House of Babies

I'm starting to think we may have the most fertile house in the neighborhood!

It began in May when we found a rabbit hutch under our chimney. More accurately, Romper found a rabbit hutch under our chimney, but we don't need to go into that.

Then, the robin showed up, made a nest on the front porch and laid eggs. A while ago the hungry chicks hatched, and last week the chicks flew and I guess they've probably moved on now. We'll give it a few more days before we tear down the nest though, just in case.


Now, we have a mother duck and a nest chock full of eggs under a bush by our front porch!
The race is on to see which comes first--the ducklings or our baby!

Outdoor living

They have finally started our patio--yay!
Yesterday the crew came and marked out the boundaries and dug up the sod. Today, they are tearing out the concrete steps, and we've been told that (depending on weather) it should only take a week to finish. We are expecting some rain in the forecast next week though, but I'm hoping it will be done by Father's Day (and before the baby arrives!)
Jim and Joanne sent Ed a surprise father's day gift--two wonderful L. L. Bean adirondak chairs with cushions and foot rests. They have these chairs up in Door County and we affectionately refer to them as the "dream machines." We can't wait to put them out on our patio by our fire pit and relax outside.
I'm planning on starting some herbs, peppers and tomatoes in pots out there, and, hopefully, once the patio is done we'll have time to have some friends over for a bar-b-que before the baby arrives! I'll post pictures next week when it is done.

9 Months

Today I am officially 9 months pregnant. And we're still waiting.
We went to the doctor yesterday and everything is right on track and measuring exactly where it should be. The doctor said he thought that maybe the ultrasound we had 5 weeks ago just caught the baby during a growth spurt, because for the last few weeks, she's been measuring right on track. So, it was a relief to hear that we're thinking 7.5-8.5 pound baby instead of 10-11 pound baby... of course, they can't be certain, but it's still nice to hear!
Also, the baby is no longer transverse--for the last two weeks she has been head down like she is supposed to be, so we will just be waiting for her to decide that she's ready to come.
So far, everything has been so perfectly normal that I wouldn't be surprised at all if she shows up right on the 4th like she's supposed to. But, I'm getting pretty warn out, so if she's ready, it's fine with me if she wants to come early!
It seems unlikely that we'll get another ultra sound, so I think we'll just have to wait for her to arrive to find out what she looks like (probably a bit like Winston Churchill, at least for a while!).
So, it's just a waiting game now. The doctor said she could come any time from June 13 to July 14. Feel free to start making your guesses about her birthday, weight and length in the comments--who ever wins will be granted diaper immunity when we visit (unless it's Ed--you're stuck buster!)
If it helps inform your guess, Ed was 8 pounds 9 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long, and I was 8 pounds 7 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. Ed was 2 weeks early and I was about 12 days early.

Ed got a party too!

Last Friday the people at Ed's office surprised him with a baby shower where HE was the guest of honor! They dressed him up like a pregnant lady--complete with a fake baby belly, maternity shirt, too tight shoes and rubber bands on his feet so he would know what it was like to have them swell. He had a "baby" to take care of during the party too.

They had lunch catered and brought in an ice cream cake--butter pecan--and it was delicious!

For one game, they pitted Ed and I against each other in a race to diaper and clothe a baby doll. They gave us 30 seconds and we both ended up with partially dressed "babies" who certainly would have had concussions, if not broken bones, if they were real! When they gave us a full minute to do it, my baby was diapered and dressed, and Ed did get the diaper and some of the clothes on and it was fun.


They even brought gifts. There were so many adorable things for our little girl, but I think we got the biggest kick out of the daddy diaper change kit. It includes gloves, tongs, goggles, and a nose plug, among other "necessities" for diaper changing.
We had a great time, and it was so nice of them to throw this surprise party for the daddy-to-be!

35/35

Today I am 35 weeks along--that means I have 35 days left until my due date! 35 days doesn't seem that long, right? Next week I'll be in my 9th month!
The baby could safely arrive in as little as 2 weeks, or as many as 6... now it's just a waiting game.

Another Doctor Visit

We went to the doctor again today for the 35 week check up. So far, everything looks great! The doctor said it feels like the baby is probably head down now, and hopefully she'll stay that way! She's growing well and still pretty big. I still haven't gained any weight, but everything they check is normal and the doctor even said I'm having a "boring" pregnancy--which is a good thing--it means nothing is wrong!
So, now we start going every week, and we have two more doctors in the practice to meet--then we will have met everyone.
And now we wait and hope that she is born before she has teeth and a boyfriend!

Visitors

We have some visitors. For the last few weeks we've had a robin who will peck at our front window all morning starting at 5am. We couldn't tell if he wanted to fight his reflection or mate with it, but whichever, he clearly wanted it badly! Last week, the pecking stopped. But the robin has still been around some. This morning, we found a nest above the light on our front porch full of light blue robin's eggs. I guess he got what he came for! We'll be coming and going through the garage until they leave though!

Our "Last Hurrah"

This weekend Ed and I drove down to St. Louis to attend our friends' wedding. We met Katie and Aravind in law school and they live in DC now. We had a great time back in St. Louis. On Saturday morning we attended their Hindu wedding ceremony and it was really neat. It was colorful and lively and it was interesting to learn about different traditions. There was a lunch reception following the ceremony and everyone was very friendly.
Saturday night we went to the City Museum--which is basically a huge crazy collection of repurposed industrial items turned inot a giant jungle-gym in the old International Shoe building. There were 5 story slides, caves to climb through, planes on top of towers, a castle tower, a bus on the roof, and lots of giant slinky-like wire tubes to crawl through way up in the air. Of course I couldn't really fit through much, but I had a great time watching everyone else run and play. Ed went through just about everything except the highest slinky tubes and the airplanes--they were just too high! He tried all the slides, scraped up his knee and generally had a great time! Katie and Aravind were there and so were Shanti and Laura and several other people from law school.
After that I had to go to bed--making the baby wears me out! But Ed and Shanti and Laura went out together and had a great time.
Sunday we slept in and got room-service breakfast, which I always enjoy. Then we met up with Shanti and Laura and Anita (Chaitanya was still sleeping!) and went to our old campus to look at the new law school building. Unfortuneately, while we were walking to the new building, a huge storm came and we were all trapped under an archway because school is out for summer so all the doors were locked! Ed found one open door and we all dried off and waited out the storm. We had time to stop by the law school before the wedding after the storm passed, but sadly, it was locked too and our old IDs don't work to get us in anymore. The new building looks nice, it caps off the quad and is much better to look at than the old parking lot, tennis courts and rec center... but it does sort of block the view of the law school. It looks like there has been a lot of construction on campus.
The Catholic part of the wedding was in Graham Chapel on campus. It was very pretty. Things started a little late because someone forgot the bride's veil, but when she came out she looked beautiful, and I'm sure it will make for a good story in years to come.
After the ceremony, Ed and I went back to the hotel for a nap before the reception while the wedding party took advantage of the short window of sunshine to take outdoor pictures.
The reception was at Windows on Washington--we had a Geek Ball (law review formal party) there in 2005. The parents and the wedding party made lovely toasts and Katie and Aravind danced a choreographed dance that was very pretty. After dinner everyone danced. Ed had a great time jumping around and dancing all night. Whenever the Indian music came on the baby started dancing too! She loves anything with a beat--I think I might have a little party girl in there! And I danced to a few slow songs and had a great time catching up with old friends.
I'm really glad we went--I had a wonderful time--but it was tiring for me. I'm ready to spend the next few weeks at home finishing getting ready for the baby.
Katie and Aravind are on their way out west for their honeymoon--if you read this, I hope you have a great time, and congratulations again, the weddings were wonderful!

Not so Good News

Well, it looks like the sale of the Elkhart house probably isn't going to happen after all. Our buyer is having personal problems that are postponing her move and putting a hitch in her financing. Maybe next month when she gets everything straightened out she'll be able to buy it.
On the plus side, the house is clean, the yard is looking good, and we're having an open house next weekend. Hopefully someone with solid finances and actual plans and ability to move will visit and fall in love with it.
Some days I get awfully frustrated and feel like I couldn't even GIVE this house away, but I know we're lucky to have all the support we do, and some day it will sell. I just hope that day comes soon.

A Great Bear

Last week, Ed made a great find! We were shopping and he found a wonderful, soft, adorable Gund bear for a great deal! When we were carrying the bear to the checkout, a baby girl saw him and started squealing and laughing and kicking her feet and clapping she was so cute and so excited. I hope our little girl will love her bear that much!
Once we got him home, Laddie and Romper (especially Romper) fell head-over-heels for the bear. Romper will still stand next to the crib and whine hoping to coax the bear out for a play date. We even had to move the bear to the back of the crib because Romper kept trying to lick him through the slats!
So that's the story of the baby's first bear. I can't wait until she's old enough to enjoy him!

Romper is 2!!!

Today is Romper's birthday! He is 2, which according to the chart at the vet's office actually makes him 25. But I don't buy it--he's way to immature to be a college grad!

I baked him a peanut butter cake and he and Laddie each had a piece. Then we opened presents. He got lots of dog treats, a giant tennis ball, and two knot-ball animals--a gorilla and a chicken from Joanne--they both "talk." Romper was nice enough to share his new toys with Laddie and they both love them!

We also tried to make him wear a hat, but he fought against the indignity so we didn't really get a great picture.

Happy Birthday Romper!

My baby the clothes horse

I think my baby already has more clothes than I do! I sorted everything today and hung up all the 0-6 month outfits and they filled her closet! She has 2 more boxes of 6-12 month clothes, and 3 boxes of 1 year + clothes!
Everyone has been so generous with the gifts and the hand-me-downs. All her little things are so cute and it's been so much fun for me to get everything ready.

She even has these fancy little old fashioned very very light linen-like tops and dresses that each have adorable delicate little hand embroidered details on them. They should be perfect for hot summer days, and they were mine when I was a baby, which I think is pretty special!



I still need to get her more socks, T-shirts, long-sleeved onesies, sleeveless onesies, and 6 month sized short sleeved onesies, but that's it for her layette--we have everything else she needs already as far as clothes go... although, can a little girl ever really have "enough" adorable dresses? I can't wait to start dressing her up in little outfits. She even has an adorable little Christmas outfit, so you can all expect photo cards this year!

Baby Development Updates

We are now in our 8th month--33 weeks actually. The biggest developments in the last month have been her lungs maturing, and her growth. As of this week, if she were born now she would be considered "pre-term" instead of "premature" indicating that she would need less invasive care, and while she likely would need some help maintaining her temperature, she probably could also breathe on her own or with very little assistance.
She is getting really big! An average 33 week baby weighs just over 4 pounds, and will be gaining about 1/2 a pound a week. Our little girl was 4 pounds 13 ounces two weeks ago, and is likely between 5 1/2 and 6 pounds now!
For the next 4-8 weeks she will work on strengthening her bones, adding fat, and balancing her hormones. She will be considered "full term" at 37 weeks--less than 4 short weeks from now! Happily, the longest they'll make me wait is July 14th (41 weeks 3 days) which is 8 weeks from today.
She is expected to continue putting on about 1/2 a pound a week, but she likely will not get much longer than she is now (around 18.5 inches) until after she is born.

Today is a Big Day

It's May 14th. I really have to get serious about getting ready for the baby now. The doctor told us that the baby is considered full term at 37 weeks, which is June 13, and that the latest she'll let me go is to July 14th. So, as of today, I have at most 2 months left before the baby arrives, and it could be as little as 30 days! There is still so much to do! Even though it feels like I've been pregnant forever now, I still can't believe that my daughter could be here in a month! I have so much to do!

Shopping Spree

Last Wednesday Joanne took me out to Mimi and Motherhood Maternity stores for a maternity clothes shopping spree. We had such a fun time! I must have tried on everything in the store and Joanne, as usual, was far too generous. She gave me a whole new spring/summer maternity wardrobe that is colorful, cute and comfortable. After wearing the same two pairs of jeans and 5 tops since December, it's so refreshing to be have choices and be excited to get dressed in the morning. There were way too many outfits to post them all here, but whenever you see me in something springy or colorful, it was a gift from Joanne!
It was nice to spend the afternoon together and get her advice about new babies as well. We spent hours out together and I really enjoyed myself. So, thanks again Joanne! I really love the outfits and it was wonderful to spend such an enjoyable afternoon together. It's so nice to have fun clothes to wear and feel like I might be a little bit smaller than a house still!

Good News!

We finally received and accepted an offer on our Elkhart house! Of course, nothing is final until the keys are handed over and the checks are cut, but things look good! We will be headed out there for our final clean up and visit this weekend, and closing should be June 9 if all goes well!
We are so happy to be able to finally close that chapter--and before the baby arrives too! Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly with the sale!

Getting Bigger Every Day

This was around Christmas time, about 10 weeks along:


This was around Ed's birthday, about 18 weeks:


And this was today, 32 weeks 3days in one of the new outfits Joanne got for me!


I can't believe the baby already weighs more than 5 pounds! (probably getting pretty close to 6 actually!) But, looking back at the pictures, I can tell she's getting big! I wonder if I'll even be able to fit through doors by the end of this!

I showered!

Saturday was my baby shower!  I had such a wonderful time.  My sister-in-law, Kim, coordinated and planned the shower and my friend, Laralyn, came up with the games.  It was a small, intimate shower, and we had a lot of fun with the games we played and it was wonderful to be able to chat with everyone and I felt so special.  I couldn't believe how generous everyone was--even friends who couldn't make it sent along beautiful gifts. 

The shower was at a cute little tea room and chocolate shop on Chicago's north side.  We had different teas, cookies, chocolates and tea sandwiches which were all elegantly served.  All the guests seemed to get along well and I didn't have to do anything except enjoy myself!

Unfortunately, the pictures I took at the shower didn't turn out, so hopefully someone else took some and will send them to me!

We received so many generous gifts that I can't share them all here, but I did want to show off some of the personalized gifts we received--it's so cool to know that our daughter is the only little girl who will have these!

Our friends Kelly and Jason sent out a beautiful needle pointed bib that says "Somebunny loves you" and has bunnies jumping all around and colorful little flowers on it.  We love it and it means so much that someone took the time to make that for our little girl!

Also, Kim made some adorable onesies!  The first says "Aunts Rock,"

the second "Photo with Baby 25 cents,"

and the last says "NEW!" on the front and "SCENTED" on the bum--so funny!

We loved all the cute little (and big!) things we were lucky enough to receive and having all of her baby things together makes it feel like she's so much closer to being here.

It was a wonderful day, and thank you again to everyone who made it so special!

Ultrasounds

For various reasons we've had many ultrasounds during this pregnancy.  We had our first in November at 7 weeks 4 days and all we could see was a bean with a tiny little flutter in the middle that was her heartbeat, and we were already blown away to see her little heart beating so fast when she was so so tiny!  At that ultrasound we were told that everything was right on track, and that she was measuring about 6 days ahead of schedule.  

Our next was on February 11th.  We were 19 weeks and 3 days along and this was the "big ultrasound" where they measured all of her parts to make sure she was growing right and all her organs were working.  They told us that she was a text-book perfect baby measuring right on time and in the 50th percentile for everything--exactly normal!  They also told us she was a SHE!  It was easy to see her heartbeat and her spine and make out her head and limbs, but we couldn't see much of her face.  She was still small enough though that you could see her head and whole body in the ultrasound photo.  In this picture, she is at the bottom, looking up, her head is on the left, and her big round belly is in the middle, her bottom is at the right.  There is a lump above her nose and that is her hand--she already liked having it up by her cheek!

Our third ultrasound was at 25 weeks.  We decided to go to a private 3D ultrasound clinic to have more detailed pictures done to surprise the family with at Easter.  The baby was so uncooperative!  She had her hands covering her face, then a foot, then she just turned her head and faced my back and refused to move for the rest of the procedure!  But, we got to see great pictures of her feet, and a few partial profiles, and a video of the ultrasound, and confirmed that she was girl.  In this picture you can see her profile.  Her head is on the left side of the picture, facing the middle.  Near the middle of the page you can make out an eye, a nose and a mouth.  She has her right arm extended up by her face so that her nose is basically in her elbow and her chin is obscured by her upper arm.

Earlier this week we had our fourth (and probably last) ultrasound to check on her growth.  I have not gained any weight yet, and the doctor was concerned that the baby may be too small.  When we checked, she was so pretty, and the technician said that she was "generously sized."  So, she's already on the big side, measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule now.

I can't wait to see her when she arrives, but it is amazing to see how much she has already grown and how different each ultrasound was.  She's so big now that we can't get a full body shot on an ultrasound picture any more.  This shot is a profile of her head, the top of her head is at the right side of the screen, she is looking up, and there is a lump above her nose--that's her hand again!

Chunky Monkey

On Monday we had another ultrasound to make sure the baby is growing well.  We were so excited to learn that at 31 weeks 3 days, she was already 4 pounds 13 ounces, and measuring in the 33rd week!

When we began, she had her foot in her face and she was frowning and pouting and looked angry!  As soon as she got her foot out of her face she started smiling though.  We were able to see a lot of her face during the proceedure.  Of course, we think she's beautiful!  She has a very round face with chubby cheeks, and I think she has my lips and Edward's nose.  We could even see that she already has hair on her head--I wonder what color it will be? 

She likes to keep one hand up by her face all the time.  We've never caught her sucking her thumb, but she strokes her own cheek often.  

She's still lying sideways across my belly.  The doctor calls this a transverse lie position.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that she will turn around by the end of the month, but if she doesn't, we might get to meet her a little early!

She is gaining weight quickly now and should gain almost 1/2 a pound a week from here on out!  I think we're going to have a big girl.

I can't believe there are less than 2 months left!