Tag Archives: pregnancy

22 weeks. I’ll be 22 weeks on Tuesday and I feel like I’m sleeping as well as I would if I were in the last weeks of my pregnancy. Why? One little nuisance called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). This is an ailment that some people have to deal with all the time, pregnant or not; I feel for you seriously if you’re living with this 24/7. If you aren’t familiar with CTS, I’ll explain it to you in easy non-medical terms (we’re all parents, right? Sometimes I just don’t want to think more than I have to!):

Everyone has a nerve in their hand that helps control the muscle at the base of your thumb (look at your hand and move your thumb, see it?). The nerve runs through a bony canal or “tunnel” called the carpal tunnel. The extra blood and fluid that your body produces during pregnancy causes … Read More

By the time you read this I’ve already had my 20 week ultrasound appointment. It’s bright and early this morning. Hopefully all will be well with the Gummy Bear (the nickname that I’ve given this little life growing in my womb). With my past two pregnancies I met this appointment with anticipation and hope. I so badly wanted a baby girl when I was pregnant for the second time that I went against the plan my husband and I had developed for our second pregnancy.

You see, my husband has always wanted to have the experience of being in the delivery room and hearing the doctor or nurse say, “it’s a….” But, I was so sick with morning sickness during my first pregnancy that I reasoned with him that finding out the gender would help break up the long (or at least what felt like a long) pregnancy a bit. … Read More

Can we take a minute to talk about maternity clothes? I’ve got a beef with the brilliant person who designed mid-belly maternity pants. I mean, who, in their right mind, would decide to create maternity pants that have a tiny (in comparison to my growing maternal belly) elastic band, cover it in fabric and have it rest mid-belly on a pregnant woman? In theory it may seem like a great idea; you have this stretchy fabric that will allow the pregnant woman to wear the same pants through her pregnancy. Notice I said, “in theory?”

I don’t know; maybe some of you reading this will write back and say, “Bert! You crazy, hormonal woman! These are the greatest designed pants for maternity wear to come on the scene!” And you may be correct. One thing is certain, I am hormonal which tends to lead to some crazy thinking. Allow me … Read More

My mother loved telling me stories about how horrendously sick she was when she was pregnant with me. She told me how one morning on the way to work she had to pull over during Chicago’s rush hour traffic. Once she was on the side of the road she had to throw up. Now, I don’t know if she threw up in a bag in the car or if she threw up outside of the car. I couldn’t really ever figure out how one could have morning sickness so badly that they instantly needed to throw up and could not wait. Surely, this has to be one of these exaggerated mom things, you know, the stuff we plan to say to our kids when they’re a little older so they truly appreciate all the work and “suffering” we’ve done for them.

For example, I’ll tell Brennan, my oldest son, one … Read More

I’ll be honest with you all…I have an extreme case of writer’s block. It may not seem like a normal thing to admit when you have writer’s block but I do have a good reason for it. You see, a lot of what I write is inspired by my own personal life and right now I’m harboring a secret. It’s the only thing that’s on my mind now and always but I haven’t told you all for some reason. I think it’s because there’s a part of me that feels like it’s not culturally acceptable to talk about it for a little while. It really has nothing to do with my feelings at all. I am basically an open book; it’s just how I’m wired. Keeping something a secret just isn’t who I am.

Here it goes…I’m pregnant with baby #3! I’m happy about it through all of the nauseous … Read More