Thursday, August 27, 2009

Weekly Update: Week 20

Number of weeks pregnant: 20 weeks

Total weight gain in past week: Um, 4 pounds. (Yeah, yeah, I'm having twins, okay?)

Most recent stress out about how something I've eaten or done has hurt the twins:
Bending forward to paint my toenails hurt afterwards; eating sea bass a month ago after reading it was safe in What to Expect When You're Expecting and reading elsewhere recently it's not so good if you're preggers.


Sea bass at The House. How can something so good possibly be bad?


Most recent natural product purchase:
Hippie deodorant with no aluminum.


As a sign of the effectiveness of my new hippie deodorant, I call it "placebo deodorant."


New pregnancy symptom I've noticed:
Bending forward at the waist is really tricky. I have to do a sneak attack on my shoes from the side in order to tie them. And forget sitting on the floor instead of a chair to tie them— I'd never get up.

Other new pregnancy symptom:
Feeling warm. I've had this symptom for awhile and so far I like it. Finally I'm not the coldest one in the room and don't have to drag my sweater everywhere— even in the summer.

Food cravings:
Mango (about the size of each baby). But I wouldn't say any of my cravings have been stronger than they were when I wasn't pregnant.

Used things I'm most excited about:
3 bags of boy baby clothes from co-worker Andrea; maternity clothes from Rachel P.; books from Alison; Baby Bjorn from Jenn.

Maternity clothing news:
On top: half maternity wear, half pre-pregnancy clothing; on bottom: all maternity wear. Pre-pregnancy dresses and skirts... barely.

What I've learned:
Don't stay on your feet too long.

8 comments:

  1. Did you ask your OB about the fish? I've always found that what I read online is much more hysterical than what my OB tells me. I was surprised to learn he was OK with me having sushi from a good restaurant and even tuna up to once a week, whereas most sources would say both are no-nos while pregnant. I guess the benefits of eating fish outweigh the risks of tiny amounts of mercury (or parasites in the case of sushi - I figured I never got a parasite from sushi before I got pregnant, odds were slim I'd get it while pregnant. Seems more likely I'd get E Coli from my spinach.)

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  2. No, I haven't asked my OB about the fish yet. I don't see her until the end of next month. The list of what pregnant women can eat seems to vary so much (especially with regards to sushi, deli meat, and feta).

    I've been trying to eat more spinach lately and the E Coli link has definitely occurred to me. (That seems more likely than listeria in deli meat for example.) I would still avoid the high mercury fish, but from what I've read it's exactly like you say - the benefits of eating fish outweigh the mercury risks in low mercury fish like salmon.

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  3. I thought the concern with feta was just if it was unpasteurized. It's actually difficult to find cheeses in the US that aren't made with pasteurized milk.

    It seems like the E Coli outbreak in spinach happened when I was pregnant with Aaron. I thought it was ironic because that wasn't one of the "scary" foods that pregnant women should avoid. And then there was the salmonella in peanut butter (one of my main food groups this pregnancy). I guess nothing is really safe.

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  4. I'd forgotten about the peanut butter salmonella outbreak. You're right about feta. It was on a list I got from Kaiser of cheeses that "aren't usually pasteurized" (along with blue cheeses, goat cheese, and queso fresco).If it's pasteurized it's fine. Since I eat out most of the time though I don't trust restaurants to always know if it's pasteurized or not. (Same goes for tuna fish - I'd only eat that at home.)

    Do you know if mayo and aioli are OK? It occurred to me that mayo is made with raw egg, but I would think if it was a real concern they would be listed separately on the list of foods to avoid.

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  5. Never heard about avoiding mayo. But I'd definitely avoid anything with mayo at an outdoor BBQ over the summer, like potato salad. Should be safe if you keep it cold.

    If you aren't seeing your OB until the end of next month, are you seeing someone else in the meantime? That seems like a long time to go between appointments when you are carrying twins. But I know I see a NP every other visit. She usually knows what the OB would say about stuff, though.

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  6. I'd avoid potato salad at an outdoor picnic. I've just been wondering it I can eat potato salad or aioli at restaurants.

    I see a perinatologist in 2 1/2 weeks who will do ultrasounds and measure the babies. (Maybe I'm getting that just because I'm having twins?) I also saw her 2 1/2 weeks ago.

    The last regular appointment I had with an OB was June 30th (I had an emergency appointment several weeks later because of an episode of blurry vision) and my next is at the end of September. I agree that it seems like a crazy amount of time in the middle. I know in the last few months before delivery I'll have appointments every two weeks.

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  7. 3 months between OB visits seems excessive! But maybe since you get the ultrasounds regularly, that makes up for it.

    My OB's office does the first appt around 8 weeks with a NP who does the initial ultrasound. My OB actually did an ultrasound around 7 weeks because I was bleeding. And then they send me out for a high-res ultrasound around 20 weeks, which is usually when they determine the gender. I requested an extra ultrasound from my OB when we didn't find out the gender, but other than the initial ultrasound and the 20 week, no other ultrasounds are scheduled. (If I was carrying twins, it might be different.)

    But after the first official prenatal appt around 8 weeks, I see the NP or the OB once a month until 6-7 months when I go every 3 weeks for 2 visits and then every 2 weeks. Then the last few weeks it is once per week.

    I thought there would be more uniformity with maternity visits across medical groups.

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  8. Yeah, I definitely thought I'd be coming in once a month throughout the pregnancy. At this rate I'll end up with a long list of questions by the time my next appointment rolls around.

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