Tea for Two

I love tea. I used to drink several cups of day, but have cut down since becoming pregnant. Now I’ll usually have a black or green cup of tea in the AM (depending on how tired I am) and a couple of herbal teas in the afternoon or evening — all usually accompanied with lovely goodies such as chocolate or cookies.

During my NYC visit, the hub had arranged for a tea party at Sympathy for the Kettle. It was absolutely lovely. We got to choose from several types of tea, had finger sandwiches, scones, and cupcakes.

While there, the owner told me about raspberry leaves, which is supposed to be good to drink when pregnant. It helps with morning sickness, eases the uterine muscles, and helps with labor. I bought a bag and have been drinking some since. It has a light, pleasant taste. The owner said you can mix it with another tea, add honey, or add some dried orange peel for more flavor.

My friends and I also tried licorice root and mint tea because one of our friends had a sore throat. The tea was surprisingly pleasant as there was a sweet coating of the throat from the licorice. Since I’ve been careful about what herbs I take, I looked up licorice root when I got home. It’s not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding because it can induce labor and causes water retention. In general, should only be taken on a short-term basis. Licorice root is also in licorice candy, so try and avoid it when pregnant and breastfeeding. I happen to love red licorice, so this was very disappointing to find out! But I’m not sure if red licorice contains licorice root, so I’m going to read the label next time I have a hankering for it.

In other news, the congestion in my nose has decreased. I don’t know what happened because I haven’t used the neti pot since I went to NYC. But it’s nice to not have to constantly blow my nose. However, I’m still snoring. I woke myself up a few times the other day… must be the extra weight!

Twenty-Four Weeks

Last month, two of my friends emailed to ask if I wanted to go up to NYC for a girls’ weekend. So we planned it that I would go up from the 22nd to the 24th. When I arrived, several of my friends from California had flown in to surprise me! And it was all arranged by the hub! I was definitely surprised — and shocked that the hub managed to pull it off and keep it a secret. He did say that he let out a few slips that I didn’t catch. Must’ve been my pregnancy brain.

Anyway, I had a great time with my friends. The hub had planned lunch and dinner for us for the entire visit and took care of the bills. My friends told me how sweet the hub is — to which I replied, “Well, I am having his child.” We all agreed that the other hubs would have a hard act to follow for the next one who gets pregnant. We also all agreed to do something relaxing, like a spa.

In this group of friends, I’m the second one to get pregnant. One friend already has a son. We both thoroughly frightened the others about pregnancy… but I always believe it’s better to be informed than not!

Air Assault

I’m convinced that one of the most selfish things people can do is to pollute the air. I don’t give a damn if you’re going to smoke and kill yourself, but don’t go around blowing your stink in my face. I hate it that I have to walk by an entryway and be assaulted by smoke. Do they think smoking outside means by an entryway? How does that protect the rest of us? These people need walk at least a few feet to smoke. Plus the exercise might actually help them.

Another assault on the air I breathe are people who wear tons of perfume. A woman whose cube is next to mine comes in each afternoon smelling like she bathed in this sickingly, heavy perfume. (Thank goodness she’s only part-time.) You know, I could forgive her it was the good stuff, but it’s terrible. It smells like old ladies. I’m now convinced that the perfume is the cause of my watery eyes. My boss even said to me, “Gad, how can you stand it?” I would say it’s my sensitive sense of smell since becoming pregnant, but I couldn’t stand it pre-pregnancy either. Pregnancy has only made me angrier about it.

In my state of anger and annoyance, I consumed an entire jumbo box of Raisinets. I’m not feeling so good now… (at least it was dark chocolate).

Twenty-Three Weeks

I’m getting the “hanging belly” now where my belly is hanging over my pants. This makes me feel like I’m definitely bigger than I should be at this stage. I’m fearful because I keep thinking I’m going to get gestational diabetes. The reason I keep having this fear is A) my mother is borderline diabetic; B) I have high cholesterol (also hereditary); and C) I seemed to have gained weight quite quickly.

One of my friends had it and I told her my concern. I said I had started to eat fairly well, but recently wasn’t. She told me to just eat to my heart’s desire until I find out because after that, there’s no fun in eating. This past weekend, my friend who is a month ahead of me, told me that she just found out that she has it. She said she cried when she got the news (I would too). She can’t have any white carbs (like bread and pasta) and if it’s whole wheat, the second ingredient can’t be sugar-based (such as fructose). She also has to watch her portions; she can’t have a whole mango or banana, just half. If she has yogurt, she can’t have the mixed fruit kind, just the plain and she can only add very little fruit or sugar-free jam. I don’t know what I would do if I was so incredibly hungry and had to watch what I ate. I told her that the positive side is she doesn’t have too much longer to go before 40 weeks, so the diet is short-term.

I was eating pretty well up until about two weeks ago and my diet went to crap. I started really to crave chips, popcorn, and chocolate. And I’ve been too tired to cook, so have opted to eating out.

Happy Valentine’s Day

My ankles have temporarily returned! I think my cardio kickboxing class helped last night. Then I came home and put my legs up. By 8:30 PM, I noticed that my ankles had reappeared! I was ecstatic — telling my ankles how much I missed them and to never disappear again. I also made a conscious effort yesterday to drink plenty of water. So, at least I know this swelling is somewhat preventable and is temporary.

I used to be very anti-Valentine’s because I consider it a Hallmark day. But having a baby on the way has made me somewhat emotional and sappy, as well as thankful that my baby is healthy and will soon bring joy to my life. Especially considering my post from yesterday. When I found out that someone had lost their baby, it broke my heart. I hope everyone has a lovely day today thinking of their loved ones. If you’re pregnant with your first child, enjoy the last Valentine’s Day with your hub before life changes dramatically. If you’re married with kids, enjoy the day with your children and hub because the love you’ll get from them is unconditional. If you’re single, enjoy the day and be thankful for friends, family, and carefree days to enjoy with whomever you want.

Twenty-Two Weeks

The swollen ankles and legs still persist. I have put my legs up after getting home from work, made a conscious effort to drink more water, and tried stretching every hour at my desk, but my ankles are still not the same. At night, when I take off my work socks, any designs from the socks are embedded in my calves. If I wear ankle socks, they leave a deep mark from the elastic and my ankles look like sausages. It’s not painful or anything — just unsightly.

A friend of mine suggested I called the OB because some of her friends who had swollen legs early had to go on bed rest. I called the OB nurse to ask if it’s a concern. She asked how swollen were they and I said I didn’t know what to compare it to since I’ve never had swollen ankles/legs. She asked where I was swollen and I told her ankles, legs, fingers. Then she asked if I had any headaches and I said no. She said to keep my legs elevated if possible (yeah, right), walk around every hour (yeah, right), and drink lots of water. If I started getting headaches, call back. I have my next appointment in two weeks, so she said they’d take a look then. My acupuncturist said it’s probably just hereditary. I know my sister’s legs swelled during her pregnancies, but I assumed it was the hot and humid Dallas weather that contributed to it. *Sigh* This is very disappointing. I certainly hope I don’t have to go on any bed rest.

The congestion in my nose has worsened. I’m not sure if it’s the dry indoor heating (it’s been very cold here recently) that has contributed to it, the dog’s recent shedding, or it’s just part of the pregnancy. It used just be bad in the morning and then level out throughout the day. But lately I’ve had to constantly blow my nose all day.

I’ve also started to get pretty unproductive around 3 PM again. I get very tired and sleepy. So, I definitely don’t get any work done after 3 PM.

Very Behind

Right around when I first found out I got pregnant, I received two requests for fairly extensive programming projects. (I do some programming for the web.) I went to the meetings and took requirements, but I was pretty much non-functional for three months, which meant I got nowhere with these projects. And in most of the meetings, I was too busy thinking about what I could eat than pay attention.

Although I’ve started to feel better, I still feel like my mind is still in a haze. As I suspected, pregnancy brain is not a myth. The normally organized and sharp person I knew (that’s me) was slipping away as I was forgetting many things — not just at work — but in my personal life as well. I once found myself walking into my bedroom not remembering why I was there. I’ve had to ask the hub to remind me of things, which you know is a desperate situation when you rely on a man who can’t remember what you said two minutes ago and can’t multi-task. (However, I still think I remember more than he does despite my pregnancy brain.)

Twenty-One Weeks

When I went to my monthly check up last week, the nurse asked me if I had any swelling. “No,” I said. “Just a little in my fingers.” I was thankful that I didn’t experience any in my legs. In prenatal yoga, I had seen many of my fellow pregnant classmates with really swollen ankles. I have been lucky to be blessed with nice legs, which I inherited from my mother. To this day, my mother’s legs can double for a 20-year-old’s.

Yesterday morning, as I was selecting which shoes to wear to work, one pair that I tried on seemed tighter than usual. “Great,” I thought to myself, “My feet are swollen.” Then last night, I had a really hard time with my knee socks. They left dark welts in my calves. When I took them off — to my horror — the interior part of my ankles had disappeared. Yes, enveloped by a mass of swollen flesh, I no longer have inner ankles. I lay on the bed and cried while the hub tried to console me. “They’re not cankles!” he said. But it didn’t matter. The ankles I have always known were now gone. I didn’t think this could happen to me since I’m pregnant in the winter. I had heard it gets bad in the summer. Will my ankles return? I sure hope so.