Wondering What Your Baby Will Look Like?

Here is a cool website, MakeMeBabies that will create a picture of your future children. And in the event that you dont have a partner, or perhaps are a bit curious what your kids would look like with ... say Brad Pitt? You can do that too!

Men can put themselves together with a celebrity too. Though Miley Cyrus is an option, I would veer away from it. The girl is only 15 for goodness sake!

A Little Pregnancy Humor
Got this in an email from BabyCenter :)

Week 30

Didn't gain any weight this week, which I assume is due to a combination of the night sweats and nausea I have been experiencing in the past week (it certainly isnt due to the 3 packages of cookies Jeff and I polished off in the past few days). Another week has flown by and we still haven't done anything to prepare for this baby. Its starting to weigh a bit more on our minds and I think that you'll see some progress in the coming week(s). Instead of worrying about baby stuff, we have been more worried about our unfurnished house and other related problems. I assume this is still some sort of "nesting" instinct, though the existance of a living room couch isnt exactly going to matter when the baby arrives :)

The Baby @ 30 Weeks
Weight::2.91 lbs
Height::About 16 inches
While the physical appearance of Baby Schneider hasnt changed much in the past week, changes are still happening! The baby this week worked on producing new brain cells and red blood cells, according to What To Expect. Each of these developments are crucial to survival whenever the baby should decide its ready to join the "real world".

Babycenter mentions that Baby Schneider can follow a light source with his/her eyes. When born though, newborns only have the ability to focus on objects a few inches from their face. While “normal” adult vision is 20/20, a newborn’s vision is 20/400!

Me @ 30 Weeks
Parenthood.com talks about sciatica this week: pain, numbness, or tingling radiating from your buttock down your leg or in your hip that can be dull or stabbing, constant or intermittent, and generally makes you miserable. It happens around this time in pregnancy because the uterus presses down on your sciatic nerve. I have been lucky so far here, while I have experienced some discomfort and soreness, its nowhere near any sort of stabbing pain ;)

Babyzone talks more about the impact my changing body has on my life as bending over (i.e. to tie my shoes) becomes next to impossible. Thank goodness for the slip-on shoes! And as my organs become increasingly crowded things like heartburn and indigestion and difficulty breathing become more of an issue.

Several sites still talk about swelling, and the possibility that my feet may make a permanent movement to a larger shoe size. Currently at a size 10, with about 100 pairs of shoes in my closet, this is not acceptable. I won't have all those old shoes not fit, and I will not purchase new shoes that are bigger than a 10. If only one thing in my life works out in my favor, please let it be this!

The "reappearance" of mood swings is also commonly mentioned. I am pretty sure that mine never went away, so I assume I have not been acting any different. I am still crying at stupid movies and commercials ... and can feel a bit down at times when I think about all that this pregnancy entails (and that I still have 10 more weeks to go!) but as a whole think I am doing a good job of being sane and upbeat. Perhaps my friends, family and spouse may disagree and tell you that I am moody and/or crazy ... but I swear I am trying my best :)

Sleepless Night, Crunchy Yoga & Panic Attack

Its been a rough 12 hours or so. Lets start with last night:

I couldnt sleep. I was too hot, couldnt get comfortable, and kept thinking about window treatments (yes, what a waste, but I couldnt stop). We have an unfurnished house and a baby coming in about 2 months, and while I was sweating, tossing & turning last night all I could think about was the window treatments in two of our upstairs rooms. To make it even worse, one of the window treatments that had me so concerned was for a CLOSET WINDOW. I am losing it.

Then I wake up this morning and really didnt want to go to this yoga class. Its only 8 weeks or so and I already ditched one class (due to wierd arm pain) and wasnt going to miss another. So I head over there, and the only thing I got to exercise in my 60 minute class was my eardrums (listening to this lady drone on and on). Today she was back on her natural birth talk, specifically about water births. She also talked alot about how hospitals dont let you move, how birthing on your back is the worst position ever, etc. I think we did about 3 stretches in 60 minutes.

Onto the panic attack. Much of what she was talking about was the "pelvic floor". Pregnant women hear a lot about this: we are encouraged to do muscular exercises now in order to prevent injury during labor. In addition, many women experience damange/trauma during labor that is not always repairable. This conversation is not unusual to hear, so it was not one of the things I had a problem with her talking about. The problem was that she gave us some pictures (just sketches, not "real ones") and talked in detail about some different muscles. Thats not the problem either (it actually was quite informative). Here is the problem

I am squeamish. Not just a little ... the kind of sqeamish that makes you pass out at the sight of blood. And its a particular kind of squeamish - it has to be in a "real setting". I can handle most blood/gore in movies (though I dont appreciate it). (I assume this is because I know its not real). In grade school I passed out watching a movie in science class about a pancreas operation. In college I passed out when a kid sliced his finger open (I didnt even see it ... just knew it happened). One time I almost passed out reading a Stephen King novel on the train to work. And today I spent my entire yoga class trying not to pass out because the instructor was talking about the muscles involved and the delivery process. I saw a sketch of some muscles, and she was talking in general about these muscles during delivery, and I almost lost it.

I have had a long-term fear of delivery because of this factor. But I figured that almost all women go through it, its "natural", and everyone (generally) survives the ordeal. I havent really been thinking about the actual event and instead been focusing more on afterwards (how to get the baby to sleep, how to make sure both parents are involved, etc). Today I was forced to actually think about whats going to happen in about 10 weeks and I am freaked. What happens when the person delivering the baby cant keep conscious? I guess I have some questions for the next time I visit my doctor.

Ok, I have to go measure some windows :)

PreNatal Massage

Today I went in for a prenatal massage. I was planning on doing one at some point, and after a few days of back pain thought it would be a good time to go. Though most of my problems have been with my back, the masseuse found the most problems with my hips. I think pregnancy is full of suprises, and that was just another one to add to the list :) She worked out some tight muscles easily and I was merrily on my way. Since then I have felt pretty good ... lets see how long the effects last. Obviously I cant get a massage every day, though wouldnt that be nice!