Confession

I confess that I love researching and reading about all things related to pregnancy and babies.  I was not interested at all in most of those areas before (I have always been interested in child development, family dynamics, and such areas.  I even studied it as my major in college!) but as far as minute details about each week of pregnancy I really didn't care much at all.  The best website for this information is Babycenter.com in my opinion.  If you type any topic into Google, the first link that comes up is usually an article or message board on Babycenter.  The articles are authored by medical professionals and seem very legitimate to me.  The message boards are like a community of pregnant women and mothers.  For example, on Friday I searched for information about babies being born during blizzards and if barometric pressure can be related to the start of labor.  Sure enough, there are babycenter message boards about it.  Multiple boards.  There are boards for everything!

These message boards can get crazy.  There are boards, kind of like online clubs, that you can join for your due date (for example, I would be part of the February 2012 or March 2012 group) and for any type of pregnant person.  If you are having multiples, are adopting, are overweight or obsese, have certain complications, have done IVF, or have had miscarriages in the past there are boards for you.  I admit I have never added anything to a board or asked a question but hundreds of women have and they seem to have covered every question anyone might have had! 

I admit that they annoy me sometimes because some of the women are over the top.  They fixate on measurements, percentiles and estimated weights of babies.  They are constantly comparing milestones and worry about how advanced their fetuses are in utero.  There are also the boards where women present worries about things they did when they were unknowingly pregnant, such as getting drunk or using drugs or eating certain off-limits foods.  Inevitably, women reasure the original poster by letting her know that "I smoked and drank for two months before I knew I was pregnant and my son is the smartest kid in his class and in the 100th percentile for everything" or that "I drank caffeine all the time and my 3 year old daughter talks better than most 2 year olds!"  It usually turns into people bragging about their own kids under the guise of reassuring a first time mom that occasional bad behavior isn't the end of the world. 

Overall, though, the boards are reassuring and can get addictive.  I have been going crazy reading about signs of labor and how long labor commenced after certain events occured for other people out there.  Of course, they are all frustratingly different! 

I found a very funny new message board today where a bored with pregnancy March 2012 mom decided to confess the off-limits things she has done during pregnancy.  She also encouraged everyone else to do the same.  The board ended up being 10 pages long after a few days (a page has probably 10 posts) and many of the confessions were things that I too have done and haven't felt especially guilty about. 

So...I confess...

I have, on occasion, eaten deli meat and I never heat it until it is steaming hot to kill any possible bacterial growth like you are supposed to do.  Doesn't that sound gross?  Who wants steaming hot deli turkey or salami?  Mostly I have done this at restaurants like Subway or at catered work events with sandwiches.  I haven't purchased it myself to make my own sandwiches (and I can't wait to do so again very soon!) This was a big one that almost every woman on the board admitted to. 

I drink soda still, although not to the extent that I did before.  I can go days without a Diet Coke and the daily can wasn't too hard of a habit to break.  I mostly want it when other people around me are drinking alchohol or when I am on a longer car trip.  And of course with a combo meal at a restaurant!   I also have been drinking green tea, although I did give it up right after I found out about the pregnancy.  It is off limits because it hasn't been studied extensively.  I use my common sense on this one, and think of the women in Asian countries who have consumed this tea since ancient times and I doubt they stop during pregnancy.  Also, it is boiling water poured over leaves...how bad could it be?

I crave beer in the worst way sometimes.  Especially delicious specialty beer like Blue Moon with its delicious orange flavor.  I don't care if it sounds trashy...I know I am not alone in these feelings!  I haven't consumed beer besides O'Douls, but I have had several glasses of wine (hey, it I was pregnant through the holidays!).  

Everyone makes a fuss over me lifting and doing anything difficult but I continue to carry heavy things and try to bring in all my grocery bags at the same time.  I haul heavy laundry baskets up and down the stairs and move furniture when I clean.  I stand on chairs to reach high cupboards and closet shelves sometimes.  I even shoveled snow a few days ago, as I think I mentioned. 

Since I have been home I have been cleaning the cat box.  Justin did it for months but I know that Allan doesn't have Toxoplasmosis.  I did alot of research on this and that disease is spread when cats eat raw meat (such as an outdoor cat eating birds and squirrels) and Allan was born at the Humane Society and came from there into our house.  He hasn't set foot outside in his life and has certainly never eaten a rodent (he wishes!).  This was another big one that women admitted to...they also admitted to letting someone else deal with this chore even though they really weren't worried about getting Toxoplasmosis!

I go to the Y in the morning during the hours when normal people are working and I secretly like all the attention I get from the stay at home moms and water aerobics ladies that I see there at that time of day! 

I have been eating peanut butter and peanut products.  There are these no-bake cookies that I saw on Pinterest where you mix oatmeal with butter, cocoa, and sugar and also peanut butter and put blobs of it on foil until it cools.  They are so delicious.  I also eat peanut butter on toast (not daily) and eat peanuts in party mix.  I admit I do feel kind of worried about this although the research isn't conclusive that eating peanuts will cause my child to be allergic to peanuts.  I am not a one of the "high risk" women that has allergic tendencies that they speak of.  I just think living with one of those allergies in the family would be a huge pain and a constant worry.  My doctor never did tell me herself to avoid peanuts but I know about it from reading all those crazy message boards and from other pregnant people I know. 

Oooh...and a recent one...I had a cold earlier this week.  I seem to be over it but for about 3 days I was really congested and had an awful sore throat.  I bought one of the few pregnancy approved medications, Tylenol PM (well, the generic CVS version of it) and it has really helped me sleep after weeks of sleeping like crap and waking up every hour of the night.  I didn't take it last night and slept like crap again so...I might have some more tonight...my throat is still kind of sore...

One thing I don't admit to is having a bad diet.  Many of the women admitted that they never eat fruit or vegetables and eat fast food constantly.  One lady said she never drinks water.  Fruits, especially citrus fruits, have been something I crave and I have always like vegetables.  And I can't get enough water!  As soon as I wake up in the morning I am chugging ice cold water from the fridge!  Most of them also said they didn't take vitamins regularly or at all.  I hardly miss a day of vitamins, although I took a one-a-day vitamin before.  It has been a habit since I was a teenager to compensate for my distaste for milk and red meat (you need that iron and calcium!).  I even drink extra quantities of milk now and pay attention to protein intake so I guess my eating habits are better now than before. 

So that's it...please don't judge me...

Is anyone watching the Academy Awards right now?  I confess that I think they are really boring and I love pop culture but I guess I don't especially care which movie gets best picture.  Anyway, all of the winners can be read about online almost immediately after they are announced.  I have the show on but I admit I haven't paid much attention.  This afternoon I did watch the E! Channel's red carpet interviews where they talk about everyone's clothes and jewelry.  I find that aspect of the evening much more interesting than the actual show and I remember the stand out dresses more than I remember who won the awards from previous years!

I guess the bad weather this weekend didn't make me go into labor..sigh...Justin used the snow blower for the first time this year today.  I spent all day yesterday hanging out with friends so that was a fun change from my usual boring routine.  There is another weather disturbance forecast for Tuesday so maybe that will be the time...I will be 40 weeks on Wednesday.  Holy crap.  I can't believe I made it this far!  That fateful late June afternoon when I stood in the pregnancy test aisle at Walmart seems like a lifetime ago!