Week 18

With week 18 coming to an end I have my big ultrasound before we are officially in week 19. My ultrasound is tomorrow (will post picture next week). This is the big one. This is when we get to find out if it's a boy or a girl. That being said, we'll pass. Thanks but no thanks. Lalalalalala – I can’t hear you – don’t want to know if it’s a boy or a girl. We want the big bang surprise at the very end. I am sure it will be followed by many surprises after that (What? You mean babies have to be fed every 2 hours?!). We have friends (Sara- due a week before me), who found out they are have a girl. We also have friends (Hetal – due two weeks before me, and Prashanthi – due a month before me), who are not finding out. They say it’s the year of girls, so we’ll just have to wait and see if it is. It must be semi-true. Nital had a baby girl earlier this year, now Sara with a girl, this other girl I know on Facebook had a girl about a month ago…. so? Maybe, a girl? On the other hand, there are 3 other girls who had or are going to have a boy this year (Nisha, Huma, and Rupal). I guess you never know.

My appetite has increased like 100%. Although I eat healthy and make conscious choices I found myself eating a cookie or a dessert daily. Still no particular food cravings – but I don’t crave chocolate like I used to. Still can’t eat too much chicken. I am obsessed with eating a big breakfast. On the days I work from home, I eat like a king – eggs, toast, tea, fruit, Indian snacks. This was my breakfast one day last week from home:

I’m going to go do my registry with our resident mom Hetal today. I dread going into Babies’R’Us. I swear there is something wrong with me. The idea of stepping into that store makes me anxious. I don’t like it. I have nothing against baby stuff but that store is so disorganized and hard to navigate that I have this resentment toward that store. Hopefully that will change today. Hopefully things will make sense.  We are also going to register at Target and I am looking forward to that. Give me the scan gun and move outta my way! Yes, I know Dawson’s Creek Complete First Season isn’t baby related – BUT happy mommy equals happy baby.

Week 17

This week flew by. I feel like every time I am satisfied with a blog entry I have to write another one. I had my monthly doctor’s appointment yesterday. He said everything is good. The baby’s heartbeat sounds good. He recommended I get the test done for spina bifida. So immediately after the 4 minute appointment with the doctor, I went to get my blood drawn. I told the doctor my concern about only gaining 4lbs so far and he said it was perfectly normal. If I was 95 pounds and gained only 4lbs, then we would need to worry. But since I am a healthy young (hey! It’s my blog I can say anything about myself. Yes so what I’ll be 29 next month. A baby before 30- mission accomplished!!!) lady, 4 pounds is not a bad thing. I guess the ultrasound next week will validate that the baby is growing just fine. Plus my theory is that since I am not taking in those empty calories, winebeerandvodaka, I am technically losing and gaining weight at the same time.

Let’s see – oh, I started noticing that dark line right under my belly button this week. There is very faint one above it. It’s not completely dark yet, but it’s definitely a darker shade than my belly color. I also noticed my belly button is kinda in between – not an inny or an outty.

No pictures of me this week, but seriously check out this kid. Isn’t she the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. I’ll give $5 to the person who picks out the real baby.

Week 16

WOW – 4 months flew by. I can’t believe I’m almost half way thru this pregnancy. Since the last time I blogged, I got maternity pants. And boy, do I love them! Why can’t we wear maternity pants all the time. I showed my pants to my friend, Pam, and she was super jealous. She’s ways away from being pregnant and wants a pair right now. But seriously, why can’t we wear stretchy pants all the time!? I’m not too crazy about the jeans I bought but the dress pants rock. The jeans keep falling off. I wonder if it’s because I don’t have a butt.

Kavita was talking to Anand the other day and he said he started making a list of baby names. One of the names he told her was “Sage” …. For a boy!!! Kavita and I couldn’t stop laughing at his ridiculousness. So I googled the meaning of Sage despite knowing what it is and according to Wikipedia its meaning is "herb" or "prophet". There are even a handful people named Sage, mainly it’s their last name. Sage is out of question, but we do need your help with names. We want to keep it semi-traditional but still modern. We have a definite front runner for a girl name but we are having a hard time with boy names.

We would love your suggestions here. Please leave a comment and I will add it to the Name Tab.

Here’s me at 16 weeks:

Week 14 & Week 15

The last couple of weeks have flown by. Nothing new to report but I am loving trimester two! My belly is getting a little more prominent. I need to go and get maternity pants. I can fit into my regular pants in the morning but after lunch I have to pop open a button or two. It’s not very attractive. It reminded me of an old manager I had who used to unzip her skirt and walk around. Unfortunately a few of us had seen her in her frumpy state. So the idea of someone thinking of me like I did of that manager scares me. 

I have been thinking a lot about my maternity leave. I will only get 6 weeks if the delivery is normal and 8 if it’s a C-section. Is 6 weeks really enough? To me that seems like days. If it were up to me, I would stay home for at least 16 weeks. The idea of leaving a new born at home after 6 weeks is crazy. That got me thinking - what do women around the world get. I have heard of some parts in Europe getting up to a year. Why, if that’s really the case, I’m packing my bags tonight and moving to Europe. I’ll come back when the baby is 13 months!

Maternity Leave Around the World

• Australia - Leave is unpaid, although employers may offer plans
• Canada - Birth mothers qualify for 15 weeks of paid maternity benefits (plus a 2 week unpaid waiting period; Parents qualify for 35 weeks of paid parental benefits
• France - Birth mothers qualify for 6 weeks of paid maternity benefits before giving birth and 10 weeks after, or 8 weeks before and 18 weeks after if it’s your 3rd or subsequent child
• Germany - Birth mothers qualify for 6 weeks of paid maternity benefits before the birth and 8 weeks after
• India - Birth mothers qualify for 12 weeks of paid maternity benefits which may start up to 6 weeks before the birth
• Ireland - Mothers qualify for 26 weeks of paid maternity leave, 2 weeks of which must be claimed before the birth
• Netherlands - Mothers qualify for 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, 4-6 weeks of which is claimed before the birth
• New Zealand - Parents receive 14 weeks of paid leave, 6 weeks of which may be taken before the birth. They are also entitled to 38 additional weeks of unpaid leave
• Norway - Parents receive 44 or 54 weeks of paid leave, depending on the plan they choose, and will receive longer leaves for multiple births
• South Africa - Mothers qualify for 4 months paid maternity leave, which can start up to 4 weeks before delivery
• Sweden - Parents each receive 240 days (about 8 months) of paid leave, and will receive longer leaves for multiple births
• UK - Mothers qualify for 52 weeks of maternity leave
• US - Leave is unpaid, although employers may offer plans. Employees may receive 12 weeks of job protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The US needs to consider its policy on maternity leave. Most of these countries the leave is paid by the federal government or the employer. Australia and the US are the two countries on this list that the leave is NOT required to be a paid leave. Most employers offer it but they don’t have to.  Sigh.

On a happier note – I went to one of my besties baby shower this weekend. She is about 3-4 weeks ahead of me. She lives in Cali, so she had a NJ shower and will later have a Cali shower. Here’s a quick photo of the three preggos at the shower. Sara is expecting exactly a week before me. (side note: where is my neck?)

Sara (left), Prash (center), yours truly (right)

What country would you move to if you were preggo?? Yes, you. I know you're reading this.