Today was okay (so far. It's 6:30pm).

I developed a bit of a cold over the weekend -- lots of nose blowing. My nose seems to have stopped running over the course of today, but I have developed a headache in my eyes/sinus area that hurts. I have just taken some paracetamol, so hopefully that will help!

Work was okay. I had one kid absent today (the first time anybody's been absent in two months!). I was reminded of how Mum always said that if one of us went away somewhere, no matter who it was, it always seemed much quieter. Today was like that. It was much quieter and seemed much more relaxed. Actually, it made me think that maybe I am giving the kid who was absent too much of a hard time or focussing on her too much. I will watch how it goes tomorrow. Anyway, it was nice to have a relaxing day. The students are all excited about "Halloween Day" on Friday. They are going to wear costumes and we are doing activities all day. I don't think I'm going to wear a costume. I'm just too lazy to go to the effort of making one!

The new bathroom sink never got installed on Saturday -- I guess the plumber couldn't make it. But I came home today to a new sink in the bathroom, and a very *clean* looking bathroom. The landlord just popped in to tell me not to touch the sink for one more hour . . . and to tell me that he cleaned the bathroom for us. How shameful is that?!?!?!??! I am such a grot that my 75-year-old landlord cleaned my bathroom for me!!!!!!!!

I spent a long time yesterday searching the internet about baby beds. I want something compact because of our space issues. I was hoping that some whizz-bang kind of bed had been invented that would start out small and just sort of expand to fit the kid as it grew, never taking up more than minimal space. But no, it seems that what I knew before I started trawling through the internet is true -- there are smaller bassinets that are just for newborns, or full-on cots, and those are pretty much the only options. SO. Much measuring of the rooms, bed, and furniture must be done, and then we'll see. But even if we get a bassinet [which I want because they look so nice and cosy for the baby!], we'll have to get a cot anyway, so one way or another we have to figure out how to fit one of those into our place!

I also delved into the world of cloth nappies. Mutari and I talked about that earlier in the weekend too. I never realised (until we talked about it in the prenatal class last week) how many nappies a newborn goes through! Not to mention the next two years or whatever! SO . . . the thought of all that washing is daunting, but even though I don't consider myself a big greenie (that is something I'd like to change) the thought of all those disposable nappies just feels wrong to me. And then there's the cost too. If we go with cloth we will spend more money initally, but we'd break even by six months or before compared with the costs of disposables (based on some extremely hasty and ill-informed calculations!!). Rebecca gave me a wonderful overview of cloth nappies in her LJ, because the the internet world of cloth nappies is a seriously, SERIOUSLY, overwhelming place. So that's something else I'll be reading up on and thinking about too. Mostly I just need to think about the logistics of DRYING all those suckers in our tiny place without an outdoor clothesline!

I don't know what I'm going to do for the rest of the night. This headache makes looking at a computer screen a bit uncomfortable so I'll probably shut the computer down after this. I SHOULD do yoga -- I really want to do more of that, but I just feel so TIRED when I get home after a full day at work. I just want to lie down and do nothing. Maybe some therapeutic Kath and Kim is in order!

Today was a fairly uneventful day, quite relaxing, even though it was partially filled with boring chores. I went out to do the grocery shopping, but apart from that, have been at home. I did the yoga DVD today which is good. I really want to do that more often!

I'm cooking a roast chicken now, and we'll have it with roasted pumpkin, mashed potato, and beans. YUM!

The weather has been a lot cooler this week. It rained a couple of times (and again today) and yesterday was actually cold. Anyway, I think I have picked up a bit of a cold, which seems to be in my ears (??). One of my ears has that blocked feeling where everything is louder than usual -- the other one seems fine. It is sooooo annoying!!! Does anybody know what I can do about that? I'm drinking lots of water but apart from that I have no idea.

Mutari is at work today. The landlord came over earlier and said he will be back this afternoon sometime with a technician to install a new sink in our bathroom. I have plans for dinner with friends later. I'm just gonna stay inside and relax for the rest of the day.

I'll be doing some baby item research. I guess I am starting to get revved up a bit more about preparing for the baby. Probably a good idea!! I'm 24 weeks now . . . just four months to go!! :)

OH! Mutari felt the baby move last night . . . yaaaaaay!!! I came over to stand beside him and look at something on teh computer, and the baby just went crazy kicking, so quickly put Mutari's hand there and baby gave two good kicks which he felt. Sooooo happy!!! I also had my first double direction movement on Friday -- I think it was an arm lower down and a kick up the top. Weird feeling! But good. :)

We have the prenatal class again tonight. Mutari is at work, so I will just meet him there. I'm looking forward to it.

It's been raining all afternoon. Yuk! I feel very affronted when it rains outside of summer (when most of the rain comes here). Ha ha.

Yesterday I did some investigations into some maternity clothes. I went to a big shopping area and looked at about 10 different shops. Nothing too exciting. Just lots of huge long sweaters and lots and lots of dresses. Nearly everything was black, grey, or brown. Sigh. I didn't buy anything. I'm going to look on the internet, but with the value of the won going down, I think internet shopping may end up more expensive, so I'll probably go back and buy a couple of things from there. Maternity clothes are definitely not the best part of being pregnant!

I did see something weird there. They were "nursing [breast-feeding] T-shirts". They had a kind of placket horizontally across the chest, and under the placket was a zip, and I guess you just unzip your T-shirt across the middle and feed your baby! They also had lots of nighties that unbuttoned quite low for feeding, but no PJs!! Also the nighties had horrendous things like dogs and cats appliqued onto them -- not my style. I saw a street stall selling button-up PJs. I might just end up buying some of them and hoping they fit!

Last night I had another baby dream. This time the baby was a boy, and it was closer to what I imagine the color of our baby might be (in the other dreams I had with the girl babies, they were white!). So in this dream I had just given birth and the baby had been placed on my tummy and he just sort of wiggled up like a little animal and starting sucking away getting some milk! That is a good dream.

I think I'm starting to get some anxiety about feeding (as all my baby dreams are about that topic, I should have realized already!). I joined the 'breastfeeding' community on LJ . . . they make it sound SO HARD! I think perhaps breastfeeeding is more common in Australia than in the US? Some of the women in that community are the only person they know who has ever breastfed their baby! Whereas I seem to remember that everyone I've ever known who had a baby breastfed their baby. Before I joined that community, I didn't really *think* that much about breastfeeding -- just assumed it was natural and possible and would work (even though I had heard of the fact that it was a learned skill and sometimes mums and babies needed help, I still just assumed it would work). But now I've started to get some anxiety that I won't be able to feed my baby or we'll have all these problems. I don't want to get out of the community because the more knowledge I have, the better . . . but I just need to remind myself not to take on other people's worries and feelings so strongly.

Work has been okay the past couple of days. I have been a bit short with the kids. My patience seems to be thinner. That disappoints me, although sometimes I find myself thinking, 'Who cares? Only another couple of months and I'm done here anyway.' I don't like thinking like that. It is the only time these kids will ever have this time in their lives, so I want to be a good teacher for that reason. They don't deserve a crappier time at school just because I am leaving soon. The past week or so I have been thinking that I need to create some kind of goal for myself to achieve before I leave there -- something to keep me motivated until I finish. I don't quite know what yet, though.

We had our dinner at the Outback Steakhouse last night. We go there a lot, and have the 'usual' thing we order. It's all very comfortable and relaxed. Although a new addition to our menu is "pineapple ade". It is really yummy!

After that we just came home, and watched the movie called "Dream Girls". It was okay. Nothing special. I don't know if this could be pregnacy related, but the last couple of times I have watched a movie, after about a hour or so I was like, "Come ON! Just hurry up and finish!!". That's what I felt like last night with that movie too. Weird!

Today's been good. I did the grocery shopping yesterday so I didn't have to do it today, as I usually do - Yay! I have already cleaned up the house and done a load of laundry, which is pretty cool. It's only 3:30pm but I guess I have the rest of the day to laaaaaaze around as I want. Mutari is going to cook this evening, so I am off dinner duty too! Wow. Relaxing day for me!

I just ate a delicious apple. I keep thinking/reading about birth and pregnancy and babies. I am so obsessed with it. I talked with Ellen on the phone this morning. I also ate two sachets of oatmeal! Those are the random things that are happening.

Oh, here's one more random thing. Way back in January, at the Lunar New Year, Mutari received a present that was a giant collection of soap. We have been gradually working our way through all the bars of soap, and today the last bar of soap was finally finished! Ha ha. So I will actually have to buy some soap again. Tee hee.

I found some of the old wives' tales about guessing the sex of the baby on the internet. I checked it out, and bolded the ones that apply to me. Under the cut you can see what the old wives say about the sex of our baby!

Today is our wedding anniversary so we are going out for dinner! I'm not sure where yet -- Mutari had to do taekwondo all day so I am just going to meet him down the street very soon. :)

( The Old Wives' Tales )

 

It feels like aaages since I last wrote, but it's only been a couple of nights. Tuesday we had the field trip. I wish I could be positive about it but I mostly found it frustrating. My class was assigned a place towards the end of the school group, so they were always at the back when we clustered around the things to see, and because they are short they couldn't really see anything. So that bugged me. But apart from that, it was okay.

Amazing news! It looks like everything is really going to be okay with the maternity leave. The director of the school spoke to me about it yesterday, and then the business manager spoke with me about it today. I can't believe it!! I fully expected a protracted battle with them about this, but it seems everything will be fine! YAY. So that means I will be finishing up work at Christmas time, but getting paid till March. :) Awesome.

That means only about 10 more weeks dealing with my nemesis, the transportation system in the morning. Dad bagged me out the other day for complaining about it too much, but this is MY Live Journal, Big Poppa, and I'll complain about it as much as I want!!!! BWA HA HA. Ten more weeks and then I most likely will be able to take buses at reasonable hours when they WON'T BE SO FULL. Wa-hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

( Read a long ramble about prenatal class here. )
I have had a bit of an upset tummy this week. I don't know why! I have started eating oatmeal again, but I wouldn't expect that to give an upset tummy because I've had oatmeal a bazillion times before. I also changed from full cream to low fat milk, but I wouldn't imagine that would cause an upset tummy either. So I'm a little confused. I was worried about the baby because it didn't seem to move around as much on Monday and Tuesday, but its movements were stronger yesterday, and again today. So I suppose everything is okay.

I can't believe tomorrow is already Friday! This week has gone by so fast. I feel pretty tired, and am looking forward to resting on the weekend. On Tuesday when I did yoga, I actually fell asleep during the guided relaxation at the end of it! Ha ha. Unfortunately I have to get up early on Saturday because we have to go to work for training for a couple of hours! Then Mutari is going to be out doing taekowndo stuff until late that night. And Saturday is actually our first wedding anniversary! No romantic dinners for us!!!

So I am feeling a bit better about my weight today. I've had lots of support and advice over the past couple of days. It does seem the suggested weight gain range they suggested at the doctor was low, and as long as the food I am eating is healthy then I suppose I don't have to worry about it. From what I've heard over the past couple of days, it seems a lot of people gain more than that 'recommended' weight anyway.

I also think its sad that I have been focused so much on the weight issue that I forgot to be happy about our baby being healthy and developing well! Mutari thought he saw something on the ultrasound to indicate the baby is a boy! But I didn't see it -- although I was not actively looking for anything. I think it's so fun that we don't know for sure! We have a DVD of the ultrasound so we can check again, if we want! :) The ultrasound lady said she thinks the baby looks more like Mutari! I thought it looked like it had a bit of wide mouth and thicker lips, but I think it's hard to tell because it still doesn't have much fat on it's face so the features are all exaggerated. Wow. The only part of the anatomy she didn't check was the right ear, because the baby was lying on that and didn't really move much during the whole thing. It was the least active it's been in an ultrasound so far. When they were taking the 3D pics, it kept putting its hand to its face and kind of covering itself. It was so cute, I didn't even mind that we couldn't really see his or her face properly. *heart*

I also bought a book on Saturday, called 'Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The complete guide'. I said I wasn't going to buy another pregnancy book but this book is mostly about birth and a few chapters about the newborn. It has a whole chapter about self-relief of pain during labour, whole chapter about the birth plan, heaps of stuff about labour and what husband and wife can do. It looks good and very different to the other book I have so I am quite excited to read it. Also, I feel there's something in that book God really wants me to read because I was looking quite aimlessly at the 'business' section and there was this pregnancy book lying flat on it's back in an empty space in the shelf where I just couldn't miss it!!!!!!

We watched 'Eagle Eye' at the movies too. Personally I wasn't that impressed. The start of the movie seemed kind of interesting and conspiracy-ish, it was all about surveillance and how much 'they' know about us . . . but in the end it was kind of lame I thought. And I'm just not that much of a fan of that Shia La Boof guy. (I know that's not the correct spelling of his name, that's just how I like to write it!!!!!!) I think there's something about him that I don't find that likable, so I never really have sympathy for his characters.

Yesterday I bought a giant box of oatmeal --55 sachets in various flavours. YUM! This morning I had the 'maple and brown sugar' flavour. I really love oatmeal. I don't think I ate it much until I was with Mutari, and he didn't eat it much before he was with me, so it is kind of weird the way our love has brought us together in mutual appreciation of oatmeal! Perhaps if we have a joint gravestone, that's what our children can get carved in it: Here lies Mum and Dad. They both liked oatmeal.

I was thinking about it while I was doing the dishes and I seriously think if God said to me, "Lee, I am going to zap either chips or oatmeal out of existence. It's up to you to choose," I would say good-bye to the chips before I would say good-bye to oatmeal!!! Ha ha ha.

Okay. That is enough about oatmeal!

I just made something yummy for dinner. Yesterday I bought a packet of palak paneer, which is Indian spinach curry. It was one of those instant things (the packet said it is INDIA'S NUMBER 1 BRAND OF READY-TO-EAT MEALS). Tonight I just cooked up some chicken and onions, and then added the packet of curry, and it was YUM! I really enjoyed it!

I also solved my sock crisis by buying some socks today. I can stop wearing Mutari's now. :)

Now I merely to solve the pants crisis. I have been putting the waistband extender ('belly belt') into my pants for a while now. Basically it is not that good because my belly isn't big enough yet to stretch everything to the limit so the pants don't sit flat -- the part of the zip that is open sort of bubbles up and it just isn't right.. Today I found myself at the extremely unfortunately juncture between a belly belt, an open zip, and some serious static cling in my top! Not good!

Tomorrow we are having a school excursion to an exhibition about space. It is closer to home than to school so I don't have to go to work first, I can go straight to the place. Yay! That means extra sleep AND I get to avoid the morning bus ride!!!!! WOO-HOO!!!!!!!

Hello . . . it's been a few days again. Sigh. I just can't seem to keep on top of things. Honestly, I think I'm going through a bit of a hard time right now! I just seem to be always busy . . . the house is a mess again (Sunday is cleaning day so it usually gets pretty bad by now). It would be good to get an extra clean in during the week but . . . I barely have the energy to cook dinner these days. :(

Work was busy this week. Getting organised for the future is good but it sure takes up some time right now!! Ha ha ha. I talked to my supervisor about the maternity leave on Friday. She was really good about it, and it seems like it won't be a problem! AMAZING. I will truly believe it when I see the money being deposited into my account over those few months . . . but it looks good now, so I'm happy with that.

Yesterday I had an appointment at the obstretrician. I'm 22 weeks now so it was time for the 'big' ultrasound to check the anatomy and internal structures. Good news is the baby is fine! It is measuring the right size for 22 weeks, and all the anatomical things they checked were fine. We still don't know the sex of the baby :P

The only disappointing things was, I was sort of expecting some kind of amazing ultrasound, because it was the 'special' one . . . but it was just the same as all the others!!!!! D'oh. I've actually been thinking about the amont of ultrasounds (they are expensive, and I think not really necessary) so yesterday I asked the doctor if they were really necessary . .  . she immediately said, "Oh no! But the Korean mums won't come to me if I don't give an ultrasound everytime, that's why we do it. But if you don't want it, that's fine!' So next time I go, they'll just check the baby's heartbeat and that will be it. :) I'm happy with that.

There was something weird that happened there yesterday. I have gained 6 kg since the first time I went to the doctor, which is apparently too much. :(
I had to talk to different doctor there, who told me I was gaining weight too quickly. She was talking about my pre-pregnancy weight, and my BMI was 25.5 (which is a little bit overweight). Part of the conversation went like this:

Doctor: You're quite tall, but you weighed this much, and your BMI means . . . *apologetic laugh* . . . actually, you're a little bit obese.
Me *stony-faced silence*

AUUGHH!!! Definitely that was just a 'lost in translation' kind of thing, because I was not obese, even if was overweight . . . . but I can't beleive I have lasted for more than five years in Korea without being told I need to lose weight . . . and now, when I am PREGNANT, I get told I'm overweight!

So, at first I was so upset, insulted, hurt . . . and also really crestfallen because I thought I had been eating pretty well (better than before) and was actually pretty proud of myself for (what I thought) was my good job. :( That part sucks. But of course  I am looking on the bright side (what else can I do?). I'm going to take this as an opportunity to learn more about nutrition and try and improve my eating habits, which will only be better for me, Mutari, this baby, and any others that may come along in future. Already I'm planning to switch to low-fat milk instead of full cream (I just think full cream tastes so much yummier!). Yesterday we went to the movies and we did have popcorn but I had water instead of lemonade. I'm going to keep a food diary as well, just to check. As I said, I really thought I was eating healthily!!

So, despite taking it as an opportunity for more education and possible improvement in nutrition, I also definitely think I should not be on a diet while I'm pregnant. They gave me a 'weight gain plan' . . . I'm supposed to gain only 5 kg more in the next 18 weeks! That would be a total of 11 kg. I'm wondering if Korean standards for weight gain during pregnancy are less than that recommended in Western countries. My book from the Mayo Clinic says weight can can be 25~35 pounds, but the paper they gave me at the clinic recommends only 24.2~26.4 pounds (11~12 kg) --right at that lower end of what the American book said. So I'm going to do some more research and stuff about that.

But - UGH!!!!!! - 'big size' is the order of the day in Korea again!!!!!!!