Memorial Day Weekend

Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday weekend. We had lots of plans.. and, well, most of them didn't happen because, wowsa, have been hit with some pretty significant fatigue. Today we were meant to head to a BBQ, play tennis, hike with the pups, stain the deck, in between a host of household chores. Alas, not much of that happened. After a trip to the gym, some shopping, cooking, and an hour of staining the deck, I came in and sorted out my clothes, changed the bedding, dusted upstairs, and then I was hit with some pretty awful tiredness. I decided to do some hypnobabies (which I'm really behind on) and, as is the pattern, I fell asleep whilst listening to the scripts. I might be in trouble with this...

Here are a few photos of our weekend.. They're not very exciting - although I am pretty stunned by my ever expansing stomach. I've managed to wear my regular shorts and t-shirts to the gym, but this morning I noted that my t-shirt is getting perilously short! I did take some overdue shots of my tummy this morning, which I may or may not be brave enough to post :) (what has happened to my belly button!?)

I started to begin the long task of sorting through our gifts and nursery, yesterday. it i a tad overwhelming. You can see some of the lovely presents bought by my secret shoppers.. The ergo carrier, infant insert, strap sucky things, a diaper pail, and a bottle sterilizer. I am being uncharacteristically organized. I made labels to put in the drawers in an attempt to separate the various clothing into sizes, and I have been labeling the various different types of diapers and covers and their sizes in the hope that Rich will remember what is what.



Every thing's going well so far... the beginning of an evening walk.


The boys have a habit of going on strike mid walk... This involves them lying on the grass, refusing to move. I doubt that I'll be able to walk the pups with Poppet on my own. Sometimes I wish we had some nice docile labs...


Here I am trying to get them to move...


Where did THAT bump come from! I bumped into a neighbor at the market today, and she noticed for the first time that I'm pregnant! I walk past her everyday - but now it seems there is no hiding things. I am very pregnant.


Kiltie, coveting the rings... he would hate for his brother Sammy to get his nashers on them. Poor Poppet will be lucky to keep his toys.


Standing next to my boat (as we head to the gym)... which I am desperate to take out on the lake. I am perhaps a bit optimistic to think that it might be sometime this summer!


I was curious how pregnant I looked from behind...



Rich, staining the deck...

A week in Snippets

First, a quick overview of quite a busy week!

Monday: saw Deb and everything looks good. Poppet measuring right on target, decent weight gain, blood pressure fine, etc.

Tuesday: Doggy/kiddo class. We are doing everything wrong.. before we left I was lying on the bed and the dogs were barking to come up. I suggested to Rich that we should probably not be letting them up right now... but, as Rich suggested, they really love it on there. Needless to say, this is not how you prepare your puppies for a newborn who will likely be in the bed. Apparently you have to invite them on to the bed - thus showing them who is the leader. The next day they were barking to get on... and, well, I thought it was a good time to invite them up :) Oh deario, so much to put into practice. I asked the leader of the class what to about barking dogs who run from window to window, barking like lunatics, are every squirrel, dog, person, cyclist (and on and on) who dares to pass by on the road. When I explained that these were two Westies, she smiled at me and, without much hope in her words, suggested that we pull the blinds..

Wednesday: 32 week ultrasound. Poppet is clearly a giant baby, weighing in (according to the scan) at 4lbs 10oz, putting him in the 65th percentile, and two weeks ahead. Terrifyingly his head continues to grow at an alarming rate... measuring THREE weeks ahead. Eek. What a brainy kid we'll have.




Unfortunately, on the way back from Panera (where I go to have toast everyday - as toast that I make at home makes me very sick), I was rear ended as I waited at some traffic lights. I wasn't too worried, though I called Deb's office to see if I should look for any indicators that poppet might have been impacted (he was moving a LOT). I chatted to the lovely nurse, Pat, who suggested I monitor things for a while since I hadn't hit my tummy on the steering wheel, but 15 minutes later she called back to say that Deb suggested I go to L&D just in case the seatbelt had tightened around my belly, just to be monitored.

Everything was fine. I was hooked up to a monitor that looks at the baby's heart rate and also to see if I am having contractions. He was perfectly fine... though I apparently have an irritable uterus, which I haven't noticed in the slightest. We didn't get home until close to midnight, though.

Thursday: I can't believe that we 'enjoyed' 90+ degree weather. It wasn't, actually, in the least bit enjoyable, and by the end of the day I was feeling utterly miserable. Fortunately I haven't had too much swelling in my legs, though my feet were killing me by the end of the evening. It wasn't helped by the delivery of our new tub, which turned out to be damaged, thus putting our bathroom renovation behind by at least a week whilst we await a new tub.

Friday: I volunteered to be a practice pregnant patient for a conference being held at Maine Med. They couldn't get anyone else, so I did all three sessions. I just had to lie there whilst various residents and family doctors tried to do a brief ultrasound on the poppet. I was a bit worried about so much u/s, but he didn't seem phased by it at all. As it happens the sonographer leading the groups was someone who we've had before for our regular u/s appointment.

Today: I am procrastinating on the long list of chores I have to do by writing this :) Right now I am in the midst of trying to organize all the gifts and other things lying on the nursery floor. there is just so much stuff.. I barely know where to begin. It also occurred to me, as I sorted though the clothes, that we have virtually no newborn clothes... though, from the size of him, he'll probably fit right into the 3-6 months clothes :)

I'm also currently washing the prefold diapers and fitteds... you need to wash them 6 times, apparently, so they're ready to go.

Secret Shopper

Somewhere out there is a secret shopper... :)

I just received a notification from Maine Diaper Company (one of the places I registered) that a package was on its way. I've resisted looking to see what's been sent! AND, some things from my Babies R Us registry have been bought. I went to buy a diaper pail on Monday and, lo and behold, someone had beaten me to it. A couple of other things had gone, too.

I have an idea as to who these shoppers are... so show yourselves!!!

In other news. I'm about to head to my 32 week scan. On Monday I saw Deb and everything was looking good. Last time I went I was very dehydrated (darn bronchial thing) and had lost a couple of pounds. I even measured a little small for the first time (fundal height). On Monday, however, I had gained back those pounds plus two more putting me at 14 pounds gain in total. The poppet had also gone through a pretty big growth spurt as he was back to measuring right on track again. Clever boy.

What is not so clever is how he is getting so big that my organs are all smooched up. It is getting harder to breathe. Yesterday at the gym I was so breathless walking up the stairs, I realized that I would not be working out. My heart rate also soared after just a mile on the elliptical, so I stopped... I hope today is better. He is sitting very high and I will admit that I am looking forward to the day he drops a bit.

Oh goodness folks, almost EIGHT MONTHS...

WIll have to update about our pets and playpens class last night... a class about introducing your pets to your baby. Oh, we have so much to do. We've done everything wrong :) Well, Rich has...!

Baby Shower!

We had such a nice time on Saturday. Since we don't have a bathroom right now, we headed to the gym in the morning and I was feeling extremely energized. After 6 miles on the elliptical, though, I felt ready for a nap... Alas, no time, as I needed to find something to wear! Rich, though, did manage to nap in the car, outside of Whole Foods... something seemed a bit wrong with this particular picture :)

We were both quite nervous about the day, though. I had visions of different people in their houses in Maine and Massachusetts thinking, 'oh boy, we have a damn shower to go to today'... but we got to Jen's house and already people were there. Fi, Laur, and Ren had driven up from MA. Unfortunately Deb, my Dr., was driving away as we drove up. She had very kindly dropped off food but had to run to her son's baseball game... and didn't get a chance to return. My local friends were there, too, mingling with my work colleagues and friends, and it was quite an eclectic group! I was especially happy that my sociology colleague Joel was able to make it.

People all brought vegan food - and lots and lots of gifts. We received so many sweet, sweet gifts, and Rich and I were both overwhelmed by people's generosity. We received, amongst other things, a sling, boppy, bottles, many receiving blankets, onesies, books, outfits, swaddles, a bathtub and rocker (from my mum.. sent to my home), blankets, rattles, baby books/photo albums, baby monitor, baby bath towels, lots of wipes, burp cloths, baskets, a diaper bag (which is currently being custom made.. THANKS, Kate), diaper covers, and on, and on.. and today, when I went to Babies R Us to pick up a few things, I saw that someone had bought the diaper pail and microwave bottle sterilizer (Kate, I hope you didn't buy even more stuff!!!).

But, frankly, what was just so touching was having some of our favorite people in the world there with us. The food, the company, the ambience.. just perfect. THANKS Jen, David, and Sage :)

Here are a few photos. We didn't take many, unfortunately, but Brian took some of us as we opened the gifts. I look daft in most of them... these are the best of the bunch!


My friend, Linda, is such a talent. She knitted this gorgeous sweater with owls on, made a pottery piggy bank, handmade a bib, and embroidered a picture with Rafi's name... which she'll add a 'date', etc. to when he's born.


Thankfully we got a lot of help unwrapping the gifts. Grace, our neighbor, was especially helpful!


Here we are guessing what this very cute knitted toy is. I guessed straight away... it's a sheep/dog :) Laur is extremely talented.


This very cute outfit from Fi and Laur is the sweetest thing :) It's hard to believe that a little guy will fit in there!


We received so many lovely books. This is from Julia.. and Brian bought us a beautiful book of poetry. The day before one of my doctors had given us a lovely, lovely book of poetry and also a baby yoga book :)


Cute, cute outfit from Beth!


One of the guest stars! I last saw her mama when she was 2 weeks away from giving birth! She is such a sweet thing.

Birthday!

It's my birthday today! I turned a very young 33 :) Since Rich and I have been so busy, we didn't do a lot to plan for a fun packed day. We actually tend not to celebrate birthdays too much.. though, as with everything else, we've been trying to change our lack of enthusiasm for marking occasions. Despite our lack of planning Rich took the day off work and we headed to North Conway for a spot of hiking and lunch. Frankly I have been feeling so tired this past two days I guessed that I wouldn't really be in the mood for anything strenuous. But off we went... sans the pups who went to doggy spa for the day and evening as our bathroom renovations began today...

The weather was beautiful, and since the drive is so scenic, we had a lovely time just chugging along in the car. Unfortunately we realized that we had forgotten the camera when we arrived at the first beauty spot. We had to make do with my blackerry's camera, which is not very good at all...

I have definitely gone through a growth spurt this past couple of weeks..!!




We had lunch at a cafe... me stealing half of Rich's hummus wrap (I didn't think I could stomach it because I have very strong aversions to hummus in the house). We bought Rafi some cute, cute 'Life is Good' t-shirts and booties and then walked along the promenade where we found a park. We sat there for ages watching the little tykes play on the swings and climbing frames. The cutest little ones were the tiny tots who had evidently just learnt to walk... off they teetered in their diaper clad bottoms, exploring their little worlds...

En route home we listened to old favourties on my ipod, reminiscing about when we had first heard them. We've been together close to 15 years so it was quite the trip down memory lane.

Instead of going home we drove into Portland and, inspired by Sage's birthday trip to Flat Bread pizza, we headed there ourselves. They do a rather nice vegan pizza and I was wanting some big fresh tomatoes. Unfortunately they had NO tomatoes, but the pizza was yummy. It's extremely odd that I could eat this at the restaurant with very little trouble, yet when I thought about what I could have eaten at home I couldn't think of a thing.

So it was a lovely day. Rich had bought me lots of little gifts for Rafi.. as well as some lovely pajamas. Yesterday I returned home to a very large parcel on my doorstep from Kate: the boppy pillow and organic cover from my registry. How lovely...

What's useful/helpful...?

Thanks for your well wishes, everyone, and also your happy mother day wishes! We had a nice low key day... working! Rich is busily finishing up his work for his graduate classes, and I was busily trying to get my online course finished. But after resting all day Saturday and Sunday - physically, at least - I felt a lot better. Some of the aversions of Saturday lessened, thankfully...

Time is going quickly! It's our shower this coming Saturday, and before then it's my birthday! Rich asked what I wanted as a gift and all I could think of were diapers! So yesterday I went to the baby diaper registry and picked myself out some diapers :) Exciting stuff!

Many people have asked us what we need - and whilst I have done a registry I'm wondering if any of you readers can think of any thing that has really helped you or someone you know. I chatted with Kate yesterday who shouted the praises of a pack n' play and generously donated hers. Australian Kate (hi Kate!) had suggested a bumbo seat - which was on my list - but US Kate has also donated that to us, too. Lots of people have mentioned swaddles (thank you Lou and Bistra for sending us some of those already!) a boppy pillow, and a baby gym thing.

Am I missing something really crucial?

... oh no

I must have surely spoken too soon....

Last night the run of smoothies=good came to an end. Despite taking the max dose of zofran I was sick as can be. And today it's just continued. Pretty horrific nausea - even with the meds - and extreme fatigue. And I am seriously running out of foods to eat. A new day brings a new aversion. Unfortunately, today, it's my trusty smoothie. I did manage a berry one this morning, but the mango one is out, and I am not confident that I could manage another berry one.

I don't know how to describe a food aversion. It's very much beyond a simply like/dislike. Before pregnancy I had no appreciation for this phenomenon. Indeed I think my reaction to pregnant women who had aversions to 'healthy food' was something like this: Oh, come-on. Suck it up.. eat those greens.. aversions are no excuse

Perhaps that karma is coming back to haunt me...

I am beginning to feel ready not to be pregnant.