Enjoy!!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Baby Rooms
I know it's a little soon to be worried about baby rooms, but I found a few that I am absolutely obsessed with.
Enjoy!!
Enjoy!!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Prenatal Vitamins
I figured that now that I'm pregnant, I should purchase and begin to take prenatal vitamins. I started out with the Spring Valley brand from Walmart. There are 100 1-a-day tablets for $4.00. I thought this was a good buy and I was very excited that I wouldn't have to spend tons of money on vitamins. I also bought a bottle of the Spring Valley brand Algal Omega-3 Fish Free DHA capsules ($9.00 for a bottle of 30), which are supposed to be great for the baby's brain and eye development. According to recent studies, Omega-3 is a very essential supplement during pregnancy, not only for the baby's development, but also for the health of the mother.
I have been happy with my DHA capsules, and I've noticed that there is no fishy aftertaste, unlike the fish oil tablets I was taking pre-pregnancy. They're small enough to swallow comfortably, and they haven't made me sick. I have been taking them with food, and I suppose maybe that has helped.
I did notice that I was starting to get sick from my prenatal vitamins. I did a little research, and found that the iron and zinc in some prenatal vitamins can irritate the stomach and cause even more sickness than usual. The vitamins I was taking had 28 mg of iron (which is 156% of your daily needs while pregnant) and 25 mg of zinc (which is 167% of your daily needs). Appalled, I went to my local GNC store and spoke with a very helpful saleswoman about my theory. She agreed with me, and directed me to the GNC Women's Prenatal Formula with iron. There are 60 tablets in a bottle for $9.99. The daily dose (two pills a day) provides 18 mg of iron (100% of your daily needs) and 15 mg of zinc (also 100%). The saleslady suggested that I take one pill with breakfast and one with dinner to split up the iron and zinc throughout the day. So far, I've had no upset stomach and no metallic taste in my mouth like I had with the other vitamins.
I went on WebMD and found that a good prenatal vitamin should have approximately:
I have been happy with my DHA capsules, and I've noticed that there is no fishy aftertaste, unlike the fish oil tablets I was taking pre-pregnancy. They're small enough to swallow comfortably, and they haven't made me sick. I have been taking them with food, and I suppose maybe that has helped.
I did notice that I was starting to get sick from my prenatal vitamins. I did a little research, and found that the iron and zinc in some prenatal vitamins can irritate the stomach and cause even more sickness than usual. The vitamins I was taking had 28 mg of iron (which is 156% of your daily needs while pregnant) and 25 mg of zinc (which is 167% of your daily needs). Appalled, I went to my local GNC store and spoke with a very helpful saleswoman about my theory. She agreed with me, and directed me to the GNC Women's Prenatal Formula with iron. There are 60 tablets in a bottle for $9.99. The daily dose (two pills a day) provides 18 mg of iron (100% of your daily needs) and 15 mg of zinc (also 100%). The saleslady suggested that I take one pill with breakfast and one with dinner to split up the iron and zinc throughout the day. So far, I've had no upset stomach and no metallic taste in my mouth like I had with the other vitamins.
I went on WebMD and found that a good prenatal vitamin should have approximately:
- 400 mcg of folic acid (these have 1000 mcg, which is good for your baby's nerve development and growth of the spinal cord)
- 400 IU of vitamin D (these have 400 IU)
- 200 to 300 mg of calcium (these have 600 mg)
- 70 mg of vitamin C (120 mg in the GNC prenatal formula)
- 3 mg of thiamine (these only have 1.4 mg, which I think is fine since most people get a lot of their daily requirement from breakfast cereals, grains, pastas and meats.)
- 2 mg of riboflavin (these have 1.6 mg, but again, a lot of this can be found in green vegetables, milk, yogurt, mushrooms, eggs, etc.)
- 20 mg of niacin (these have 18 mg, but since niacin is found in most meats, I wouldn't worry about it unless you're a vegetarian.)
- 6 mcg of vitamin B12 (these have 8 mcg)
- 10 mg of vitamin E (these have 30 IU, which is about twice as much as you need, but hey, it's great for your skin and eyes, and it's safe to take up to 1,500 IU daily when you're pregnant)
- 15 mg of zinc (these have 15 mg)
- 17 mg of iron (these have 18 mg).
Finding a Pregnancy-Friendly Job
It's weird how everything changes once you're pregnant. I have to find a new job because my part-time job at Sam's Club involves TONS of heavy lifting, which I am not allowed to do while pregnant. The job search is a little more difficult because I have a lot more things to consider - is the job flexible? Will I be able to go to my doctor appointments? Will I be able to do the work when I'm 9 months pregnant? Will I be around dangerous chemicals? Will I have to be on my feet all day? Will it be a problem if I would like to have a few weeks off after my baby is born? There are so many things to consider that I never even thought of before.
I had an interview at Starbucks today, which in theory sounds like it would be a good job, but now I'm concerned about little things like cleaning bathrooms with industrial strength chemicals and being on my feet all day. On top of that, they only pay $7.33 an hour which is maybe not enough once there's a baby in the picture. And, they prefer it if you try all of the drinks so you can describe them to customers. I can't drink coffee because of the caffeine, so that doesn't really work. The insurance sounds good, on the other hand. It's better than the insurance we have now, and it costs a lot less, which would be nice and maybe make up for the low wages.
Tuesday, I have an interview at a life insurance company, which I'm guessing is more of a desk job, which would be preferable during pregnancy. However, I did sales before, and I find it rather stressful, which isn't ever good for the baby. We'll see, I guess. This whole job thing is weighing on my mind a lot more than I thought it would be, but money is tight right now, and we're going to need a lot more of it soon. Ideally, I'd like to find somewhere where I can work 8 hours a day, 3-4 days a week. It'd be nice to have evenings and weekends off again and have a set schedule. I've applied for a few jobs that fit this description, and now I'm hoping I'll get one of them.
I had an interview at Starbucks today, which in theory sounds like it would be a good job, but now I'm concerned about little things like cleaning bathrooms with industrial strength chemicals and being on my feet all day. On top of that, they only pay $7.33 an hour which is maybe not enough once there's a baby in the picture. And, they prefer it if you try all of the drinks so you can describe them to customers. I can't drink coffee because of the caffeine, so that doesn't really work. The insurance sounds good, on the other hand. It's better than the insurance we have now, and it costs a lot less, which would be nice and maybe make up for the low wages.
Tuesday, I have an interview at a life insurance company, which I'm guessing is more of a desk job, which would be preferable during pregnancy. However, I did sales before, and I find it rather stressful, which isn't ever good for the baby. We'll see, I guess. This whole job thing is weighing on my mind a lot more than I thought it would be, but money is tight right now, and we're going to need a lot more of it soon. Ideally, I'd like to find somewhere where I can work 8 hours a day, 3-4 days a week. It'd be nice to have evenings and weekends off again and have a set schedule. I've applied for a few jobs that fit this description, and now I'm hoping I'll get one of them.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Knocked Up
I had been feeling very weird for over a week. I felt bloated, my stomach felt a little queasy, and I got dizzy every time I stood up. My period was over two weeks late, but I had been feeling a little crampy, so I thought maybe it was coming. But it didn't. So on Friday, I took a pregnancy test.
I suppose as I was taking it, I already knew what it was going to say. I had told a dear friend a few days earlier that I thought I was pregnant, but I said it as kind of a joke. Even though I laughed when I said it, it still felt true.
Is it ridiculous to think that I could tell this early? I've had friends and family not know they were pregnant until they were over three months along. The test began forming a control line just like all of the other pregnancy tests I've taken, but this time, a very faint cross was in the box next to it. This had never happened before. I wondered if I was imagining it. It was too light to really mean I was pregnant, right?
I read the instructions enclosed in box, and a little diagram below stated that the result was still positive, no matter how light the lines were. I stood there for a moment, staring at the test. This couldn't be happening. My husband and I have only been married.a year. We weren't planning on having children for at least 4 or 5 more years. I have to finish school. I have to become a writer.
But amidst the feelings of panic, I felt a little thrill of excitement. A baby. I love babies. Of course I've never spent more than 2 consecutive days with one since my youngest brother was born, and that was over 16 years ago. But it can't be that bad, can it? I marched upstairs, pregnancy test in hand, and handed it to my husband, who was sitting at his computer.
He stared at it for a long moment and then looked up at me. "Does this mean you're pregnant?"
He's been talking about wanting to have a baby for a few months now. He always says that if we have kids now, they'll be out of the house when we're 44. I'm not sure he's thought about those 18 years in between. But he was excited, and his excitement made me more excited. He wanted to call people right away.
"Don't you think we should wait until we go to the doctor?" I asked.
"No." he said, and grabbed the phone to call his parents. So since his parents knew, I figured I might as well tell my parents.
Last night we were at Matt's dad's for Father's Day, and my sister-in-law told me that she had a friend who had taken a test that came out positive, but when she went to the doctor, she wasn't really pregnant. Worried, I took another test as soon as we got home. This one was also positive, and the lines were really dark this time. Matt laughed at me.
So I'm having a baby, and I don't really know how to be a mother, or even how to be pregnant, for that matter. I called around and found a doctor today, one that was covered by our insurance and delivered babies at the hospital 5 blocks from our house. Our first appointment is July 8th. It's starting to feel more real, and I'm equal parts exited and nervous.
Matt's already been talking about names, and while it's a little soon for that, I'm happy that he's so exited. Now that I've had a few days to let it soak in, I'm pretty excited about it, too.
I suppose as I was taking it, I already knew what it was going to say. I had told a dear friend a few days earlier that I thought I was pregnant, but I said it as kind of a joke. Even though I laughed when I said it, it still felt true.
Is it ridiculous to think that I could tell this early? I've had friends and family not know they were pregnant until they were over three months along. The test began forming a control line just like all of the other pregnancy tests I've taken, but this time, a very faint cross was in the box next to it. This had never happened before. I wondered if I was imagining it. It was too light to really mean I was pregnant, right?
I read the instructions enclosed in box, and a little diagram below stated that the result was still positive, no matter how light the lines were. I stood there for a moment, staring at the test. This couldn't be happening. My husband and I have only been married.a year. We weren't planning on having children for at least 4 or 5 more years. I have to finish school. I have to become a writer.
But amidst the feelings of panic, I felt a little thrill of excitement. A baby. I love babies. Of course I've never spent more than 2 consecutive days with one since my youngest brother was born, and that was over 16 years ago. But it can't be that bad, can it? I marched upstairs, pregnancy test in hand, and handed it to my husband, who was sitting at his computer.
He stared at it for a long moment and then looked up at me. "Does this mean you're pregnant?"
He's been talking about wanting to have a baby for a few months now. He always says that if we have kids now, they'll be out of the house when we're 44. I'm not sure he's thought about those 18 years in between. But he was excited, and his excitement made me more excited. He wanted to call people right away.
"Don't you think we should wait until we go to the doctor?" I asked.
"No." he said, and grabbed the phone to call his parents. So since his parents knew, I figured I might as well tell my parents.
Last night we were at Matt's dad's for Father's Day, and my sister-in-law told me that she had a friend who had taken a test that came out positive, but when she went to the doctor, she wasn't really pregnant. Worried, I took another test as soon as we got home. This one was also positive, and the lines were really dark this time. Matt laughed at me.
So I'm having a baby, and I don't really know how to be a mother, or even how to be pregnant, for that matter. I called around and found a doctor today, one that was covered by our insurance and delivered babies at the hospital 5 blocks from our house. Our first appointment is July 8th. It's starting to feel more real, and I'm equal parts exited and nervous.
Matt's already been talking about names, and while it's a little soon for that, I'm happy that he's so exited. Now that I've had a few days to let it soak in, I'm pretty excited about it, too.
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