Ultra Sound Picture

Since we are having our baby at home, we haven't really had to spend any time at the doctor's office. Most people have an ultrasound at 20 weeks, and it only took us until 26 weeks to get around to doing it! The good thing about this though, is that the picture of the baby is pretty clear. This is an awesome photo, because you can really see the baby's face . . . and it is already cute! We decided not to find out the gender, because it doesn't matter, and the ultra sound technician was very surprised! But since we didn't want to know, he didn't look, so now nobody knows and there is no way to find out. So it will be a great big surprise when the baby is born.

On a sad note, we had kind of a crappy experience at the doctor. You have to go to the hospital for the u/s, and 0ur appointment was at 5:00. We had to be there 15 minutes early to fill out paperwork, and then at 5:15 they told us there had been an emergency and we would have to wait. Since I had to come with a full bladder, I already had to pee at 5:00. By the time out u/s started it was 6:30 and I honestly thought I was going to pee my pants. It was awful, having that guy pushing around on my belly and bladder. But I made it through. We were at the hospital for almost 3 1/2 hours, which was miserable. That is exactly why I hate modern medicine!

But, I have a beautiful picture of my beautiful baby, so it was a good day.

A Random Rant

So what is up with people? I don't know why, but this last week just seems to have been full of interactions with sucky people. I think my biggest beef is with people who seem to think that because I am pregnant they must answer for me, and/or monitor what I am eating. Ever since I got knocked up everybody around me seems to think it is appropriate to tell me what they think of my food choices. The other day somebody told me that I shouldn't be drinking a soda, because it was bad for my baby. Seriously? Caffeine is universally acceptable for pregnant women. There isn't even a debate about it. And why did this person think that I should care what they thought? I know another woman who always looks over my food, and nods in approval when she see's me eating things like cottage cheese. She makes comments like "Oh good, your eating a banana. That's good for your baby." WTF!!! I am a grown woman, I can eat whatever I want. I don't need anybody's approval to have lunch. Now, if I were drinking a rum and coke, or eating a 10 pound block of feta cheese, perhaps people should feel concerned. But a soda? A banana? All I have to say is people SHUT UP!

And answering for me . . . what is up with that? I was in class tonight, and my baby was pretending to be Chuck Norris. I was making a face, as I was feeling a bit uncomfortable. The professor noticed, and asked me if I had a question. I apologized for making faces, and said that it wasn't him I was just a bit uncomfortable. And then not one, not two, but three other students in the class added comments about how I was pregnant, and getting kicked, and everything was fine. As if the professor hadn't noticed that I was prego already? I had already answered him, do these people think that because I am prego I can't answer for myself? This has been happening to me a lot, in all kinds of random situations. Perhaps the ticket guy was right, I should just start using the handicapped restroom and pretending to be mute, because clearly I am incapable of acting like a rational adult and taking care of myself. And don't even get me started on the lady who was doing my taxes. . . I will save that for another post.

End rant.

Pregnant = anti choice? WTF!!

So pretty much everybody that knows me knows that I am pro choice. Some might even say radically so. A woman's right to make her own choices regarding reproductivity, and health in general, is one of my favorite things to talk about. So the past couple of months have been extremely challenging for me. Now that I am visibly pregnant I have been getting lots of comments from the people in my world about the issues of pro choice vs. anti choice. (I generally refuse to use the term pro life, as this stance has nothing to do with life vs. death, but choice vs. non choice. Plus, I don't think they are actually pro life so much as they are anti woman. That is beside the point)

So it seems that because I chose to get pregnant, and I chose to carry the baby to term, and I chose to become a parent, that suddently transforms me from being pro choice, to anti choice. I have had several acquaintances comment that they are happy I have made "the switch" without actually asking me if I had. They simply assume that pregnant = anti chocie. I also had a group of anti choice protesters give me a thumbs up and congratulations, as if because I am pregnant I must agree be anti choice. Do they think that pro choice women don't ever have babies? (Perhaps that is just wishful thinking on thier parts . . . maybe they are hoping feminists will non breed themselves out of existance)

So, let me say it for everyone to know - I have always been and always will be pro choice. I chose to have a baby. I value that right to choose. I think that all women deserve the same option. If anything, being pregnant has only reaffirmed and strengthened my pro choice stance. I would not wish this on my worst enemy if it wasn't something that they really wanted. If I didn't want this baby, and were only having it because my other options were limited, I would be the unhappiest person alive. I don't believe the government has any business telling women how to use their womb - this isn't a political/religious/moral issue. It is an issue of self autonomy and self determination. I think that all people have an inherent right to self autonomy, and so I believe that all women have a right to control their bodies.

So one more time, just so everybody is clear. I am always going to be pro choice, pregnant or not. And my vagina is not a ballot box. People have no business "voting" on what I can and cannot do with it. In the meantime - a shout out to all my feminist friends who have recently had, or are having babies. You know who you are. I appaud us on our hard work to fight the stereotype that all feminists love abortions, and get pregnant just so we can have them, and then eat the fetus for breakfast. Good work on popping out all these adorable little babies and being pro choice in the process!

Socks!

Last week I was feeling a bit bored - so naturally I decided to go shopping. But I was not shopping for just anything, I was shopping for something very specific: Socks. Baby socks to be precise. I envisioned that I would walk into our local Ross and pick up a package of white baby crew socks, you know, just like the ones I buy myself. Alas, I was tragically wrong. Ross does not carry white baby crew socks. What they do carry are two options. You guessed it - blue socks and pink socks.

Now, I am no stranger to the world of gendered clothing, especially when it comes to babies. Everybody knows that the gender lines are drawn very clearly in the sand when it comes to babies. Pink and purple for girls. Blue for boys. It is no secret that I don't agree with this philosophy - all of the baby clothing that I have purchased thus far is yellow and green, the universally accepted gender neutral colors. I have also bought a few things that are brown, and orange, or even cream, but I have bought nothing pink or blue. I don't know if my baby will be a boy or a girl, but I don't really care. I just want a healthy baby. I also believe that just because a child is born anatomically one or the other has no real indication of how they will identify as adults. Hence, I hesitate to place them in a strict gender box by only dressing them in according to gender norms. This is a concept that many find annoying, or do not agree with. The other day somebody asked me if I was going to wait until after the baby was born to have a shower, because it would be rude to expect people to buy gender neutral clothing. Rude? I don't know about that.

So back to the socks. It wasn't so much the fact that they had blue and pink to choose from, it was the fact there was no third option. No white, no yellow, nothing. Just pink and blue. I could have handled this like a mature adult, but then I made the mistake of looking more closely at the socks and reading what was written on them.

The pink socks had pretty white lettering that said "Pretty Baby." The blue socks had bold typeface that said "Little Explorer." At this point, I thought my head was going to explode. I mean really, are we so concerned about gender identity that we have to gender our babies entire bodies, including thier feet? I mean they are feet. The Pretty baby vs. Little explorer theme is basically repeated throughout all baby clothing. Girls are princesses, ballerinas, divas, beautiful, pretty, and sweet. Boys are rough, active, athletes, and little men. Girls get kitties, flowers, and butterflies. Boys get trucks, fire engines, baseball bats, and lions. While this bothers me tremendously, I found it somewhat more bothersome when they put it on a pair of socks. It is as though we can pass up no opportunity to force our children into the "box" of gender roles.

So, I left Ross, and continued shopping until I found one place in town that sold little white baby crew socks. I refuse to limit my childs possibilities in life by telling them they must conform to some ridiculous standard of gender identity. If my little girl wants to be an explorer then I will take her to hike the Inca Trail. If my little boy wants to be a princess, I will buy him a tutu. And as for gendering their feet, not a chance in hell. My baby can wear white socks, just like all the adults in the world I know.