8/30/2006 - Settling into a routine

Well we finally managed to get around to snapping our first belly photo. Does it look like I'm purposely swaying my back to stick out my tummy? Because I was trying to stand up as straight as possible. I was a little disappointed when I saw it. Much ado about nothing. How can the peanut bump look that small in the photo, yet make me feel so HUGE?

As we saw in the previous post, being a mom-to-be seems to involve a long list of "to do's" and "not to do's." It's hard to remember all this stuff and manage to squeeze everything in each day. But I'm starting to get into a groove. Here's what my morning routine is shaping up to be:

6:30 - wake up and throw on some clothes, eat a few graham crackers or a handfull of nuts to stave off nausea
6:45-7:15 - take Sasha for a walk
7:15-7:30 - brew a cup of ginger tea (no more coffee for me!), eat some breakfast, take a prenatal multi-vitamin (a giant purple pill nearly the size of my thumb) and drink a glass of milk 7:30-7:45 - take a shower, slather vitamin E oil over all my expanding parts, and get dressed
7:45 - get to work!

The rest of the day looks something like this:

8:30 - morning snack (a few berries or crackers)
10:00 - first lunch (something small - a little cottage cheese and a boiled egg for example)
11:30 - short nap
1:30 - second lunch (perhaps a piece of fruit and string cheese)
4:30 - afternoon snack(carrot sticks and cantelope)
5:30 - feed sasha
5:45 - make dinner, preferably something with vegetables and not containing: onions, garlic, olives, basalmic vinegar, fish, or anything "stinky"
6:30 - take Sasha for a walk to the dog park
7:30 - various errands and "to-do's" around the house
10:00 - get in bed, read some in my pregnancy books, eat a handful of nuts and drink a glass of water

For those who remember our hike of the Appalachian Trail, the way my day revolves around food may seem familiar. There's a big difference here though: the quantities are small and the foods are healthy. You won't catch me snarfing down a large pizza and an order of hot wings. (Ah, the good ol days...)

I was having a heck of a time feeling nautious and generally being turned off to food until I picked up Eating Well When You're Expecting, which has lots of great suggestions on what and how to eat. Not going too long between "mini-meals" was one of their best tips for preventing nausea.

They used to think that the mother's body, through it's complex wash of hormones, sent messages to the growing peanut to tell it how to develop. Now they know that while that's one side of the story, the peanut also sends its own chemical messages to the mother, which stimulate changes in her body and also can shape behavior. According to my books - and my experience so far - our peanut is more than capable of sending the message, "Mom, I'm hungry!"