Week 29

A few weeks ago, Shannon told me about something that she heard on the radio.  She said that they were doing tests on pregnant women to guess the gender of the baby, and since I don't know what I'm having, she suggested that I do the test, too.

The test she mentioned was the Drano test.  I had heard of this one before, because Scott's mom did it when she was pregnant with him, and it worked.  So, I looked up the test to get the directions.  Here is what I found:

This baby gender prediction method has been around for decades, and makes it's rounds regularly on the web as a potential way to find out what gender your baby is.

The recipe to test this method is below, but it is NOT advisable that you try it as it produces very toxic fumes and the results are unreliable.

The drano / draino gender test should be performed after the 4 month of pregnancy.

This test must be performed outside in a glass / jar that holds can hold twice as much urine as you use as there is a bubbling, smelly, and caustic chemical reaction when you add your urine to the crystal drano.

What is needed for the Drano / Draino Gender Prediction Test:

• Approximately 2 tablespoons of CRYSTAL Drano
• Medium glass or glass jar. It is best to just throw the mixing glass away after performing this test.
• Two to Three ounces of urine, preferably the first morning urine.

Take the test materials outside. Add your urine to the glass jar with the crystal drano in it. There will be a rapid chemical reaction and it is best to stay well away from the glass jar while the fumes are being produced.

When the reaction stops, observe the color of the test.

If the mixture darkens to a brownish color within the first 10 seconds - It is a boy.
If there is no darkening or color change after 10 - 15 seconds - It is a girl.

When you are done, you will need to carefully dispose of the mixture as it will have a very bad smell and still be very caustic.

The color results above are not very reliable as you will find many different variations of the colors in the results with people interpreting them all differently. This is not a reliable way to determine the gender of your baby, and could have serious side effects to the mom to be if the fumes are inhaled or the mixture gets on the skin. NOT RECOMMENDED as a baby gender prediction method. 

Needless to say, I was a little scared to try it.  I haven't had a Diet Coke since last August (except for when I was upset about losing Grovo, and I knew I couldn't be pregnant again).  If I won't even have aspartame and caffeine while I'm pregnant (not to mention cold meat, salicylic acid, Tylenol, and allergy medicine), I'm not up for dealing with toxic chemicals.  And I don't feel right about making Scott inhale the fumes either.

But, I know that gender predictions can be fun, so I found a list of other predictors.

HCG Levels - This is a scientific "test."  Baby girls produce higher HCG levels than baby boys.  Since pregnancy tests test for HCG, women pregnant with baby girls tend to get positive test results sooner than those pregnant with boys.  I don't know if I would've gotten an early pregnancy tests since I refused take a test in unlucky 2010, and in most cases, women don't know their exact HCG levels.  However, since I had a miscarriage, my doctor did an HCG test on me to make sure that this was a viable pregnancy.  My levels were so high that we wondered at first if I was having twins.

Boy:  0     Girl:  1

My hair (on my head) - An old wives tale says that if your hair is shiny and full of body, the baby is a boy.  If your hair is dull and lifeless, it's a girl.  I've never had the thickest hair, but it's been even worse throughout this pregnancy.

Boy:  0     Girl:  2

My hair (on my legs) - Another old wives tale says that your leg hair grows faster if it's a boy, and it grows at the same rate or slower if you're having a girl.  For nearly 20 years, I have dealt with thick, black leg hair that grows at an astronomical rate.  I would shave in the morning, and a few hours later, I would have stubble.  It was like 5 o'clock shadow on my legs.  Except it appeared at noon.  I went through laser treatments, and some patches got better, but overall, I still had to shave on a daily basis.  A few months ago, I noticed that I didn't need to shave as often, and the hair that I did have was a lot lighter.  In fact, I can now go four or five days between shaving!

Boy:  0     Girl:  3

Morning Sickness - Supposedly, girls their moms sicker than boys do.  Of course, I've heard of all the exceptions.  Scott's mom was sicker with him than she was with his sister.  A woman at school was sick all nine months of her pregnancy, and she had a boy.  But, the old wives tale says that morning sickness means it's a girl.  I was SO sick from weeks 6 - 16!  NOTHING made it better.  Medication made it possible to still work, but it didn't stop the sickness completely.

Boy:  0     Girl: 4

My butt - Apparently, if your butt grows, it means you are having a girl.  This conversation took place early in my pregnancy.  I had just gotten some new maternity pants, and I tried them on to show Scott.

Me:  "I love these pants.  They make my legs look thinner!"

Scott:  "Yeah.  You're getting some junk in the trunk, though."

Isn't he sweet?

Boy:  0     Girl:  5

Baby's heart rate - If the baby's heart rate is 140 or higher, it's a girl.  139 or lower means it's a boy.  Our baby's heart rate has been right around 145 pretty consistently for the past few months.

Boy:  0     Girl:  6

Carrying high or low - If you are carrying high, it means you are having a girl.  Carrying low means it's a boy.  Are you ready for this one?  I've been carrying the baby low the entire time.

Boy:  1     Girl:  6

Shape of belly - If your belly is shaped like a watermelon, you are having a girl.  If your belly looks like a basketball, you are having a boy.  Most people say my belly looks more like a basketball.  I'll let you judge for yourself.  Scott says it's a WNBA basketball.

Boy:  2     Girl:  6

Where the baby kicks - In Norway, they say that if the baby kicks you on your left side more, it's a girl.  If it kicks on the right side more, it is a boy.  If you remember from last week, I am bruised on my right side from the baby kicking me.  Looks like the boy votes are trying to catch up.

Boy:  3     Girl:  6

My face - If you gain weight in your face, or if your face swells, you are having a girl.  If your face looks the same, you are having a boy.  Most people say my face looks the same.  I appreciate them being nice, but I realized today that my face is slightly puffier.  Don't believe me?  Go look at my facebook pictures.  The ones taken at my wedding, when I was swimming with dolphins last summer, and one taken of Scott and me last September (I'm wearing a black and purple tie-dye-ish shirt) show a thinner face than the ones taken more recently, like at the wedding I went to mid-June.

Boy:  3     Girl:  7

Chinese gender prediction chart - I got pregnant in December when I was 31 years old.  According to the Chinese gender prediction chart, this means that I am having a girl.

Boy:  3     Girl:  8

Mom's feeling - Ever since I first got pregnant, I have felt like I am having a girl.  I have wavered from this once or twice, but I always go back to the feeling that it is a girl.

Boy:  3     Girl:  9

I'm sure there are many more tests.  I haven't tried the ones where you have to hold something on a string over my belly or hand because I believe the person doing that "test" has too much control.  I might as well just ask the person what they want me to have.  But, if there are other tests that you know of, and you want to see how they turn out for me, just ask.

Finally, this week's pictures:

Weeks 27 & 28

The baby and I took another trip, making it difficult for me to get week 27 posted. We went with my mom to a family wedding in New Jersey. I think it's appropriate that these posts are combined, though. Some things I read consider 27 weeks pregnant to be the start of the 3rd trimester, and others claim it's the 28th week. Since I'm combining the weeks, I can officially say I'm in the 3rd trimester...no matter which book you go by.

During the 27th week, the baby got hiccups for the first (noticeable) time. It was really light, but Scott and I could feel the baby moving in a rhythmic pattern every 2 seconds. Based on what I've heard, I'm pretty sure this was hiccups.

I'm starting to get more uncomfortable, so I know I'm in the 3rd trimester. My belly feels SO heavy when I lay on either side. Breathing is getting more and more difficult, and I'm pretty sure the baby has bruised my right side. For about a week, it seemed like the baby's favorite spot to kick was on the right side. Now, that same spot hurts like crazy! It feels just like a bruise, but I can't see anything, so I'm guessing it's bruised on the inside.

The big new for week 28 is that the nursery decorating has started! While I was in New Jersey with my mom, Scott painted the nursery. It looks wonderful! We (Scott, my dad, and maybe Brandon) still have more to do, so I'm not going to post pictures yet, but I am so happy with how it looks so far!

For now, you just get the standard weekly pictures. Of course, there are two weeks' worth this time.

Week 27





































Week 28

Stay tuned next week for some gender fun.  :-)

26 Weeks

Yes, I know it's almost 27 weeks now.  I wasn't able to post week 26 until now because we took the baby on its first vacation.  Unfortunately, the baby couldn't see anything, but I like to think it still had fun.

Scott's mom, Sue, retired from teaching this year.  Her last day of school was Tuesday, May 31, and we went on a celebratory family vacation.  We left for Riviera Maya in Mexico on Saturday, June 4.  As we sat in the airport on Saturday morning, the baby moved in a different way, and it was tickling me.  It was pretty funny, except for the fact that I looked like a crazy person laughing for no reason.  I felt it move a lot during the 26th week.  It seems to be getting more and more active...just in time for it to start getting too crowded for it to move.  It's getting less shy with its movements now.  The baby will let Scott feel it move on a pretty regular basis.  I think he's having more fun with the baby now that he can feel it move more regularly.

According to the information I've read, the baby's eyes are now open.  The book I've read says that if you shine a flashlight on your stomach, the baby will move in response to the light since it can see now.  We haven't tried this yet, but it's cool to think that the baby is looking around sometimes.

Since I'll be posting more in a couple of days, I'm going to make this post pretty short.  Even though I was gone, I did still remember to take my weekly pictures (you're welcome, Mom).  Here they are:

25 Weeks

This was a rough week.  Not health-wise or baby-wise.  Everything is going fine there.  I haven't had any more issues (knock on wood), and the baby is still moving like crazy.  It tends to move most early in the morning.  It wakes up around 6:30, and it feels like it starts doing back-flips right away.  I love to lie in bed and watch my stomach literally jump up and down.  It also moves around a lot somewhere between 4:00 and 6:00 at night.  I'm sure it moves at other times during the day, but I'm usually busy and don't feel it as much.

So the rough week had nothing to do with worrying about the baby.  It was more selfish.  This was the first week that I felt fat.  Up until this week, I loved my big belly.  I was happy to see it getting bigger because I know that means that the baby is doing well, and that's all I really care about.  It still is all I care about, and I know I'm gaining weight for a good cause.  I also know it will all be worth it, but that doesn't make it hurt any less when certain comments are made.  The specific comments aren't important.  I'm only mentioning this because I want to document how I felt - the good and the bad - throughout this pregnancy.

To put my mind at ease, I asked my doctor about my weight when I was there yesterday.  His first response was that it must not be an issue because he couldn't even remember how much I had gained.  That told him that it didn't really stand out.  But, he went back to my chart and looked at the specific numbers.  Then he said, "no, you're perfectly fine.  You are absolutely within the normal range for this stage of your pregnancy."  That made me feel better!

The doctor also told me that the baby is doing well.  Its heart rate is still about 141 - 145, which is what it has been for a couple of months now.  He said when I go for another ultrasound at the end of June to check on the kidney, that I should also have the tech take another look at the placenta just to make sure all is well.

Of course, the fact that the baby is doing well is the best news of the week.  But, there is more good news.  I figured out how to control my heartburn!  My doctor had told me to take Pepcid for heartburn.  I tried that.  Whenever I got heartburn, I would take my Pepcid...and nothing would change.  My throat and chest would still be on fire.  Then it hit me that I was taking the Pepcid to correct the problem, instead of preventing it.  So, earlier this week, I tried taking it first thing in the morning.  It worked!  I didn't get heartburn until really late that night.  The next day, I didn't get it at all.  I'm sure the Pepcid is what's making the difference because I forgot to take it today, and the heartburn is back.  I won't forget again!

Finally, I want to thank all of the people who have helped me through my week of being sad over my weight.  Hearing that I "look cute" and that I am "all belly" has helped me to feel better about myself, and I appreciate it.

And now, the weekly pictures (I messed up this week.  I took the pictures on my camera's hard drive instead of the SD card, and I can't transfer them to the computer, so this is as good as they get.):