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| day-to-day pregnancy |
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[ Monday, August 30, 2004 ]
From WebMD, about the 25th week: Your developing baby now measures about 8.8 inches from crown to rump and weighs 1.5 pounds. Skin now becomes opaque instead of transparent. Its body is still covered with folds like a puppy dog that need to grow into its skin. Heartbeat can be heard through a stethoscope or, depending on the position of the baby, by others putting an ear against your belly.
[ Thursday, August 26, 2004 ]
To celebrate our anniversary, David and I went to the Homestead, a gorgeous resort close to West Virginia. I had been there once, but for David it was the first time. We had a lot of fun, doing falconry and going for walks. The hotel had an indoor swimming pool, fed by a natural warm spring. It was a wonderful feeling to be weightless again. Kate seemed to enjoy it too - she was very active the whole time.
[ Saturday, August 21, 2004 ]
Today is our 5th anniversary :-)
[ Friday, August 20, 2004 ]
Early in the second trimester, I had lot of backache and leg cramps and tried to minimize them using several pillows at night. Then I found a full body pillow on the Babies R Us website, and life changed. That pillow is so comfortable, even David likes to borrow it every now and then. Switching to a firmer mattress also helped a lot. The pregnancy demand that women sleep on their side (preferably the left side) was very difficult to get used to; being a tummy sleeper, I kept waking up in the most uncomfortable positions. I still wake up a couple of times every night to switch sides (my arms go to sleep), but it is such an improvement.
[ Friday, August 13, 2004 ]
The last time I went to the doctor, the midwife recommended "The Birth Book" by William and Martha Sears. She said it was time I started working on my birthing plan. I replied that my birthing plan was to have the baby as quickly and comfortably as possible. I don't think she liked the answer. I bought the book, and got about 40 pages into it. Scary. The authors are rabidly against modern medicine and believe in births as natural as possible, with minimal medical interference. I half expected to see a "go squat in the woods" suggestion in one of the chapters. I honestly cannot see a reason to subject my body to intense pain and effort, greet my child with grunts and screams, when modern medicine offers pain relievers for a much more comfortable and pleasant experience.
[ Monday, August 09, 2004 ]
From WebMD, about the 22nd week: Your baby measures about 7.6 inches and weighs about 12.3 ounces. The muscles are getting stronger every week now, and the eyelids and eyebrows are developed. Your baby's acrobatics are pretty constant, and since he responds to sound, rhythm and melody, you can try singing and talking to him. After he's born, the same sounds will soothe him.
[ Tuesday, August 03, 2004 ]
Every since I learned about the pregnancy, I have been dreaming constantly about my father, who died in 2000. It is heartbreaking that Kate will never meet him, sit on his lap and hear his stories. I wonder if the dreams are my own way of connecting these two lives. There is much that I want to tell my daughter about her grandfather, about the things that I learned from him and the bond that we shared. I just wish I had a better memory for all the little stories about my own childhood. A while ago, when he passed away, I thought about writing down what I remembered from our lives together. Maybe now is the time to do it.
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