Sooo Sleepy

Alright, little Bean, you may have won the nap battle every day this week, and you'll probably end up winning the war, but tonight... I blog. I refuse to fall asleep before dinner.

This is week eight of our pregnancy, and you have really been making your presence known. I hadn't really had any symptoms to speak of before this week, except for sleepiness and aching parts--parts that you're not even going to use. I'll just leave it at that, since going into detail about said aching parts might really embarrass you some day, especially if you end up being a boy.

But this week, while you're starting to grow elbows, fingers, and toes, and develop facial features, I've started having mini bouts of what I guess is the dreaded morning sickness. I've been feeling a little nauseous every other morning, but it only lasts for a minute or so. If I pop a few pretzels in my mouth, I'm usually good to go. I've also struggled with my appetite. I go through a day or two of not really wanting anything to do with food. But when that's over, I want to eat whole cakes and pizzas, or I'll be worried about my next meal while I'm currently shoveling something in my mouth. Then we start over again.

The smells. The taco salad that I thought was one of the best things I'd ever eaten last week, assaulted my nose and stomach this week. I ate it the night your dad made it for us, but the next morning, the whole house reeked of it and the smell turned my stomach. I lit candles, but that just added to the stink. When your dad had the leftovers that night, it was the same thing. I had to make him get up and do all the dishes so the foul smell wouldn't be leftover on them.

So exercise (because of the nap war) has been on hold and vegetable eating (because I can't stand the thought of most of them) has been a challenge this week, but I really can't complain. I have nothing stopping me from napping after work, and I haven't ralphed at work or anywhere else, for that matter.

When I tell your dad about these symptoms, he says, "Aaaw, you're pregnant," like it's the sweetest thing ever to want to vomit. He likes it that we're being very textbook. He says it means that everything is working the way it's supposed to. I think it makes me sleepy and nauseous. But I do love that you're in there doin' your thing.

By the way, your dad read that you really are the size of a bean this week.

Information Onslaught

So your dad has been the one having little mini panic attacks every now and then since we discovered your existence, and I've been the voice of reason. Saying things like, "People worse off than us have babies all the time." I had myself convinced that you are here, you're going to develop and be born, and there is no stopping it, so my plan was to just stay calm and take things as they came. After all, I've heard stories of women having babies in toilets, without even knowing they're pregnant. So, certainly, someone who is aware of the fact that she's pregnant, went into it willingly, and is starting to educate herself on the different stages of pregnancy will be OK, right? That's what I thought until I went to my first doctor's appointment.

It was just an "education" session, and I realize now... I know nothing. There are tests, classes, and tours. Lists of even more do's and don'ts. Words I've never heard of. And she kept saying "at your age." She pushed pills and papers at me. She talked and turned pages too fast. I only remembered to ask two of my questions. One having to do with sex, so just never you mind. The other was regarding the H1N1 flu shot, and I still don't know what to do. I left with bags of prenatal vitamins, folders full of papers, pamphlets to read, and forms to fill out. And I went straight to Taco Bell.

Luckily, your dad took over. He read pamphlets, researched the different tests, and started a personal relationship with our insurance company. Yesterday he gave me the short, slow version of what the fast forward nurse at the doctor's office told me. I can breathe again.

When Don't I Have Cravings?

Little Bean, I want to thank you for giving me an excuse. People have asked me about cravings, and I have read about the out-of-control desires for certain foods. So let me tell you what I can't stop thinking about this week:

• Coldstone ice cream


• Cinnamon rolls from our school cafeteria


• Tommy's pizza


• Chicken and noodles from Bob Evans


• Frozen chai lattes

But here's the thing... this is really no different than any other week. I'm a chubby girl. I have always had cravings. The only difference now is that I get to blame it on you. I have an excuse for being naughty. However, I'm hoping that any day now, I'll crave brussels sprouts and not be able to stand the site of ice cream or the smell of cookies. I'd appreciate it if you'd help me out with that.

What I have noticed is that sometimes I'll be eating some regular thing that I have all the time, but suddenly it's the best thing I've ever put in my mouth: taco salad, a sweet potato, grilled chicken salad, or a giant pile of broccoli. Plain things, nothing special. But it's like I can't get enough of it at the time. It's just sooo delicious.

So maybe I'd have the same reaction to brussels sprouts, but I haven't craved them enough to try it. Until then, I'll settle for the gobblicious sweet potato.

Gobblicious = A word created to describe the act of quickly and greedily eating the most delicious sweet potato ever.

Six Weeks In

It's my sixth week of pregnancy. They (and by "they," I mean books, magazines, and websites) say that your first little heartbeats have begun. You're doing a lot of growing this week, and you're about 1/17 of an inch long. Your eyes, ears, and mouth are beginning to form, and you have little bumps where your armins and legs will grow.

Armins = Once when I was little, I kept telling your Grama Schulz that my armin hurt. She couldn't figure out what I was saying. Finally she realized that I thought my arms were called armins, because when she dressed me, she would say, "Put your arm in."

They also say that nausea should be really bad this week; however, (knock on wood) I haven't had any morning sickness yet. I've been more tired but, overall, feel pretty great. Usually, I'm taking something for a headache every other day, but I haven't had one for weeks. I'm eating better and exercising more consistently again, and it just feels good taking care of you. I have only two complaints so far. One, this pregnancy has taken the joy out of coming home and ripping my bra off. It actually feels better to wear a bra. Two, no wine. I'll just leave it at that.

Friday morning, I felt funny in the shower. I felt a little dizzy and thought I might get nauseous, which made me worry about morning sickness. And I think I just got all worked up. I stood there and focused on breathing for a minute, and it went away. I get hiccups almost every day. What's up with that?

Your dad and I have been taking walks most days. We usually talk about you the whole time--how I'm feeling, how he feels, what we found out about pregnancy that day, plans for your birth, plans for your life, how we'll raise you. The list goes on and on. You're our favorite topic these days, baby Bean. You make our life more interesting.

Name Calling

I went to lunch with Jackie Brown yesterday. She let me go on and on about you, and we started talking names. I told her I thought we had decided on Bennett, but that I'd just recently decided to keep looking for a boy name. That's when she so kindly informed me that we probably should stay away from B names so your initials wouldn't be BM. Wasn't that nice of her?! What is shocking is that every time I come up with a name, your dad comes up with 10 ways other children could make fun of it. Yet, for months we've been trying to think of a middle name for Bennett, and he didn't catch that.

I had originally wanted to name you EmmaLeigh if you happen to have girl parts, but I think we've decided on Sophia Louise. Louise is your Great Grama Fox's first name. She's gone now, and it's too bad you'll never get to see that sparkle in her eyes, know how bad she used to drive, receive a stuffed animal she made for you, have to sit through one of her very long stories, or get to play Yahtzee with her, but you'll probably have her name.

Yesterday, your dad pointed at my belly and declared it Beantown. Just for the record, I'm not even showing yet, so he did not say that because my belly is the size of Boston. It's because our little Bean lives there.

Little Bean

We've taken to calling you Bean, even though you're not even the size of a piece of rice yet. But Pilaf just doesn't sound as cute. We found out about you on September 3, 2009. I woke up at 3:00 a.m. and remembered that it was test-taking day.

I know you're going to be a good baby because you made your presence known on that stick well before the time stated in the directions. This makes you a good baby because your parents don't like to wait for anything. Hopefully, we've managed to keep this little fact from you because it's not really a good quality, and we hope it doesn't rub off on you. But we really do prefer immediate gratification. For example, we totally plan to make you wait for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to open up presents, but we'll be opening ours upstairs in our bedroom one to two weeks before Christmas.

Anyway, I ran up the stairs (none too quietly) to tell your dad. "It said yes," I told him, while jumping into bed. He said, "What?" "The test said yes!" I put the pregnancy test on his belly. He fumbled for the light and his glasses, and the test fell. He finally found the light and his glasses. I found the test. He looked at it and, if I remember right, your dad said, "We did it!" We hugged and kissed and he said quietly, "We have so much to do."

We got up and tried to take a picture of the pregnancy test because the directions said that the "YES+" would go away in 30 minutes. While your dad tried to take pictures with my cell phone, his cell phone, and the digital camera, I called your Grama Schulz. It was 2:30 a.m. in Wisconsin, and she didn't mind a bit. (I think your grama has been waiting for you since I got my period.) She called me later that morning from work to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Sadly, none of the pictures turned out, but that stick must be full of pregnant, because it still says yes today.

I told two of my good friends at work that day, Jackie Brown and Lynn Pendergast. Most people wait a while before they make their pregnancy public, but I don't know how. Driving to work, I wondered how the people in the other cars didn't notice I was pregnant. I texted Sandy Zane, who told Debi Edwardson. And they were the only ones I told for a while.

I peed in another cup at Dr. Toohey's office around 2:30 p.m., and she confirmed that there was a bean in my belly.