farmer’s market at Pier 6 and met up with a few more friends. The kids ate pickles on sticks and ran around together like maniacs. Then we continued on to a street fair in Brooklyn Heights, which was dullsville. Mylo didn’t nap today and is currently scooting his tush off at the park with his buddy Matias. That means an early night in the sack for him and takeout and Shark Tank on TiVo for us!

A couple of weeks ago I really began to feel this baby come to life in my belly.  While I know I didn’t keep a detailed week-by-week account of my pregnancy with Mylo, I do know he was bopping around much sooner than 28 weeks.

There are no true patterns or consistencies, but I ‘m enjoying watching my belly shake from side to side when the baby moves about. This baby’s calmer in-utero existence makes me think there’s a girl in there, or a very mellow boy. Of course I’d hate to be wrong, but a very powerful dream pretty early on gave me the girl hunch.

At 30 weeks now, the arrival of this baby is becoming more of a reality. I am reading more and more birth stories in preparation for my own homebirth and am in awe of other natural birthing moms’ courage, stamina and confidence in their bodies.

We’re still piecing our birth team together. So far we have Kristen our midwife, Piper her assistant and Dia the doula. We’re in the process of meeting with a photographer to hire – which hasn’t been easy since birth photography isn’t a big business yet in New York City. Finding just the right person who respects the intimate birthing space they are being invited into, is affordable, and has a portfolio, has been a challenge. Then there’s who to have on call (if needed) for Mylo – most likely my mom.

Ahh, Mylo. My love. My first-born. Part of me aches that these next ten weeks are the last I will have with him alone. Meanwhile another part of me aches for this second child who will make us a true family. I’m excited to see Mylo shower the baby with his sweet ways yet anxious about the sleepless nights that lie ahead. And of course I have pangs about becoming a divided family: Daddy taking Mylo to the park while leaving baby and mommy to figure things out.

As for running in the third trimester, I’m still loving it but find I need to focus more on maintaining my center of balance. The hardest thing has become how I feel after the run then I do during the run. The pressure from the baby on my pelvis throughout the rest of the day is excruciating and causes me to do a painful waddle walk. Basically, I look like a pregnant woman in a lot of distress when normally, on a day I don’t run, I barely have a pregnant walk at all.

30 weeks pregnant w/ baby #2

Sleep has also become an issue. Mainly because my bladder wakes me up, but also because Mylo seems to be waking up earlier and earlier and making his way into our bedroom like it’s time to party. Most mornings his entry is at 6:00 am but some mornings it’s as early as 5:30. Sigh.

My maternity leave package leaves more to be desired, but I suppose that’s what you get when you work for a small boutique start-up company.

Time with Mylo, finding a photographer, lack of sleep, work worries and the fact that running is coming to an obvious end — are what’s on this pregnant mama’s mind these days.

I feel like a lot of the things I have to say about this pregnancy are negative. When things pop up that become little thorns in my side – and believe me, they are pooping up – my loving husband reminds me that I went through them with my first too, just much later in the pregnancy.

Lovely heartburn symptoms started up not long ago. And last week I woke up in the middle of the night with a killer charlie horse in my right calf. I was screaming, crying and cursing while directing Jason to fix it but not to touch it. Yea I know, kind of a tall order. Poor J. After several attempts to massage it out of my leg while I thrashed around on the bed like a fish out of water, he finally suggested I stand up. And pronto, just like that, it went away. I was pretty sore and with a slight limp the rest of the day. When I started to blame the baby, he reminded me that they too, happened when I was pregnant with Mylo. Thanks to him he also remembered that as long as I ate a banana a day, they didn’t reoccur.

This morning my plantars fasciitis, an ailment in my right heel from back in my marathon training days, came around to say hello. I know this certainly did not happen when I was pregnant with Mylo.

I used words like “magical” to describe my first pregnancy. I limited my diet coke intake and made sure I was getting sufficient amounts of iron and protein. Other than when the baby comes to life at night when I lay down, there’s not much magic happening here. I have no time to monitor my iron and protein intake and I’m ashamed to say that I’m back to “sipping the crack” – as Jason calls it – almost every other day.

And then of course there is the fact that I am just, well, BIGGER. Frown.

25 weeks pregnant w/ baby #2

There are some positive things about this pregnancy. For instance I’m truly grateful that I’m pregnant at all. I’ve loved sharing this pregnancy with my little boy who is convinced he is going to have a sister. Mylo’s also convinced that the baby will come out of my deep, cavernous belly button hole and uses one of his toys like a stethoscope to peer into it.

When my midwife came over for my 24 week appointment she let Mylo use the doppler on my belly so we could hear the heartbeat. Of course he was more fascinated by turning the doppler on and off then by the sound of the baby’s heart.

But not me. Hearing my baby’s heartbeat in utero comes pretty close to my favorite sound, Mylo laughing.

I am 21 weeks pregnant now, but took this photo when I was 20 weeks along. Finding the time to write about this pregnancy has not been easy, and that makes me kind of sad.

20 weeks pregnant w/ baby #2

It seemed like I had all the time in the world to focus on my first pregnancy, and I did. I wasn’t working for starters and didn’t have a two year old to run after. I spent many mornings running or at the gym and most of my afternoons obsessing about which stroller to purchase. Oh, and lest I not forget the naps I took!

I began running with this pregnancy at only 13 weeks pregnant. Not running through the first trimester seemed like the right thing to do given my previous losses. And I suppose the frigid winter temperatures made it even easier for me not to run.

I run about one or two times per week maximum now, and when I do, I feel like a ton of bricks. I feel a pressure in my uterus that I don’t recall feeling with my first. And other strange things pop up. For instance during this morning’s run, my left foot felt strained a good amount of the way. After each run my groin is so achy that by the end of a long day, I find myself walking in a waddle and I am no where even close to the waddle stage.

So why do it? I suppose because I get a lot of positive feelings from my runs too. I know that in some way or another I am passing on those vibes to my baby. So I’ll run until my body can’t anymore, or until the scorching summer temperatures prevent me from carrying on.

I like being pregnant, I’m just sad I can’t stop to enjoy it like I did the first time. Although the first time, I didn’t have a little person kissing my belly, or telling me that the baby in each sonogram photo “looks cute,” either. Which of course, melts my heart.

It’s so true what they say about each pregnancy being different. Emotional differences, without a doubt. But there’s been no mistaking the physical differences as well.

I had absolutely no nausea when I was pregnant with my son Mylo. While people said I was lucky for that, my lack of pregnancy symptoms during the first trimester, often left me feeling not pregnant. Which lead to many sleepless nights.

This time, I had morning sickness beginning around week six until about 11 weeks. According to a few friends who had horrific nausea during their first trimester, what I experienced was a cake walk. It was never debilitating, just rather annoying. And there. It was enough to remind me this time, that yes, I was definitely pregnant. Ironically, the only thing that seemed to get me through my nausea, which began around lunchtime and could stick with me till bedtime, was food! Bagels and oranges. I couldn’t get enough of these during those five weeks.

I’ve been a leisure runner since my early 20’s. The day I found out I was pregnant with Mylo, I had just from a four mile run. That level of activity pretty much continued up until my ninth month.

Other then the runs I took in December – the month I didn’t yet know I was pregnant – my losses, coupled with a harsh winter, had me staying put until after the first trimester.

Another thing that’s noticeably different this time around… my belly. I never did manage to knock off the last six pounds left over from my first pregnancy, but my burgeoning bump is more than just weight. It’s rock hard, already!

People ask if I’m tired all the time. I remember napping a lot the first time I was pregnant. Mainly because I could, I wasn’t working in 2010. But between my part-time job, running an animal rescue and keeping up with my ever-so-active 2 year old, I don’t have the luxury of being tired with this pregnancy.

One thing I’ve had my fair share of this pregnancy and that I continue to have, is headaches. My husband Jason reminded me that I also had them with Mylo. In fact I have one right now. This blog post, which could go on and on (I haven’t covered my bizarre cheese doodle craving yet) is coming to an abrupt close.