Appointment Today - PROGRESS

This afternoon was our first weekly appt... from here on in we go each week - is it even possible we've been pregnant for this long that we're in the home stretch?!?!

Well folks, we have progress. Dr's exam showed that I'm 1.5cm dilated. I realize that women go for weeks being more then 3cm dilated without going into labor, while others won't show any progress and have the baby the next day. So basically, that means nothing except for that's 1.5 less centimeters that will have to dilate while in labor! Yay!!!

Baby's heartbeat was strong at 138 bpm and my belly is still measuring a bit small. But the Dr reiterated how large the baby measured at our last appointment 2 weeks ago when we had our ultrasound. It didn't sound like he thought we'd be making it to the due date and left smiling saying"Give us a call if anything exciting happens." So... I hope he's right, but I can't help but think that maybe he just jinxed us into 4+ more weeks of pregnancy.

In other news related to progress: I don't think I look like the baby has "dropped," however, I can feel him/her a little further south than even just a couple days okay. "They" say that once the baby drops you feel like you can breathe better, but this kid is still way up into my lungs too, so we've got a long baby for sure. Plus the fact that I'm so short probably doesn't help much either.

I'm off to bed... can't wait for the end of the work week tomorrow afternoon :-)

36 weeks - 1 week until "Term"

Happy Birthday Grandpa-to-be (again) George!!

One piece of exciting news today - Our hospital doesn't have a NICU, so if you go into labor prior to 36 weeks, they transport you about an hour away to a larger hospital that does have one. However, at 36 weeks and later, they'll deliver at our hospital. We've reached that week this week... yay for not having to travel more then 5 miles to the hospital!

We're getting so close to meeting our baby... we're incredibly anxious but I'm so nervous I won't have the courage to say no to an epidural as I have planned. Chip will be amazing though coaching us through, so I'm not worried about that, I really just want to avoid being stuck to one position and numb... fingers crossed.

How far along? 36 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Total net + 21. Yep, broke the 2o lb mark and that means that in the last 2 weeks I've gained 5lbs! Yikes, hopefully I don't get a talking to at the Dr this week.
Stretch marks? I think I found a new one developing on the side of my bell, which wouldn't surprise me with how sore/tight my skin has felt.
Sleep: Again, I think relatively well.
Best moment this week: Realizing how much I had saved at BRU this weekend. I said it before, I'll say it again. I. AM. AWESOME. HA!
Movement: They say the baby slows movements down as it moves out of room. Well... "they" are a bunch of dirty fibbers!
Gender: Still thinking boy despite another girl dream last night. Chip is holding strong with baby being a girl
Labor Signs: Still just practice Braxton-Hicks - we should keep it that way for another 1 week at least! Really only 6.5 days, Baby S --- stick it out for at least that long, please.
Food Cravings: None really, I love picnic foods and have gotten another weekend of enjoying it at a baby shower Sunday - perhaps that would explain my 2week 5lb gain. Eek.
Belly Button in or out? Consistently just the top, perhaps that's how I'll know when baby has "dropped" when we see that the bottom of the button is finally out too.
What I miss: Not having to blindly shave, tie my shoes, bending over, being able to get off the couch without help, etc... etc... etc...
What I am looking forward to: Meeting Baby, obviously!!!! This will not change until the baby comes.
Weekly Wisdom: We've had a rainy summer.. as a result, we have a LOT of mosquitoes... and all day long too, not just in the evening. When you're pregnant, you have more lovely blood coursing through for them to feast on - so when you're at your husband's softball game, make sure to wear long pants so you don't look like you've been attacked from the shins down. But I'm not speaking from experience or anything.
Milestones: Hmmm....... the baby book says baby is almost 6 lbs, but we know our chunker was that big a couple weeks ago. SO, we'll just patiently wait for next week's milestone when baby is considered term and is welcome to join us at that time.
Shout outs to new followers: Hello to blogger, Kerri.
Baby Brain Moment of the Week: Still dropping EVERYTHING, let's hope I don't do the same with baby!
Wedding Band Status: I took my engagement ring off and am just wearing my wedding band. I could still wear it, but with my band being so thick, my engagement ring sits higher up my finger, where it's a tad bigger. So we'll call this a precautionary removal :-( boo, I LOVE mine.
Weekly Belly Pic: Mom thinks I've dropped... I think it's just the funky pattern of the dress. See my lime kayak, "Kiwi" in the background. Poor thing has been very neglected this summer, I've only paddled once :-(

I AM AWESOME - PERIOD.

... and so is my friend Jess!

We went to Babies R Us today. I came loaded with my BRU coupons, but didn't expect I'd be able to use more then one on a single item. Why we're awesome:

1. Crib Mattress: Priced at $85 ~~~~ paid $49 = $36 saved
2. Stroller: Priced at $170~~~~ paid $123 = $47 saved
3. Other leftover pre-birth needs: Priced at $123 ~~~~ Paid $113 = $10 saved

Total amount saved: Nearly $93!!

And THAT, my friends, is why we're Awesome :-)

So, I'm spending the evening nesting, washing and organizing baby clothes, bedding, etc. I might even search for some fun crafts to do in the next weeks as we wait for our little Baby S!

Thanks for coming with me, Jess!

Holy sleeping in Batman!

Is it even possible that I slept in until 1130 this morning?!

...don't start judging me, I work a 9/80 schedule, so I get every other Friday off and have gotten in all my hours this week...

I got up a couple times for preggo lady peeing, but Chip left for work a little before 9am and I slept from then until 1130! It was GLORIOUS!

1 wise guy at 35 weeks

Okay... I want a confession... who's the wise-guy who picked week 42 for baby to arrive? I'm going to assume that your mouse slipped. :-) I do not want to go into September waiting to meet this baby!

Playing the waiting game, I don't have much to update so I'll just get right to the survey:

How far along? 35 weeks!!
Total weight gain/loss: Total net + 19 - holy heavens - you got that right, a 3 lb gain this week - I guess all the leftover shower goodies can be to blame.
Stretch marks? Still just the one unless there are more I can't see, which is entirely possible.
Sleep: Compared to what I read from other pregnant women, I think I'm still sleeping relatively well, though I wish I were sleeping a tad better concidering I may not sleep this week again for many years.
Best moment this week: Probably date night with Chip Saturday at Tanglewood.
Movement: Soooooooooo strong, we have a boxer or a soccer player in there.
Gender: Still thinking boy again... Chip still thinks baby is a girl, he's not as indecisive as I am
Labor Signs: Still just practice Braxton-Hicks - we should keep it that way for another 2 weeks at least!
Food Cravings: Today I really wanted cake, so I made a funfetti cake with chocolate frosting. Just finished a nice fresh piece, in fact :-)
Belly Button in or out? Oh yeah for sure now - someone politely pointed it out in the cafe at work today! That was a tad embarassing.
What I miss: Not being out of breathe most of the time.
What I am looking forward to: Meeting Baby, obviously!!!! This will not change until the baby comes.
Weekly Wisdom: Nothing intelligent to put here this week, again.
Milestones: We have come to an agreement on some names - and no, we're still not sharing, Mom!
Shout outs to new followers: Hello to blogger Emily
Baby Brain Moment of the Week: Nothing, but I am still dropping everything. Chip has actually told me that if I don't need what I drop right away, I should just leave it and he'll pick it up later. He's so good to me! I honestly don't do this too often, but if he's around, I will ask him to pick stuff up (yes, it happens THAT often.)
Wedding Band Status: Still on.
Weekly Belly Pic: Yes, that's the monitor on the heater in the pic, we're testing it out today... it's working :-)

New Poll & the Weekend

Take a look to your left... I've officially put up a poll I've been excited to post for many months... take a swag at it - the majority of you were correct in the "Belly Button Watch 2009" poll, so please be kind in your selections :-)

We had a relaxing weekend so far, Chip worked yesterday morning, but was able to get in some quality hammock/book time after. We decided to go to Tanglewood for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's film night. Our friends Jess and Tony typically hit up Tanglewood with us, but they were coming back into town after an exciting 2.5 week x-country vacation (which we can't wait to hear all about). So we had a cute little date night, packed up the cooler, the warm bags for our grilled chicken, some beer and n/a drinks for me (that was a first...).

I normally don't play the pregnancy card very much (besides to get a good back rub from Chipper) but we asked if Chip could drop me off near the entrance so I didn't have to walk from a couple parking lots away, they told us that we could park in handicap so I wouldn't have to walk after the concert either! YAY!!! In Chip's words "... might as well use the pregnancy card while we can, you've earned it!"

The concert was very good and we were happy to get in at least one visit there this summer since we always make it to the James Taylor show, and this year it is the weekend after baby is due (we clearly didn't plan our conception with the JT concert schedule, darn!) :-)

Hopefully off to Target today to return some duplicates and get some essentials.

34 week status

MOST EXCITING NEWS:
My very good friend and one of my roomies from college, Allyssa, had her baby this week! Just when I was having the worst day at work I got an email saying that she'd had little Grace. She was due just 12 days before us, and obviously went a couple weeks early but she's doing great!!!

APPOINTMENT:
We had our 34 week appointment this afternoon. The office is normally packed, as is the parking lot, but both were empty, so when we walked into the ghost-town of an office, I was convinced it was a Saturday!

Anyway, our Dr. was the only one working that afternoon, so we were lucky enough to not have to wait very long. My weight was up 5 lbs from my last appt 3 weeks ago, but I think I'll stick to my home scale which I use every Monday morning which would result in a much more pleasant 3 lb gain. My BP was great, Baby's heart rate was 138 BPM and.... drum roll please...
Baby is no longer breech!!

But wait... there's more: Dr B says, "want to see if the baby really is head down?" Well I've never had an ultrasound in the office because there is an imaging center in another part of the building that we've gone to for the other two ultrasounds, but SURPRISE, there's a super top secret u/s room in our Dr's practice! Before I realized he meant let's literally "see," I thought I might be getting my first 3rd tri internal, nope that's in two weeks at 36 weeks.

So, the ultrasound: Baby is confirmed head down! yay!! His/Her weight is approximately 5lbs 14 oz - nearly 6 lbs!!! WOW!!!! Here are some of the other measurements:

• Head circumference is measuring 36weeks 2days (1 week and 5 days ahead of our due date)
• Abdominal circumference is measuring 35weeks 1day (4 days ahead)
• The femur measured 35weeks 4 days (1 week ahead)

So... with news of Allyssa's baby coming early, I've gotten a bit anxious that maybe we'll go early too, but today was so reassuring to hear that if baby comes early s/he will be strong and big. We're on track for an 8.5lb baby at this point!

Chip and I were so gitty after leaving our appointment, we're ready to meet this little (okay, big) love of ours!!

On to the weekly survey, which yes, is 4 days late! I know!

How far along? 34 weeks!!
Total weight gain/loss: Total net + 16 - no gain this week according to my favorite home scale on Monday!
Stretch marks? Still just the one between the two piercing holes from my button piercing.
Sleep: Lovely since Dad and Chip installed a ceiling fan in our room! Amazing!
Best moment this week: Obviously the shower last weekend. I love picnics and there's nothing better then spending time with friends and family!
Movement: Getting soooooooooo strong. In a meeting this week, I physically had to stop what I was doing and stretch to get baby's leg out of my side, it was a combo tickle/painful pinch.
Gender: Still thinking boy again... Chip still thinks baby is a girl, he's not as indecisive as I am!
Labor Signs: Still just practice Braxton-Hicks
Food Cravings: Well tonight I wanted some wings from Patrick's, but we had salmon and grilled potatoes and zucchini instead.
Belly Button in or out? The top is always out, bottom is slowly making it's way there.
What I miss: Since we've finally had summer weather this week, I'm going to go ahead and say "a nice cool beer!"
What I am looking forward to: Meeting Baby, obviously!!!!
Weekly Wisdom: Don't really have anything knowledgeable to say this week.
Milestones: Surprise ultrasound today and almost a 6lb chunker in there!!
Shout outs to new followers: HELLOOOOO to Grandpa George!!!
Baby Brain Moment of the Week: In that same meeting where baby wiggled it's little foot halfway around my waist, I went to give a status and think I started to speak Ukranian or something. I had to start over, no idea what was trying to come out of my mouth.
New Question: Wedding Band Status: They still fit! YAY!
Weekly Belly Pic: I think I'm smaller this week then last, or at least look smaller. Dr B said my belly (aka fundal height) is measuring a tad small, but that the baby's measurements proved otherwise!

Can you even believe that there is a nearly 6lb baby in there!!!

Another wonderful SHOWER

We had such a nice shower this weekend hosted by my mother. It was quite overwhelming how many friends and family came and how generous everyone was to Baby S. This kid is
S-P-O-I-L-E-D already!

Here are some fun pictures:

Dessert table, YUM!

Belly Picture Game, no one got even close to the right order of belly pics:

My Clarkson Girls who traveled in for the shower - Tara, Tilley, me, Dana & Liam, Katie, Jodi and Kenney:

Marissa helped me to open gifts while Meg wrote everything down and Jodi helped with the gifts. Here's the fleece blankie that Meg made the baby!

Here's Chip and I near our cake in the sunroom. He was such a trooper and bbq'd for all the women. It was DELISH!

4 Generations - Here's Grandma, Mom and I

Mom and I and the diaper cake she made us!

The whole day was perfect, if anyone has pics, please email them to me. Mom did such an amazing job with everything. Thanks to everyone who helped. Again, I can't believe how generous everyone was. We have just about everything we need and are so anxious to meet this little baby! We have the carseats, pack-n-play, his and hers diaper bags, a half dozen cloth diapers to get started with, a baby bijorn, many many cute outfits, blankets, diapers, wipes, bath gear... I could go on and on.

One very creative gift that my Clarkson girls (the picture only showed about a 25% of my favorites from CU) was a basket of children's books that each one of my girls dedicated to the baby. So many favorites and lot of them reflect each of Baby S' Aunties' personalities! Thank you so much ladies and to everyone for being so very generous!!!!

Moby-D as in D-luxe!

When we were at the cloth diapering workshop last week, the owners showed us a sling/wrap that she uses with her kids. She and another mother that were there swear by it. I follow a cloth diapering blog and they had a link to the Moby-D wrap and it's on sale!! Get on it!!
http://clothdiapers.blogspot.com/2009/07/tgif-deal-of-deal.html

Devoni Dreamin'

I had a dream very early this morning, it was the first time I've had anatomical proof of Baby S' gender.

My dream starts with me being in labor and laying on my living room floor, where one of the Drs from my practice was there. (So were various other family members and Chip - we already know it will JUST be Chip in the room with me... this is not a circus!) The Dr whipped out a pair of forceps and I freaked. I told him no way in hell and practiced "changing positions" as recommended by our childbirth instructor. So I decided to get up and do laps around the house.

For some reason I was wearing khaki pants. Just as I was rounding the coffee table, the baby started to just kinda fall out of me into my khaki pants. After quick removal the reveal was BOY! At which time Chip yelled out, "Devoni, his name is Devoni!" Ewww... what kind of name is that?!?!? Even though we're not sharing names (we don't have a name for a boy anyway at this point) there is no way this baby will be named "Devoni!"

33 Weeks!

Wow - Only 4 more weeks until we're "Term" and 7 weeks left!!!

How far along? 33 weeks!!

Total weight gain/loss: Total net + 16

Stretch marks? One between the two piercing holes from my button piercing.

Sleep: Surprisingly well the past week.

Best moment this week: Chip just finished the patio!!!! YAY!!!!! And Mom and I had a good time putting some finishing touches on decorating the nursery.

Movement: Oh yeah... and I feel like baby may have flipped and may not be breech anymore.

Food cravings: Chocolate covered cranberries! Yum.

Gender: And back to thinking boy again... Chip still thinks baby is a girl, he's not as indecisive as I am!

Labor Signs: Still just practice Braxton-Hicks, I've noticed they're inevitable if I let my bladder get too full - weird.

Belly Button in or out? The bottom of it is hanging on for dear life, but I'll go ahead and say it's popped.

What I miss: Not waddling when I walk - yup - that should be a "milestone" too.

What I am looking forward to: Meeting Baby!!! And of course seeing friends and family at our local shower this weekend! :-)

Weekly Wisdom: All pregnant women in their 3rd trimester know there's no stopping the nesting instinct, regardless of how tired, right Jenn?? My wisdom for fellow nesters - put on your sneaks while you're running up and down the stairs, your back, hips, and feet will thank you for it!

Milestones: I guess, waddling, belly button poppage.. oh and baby is nearing the 5lb mark!

Shout outs to new followers: No new followers this week.

Baby Brain Moment of the Week: I just asked Chip if I had any BBMotW's last week and he said "you're just really scatter-brained!!"

Weekly Belly Pic: I found that cute shirt at Target for $4.26 yesterday!! What a steal!

Busy Few Days

We've had a busy few days, but very very productive and fun:



Thursday - Cloth Diapering Workshop: I couldn't believe it when I stumbled upon a small store in our county that actually carries cloth diapers, and as luck would have it, they were having a cloth diapering workshop! I've done a lot of research online but hadn't had a chance to put my hands on them. I think we've found the ones we're going to get, they can be used from 7lbs up to 35lbs, the FuzziBunz One Size Diaper. Also met a few other Moms and Moms-to-be that have invited me to play groups! Yay!!! New Mommy friends.


Friday - Nursery Work: Mom and I got an early start to the day and got started on some of the nursery decorations. She made some awesome hot air balloons and we worked on making them into a mobile-like decoration that will be in one of the corners of the room. I'll post pictures when we're done. Chip and I also went over to my friend Becky's since she was in town and had a great time catching up.



Saturday - 4th of July!!: YAY! One of my favorite holidays! Chip ran in the road race before our local parade. Going to the parade has been a tradition for me since I was a kid. We sat with my Grandma and Aunts & Uncle and some of the cousins. Chip and I left a bit early to get ready for the BBQs we were headed to. Parades, BBQs, friends, family and fireworks - it's what it's all about!!
He's by far the happiest runner out there!!


Today - Working that To-Do list: I didn't post a to-do list this week, but trust me, there was one. Chip spent all day on the patio and it's almost done!!! Just in time for the shower next weekend! I worked more on the nursery, cleaning some of the baby bedding, running errands and cleaning the house. We're getting there. I can't wait to finish up the nursery and post some more pictures for you all to see, it's really coming together.


This will be a busy week, but we're really making progress!!!! Work will not be fun, but at least home activities will be exciting.

Pics of Chip's Family Shower

As promised, pictures of our shower from a couple weekends ago. The afternoon was perfect, minus the weather. There was a pool at the clubhouse and the nieces and nephews would have really enjoyed it, but it was a blah late spring day, as was most of June in the Northeast.

This is Baby's Great Aunt Eileen, Grandpa George, Great GrandDad and Great Gramma.

Here's Chip and I opening some gifts, in honor of the 4th of July coming up this week, I've posted one of us opening up a very patriotic Red, White and Blue long-sleeved onesie. Can't wait to put baby into it!!!!

Above is Baby's Great Uncle Doug. He manned the grill bravely in the rain all afternoon. Everything was DELISH!!!!

One of my roomies from college, Baby's Auntie Allyssa and I. Allyssa's baby is due just 12 days before ours, we're so excited for our August babies to be born so closely together!

Baby's Auntie Michelle, Grandma Lil, Aunt Maureen and MOMMY!!!

The photographer behind all the pictures above was the Hostess with the Mostest, Baby's Grandma Chris. So this picture is from the next day after we did some stroller shopping on Father's (to-be) day. Grandma Chris, DADDY & MOMMY :-)

Thanks again Chris, for a wonderful shower and visit!!!