Lukas Giggles!

Baby Gadgets

Awhile ago, my sister wrote a post on her blog about unnecessary baby gadgets that parents get roped into buying. I've been wanting to write a review of a few of the ones I've been using for awhile, so here goes.

Boppy: A-

I would have given this an A+ if it weren't so freaking expensive. I mean, $35 for a pillow? Ridiculous! Kid to Kid sells used ones for $15-$20, and I found one at DI for $2 and one at Savers for $5. So there are places you can get them without having to pay an arm and a leg. However, if you are a breastfeeding mom I think it's worth paying full price for. The C-shape of the pillow is designed to fit around your waist so that it stays in place while the baby lays on top of it and nurses. 

Back when I was nursing (I pump almost exclusively now, since I work 40 hours a week and find it to be quicker and simpler than nursing) I found that using the Boppy cut the frustrations of breast feeding in half. It was still hard to tell if Lukas was getting enough and there were the issues of overproduction and needing a nipple shield etc... but at least I wasn't having to bend forward the whole time until my back felt like it was breaking, and I had support for his tiny, floppy body. Even regular pillows didn't resolve those problems for me.

Bonus: the Boppy is great for tummy time, as long as you NEVER leave your kid in it unsupervised. Lukas tends to slip down in it after awhile until his back is arched and he's in an unsafe position. Also, I would never buy the Boppy Lounger since you can just put a blanket over the regular Boppy and it's pretty much the same thing.

Baby Bjorn: A-

I thought an Infantino brand baby carrier would be just as good, but the Bjorn is far superior. It has great back support and is easily adjustable. I would have given it an A+ if it could be worn as a back carrier too, but I guess you can't have everything. I got mine at Kid to Kid for $25, and would highly recommend getting a used one for cheaper if you can, since the regular price is very steep and they tend to hold up really well with lots of use. We don't use it all that often yet, but when we do I'm glad to have it since it's SO much less of a pain to haul around than our huge stroller!

Cloud B Sleep Sheep: B-

I forked out the money for this one impulsively on a sleepless night after Lukas was back from the NICU and refusing to let Mykle and I go to bed. For some reason (probably my work schedule) his sleep cycle was off kilter so that he slept most of the day and was awake at night. It drove Mykle crazy and he was about to fall apart from exhaustion on the nights I worked grave shifts and he was left to watch the baby. On the nights I was home, I had to get up every few hours anyway to pump, but I was also very tired.

The sheep itself is not that great, just a stuffed animal designed to inflate the price. The thing you're really paying for is the sound machine that clips into it. It makes four noises that are meant to sooth the baby to sleep: human heartbeat (supposedly what the mom's sounds like from the womb), rain, ocean surf, and whale song. The heartbeat was a little disappointing to me, since in between each beat there's a silence; I think it would be more hypnotic if the noise was continuous (this is hard to explain in writing, but if you've heard the sound you'll know what I mean). The rain sound is just white noise. The ocean surf is okay, and I thought the whale song was pretty cool.

Unfortunately for this gadget's rating, I remain unconvinced of its overall effectiveness. I think it might help a little, but Lukas sleeps fine without it now. (Once my work schedule smoothed out and he got big enough to sleep for more hours at a time, he did better) I only rated it as high as I did because Mykle LOVES it! He uses the ocean sound to help himself fall asleep! I think that's pretty funny, but hey, at least someone's putting it to good use.

Bottle Brush: A

I rated this highly because they are a super cheap way to cut washing time in half. For me personally, I'd give it an A+ because I don't have a dishwasher and I pump almost exclusively, so I generate a lot of things that can benefit from the use of this tool. I didn't have one for the longest time because I figured it was unnecessary and I could live without it. It's true; it is and you can, but dude, they sell them at the dollar store so it's not exactly a luxury item. If you bottle feed at all, get one. They're useful.

Folding Baby Bathtub: B+

I got this for free from a lady in my ward. I'd recommend it to someone with a small apartment who wants to save space. It folds up for easy storage, and even though many of the reviews mention that it is unsafe because it collapses on itself when the baby gets too heavy, this is not a problem for me. The way it rests in my sink (and I have a standard sized kitchen sink) makes it impossible to collapse in on itself because the weight of it isn't supported by the "wings" that fold in, but the edges of the basin itself. (again, hard to explain but you'd know what I mean if you saw it) Actually, I think parents who put their children in it when it's resting on the foldable wings are complete idiots for not anticipating that the little plastic hook will give out under that weight. 

I actually didn't think I'd need a baby bathtub originally. I'm not quite sure why. It's pretty difficult to wash an infant without one. Or even with one, for that matter, since they are so floppy and can't support themselves at all. I would have rated this higher, except that I'm fairly certain it works just as well as any other baby bathtub. Never spend more than $5 on a baby bathtub, that's my thought. You see them for sale all the time on craigslist.

Musical Mobile: F

Complete waste of money. For one thing, Lukas doesn't really hang out in his crib all that much yet. I dunno, maybe this rating will change once he does. For now though, the mobile gets very little use and serves no real purpose. Lukas ignores it for the most part, even when it's on. He is much more interested in the overhead light and the ceiling fan. As for the music, it doesn't play for longer than a minute at a time without needing to be re-wound, and I'm not going to stand by his crib and do that until he falls asleep. I might as well just rock him to sleep in my arms every night.

I was surprised that something so common and basic as a musical mobile ended up being so useless. Oh well.

Fisher-Price Rock n' Play Sleeper: A-

When Lukas first came home from the hospital, he was still on oxygen and hooked up to an apnea monitor. Those factors combined with regular new-mom-paranoia made me want to have him as close as possible at night. We have a loft bed, and Mykle had moved it to the floor a month or two earlier, since I didn't like having to climb up the side when I was huge and pregnant. I had gotten this sleeper as an alternative to a swing and a bassinet, and it was perfect for Lukas to sleep in and still be within arm's reach from me. 

He still sleeps in it now (for some reason he gets all fussy when we put him in his crib), and I love it. Best things about it: it folds up for easy portability, you can rock it (kind of wish it was mechanized so I didn't have to do it by hand, but you can't have everything), and it props the baby up slightly which is great for kids (like Lukas) who start out with really bad acid reflux. 

I gave it an A- because of all the reviews it got on amazon.com about giving babies a flat head. I'm super-vigilant about that and I don't put Lukas in it all day- just at night when Mykle and I are in bed. He hasn't had any problems that I've noticed, but I still worry...

Hands-Free Pumping Bra: B+

Definitely not a necessity, but it's nice to have. Obviously you'd only need it if you pump exclusively like I do. I like it because not only do I not have to hang on to the bottles when I'm pumping in the middle of the night and am only half awake; it also gives me two free hands when I need them to go on the computer, feed the baby, eat, or whatever. I can do all those things one-handed without this bra, but they're much easier with it (especially feeding Lukas). In addition, it allows me to fold laundry while pumping, and when you're cloth diapering a baby the laundry NEVER ends!

Itzbeen Baby Timer: A+

It's simple: a timer with little icons of a bottle, a diaper, Z's (sleep), and a star (*) for whatever you want. It has a flashlight on top and the back lights up so you can read it in the dark. It also has a digital clock on it and a clip on the back to attach it wherever you want. 

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "$20 for a glorified stopwatch? That's ridiculous!" It's silly, I realize. However, it is TOTALLY worth it. I plan on this being my baby shower present of choice for all new moms. Because when I'm in the middle of a project or just getting home from work or asleep in bed and Lukas starts to cry or fuss, I don't have to rack my brain and wonder when I fed him last, or how long it's been since he was changed. I look at the timer and see "Oh, he was just changed 45 minutes ago, but he hasn't eaten for 3 hours. He must be hungry." 

It's especially useful for me because I use the star button to keep track of my pumping. Yeah, I can feel the let-down and it wouldn't be impossible to pump based on that. But you'd be surprised how easy it can be to forget. It's just like how I can go 6 hours without eating and not remember that I skipped a meal until a wave of hunger hits me and I suddenly feel like I'm going to starve to death if I don't eat something NOW. Except in this scenario I'm avoiding engorgement, not starvation.

It's also great when I switch off watching Lukas with Mykle or Connie. I don't have to ask them how long it's been since such-and-such and wait for them to try and remember. I just look at the timer. We don't ever use the sleeping button, but it's nice to have the option. Some reviewers online think it would be even better if it had a way to record how much you pumped or how much the baby ate, etc. I think the simplicity is nice, though, and I wouldn't change anything about it except maybe to add an alarm. Then again, it sort of does have an alarm; you can set any of the icons to flash after you've gone a certain amount of time without pushing it. (hard to explain without a visual aid...) It would be nice if there was an audio alarm as well for those first few weeks when you have to wake up every 3 hours to pump to establish a good supply. But I guess most moms use their baby as an alarm, lol. Everything changes when you have a premie in the NICU... 

In sum, yes, I could live without it. But I'm glad that I don't have to. 

Projects I'm Working On

I have a few projects that I've been working on lately. First, I've been sewing some cloth diapers using this pattern. Lukas is getting bigger and soon he'll outgrow the yellow edged prefitteds we have him in now, so I'm making him some more in the next size up.

Secondly, I've been working on two quiet books for Lukas! Well, one is a quiet book. The other is kind of a cloth book that isn't really very interactive. The first is a regular ABC quiet book, and the pages will go like this:

A- airplane (the propeller will spin)
B- banana (it will be peel-able with velcro
C- clock (the hands will turn)
D- dinosaur (he'll have spikes that you lace)
E- earring (this page has a pirate with a removable earring)
F- flowers (the flowers button on)
G- game (there'll be a little game board with removable pieces and a spinner)
H- hair (yarn sewn on that can be braided etc)
I- igloo (the igloo will fit together like a puzzle, with velcro on the back of the pieces)
J- jack'o'lantern (removable pieces so you can make your own face)
K- kite (tie the kite tail)
L- laundry (doll clothes hanging from a clothes line with mini clothespins)
M- mustache (removable so you can make your own face, like with the jack'o'lantern)
N- night (not sure about this design yet- removable stars?)
O- oyster (it'll have a pearl inside)
P- phone (the cord will be one of those curly shoelaces)
Q- quilt (weave the fabric strips together)
R- rabbit (he'll hide in a black pocket shaped like a top hat)
S- shoe (tie the laces)
T- tree (the acorns will unsnap and hide inside the hollow of the tree, which will be like a pocket)
U- ukelele (pluckable strings)
V- valentine (possibly another weave design, or else maybe I'll have the hearts in a mailbox? We'll see)
W- window (haven't designed it yet)
X- x-ray (also still working on the design)
Y- yo-yo (need to design)
Z- zipper (self-explanatory)

The second quiet book I'm making (which, so far at least, is just a cloth book without interactive add-ons) is ABC Star Wars themed. My inspiration was this AWESOME quiet book on what Kate would call a "Mormon Mommy blog." Here are the letters and what they'll stand for:

A- Admiral Ackbar
B- Boba Fett
C- C-3PO
D- Death Star
E- Ewok
F- Bib Fortuna (I was going to do Force, but couldn't think of what to draw for that)
G- Greedo
H- Han Solo
I- Imperial Storm Trooper
J- Jawa
K- either Knight (as in "jedi knight") or Kessel Run
L- Luke and Leia
M- Millenium Falcon
N- Nerf Herder
O- Obi-Wan
P- Emperor Palpatine
Q- Qui-gon Jinn
R- R2-D2
S- Sarlaac
T- Taun Taun
U- Ugnaught
V- Vader
W- Wookie
X- X-wing
Y- Yoda
Z- Zuckuss

Let me know if you think of something better for K or Z.

Videos of Lukas

Law Updates for the Month of May

Greetings!

As many of you already know, Lukas Mykle Law was born on Monday May 9th at 8:45am, five weeks before his due date! He was 18 inches long and weighed 5 lbs 4.5 oz. The Saturday before he came was my younger sister's wedding day, so Mykle and I were out in Massachusetts for a few days. We flew home Sunday morning and my water broke that night. I feel very blessed of the Lord that I made it back to Utah in time to deliver; Lukas' lungs were underdeveloped when he was born and he had to spend three weeks in the NICU at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. If he had come in MA, I would have had to stay with him while Mykle went back to UT for school. Also, my insurance wouldn't have covered anything.

Not only was it a tender mercy from the Lord to make it home in time, but not once during the entire trip (both flights, baby shower, bridal shower, wedding, reception, etc.) did I experience any pain or signs of labor. My visit went smoothly and I was able to fully enjoy all the festivities (well, as fully as you can when you're 8 months pregnant with what feels like an anvil resting on top of your bladder) (TMI?). 

While I was there, my mom commented to me, "What if he's born on your birthday?" (July 4th) I rolled my eyes and said "What if he's born on YOUR birthday?" (June 5th). It turned out that Lukas was born even before Mykle's birthday (May 13th)! We think he was aiming for Mother's Day but just barely missed the deadline.

After three weeks in the NICU, we were able to take Lukas home!! He's still on oxygen, so he has a nasal cannula that connects to a huge tank in our living room, and there are two sensors attached under his arms that measure his heartbeat and the inflation of his lungs. The wires from those plug into a monitor, and whenever his stats get too low/high the box beeps. (It is REALLY loud!) It hardly ever beeps for this reason, though; usually when it goes off it is because Lukas pulls his leads off. 

When we first brought him home, he was on 1/4 flow of oxygen. Now he's on 1/16, and I am hopeful that we can get rid of this blasted monitor by the end of the week. It will feel like a luxury to be able to carry him from room to room without trailing 50 feet of tubing behind. However, having the oxygen tank in the house isn't so bad. I am just so relieved and happy to have him home with us. It wasn't fun having him in the hospital. It was such a hassle to drive down and see him, and I would always feel guilty that I resented the inconvenience of seeing my baby. 

Mykle is doing well. He's taking a few classes this summer and he's working a couple hours a day in the writing center at UVU. The thing he's most excited about right now (other than being a new father!) is biking. He bikes pretty much everywhere, and he is a member of the Provo City Bike Club where he meets and talks with other cyclists in the area. Mykle has volunteered to help encourage other Utah citizens to bike by passing out pamphlets designed to inform and excite you about it. He's also currently constructing a bike of his own, which he's thrilled about.

As for me, I'm on maternity leave at my job, but I still go in occasionally for a few hours at a time if they need me. It is easier for me to do a half shift than a whole one, what with baby to take care of and having to pump every few hours. I definitely have some cabin fever, but I'm sure things will improve once Lukas is off oxygen and I can take him for walks outside. (He has a small, portable tank in addition to the big one that can be used when traveling, but we like to conserve it for doctor's visits and trips to visit Grandma Law.) I haven't had any post-partum depression (knock on wood!) and I started feeling better than I had in months almost the moment that Lukas was born! Here is a picture of us:

And here's a video:

Thank you so much for all your love and support! 

Final Final

So I took my last ever final exam today. I sent a witty email to my parents saying it was my "final final," and my mom responded that it was a final final finale. My dad responded with "Your final final- finally!" I told Mykle this because I figured he'd enjoy the puns more than I would, and he said "Finally! Your final final finale! But it still needs to be finalized!" *groan* This is the man I married. No wonder he and my dad (and Steve!) get along so well.

Now I've written the word 'final' so many times that it's weird to look at. Blech.

Know what I really really want for a graduation-slash-baby-shower present? Gift certificates to dream dinners. I have not been eating well in the past few weeks, mostly because of the whole wisdom tooth situation but also because I feel fatigued and lazy and don't even like to stand up, let alone go grocery shopping or cook. I feel really bad for Mykle, not to mention this freaking baby in my uterus.

Although I think the majority of my sympathy goes towards my husband. I admit it: I am harboring some resentment for this unborn child. He keeps on getting bigger which means I keep on getting fatter and more tired, with more stretch marks and less room in my bladder. I feel gross and ugly all the time and guess what?? I still have a month and a half left!! Which means I'm only going to get bigger and more exhausted!!

Obviously I'm not actually mad at the baby. Being third-trimester pregnant just sucks, even if you are low-risk and have had it easy up until now. Mostly I just feel guilty because I know I would feel and look better if I exercised more and ate better, but I haven't done those things. And I realize that it's not going to get any easier after the baby comes... HAH! No way! That's when the real work begins!

I just want my stupid body back... you know, the one I used to hate and complain about all the time? Come back to me!!! I won't complain about you anymore! At least, not much!

I am extremely psyched to graduate (haha, no pun intended) (oh suck, I'm turning into Mykle) and go to Dot's wedding and have these baby showers etc, but I am not looking forward to having my picture taken in this condition. Why couldn't Dot get married in August?? Doesn't she know that her life should revolve around me??

Blahh. Now this is getting just plain whiny. If you feel sorry for me, I do accept donations. If you don't, you might want to wait to read this blog until August or September... or actually, you could just save yourself the trouble and stop reading it altogether. I am not my sister Kate. She makes an effort not to complain on her blog. I figure, what's the point of a journal, online or private, if you have to put a positive spin on everything? My life is not Little Women or Anne of Green Gables. (Thank God; those books suck! They're like Aesop's fables written by the female speakers at General Conference!) I picture this blog as being more similar to craigslist's rants and raves section.

Advice

Here's some unsolicited wisdom for women thinking about trying to conceive in the near or distant future.

1: Get all wisdom teeth removed first!

2: Be at or near a healthy weight when you start, if possible. Losing weight is difficult, impractical, and generally a bad idea when you're pregnant.

3: Make sure you have health insurance that will pay for your maternity visits/delivery, or at least supplement you for it.

4: Have a car that works.

5: This one is key: Establish healthy eating and exercise habits LONG before you get pregnant. People (ahem, me) think that they will change their lifestyle when they get pregnant because they'll be conscious that all their actions affect another human being. This is true to the extent that I now take prenatal vitamins. It is not true to the extent that I exercise for 30 minutes 3-4 times per week. Believe me, if you don't develop the motivation to exercise and the discipline to eat nutritiously BEFORE you're pregnant, the chances are slim to none that any of that will change after you conceive. Because being pregnant = tired (no motivation to move, let alone exercise) and hungry (why eat broccoli when ice cream is so much easier and more delicious?).

This also goes for women with eating disorders/disordered eating. Getting pregnant will not just automatically alter your mindset so that suddenly you don't worry about every calorie you eat or every pound you gain. Bulimic women won't just quit purging and anorexic women won't start eating more because they have a baby inside them who will suffer if they don't. You can say "It's normal and healthy for me to gain weight right now," but that doesn't mean you'll look in the mirror and believe it.

I've been really blessed in my pregnancy to have a great support system to help me overcome the negative thoughts. The second trimester was the hardest in that respect, mostly because I was too big for my normal clothes but not shaped quite right for maternity clothes yet. It also helped to buy some maternity clothes for myself that were tailored to fit me specifically; Kate gave me a ton of maternity stuff, which was awesome, but a lot of it (read: all the pants) was made for someone a foot taller than I am (she shares this rotating wardrobe with her sisters-in-law who are all thin, gorgeous amazons), and there wasn't a lot of things that were "my style." Example: I don't like pink and I don't like neon blue and I don't like collared shirts and I don't like the full panel pants because they are WEIRD!! There were a lot of things that match one or more of those descriptions in this wardrobe.

It's kind of funny, because most of the stuff I really liked that Kate gave me were things that she couldn't and didn't ever wear because they were too small for her chest size. Hah! Oh, and Kate? Those maternity garments you gave me? AWESOME. Well, half awesome. The bottoms are terrible, a zillion times worse than full panel pants, but the tops are WONDERFUL. I love them. They are the only garment tops I have now that don't ride up over my big huge belly.

On a completely separate note, stretch marks SUCK. I've had them before, from when I was in CFC and had to gain a ton of weight back. It freaked me out then (I was like, "I can't have stretch marks! I'm not even pregnant!") and it still sucks now. Blech. Mykle thinks they'll go away after awhile, since I use lotion on them and this Mama Bee's belly balm stuff Dot got me for Christmas (love it!).

On an utterly completely separate note, here is a list of words that are really gross:

Paps (this is in the bible where Mykle and I have been reading, and I almost threw up when I read it)
Smear
Pap smear (seriously? You couldn't call it something else??)
Bag balm (I think they should just call this anti-chafing cream or something. Just because it is used primarily to rub on cows' udders doesn't mean you have to include that in the product name. It's gross.)
Masticate
Ringworm
Pustule
Secrete/secretion
Mucus plug
Sac
Episiotomy (mostly this one just sounds painful. Especially to me, right now.)
Wenis
Penile
Pubic
Bladder (for some reason I don't mind this one when discussing the human organ, but when it's used for other things, like a water bed bladder, it's just nasty!)
The squirts (this one is only gross when it has "the" before it)
Abcess
FRUIT!!!

This is why

There are two main reasons why you should never, ever EVER get your wisdom teeth removed while you are pregnant.

Number 1: They won't knock you out so you are awake for the entire procedure. Sure, you can't feel anything with the local anesthetic, but it's creepy and traumatizing to have two people digging and yanking and slicing in your mouth while you just sit there and watch. I just kept thinking "I hope this isn't what it's like when I have to give birth!"

And don't tell me that giving birth is different because you have all that going PLUS you can feel it. I know it's true, but don't tell me about it. I'm planning on staying in denial about labor pains for as long as possible, read: after the baby is born.

Number 2: Never get your wisdom teeth removed when you are pregnant, because it is just plain ridiculous for an expectant mother to be put on an all-liquid diet. Seriously. You think you have to pee every five minutes normally? Try eating nothing but soup and ice cream and you'll see how easy you had it before. I literally have to get up out of bed once every hour at night to use the bathroom. SUCK.

Those are the main two reasons. I mean, I'd like to say that a major drawback is the fact that your face feels like it's going to fall off because it hurts so much, but that's pretty much true whether or not you're pregnant. Of course, it doesn't help my already fragile self-esteem to have a swollen face in addition to a swollen everything-else, but I actually can't complain much because it's not really that noticeable except to me.

I feel kinda guilty that baby is missing out on a lot of nutrition what with all the ice cream I've been eating, but whatever. Not guilty enough to cook something better.

By the way, my little sister recently started a blog, and it is absolutely hilarious! I love it! I like reading Kate's blog because she posts pictures of Jane and Dan, and she's always referencing our inside jokes. Also, she has some really interesting and (occasionally) controversial opinions, and she keeps me updated on news that I might miss otherwise. I don't know if Dot's blog is going to be similar at all, but it is super fun to read. She has this natural writing talent that makes her ideas flow and resonate while simultaneously entertaining the reader. I hope she writes more about how and why she decided to investigate rawism; I know nothing about it and I'd like to learn more from someone who actually practices it, but who I trust. So many health nuts are just weird and crazy, and it's hard to find one who will just give it to you straight.

By the way, I think I should just add in here that I will never go raw. Ever. So don't even bother trying to convert me, crazy weird health nuts who are (most likely not) reading this.

Wisdom Teeth

I've always been a late bloomer. I was the smallest in our family (not anymore! at least, not with this baby!!), the last to develop and hit all the puberty milestones. This has been especially true when it comes to my teeth.

I lost the majority of my teeth when I was in 5th and 6th grade. Sure, I lost my first in kindergarten, and I had the whole front-tooth gap when I was seven or eight, but the rest of them took their sweet time (no pun intended, especially since if it were intended it would be a really lame pun). I remember this not only because I vividly recall having to ask Mr Knapik if I could be excused from class to get a drink of water and rinse out my mouth on several occasions, but also because when tithing settlement came around the next year I had a lot more money than usual. Bishop Baird asked me how I earned so much money, and I replied "I lost a lot of teeth."

Not that mom and pop the tooth fairy gave me $20 per tooth. More like $1 per tooth. But it added up!

My brother and sisters have all had their wisdom teeth out long ago. Well, Dot's came out just a year or two back, I think. Kate had hers out way back when she was living in the dorms at BYU and dating this HORRIBLY ugly guy named Nate (he was almost completely bald with a big lumpy nose and googly eyes. Believe me, I was relieved when Kate finally met Danny; Jane, you almost missed out on the cute gene). I remember this because Kate punched him in the face when she was high on painkillers- HAH! I don't remember when Joe got his out, but I think he was first.

I still haven't had mine removed, and guess what?? It's coming back to haunt me! Think, if you will, of the absolute WORST time for my wisdom teeth to come in. I'd say right about now; I'm in my third trimester of pregnancy, I graduate from college in two weeks, I work 40 hour weeks, my sister's getting married in three weeks at which point I will be traveling across the country, I have a baby shower scheduled on the same trip as well as one in a couple weeks when I graduate, I have to take a final exam for my french incomplete, and I have no dental insurance and no money. Oh, did I mention that I'm PREGNANT??

I can't have a swollen face because so many people are going to be taking my picture soon! Can you imagine being immortalized in wedding albums and scrapbook pages and graduation photos and family newsletters with a lump the size of a grapefruit on your face?????? Golly, my belly is swollen enough, do my cheeks have to join in, too? And how am I supposed to get my wisdom teeth out without an anesthetic? Don't tell me that the pain will help prepare me for childbirth because I seriously don't want to hear it.

Maybe I can just wait until afterward. Yech. I don't like that idea either. Maybe the pain will magically disappear for five months. Only one of my wisdom teeth hurt. The other three aren't even coming in yet. Here's a picture I drew of the sordid situation:

Don't ask me how long it took me to draw this. I refuse to answer that question. Also please don't comment on how ugly my mouth is. I happen to know that very few people have gorgeous mouths when viewed from this perspective.

**Note** My teeth are sadly not this white in real life.

I feel pregnant...

...and it sucks. When I first got pregnant, there was like no difference except that I couldn't go too long without eating (and I couldn't eat too much at once) or I'd feel sick. I also craved hot soup almost constantly, but that's not too weird compared to the stereotypical pickles and ice cream. Then I started sleeping a lot more, causing Mykle to tell me that something was wrong and it was abnormal for anyone to sleep so much (I told Kate that and she laughed). Then I started getting fat, which was difficult emotionally but physically not very taxing... until now.

I can't sleep on my stomach at all anymore (which is awful, since I ALWAYS sleep on my stomach!) and I keep rolling over onto my back when I'm asleep. This means I wake up with a back ache. It now takes me an entire thirty seconds to bend over to pick something up, where it used to take five. I did a TON of housework yesterday, and by the time Mykle came home around 7pm, I was hobbling around like an 80 year old woman. It was ridiculous!

It's not that bad- I don't feel like I'm dying or anything- but it's not a barrel of laughs, either! I have had several people comment to me that I am, as Kate puts it, "the most mellow pregnant woman [she's] ever seen." So at least I'm not a bitchy mom-to-be. Although I have noticed that my Joe tolerance has gone way down since October. Hey, at least I'm only mean to ONE person! He should feel special! <3

*sigh* I knew that the whole "I feel perfectly fine!" thing wasn't going to last forever, but I sure enjoyed it while it lasted. Even though I'll miss talking to the girls at work, I'm very glad that I switched to all grave shifts. I filled in for someone this morning from 7am-3pm, and by the time I got off I was practically dead on my feet. At least on grave shifts I don't have to walk around and climb so many stairs.