Any woman can benefit from installing Clue on her phone

Even before I went off the pill, I installed an app on my phone. Clue is a period tracking app, but it’s not just for women who want to be aware of their fertility or ovulation cycle. I installed it out of curiosity, but it did end up helping me when Dean and I were ready to start trying for a kid.

What I like about the app is just how scientific it is, and that it gets ever more accurate the more you use it. As someone who suffers from hormone-induced migraines, as well as the odd mood swing, it was great to be able to predict when these might come. While on the pill, I was generally quite aware of when I’d be getting my period, but once I went off, it was more a mystery – one that clue could give insight into. Continue Reading

1 Comment Geek

Can pregnancy change things on a cellular level?

It’s summer now, and normally it’s the season when I spend the bulk of my time trying not to scratch my skin open. Mosquitos always love me, biting me in my sleep and generally making me claw at my flesh until I bleed. Yeah, I seem to have no self control in that regard.

I always laugh, though, because while the mozzies love me, they have absolutely no interest in Dean. It’s so clear cut that sometimes if I hear them buzzing around me in the middle of the night, I’ll put his arm over me and they go away (until I get too hot, throw his arm off and end up getting chowed on anyway). This summer, I haven’t been struggling, though, and I was struck by a weird idea. Continue Reading

Comment Geek, Pregnancy

Is it right to pierce baby ears?

I love earrings. I don’t always wear them, but they generally make me happy. In fact, I recently bought new earrings from the awesome people of Tech Girl and they are ridiculously pretty and geeky. They make me happy. Here, look at how cool they are!

Yay! Thank you so much @techgirlza for my amazing geek jewelry! #geek #earrings

A photo posted by Zoe Hawkins (@moonstormer) on

I was ten when I got my ears pierced, and it was sort of a coming of age experience for me. I only knew a few other girls with pierced ears and it was a big deal to be allowed to get them pierced, and then to do all the stuff necessary to take care of them. I only knew a couple girls whose ears were pierced as babies and I remember even then wondering about the pros and cons of it. Sure, it’s great that they didn’t have any memory of getting their ears pierced, but they also didn’t have the significance, either. Continue Reading

5 Comments Geek, Parenting

How big can ankles get?

Pregnancy has led to a whole bunch of learning that I never thought I’d care about. I’ve learned about gender neutral parenting, about all the various symptoms of pregnancy throughout the trimesters, and about how things already start changing in  your social life before the kid even arrives. It’s been a mostly fun and sometimes uncomfortable journey so far, but the third trimester has been my least favorite to date.

Mostly, that’s because my third trimester has coincided with a heat wave and drought. Neither has been particularly helpful with my edema. And before anyone says anything, yes – I’ve been checked out for preeclampsia and so far I’m still all clear. It really is just a swelling of the hands and feet, but I shouldn’t use the word “just” in there – it’s absolutely awful. Continue Reading

Comment Geek, Pregnancy

Days like this

It’s hot, I’m uncomfortable, I’m tired and generally feeling overwhelmed and sorry for myself today. I can’t help but feel like I’m a mess today, and I guess that’s okay, but it still isn’t fun. At this point, I wish that there were a nice cool cave for me to disappear into for the next few weeks – to avoid the heat and to avoid everything else that’s going on in life.

I know here are good days and bad days in any time in life. I can’t expect to go nine months without having days when I just want to curl up and disappear. And I also know that it’s up to me to decide if I’m going to have a good day or a bad day. It’s always in our own power to change our outlook and decide to change our experience of a day. At this point, though, I’m just not sure I have the oomph to get there. Maybe I’ll feel better after a swim, but right now, this day just isn’t working for me. Continue Reading

Comment Pregnancy, Rambling