peanuts?

Did I just miss this? Is it really standard U.S. practice to tell pregnant women to avoid peanuts? Because I've discussed my diet with all 3 of the ob/gyns/midwives I've seen as well as my GI specialist and GD specialist (ah yes, a new fab 'medical team' as if it didn't take enough people to get me into this state ...) and everyone has recommended eating nuts as a healthy snack ...

And I eat a lot of tablespoons of peanut butter now that I'm trying to gain weight again. I find it the easiest way to add protein to a snack of apple slices or carrots when I'm out and about in the city.

Anyway, this is the article that made me think of it: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27596933/. It's another article pro-early exposure to nuts.

Please, someone with a tasteful sense of humor

I need some help. Of the literary/creative/googling type. To be precise, I need help writing the text of our baby shower invites, which I probably need to send out Tuesday at the latest. Yes, I'm behind on everything this week ...

JD's good friend is hosting our shower. But it'll be at our apartment because it's in an easier location for people to get to. And I'll be posting the invites. I already bought clearance blank templates at Target, and they're super-cute but I can't find a decent wording online. We're having a casual, coed brunch on a Sunday - think bagels, lox and bloody marys for those who can consume those types of things and whole wheat blueberry muffins for me.

I don't want any of the following:
- A poem about how sweet babies are
- Anything in verse
- Anything mentioning 'Jack and Jill' even though it will be coed

JD wants to go with the totally boring 'Come help celebrate the arrival of Rachel and JD's baby ...' I want something slightly more creative. Any suggestions are much, much appreciated. Thanks!

Venting, venting, venting

I am a bit peeved at my family at the moment. Not so much my parents, but more siblings and extended family. And really just the particularly vocal people. Such as the person who called tonight to tell me ... exactly how rude I am.

Now, in principal, I agree.

Thank you notes ought to be sent promptly and they ought to be sweet and heartfelt and handwritten. And that is precisely why mine are late. I just haven't had time. Between schoolwork (yes, I have more than ever now because I need to 'get ahead' pre-December), grant deadlines, moving on a couple of days notice, 3 doctors appointments a week, junking our car and trying to be a decently available wife, well ... my thank you notes are late. And I do feel guilty about it. But I am also annoyed at those people (definitely plural) who bothered to call and tell me I was rude. And awful as it sounds, they are for the most part the women in the family who never had children or got advanced degrees and seem to have no idea at all why I can't just spend an afternoon writing thank you notes. And really, I just want to tell them to piss off and that things will only be getting significantly worse in a few short weeks and if they are offended that I can't write punctual thank you notes then please don't send me presents. And yes, that goes for one particular sibling too (your guess who) who just doesn't get it that she can't just chose the date she wants to avoid. To start with, I'm busy. And commuting to another city every week. And leaving the country in a few weeks. And JD is busy too, so she cannot just buy plane tickets to visit without asking me, and no, I will not be visiting her on the Pacific Coast anytime this spring, I'm too busy and loathe to travel even more than necessary.

Ok, done venting. If you made it this far, you deserve a delightful little nugget about just how far things have fallen chez long-distance-infertility. The week that started with sending my husband off to his first day of work in his newly pressed suit and no socks ended when I totally forgot about daylight savings time and shabbos and in a total rush at 4:15 pm decided to serve my husband the following absolutely delicious and lovingly-prepared Friday night dinner: cold grilled cheese on whole wheat bread. Several hours cold, to be precise. In retrospect, I could have just called and told him to grab something on his way home from work, but well, I didn't think of that. And JD decided he 'just wasn't that hungry' after all and went to bed with no dinner at all ...

weird

It is becoming increasingly apparent that other people's bodies gain or lose weight by total calories in and total calories out. My body seems to exclusively count carbs. I am definitely still eating carbs, but no more than 3 servings at a meal and no more than 1 serving per snack. Which is to say that I lost another 6 lbs this week.

Maximum weight gain this pregnancy: 30 lbs.
Current weight gain: 19 lbs.

I am so relieved that I am monitoring my blood sugar and doing growth scans at this point. Thus far the baby continues to grow normally (and on track to be an exactly average-sized American baby). And I guess I really do look a bit small at this point because at 2 different social events in the past 2 days people were a bit incredulous that I was due in mid-December.

Next growth scan 10 days.

Sick

I'm sick. Not sure with exactly what. Definitely not a cold or the flu. But I feel weak and tired and ravenous. Ravenous is a clear sign I'm sick. It doesn't help that we had a fancy dinner at JD's job's expense last night which seriously skewed my blood sugar, so here I lie in bed with my stomach growling feeling way too weak to go out and buy anything I'm supposed to be eating .... (and yes, that means I haven't really unpacked the kitchen yet).

And yesterday I caved and bought a sleep nursing bra. Honestly, it was partly from looking at my mother's curves last weekend and partially from a few new stretch marks. And it is painful. I went to a specialty store and tried on about 5 and this is the only one which came close to fitting, but I think it's way, way too tight. I realize I need to buy a non-underwire nursing bra for the first 2-3 weeks, so any suggestions for a particularly curvy woman?*

*And please don't suggest mother.we.ar or br.ava.do. They just don't come in my size unless I pay to get them altered - i.e. buy an XXL and then get it cut down for my size 34 back, and I don't think I have time to do that.

Exhale (slowly)

I had an ultrasound yesterday and (apparently) all is well. The baby was as ever not moving and I was more than a bit panicked until they put up her heartbeat, which was normal. She is currently measuring 4lbs 11oz with plenty of fluid and only 1 day ahead of her due date. According to the doctor she's on schedule to be a 7-8 lb baby, should she arrive at full term.

I get a follow-up growth scan every 2 weeks from now on out. And I think we starts NST's in 2 weeks and do those at least every 2 weeks but probably every week. In addition I see the GD doctor every 2 weeks and my midwife every week. Should be busy. For the moment, I'm still cleared for a vaginal delivery.

I had a major GD scare yesterday night. I had a reasonable salad and mini whole wheat bagel for dinner and then drew my blood and it was off the charts high. I panicked. Took it 4 more times and it was still high but all over the place. I told JD I might want to go to the ER and have them test me. He did not look thrilled, sat watching me panic for a few minutes, and then very mildly asked: 'Isn't this a new box of strips? Could they be bad?' Well, wouldn't you know it the pharmacy gave me a long-expired box of strips and when I found other strips, all was normal again. So incredibly annoying.

And now a question for my loyal readers: We had our first real childbirth class on Sunday. It was fine, nothing I didn't know already. I'm pretty sure that one of the other couples were also IF patients (She used every code word in the book 'I'm 39' 'Long-awaited' 'We weren't sure we'd ever have a baby' 'We feel so blessed to be pregnant' and clearly wanted to talk to me after class but we had to run). Well, as you might guess, I'm not one for such nuanced statements. I started our introduction with "We are infertility patients and thus far pregnancy has been much, much easier than getting pregnant ..." So here's the question - about 10 minutes into the first birth video JD turns to me and says 'I'm going to faint. I don't think I can be your support person.' And I really think he means it. He doesn't like doctors or needles or blood and he's very queasy in those situations (not that I don't make him prep all my shots, but I did the actual shots myself. He also changes the lancets for my blood draws, but I always draw the blood myself). I didn't think we needed a doula since we'll have a midwife with us the entire time we're in the hospital (it's a hospital requirement for a midwife birth) and I really don't want a crowd when I'm in labor, but now I'm thinking that we should hire one if it will make JD less nervous. Thoughts?

And for the record, my biggest objection is just the cost. It seems silly to spend over a thousand dollars on my 'comfort' for a period of 24 hours, when we'll have a hands-on midwife with us. There are so many other things we could do with the money this year, and then the little fact that I'll feel like such a fool if we have a midwife and a doula prepping me for a C-section should it come to that ...

(oh, and because we're obsessive we already asked the woman teaching the childbirth class if she's available for my due date and she is and is not totally exorbitant and I really like her attitude - not too crunchy for me)

Whoops

I do believe I just sent my husband off to his (big, important, NYC) new job without any socks on. Apparently I've been a bit more focused on unpacking my books and clothes and since I need him to help me lift stuff, we never got around to opening his boxes ... and he didn't mention anything till 5 minutes before he had to leave.

I would like to make him a nice dinner tonight, but I'm sure that's well beyond my capability for the day. Maybe ordering take-out will do?

Such a slacker wife.