What a week...

This week has been an odd one. On Monday, Neil had an oncology appointment and everything is fine. The exhaustion that follows an appointment is always the result of the emotional buildup before the tests and exams.

The same day, we also found out that one of our high school classmates passed away suddenly. Though I had only spoken to her a few times since high school, it hit me pretty hard because she was so spirited and beautiful. Her family had recently been through some tough times and now this...I can't even imagine.

Today I had a routine OB appointment (blood pressure, heart rate, fetal heartbeat check and done). But as we were making my next appointment, a woman about my age was crying as she was making hers. I can only assume something was wrong with her pregnancy. My heart was breaking for her...it was just so sad. She and her partner rode the elevator down with us and she was crying and making phone calls as soon as she got off...I hope things work out for her, whoever she is and whatever it might be. I just can't imagine.

What I can't live without

With my job, I often don't know where I will be at a given time of day. I am often called into last-minute meetings, which could be at my office on Main or at one of two client buildings. So I try to pack some things every day and stay on a routine, which helps keep my blood sugar stable, my body hydrated and in general feeling good. These are the things I keep with me:

• Brita water bottle. No matter where my water is coming from (office filter, tap, drinking fountain) the water is filtered as I drink. Also, I know that I need to drink 3 bottles per day so that visual and knowing how much I'm drinking really helps.
• EOS or Burt's Bees lip balm. If you know me, you know I'm addicted anyway and pregnancy makes it worse.
•  Babybel cheeses. Perfect snack and full of calcium and protein. This is what I was told to eat when my blood sugar dips (not Babybel, but cheese in general). Plus I love the packaging.
• Oranges.
• Capri Suns! Duh.
• Peanuts. Also good for blood sugar dips.
• Ayr Saline Nasal Spray. My nose is always dry now and I can't use many OTC sprays unless they're purely saline and nothing else.

At home, there are a couple other things that keep me feeling good in addition to the items above:

•  Cool mist vaporizer. I sleep with it on every night. Helps with my dry nose and skin. Plus I love the white noise.
• Bio Oil and Palmer's Cocoa Butter. Supposed to help prevent stretch marks. We shall see because I'm pretty sure if you're going to get them, they will come but it can't hurt. At any rate, it helps with winter dry skin.
• Proactiv soap. Hormones have my skin all crazy, mostly my back and chest so this helps. Plus, the ingredients are pregnancy-safe.

17 weeks

I am 17 weeks today!

This weeks yays and boos:

Yays

• We finally had our great room painted! A friend from high school owns his own painting business. He did the hard part (darker color) then the next day Neil did the lighter color at the bottom. I love how it turned out. All of this is part of my master plan to get the house looking good before the baby comes.

• I had a dental checkup last week and all is well. I was getting paranoid because pregnancy can apparently do weird things to your teeth so I figured I'd better be sure.
• Got a Costco membership (all of these sound so suburban). Good deals and I noticed they have baby furniture. Will definitely look into that and also start stocking up on things we will need.
• We bought a doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat! It's awesome! Neil is the only one who can find the baby every time!
• My nails and hair are growing like crazy. My nails always broke and split so I'd keep them short so I'm loving this. And there's no better time to grow out my pixie cut!

Boos

• People are starting to stare. I know why, obviously but there's always that few seconds when I get paranoid that my fly is down. But then I remember I am wearing maternity pants and those don't have zippers.
• My appetite is back with a vengeance. My weight is normal but I'm finding I want to eat ALL THE TIME so I'm really trying to continue to eat well. My doctor told me to eat more protein, which puts on weight and is also somewhat challenging when I don't always want meat. It was tough this weekend because we went to a pizza place and then I was trying to stay out of the house while it was being painted and ended up eating fast food. I truly feel better when I eat well and can tell right away when I don't. I keep my fruit bowl filled as always and I pack lunch or eat at home whenever possible. It really is a challenge to keep it up though!

16 weeks...4 month mark!!!

BABOOM!

Guess what...I have been debating cloth diapering. A lot of people balk at it and think I'm nuts but oh well. Turns out, yours truly was cloth diapered as a baby! I turned out perfectly fine, people!

Week 16 Yays and Boos!

Tomorrow I will be 16 weeks, or 4 months. It's so hard to believe that time is moving quickly now, since the first 10-12 weeks just seemed to drag on forever!

I'm becoming more interested in reading pregnancy books. Before I felt so overwhelmed that I felt like I was just trying to make it through the first trimester alive. Now I'm getting more excited and want to learn about everything from cloth diapering to labor meditation methods.

Yays for the week:

•  This book. It was given to me by a new mom and is the first one I've seen that doesn't try to scare the living hell out of you. It's a funny, light read with just enough substance to make it worthwhile.
• Finally looking pregnant and not just like I ate too much.
• Everyone at work finally knows. I know there were people who suspected but were too polite to ask.
• My new Brita bottle. I hate Cincinnati tap water, and this helps since I'm religious about drinking the required amount of water per day.
• My Dr told me to eat more cheese!
• Getting stuff done around the house that we won't have time for later. Having the great room painted, getting the carpets clean, getting new bedroom furniture, etc. Want to make it as cozy and organized as possible.
• Eating healthy about 85% of the time. Eating good food makes me feel noticeably better to the point where I don't even want junk food except for the occasional desert or snack.

Boos for the week:

• Smokers, still. Seriously, I'm tired of having to turn off my air in traffic because your bad habit is being sucked into my car.
• Dizziness. I get it, bad. I love Bed, Bath and Beyond but had to leave after all of five minutes yesterday because I thought I was going to pass out. I talked to my OB's nurse and she said I needed more protein. I'm trying!
• Peoples' obsession with me having a nursery theme. I personally don't like matchy-matchy stuff and just want something simple. You would think I was killing puppies when I tell someone I don't have a theme.
• Just when I got a little energy and appetite back, work is full-tilt crazy. So now I'm still exhausted and have to force myself to eat while on mute on conference calls...and hope nobody asks me a question while my mouth is full!
• Freaking flu epidemic. I swear, Neil and I pick the best times to have compromised immune systems! When Neil was in chemo, we had the H1N1 outbreak and now we're having one of the worst flu seasons in years. Watching the news makes me paranoid. I am trying to minimize my exposure by working from home a few times a week and using hand sanitizer by the gallon. We both have our flu shots as advised by my OB but it's still very scary.

 Ok, so I'm probably not technically "showing" but I know for a fact that my guts are getting all mushed up in my very short torso. It's probably another few weeks before it's baby up there but since baby is causing it, let's just call it a bump. Here's the progress at 13, 14 and 15 weeks (today). Hard to believe it will be 4 months next week! Please excuse the horrible hair, it really sucks growing out a pixie because you go through a mullet phase.

This should not be so difficult

So today I read an article about a baby's fingernail that almost killed the mother.

I'm pretty good about not worrying over things that are so rare or unlikely to have a bad outcome. Sure, I look up many foods to make sure they're safe and I am avoiding all medications I can. Long story short, I am careful but not crazy.

However, one thing I cannot stand/tolerate is secondhand smoke. I hated it before but I hate it with a passion now. I have zero tolerance for the people who stand in the middle of sidewalks, in doorways, etc and puff their poison into the air everyone else passing by has to breathe. I take care of myself and don't have this habit...so I'd love someone to explain to me why I should have to expose myself and my unborn child (oh man...is this my first pregnancy diva moment?) to their cigars and cigarettes.You smoke. I don't. You go stand in the cold if it's worth that much to you! I know it's tough to quit smoking--I saw my dad struggle for years before he was finally able to. But he also never put his lit cigarette on the windowsill of the pizza place by the door while he was inside getting his order (I just saw someone do this, want to kill them).

I am finding it really tough to avoid secondhand smoke while downtown. Nobody wants to inconvenience themselves by walking to an alley because it's cold.  So they stand in the doorway of my office building. Or on the sidewalk where you cross the street. Or in the car next to me in the parking lot.

I will be honest, I'm feeling a little rage over this.