Chivalry may not be dead afterall

Since I've been pregnant, there have been a total of two people who have offered me their seats on the train. Granted with my poofy coat I don't really look all that pregnant, but still believe that my belly is sticking out a tad at this point.

About two months ago, I was convinced chivalry had actually died. One very cold morning, I arrived at my train stop feeling especially icky and heartburny. At the stop where I get on, sometimes there is a seat, but usually I have to wait until the mass exodus at Belmont two stops later and I can generally find a place to sit.

On this morning, it wasn't too crowded but there weren't any seats. I don't like demanding special treatment or anything, so I just waited for Belmont and figured I would sit at that point.

Whelp, when we pulled up at Belmont a dude who was in his late 20s (maybe early 30s) beelined for the one seat in my vicinity. His actions annoyed me because he didn't even look around to see if there was anyone that could actually use that seat. So I decided to approach him.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry but I'm pregnant and I'd really love to sit down," I said to him ever so politely. His response? He looked me up and down and said: "Really?"

Well, that didn't go over well with me.

"Yes, really," I said. "Would you like me to unzip my coat and show you my belly or what?" Meanwhile, the fellow next to him was appalled and told me I'm welcome to sit in his seat. I thanked him and noticed another seat opened up across the aisle and up a little bit, which I beelined for instead. There was no WAY I was sitting by the jerk who made no move to get his able-bodied butt up when I politely asked for a seat.

As I angrily took my seat across the way, I heard the nice man telling the jerk, "Dude you should stand up when someone asks you no matter what that reason is." The jerk did not look shamed at all, and merely plugged his earphones in and went about his train ride in the comfort of a seat.

After that incident, I never wanted to ask anyone to get up ever again. I mean my blood was boiling with that response. That's fine if you want to roll your eyes and sigh heavily as you begrudgingly get up, but to look at me and say "really," that takes a real piece of work.

Anyway, about two weeks ago I had my first unsolicited offer to sit. I was feeling pretty spritely that day so I refused but thanked him very much, and felt better about humanity yet again. Then, this morning, I had another gentleman glance at my stomach and ask if I'd like to sit down. This time I took him up on the offer. Granted he stood awkwardly above me the whole train ride, but at least I had a seat and a good book.

Once it gets slightly warmer (and my stomach gets even bigger) I'd like to see if these offers increase. I can't say I'll take them every time, but I like to think that the reason no one offers right now is because they can't see what's going on under my piles of winter clothing.

Another interesting question I have is how many times Jeff has gotten up for a pregnant lady on the train, and if this number has increased since our journey began. Hmmm.

The third trimester

28wk3d

We made it! Last Wednesday we officially arrived at the third trimester when we hit 28 weeks. Some sites say it comes even earlier, but it makes sense that once we hit the 12 weeks left mark that we're pretty official.

You'll see above the latest bump picture, just to see what I'm currently working with. Some days I look at myself and feel humungous (well I always FEEL humungous, but some days I think I look rather large), but compared to the other lovely ladies in our birthing class I'm still pretty small.

Either I'm going to balloon up in the next few months (79 days), or I'll just never be that huge. I'm a sort of small person to begin with, so it makes sense.

Everything is going along smoothly in these parts. We've selected a pediatrician and the car seat/stroller set was delivered late last week. Basically we're ready to have the baby when she's ready, but it'd be nice if she stays in there cooking just a couple more months.

As you can see I'm still doing my best to get to the gym every weekend. A nice walk on Saturday and then a swim on Sunday. I'm for sure slowing down, but at least I'm trying to get moving. As for the week day, I've checked out a lovely pregnancy workout DVD from the local library. It's not very intense, but it does the job? Luther and Jeff both love to watch as I talk to the screen during my workouts.

That's all the news right now! Next doctor's appointment is a week from Thursday, and after that we'll be going in every two weeks. Almost to the home stretch!

Bring on the sugar!

I passed the horrible glucose test #2! I didn't even get a chance to write about the test before I got the call telling me that I passed with "flying colors"!

Of course I'm not going to crazy nutso over the sugar (though I kind of want to dig my way out of a swimming pool full of jelly beans right now), but it's nice to know I don't need to worry about enjoying the sweets I crave here and there.

Okay, so the test. I went in to the doctor's office on Wednesday morning at 8:30 having fasted since midnight the night before. We're talking no food or water. They took my blood immediately and handed me another bottle of sugar water, this time lemon/lime. I heard the drink for this test was worse, but it really wasn't that different. I downed it in my allotted five minutes and set up my computer in the waiting room.

While I was told there was wi-fi, I was kicked on and off about every five minutes. I also had to keep track of the time and go in every hour to have more blood taken for three hours. Now remember, I hadn't eaten since the day before and I had a ton of sugar water coursing through my veins. AND I was trying to actually get a lot of work done with shoddy Internet. It was a fun morning.

After completing the test, I scarfed down a granola bar and headed to Potbelly right next door. I would've preferred a yummier lunch after such a test, but had to get back to the land of working Internets. Upon ordering, I couldn't decide whether to get the mushroom melt or the Mediterranean, and the woman behind the counter was not amused.

That's pretty much the story of the test.

All day Thursday, I glanced at my phone to make sure I would hear it ring, just in case the results would come in as quickly as last time. Then at about 5pm the doctor called, and Dr. McDonald was kind enough to relay the good news.

So I'm back on the sugar train! Oh, and by the way I'm officially in my third trimester. More on that soon.

Well that was fast: I failed

I was told the glucose test results would be back next week, so boy was I surprised when Dr. McDonald called my WORK phone. I didn't know they even had that number. No one has that number. No one calls that number, I didn't even realize it was my phone ringing.

Luckily - I suppose - I answered. Dr. McDonald said that they got the results back from my test earlier in the week (um, yesterday afternoon?) and it turns out I FAILED. I don't like failing things in general, even when it's beyond my control.

So now I have to go back to the doctor next week for a three-hour repeat of what I did yesterday. More sugary drink, and more blood draws. I can't eat past midnight the night before the test, which was scheduled for 8:30 in the AM. I also can't eat for the three hours DURING the test.

I'm not worried about the actual test of course, I'm really more worried about the results. I LOVE SWEETS people. I mean with all of my heart. Candy, cookies, ice cream, what have you.

Now, I know people who have failed the first test and then passed the second test, so it may not be a big deal at all. But, if I do have gestational diabetes, I'm going to have to make a change. But overall, it's not a bad change, since really I should be eating better anyway I suppose.

To add insult to injury, turns out I'm also anemic. Dr. M. said that I need to take iron supplements in addition to my pre-natal vitamins.

For now, I'm going to skip the candy hearts and other goodies, until we get a definitive answer. I emptied my sweets drawer and handed it over to my work friend. Jeff will be hiding the candy hearts at home. From the sound of it, I'm going to have to cut down on the carbs as well - my other best friend.

Dr. M. did say that she had considered waiting until after Valentine's Day to tell me, so she wouldn't be ruining any sugary fun. But then decided I might as well know. That was nice of her to consider it I suppose.

It could all be worse, I know this! But let's just say that wasn't the best phone call I've gotten in a while. We'll still be heading out for a V-day pizza, but I'll be skipping the desert, and maybe I'll order spinach to go with my mushrooms.

Stay tuned for results from test #2!

Orange-flavored sugar water

As we come around the bend toward the third trimester, the doctor visits are going to start to pick up the pace. Today I went in for my 27-week appointment, coupled with a glucose test which helps with diagnosing gestational diabetes.

According to the Internets, the third trimester could start anywhere from week 26-28, depending on where you look. The What to Expect folks claim it's week 28, so we'll go ahead and go with that. That means we're just one week away!

The test was rather anticlimactic, but I should not have scheduled it for 1pm. You're not supposed to eat anything sugary 3 hours prior, and everything I like to eat is sweet so I just opted to stop eating at 10AM. That meant I was starving on the way to the doc.

They weighed me in (more on that in a bit) and handed me a bottle of orange liquid. I had a choice between orange and fruit punch, and went with orange. I was instructed to drink it in about five minutes and then wait an hour for a blood test. No food or water after completion of the drink. 

The drink itself wasn't so bad actually. I have a bit of a sweet tooth (which makes me nervous for the results) so it went down pretty easily. But, about 30 minutes after I felt a little like I was intoxicated. 

I got to meet with the doctor right after finishing the drink, and everything looks to be fine. I finally met Dr. Rubin, who is the last doc in the practice. She's just as nice as the others, and appears to be just as young. I think my gyny might be the oldest in the practice, and she's probably barely 40. The rest of them look younger than me. 

I'm measuring "perfectly" at 27 weeks, and Baby Parker was active as usual as we listened to the heartbeat. In fact, the doc felt an actual punch as she was rooting around. She commented that an active baby is a sign of good nutrition. Yay!

As for my weight, it was almost exactly the same as my last visit. This is actually a good thing since last time I gained too much. I'm not trying to lose weight or anything, I just tried to be a little more cognizant of what I was eating so I didn't have a huge jump again. Doc said no problem, it all evens out in the end. And, the weight gain doesn't really reflect what's happening. So good news.

That's all! Results to come soon. 

Feeling the burn

I'd say so far I've been pretty lucky with this whole pregnancy thing. Aside from a "hangovery" type feeling during weeks 6-8, I really haven't had many problems. I mean, there has been an issue with lots of hiccuping after meals, but is that a problem, really?

Well folks, we've turned the corner at week 25-26 and I'm going to follow up the sappy post with the complain-y post.

First of all, I'm having MAJOR heartburn these days. There's been some mild heartburn throughout, but for the past couple of weeks it's waking me up at night and stopping me in my tracks.

Tums don't seem to help (and I've surprisingly discovered that yellow candy hearts actually taste like tums), and even a prescription pill from the doc isn't doing much. I don't want to take prescription pills if I don't have to, and considering they're not really working I'm just going to pass.

On the bright side, this may mean that Baby Parker will emerge with a ton of hair! That's right, there is an old wive's tail that states that when mommy has heartburn, baby will come out with a lot of hair. I've polled my friends and it seems to sort of ring true.

It turns out there was an actual study done on the topic, at John's Hopkins, so it may be more than just a tall tail. So at least there may be a plus side?

Secondly, I have a cold!! It's just a head cold, and usually I just shrug these off and continue about my day with some extra kleenex in my pocket. However, pregnancy has made this extremely difficult. I'm already turning in at about 9pm, so with the cold I'm ready to call it a night at like 6pm.

I rarely take sick days, but I feel like a nice solid day of sleep would be really helpful. So the baby is most likely making me feel a bit sicker, but I can't really take a sick day because I'm hoarding sick days FOR the baby. It's a vicious cycle.

In addition to being tired, I've got a runny nose (and a shiny dry patch underneath my nose to match) and just general head stuffiness. I tell you it's a lot of fun. Doc said I could take Tylenol PM or Sudafed. But, these drugs will just mask my symptoms, they won't actually help me get better. So I'm just going to suffer through for a few more days (fingers crossed) and ride this out.

The cold I know will pass, but the heartburn, who knows?! I think it's may just be uphill from here on out.