For Comparison's Sake

Since I said it was so different two weeks later, I thought I'd prove it! It's absolutely amazing to me what a difference two weeks can make!!

Sight for Sore Eyes

We have arrived at the final sensory post: sight. 

It's fitting, as there's finally something to report visually, as I'm finally developing a belly! It's so fascinating how different it is for everyone. In fact, at my prenatal yoga class today, there were three of us in a row who were in our 28th weeks -- two of us are due March 11, and one March 9. And our bellies were all so different! Of course, our bodies are different to start with, but it's still fascinating to me!

It's even more fascinating how quickly it's changing. It was just two weeks ago that I suddenly had a belly (this photo is two weeks old now -- I have to get a new one uploaded), and now it's expanding practically by the day. We saw my co-worker today, and she said it was different from just Friday, two days ago! 

When we got to Hawaii, I thought my ankles had also already plumped out, but then I realized that A) it was hot, and B) we had just gotten off the plane. *Whew!* I had a moment of panic, thinking that I knew that the ankle explosion was coming but that I wasn't prepared for three months of it! The belly I want; the tree trunk legs/ankles I could do without!

The other things that are visually changing are that my hair really does grow faster, and my toenails are out of control. I keep thinking I'm going to scratch Mo to death while I'm sleeping -- and that he'll end up tangled up within my hair -- you know, just like the new Rapunzel movie.

And I know this is just the beginning ... my visual will continue to be radically different from here on out! It's such a bizarre/fascinating process!

Super Schnaz

If this nose could talk, it would tell you the following:

1. There IS such a thing as WAY too much perfume/cologne. (And it doesn't take much, folks.)

2. Your smoking DOES affect other people.

3. Smelling a big order of Chinese food can make me want Chinese food, regardless of how greasy it is and how badly I know I will feel afterward.

4. Baking always smells good. (Okay, well this is always true, but I thought I'd throw it in. Yum.)

I like to think that none of this is out of the ordinary for me, but I do have to say that the sense of smell has been heightened the last few months. As I've now become a casual carpooler, I find myself trapped in the confined space of another person's car on an almost daily basis, with no control over the amount of extra stinkage the driver or my fellow passenger has put on for the day -- or whether they have smoked just prior to entering the car. I just have to suck it up (literally) and bear it for the 20-minute ride in.

This happens in my office too, that people come in for our services and I'm trapped in my office, which is admittedly larger than a car, with nowhere to run for the duration of our meeting, which is often an hour. Aahh!! I feel assaulted!

I'll be curious to see if it feels any different for me post-birth, or if I'm just buying into others telling me that it's currently heightened. It just feels so obvious when there's something that is attacking my nose that I find it hard to believe that it's a result of extra-sensitivity, and not just something totally obvious. To all.

Doomed already?

What's with the gloomy outlook, you're wondering? How could Blueberry be doomed already?

A simple five-letter word: sugar.

I swore I was going to be the model mother, healthy as can be. My friend told me back in October about this book 'Origins' that talks about the effects of food on the baby in utero, and I meant to get it right away. In my defense, I think I've been on the hold list for it at the library since the beginning of November and haven't managed to secure it yet. So in the meantime, I've addicted Blueberry to sugar.

I guess it only makes sense that blueberries are served with sugar? Okay, fine. It's because I'm addicted to sugar. I *love* sugar. It's not entirely my fault. I come from an ice cream family. I'm only trying to pass on traditions, which is what parents are supposed to do, right?

As I mentioned in the feeling post, we have noticed somewhat of a trend when I OD on sugar, where Blueberry's dance craze gets kicked up to the level of Saturday Night Fever meets krumping. 

I'm going to go ahead and further humiliate myself by fessing up to what I ate one day when we were in Texas for Thanksgiving. We had passed an ice cream place that Mo, his brothers, and our sister-in-law all said was the best ice cream in Texas, so OF COURSE I insisted that we go. What kind of a Hymans would I be if I didn't?! While there, Mo ordered sorbet that he decided he didn't really like, so after I finished my two scoops of deliciousness, I finished off his sorbet -- and then helped his brother clean up his brownie sundae. (It would be a Hymans sin to throw it away!!) That night, his family had a party at their house, where I was obligated to eat my mother-in-law's *delicious* (no, really -- it's so yummy -- straight milk & sugar) rasmalai. And there was pecan pie, which you only eat at this time of year, so I had a slice of that too. Okay, fine; I had two. And yes, this was all in one day.

Suffice it to say that Blueberry was having a veritable rager in my belly that night. I think all the neighbors were there and they were having a full-on dance-off, with the bass booming.


It's funny, because I haven't really noticed any of the cravings I'm 'supposed' to get as a pregnant person. When people ask Mo what I've been craving, he just says, 'the usual'. (i.e. ice cream and other sugar yumminesses!) 


Oh well. I guess there are worse things than dooming Blueberry to a life of sugar. And really, it's clear that Blueberry appreciates the opportunity to dance it off! So it turns out I'm a fabulous mother, after all.

 

The Latest Dance Craze

Next up in our sensory exploration: touch! (I type as mosquitoes are nipping at my legs while I'm back on our lanai, soaking in the humidity of a rainy morning.)

Blueberry has really gotten the hang of this moving around thing. I want to get better at following the patterns of it, but it definitely picks up after I eat. (In fact, more about that in an upcoming post on taste!) It still feels more like swimming around and moving than kicking, though there are a few kick-like movements thrown in here and there for effect. I like to think that Blueberry has recognized the music of my organs (no coincidence of the double meaning of that word, methinks) and has created its own dance/workout routine to it -- you know, like the latest version of Zumba or something. Most likely something involving Broadway with some Bollywood flair and karaoke while you dance. While looking as peaceful as the baby in this picture, of course.


I've taken to playing a kick game with Blueberry. I read about it that it was a good activity to do a couple times a day for 10 minutes at a time, on a regular schedule. Well, since keeping routines is not my strength (I leave that to Mo), I just play whenever Blueberry is moving around. It just involves me poking back so that s/he knows that I'm there and ready to play! One time, though, it felt like my hand moved over something, and I got worried that I had broken something. I mean, it is only 14 inches long and not yet 2 pounds at this point, so I can't imagine that bones and muscles are exactly pliable! I was worried for a bit, but once it was back swimming around again, I figured we were okay.

It was a couple weeks ago where it finally got to the point where Mo could feel Blueberry moving, and that was a really fun moment. He got pretty excited about it, though he does get impatient waiting since Blueberry doesn't generally oblige with an immediate movement after the one that has brought me to bring his hand to my belly. He waits about 30 seconds and then just moves his hand back to groping me. Two nights ago, though, as we were watching a movie, Blueberry did give a good kick that Mo didn't even realize was a kick until I moved my hand to my belly. He said, 'Was that Blueberry? I felt that even without my hand on your belly!' I think that was the climax of the dance routine, with the full jazz hands.

Mo's so tactile as it is that I'm sure Blueberry will get more than plenty touch stimulation once s/he joins us in the outside world. That I'm not worried about.

Auditory Stimulation

We're in Hawaii! On the island of Hawaii! We finally did it -- we finally took a vacation! A honeymoon. A babymoon. Whatever you call it, we're away for a whole week, and it doesn't involve family. (No offense, our beloved families. We love you and thoroughly enjoy visiting you, but it's not quite the same as a getaway vacation! In fact, we're packing it all into a month's time -- visiting both of you AND our vacation! See? Proof that we do love you.)

It seems like there's no better place to get into the sensory reflection on pregnancy I've been promising than Hawaii, which is full of sensory delights.

As we are sitting here on our lanai (porch) enjoying the view of our lush yard, feeling the sun on my skin and the breeze against my face, I am particularly noting the auditory delights of the birds in the area. It's too bad I didn't spend more time with my mom's brother Jim, the ornithologist, growing up, to be able to know more about their calls. But I can appreciate their beauty without knowledge of who they are. Last night, we went to sleep to the sounds of the coqui frogs, so there's always someone singing to us!

We've determined that Blueberry enjoys my singing. It's sad now that my season with the Berkeley Broadway Singers is over; I don't have a regular weekly singing engagement. However, I have been asked to be the featured singer at an open mic in January, so I have something to work toward!

We read that around Week 20, Blueberry was able to start hearing our voices. Mo read that all of the sounds within my body (heartbeat, blood rushing, intestines working etc. -- isn't it weird to think that there are sounds happening inside of you?!) are equivalent of the roar of a lawn mower. He therefore deduced that he should *scream* when talking with Blueberry. After about a week of him yelling directly into my belly, I finally convinced him that talking directly to the baby should suffice. Thank goodness today's Baby Center update (26 weeks) said that the baby's auditory capabilities have now  developed to the point that s/he could probably hear us in conversation. *Whew!* I was worried that he was ensuring our child would be death with the yelling.

So, every night, Mo has made a ritual out of talking to Blueberry to be sure that s/he becomes familiar with his voice too. He tells him/her about his day, says 'I love you!' and talks about how excited he is for him/her to join us in the world. It's very cute.

We tried to convince all of his family members to talk with Blueberry too when we were there over Thanksgiving, but the only one brave enough to give it a go was Asad, who did it somewhat reluctantly and couldn't bring himself to talk directly to my belly -- he was more bent halfway over, a good couple of feet from the belly. He has a reputation to uphold, you know.

I want to make more of a ritual of playing music for Blueberry. Our friend Jessica (who just had her baby a week ago, by the way, in case I forgot to mention that last time -- we got to meet little Aixa on Saturday before we left, and Mo was enthralled with her all wrapped up like a burrito sleeping on Cesar's chest -- he kept saying, 'I want one!') gave me a set of Belly Buds, which are basically belly earphones so I can play music directly for Blueberry. (I know -- it's ridiculous the amount of products they've come up with these days. I didn't want to buy them since they're useful for such a short period, but since they've been handed down to me, I'll use them!) I'll have to find a regular time of day for that to help Blueberry build a schedule.

Okay, back to enjoying these Hawaiian delights directly.