Week 34

If this little girl were born today she'd be a-okay. But I'm really hoping she'll stick around in there for at least several more weeks. By now her fingernails have reached the ends of her fingertips. And within the next week, my total blood volume will increase in anticipation of birth. This increased blood volume will add two to four pounds of weight!!

Lately, my hips have been hurting at night time and (this is really hot) I'm a sweating machine. You know it's bad when Lane is putting on sweaters, trying to turn off the air conditioning in the house, or rolling up the windows in the car because he's freezing, while I'm complaining of it being hot and stuffy.

I hope to pack my bag for the hospital this weekend and finish putting away all the new baby stuff we've recently acquired.

Lopsided Belly

Here's a pic from last week or so. This is what my stomach looks like most of the time. Baby Grover really prefers to chill out on the right side.

Week 33

Dear Lovely Readers,

I have failed you. Alas, between scrambling to get all packed for our trip, running last minute errands, cooking and eating dinner, and going to our child birth class yesterday, we managed to let Tuesday-Picture Day slip by without documenting it.

I would say that I'd try to take a picture today, but it's not likely. Lane is picking me up straight from work and from there, we are driving the 5 hours or so to the Outer Banks where we'll have plenty of time to relax and take all the pictures we want.

Baby continues to move around like crazy. We met with a potential doula on Sunday and I had a doctor appointment yesterday. Everything seems to be progressing well, except that we still need to select a pediatrician.

Baby Clothes Galore!

I woke up early to wash all our baby clothes so I could sort and put them away in our new dresser. They weren't all the way dry when I took them out so I set them out to dry a little bit extra. Lane got out of bed and wandered sleepily into the living room. He was quite shocked to see that baby clothes had completely taken over our apartment!

Where, oh Where to Birth

So we checked out the hospital the other week, and were pleased with what we saw. But as we get closer to actually having the baby, we are reading about hospital births and all the interventions they are so eager to push on you (pitocin, epidurals, etc.) and routine procedures that can impair mobility during birth (constant fetal monitoring, IVs, etc). I just started questioning whether I even wanted to give birth in a hospital at all.

Birth Center births are so much more flexible. The midwives and attendants view birth as a totally natural process, not some medical procedure. They are focused on helping you be confident and having a beautiful birth experience, whereas doctors are trained to find things that are wrong, and sometimes do even when there isn't. Birth centers are also usually affiliated with or close to hospitals, in case complications occur and you do need a doctor's care during delivery.

I called a birth center in Alexandria and was so disappointed, yet not really surprised, that they are booked until November. There is only one other birth center in our area and it's in DC. I was convinced I'd switch over to them. I scheduled my first doctor appointment, got the fax number to have my records switched over and everything. Then I took a step back and thought I better at least take a look at the place before ditching my doctor and hospital.

My mom drove with me to the DC Birth Center on Friday. The birth center is not metro accessible and we had to drive through tons of terrible traffic (and the ghetto) just to get there. It wasn't that easy to find either. We got there and the people were very nice. They gave us a tour of the facility. I tried picturing myself giving birth there and, after all my excitement, I just couldn't. It didn't feel right at all. So after all that, I canceled my appointment and decided to stick with the hospital birth, same doctor, and just get a doula to help support us in having the kind of birth that we hope for.

My class is really helping me to find what I want in this birth experience, the right questions to ask, and to be an active participant, instead of just letting this happen to me. Even though I'm still going to the same place, I feel better having researched other options and deciding where I'll be instead of just being told where to go by the doctor.

Wish us luck as we get closer.

Week 32

Baby Grover should be about 4 pounds or so by now. She is supposed to gain one third to one half of her total birth weight in the next seven weeks. I continue to gain 1 pound per week (or so), and about half of that should go directly to the baby’s weight. Maybe that’s why I’m so hungry all the time again! Just the other day I woke up before 6 am and starving!! They say by now some babies have a full head of hair, while others only have peach fuzz. I’m guessing our little girl has lots of hair.

I don’t have much energy these days, but I try to keep up by taking afternoon naps here and there. It’s so hard because the littlest things make me tired! I get all short of breath just walking to the metro.

Last night we got home from our childbirth class after 10 pm and I was ready to fall over. Lane insisted that we not let our readers down and stick to our Tuesday Picture Day schedule. I had other thoughts. Standing AND smiling were two thing I didn't want to do last night, but I did it for YOU!!

Baby Shower Madness

Sisters - I had just finished crying right before we took this picture.

So the shower was on Saturday, and if I might say so myself, it was a great success. This was not my doing, but that of my wonderful family who worked so hard to make it all come together.

First, my sister-in-law Kryztie made and sent out all the invitations.
David was in charge of the appetizers and boy, did he take this responsibility seriously. He decided his theme should be BACON. What else? So he made bacon wrapped dates, and then marinated some shrimp in a garlic-chili sauce, and wrapped shrimp and a mango slice in, you guessed it, bacon! We also had delicious fresh fruit, assorted cheeses, and crab stuffed mushrooms.

He and Lane bbq’d the tri-tip and chicken that was marinating in a bbq sauce made by Cynthia. My mom took care of the pasta salad, the green salad, and the roasted mixed veggies, while Theresa conquered the dessert arena. She concocted a tiramisu, a chocolate mint crazy cake, and an insanely delectable coconut mango cheesecake. When people told me how delicious the food was, I had to step back a minute and then I realized it – I could not claim fame to any of these masterpieces! All I made was the vinaigrette for the salad.

Cynthia and Phil lugged load after load after load of stuff downstairs to the party room. And Phil and Lane came up with a solution for music. Cynthia made sure everyone wrote us a message in our guest book and recorded all the gifts for the thank you notes I’ll be writing soon. Theresa and my brother Matthew made these darling bookmarks to pass out as favors, and my mom organized a cute little game. (By the way, in case anyone is wondering, my waist is NOT 66 inches across!!) Everyone helped clean up and get all our supplies and the lovely presents back to the apartment.

I really enjoyed having so many of our friends, and surprisingly, so many of our family there to share the special day with us. There was lots of good company, laughs, and delicious food.

I am amazed by how many crafty and talented people already love this little baby. My mom crocheted us a blanket and so did my sister, Theresa. Meliss quilted a blanket, and Adrienne learned to knit and made me another blanket. Andrew (soon-to-be-Athlete-of-the-Year-in-Hawaii)’s mom made a lovely blanket by hand, and Ida-Jean, a woman who I knew at my old Red Cross chapter, made a baby blanket as well (and a baby bunting and a hat and booties). I also have a baby blanket my nana gave me for Christmas in 2002. So now, I have a baby blanket for every day of the week. They are all so special and totally different – different styles, different colors, different weights. We have one lucky little girl.

A humungous thank you to everyone who worked so hard to create a special day for Lane and Baby Grover and me. We love you and appreciate everything you did to make this happen!! Muah!

(pictures coming soon)