Friday, January 7, 2011

Things I have learned about being pregnant

I swear this blog will not turn pregnancy on you.  But it is kind of consuming my thoughts lately, so you might get stuck with it once in a while.  I promise to warn you so you can skip right over, m'kay?

So I have read a lot of pregnancy blogs, and blogs where people got knocked up, and I have 3 nieces and have been very active in their lives.  I felt like I had a *good* idea of what to expect.  And mostly I have been ok, but let me tell you there are things I never knew about.

1. The no allergy medicine.
Seriously, WTF?  I can't breathe.  I am sneezing constantly.  It happens to be mountain cedar time and on a scale of 1 to 10, I am about a 12 on allergic to MC.  And grass, which basically means there is no off-season for my sinuses. 

2. The acne
Oh Em Geezlouise, my skin.  Not to brag too much, but I have always had pretty good skin.  People remark on my skin all the time.  Apparently I had no idea how good I had it because 29 years of minor acne has come back to explode ALL OVER MY BODY.  I am gross. B offered to buy me a massage, but I would feel too guilty that someone would have to touch that.  Gross.  Oh, and the fancy Neutrogena Skin ID I was in love with?  Can't use it because it has Salicylic Acid in it. Or benzoil peroxide, which is a no-no.  But seriously, if you are looking for a product to clear your non-pregnant skin, I highly suggest Neutrogena Skin ID... great stuff.

3. Pregnancy Tests are not all or nothing
So I joined a pregnancy/baby site about the time we started attempting this whole process.  This is where I learned more about my cycle than I have ever known before. I also learned there are commonly used acronyms such as BD (baby dance) and POAS (pee on a stick).  I find BD creepy, but think POAS is hilarious.  I don't know why. 
I digress. Did you know that just because you don't see a second line on a pregnancy test that you still might, in fact, be pregnant?  You did?  I didn't.  But there are people out there that have skillz in the photo editing scene that can take a pregnancy test that 3 years ago I would have seen and immediately followed up with a "Phew, who wants to go to happy hour?" and after turning the photo kind of glow in the darkish can find a second line.  And these lines turn into positive tests in a few days?  Blew me away.

4. Other pregnant people are really cranky
On this same site is a community board where you can shoot the constipated (yep, another fun fact) sh*t with other baby makers. These people have opinions.  And their opinions are that everything you are doing is wrong.  I hear this phenomenon continues into motherhood, so I guess I should buy a few more pairs of big girls panties that I keep hearing people say to put on.
4.5 In Laws
Also, these same people have an entire board dealing with crazy in-laws and families.  Train Wreck.  And addicting. I highly suggest the next time you find yourself bored and tired of facebook, sign up for baby-center and watch the fireworks.  Unbelievable.

5. Exhaustion/Sympathy Pains
These wouldn't normally go together, but at my house they do.  I have always been a napper.  I love to sleep and have no problem spending a Friday night in bed at 8:30.  Sleep is my favorite hobby.  But man, I have never in my life been this tired.  Luckily B is exhausted too.  It may be due to the hormonal shifts he accuses me of having every day, I don't know what he is talking about, but I am ready for bed early.  He is typically the first to suggest lying down for the evening.  I had to put my foot down Tuesday when he suggested this at 7:12 pm.  In his defense he had no idea what time it was, and had I not looked at my watch, I would have been all over that idea.  He has also been in need of more back rubs lately due to unknown reasons as well as no longer sleeping.  I don't sleep either thanks to the psycho dreams this baby gives me, so I think he has sympathy insomnia.  Which is BS because he can take Ambien and I cannot.

Anyone out there have any other warnings for me?  I think I am handling this pretty good so far, but what do I know.  Apparently I am doing it all wrong anyway!

Happy Friday, and if you get some spare time to nap, please do so with me in mind.  I am trying to stockpile all the sleep I can, even if it isn't MY sleep!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Excuses, Excuses. Alternately titled: Suck It Herbstreit.

So clearly we have been MIA.  Apologies.  We have been a little busy around here. 

Wedding planning has become central to Gina's thoughts, as it should, and she has been working hard on creating the most amazing wedding invites (I will let her tell you about them) and working on getting wedding skinny for the big day.

Meanwhile, I am working on getting as fat as possible for her big day.  Seriously, I elastic pants are a Godsend. It has taken a lot of work to look like this, and I am damn proud.  Really.  While Gina has been taking cross-fit classes and crafting wedding details, I have been busy getting knocked up.  3 months down, 6-ish to go.

We will be back more often this year, but will try to make our appearances worth it.  And likely with less Shoesday posts, until we find a new site that provides shoes you can actually wear more than 8 hours at a time. 

We hope you all had a great holiday and new year!  Hopefully you got to see at least a part of the Rose Bowl where my Horned Frogs played their game and beat the big bad Big Ten team, while repeatedly being called the little guy and kicked to the curb by 50% of the Game Day crew.  How do you like us now Herbstreit?  What do you think ESPN?  Looking like a bad idea to sell Wisconsin 2011 Rose Bowl winner shirts a week before the game was played, huh?  Asshats.

I am off to get a breakfast taco.  Eating really is the best part of pregnancy.
Fatty love,
C