33 weeks 4 days

This was one of the top 5 weekends of my life - the contenders are: my bridal shower, the Paul McCartney concert, my wedding (which technically wasn't a weekend), and the weekend Jesse and I got engaged. This weekend was our BABY SHOWER!!!

All that I asked for was that it be green and brown. What I got was that, but SO MUCH MORE! Every itty bity detail was well thought out and meaningful. As I get access to pictures I will post them :)

I got to see family that I rarely see and friends traveled from near and far to share this time with us. We were literally showered with gifts that were well thought out and overwhelmingly helpful! Once the car seat base is installed in the car I can successfully say we are ready for Adin to join us. I even have the last of the 0-3 month old clothes, socks, hats, towels, washcloths, and burp cloths.

We received lots of diapers. A part of me wants to say we have enough newborn and size 1's to last - but I think I'm foolish to believe that. We received 3 diaper cakes that contained enough diapers to completely fill more than 1 entire drawer in Adin's dresser. And for the record, it's the bigger of the 3 drawers. Plus we have packs of diapers under the crib and a large box in the closet. It's a HUGE relief to have these basics all set and now it's just the little things.

Additionally, my mom came to visit which doesn't happen nearly as often as it should. The good news is that she will be back after Adin is born (7-8 weeks from now). My cousin, whom I used to spend the summer with in California when she was 5 and 6 years old is not attending college in Boston and she was able to come. Anything that brings friends and family together is amazing in my book.

In conclusion, I want to send a huge thank you to Ashleigh, Susan, Julia, Kara and Ashley for all your hard work, thoughtfulness, and love. I'm sure there were behind the scenes helpers, so a thank you to you too. I can't believe that a day that wonderful was planned just for us :)

32 weeks, 5 days

This is Jake exploring one of the new baby items. He's doing such a good job with it lately!

This is the slice (hunk) of cake that I got for myself this evening. I dished it out at about 6:30 and I'm still working at it! This cake is left over from Kara's shower this past weekend. It was great to spend that time with she and her family. Her friend Christine and I sported some Thing 1 and Thing 2 t-shirts. 

Yesterday I started having some cramping and at times it felt like Adin was attempting to claw his way out of my vagina. I literally can only describe it as the period pains where you feel your uterine lining shedding. I had a few moments where I considered Jesse and I taking a trip to our local hospital to see if I was having contractions - but laying on my left side seemed to help. I contemplated taking a bath - but our stupid furnace doesn't heat the water up high enough for me and I didn't have the energy to boil a few pots of water in order to get some heat in the tub. This morning the clawing out of my vagina sensation was still there but it wasn't nearly as bad. I literally was scared yesterday that, when trying to poop, I was going to push him out. A coworker today assured me that he's in there good and tight even though I have that feeling. It was nice to get that assurance. 

Countdown to my shower = 5 days! Super excited! 

32 Weeks, 1 day

32 weeks...

32 weeks...!

32 weeks !?!?

Where has the time gone?! Really, where?! In less than 8 weeks (crossing my fingers that it's closer to eight weeks) Jesse and I will have a little baby to care for and nurture. Jesse is providing Jake with so much TLC that I am borderline jealous because he knows that Jake will get shafted a bit after the baby comes home. Jake is still being needy around me, but from what I see that's normal.

I have taken the advice of some of my amazing friends and followers - as items come in I am putting them out for Jake to sniff and lick. I got a boppy newborn lounger (new product, look it up) in the mail last week and I put it on the kitchen floor. Jake sniffed, licked, and then picked it up attempting to bring it to his bed. I made him put it down and he returned to sniffing it. Then when I attempted to pick it up he slammed his paw down on it. I took that as my cue to give him a few more minutes. Since, I have put it on the couch, in the chair, on our bed...he sniffs and then rests his head on it.

In other pregnancy news - the highlight of my day was taking a good poop. The constipation is really cramping my style. It's limiting my movement - I feel like poop is all the way up in my lungs. I took a flaxseed oil vitamin last night and this morning and took a few poops today. The sad news is...I'm not empty. Goodness!

I had an OB appointment today. Here are my stats: Great blood pressure, great heartbeat, uterus is measuring perfectly and weight is right on track. I even talked Trader Joes with my OB - she was under the poor misconception that it was really expensive. I educated her :)

I also wanted to point out how much I appreciated the comments on my last post!

31 Weeks, 6 Days

So I think I want to try cloth diapers. Definitely not full time, but during the day when Adin is hanging around the house and maybe nights until he's sleeping longer. They have come a long way in technology/methods where they look nicer and don't leak through because there's a cover. Infants use around 6,000 diapers within the first two years. That creates over a ton of waste that takes longer than is known to decompose (scientists are guessing around 500 years, but diapers haven't been around that long).

In my research I found that I could go the expensive (start up cost) route of using "cute" cloth diapers which are about $20 each and, of course, it's recommended that you get 24-36 of them. Hmm, that would be an initial cost of at least $480. Diapers would be about $50 a box and a box will probably last about a month, so after 10 months they would end up paying for themselves. Or I could find an economical set (which I did) which gives you 12 cloths and 3 covers for only $50.

Of course, I do all this research and then ask Jesse what he thinks and he's not a fan. Maybe I'll share the statistics with him and pitch how "green" we would be - maybe then he'll come around. Or I can talk about lowering our carbon footprint. Or maybe it'll just stay on my registry and if it gets bought I'll deal with it while I'm home on maternity leave and during the summer and he can put on regular diapers.

Oh, and studies show that children who use cloth diapers potty train sooner and do not get diaper rash. Just saying. Who's on my side versus who is on Jesse's side?

Sad News

I cannot post it to twitter - so I will email it to anyone who would like it :)

31 weeks, 5 days (aka 8 weeks 2 days to go)

A friend sent me a text today wondering if I was ok because I hadn't posted a blog or tweeted recently. Yes, I am. I've just been busy and lazy all at the same time. And exhausted! Saturday night, being the party animal that I am, I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30, rolled in to bed per Jesse's request at 10:30 and woke up at 7:30 the next morning. By 3:30 Sunday afternoon I was ready to go back to bed!

In the past few weeks I have been reminded how precious this whole experience is. I have the pleasure of being pregnant at the same time as some friends. Their experiences are showing me how each pregnancy is different and helping me to be grateful for each healthy day and each kick and roll that I feel. We are all going to have happy healthy babies, but some of us are experiencing more stress than others and they are all in my thoughts each day.

Adin has been stretching a lot. Don't get me wrong, he still punches and kicks, but I feel his body creeping inside my uterus as he stretches out. Usually right into my rib, lung, or diaphragm. He will stay there for a few minutes and then slowly retreat back into his original spot. He stretches up my right side, near the middle, and then on my far left side. Jesse and I can now see his stretches from the outside and how lopsided my belly looks.

Baby gifts have started to trickle in and it's so exciting to open a box and find a spot in the nursery for the items. I also find myself sitting in the nursery for 10, 15, 20 minutes at a time just rocking in the glider and looking around. I took the jogger stroller for a stroll around our house today and played with all the zippers and clips, etc. I found an iPod hookup in one of the zippers and there's a little speaker on the inside of the shade thing so we can play music for Adin. That's pretty great!

I am going to post a tweet now with a recording of Adin's heartbeat. My phone has an app (for that) where it works like a stethoscope or a doppler and you hold it against your belly where the baby's heart is and you can listen to the heartbeat. Then, you can record it and email it or post it to facebook or twitter. I tried to find the heartbeat at 16 weeks, 20 weeks, and 25 weeks. The app says in it's description that it's for use at 30 weeks or later, so I waited. Yesterday I decided to give it another try and within seconds I located Adin. His heart was on the left side of my pelvis.

9 weeks, 5 days LEFT!

I went to the OB's office yesterday for a regular check up. Everything is continuing to look really good. This was just an appointment where they measure the size of my uterus and listen to the heartbeat. The doctor commented on how fast my pregnancy is going by! I made sure to ask if I would be having another ultrasound before delivery to see the position of the baby since many of my ultrasounds have been labeled "breech". She looked through my file and agreed that we should do another one at 34 weeks. Hopefully Adin flips around by then! Otherwise I'm really going to start mentally preparing myself for a C-Section. At this point I just want to hold him regardless of how he comes in to the world. 

Looking out the window today we finally have snow on the ground. There was a dusting last night that is sticking so far - but that will not last throughout the day I'm sure. 

Many have asked me how Jake is doing with me being pregnant. I finally got some good pictures of Jake - he likes to lay with his head on my belly. He doesn't move or react when Adin kicks or pushes so I'm thinking he'll do fine once he gets over the shock of a crying baby. 

I also included a shot from Monday afternoon after I took a nice long bath. Pretty sure that the belly has grown even since then! 

30 weeks done! only 9 MORE to go!

Sexiest "pregnancy" symptom yet...CHAFFING! My butt is all chaffed. I think it is raw because my maternity pants keep sliding down all day and I pull them up thus causing rubbing. Or it is a reaction to the granny panties that I purchased this weekend so I could end my battle with falling underwear.

I heard from a high school friend today where she asked permission to make Adin something special. OF COURSE I said yes and now I'm going to anxiously await updates (that she will post on her blog) on the progress of her thoughtful gift :)

I am also attending my first yoga class since finding out I am pregnant. I wanted to start going my last trimester to open myself up and also start the process of getting back in shape (since I have let myself go horribly during the infertility battle, etc.) The town that I live in has a great community program where classes are SUPER CHEAP. So, we will see how that goes! The class is 6:15-7:30 tonight. Perfect time to come home and crash on the couch to snuggle with Jesse for the rest of the evening.

Perfect Kindergarten conversation:
Kid: You're having a baby.
Me: Yes I am.
Kid: I can't wait to meet the baby.
Me: I can't wait either!
Kid: Will you bring the baby in to meet us?
Me: Absolutely!
Kid: When?
Me: Probably April.
Kid: I'm going to Disney in April.

29 Weeks, 6 days (aka 10 weeks 1 day left!)

We want to send a huge thanks out to our friends Stacey and Jim for their thoughtfulness with having this custom onesie made for Adin. This will be something that he, unfortunately, only gets to wear for a short amount of time, however we will frame and put up on the wall afterwards. It's amazing to have such thought and care be put in to a gift...we got a few other gifts that were equally amazing this year that I will post about as I get the chance. It's been nice, lately, to have enough things to talk about that I have a list of things to post. It'll make those moments with writer's block easier!

In other news - I had the weirdest yet best thing happen last night! When I was 14 and 15 years old, I was a nanny for my uncle in California and his 2 amazing kids, Matthew and Shannon. Of course, they were young and realistically I was young so we lost touch. Graduation, college, graduation, new job, college, graduation, new job, new job, college, infertility, and pregnancy all happened and 12 years flew by. Now, I find out that the youngest, Shannon, is not only in COLLEGE (man I'm old) but attending Berkeley (holy talented lady!) in Boston. I am so thrilled to get back in touch with her and have her be part of my life at this point as well as provide her with a sense of family all the way across the United States. I told Jesse that I would be taking her out to lunch - my treat! - as the older cousin.

I have found in the past few years that family is creeping in on me in ways I never could have predicted and the love and support I have felt has been overwhelming :) Adin will be a lucky guy to have so many amazing people in his life. 

Can I also throw in there that I love that I have gotten comments and emails with people referring to this little guy as Adin as naturally as if he was already here!?! I love this baby!

Belly moving video

This is a video that I shot yesterday as I was lounging around. The background noise is Jesse playing a video game. He clearly had no clue what I was doing.

The movement is mostly in the lower left quadrant and some smack dab in the middle.

The past two days I've been able to put my hand on my belly and feel what is either a head or a butt pushing back and moving around. This is such a cool and amazing experience and I'm starting to dread the days when I don't have this special experience. Now I truly understand those ladies who say how much they love being pregnant...I just wish the dad's could have some time with their children like we do where it's something just they can experience.

Nursery - near completion

Jesse and I are at the end of our last winter vacation where it is just us. This week we did A LOT of things that we've had on our to-do list including... the NURSERY! However, I will say outside of helping to protect the crib, putting up painters tape, and helping to put together furniture Jesse did the rest. He painted the ceiling,  primed, painted, and moved things around. Now we are fairly ready to welcome our new addition... I will say that my anxiety is still high that we don't have some of the necessities needed for bringing Adin home, but I am not going to freak out about that yet! Now it's the countdown to the shower and then the home stretch leading towards delivery! After Wednesday we will be in single digit weeks until Adin's arrival. As much as I want him to come RIGHT NOW I'm OK with waiting so he can cook some more. Just as long as he's not too big - I'm petite and lets just leave it at that!

The crib all covered up!