#ProjectThreeSixFive: Day 25

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @JenSquard

You just can't take a break from watching Fern Gully.

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The truth about #pregnancy

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @JenSquard

Pregnancy.  Such a strange thing to go through.  I never wanted kids, but I always wanted to be pregnant just to see what it was like.  Now that I have done it three times, I’m sort of a pro.  

So here’s the thing.  Pregnancy is a very very personal thing - although the result is the same, and the biology is basically the same, the experiences are wildly different.  It is like you turn into a different person altogether, actually.  Society sees you differently, too.  

Pregnancy is broken down into three trimesters.  The first trimester is generally the suckiest.  Most women get sick (some like all the time), but I didn’t.  I didn’t feel great, but I could function and wasn’t barfing or anything.  Food becomes a challenge at this point.  You can’t eat anything you love because it will make you barf.  Fears about the baby getting enough nutrition when saltine crackers and chocolate milk are all that is going in get stressful....not to mention the total freakouts of I’m going to have a frickin kid.  Planned or unplanned it is insanely jarring.  Kids are forever.  Unless you are a crackwhore.

The second trimester is way better - you get your energy back, you are willing to consider having sex again, or you might crave it like a maniac, and you can eat!  Food food and more food is usually going on about this time.  Weird cravings are kind of a myth in the pickles and ice cream sense.  It is mostly assumed now that pregnant bodies crave things because they are lacking some vitamin or nutrient, and with today’s prenatal care, that iTaken by Katie Landers Photographys less likely to happen.  But your tastebuds change, I swear they do.  With my first pregnancy I ate pickles.  So cliche, but I did.  I would only stop eating pickles (the full size dills) when my hand got too cold from reaching into the jar.  Oh an sixlets.  With #2 I ate gas station bean and cheese burritos.  One for breakfast every day, and usually a couple more later on.  And fried mashed potatoes.  They tasted so good that I would have killed a clown to get my hands on some.  With #3 I craved potatoes but couldn’t eat them.  Cereal was a big hit with all three - that seems to be a pretty consistent pregnancy thing, preggos love cereal.  

Trimester numero tres is a hard one.  A lot of weight is gained at the end, and pregnancy is obvious.  It is painful.  Seriously, imagine you suddenly swallowed a bowling ball and the affect that might have on your inards.  Not pretty.  It messes with your body in lots of ways, and that’s why pregnant women fart constantly.  There is 15 or more pounds of pressure directly on their guts - intestines and bladder mostly.  

Emotionally pregnancy is up in the air.  Women either love or hate it.  I loved it.  LOVED it.  I would do surrogacy in a second if I didn’t have high risk pregnancies.  Because I’m a freak for it, I can only speak from that side, but plenty of women think it’s the worst thing they have ever gone through.  And that’s fair, it is incredibly hard, painful, invasive, scary, stressful and mean to your body.  

Stretch marks.  Ugh.  Your body just doesn’t come back from a pregnancy.  It sure as hell doesn’t come back from three, just sayin.  Even if you have an easy pregnancy, great delivery and all that, your insides just aren’t the same again.  Relationships with food will always be different.  Most women don’t just pop back into their pre-pregnancy clothes.  My ribs are still spread open, and the pain I am experiencing now from my hips trying to go back into place is nothing compared to the pain of them separating.  I had gestational diabetes with two pregnancies, which is a really big deal.  I am honestly lucky that my son survived since it went undiagnosed with him.  My last pregnancy was on lock down and it suuucckckkeeeeed. Sucked. Bad.  I couldn’t eat anything I wanted, I had to take medication and test my blood all the time, and ended up delivering early so I could avoid getting on insulin.  None of my pregnancies have been normal or easy, but I still loved it.

When I am pregnant I feel soooo special.  It sets me apart from other people, and I have a connection that no one else in the world has, not even my husband.  I am never alone, and I always have someone to talk to - even if that someone is an embryo the size of a pea.  We share thoughts and feelings, and pregnancy keeps me grounded while allowing me to fly through my imagination.  Feeling a life you created move inside you is life altering.  The first kick is so amazing, and always reminded me that I was doing something important that not everyone can do.  I made a person.  I was housing something special and private and miraculous.  I don’t think I will ever be able to fully explain why or how much I loved pregnancy, but it is a time in my life that I will remember as being fulfilling, and pushing through the pain and toughness makes me proud for my strength.  I have never felt as beautiful in my life as when I was 8 months pregnant, no longer fitting into my clothes, and radiating life and love.

At this point I felt like a fat trucker, so I decided to dress like one!Society and pregnancy, well, not a great combination.  You lose all sense of privacy when you are pregnant.  People are drawn to you in very strange ways, and I had more interactions while pregnant than I could ever recall.  Men get way weird around pregnant women.  I remember when I was pregnant the first time no one would believe me that men followed me around.  They would never talk to me, just follow me around.  While shopping with my mom once this guy stayed within a 20 foot radius of me FOREVER.  He wasn’t even shopping, he was just hovering.  It’s like I was growing a magnet for men or something.  Maybe it’s because they knew I put out, I don’t know.  I was constantly told I had the pregnancy glow...but I don’t know, it was weird.  Women just stared.  I will admit that I had a huge belly, like epicly huge.  No one touched me like they do to other women, but they did talk to me about crazy things.  Some of the memorable questions I have been asked are: “Are you having twins?  Are you sure you’re not?”  “Are you still with the dad?”  “Was it planned?”  “You look really uncomfortable.”  “Do you still have sex?”  “Can I see your belly?”  “Have your boobs gotten bigger?”  “You’re huge.”  “You look like you’re ready to pop.”  “Having that baby any day, huh?”  That last one is especially nice to hear when you are in your sixth month and have 12 weeks to go *insert sarcasm font here*.  Just so you know, ALL of those things were asked by strangers.  And ALL of those things are wildly inappropriate to say to a pregnant woman.  If you want to say something, tell her she looks beautiful.  Say it sincerely and move on.  It will make her day and you won’t be remembered as a creeper.  

That’s the basics.  It’s a complicated time with an incredible range of emotions and experiences.  It’s rewarding and totally worth it...but one of the craziest things anyone could ever do.  Ever.  

 Do you have any pregnancy questions?  Anything weird you want to know?  Ask me anything, I would love to share anything I may have left out!

Twitter: @JenSquard
Facebook: @jenswedhinphotography
Email: mangotreelover@hotmail.com
Or leave me a comment!  I would honestly LOVE to hear your thoughts!

A non-gamer reviews the Xbox #Kinect

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @JenSquard

I am definitely NOT a gamer.  Not so much at all.  Unless you are talking about a Sega Genesis circa 1998 with Sonic the Hedgehog - then I am gamer.  Otherwise, not so much.  My brain doesn't work that way, and I have tried.  It just doesn't happen, I suck gnarly balls, so I stick to my Sudoku and Bejeweled. 

When the Wii came out I figured it would be a major game changer.  I got it for Christmas last year...not a game changer.  I liked it okay, but it felt incredibly juvenile to me.  It wasn't fun for me, and the workout blew it hard.  The responsiveness wasn't there, holding a remote and numchucks, even when holstered, was awkward, and I never was interested in playing.  My hubbard is a gamer and didn't even play it.  So this year we decided to sell it and try something new. 

The Kinect is a very different creature.  Since the games are $50 a piece, we don't have a huge variety yet, but it has definitely been used more in the last month than the Wii was in an entire year.  He plays Black Ops and Need for Speed, and we have the game that came with it.  That game is surprisingly fun, very active, and the responsiveness is great.  It has different levels and activities than the Wii and the games are so much more diverse. 

Since there is no remote, and your avatars are actual people instead of little bobbing heads, you actually control them.  The graphics are great, or whatever, I don't know, I just know I like it.  A lot.  My favorite thing to do is make my avatar do crazy things.  Fist pumping, crotch grabbing and moon walking are especially entertaining. 

There are a bunch of free demos and little games that you can download, too.  Right now I am watching the hubs dance to Lady Gaga on Dance Central - effing brilliant!  Sooo so funny, totes magotes I am love with this thing.  The thing I don't so much love is that you have to pay extra to play Live - I just think that after paying so much for the console, the games, the extra controller, an internet connection, and all that hubaloo, you should just be able to connect it.  So we aren't live anymore.  Which is fine for me, cause I suck at all the games and wouldn't want to play against any real person.  Maybe someday.  Believe it or not I am not terrible at Need for Speed.  Not great, but not terrible.  Black Ops makes me so mad that I want to get a real gun and shoot some real people.  Not my thing. 

But yeah - Xbox 360 Kinect = badass.  Loves it lots.

Find me on Twitter and tell me your thoughts about it: @JenSquard

#ProjectThreeSixFive: Day 23

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @JenSquard

Today's photo isn't so much a photo, instead it's a screenshot of a photo.  I just wanted to show that not every single thing that comes out of the camera is amazing.  Sometimes images take a lot of work in post production, and this isn't something that photographers like to admit.  We strive to have every image come out of the camera perfect...and showing your raw images is generally one of those wince and look away things.  It's sort of like lifecasting - you are exposing your most private part and hoping that no one pokes it.  Since that's just something I do, why not extend it to my photography?

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#Strange Music of the day: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @JenSquard

Music is a very individual and personal choice, and you like what you like.  Whatevs, I'm not gonna judge.  But can anyone tell me what the hell is going on here?  Very strange happenings if you ask me.

This is Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti.  Yeah.