Short Version: leftovers cooked up - recording pregnancy signs, arguing over trifling organisational matters to do with nurseries, plus thanks for the comments on the last post.

Thanks for the breastfeeding advice. I feel reassured. I'm still thinking about the pros and cons of various buying/renting options as per suggestions, but in a much more relaxed and informed way. Also, cheers for the extra book suggestions. And the tips! Some really great tips.

Today, however, I need you to weigh in on a much more important subject: should a reference book on parenting be classified under "book" or "nursery item"? I say "nursery item". Mr Bea says "book". Having to move them backwards and forwards across the house in a passive-aggressive ritual of unspoken marital defiance is getting kind of old, but at the same time I know from experience that it could go on more or less forever before one of us gives in.

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I haven't been recording signs and symptoms well this last month, and I feel like I might regret it, or not, who knows? In any case:

  • I started getting Braxton Hicks contractions around the beginning of the third trimester. Mr Bea witnessed one and expressed surprise over how it looked. Apparently he was expecting my stomach to go inwards with each contraction. I pointed out how muscles get hard and bulgy when they contract and tried using my arm muscles as an example, but unfortunately I don't have any arm muscles.

  • I started being able to feel daily foetal movement from, say, 24-25 weeks. Gradually I started being able to feel movements more than once a day. At around thirty weeks the movements have become fairly regular and frequent, and much more varied. This chain of events didn't build steadily - rather, The Foetus has had wriggly and non-wriggly days. Even now he has quieter days where I have to concentrate a bit more to make sure he's moving enough. I can't feel as much when I'm walking around.

  • I got swollen ankles this one time. I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't had OHSS. When I had OHSS I tripped over the carpet in the hospital and went crashing to the ground with my drip stand. I broke the tubing and fluid and blood went everywhere, but it looked and sounded more dramatic than it was, which, by the way, is always the best type of accident to have, especially when the nurses are already running around like chooks with their heads off and you've just added extra jobs to their list, because they'll look upon you with sympathy and appreciate your "bravery" instead of clicking their tongues at your clumsiness and refusing to bring you your pain meds on time.

    However, I did manage to hit my shin on something as I fell, and the other night I noticed that I had an indent where the scar is. Except it wasn't an indent - just everything else was outdented. But only slightly. I went for a gentle swim and that seemed to help. It hasn't happened again since.

  • I am coping in this heat. I have been using the fiendishly clever trick of adjusting my physical activities to keep myself within a comfortable range. I do pretty much all of my exercise in the aircon (yoga/shopping centres), in the pool, or after dark, and I never overdo things. I don't, however, know how much longer I can cope with people asking me how I'm coping in the heat. On the other hand, thankyou for your kind concern, and please don't think I'm ungrateful for it. I only sound ungrateful. Ok, fine, I'm an ungrateful bitch, but it's the hormones. Can we get back to the book classification question?


18 Comments

Portia P said...

I'm sorry Bea, I think I agree with Mr Bea - it's a book.

BUT then i'm not sure what the context is. If it's about where it lives, then it should live in the nursery.

Oh - i LOVE bubble and squeak.

Bea said...

It's about where it lives. Nursery vs office area.

Bea

Rachel Inbar said...

It's a coffee-table book. One that you look at frequently & therefore should be hanging around at a convenient place.

Caro said...

Definitely a nursery item. I know this because the shelves in the office are getting full so I'm not allowed to add any more books.

Any saved childhood books will also be moving soon so I can buy more books.

Nina said...

I am sooooo slow when it comes to commenting, but I really wanted to comment on your post about breast feeding literature. In fact, I'm not sure if someone else already suggested the La Leche League "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding"? I have the book, read it, liked it and now it's sitting here in my shelf and I want to ship it to you if you don't already have it. Let me know if you are interested and mail me your shipping adress and it is all yours :-)

Great to read about your pg symptoms. All sounds pretty much normal, I had very very swollen legs and feet the last month of pregnancy...and it was the middle of winter here in Sweden then. I'm not saying anything about the heat...:-D

Betty M said...

Definitely book and not in the Baby's room. You are not going to be reading the baby "What to expect" before bed are you? I think the baby's books should be in its room and your books with your stuff. I only ever had time to read the manuals when the baby itself was asleep and somewhere else.

Jendeis said...

I think it needs to live where you'll use it the most often. (I keep books everywhere though, so this may not be the neatest solution). If you look up reference things more at night before you go to bed, keep it in your bedroom. Basically, I agree with rachel inbar.

Jess said...

I say its a book, BUT if you're using it frequently that it should live in the nursery. Definitely. Or an end table if your nursery is on a seperate floor than where you spend most of your time.

I'm sorry about the heat. My best friend was pg in the summer at the end, and OH MY GOSH. She had pitting edema (sp?) and it was weird.

megan said...

definitely nursery. the office area is for tax returns. :)

BigP's Heather said...

Shouldn't it get its own special area. I agree with Rachel Inbar, it should be in a very easily accessible place like the bedroom or living room or somewhere you spend a lot of time. If that means the nursery, so be it.

No Minimom said...

Category-wise, I agree with Mr. Bea, it's a book. But if that determines where its home is, then it should be a nursery item.

Um, and I find it entirely disgusting that you have only had ONE day of swelling. I'm enjoying massive feet and ankles pretty much every day. Blerg.

Junior seems to be moving less these days, too. It makes me a little panicky, but just when I start to reach for the Doppler, he gives me a little kick or roll that let's me know he's still OK in there.

7 weeks to go!

Anonymous said...

You are right. It IS an nursery item.

Nearlydawn said...

Yeah, I'm kinda with it being a book... A reference book, but still.

I would leave it in the room most likely to have the child in it - so it is on hand - in my house that is the den. But, that's just me. :)

Barb said...

What about a mini bookshelf IN the nursery?? You're going to need books to read to the baby, books about breastfeeding which would come in handy WHERE you'd do it, etc.

Thalia said...

How are you coping in the heat, then? Heh heh.

Book. Where are you going to read it? Almost certainly not in the nursery as baby will be sleeping or screaming in there while you tear your hair out and wonder where that damn book is. Keep it where you spend most of your time.

MrsSpock said...

Our books live all over the house since we don't have enough bookcases. They're on the dining room table, on the couch, next to the bed, on the floor, in the office, and in the nursery. I say the book gets to live wherever you will read it the most.

Geohde said...

Can I ask a slightly tangential quessie?

When did you first feel movement? I know when the standard line is that it's expected, but I have this workmate who scares the shite out of me by asking if I'm feeling anything yet because she did at 13 weeks. I mean, really???

J

Lollipop Goldstein said...

Office area; just because when you want to look something up will most likely be when the baby is asleep, so you won't want to go into the room and risk waking them.

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