Making Progress

What a great productive weekend! Saturday we finished up class 2 of 3 for our child birthing classes. I think we've both been enjoying the classes for the most part. I will admit I can't completely take the relaxation techniques all that seriously right now but I'm sure they may come in handy while in labor. There's just something about relaxing with a room full of strangers that seems foreign to me. We're both really excited for our next class this coming Saturday . . July 25th . . because it includes the hospital tour.

After class we took a ride out to Blue Ball to over indulge in the smorgasbord that is Shady Maple. And boy did we! We both went in their starving and left feeling like we never wanted to look at another edible thing for the rest of our lives. Well worth the trip. After our moment of gluttony we stopped at the Flower and Craft Warehouse. I'll admit this stop turned out to be a complete bust. Their basket selection was severely lacking this time around. It also may not have lived up to its potential because we were both stuffed to our gills and ready for a nice long nap. Once we got home I took what was probably the longest nap of my life . . 5 hours. It felt like heaven. :)

Sunday we spent the first half of the day running some errands and picking some things up for the nursery. Its been so much fun, for both Joe and I, picking different things out for the room. It really makes me happy seeing Joe is just as excited as I am about the smallest details . . like a cute little white piggy bank (even if it has a tiny chip in his little ear . . Joe says it gives him character). I feel so blessed to be going through this with my best friend. He's going to be an amazing father and I can't wait to see him and our son together.

We spent the evening working on things in the baby's room and just sitting in there taking it all in. Its slowly becoming our favorite room in the house. I hope to take some pictures this week of the progress . . . a crib and glider fully assembled, some curtains and decor on the walls. Its all coming together!


This is all setting in as reality for me now. Not that I wasn't very aware of everything before but now I seem to have mini-panic attacks about the fact that in just 2 months I'll be totally responsible for taking care of another human being. No matter how much I've looked forward to being a mother I don't think anything truly prepares you for just how mind blowing it all is. Here I sit, day in and day out, watching my belly bounce around like I swallowed a little mexican jumping bean wondering what he'll look like, what he'll be like, who's eyes will he have, will we be good parents, what will he think of us and his childhood 20 years from now . . so many things running through my head.

One thing I read that seemed to calm some of my fears about being a parent has been this - "Bad parents don't think about whether they'll be good parents or not . ." It may be total non-sense but it made me feel that perhaps Joe and I were at least on the right track.

Right now we're at a point where everything is a clean slate with our child. We haven't made mistakes yet (granted we haven't yet had the opportunity to either). Its like the night before football season starts and no one has 1 in the loss column . . . yet. I'm trying to come to terms with the reality that we're going to make mistakes. Not everything we do is going to be absolutely perfect or the absolute right way. All I can do is pray daily that those mistakes are trivial ones.

I'm looking forward to a shortened work week, a Dr appt Friday, seeing my favorite 6 month old (I know I had to edit this after I thought about it . . wow where did 6 months go!) :) and the DMB concert Friday. Hope everyone has a great week! I promise an updated belly pic and nursery pics soon.

Bedding!

I've been spending the last couple of weeks working on different ideas for the nursery. Everything seems to center around the bedding though and that has been holding things up a bit. I was having trouble finding something that would both work with the green already in the room as well as bring in some blue and other colors to break things up - without being too cutesy and full of characters. I was so happy when we finally found something we liked that will really work great with the current color in the room. We won't be getting the bumper (since they're sold out) but I didn't intend on using one anyway. We will be getting the skirt, the quilt for in the room, as well as a euro sham for a pillow on the glider. I'm hoping it will all tie everything together nicely and give me a lot of options with other things in the room.






A few weeks ago we also ordered our crib. We took a trip out to Rock-A-Bye Baby Furniture in Annville to check out their selection and decide what kind of styles we liked. I was really impressed with their selection and set up. It was really nice to see the actual crib in person before deciding. We ended up ordering Munire's Essex model in white. I can't wait for it to arrive.




I'm really excited to get started with decorating the nursery and getting everything organized. The past month has been very productive as far as organization goes. I managed to clean out 3 closets, get things put up in the attic and unwanted things off to the salvation army.

An Eggplant . . .

Today we are under 100 days until my due date. I can't believe how fast time is flying and that in two weeks I'll be moving onto the third trimester.

Last Thursday we had our monthly checkup and everything is looking great. Weight gain is on track, everything is measuring well and his heartbeat sounded great. I also had my glucose tolerance. The glucose solution they have you drink wasn't nearly as bad as I had thought it would be. They haven't called with the results so I'm hoping that is a good sign that I passed. I'm going to call tomorrow to confirm everything came through good. Next appointment is July 8th.

At a little over 6 months I am feeling really great. The only recent change is I feel hungry more often and its becoming more difficult to get a good nights sleep. I got a couple of leg cramps last week and have tried to stay more hydrated hoping that makes a difference. Of course staying more hydrated means more trips to the bathroom.

Updated pic . .


26 weeks

1095 Days . . .

or 3 years since the most beautiful day of my life.

1095 days ago, today and tomorrow . . my whole heart for my whole life. Love you.

The start of summer . . .

The long Memorial Day weekend always seems to mark the beginning of summer for me. I'm excited for warm weather, picnics and late sunsets. :)

Sunday we had tickets to see Coldplay in Hershey. Baby's first concert. :) It was a great time with friends and the rain cleared up early enough to not put a damper on the night. The set list and seats were perfect. From the butterfly confetti to the big balloons during Yellow it was an amazing show. Such a great time.

Monday we used the extra day off to take a day trip to NYC. We got to Port Imperial in Weehawken, NJ around 8:30AM. We took the ferry over to the city and spent a little time walking around before heading down to Soho to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex. We got discounted tickets from goldstar.com (which was flawless and I do recommend). My main reason for visiting was to see the John Lennon NYC exhibit put together by Yoko Ono. It was amazing and I highly recommend it to any Lennon or Beatles. It was great seeing some of his well known outfits (the famous New York City shirt to his military jacket) and the many pages of hand written lyrics up close. It was extremely saddening to see the unopened bag of belonging the coroner gave Yoko though but at the same time it also opens your eyes to the gun violence people experience everyday. There was also a wall people could leave notes on and reading some of the messages about others who have experienced something similarly as tragic in their lives made me emotional. I left the exhibit tearful that it even existed in his absence. So sad.

Outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex in Soho.

After leaving the Rock and Roll half of fame, about 2 hours later, we headed East towards Little Italy and grabbed some awesome pizza at a little pizza shop for lunch. We took a little stroll around and then took the subway up to Union Square for a bathroom break and a little shopping. Afterward we made our way up to the south end of Central Park. We walked up past the carousel to Sheep Meadow. There was an amazing amount of people on the lawn just sun bathing and enjoying the beautiful weather and a day off.

Sunbathing in Sheep Meadow. I love this picture.

After taking a little break we made our way up to the bow bridge.

On the Bow Bridge in Central Park.

After a quick stop at Strawberry Fields to see the Imagine Mural we made our way towards Midtown to one of my absolute favorite restaurant in the world, Basilica. I discovered this little Italian restaurant in the heart of hells kitchen with two great friends about two years ago and it has yet to disappoint any of us. I had my usual yummy Chicken Romano (a grilled chicken breast sauteed in a garlic butter sauce with a side of al dente pasta) and Joe had the Penne ala Vodka with chicken. Both were delicious as usual. It was nice to get a different experience here in the day light and open window front. I can't wait to go back again.

Basilica on 9th between 46th and 47th.

After a tiring 2 days Joe and I were both ready to call it a day and headed back to Times Square to catch the ferry bus back to the Port and head home. It was a great day and a trip I'm glad we made together before the baby arrives. I did realize this past weekend that I can't push myself the way I'm used to pushing. Little sleep, lots of walking, long car rides and heat are even less fun now than they were when I wasn't 5 and a half months pregnant.

Below are some more pics from our trip. :)

Waiting for the ferry this sweet little boy, there
with his grandfather - a veteran, offered to take our picture.
He told us "I own a camera of my own and everything."



Joe's first ferry ride.



Yes I realize I look huge here.



The obligatory shot near times square.



In the midst of people watching in Central Park.



Joe wishing I'd just put the camera away for a bit.

Great day but happy to be heading home.

A Papaya . . .

We've graduated to a papaya this past week . . week 22. :)


It seems the weeks are flying by. I worry I'm going to wake up one day very soon and he's just going to be here . . . ready or not. A few nights ago I was plagued with dreams of delivering my baby boy only to rush off to run a few errands immediately after. Quite a strange dream that left me feeling like 1. a terrible Mom . . even in my dreams and 2. very unprepared. I feel I've moved on from constant worrying about the pregnancy itself (not subsiding altogether though . . trust me) to now worrying about what we'll do once he gets here. Starting a registry, picking out bedding and starting to organize things in his room are all my to do list in the next few weeks.

I've started feeling much more movement lately which I'm really loving. I've begun cheering him on in there. My belly has also been growing and I think I'm finally looking a little more like a pregnant lady and not someone who loves a dozen too many daily donuts. :)



21 weeks

I'm back to craving peanut butter this week as well. The only food that has really hit the spot has been an occassional peanut butter sandwich. I don't think I've eaten one of those since I was in elementary school prior to this pregnancy. I also feel hungry all the time. Then I end up feeling guilty for all the extra calories I'm taking in. So far my weight gain has been under control so I'm not stressing too much about it but its always in the back of my mind when making choices on what to eat . . which I guess is a good thing.

Our next OB appointment is 3 weeks from now, which seems like an eternity. Today we had a surprisingly successful appointment with my hematologist. He agreed to increase my lovenox dosage without any pressuring from me. Like everything else to this point I fully expected to have to be my own advocate on the matter. He also eased my concerns about being forced to be induced early because of my risk factors connected with Factor V Leiden and reaffirmed the doctors desire to have women go into labor naturally. I hope to cover my clotting disorder and current treatment plan in an upcoming post. If nothing else but to share my story with others who may share my disorder.

I'm really looking forward to the end of the workday tomorrow and the long weekend. Joe and I have tickets to see Coldplay Sunday night at Hershey with friends, which I'm really excited for. And if the weather cooperates we're hoping to use the extra day off to spend the day in NYC celebrating our three year wedding anniversary a few days early. If not Monday we'll make the trip next Saturday. Basilica here we come!! ;)

Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend!

The Big Reveal

Last Wednesday April 29th was our big ultrasound. Our day started bright and early around 6:30. I remember waking up thinking about everything we'd find out that day.

Here we are before heading out . . .

As we drove over to the hospital I started to get butterflies thinking about all we'd learn in the next hour and how much it could change things.

It wasn't long until we were done sitting in the waiting room and were back getting ready to start. I was so amazed to see just how big our little peanut sized baby had grown since our last U/S 2 full months ago. I was even more amazed when the ultrasound tech pointed out our baby's little boy parts on the screen. I turned to Joe and the tears started from both of us. I went into this appointment fully expecting to hear our baby was a girl and can't even convey how surprised I was to hear the word penis. Obviously we would have been ecstatic either way but this came as such a surprise since we were both expecting to hear it was a girl.

The rest of the ultrasound went great and it was wonderful just watching him move around on the screen. We ended up having to go back again today to get more pictures of the heart because after rolling on my side and a bathroom break we still couldn't get him to roll over. Our U/S today was just as amazing . . confirmed he is definitely a boy . . and showed the heart looks great too. Everything feels so real knowing I'm carrying my little boy and being able to see how much he's grown and progressing. I feel so blessed right now.

Here is a pic of our little baby boy . . .

We held off sharing the news with our family until the weekend when we could tell them in person. We decided to put together some cupcakes to share the message with them.

They went over great and were a fun way to tell everyone the big news. Everyone seemed to echo the same response though . . . Girl or Boy it doesn't matter as long as they are healthy.

I'm so relieved everything is looking good. I'm feeling great (pregnancy wise - I could do without this nasty cold) and can't wait to start moving on to planning the nursery and getting prepared for our little guy's arrival.