Cotton-Pickin’ Days

I was 29-years-old the last time I was pregnant. This time around, I’m 35. And while I wouldn’t say I’ve had a rough pregnancy especially compared to others’, it’s certainly been different the second time in a number of ways:

1. I’m much more short tempered because I have less time to relax from having to take care of a five-year-old’s needs plus his school-related activities and all the other added household duties that comes with having an additional person in the house as compared to last time when it was just Marv and me in the house.
2. I also feel much more emotional than I remember being the first time. It’s probably because there’s a lot more stuff going on now. Needless to say, being emotional is exhausting!
3. I tire more easily even though I think I started out the pregnancy no less physically fit. It’s partly due to age and partly due to increased responsibilities (see #1).
4. I’ve experienced more sciatic pain in my right buttock for no known reason. When I was deathly ill with the flu this past week, the sciatica was 100 times worse. I literally sobbed when I had to get up to do anything, including haul myself down several flights of stairs between our bedroom at the top of the house to the bottom two floors to the kitchen, living room, and laundry.
5. I get heartburn at the drop of a hat. I get it when I’m hungry, I get it when I’ve just eaten, I get it for no reason at all. It always feels like there’s food pushing up on my stomach on through the esophagus. I am unable to eat more than half the amount of food I used to at any one sitting. I guess that helps with keeping the pregnancy weight gain down!
6. Speaking of weight, I am not counting calories this time around. When I was pregnant with Stephen, we were living in Japan where all the women are told to keep their weight gain under 22 pounds (10 kg). Here, no one’s asked me at all about my weight since the first doctor’s visits at 6 and 12 weeks. I feel that I’m eating sensibly and gaining weight at a reasonable rate. It’s a relief not to have the pressure of controlling my weight gain obsessively.
7. Maternity clothes are sooooo much cuter this time around. I’ve got pants that look like normal pants from the hips down with attached stretchy maternity tummy band at the top that stays hidden under my tops. Because I’m pregnant through most of the winter this time, I can still look normal wearing my winter sweaters. Nursing/maternity tops are also tons cuter and less awkward looking.
8. I’ve got blogs to read which makes the wait more entertaining. One of my guilty favorites is Celebrity Baby Blog. Even celebs can look ordinary and frumpy when they’re pregnant or taking their kids around town!
9. I am not nearly as neurotic about preparing for the baby. I have a few books on how to parent siblings but haven’t gone through them in detail yet. I also haven’t bothered buying much of anything for #2 except for a baby bathtub and some towels in green, yellow, and white. Even though we’ve been told that the baby “appears to be a girl,” I’m not going to be totally convinced until I meet her in face-to-face.
10. I am bordering on denial when it comes to the birth of #2. With Stephen, I read and thought about everything related to babies. With #2, I am more inclined to wait until the final moment when I have no choice but to face the fact that I will be the mother of two! I hope we all survive the transition….
11. I am forgetful. The previous two items on the list are practically the same but I didn’t notice until the post was published.

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Don’t blame the boys!

Going a bit dippy is a common pregnancy trait. But if you really go doolally, you could be carrying a girl. In tests, mums carrying boys out-perform mums carrying girls. But after the birth your brain (usually!) gets back on track.

via Mothercare

Based on on my behavior, I wonder if people think I’m carrying a boy or a girl.

Don’t answer that!

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Book reviews aren’t just good for when you’re looking for something new to read. I find them particularly interesting after I’ve finished a book just to see if my impressions jived with others.

Today I came across Sunday Salon member King Rat’s assessment of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. His well thought out comments on this feminist classic are particularly interesting because they’re coming from a male perspective. I read The Feminine Mystique two years ago and found her description of a housewife’s life to be terribly depressing. My situation has changed tremendously because I am now gainfully employed, albeit part-time, and Stephen spends six hours a day in school which gives me plenty of breathing space. When baby #2 is born in June, I’ll have to figure out a new arrangement but it won’t be half as bad as most of the situations described by one of my favorite parenting blogs, WSJ’s The Juggle.

Besides parenting and other obligations this February, I juggled a number of books (like the smooth segue? heh) and am up to 278 on my list of books read since 1995 with mini-reviews.

278. Inheritance by Lan Samantha Chang
277. Curious Minds by John Brockman
276. A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo
275. Tough Choices: A Memoir by Carly Fiorina
274. A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

My current “assigned” reading for my own good is The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market. I’m reading a chapter a day and should be done by end next week. It seems that no matter how many books I read about the Cultural Revolution and the period of time surrounding it, I can’t keep the people nor the events straight. My grandparents and older aunts and uncles were affected but I don’t know how and to what extent. One of these days, I’ll have to ask for details if I think I can handle them. In any case, with all the many business opportunities in China, it seems important to understand the underlying motivations of the Chinese government and to be vigilant for signs of history repeating itself. Scary thought.

So that I’m not too burdened with reading about China, I’ve started reading the first book in the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series called Cross Stitch in the UK. I read book 6 in the series this month without knowing it was part of a series so I’m now playing catch up. It’s a fascinating tale involving time travel, European and American history, and love. Kerri’s going to read book 1 with me and I hope she’ll enjoy it as I have. It was fun to learn that Liz Strauss is a fan too. Anyone else?

What are you reading right now?

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As if I don’t already feel like a fat cow:

Some expectant mothers wear a bell on their tummy. Thus, the baby becomes familiar with a happy tinkling sound along with the noise of the bowels and the beating of his mother’s heart.

via 3D Pregnancy

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Some of the “good” baby instructions shared on this forum seem kind of “bad” to me too but most are hilarious. This one’s my favorite:

HT: Deb

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Launching June 2008

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From I Can Has Cheezburger?

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Great news! Or not….

Latest research shows that breastfeeding does NOT make breasts sag but pregnancy DOES. Not surprisingly, smoking and age also make breasts sag. And not wearing a proper sports bra may also increase “breast sagginess.”

The conclusion?

Women can now breastfeed without fear for the future of their breasts, author and plastic surgeon Brian Rinker said.

Dr Rinker said he decided to carry out the study after many of his patients demanded he “fix what breastfeeding did to my breasts”.

As if I care. Breastfeeding is good for so many reasons that being saggy is the least of my concerns. Not that I’m admitting to being saggy, of course! As Oprah has been saying for ages, a good bra will fix ya.

Clues your bra is the wrong size:

• If your cups runneth over, it’s time to go up a cup size.
• If your cups dimple, it’s time to go down a cup size.
• If you have the dreaded back fat, you probably think your bra is too tight, but you’re wrong—your bra is too big. Wearing the bra lower on your back with a smaller band size will completely eliminate the back fat.
• If your strap falls down, that means your bra band is riding up and you probably need to go down a band size.

Where do you get your bras? (Men, please feel free to answer too if you’re buying bras for yourself or someone special. ) For years, my favorite bras have been the Maidenform Bodymates bra that you can get in a 3-pack at Costco. Comfortable, affordable, supportable.

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Most reasonable women are aware that once you’ve expanded to carry a baby for 40 weeks then give birth to one, your body will never be the same again. And yet some people still think that they should be back to their pre-pregnancy body within three months of childbirth.

News flash: No matter how much you diet or exercise and even if you get back to the same weight or less, your body will never be the same again. The snug jeans you loved will not fit the same, your belly will be looser, your boobs bigger, your feet may have widened, and most everything on your person will shift around to some degree.

Those who think they will be back to the same same after childbirth are going to be those nutters we see who keep at plastic surgery time and again in a hopelessly freakish attempt to retrieve their youth. Good luck to ya! I’ve got far better things to do with my time than moan about my post-baby body.

It’s different. It’s new (to me). But it does what it’s meant to do. Good enough for me.

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clipped from svmomblog.typepad.com TYPE 3: THE CHIEF TECH MOM Species: Chiefus Techus Momus Signature Behavior: She set up her family with a wireless network and print router to make sure every square inch of the house has internet and print access. Volunteers to create photo CD’s for her kids class and to make Yahoo Groups for class communication as a way to get out of going to school committee meetings. Spends way too much time looking at the many cool Web 2.0 applications to save time for her family….. Google is her favorite verb

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