Week 26, Just Weighting

Didn't weigh myself today, but my most recent weigh-ins have been 225 or so. It was like overnight about two weeks ago my weight just jumped. I know I'm supposed to be gaining weight, and I've been worried about the fact that I haven't done so, but then to suddenly jump up five pounds or so in just a day or two also worried me. Then I start thinking about my cravings for sugar and sweet stuff like candy and ice cream, and that makes me start worrying about gestational diabetes. Not only do I not want to have any problems with any pregnancy complications, period, but I also fear having something like that happen since I am so poor at advance planning at work. I really do pretty much make it up as I go. I mean, I have a general idea of what I need to do and when I need to do it, but I typically make up my teaching materials, like presentations, handouts, and quizzes, the day of the class. That's one reason I can never be sick: I don't ever have anything prepared ahead of time for a sub to do. I know I have some sub days coming up--I'm taking two days off to go do some essay grading for a state writing assessment, and we have a couple of trips planned in the next few months--and I'm already panicky about trying to get stuff arranged for the subs. So if were to actually need to be gone for a length of time, say if my doctor recommended bed rest or something, I'd really be in trouble.

Anyway, Brendan is showing signs of heading for his terrible twos. He has started pulling on things, rather hard, like animals' tails, people's hair, my shirt, stuff like that. Not sure what the purpose is. We've gotten rid of the bottle, and we've abolished the pacifier during the day (I'm bad about slipping it into his crib at night, hoping it will help him sleep through the night). And he's still not talking. Oh, he babbles all the time, and he does say things like Mama, Dada, "woof" (what a dog says), and "Yuck", but he doesn't always say them in the correct application, and he's made no real effort to learn any other words, at least that I can tell. It bothers me. I feel like with the amount of talking to him that my husband and I do and the frequency with which we read to him, he should be much further along in his verbal abilities. My husband, whose degree is in speech pathology, hasn't expressed too much concern, although he agrees with me that Brendan should be capable of saying more, and the pediatrician wasn't too concerned either, but it just surprises me. I also worry that he isn't eating enough. The sitter says he generally consumes everything I send with him to her house, but at night when I try to get him to sit down and eat, he'll eat a few goldfish crackers and maybe a few veggies, and a cheese stick, but he doesn't really like meat, and he doesn't really eat a whole lot of anything (except cheese). Sometimes he'll eat pasta, sometimes not. I wonder if I need to start pouring cheese sauce over everything.

As for me, I'm tired. My spider veins left over from last time have become varicose veins, and my varicose veins have become worse. Now that the weather is warming up, I keep thinking how nice it would be to put on shorts and spend some time outside getting some sun, but my legs are really gross-looking. I'm desperate for some springtime weather, but I definitely don't have the body for it. I'm approaching the third trimester, so at least the end is getting a little closer. I need a nap.