sleep, sleep

So much for being out of my first trimester! Yesterday morning from 4-7 am I had hot flashes and chills. From 11-12 I had weird stomach pain. At 5pm I ate a WHOLE chimichanga plus the sides of rice and beans (DH was a little bit shocked by that feat, as in the past I’ve had to stop at 2/3). And at 8:30pm, I fell asleep in the middle of a history channel documentary about superheroes, not waking again until 7 am today.

twelve weeks

Sigh of relief.  We’ve heard the heartbeat, the risk of miscarriage has gone way down, and for several weeks now I haven’t felt nauseated at all.  All things considered, I must have had an easier-than-average first trimester, for which I’m thankful.  I feel like I’m entering early into the second trimester.

Entering the second trimester feels like the beginning of a big lull.  The uncertainty of the first trimester is over, but the anxiety about actually giving birth is still far in the distance.  For now, I just get to take it easy.  My only complaint is that the “glow” of pregnancy, in my case, seems to mean breaking out all over the place.  Well, and that my allergies seem to be exacerbated by pregnancy (but then, I’ve never lived in this city in the month of July before, so I can’t know if my allergies would be this bad if I weren’t pregnant).  These days, when I wake up in the morning I don’t look very pregnant at all, but by the end of the day I look very pregnant:

So, with not too much going on, I guess now is a good time to review the rest of the books I keep on my nightstand these days (which is also a good way to procrastinate from writing curriculum, which is what I should be doing now).  These books are more mainstream than others that I’ve mentioned, and I hope they reflect that fact that I am not hostile towards conventional medicine, doctors, or hospitals!  While I think some reform in our health care systems, including our system of maternity care, would be a good thing, I know many, many wise and wonderful doctors who do what they do out of sincere care for people.

The first pregnancy guide I got was the only one the library had checked in the day I was there: The BabyCenter Essential Guide to Pregnancy and Birth by Linda Murray, Lean Hennen, and Jim Scott (2005).

I really like the format of this book. It describes what happens week by week, and for each trimester it includes sections on health, nutrition, emotions, and “the rest of your life”.   It’s easy to thumb through,  and informative without being didactic.  The pages are laid out like magazine spreads, with sidebars, short article inserts, and quotes from other pregnant women (taken from the babycenter website).  It’s not too technical, and it’s a good place to start. It’s similar to “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” (which I picked up used for one dollar), but I like it better.  “What to Expect” goes month by month rather than week by week, and its tone is a little too preachy (I don’t like it when a book tells me I can only have one brownie, once a month).   “What to Expect” does include a chapter entitled “Are you pregnant?” whereas the BabyCenter book jumps right in with “Congratulations! You’re Pregnant!”, so if you’re not sure yet, the BabyCenter book doesn’t offer much to help with the waiting.

Finally, there is “Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn” by Penny Simkin, Janet Whalley, and Ann Keppler.

Written by three nurse midwives from the Seattle area, this book is probably the most often recommended in the Pacific Northwest. It is very thorough and informative, and definitely less of a warm fuzzy read.  It’s the most technical and medical of the books, focusing on anatomy, complications, nutrition, the birth event itself (200 pages!),  post-partum care, and breastfeeding.  I’ve only skimmed it, as I haven’t had any complications and am NOT ready to read about labor pains

Oh yeah: I also have “The Pregnancy Journal.”

For each day of your pregnancy, this book offers a short fact about the baby’s development, the mother’s health, and eating for nutrition.  It also includes fun facts about childbirth in other cultures and spaces for you to track your weight gain and the size of your tummy.  This book was a gift, and I’ve enjoyed having it.

Finally, an article about baby names changing dramatically in the last fifty years.  Which ones do you like?