Take your best guess!

Coming down the homestretch here.  38 weeks today.  Only 2 more weeks left til anticipated ‘D-Day’ of Nov 21st!

What do you think?  Anyone want to wager guess a for a birthday and birth-weight?

If the costume fits…

We had a neighborhood Halloween party to go to last night. First Halloween party for me since college if I remember correctly.  I’m not much into the costumes and silliness of this holiday, probably less so this year due to the current girth of my midsection (but will probably be more so next year when I have a wee tyke to dress up and parade around!).

I was just going to wear a black shirt with a pumpkin face sewn on my belly and call it quits until my friend Ashley had a better idea…  Black dress – check, white turtle neck – check, black tights – check.  Had to whip up the habit on the sewing machine and Royce had to make me a cross, but all in all it turned out pretty well.

As our friend Albert says I’ll probably go to hell, but I figured I already was well on my way considering we didn’t even have a cross in this house to put around my neck and I may as well fess up that we never replaced that Bible either.  At least I’m having fun on my way!

Showered with gifts and books

Feeling more and more ready each and every day.  Last weekend was my baby shower.  Both Grandmas-to-be were here along with Aunt Monica.  Good times!  With the help from a few other friends, my friend Leigh from work hosted at her new beautiful home in DC.  Girlfriends from near and far came to celebrate all that is baby girl over brunch and mimosa’s.

(I’m not sure how I one can get through an entire baby shower with out a good photo of ‘the belly’ but what you see above is about as good as it gets because all the other photos I’m sitting down and well I just look sorta fat or I have gifts in the way and you can’t see anything).

One of the organizers had the brilliant idea of giving books instead of cards so I got a solid stack of great books to start off our collection.

This is baby girl will definitely be dry and warm.  I got about 5 hooded towels, and thanks to the grandma’s 3 awesome baby blankets.After a few loads of laundry later we have the majority of the things we need for the first few weeks at the ready.  I’m completely amazed at how small these onesies are.  I can’t imagine anything being that small.  Watching Royce fold them sorta melts ones heart it’s so cute.

Give us a heart attack will ya?

We had our 36 week sonogram yesterday which threw our day into chaos.  All ended well but it took me a while to come down from being so tense.  And when I did come down I didn’t realize how tense I was.

Long story short, a finding on a sonogram at 20 weeks was back (it had disappeared at the 29 week sonogram) which caused concern and lead to a referral to a Maternal and Fetal Medicine specalist for a more high tech sonogram of baby’s heart.  When I called the MFM specialist they tell me the next appointment isn’t until a week from now, which given how I’m on the 4-week home stretch seemed a bit lackadaisical on their part.  Royce worked his ‘professional courtesy’ magic and manage to swing us an appointment yesterday at 1 (a perk to being married to a doctor which easily makes up for all those nights alone).  We got to see baby close up and personal on a big flat screen and after about a 30-min sonogram and a visit with the MFM doc were reassured that the thing they are seeing on the sonogram are meaningless sound reflections and that baby’s heart is perfectly fine.

So big sigh of relief.  It’s the first problem/scare we have had with this 40 week journey so I consider ourselves extremely lucky.  It opened our eyes to how vulnerable these little people are and how much control we don’t have over the situation.  And how much you can care and worry about something you have yet to even meet.

They even had H1N1 vaccines and gave us BOTH one.  Very nice of them since here in MD  the distribution of the vaccine seemed to skip over emergency health care workers and go straight to the public where you have to stand in long lines to receive.

Birth class trouble makers

We completed our 3 session birth class last weekend and it sorta sunk in that this is happening whether I want it to or not!  This was more for me than Royce (initially) since I figured he-who-has-delivered babies would know a bit himself.  Come to find out that knowledge of catching babies is not the same as knowledge of coaching someone through the labor process.

Overall it was a decent way to spend our time, I feel a little better prepared, a little freaked out, but also a lot more educated.  The start of the class was a little rocky which gave us some hesitation.  The first hour of the first session was filled with technical difficulties.  Nothing gets me more irritated than a speaker who is not prepared!

Once she was settled we spent an hour on insulting information such as “you shouldn’t drink”, “you should eat a balanced diet”, “your body is changing”.  I found this information to be a bit silly as with an average 8 weeks left of pregnancy I would hope that the women in the class had thought long and hard about diet, drink and body image.

Next up was at least 30 mins of videos of how to get up from a seated or lying position, and how to get out of a car.  I think the one that took the cake was the video on how to help stiff muscles if you sit all day long.  Royce and I had a good laugh on the way home mocking how horrible it would be if you were stuck at a desk and had no clue how to relieve stiff muscles…or if you were stuck in a car for 7 months because you couldn’t figure out how to get out.

The remaining of the sessions were better.  Royce got a little ornery during some of the relaxation times.  The instructor would suggest for the dad to find a ‘tense’ spot on mom and massage it out.  Royce always went for my ear lobes.  This of course put me in a fit of giggles.

I’m sure when the time comes we won’t remember practically any of what we learned.  Maybe we will, who knows.  We do a lot of the positioning in my prenatal Yoga class so maybe the weekly practice will help.  As to the breathing, well I’m hopeful it will either come naturally or Royce will remind me to do it every once in a while.

Ready or not, she will come!

What’s in a name?

Next to “How are you feeling?”  and “When are you due?” the most frequent question is “Do you have a name yet?”. I think this question bugs me the most because it is so personal.  I don’t think I’ve ever asked a pregnant woman this question before because it seems so odd that she would share it with me.

First, I’m a believer that you can’t name something until you meet it.  For example, when we were thinking of getting a dog we had all these names lined up.  Most memorable were Herky and Bert.  I was 99.9% sure our dog would end up as  a Herky or a Bert, instead we got a Charlie.  Why?  Because when we met our puppy he didn’t look like a Herky, or a Bert, he looked like a Charlie.

Second, I find it almost creepy when moms name their babies in utero and start referring to it by name.  Something about it just gives me the heebie jeebies.  Sorta like grown women who still refer to their fathers as “daddy”.  ick.

And last but not least, you already know the sex of the baby and the general date of arrival.  Let us have one inkling of surprise left to share with you on her birthday!  That and I already have a hard enough time with unsolicited advice as I’m sure all pregnant women do.  The last thing I need right now is a strangers opinion on a name.

In the end, it’s sort of a silly question  to ask a pregnant woman anyways.  I’m sure the pregnant woman you are inquiring to has had a list of baby names in her head since she was old enough to know that babies need names.  So yes, there is a name, I’ve been working on my name list since I was 10.  We even have a few favorites names, but we are not setting our hearts on one until we meet this little person in my womb and shake her hand.  Then and only then will she be named.

3rd trimester

I’ll have to admit the first 2 trimesters were a breeze and a mere 4 weeks into this last and final stretch I’m not feeling much different.  I’m a bit bigger (belly is measuring in at 39 inches around) but still small enough that people don’t believe I’m in my 3rd trimester or that I only have 8 more weeks left.  I’ve also slowed down a bit, but I think that’s mostly because of my residual cold.  I can’t quite power-walk to meetings and up 2 flights of stairs TID like I used too without getting huffy and puffy.  I still do it, I just give myself 10 mins instead of 5 to accomplish the task.

I started a prenatal yoga class last week.  I’m not much of a yogi…always prefered my hour long Pilates class over the 1.5 hour yoga class which included this nap-time thing at the end that I could never get my head around.  Pilates is proving to get a little difficult as of late, I think I’ve got about 2 more weeks of it left in me, it’s getting hard to heave-ho myself around that mat with any dignity.  Yoga seemed like the next best alternative and it is proving to be useful.  It too is nice to be a in a class surrounded by other pregnant women…there is just this vibe when you get enough of us in one room that can be pretty cool.  I’m the farthest along in the class, most of the other girls are due in December or January, yet I’m the smallest most agile one there.  One girl is due 5 days after me, but she looks (and moves) as though she is due 1 month before me.  It makes me feel really lucky to be so small…at least for now.  I would rather have 2 weeks of large uncomfortableness instead of 2 months!

I always pictured myself as gaining a ton of weight and feeling horrible during pregnancy.  I’m completely surprised with how opposite things have worked.  I credit it mostly to staying active with Pilates and my deep-water swimming class.  And although it sounds silly, I really do have to walk long and far to get to meetings at work.  Add to that the stairs I go up and down 10+ times each day, I’m guaranteed a mini workout every day I’m in the office.  Also I haven’t really changed my diet and I don’t eat more than I used to prior.  I do let myself enjoy 3-4 Oreos and a glass of milk almost nightly without guilt.  For the most part though I’m not craving anything bad for me…I’m just as happy with an apple as a snack as I am a mini frozen snickers bar and 90% of the time I’ll choose the apple (probably b/c I already had the frozen snickers bar prior!).  Having all these fresh veggies around from our CSA has helped keep me on track too, as we almost always have dinner at home instead of going out.

It will be interesting to see how these last few weeks go.  Strange to think I only have 8 left!

A cold of all colds

I knew getting sick would happen sometime during these 40-weeks but I didn’t quite know how hard it would be.  Royce brought a cold home earlier this week and I knew my time was limited before I caught it too.  Yesterday was my day.

The worst part is not being able to take anything for my symptoms.  Tylenol is OK, but these past few months I’ve found that this is the worst pain reliever out there.  I’ve taken to calling it my placebo.  I do take Benadryl at night but what I really need/desire/crave is a whopping dose of pseudoephedrine.  There is so much congestion and pressure in my head that my eyeballs feel like they are going to pop out and my teeth hurt.  Then there is the pressure on the ears which of course won’t pop.  You know it’s bad when your eyes just water from the pressure.

It will all be over with soon.  I can’t wait to get a nights sleep where I don’t wake up with a figurative elephant sitting on my head and a fire breather in my nostrils.  Makes my BID-TID toilet visits I had previously seem like a cake walk.  And I’m o’ so grateful that this is just a head cold and not a chest cold.  Given my current decrease in cardiovascular capacity carrying around this baby I’m sure that would have not been fun to deal with.

The Verbois family take 2.

I took photos of the Verbois family about a year ago.  What a difference a year makes…they sure to grow fast!   This shoot was for Leigh and Richard’s 5 year wedding anniversary (click on photos to see more).  They got married at the WWI monument on September 5th 2004.  They wanted to go back and take photos and reminisce in the significance their life has taken since that day 5 years ago when there was only 2…  Happy Anniversary you two, you have an amazing family!

29 week glamor shots

We had our 28/29 week doctor appointment today which was filled with fun.  We got to see baby again…we saw her last at 20 weeks (and found out ‘it’ was a ’she’).  It’s way easier to tell things apart when they are smaller and less scrunched up that’s for sure.  We did get one nice profile shot however that makes some sense to this untrained eye.

I also got to experience the 1-hr glucose tolerance test.  This is the test they run on everyone to screen for gestational diabetes.  You drink this glucose beverage which has 5 grams of sugar and tastes like flat orange crush.  When we got my bottle at the 24 week appointment we had a few laughs.  While waiting for the doctor I decided to read the instructions out-loud to Royce and being silly said “Best if served chilled… and mixed with vodka”.  Royce looked up and was like “It doesn’t say that!”  …then we fell into a fit of laughter in the doctors room.  The next funny instruction is that the bottle actually said to “Administer test in the morning, when possible, and advise the patient to remain quiet for the duration of the test”.  So that of course peaked Royce’s interest and he asked the doctor why I had to remain quiet.  The doctor had to read it for herself and her conclusion with a chuckle  was “I don’ t know, but it’s a good idea…don’t tell us how bad it tastes…we already know”.  So in fun we had a mini photo shoot this AM.  This is what happens when you make a pregnant woman fast for 12 hours and then feed her 5g of sugar!