Saturday, May 26, 2007

Recycled Video!

I did not take this video; it's from the chicken blog (listed in the sidebar).
Chickens like cheese, apparently.
Also, they like watching fingers.
This video totally cheered me up on a very annoying day of hideous hives and a complete lack of going into labor.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Half a Meme is better than no Meme at all

I don't think I can even come up with eight people to target, considering who has already been targeted for this meme. I mean, I could come up with maybe 4. But instead, I'm just going to do half a meme.

Eight Random Facts and Eight Unwary Targets

  1. When I was little, I really loved my Sit-n-Spin.
  2. I have a mylar duck balloon floating next to my computer table here at home from the baby shower that was over a month ago, and I love how half-inflated and creepy it is.
  3. I've become incredibly picky about what books I read, and as a result I don't read for recreation as much as I would like to. I realize this is oddly self-defeating.
  4. I do all my banking online with USAA.
  5. I carry sudoku puzzles in my day-runner for when I have to wait in doctors' offices.
  6. I genuinely like and respect my boss.
  7. I don't complain about my hair because I like my hair. It's plain, but manageable.
  8. I prefer lip gloss over lipstick, but I do use a lip pencil.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Show and Tell

About a month ago, we learned that the couple moving in next door has the same due date for their baby as we do. We haven't gotten to meet the wife, we just briefly encountered the husband on their moving day.

When D got home last night, he told me that he had heard a baby crying from the house next door; it sounds like they are home from the hospital with their newborn. "Look," I said, turning around and tugging at my pjs, "I think the hives have spread to my butt."

Them: newborn baby.
Us: Ass hives.


I'm starting to look like something out of a medical journal. If anyone hears of any local casting calls for Medicine's Next Top Model, let me know.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

A PUPP named Rover

So, I don't know if you read either of those links I posted about PUPPs, the itchy hives that have developed on my stomach, in my stretch marks. If you did read up, then you will not be surprised to hear that they have spread. Yes, that's right, I now have itchy hives on my stomach, legs, ankles, and upper arms. And one on my thumb knuckle.

I am running out of Benadryl cream.

My OB thinks that I'll be a few days late, and I cannot imagine how hive-covered and miserably itchy I will be by then. I have spent all of today miserably itchy. I mean, the cream helps, but I inevitably find myself scratching somewhere every hour or so. After all, they're spreading.

In other news, Mittens threw up 5 times today. We suspect it's the Trader Joe's dry food we introduced, so we've given her a fresh bowl of some wet food, and we'll see if she gets better in the next few days. It's very worrisome.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

These PUPPs are NOT adorable.

I have developed something called PUPPs, or PUPPPs, depending where you look. WARNING: graphic photos of hives at links. Sounds cute, but they're actually itchy hives that develop late in pregnancy, and don't go away until after delivery. In my case, they're showing up in the stretchmarks above my bellybutton. So not only do I have dramatic, striating stretchmarks all over my lower stomach, now some of them are inhabited by angry, itchy red bumps. Luckily, I am allowed to use anti-itch cream on them.
This does not actually feel lucky to me.
I would rather not have itchy hives in my disfiguring stretchmarks, is all I'm saying.
And yes, that's right, the on-call doc I spoke with did indeed assure me that they will not go away until after delivery. I guess that's one more reason to look forward to delivery.

Friday, May 11, 2007

How to Make a Han-Solo-in-carbonite chocolate bar

I know this is TOTALLY out-of-genre for me to mention, but this "instructable" that showed up in my rss feed today was too good not to share with readers, and thereby reward all the geeks in my readership.
I don't use a sitemeter, so I have no idea how many or who is reading this blog, but I'm sure this link will get passed around.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Update on the baby-to-be


Ultrasound:
Unfortunately, despite a thorough organ inspection and some cute still-photos, this ultrasound did not include a weight or growth update. But kidneys, stomach, liver, spine, heart, and umbilical cord are all doing well. The fluid is measuring as 24.7cm, which is down from a few weeks ago, when it was 27cm. 25cm is the cut-off for 'normal', so my doctor is very excited that I no longer have the label of "polyhydramnios". I'm excited, too!

OB visit: In addition to no longer being polyhydramniotic or whatever it's called, I also lost three pounds since last week! I know that sounds seriously weird to be excited about, but I've gained a lot of weight with this pregnancy. It's all baby, I know, but still, it's a lot to suddenly tote around everywhere. Anyway, I think it's from the effect of the dietary changes I've made over the past month on the suggestions of the nutritionist I met with in April. That might also account for the decrease in fluid, too. The baby's probably slowing down on her weight gain, I HOPE! She's at least 7 pounds by now.
I have to have a non-stress test at all my OB visits from now on, which is time-consuming and annoying, mostly because (1) everything is always absolutely fine, and (2) the baby does NOT cooperate. She moves around, kicks at the monitor thingy, and at this last one, she tried to hide from it by backing away from the belly toward my spine.
The nurses agree with me that she's a saucy one.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

PSYCH! The ultrasounds can't, they won't, and they don't stop.

Because of the continued presence of so much fluid, and what has been documented as "excessive baby growth", I had another ultrasound today, and there's one scheduled for next Wednesday, too.
The tech today was nice, and the baby behaved a bit - we got to see her suck down some fluid, and the tech got this cute close-up.She labeled it for viewing convenience. The word "Open" is resting on the baby's cheek, if that helps any.