The Bump Chronicles- week 33

Yay for hormonal waterworks! sometimes I feel like I need to drink an extra glass of water per day just to avoid dehydration by crying. Anything can trigger waterworks, oftentimes it’s the unlikely stuff. Hubby took me to watch Sex and the City 2 for my birthday and I stayed dry during the whole chick flick but I couldn’t say the same about the Google commercial that played during the previews.

Another common thing I deal with is what a former coworker calls the “pregnancy dumbs” and is usually referred to in the internet as “placenta brain”.  I sometimes feel like instead of making his/her own neurons baby is just stealing mine.  It is now the norm for me to have to turn around at the driveway when leaving the house because I forgot something.

I keep getting annoyed at the amount of solicitation and coupons that I get from formula companies.  While commercial infant formulas are commonly perceived to be the medically recommended second choice infant food after breastfeeding, the World Health Organization (WHO) states: “The second choice is the mother’s own milk expressed and given to the infant in some way. The third choice is the milk of another human mother. The fourth and last choice is artificial baby milk.”

The fourth choice people! Then why do so many women automatically default to formula as their first and second choice? I’ve heard a variety of excuses from several moms I have met and they just made me want to cry and scream at the same time.  It’s so hard to not climb on the soapbox on them for this one!

I am a formula fed baby, and although I don’t know what excuse my mother used to not breastfeed (we’re not close enough for me to consider asking), I have a feeling that it was the common society “perception” of baby feeding at the time and expensive formula company marketing.

People say “but look at you, you turned out fine!“, I may have but I also can’t help but wonder how much better I would have turned out, how much healthier I would have been while growing up, how much closer I could be to my mother if I had been breastfed. Although I don’t blame my parents for their decisions, they were doing what they felt was best at the time; I can’t help but feel shortchanged and that’s a feeling that I don’t want my baby to grow up with.

On the progress front, we have finally settled down on a name choice for both gender scenarios.  One name had been pretty much chosen for months, I just had to grow into it, and the other one was just a matter of selecting from 2 finalists. Credit for both names goes to Daddy Fox, he seems to have a stronger opinion on the subject than I did.  And no, we’re not telling what the names are…

I do have a belly picture to post this week (technically it’s the bump at week 32) and when I look at it all I can say is… I’m huge!

I have given up on wearing sneakers, I did pretty good at being able to tie my own shoes for longer than my pregnant friends and technically I still can but that entails finding creative angles and positions to reach them which usually result in a tiny foot under a rib so I’m sticking to sandals now.

I am already starting to get the “haven’t you popped yet?” questions, I’ve never understood that one,  does it look like I have?

The look on peoples faces when I tell them I still have 7 weeks to go, obviously they think I should be having this kid tomorrow.

Since it’s been a while since I’ve posted a list of pet peeves, in addition to the popping question here I have the latest ones…

– People who say, “Your lives are going to change!”  Thanks for the newsflash.

– Men that think they know more about pregnancy than I do because their wives went through it.  Really?  You might know a lot, but you don’t know what it feels like, so shut it.

-“You look so good now.  You should try not to lose all the baby weight.”   I didn’t realize I looked so bad before!

– “You look exhausted” … no kidding, just wait and you’ll see me wearing a whole new level of exhaustion soon.

Internet pregnancy forums tend to have these “due date clubs” for people that are all due at around the same time.  It’s weird to see so many July due babies being born already, agh!  That seems to be my biggest reminder that the light at the end of the tunnel is no longer a dot!

It shocks and amazes me how much ignorance is out there and how much damage it is doing.  I have added the Craigslist Baby stuff for sale RSS feed to my Google Reader for about a week now, I haven’t come across anything I’ve wanted to buy yet but something I do notice is the large amount of recalled products that are posted for sale and I cringe to think at how many unsuspecting people innocently buy these.

I’ve also discovered a LOT of ignorance in whom I would have considered experienced mothers.  For example at work I talked briefly to a woman pregnant with her second baby that had no idea that ultrasounds were optional if there were no complications.

Or the mother of 3 that didn’t know that homebirth is an option.  And don’t get me started on the lame excuses that I’ve heard for why they had a C-section.

When I come across these people I just shake my head and lament.  I don’t expect everyone to be as research minded as I am but when something as major as pregnancy and motherhood presents itself in your life I would have imagined that they would at least be interested in learning a little bit to make informed decisions instead of jumping on the bandwagon of doing what their doctor (oftentimes chosen for convenience of location/insurance coverage and not for merit) tells them.

And this is why quotes like this are scary, sad but true:  “Even though it’s neither an illness nor an injury, childbirth is the nation’s leading reason for hospitalization. It accounts for six of the 15 most commonly performed hospital procedures and $80 billion a year in hospital charges”  (Josephine Marcotty,  Star Tribune)

Moving on to brighter subjects, baby seems to have gotten mommy’s sense of rhythm with some dance moves that almost seem choreographed to music I can’t hear.  It’s super cute… except when I’m trying to drive.

On funny stuff, a website held a contest for a homemade video explaining why people should use cloth diapers.  I have no idea who won the $1,000 prize but my favorite is this entry below.  I would love to see an ad like this on a shopping channel or late night tv someday…

As time starts to run short I start to think about the fact that I want to have a belly cast made and trying to decide about when and how to go about it.  I see overpriced kits online but it looks like I can get it done cheaply enough, I just don’t have the help for it as I can’t cast my own belly.  I have several friends in Miami that would be perfect for the project but I’m not motivated enough to spend the gas and battle I-95 for it.

I may end up having to break down and pay someone locally to do it.

And this week’s last funny…. I wouldn’t be surprise if I see this happening in a few months….