How 2 Doughnuts Became 12

Corey and I were on the way to Lowe's when I noticed a Dunkin Doughnuts in the parking lot next door. Corey said, "Oh yeah look at that. I think we might have to stop in for one". I totally agreed.

When we entered, we feasted our eyes on the many doughnut varieties. I decided to get one cinnamon and one lemon creme. Corey was going to get a bavarian creme and a glazed. But then my husband did the math and realized it would be more cost effective if we bought a 1/2 dozen. So I added a chocolate glazed to my roster.

We called out the doughnut choices to the young man with the box. After six, he just stared at us as if we should call out more. I thought they must give us a baker's dozen. Corey said to him, "That was six right? That is all we wanted". The young man replied, "It's buy six, get six free". I laughed and looked at my sweet-tooth husband while the baby in my belly kicked out morse code urging me to order more. So I guiltily agreed, despite realizing that this was just Dunkin' Doughnut's way to get me addicted to it's sugary flour puffs with the hole in the center. We ordered two more glazed, another bavairan and one jelly. I told my hubby he'd have to eat the jelly. He happily agreed.

As we were leaving with our gigantic box of doughnuts, a women walking in looked at our bag, flashed huge smile and commented to us, "Oh, someone is going to a party". I was sooo embarrased, knowing that the party was going to consist of Corey and I eating doughnuts in the parking lot. We each ate one when we got to the car and another after we left Lowe's. They were soooo yummy.

I told Corey that we would have to make a pact to never go into Dunkin' Doughnuts again as long as I am pregnant with uncontrolable sweet cravings and he still has that sweet tooth. The combination is dangerous. My cravings will go away, his sweet tooth however has always been and will always be.

Childbirth Ed

Corey and I went to our first childbirth ed class at RealBirth last Wednesday. It was so cute to see all the other couples there and, all the other pregnant belly's. Our instructor, Erica Lyon is also the founder and wrote a book. She is awesome and very straight forward.

Turns out that both Corey and I knew people in the class! He knew a martial arts student who was one of the expectant daddies. I knew the co-teacher who was a Capoeira classmate.

In this class everyone introduced themselves and both partners talked about their experiences with the pregnancy. Then Erica taught us the signs of labor.

We will also take an infant care class and infant CPR class there soon.

Soooo exciting!!!

The Ever Expanding Belly

Last weekend my belly went through a growth spurt which began with significant growing pains. Fortunately, I was at my sister's house when it all began, ever so dramatically. She injured her shoulder playing caporeira so I visited her to give her an acupuncture treatment. The growth spurt began while we were watching You-Tube Videos on her lap top (Shoes & Brains) when I suddenly began to feel incredibly hot, dizzy, short of breath and seeing stars. Mind you I was seated on a bar stool height chair several feet above the floor. "Put this on pause, I think I am going to faint". If I do, then press your finger nails into the tips of my fingers, the tip of my nose and the cleft over my lip, those points will revive me." At this point she had acupuncture needles in her left arm and shoulder and said "Let's move you to the couch".

After she got me a glass of water I moved to the couch knowing that I need to sit up because I felt that if were to lie down the faint would over take me. Then she brought me another glass of water, but this one mixed with E-mergency, an electrolyte drink.

I sipped the water and took deep breaths. Suddenly I broke into a cold sweat, the stars were all I could see, and then it started to clear up. We pondered what could be wrong because I had just eaten breakfast and slept well the night before, I removed her needles and soon went home.

When I spoke to my midwife over the phone she reminded me that at this stage of the pregnancy (25 weeks) my body is going through major hormonal changes, is making more blood then ever and advised to make sure I am staying hydrated by drinking more water then I think I need. Although I really do drink a ton of water, (note the empty five gallon water bottles behind me in the photo) I had dry mouth and was extra thirsty the past few days. As long as I was not having uterine cramps, nausea and severe edema she told me not to worry. Since I at this point I just felt very fatigued, had none of the other symptoms she listed and the ones I did have passed, I relaxed semi-reclining in my bed the rest of the day with a pitcher of water and the remote control at my side. My hubby took care of me the rest of the day and evening.

My belly was very uncomfortable and felt incredibly heavy. I tossed and turned in bed that night, and each time I woke I thought "Oh my belly is so big, it is sooo big and it is uncomfortable". When I woke up the next morning I rolled onto all fours to rise and caught myself in the mirror. HOLY MOLY MY BELLY IS HUGE. Crawled out of bed, put on my robe and walked into the living room to show my husband. Before I could say a word, he took one look at me and said "Baby, your belly looks so big"! "I know, I know!! I felt it growing all day and all night. This explains what was happening yesterday. I feel better today, just tired from not sleeping well but nothing like how I felt yesterday".

The photo here is for you to see my belly for yourself. Several people have asked if I am having twins. I am not, just one big bouncing baby boy who needs lots of room to grow.

My momma would be proud.

I ate a piece of fish! My moms has been bugging me about eating fish because she keeps reading about how the fish oils are good for the baby's brain development.

Well, I ate a piece of grilled sea bass. When I got home from the resturaunt and glanced at my list of fish that pregnant women should eat and avoid, I saw sea bass on the avoid list due to mercury levels. Oh well I tried.

Anyway, didn't mean to let you down moms! I tried to eat fish and I failed. I figured that since sea bass is a light white fish, that does not taste or smell to fishy it could get it down. It tasted ok.
But the truth is that all these research studies about how people should be eating fish all the time or taking fish oils, really do not convince me. There are many cultures that have no access to fish and those people are just fine. So if I still need to avoid fish because the smell and taste make want to vomit then so be it.

My Uterus, His Dojo

My uterus is a dojo for my growing son. In my womb he practices all kinds of kicks, punches, jabs, even tumbling!

Well this little Karate Kid is getting so good, and so strong that even my husband can feel our baby training. Hooray! My hubby finally felt it!!

OH JOY WE'RE HAVING A BOY!!!!

Yes, Ladies and Gents the last ultrasound showed us that we are mos def having a boy!!!

So much for the needle & thread prediction...and the girls name I had picked out...LOL

We are so happy. Not just because we are having a boy, any gender would have made us happy, but because the 20 ultrasound was the most amazing event we have experienced yet. We got to view every bit of our babies one pound body. We saw his little toes and fingers, his lips, eyes and nose. His cranium and spine. Every chamber of his little beating heart. They even did a Doppler color view thingy that showed the blood flowing through the chamber of his tiny heart. Corey and I left the hospital walking on air. OUR BABY!! OUR SON!!

We are so excited to meet him. He is so active in my belly, but nobody else has felt him yet. He does kick hard enough to feel him from the outside now but when ever I call over Corey or my sister to feel it, he stops. What little stinker he is making people run over to my belly for just to act all low key when they arrive. LOL

Can I have a bite of your steak?

I have slowly but surely been able to eat meat again and am relieved that the meat aversion is abating because my baby needs the protein. For a long time my diet consisted of lots of beans, nuts, seeds and fresh tofu but probably not quiet enough for a growing baby. Now-a-days I can eat small amounts of meat, when I am in the right mood. So I eat some meat or poultry pretty much, everyday now. I feel much better physically!