Tuesday, November 27, 2007

First pregnancy versus Second pregnancy

The last time I was pregnant, my entire belly was rock hard. This time, the top half is rock hard, and the bottom half is flabby.
I am carrying "high" again. It's uncomfortable. Babootwo is way less active than Rebecca was, and still seems to make his/her presence felt rather infrequently.
The ticker has changed again. It used to have crossed legs, now the legs are dangly and it's sucking on its thumb.

Dressing herself

She insists on putting on her own hat when possible. The result is often hilarious.
Here she is sitting on the couch with Bala just before bedtime. Happily, she took off hat and mittens shortly thereafter.

More hat and mittens

We had to change her diaper while she had her hat and mittens on.

Rebecca loves her "minnens"



Actually, she wears them (and the matching hat) - indoors.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Yet another prenatal appointment

Weight gain since last appointment: 5lbs. Deemed acceptable
Blood pressure: Acceptable
Fundal length: As expected
Fetal heart beat: Just fine
Urine specs: All good, plus I didn't get pee on my hand. Hooray!

Babootwo was kicking the Doppler and making it difficult for the doctor to get a reading.
I have a requisition for glycemic testing in the new year. This time I will bring a better book so I don't have to worry about nearly falling asleep and bungling my results. As bad as the first glycemic test is - the second one is deadly and involves way too many needles. That and the pseudo Orange Crush drink is even more horrific to consume.

My next prenatal appointment is my ultrasound the first week of December. Then the gender truth will out, and I will start referring to Babootwo by an actual name. This might help with explaining things to Rebecca.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

It's not about measuring tapes at all

So, Rebecca has apparently lost her fear of measuring tapes. I am actually starting to believe that something else was the problem. She doesn't like it when other people touch me. She has become very possessive of me. This morning I woke up with yet another pull in my neck (not surprising since yesterday I knew something was already amiss). I had Greg massage my shoulders and neck, and this made Rebecca UPSET. She immediately intervened. I suppose I should be happy she didn't pee on me to mark her territory. What am I going to do about this now!? Searching for this type of info online has been frustrating because all my searches are confounded by the much more common issue of sibling jealousy. I managed to find one or two semi-useful tidbits, but I had to wade through many articles on over-possessive parents and jealous toddlers to find anything of use. The upside, was that I started to do some reading on how to prevent your toddler from being jealous of a new arrival - which I suspect will be our case.
The ladies at the childcare centre at our gym continue to tell us that they find Rebecca to be very active compared to many other children. They say that much of her "on the go" behaviour is typically more common in boys of the same age (the exception being when Dora is on). Greg told me that they also mentioned that they feel her vocabulary has greatly increased recently. My Mom made the same remark after having been away for a few weeks. We are too close to the situation to notice this level of change ourselves.
Rebecca shows an increased interest in numbers. She can count to ten, but refuses to acknowledge numbers 3 through 5. If she is playing with her toys in her room, it can sound something like this: "One, two, six, senen, aht, nine, ten!". She won't answer a question like "How many X are there?", but she will take objects that are the same type of thing (like puzzle pieces, or diapers, or blocks) and lay them in a space one by one, while counting aloud.
Also, for some reason, she is saying "licht" for "light". I don't know why.
She knows how to say her middle name, but the closest I have heard her come to "Rebecca" is "Decca".

Not bad for my track ball mouse

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Swimming lessons near their end

Today was the third last swimming class for Rebecca for this session. After that the pool shuts down (for maintenance?) for a few weeks. She continues to have great fun, though a problem remains. She won't blow bubbles. She'll float on her back, blast off from the wall, happily jump in from the side, let herself be dunked and kick her legs, but she just won't blow bubbles.

Mom says that she willingly blew bubbles in the bathtub last night. I hope that's the case. I don't want her to flunk her tiny tots learn to swim class.

More than a litany of medical conditions

I've decided to make an effort to *try* to elevate this blog beyond a laundry list of physical woes. Although, for the record, I had leg cramps and a nosebleed last night - hooray second trimester. :)
Babootwo is making a greater effort to get my attention, with a bit of prodding and punching (or whatever).
I tried my prenatal yoga DVD - it's o.k. I always find some yoga positions make me uncomfortable or make my head pound. This isn't really different in that sense, but the postures are semi-modified for the second trimester (fully for the third). Mostly this involves the use of a strap (a belt in my case), a yoga brick (a box), a blanket, and a chair.
Where am I supposed to find pregnancy-compatible workout wear? I can tell already that this will become a problem in the future. While I am willing to let the belly go on display in the comfort of my home, I don't really want to go to the gym that way. I haven't seen fitness wear in the maternity stores, but maybe I need to look harder.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Swollen limbs

More confirmation that the edema I experienced during my last pregnancy is coming back. I had compression marks on my ankles after wearing socks today, and I feel tightness in my legs if I am on my feet for over an hour.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Looking more and more like a baby

I notice that the ticker is looking less creepy.

Teething is back...

Rebecca is only missing four baby teeth - the upper and lower so-called 2-year molars. These are a second set of molars that generally appear - you guessed it - at around the age of two.
It is about as bad as the first molars were. Happy Becca can be playing joyfully, and then just start screaming. Her hand is constantly shoved in her mouth, and she spent the better part of lunch fishing small ice cubes out of a glass - presumably to suck on. There are not really any teethers that can reach that far back. So far, she has rejected her teething biscuits, and manages to avoid swallowing any Tempra we try to dose her with. The random screaming and crying is just heartbreaking to hear. Rebecca's pain and frustration may or may not be responsible for a refusal to wear socks and shoes. This would be o.k. except for the fact that it's 4 degrees C in the daytime, to say nothing of the night. I guess if I was subject to bursts of pain in my mouth, I would want to exert a little control over my life too - even if it was only a strike on footwear.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Where will all this junk go?

As previously mentioned, I am clearing out space for Babootwo in the spare bedroom upstairs. Moving junk out of one room requires space somewhere in the house to move it into. I feel frustrated that I am unmaking one mess just to make a new disorganized mess somewhere else (ie the computer room). It is a little distressing. I am sure that we have the room to fit all this stuff downstairs, but it means really making an effort to organize the lower level - a heretofore unattempted challenge.
I am also going to start researching non-toxic paints and think about bedroom colours. I don't think I've ever painted a room before, let alone select colours for a room.

Cheerios

Rebecca and I went grocery shopping today. We needed Cheerios for 2/3 household members. Given the rate at which Cheerios are consumed, I bought the big box. Apparently, this box must be clutched by Rebecca for the entire grocery trip. At the same time, she must hold a half-eaten apple, Bala, and a sippy cup full of water. I think my mistake was opening the box to allow her to feed herself some cheerios. Fear not Greg (if you're reading this) - this was not like the time with the raisins (many of which continue to surprise me in the car). The real difficulty was that Becca decided that the box was HERS. I had the cashier scan it QUICKLY but Rebecca still cried blue murder and was traumatized for a good thirty seconds after I gave her the box back. Being Sunday, the parking lot was packed and every single Expectant Mother parking spot was taken (although I saw nary a prego in the aisles of the Superstore). Try to imagine getting a 30lb toddler out of a grocery cart and holding her over your shoulder, while crushing a mega box of Cheerios between you, a smelly damp blanket, and keeping one hand free to hold car keys and open a door. Now imagine the reaction of said toddler when you have to momentarily separate her from the box of Cheerios in order to get her into her car seat. Ultimately, I failed to get Rebecca in her seat. But... I positioned the Cheerios in the car in such a way that she climbed into the seat herself. All was well until we got home, where she dumped a fair number of Cheerios on her bedroom floor and gleefully played with them/ate them while I brought in the groceries. It only takes a second! I used this as an opportunity to teach Rebecca about sweeping with a broom (because I know she already loves brooms and Swiffers). Unfortunately, once the task was complete, she refused to surrender the broom. Instead she ran through the kitchen twirling it over her head and knocking containers off the countertop.

Good news!!! Headbanging may be over...
Headbanging has almost stopped. It's been many days since I've witnessed an incident. Coincidentally, the big bruise on her forehead is also starting to heal. Let's hope this horrid stage is far behind us.
Also - Rebecca has gone for three days without 'vies, and has gone for two days without a revocation of crayon access. I don't let her colour unsupervised because as recently as Friday she attempted to colour the walls of the doctor's office, but, to be honest, 9 times out of 10, her wall colouring was initiated while she knew I was watching.

Bad news - the Terrible Twos are here!!!
What happens when a very independent, strong-willed, extremely energetic and actively defiant child approaches age two???
We are starting to find out.
She is trying to exert more control over her own life and push our limits!
I am hearing far more "No" that I used to. Sometimes it is just shouted out for apparently random reasons, in answer to simple questions, or despite clear needs/wants. There is a definite power struggle at every point in the day where we are imposing our will on her. That means meals, any manner of travel that involves a buckle, naps, and naturally - bedtime. Since reason is not an option at this point (although I take great pains to explain things), unending patience and brawn are my best tools. Yes, I also use bribery, but this is only under duress, since while to me it seems like bargaining and trade (with which I am quite comfortable as a means of relating to another person), I think Greg feels it is tantamount to a positive reinforcement of negative behaviour. Also, bribery loses its potency the more it is used. I don't want to create expectations. Rebecca doesn't know what is in her best interest. But somehow, when I fireman carry an obvious exhausted baby off to nap time, while she does her best to escape howling "NO NO NO!!!!", I still feel crappy. The more pregnant I get the more difficult it is to rely on my physical supremacy to say - wrestle Rebecca into car seat safety belts and the like. This scares me a little. I like to think I have brains to compensate for my less and less reliable brawn, but do I really want to be in a situation where I have to rely on being clever? My god - I can barely keep track of my car keys!
I am also beginning to realize that Rebecca is more trouble than the average bear. Not that I care - it's just interesting.
I think what made it the most obvious is that I have been observing the personality and behavioural differences between two of my nephews (they are brothers). I see parallels between Rebecca's energy level/craziness level and the youngest of the two boys. Maybe our next baby will be calm and straightforward? If not, I suppose we've already been broken in by Becca.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

How to give your parent a heart attack

Unbeknownst to us, during naptime, she climbed from her bed to her night table. From her night table to her book shelf. From the book shelf, onto the top of the change table. I found her curled up in a ball on top of her change table, obviously having slept there.
The surface of the change table is 37 inches from the floor.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Trick or treating

What fun! Rebecca wasn't scared, though Grandpa and I weren't able to get her to say 'Trick or Treat' at all. I had some success getting some sort of three syllable word starting with 'T' during the day, but not in the evening. She did manage a couple very cute thank-yous and byebyes though.

She is an absolute chocolate fiend. We had a box of leftover mini chocolate bar treats, and kept reaching for it saying 'food' today. Maybe we could have avoided giving her all those Caramilk bar chunks yesterday.

Ah well, the leftovers have been banished from the house now, so hopefully out of sight, out of mind.

She definitely enjoyed all the pumpkins, and the decorated lawns. Next year she'll really 'get it' and it should be even more fun.

Prego belt

On the advice of my physician, I acquired a prego back support belt. It really does the trick!
I just had a prenatal Pilates DVD and a prenatal yoga DVD arrive, so I am hoping that I can strengthen my core muscles enough to alleviate some of my pain and discomfort. Don't know what - if anything - can be done about my neck. The new memory foam pillows are helping, and I am continuing with my regimen of strengthening my back muscles and stretching my pectoral muscles, but at the same time, the upfront load is getting heavier and heavier. Maybe a standstill is the best that can be achieved?
Babootwo continues to move at infrequent random intervals. I can't wait until I can start referring to this baby with a name, somehow it makes the connection seem more personal.
I am starting to clear items out of the spare bedroom for Babootwo. I know it's hideously early to be doing so, but I have plans to paint the room (o.k., have Greg paint the room - it is currently brown) and to decorate more than 1 week prior to baby arrival this time. I try to move a few things every few days. The idea is that by creating this physical space for Babootwo, I can start to think about the space that this baby will occupy in our lives, and make a space for this baby in my mind. The truth is, apart from the (at this point) rare movements, I don't spend much time thinking about Babootwo. I do spend a little time thinking about the pregnancy - but only insomuch as the physical ramifications interfere with day-to-day life. Perhaps this sounds like a detached and horrible manner in which to describes the miraculous blablabla life-altering wonderful experience. This is simply the reality of being pregnant (and being me) when you have a toddler on the loose. I simply don't have time/energy. The wonderment will arrive with Babootwo - of this I have no doubt. I am not indifferent, I am merely preoccupied, and far less anxious than I was with Rebecca.

Small and fearless

The Hallowe'en Bumblebee