We realize that technically this is not Babycue's first Thanksgiving, as those milestones are counted once the baby is on the outside kicking, instead of the inside, but we decided to go with it.
We had a very good time with parents, international students, and other friends dropping by for either the meal or the desserts. After spending most of two days either cooking, preparing, doing dishes, or cleaning, it was nice to have other people to do those things (big props to GrannyCue for being the dishes rockstar!!!, and my mom for taking the turkey bones home).
And despite news from the last OB appointment that shouldn't make me sad, but makes me feel like I did something wrong, we enjoyed the lazy day on Friday. We had coffee (Q lets me sometimes now) and chatted with Dr. B and his family when they stopped in at the coffee shop, and ate leftovers before ordering pizza and playing card games. I did not overeat or go crazy with food, except for the sparkling grape juice. I drank a whole bottle last night. Let me tell you about drinks with gas ( or that cause it?!?). Not something I recommend, or plan to do again. At least when you are pregnant and bloated people just think it is your belly.
Wednesday was the Gestational Diabetes screen and a hemoglobin check. My iron levels are a bit low, which means anemia. So now I have to take double the iron (58 milligrams). My mom said she had that issue also, because her body was not absorbing nutrients, and she had to take liquid iron (like drinking blood, I would think). But I also did not pass the blood sugar screen (the grape stuff to drink was actually not bad). So now I have to go to the hospital lab after fasting for 12 hours so they can prick me for three hours (I absolutely hate my fingers being poked).
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Following Babycue
Smileycue and I want to announce two new ways to follow Babycue. You can now subscribe to the world of babycue using the link to the right of this post. (Unless you are already reading this using RSS or a reader.) You can also become a follower -- just click on "Follow this blog" to the right of this post.Don't know what any of this means? No worries. You can read an explanation of RSS or just bookmark littlecue.blogspot.com and enjoy!
Babycue Book Club: Baby Bargains
Welcome to the first installment of the Babycue Book Club. It's like Oprah's Book Club, if Oprah were pregnant. (Maybe not.) Today we review Baby Bargains, Denise and Alan Fields.This past spring, I shared with our friend, Nieka, that we were considering starting a family. (I find the term "starting a family" a strange way to describe "trying to get pregnant." As Smileycue puts it, "It's a polite way of saying that we're having unprotected sex!")
Anyway, Nieka suggested a book for us, Taking Charge of Your Fertility. By the time we spoke again, we had...already taken charge of our fertility. Nieka sent us several baby books instead. The first is Baby Bargains.
A thorough book, Baby Bargins could be aptly renamed "Buying for Baby." The consumerist guide advises what to buy and what to avoid, naming brands and suggesting websites. We've already used Baby Bargains to build our gift registry. We plan to use it in Babies 'R Us to ward off unnecessary purchases like Buffy the Vampire Slayer uses a wooden stake. (No thank you, kind associate, we do NOT need a baby wipe warmer.) The book also grades products based on price, features, and usability.
Baby Bargains has a companion website and blog with additional information. We'll be adding these sites to our bookmarks.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Where is my belly button going? and music...
Mr. Lunt: There’s something missing in my middle and it’s hard to ignore
Boyz: There’s this thing about himself he’s never told you before
Lunt: Baby!
Boyz: He needs to tell you something
Mr. Lunt: I don’t got a bellybutton
Oh I need to tell you something
Boyz: Have you figure it out
He don’t got a bellybutton
Boyz: Bellybutton no, oh no no
While you sing along to the Bellybutton song (as sung by Veggie Tales), here's what I have to say about mine.
Where is it going? I have always had a deep belly button. But it is getting more shallow, and I can see my scar from gall bladder surgery...The shape of my belly button has changed, and the skin there is smoother than the rest of my belly (which, BTW, is really hairy. Has it always been that way?). I keep making Q check it, he just says it is getting smaller, and he isn't used to seeing that scar. Hmmm.....and speaking of bellies, I finally broke down today and wore a maternity top. I decided I'd rather look pregnant in pregnant clothes than fat in Dan's T-shirts.
I know What to Expect says that listening to music doesn't really matter to Babycue at this point, but as a music teacher I have to disagree. And now that I can feel Babycue moving around, I definitely have to disagree. Last week I was asked to play bass drum with the college orchestra (take that! parents at my former employer who said I couldn't handle percussion). While I didn't feel a lot of movement while I was playing, I did feel a lot while the orchestra played a Verdi piece...and in band rehearsal Tuesday when my stand mate played her alto flute solo, someone couldn't hold still!
One more thing: an update on the cold, which turns out to be an upper respiratory infection. Lisa, the PA, told me to take my allergy meds. I'd been doing so good without them, but I do feel better with them.
Boyz: There’s this thing about himself he’s never told you before
Lunt: Baby!
Boyz: He needs to tell you something
Mr. Lunt: I don’t got a bellybutton
Oh I need to tell you something
Boyz: Have you figure it out
He don’t got a bellybutton
Boyz: Bellybutton no, oh no no
While you sing along to the Bellybutton song (as sung by Veggie Tales), here's what I have to say about mine.
Where is it going? I have always had a deep belly button. But it is getting more shallow, and I can see my scar from gall bladder surgery...The shape of my belly button has changed, and the skin there is smoother than the rest of my belly (which, BTW, is really hairy. Has it always been that way?). I keep making Q check it, he just says it is getting smaller, and he isn't used to seeing that scar. Hmmm.....and speaking of bellies, I finally broke down today and wore a maternity top. I decided I'd rather look pregnant in pregnant clothes than fat in Dan's T-shirts.
I know What to Expect says that listening to music doesn't really matter to Babycue at this point, but as a music teacher I have to disagree. And now that I can feel Babycue moving around, I definitely have to disagree. Last week I was asked to play bass drum with the college orchestra (take that! parents at my former employer who said I couldn't handle percussion). While I didn't feel a lot of movement while I was playing, I did feel a lot while the orchestra played a Verdi piece...and in band rehearsal Tuesday when my stand mate played her alto flute solo, someone couldn't hold still!
One more thing: an update on the cold, which turns out to be an upper respiratory infection. Lisa, the PA, told me to take my allergy meds. I'd been doing so good without them, but I do feel better with them.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
A person can develop a cold
Winter arrived in our fair city this week, a Smileycue has caught a cold. Nasal rinses, heating pads, warm showers, and hot tea are helping, but she still feels miserable. For those of you readers who fell ill during your pregnancies, how did you cope? Share your answers in the the comments.
In other news, Smileycue's belly now sticks out more than anything else and BabyCue is becoming more active, kicking and wiggling. We've been reading to BabyCue most evenings. So far, we've read:
In other news, Smileycue's belly now sticks out more than anything else and BabyCue is becoming more active, kicking and wiggling. We've been reading to BabyCue most evenings. So far, we've read:
- The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by A. Wolf, as told to Jon Scieszka.
- Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum, by Norman Stiles and Daniel Wilcox.
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst.
- Would You Like to Play Hide and Seek in This Book with Lovable, Furry Old Grover?, but Jon Stone.
- Bed Bed Bed, by They Might Be Giants.
- Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Suess.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
a second ultrasound and Grover
Today we went to see Dr. B for an OB appointment. He said everything looks good, but there was one curiosity on the ultrasound report. This may not be what you all wanted to know, but the placenta may be covering the cervix, which is apparently bad (bad enough to move me to high risk status). So, in three weeks we get a second chance to see Babycue wiggle around. My mom said she had the same thing with either me or my sister, and by delivery time it was no longer a problem. The baby's heart rate is 150, the ultrasound predicts the due date as being 4 days earlier, and I am feeling good. I have also gained 4 pounds, which means I am almost to pre-pregnancy weight.
My piano students are starting realize that I am pregnant. It helps that I have an ultrasound picture on the piano. They all want to know whose baby that is, and when I say mine, they either look at me in wonder, or say, "I thought you looked bigger." The daycare kids are figuring it out too. I happen to have both of Dr. B's kids, and today someone in his class wanted to know if I have a baby at home. I said, "not yet, it is still inside of me." Dr. B's son said, "I knew that. My mom and grandma told me." I had run into his mom while running an errand last week, and she told me she had asked him if he had noticed and he said he did.
Speaking of daycare--let me just say that I love teaching music to kids who get soooo excited to see me each Tuesday, and give me hugs and kisses when I leave. And they love the songs and games and request their favorites all of the time. They get so excited when I pull out props and get a game going! It makes me more excited to share these things with Babycue.
Speaking of sharing...We have been reading to the baby now, and we started with a Grover book. We couldn't find our copy of The Monster at the End of This Book (it has to be somewhere), and I mentioned that to my dad. He told me that he got so tired of reading that book to me that he finally tape recorded it, and he thinks the tape still exists. He offered to find it for us.
My piano students are starting realize that I am pregnant. It helps that I have an ultrasound picture on the piano. They all want to know whose baby that is, and when I say mine, they either look at me in wonder, or say, "I thought you looked bigger." The daycare kids are figuring it out too. I happen to have both of Dr. B's kids, and today someone in his class wanted to know if I have a baby at home. I said, "not yet, it is still inside of me." Dr. B's son said, "I knew that. My mom and grandma told me." I had run into his mom while running an errand last week, and she told me she had asked him if he had noticed and he said he did.
Speaking of daycare--let me just say that I love teaching music to kids who get soooo excited to see me each Tuesday, and give me hugs and kisses when I leave. And they love the songs and games and request their favorites all of the time. They get so excited when I pull out props and get a game going! It makes me more excited to share these things with Babycue.
Speaking of sharing...We have been reading to the baby now, and we started with a Grover book. We couldn't find our copy of The Monster at the End of This Book (it has to be somewhere), and I mentioned that to my dad. He told me that he got so tired of reading that book to me that he finally tape recorded it, and he thinks the tape still exists. He offered to find it for us.
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