Friday Favorites: Pregnancy Podcasts

When I was pregnant with Max, who was my third baby, I felt like I knew it all.  From car seats to front packs, putting them to sleep on their backs and when to start solids, breastfeeding to swaddling, I knew it all because I'd done it twice before.  Then, we decided to wait a while before having more kids, and Adam requested I clean out my baby stash in the garage.  I got into the mindset of just moving forward in milestones, not going back to revisit them all over again within the next year.  Suddenly, I was pregnant again and baby #4 is feeling like #1 again.  This pregnancy feels different, has been harder, and with starting over on several pieces of baby gear, I'm having to do research again.  It's also been 8 years since I started amassing my knowledge of baby care, and although I've continued to learn more along the way, the majority of my information comes from when I read the books the first time around.  Did you know I have an "unsafe" crib?  I am that old of a mom . . . .  (I'm also that old of a mom that I'm going to use it anyway!) 

Anyway, spending a lot of time laying on the couch not feeling great has had some upsides.  I passed all the levels on Angry Birds.  Anytime any of the children wanted a story read to them I was already in position and not going anywhere.  I have had plenty of time to research the best double stroller on using the iPad (which Adam actually bought for the business, so I guess I just borrow it!).  And I started to find ways to feel connected to other pregnant moms via my iPhone.  What to Expect.com has an iPhone app that I've been enjoying since week 7 of the pregnancy, and it's even better now that I can post to forums on it. 

In the last couple of weeks one of the moms on the WTE forum mentioned Pregtastic podcasts, and I had to find out what they were.  A bunch of pregnant moms basically come together with an expert and chat about a pregnancy-related topic in each podcast.  I really enjoy the portion of the show where they talk about their ups and downs of the week because I can really relate to how they are feeling, what they are thinking about, and how they are coping.  Another fun pregnancy show is Pea in the Podcast, where a journalist and mom interviews an expert about pregnancy-related topics and shares bits of her own experience on that topic.  Pea in the Podcast is more succinct and to-the-point, where Pregtastic is longer and more like sitting down to chat with the playgroup moms.  Pregtastic also started another podcast called New Moms New Babies, which I'm also really enjoying listening to.  That is even more like sitting down at playgroup, because everyone has a baby, and you can often hear them coo in the background. 

Slowly, I'm figuring out that what I know isn't all outdated, and that while new research is important, a lot of the conclusions new moms on these shows come to I came to long ago (you don't need to buy everything they sell at Babies R Us, but no one can tell you which things will work best for you).  But there is something special about listening to other moms who are doing what you're doing and feeling what you're feeling, and feeling normal and okay because of it.

Dough Girl

Just over a week ago, our friends, Pete and Colleen, came to visit for the weekend.  Colleen is a triathlete, and was racing in the St. George Tri (which, it turns out, she did pregnant!!  Congratulations, both on the awesome time on the race, and the fabulous news!).  It's always fun to see them, but it seemed especially fun this weekend for some reason.  Maybe it was the cookies.  They brought cookie dough from My Dough Girl, and oh my, it's good I don't live near Salt Lake, or I would hang out there, chowing on cookies all the time.  We had Margot, only she had white chocolate mint filling . . . mmmmm, so good.  I know some of you who read my blog are closer than I am, so if you have a chance stop in and try it you should, I hear they give samples so you can try out the different "girls." 

Speaking of dough girls, I am getting quite round these days, and it's not all cookie dough (or ice cream sandwiches--that's a new craving this time around).  Tomorrow I hit 20 weeks officially (the ticker to the right is off by a little bit, but I'll forgive it since it thinks I'm farther along than I really am), which means I'm halfway through this pregnancy.  If you are paying attention and know all about these things, that means I should know the baby's sex, right?  Well, I will find out next Tuesday when I have my ultrasound, so I'll be 21 weeks, but really it only pushes the milestone and makes the pregnancy go a bit faster, so it's a good thing.  I didn't find out with Max until 23 weeks, so I'm not being picky. 

Anyway, here is the first actual belly picture of this pregnancy, so you can see me with a tummy.  It does happen (and it happened faster this time, for sure)! 

Side note: I realize this picture is blurry; it is difficult to take a self portrait, even with a tripod.  I couldn't get the camera to focus, and I didn't trust myself to focus manually, so I kept shooting and running back and forth.  Titus sat there, watching me, perplexed.  It took 16 shots to get myself in the shot, not cut off, without blinking.  It gives me a whole new level of respect for my friend, Cynthia, who is taking a self portrait every day this year, and every one is gorgeous. 

It's hard to blog after not blogging for so long (it's been almost a month!).  I generally tend to skip a blogger's apologies for not posting often enough, etc, because I know that most people have a life and there is no deadline to follow, no one making you do it, so when things get out of control it's an easy and nonessential thing to drop.  So I'll spare you the apology and just say: this pregnancy sucks.  And I do have stuff to blog, so I'll be around, but if it's quiet around here, it might be because I have nothing positive to blog about or I just plain don't feel like it.  Now I'm going to go get myself another ice cream sandwich (those yummy cookies only lasted a matter of hours).