Isn’t that ultrasound the best!?!? It’s my favorite… I like it even better than the 3-D ones. If you’re having a hard time reading it, the baby is laying with his back to us. His head is on the left and his upper right arm is in the middle poking up. The long white lines on the bottom are his spine. You can even see his sweet little ear! Oh, by the way, he’s a boy! You are looking at Edward William Erfurt V.
Here’s what I’ve been experiencing in the Music Therapy workplace:
- Baby Overload. I’m starting to ‘pop’ now, meaning that the baby bump is more obvious. All of my colleagues have advice to give. This is very similar to when you are planning your wedding… everyone has spontaneous wedding advice that they very freely share whether you ask or not. I don’t mind it at all because I’m really excited to be pregnant. But, I think the reason why the baby advice doesn’t bother me is because I’ve been-there-done-that with dealing with the advice shoving.
- It’s hard to sing properly. I don’t find myself out of breath (this is something I read about in What to Expect When You’re Expecting
) but I do find it hard to push my stomach out when I’m breathing in and use my diaphragm when I’m singing. I think it has to do with the fact that there’s a baby in there and I don’t think my stomach can stretch any more (even though I know it will only get bigger!). So, I find that I just have to breathe more often but I still try to sing appropriately so I don’t strain my voice.
- I never want to be standing. I start my day at my desk prioritizing my sessions… and then I never want to get up. When I’m in a patient room that I can sit down in… I do. (I’m not allowed to sit down in contact precaution rooms do to infection control concerns.) Sometimes family members of patients offer me their chair and I totally take them up on it. I didn’t do this in the past, but I know it will help me keep going throughout the day, so I just thank people for their offer without any guilt.
- It’s really hard to find work clothes. This is actually my BIGGEST problem, which, all-in-all isn’t really that big a deal when you look at the scope of life, but a pain to me nevertheless. ** ALERT ** Here comes a rant: The maternity clothing business is a total racket. I’ve never spent so much money for a tank top in my life. And, the difference between a regular tank top and a maternity one is a few inches of fabric and two strips of elastic, which, to a manufacturer is probably about $1.00 more per piece of clothing. Not only are maternity clothes expensive, but they never go on sale. It’s a total pain.
* Attention music therapy mothers * I will be attending the AMTA National conference next month… and I’ll be 6 months along by then. Do you have any advice for me in regard to being pregnant at conference or traveling? I’ll add your tips to my Conference Quick Tips series. Not to mention, use them myself!
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Professional clothing can be a bit of a challenge. I bought a few solid basics at “A Pean in the Pod” when I was expecting. There are also some more affordable items you can mix in at Target and Old Navy. I found I had to plan out my clothes for the week and be sure and wash during the week.
As for attending conference, plan to sit and enjoy. When a session isn’t too crowded, hijack a second chair and get your feet up.
I’m so looking forward to seeing you!
Drink a lot of water! I found, and I was in my really early months, that water was a MUST HAVE at conference. Also, I was pretty irritable and it just seemed that everything rubbed me the wrong way
I felt bad for my roomates and friends. Anyway, having that water bottle sometimes helped me bite my tongue and keep my irritability at bey. If I felt like I wanted to say something that was out of character, I took a sip of water 
Most of all, just go slow. Don’t rush from session to session. Don’t feel like you MUST do everything on your list. Relax and just enjoy and focus on networking and seeing friends and the rest will fall into place.
That is the most awesome ultrasound I have ever seen! Our little guy was camera-shy, hehe. Conference: I was 7 months along at WRAMTA. Water, yes, and healthy food when you can. Dress in layers…although it wasn’t really warm out temp-wise (conference was in April), I found I was sweaty most of the time. As far as maternity clothes, see if anyone can hand you down some pieces so you won’t have to spend a lot of money. My boss gave me a whole box of clothes when I was pregnant…saved me tons of cash!