Freak out time yet?

One week from today BugBat will be considered a full-term baby!  Crazy.  Actually, I thought it was two weeks from today, but one of my online baby guides informed me this morning that it's technically the beginning of the 37th week, rather than the end of the week, which is great news because the sooner she's full-term, the more likely she'll be healthy when she makes her appearance.

SO......time to:

• pack the car seat in the car;
• pack the hospital bag - going-home outfits (layers for baby, diapers, paci, swaddle blanket), sweat pants and loose top for me, change of clothes for Wombat, girlie magazines to read, mini-hotel toiletries, cameras and batteries, and a post-postpartum care kit (*cough cough* tucks, prep H, nursing pads, maxi pads, lanolin, metamucil, a boppy, and more lovely recovery items that I hope I won't actually need);
• give mom/dad a key to our house to watch the pets on short-notice;
• begin keeping a detailed list of work projects so the office can pick up where I leave off;
• clean the nursery and linens one last time;
• make my final visit to the hair salon and treat myself to a pedicure (thanks cousin Sara!).

I'm dreading the post-birth recovery more than the actual labor, oddly enough.  At least the labor has an ending point.  All this talk about sitz baths is making me shiver.  

Wombat is comfortingly calm right now, although he says he'll probably wait to freak out until we get to the hospital.  BugBat is definitely not calm; this week she's been kicking harder than ever - she either wants out or she's getting crowded or both.  Occasionally I have to gently press an appendage back into my belly when it begins to stick out several inches and actually hurt.  She still loves doing her acrobatics the second I lie down to try to sleep, which isn't helping my plan to get the last few nights of good rest this month haha.  

I'm considering cutting back my hours at work the further I get along, but so far, I've been able to handle sitting at a desk pretty well all day.  The mornings are the worst since I still have faint nausea until around 10:30, but considering I can't sleep past 6:30 anymore, I may as well be there.  I've fallen into a new routine of switching beds during the night too (between the master and the guest room) which has helped my back and hips so I'm not so achy in the morning.  The animals love this since they're allowed on the guest bed with me.  

Atticus (cat) recently impressed us lately by catching and killing his first mouse INSIDE the house and leaving it for us to find in the morning.  Yay for free pest control!  He also climbed his first tree yesterday morning and came down on request when we were getting ready to leave and needed him to come inside.  He's definitely making it easy for us to trust him and let him outside often, which is nice because he loves it.

Jack (dog) is becoming increasingly more needy for some reason, and I wonder if he senses the impending arrival of his rival for attention.  He may have the hardest time adjusting when BugBat comes home, though it's hard to tell.  Hopefully he'll just enjoy the fact that we're home more often in the beginning, since he has a bit of separation anxiety. 

Now for the fun stuff - 

I was recently honored with not one, but TWO baby showers!  The first was a good law school friend, Catherine, who hosted a small but lovely party in Columbus, which happened to be a great mid-way point for law school friends from Dayton, Cleveland, and Athens.  Catherine is such a great hostess, and I warned her not to do too much, but she nevertheless went all out - enjoy these beautiful pictures (compliments of Ashleigh).  Catherine clearly pays attention to detail!

 A special thank you to Adrianne, Amanda, and Ashleigh, who each drove more than 4 hours round trip to be there!  I love you all very much!

My second shower was a surprise, and it was wonderful that it was a shared shower with Wombat - our coworkers sneakily planned a huge lunch party last Monday, complete with decorations all over the conference room, a dad-to-be straw hat for Wombat to wear (haha), yummy finger foods, delicious cupcake desserts, games, and gifts!   I feel bad that they spent anything on us, but it was a wonderful gesture and a fun time.  More pictures (excuse the blurriness since they were taken on my phone):

BugBat will LOVE all of her new books - we cannot think of a better gift.  Thanks again to everyone!

In other news, Wombat and I volunteered at my stepdad Ron's Tour de Cause in Lancaster two weekends ago, which had fantastic results - raising tens of thousands of dollars for drug awareness and rehabilitation in Lancaster.  Here is a picture of my cousin Jeff's kids after their leg of the ride (sound asleep) haha:

More news - recently found out that brother Jon and SIL Margot are relocating to Boulder, Colorado in a few weeks!  Margot was offered a fantastic promotion, so they decided to spend at least a few years there and enjoy an adventure before possibly moving back to Ohio to start their family.  I'm excited for them and excited to visit them there and teach BugBat how to ski/board at a young age.  It will also be an ideal stop for us on the way out to visit Wombat's family in WA.  Cheers to them!   

T minus 4-8 weeks!

So this is going to be another random catch-up entry.  At 33 weeks, I have anywhere from 4-8 weeks to go.  Technically, BugBat will be full-term at 37 weeks, and Dr. Dave won't let me go past 8 more weeks.  It's exciting to know she'll be here in less than two months, guaranteed!  I can't wait to see her and hold her. An exclamation mark can not even express my excitement, so I won't bother.

My belly button is now flat.  Not out, just flat. It's also quite soft, oddly.  I'm wondering if my old naval piercing was such a great idea after all....that seems to be the only place on my tummy (so far, knock on wood!) that is stretching enough to get a bit of discoloration.  I apply Burt's Bees Mama Bee Oil or Belly Balm daily, even though I'm not sure it will do much to prevent stretching, but at least it stops the itching.

I'm trying to keep my weight consistent from this point on, since I've already gained roughly 30 lbs, which is exactly within the recommended 25-35 lbs.  Now that I'm up to 150ish, the scale is beginning to scare me, and I'm counting calories on an iphone application (MyFitnessPal).  It's a great app, but it doesn't have a calculation for pregnancy, so I improvise by adding 150-300 calories a day to my diet.  When I include my daily 3 mile walk, that still allows me to indulge in my daily ice cream and salty snacks, though I've quickly discovered that fruit and fish have become my favorite daily treats since I can eat so much of them without too many calories. Oh yeah, and they're healthy. Next pregnancy I will definitely keep track of my food since I shudder to imagine how many calories I was eating in the first trimester when I was so sick.  The only thing that made me feel better was to constantly eat....and the junkier the food (i.e. Cheetos, Panera's mac n'cheese), the better it stayed down, ironically.

I'm not sure if it's the weight gain or my loosening ligaments, but my feet have finally began to stretch/swell/flatten enough to demand only the thinnest of socks with my shoes, and I can no longer wear my engagement band with my wedding ring (they are 1/4 size different).  My worst nightmare is also happening....prior to pregnancy, my legs were probably my favorite body part, being a runner and all.  I thought they would remain smooth and sleek for a long time....but now, whether it be the fluid retention, weight gain, hormones, or (eek!) age, they're beginning to get dimply, gah!  It's worse when I sit down, or extend my leg backward.  BugBat is definitely worth the sacrifice, but I still can't wait to begin running again and hope to get them back to resembling what they used to be.  Sigh.  Here are some celebrity cellulite pictures to make me feel better:

Everyone keeps pitying me for being pregnant during the hottest summer in recent memory, but honestly, I'm SO happy that I can wear a dress right now, because the last thing I want is to wear pants or anything else that would require pressure on my belly.  The less clothes the better!  It's also a huge advantage to wear flats and shoes that do not require lacing...and forget trying to tiptoe across ice with this new center of gravity!  For the first time, Wombat and I are also in agreement on keeping the house at a certain temperature, which is great that we can be simultaneously comfortable for once haha.

Other than those minor observations, I feel better at the moment (33 weeks) than I did last month.  My rib cage finally stopped pulling/expanding, and my heartburn is relaxing a bit (or I'm managing it better by eating smaller meals).  BugBat is still a little wiggleworm, and she seems to have established a schedule of movement throughout the day.  Dad got to feel her for the first time yesterday, right after we picked him up from the airport.  Now that we're down to 4-6 weeks, everyone is getting more excited :)

I mentioned last time that my cousins Sara and Emily were blessed with new daughters recently - a week after Olivia was born, I spontaneously decided that I must go see them, so I went two weeks ago for a crash course in newborn care.  It was great to hold them, learn how to care for the umbilical cord, diaper such tiny little bums, and get a list of must-have supplies!  I also cooked for once, and successfully pulled off a beef stroganoff slow cooker meal for Sara, and some stacked Jello (it's harder than it sounds!) for Emily's cookout.  Now that I have a better idea of what to expect, I feel much better about bringing BugBat home and not setting myself up with unreasonable expectations.  Thanks again, Cousins!  Look how cute:

Back at our house - a few more changes.  Wombat installed a ceiling fan in the nursery:

Unfortunately, it also fell on his arm in the process:

Owie!  Good thing he heals quickly.

For my birthday, mom and Ron generously gifted us a wall on our stairs, to replace the rickety railing that was previously there, which was not wide enough to hold a baby gate.  The guy did a fantastic job, including using trim and molding to match the rest of our house, so now all we have to do is paint the drywall and I'll get some pics up.  Thank goodness our last baby-safety project is done and I can relax during these last few weeks.  There is always another house project to work on (garage wall, moving gutters, fixing bathroom floor), but for now, nothing urgent.

That's all I have at the moment, cheers!

Pee Pants

So before anyone else makes fun of me for peeing my pants, please observe:

Note that at 32 weeks, baby is nearly 4 pounds, and her head (or whatever) is located pretty much right on top of the bladder.  I'd like to see anyone else laugh or sneeze with a 4-lb weight on their bladder!  That is all.

Road Trip 2011

First, here I am today at 31 weeks(ish):

My weight gain has slowed down, and now I'm up about 27 lbs.  BugBat's heart rate was 161 as of our appointment yesterday, and my bp is 112/61 or something like that.  Anyway, all is well, except for some growing discomfort around my rib cage (stretching ligaments?) and more heartburn - hopefully that means she'll have hair!

It has been awhile since my last post since we went on a 12 day 'babymoon,' followed by a full 10 days of recovery after returning home before feeling motivated enough to catch up with everything. 

Before we left on our trip, however, the first weekend of June we went to watch my brother, Jonathan, participate in a little something called the Warrior Dash.  I think the pics speak for themselves:

Hopefully next year I can join in the fun and work off the baby weight!

The following week, Wombat and I left for Seattle on June 9th, the day before my birthday.  We were lucky enough to stay with our good friends, Cat and DeLaunde, who recently purchased their first house in Renton. Cat recently scored a new job, so she was tired after a long second week, but we still all stayed up until 2 am talking and playing with their new kitten, Oscar!  He was so cute!  Their house was really nice and they got a great deal on it, being a short-sale.  I can't wait to visit again in a year and see all their completed projects.  I'm really kicking myself for not taking any pictures while we were there, but it was late at night, and I wasn't thinking clearly after 12 hours of travel.  Oh well, next time.

The following day, Friday, June 10th, was my 31st birthday, so we had to celebrate by visiting our favorite Seattle places.  First, we went to the Space Needle for lunch, since I got mine for free.  It never disappoints, especially the crab mac n' cheese.  Next, we hit Fremont for some shopping and ice cream, and Pike's Place Market, where we found some adorable organic baby clothes for the BugBat.  We had to hit Green Lake park before we left, where we were engaged more than 2 years ago, and the U district, where Wombat picked up some Thai Tom to go.  On our way out, we were able to meet with Cat and DeLaunde again, after Cat got off work, and had some drinks and appetizers in a cute little pub outside the city.

We had to end our whirlwind tour of Seattle in less than a day in order to make it to Laurel's graduation the following day in Cheney, WA, which was about a 3.5 hour drive away.  We met up with the family the following morning and after an hour-long rain, the ceremony began just as the storm flew over.  Laurel graduated in a rather chaotic fashion, but we were finally able to pick her out of the crowd near the end, huzzah!

Driving from Cheney to Vancouver (about 6 hours, normally) was another adventure.  Everything went well for the first 3 hours, when we followed the in-laws to a Red Robin near the half-way point and stopped for a celebratory lunch.  After lunch, however, we parted ways and when we were an hour along, we stopped to switch drivers and quickly realized that our rear passenger tire was leaking air like a sieve.  It was flat within 2 minutes of pulling over, and after a quick smart-phone search of surrounding tire places, we realized that the nearest open store (at 6 pm on a Saturday) was an hour away, in the other direction!  Boo!  We called Wombat's family to let them know we'd be home late, and found that they had driven the wrong direction and were nearly to Seattle haha.  Anyway, after Wombat put on the spare, we were forced to drive back to a Walmart (this is ironically funny because he hates Wally World with a passion) where we had to buy a $160 tire for our rental car, not a fun unexpected expense so early into our trip :(   We finally arrived in Vancouver 9 hours after leaving Cheney, literally 2 minutes after the in-laws arrived home from their unplanned detour as well.  I was beyond exhausted and went directly to bed, thank goodness!

We spent all day Sunday with the family, watched the last bball game of the season (yay!) and played some Apples to Apples.  Of course I was still forgetting to take pictures at this point, but the weather was nice and the guys played some bball at the school while MIL and I took a walk.

The following day, we slept in as the parents went to work, and then headed out to see some friends for the few days we'd be in town.  We ended up staying out late though, since we kept running into more friends, and we got in a little trouble for not coming home in time to hang out with the family after work.  Unfortunately, they worked again the next day, and the only time we could see my cousin Lydia and Joe were that evening after THEY got off work, so it did not go well the following night either, since it was our last in town.  However, it was great to see L&J, and they are very happy and doing well!  They took us to a really cool restaurant in Portland and we couldn't stop talking about the family babies, weddings, and our respective footballs teams in the trouble they've both had lately haha.

Since we were in trouble for staying out late, we did not leave as early as planned the next morning and stayed late instead to try to smooth things over with the family.  I think we accomplished what we could, and hit the road around noon, heading toward the Redwoods.  Finally, some pictures!

The birds are proportionately bigger there too!

Driving down the 101, we also happened across these beauties:

After a fun afternoon drive through such an amazing national park, we wanted to take it easy, so we stopped at a cheaper hotel outside San Fran for the night.  The next morning we were well-rested and ready to go, so we headed into the city for a wonderful lunch of clam chowder in a bread bowl on Pier 39, yum!

We were joined once again by some sea lion friends, with babies this time!

We also met Jonathan Livingston and his clearly illegal friend:

Since we already decided not to try to make it to San Diego that evening, we spend a little more time sightseeing and hiked up Lombard Street:

We ended up making it all the way to LA that night, and found a relatively cheap AND nice motel in near the stadium with this gem of a sign:

Ha!  Despite appearances, this motel was awesome and I actually had a great night's sleep, and we didn't get up until nearly 10 am the following morning.  Neither of us was particularly impressed with the city itself, and after walking Rodeo Drive, seeing a $500k car, and driving through Beverly Hills for a minute, we decided to be on our way to visit our friends Marissa and Ben in SD.  Traffic on I-5 was horrible, as per usual, and we finally arrived around 6, just as Marissa arrived home from work, yay!

We played a little Mario Party that night and went to bed early, since everyone had a long week, but the next morning we headed to the beach first thing!  We went to an amazing burger joint and ate along the boardwalk:

Of course we had to go back and play more games later, which ended up with this interesting scene:

This may or may not have been after everyone gorged themselves on a TON of sushi (myself excluded, save for the cooked ones).  We had so much fun and Marissa and Ben's new apartment is much nicer (and bigger) than their old one, so it was good to see them!

We ended our crazy trip with a drive to Vegas, where we returned the rental car and stayed on the north strip for two nights.  We lucked out because our trip coincided with Wombat's good friends, Jane and Loren, so we had a couple meals with them, including brunch at Denny's haha - apparently a staple restaurant along the west coast.  Wombat won a total of $11 overall, and I finally got to see my Cirque Du Soleil show, Zoomanity, which was amazing and very Vegas at the same time.  Wombat seemed to really enjoy it too.  It was a great trip overall, despite a few pitfalls and the long drives.  I'm glad we were able to do it before BugBat arrives; we spent some quality couple-time together, and were able to satisfy our traveling itch for awhile.  By the time we finally touched down in Ohio again, even Wombat said it felt good to be home :)

Speaking of home, the day we flew home, Tuesday, June 21st, we also received the news that my cousin Emily had her second daughter, Lila Anne!   Today also happens to be the birthday of cousin Sara's second daughter, Olivia Lynn!  Two healthy baby girls down, one to go!  Congrats, cousins, they are both beautiful!

Emmy and Lila:

Olivia Lynn: