By request

Ok so I know I have been majorly slacking in the blogging department. 31 weeks prego now, guess I just have a ton on the go.

In any case, this blog is dedicated to my good friend Jenn. She has been reading all my woes about jackasses who say stupid things to pregnant ladies, and would like to know "What SHOULD you say?". So, Jenn? This one's for you!

I know I've ranted on and on about how people call me huge, and tell me I'm having twins (happend again at Starbucks this past weekend by the way, the barrista asked if I was sure that there was just one in there. Steve witnessed it this time and was boggled). But what things DON'T bug me? Well first of all it doesn't really bother me when people I know well, like friends, family or co-workers comment on the fact that my belly has grown, because, well...it has! Instead of saying "Wow you're huge!" try "Look how much that baby is growing!" then it's not a "YOU are big" it's "the BABY is growing bigger" less of a personal blow. Remember, pregnant ladies are very self conscious because they are not used to the Santa Claus look. It's already hard enough to cope with the dissapearance of your waist without feeling like people are calling you a cow.

How about saying "You look great" or "you are all baby" is also acceptable because then we don't feel so much as if we've visited the fat farm. Pretty much you have to just put yourselves in the shoes of that lady and remember that her body has just completely morphed. She is probably feeling more like a pod than a person at this point, so some friendly compliments or encouragement would do much better than a comment onher size.

Recent studies have found that an astounding number of pregnant women have developed what doctors have coined as "Pregorexia". This is when a woman is SO upset by her changing body and by comments from people that she has "really gotten big" to obsessively monitor her weight gain throughout her pregnancy. Did you know that doctors no longer have the "weight gain during pregnancy" guidelines? It's no longer suggested by (most) doctors that you gain between a certain amount of pounds, simply because each pregnancy is SO different. For example, when I was pregnant with my first child, I gained around 60 pounds! While a lot was, in fact, baby, amniotic fluid, placenta and a bit of fat, a good portion was due to severe edema (water retention). I balooned up so bad in my hands, legs, feet and face that I was hardly recognizable to myself. This time around I have gained only around 30 pounds so far. Mind you, I did start off about 20 pounds heavier this pregnancy than I did with my first. The point, however, is that especially with all the raging hormones going through a pregnant woman's body, weight gain (even for a healthy reason) is still very daunting.

SO, next time you are talking to a pregnant lady friend of yours, tell how fabulous she looks, not how big she's gotten. Go ahead, comment on the baby growing...but keep it to the baby if you can. And people? If you don't know the person? Don't comment. You will just likely end up with your foot (or possibly hers) in your mouth. Better to take the safe road then to be drop kicked by a hormonal mommy-to-be.

Until next time! Thanks for reading!

Nik

So I'm a gimp? So what?

So Tuesday at work, I am suddenly hit with severely painful abdominal pains and LOTS of pressure in my lower abdomen. Naturally I freak out and assume this means the baby is coming 11 weeks early. bawling my eyes out, i call my OB/GYN's office and am instructed to go immediately to labour and delivery at BGH for assessment. SOOOO, I call Steve at work to tell him he needs to come get me ASAP and take me to the hospital and why. Steve misunderstands and thinks I am calling FROM the doctor's office, which is on teh other side of town, and goes there to get me. He said he was all panicked and looking for me and that the nurses must've thought he was a crazy person walking around saying "WHERE'S MY WIFE????". He finally put two and two together and came to get me at the branch and we were on our way (panic stricken) to the good old BGH to see teh doctor on call. We get to the hospital and Steve gets me situated in a wheel chair so he can go park the car and come back for me to take me up to labour and delivery. we find the elevators and I tell him "floor 4". We get ON the elevator failing to notice that it's in "down mode" and that we just went on the wrong one because of our panic. Wanted to take the first one open. So we go ALLLLLLL the way to the lowest level then back, finally, up to 4. Get off on 4 and are told we want 5. Back on the elevator. AGAIN a down one! So of course I start bawling because I feel like I'm stuck in a nightmare! We get to 5 and look around and both of us think "this can't be right", so we ask someone again...nope...nope...we definately wanted 4...AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHH! At this point I am so worked up I feel nauseated! SO, finally on the right floor (the FOURTH floor) we get checked in and the doctor see's us right away. Luckily it happens to be MY doctor that is on call, so no awkward "history" questions and what not, just straight to the sitch at hand. She asks about the pains, I get hooked up to monitors, she checks my cervix and determins that I am not, in fact, in labour. turns out I seriously pulled a muscle in my abdomen and it hurts like hell. She put me off work and I had my regular 4 week appointment with her today, at which she decided I should be off for another week. So while I am serisouly relieved that this baby isn't coming early, I am in pain and want to whine about it for all to hear. So... WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!