Breech Baby

We're getting down to the wire here and Kieran is still in the breech position. The good news? He's in the position most likely to turn. I'm going to need to do some strange sitting positions to try and encourage him to switch around. If he doesn't do that in the next two weeks, I will likely have a scheduled c-section. The funniest thing I learned today is that if I go in for for a c-section and they ultrasound me only to learn the little one has turned, they'll induce me right then and there. They don't want to send me home and risk him turning back around.

Other than that, everything is on track. I'm still measuring small (33 inches with the tape measure from my pelvic bone to the top of the fundus), but that's to be expected at my height. I gained only the anticipated 2 pounds (one pound per week is ideal at this point 1/2 of which is likely baby). I'm getting really tired, mostly from lack of sleep. The midwife suggested (and has Ken) that I do what I can to nap. I'm trying everything I know, but so far nothing is working to induce sleep for me. Hopefully when Kieran's here, exhaustion will take over and I'll be able to sleep when he does.

Ken started the bar review courses this week - and he's not happy about it. They run from 6pm to 10 pm each night. He studies about 6 hours each day before class even begins. It's really like being a first-year law student all over again. It pretty much sucks. On the positive side, he's kicking butt on his trial exams for the multiple choice. The other positive - this is only 10 weeks instead of one year.

I interviewed my first pediatrician today. She was nice and the practice seems nice as well. I still want to do at least one other interview before settling on a pediatrician. I liked their approach but I am concerned because they are in Columbia (about 1/2 hour from where we live) and might be difficult to get to in an emergency. Ken and I will probably need to start talking about another car or me taking mass transit to work when I go back in April - we'll see.

If I don't talk with you before then, have a WONDERFUL new year!

Merry (belated) Christmas!

Had a really nice time yesterday making turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. Eating it was even better! Ken and I had a nice, low-key Christmas with some friends and we watched a few Christmas movies to keep us in the spirit.

As we head into this home stretch, Ken and I are talking about a lot of things - what we'll want for the delivery (if we get a choice), making a list of people to call so we don't forget anyone, packing the bag for the hospital, how to talk about Santa Claus and Hanukkah, all kinds of crazy things. We were watching A Christmas Carol (the 1938 version) last night and Ken and I had the same thought "Does anyone name their kid Ebeneezer anymore?".

I'm feeling good but tiring pretty easily. I've started to sleep a little bit better - though I still get up about an hour or two before the alarm (some days I'm able to go back to sleep - other days I'm not so lucky). The little one is in a weird position - I feel somewhat lopsided. We'll see what the midwife says on Friday (next appointment). From there on out we'll see the midwives/doctors once each week until the delivery.

Ken also was able to snag us an appointment with a pediatrician on Friday as well - we've got at least one more to interview (I like to comparison shop) before we'll make a decision. The one we're interviewing on Friday is in Columbia, we got a recommendation of one that's in Cross Keys, but we're not sure they're accepting new patients right now.

Other than that, I'm just trying to get everything together at the office. I'll have a meeting this week with my boss to go over everything on my plate and what will need to be done while I'm gone. I have a lot of work yet to do, but I think I'll be able to get it all done.

Ken starts his Bar Review course tomorrow, but he started studying for it on Sunday. He's got about 300-500 pages every day to read. It's pretty daunting, but I know he's up to the challenge.

About it for now. Back to work for me, Merry Happy Whatever to you all!

The (mis)Adventures of Sonny and Irv

I grew up very close to my extended family and it was odd for me to learn that not everyone got together with all of their cousins on a regular basis. I never questioned who was related to me how because we were all always there - if you showed up at all our family functions you were obviously a Lipshultz or a relative thereof. So, it was somewhat strange to me when I did finally ask my dad (because Ken had asked me) how Uncle Irv was related to us - only to find out that he was not related, just Zadie's (that's my paternal grandfather) best friend.

Uncle Irv passed away this week and I will remember him best for the stories that he told us. One of them - a family favorite - involved a trip he and Zadie took, where they checked into a hotel only to realize they had no way to pay for their room. Ever the entrepreneurs, they nicked a maid's cart and sold the hotel linens on the street. It still makes me laugh. While stationed overseas in the military, he managed to "sell" the base he was closing to some locals - only to get chased on his way out of town by said locals.

His son gave a wonderful tribute yesterday at his funeral, revealing more of a generous and kind man. I never knew for example that, when rioting broke out after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, customers at Uncle Irv's grocery store formed a human barrier around it so that no one would burn it - he was just that loved. That Uncle Irv once stopped during a snowstorm to pick as many people waiting for the bus as he could and delivered them as close to their destination as he could, then picked up new passengers.

Mostly I'll remember that he was such a close friend to my grandfather that I never questioned if he was "really" my Uncle. He will always be my Uncle Irv. I'm sure that right now he and Zadie (also known as Sonny) are looking around for more mischief to get into. May we all have a friendship as good and lasting as theirs.

Happy Hannukah!

Had a wonderful time this weekend running around and seeing family. Even if I looked like I was asleep - I promise I was enjoying myself. It's been a crazy weekend with a lot going on.

Friday night in Federal Hill we had Moonlight Madness, where the local shops stayed open until midnight. I hung out and caroled around the business district (yes, I know it was the first night of Hanukkah) and then had a great time doing a bit of shopping as well as hanging out in the Main Street office. I was out until 1 am, probably went to sleep sometime around 2 am and got up the next morning at 8.

Spent Saturday with my brothers, my mom, and my maternal grandparents celebrating Hanukkah and watching my niece's dance recital. She was a HOOT as she attempted to get her classmates in line and gave them notes on stage (obviously, what she really wants to do is direct). The dinner afterward was wonderful - Wendy (my sister-in-law) is a great cook and fed us all until we burst. We didn't get home until 9:30 (poor Ochi!).

On Sunday we had the Football version of Hanukkah (aka the Lipshultz Family celebration). I'm pleased to report that my cousin Ben's wife is pregnant (Congrats Ben & Katie!) so the fertile tradition continues. Now there are only 3 more to go - get with it Aaron, Jarrod and Megan (just kidding).

I think the funniest shower gift to date award has to go to Charles and Drew, who gave us a baby wig (Rastafarian at that). Ken has decided this will be Kieran's first photo. We'll see.

Hope all is well, if I don't blog before then, have a wonderful Christmas everyone.

The Tour

Took our hospital tour last night of Howard County General. It was a world of difference between that and University of Maryland where we took our childbirth class (though we really did get a lot out of that class). It was much homier and they had more facilities than Maryland. Plus they've got a Level III NICU, should we need it.

The things I didn't like were that if I don't end up in labor - meaning if I end up just going c-section - I don't get the really homey room, just an operating table and then a small recovery room. The good part is the baby can stay with me the entire time (unless I'm in the shower and there is no one else in the room to take care of the baby). We'll see if the little guy turns, I'm beginnning to have my doubts that he'll ever get out of the breech position.

A few things of note have happened - first and foremost, I've been EXTREMELY neglectful and haven't given my photographer (my dad) any credit for his help in both taking the photos of the baby shower and his help in moving/setting up the nursery furniture. Sorry, dad, I do get a little me-centric these days....

Next a great big wow and thank you to Marilyn (my step-mother-in-law) for the beautiful plush name thingy she made for Kieran's room. It's amazing and Ken and I think it really adds something to the room. We'll be putting it up over his crib.

It's All Good

I'm not pre-eclampsic. Kieran is still sitting breech - he's in the pike's breech position, meaning his feet are in front of his face and he is head up towards my head still.

He's on the small side - in the 30% percentile overall instead of being average, but again, because I am not terribly tall this is not cause for concern. They were more worried that I might be leaking amniotic fluid, which it seems I am not (due to ultrasounds) so we have to wait on the culture to determine what's going on there - probably some type of infection, most of which are easily treatable even during pregnancy.

So, I breathe a sigh of relief and head back to work. Love to all and I'll blog again soon.

Bad News and Good News

My appointment on Friday did not go as I had planned. I wanted them to give me the same quick once-over I'm used to and send me on my merry way. So, yeah, that didn't happen.

They found some white blood cells in my urine, which may mean an infection (at best) and pre-eclampsia (at worst). My blood pressure is fine and I'm not suffering any of the other symptons of pre-eclampsia so that's probably not an issue. I need to go and get a culture done at the lab either on Monday or Tuesday.

I saw an OB/GYN this time around (we have just been seeing the RN/Midwife) because I wanted to talk with him about circumcision. He was concerned about my size (I'm on the small side, but I'm only 5 feet tall for crying out loud) so on Tuesday I'm going back in for an ultrasound. They want to do an estimate of fetal weight.

We won't know much more until Tuesday and possibly longer as I'll have to wait on the results of the culture from the lab. I should have just gone over to the lab on Friday but I was so upset by the appointment and hungry as I hadn't eaten much all day that I figured I'd skip it. The doctor was not as concerned about the culture as he was about my size and figuring out if the little guy was getting big enough.

For now, I'm completely freaked - Ken is being a huge hero and keeping his head on straight understanding that the doctor is likely just being cautious. Hormones are not helping me on this one. One minute I'm completely fine and am not sweating it at all. The next I'm freaked beyond belief and am certain that we have somehow "jinxed" ourselves by having the nursery and everything else done and ready now.

I'll blog again once we know more. I also have a sneaking suspicion that they may have not gotten my initial due date right and I'm earlier along than we think (rather than being 33 weeks, maybe I'm really only 32 or 31). Anyway - we'll find all that out on Tuesday. Have a great weekend.

The Final Countdown Begins

Nothing much is new right now. We've got the nursery together - complete with crib, changing table, diaper stacker, diaper genie, laundry basket and toys. We have a new stroller and a car seat. We have registered all new items with the manufacturers to ensure we get notification of any recalls.

Ken is in final countdown for his finals - he has two days of school left (today and tomorrow) and then several days of finals. He is done with finals on December 20. He starts his bar review course on December 27. They (bar review folk) say he's going to need about 4-5 days of prep time before his bar review course. So the 7 days we thought we had together are now down to 2.

I'm at 33 weeks today, which means only 7 weeks until I'm "full term". I'm starting to hyperventilate a little bit about all the things I want to have done at my office before I split. I'm taking advantage of a quiet day today and tomorrow to get a lot of that prep work done (and cleaning of my cube so things are more easily found). But I know that people here will survive without me.

Next appointment is tomorrow - Ken won't be able to make it and he's quite upset about it, but he needs to focus on studying and getting ready for finals. I'll be talking with an OB/GYN about circumcision and a few other things. We'll see how I did on weight this time around (the appointment after Thanksgiving I had gained about 5 pounds in 2 weeks - but they did give me some leeway because of the time of year). I've been working on eating healthier but my appetite has both increased and decreased at the same time. I don't know how better to explain it other than I am hungry at the same time I am overly full. Any formerly pregnant woman probably knows what I mean.

The 4 am wake ups I'm getting from Milo (our cat) are killing me, but I'm usually able to go back to sleep. I'm so glad I allow myself a cup of coffee in the morning, I don't think I'd be able to survive right now without it. Hope all is well with everyone! Have a wonderful holiday and I'll blog again soon.

Bobo is Home

Ken came home last night without incident from his trip home for his grandmother's funeral. He learned a lot of interesting things about her life that he didn't know before, and connected with family he had not seen in many years. He said it was a wonderful celebration of her life and that he was glad he was able to go. Like his dad said "When they're 42, you mourn, when they're 92, you celebrate their life."

Ken was also able to bring home "Bobo" (aka Teddy) - a bear that he and his father had growing up. The bear is a little over 50 at this point and is just adorable. I'm calling him Bobo (for now) because Ken made reference to Mr. Burns on the Simpsons and his bear (whose name was Bobo) and how a good bear will stand the test of time (like Bobo) so for now, the name has stuck. Ken said he didn't think the bear really had his own name, but he's checking on it.

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone for keeping up on the blog. From time to time I do wonder if any one's reading it or if it is worthwhile to do - but based on the reaction Ken got at home I'll keep it up. That's it. I'll do more next week - next doctor's appointment is on the 8th and we'll be meeting with a male OB/GYN to discuss medical issues surrounding circumcision so we can make our final decision there as well. Have a wonderful weekend.

32!

I can officially say I am 32. Weeks, that is. To commemorate this occasion, Milo took it upon himself to wake me at 3 am. I didn't get back to sleep until about 5 am. I originally had the alarm set for 6. When it went off, I said "Yeah, right" turned it off and went back to sleep for an additional hour. I'll be OK for now, but I'm sure this afternoon will kick my butt.

As promised, here is a photo of the nursery. I apologize that I cannot seem to hold the camera steady very well (you should have seen the other 20 photos I took, all more blurry than this one). My sincerest thanks to Stephanie and Bob for the use of their camera. Because they needed it back, I finally went through and took photos of the items I'm putting up on eBay. Now let's see if I can actually post those this weekend.

OK a brief description of the decor of the nursery then I'm getting to work - we have dark green carpeting and beige walls. We wanted to keep the overall theme pretty simple and used colors from the Zanzibar stuff (you can kinda see the pillows on top of the dresser) we got to decorate. The curtains on the windows (off camera, to the right) are also dark green with the shades being a light brown (not as yellowy as the walls). For those who haven't seen it yet, I can't wait for you to come by - after the recycling day. The only reason you're getting one view of the room is that the other side is piled high with paper recycling which doesn't get picked up until next week.

I'm still feeling fine overall - although I've been pretty stuffy at night. My appetite is fine, but hits me weird overall. I seem to be back to the three meals a day thing, which is odd, but I guess fine. I had gained a LOT of weight per my last visit to the doctor (at least more than I reasonably should have based on the time frame) so I'm trying to be better overall. They're not overly concerned since the appointment was the day after Thanksgiving, but they did warn me that to be pregnant this time of year and not gain a ton of weight is difficult. OK enough of this writing, I better get to work.

Thank You Thank You Thank You!

I'm so thankful for everyone who was able to make it to the shower this past weekend. I know it was a crazy weekend to do it, with the Thanksgiving holiday, but we really appreciated seeing everyone - especially my mother-in-law who flew in for the occasion and went more than a little crazy at both Target and Babies R Us.

Here's a little photo of Ken and I at the shower - it's the obligatory photo of the guy with the beer in his hand next to his pregnant wife (my brother's baby shower photos had him with a beer in his hand in EVERY photo). Good thing I don't like beer :-). We enjoyed hanging out with everyone and really appreciated the gifts (believe it or not the thank you cards are already written, but it may take me a while to dig up your snail mail address - oh this age of electronic media).

The day after the shower my brother was coming to Baltimore to watch the Steelers get their butts kicked (sorry Andy) and he cleaned out his storage areas by providing us with a crib, changing table/dresser and lots of clothes, toys and other necessities. Can't say thank you enough! Ken and I then spent about 3 hours putting the nursery together (I SWEAR I will get some photos of that posted soon). We also did our first loads of baby laundry so we could begin to get the room in order and ready for Kieran. It seems very very strange.

On a sad note, Ken's grandmother passed away over the weekend. Madonna Gauvey will be sorely missed and Ken is going to be travelling this week to Ohio to join his family for the funeral. Ken says that Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday so its somewhat fitting that she passed away after that holiday. She at least got one more in. My apologies that I cannot be there - but I am not supposed to travel at this time, as it is too close to my due date. My thoughts will be with you this week.

How Did it Get to be Now Already?

Holy crap! I just looked up at the calendar and realized how close to Thanksgiving it is. The closer it is to Turkey Day, the closer it is to delivery of the little bundle.

I have no idea how we're going to get everything done, but on the plus side the room is 100% done. On Sunday my brother is being kind enough to bring up the crib and dresser/changing table he's giving to us. Once we've got all that assembled the room will be complete. I hope to have a picture of the room up tomorrow.

About all for now - feeling good though he wasn't really moving much yesterday. Today I'm stuck on conference calls and other webinars all day and he's kicking like a champion. Weird little guy. I'm tired overall but not due to fatigue (I don't think) more due to lack of sleep. I keep waking up from bizarre dreams only to be wide awake (and hungry) at 3:30 am. Today I was able to go back to sleep. Earlier on in the pregnancy I would wake up around 4 am and not be able to go to sleep again. I usually ended up downstairs with a bowl of oatmeal. Those days at the office were pretty hard.

Speaking of work... next week while my office is somewhat quiet I'll be putting together an outline of everything needing to be done while I'm gone. I only expect to be out February and March but we'll see how it all goes. It really depends on when Kieran decides to show up. I'm convinced that he's coming early. I don't know why really. My brother is rooting to share his birthday (Jan 19), only 6 days before my due date.

Ken is doing well, only 3 weeks to go before his final finals at school. Then he gets five glorious days of break before beginning his Bar Review course. I have plans for most of those days already :-).

OK, got another web cast to sit through. I hope you eat until you burst on thanksgiving!

Get Me Some Twigs - I'm Nesting!

Yeah, that nesting thing is for real. Got home last night and had a bug to finish installing the carpet. Took me about an hour and when I was finished, I had the urge to empty the dishwasher and do some dishes in the sink. After all of that my stomach kicked in and I had to be done so I could eat for the next hour.

I'm hoping the trend will continue tonight so I can get even more done around the house as we near the end of the waiting period.

Had a bad adventure this morning - got a flat tire on I-95. While I was waiting for Ken to come to my rescue, a Courtesy Patrol (something the Maryland Highway Administration offers) came and put my spare on free of charge. Ken arrived just as he was finishing up. Of course immediately after I went to the shop and got 4 new tires as well as the oil change I knew we needed. Ken's happy that we've got the new tires as winter is coming.

Other than that fun time, not much is new. Trying to get the house in order for Debbie (that's Ken's mom for those keeping track) to not see what a mess we've made. Now that the carpet is done, we can put away some additional things and determine where a few others go. Next big step is to buy curtains and shades for the room - we've got that on tap for this weekend over in Fells Point. Hopefully we'll find something we like.

Will blog again when the mood strikes.

I'm Glowing

The sugar levels were fine, so I think I'm done with all my testing. Can I get a WHOO HOO!!!

Went to my cousin's B'Nai Mitzvah this weekend (like a Bar Mitzvah only with two kids instead of one) and everyone was telling me I was glowing. I'm hoping this is not a really nice way of telling me that I'm getting fat in the face. Mostly I think my family was happy to see me not sick/green and losing weight.

My dad had us sit and talk with the Rabbi during the reception after the ceremony about the different issues surrounding circumcision, a Briss (ceremony where a boy child has his forskin removed, among other things) and naming ceremonies. It was interesting and helpful, if somewhat unexpected. We're still not going to do a Briss, but we will be doing a naming ceremony and now Ken is thinking about doing that at a temple - not something I was thinking of doing. We'll see. We've got a lot to get done in the next 11 weeks (yes, that's all I've got left).

The shower is soon to be upon us and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. We really set up the shower so that Ken's mom could come in and be a part of it, though we knew most of our friends and many of our family members might not be able to attend. So thanks to everyone who worked their schedules to make it and for those that can't - we understand and hope to see you once Kieran is here.

That's about all I've got for now, so many thoughts in my head but I've got to get to work. Lots to be done in the next few weeks!

Sugar Baby

I managed to get my blood drawn on Saturday without too many tears/freakouts (thanks mom). We'll hear the results at the next appointment, which is this Friday.

Not too much else going on, just trying to get organized here at the office and at home. The carpet we ordered came in wrong so it will (hopefully) be in this weekend so the baby's room can be finished. Once that's done we can stop storing all gifts we've receievd in Ken's den (he'll be very happy to get the floorspace back). Then we can finish cleaning up the rest of the house. Finish deciding where things we had been storing in the spare bedroom (soon to be Kieran's room) will live. Some of it just needs to get photographed and posted on eBay. That's probably my plan for this weekend - though it's been my plan for the past 3 months and I haven't done it yet.

I still feel good, though I notice I am more short-tempered than usual (or I'm just noticing my short temper, who can tell?) but overall I try to keep it in check. Mostly I just get uncomfortable around the end of the day. At home I tend to have a hard time keeping still because I constantly need to move around to be comfortable. What's seems to be fine for the first 1/2 hour I'm watching a show makes me crazy for the next 15 minutes while I shift around trying to find the next comfortable position. Ken is a saint through all that - he never complains when I make him move to make me comfy. Ain't love grand!

We'll see how much weight I've gained (starting to worry about picking up too much weight - but that's probably because I don't know daily how I'm doing) on Friday. I'll also find out if I can exercise (I'm sure I will be able to, but Ken wanted me to double-check with the nurses before I do). Many of you will get to see me this weekend at the Bar Mitzvah of Evan and Matthew (my youngest cousins) although I have no idea what I'll wear that is appropriate/comfortable/fits. Oh well. See ya'll soon!

Dear Kieran...

I've got a lot to complain about, you know. Being this much bigger, constant trips to the bathroom, and waking up just to turn over. And I complain a lot about being pregnant. Especially on this blog.

But I wanted Kieran to know that even with all this going on, with a looming needle (this weekend), labor (still freaking me out beyond belief) and ensuring our house is in order for a baby - I'm still pretty excited about meeting him. I wonder what type of person he'll be. If he'll get my dad's blue eyes and Ken's dark skin. Or maybe he'll get my stuborness and Ken's impulsiveness.

Whatever - or whoever - he turns out to be, I know we'll love him. It won't always be easy. I'm sure there were several times when my folks wanted to strangle me. And many more times when I thought my parents were completely in the wrong. But there will always be love and support.

Why am I writing this up on my blog? Well, we have a baby book and it includes an area for Ken and I to each write a letter to Kieran. I wanted to start thinking about this but I also wanted to invite all of you to write a little something as well. What do you wish for Kieran?

Welcome New Cousin!

My cousin's wife, Dawn, gave birth over the weekend. Join the Lipshultz family in welcoming Sophia Lily Lipshultz (daughter to Michael and Dawn for those keeping a tree). She joins her sister Eve.

Mike and Dawn - Congrats! And Mike, Ken is bewildered at your ability to remain calm in the face of two future dating daughters. :-)

Kick Me Already!

I went to the doctor on Friday - weighed in at 161 (but I'd venture to say you can subtract a pound or two for the heavier clothing/shoes I was wearing at the time). But they are happy with my weight gain - said I was right on track.

I unfortunately will have to get blood drawn. Not this weekend but next (at my 28 week mark) to do the glucose test. All I can say is it BETTER be normal. I don't think the women at Qwest Diagnostics (where I go to get blood drawn) want to see it any other way either. I'll probably do the same thing we did before - first thing in the morning with my mom and 2 nurses. I don't have a huge margin of error on this - they need to draw my blood roughly 1 hour after taking the glucose drink. I tried to beg and plead for a finger prick test, but they need to test a few more things. I do think this will be the last time I have to have blood drawn though. Good news for me - and the kind technicians at Qwest.

Not much else is new. The midwife was not happy to hear that Kieran is not moving as much as he did. Now I have to pay more attention to when he's kicking and moving around. If he doesn't move around every few hours or so, I'm to get something to drink, lay down, push on my stomach and then, if he still doesn't move, I've got to call the doctor. Every since I've been paying attention, he seems to be doing OK. There are a few times when he doesn't move as much as I'd like, but that's OK. When I follow the midwife's suggestions (get something to drink and/or eat, sit still, etc) it seems to work. I've only had to press on my belly once or twice to get him to kick me or push out.

I'm starting to get into freak out mode. Realizing how little time we really have before "the big day" (whenever that actually happens) and how much we need to get done is wigging me big time. Maybe it's my nesting instinct.

Ken says he'll freak out about a month before the baby is due. Until then, it's too early for him.

Carpet just came in, so we'll be getting that installed this coming weekend. Then it's getting the baseboards installed and the furniture from my brother's house, then the room is about 90% complete and we'll be able to put away some of the things that we've received already (and if I haven't said thank you - THANK YOU!).

That's all from pregnancy-land. Happy Monday!

Nothing Much New

Have a docotor's appointment on Friday. Feeling pretty good although the nausea seems to have come back just a little bit.

Biggest issue right now is just trying to stay asleep. I don't know what it is, but it seems that now I'm not supposed to lay on my back and I toss and turn ALOT (poor Ken is sleeping badly as well due to this). Doesn't help that Ochi and Milo have decided that the bed really belongs to them and we are simply there to help keep it warm.

I'm a bit tweaked for my next appointment as I'm hoping to talk my doctor into a glucose test strip (my sister in law says this is how her sugar was tested) rather than a full blown blood drawing. If they have to check anything else it probably won't work, but maybe I'll get lucky. We'll see.

I haven't gotten any costumes that play on the stomach. Maybe I'll rent a nun costume. The pregnant nun is always popular. Though, with those robes on, it would likely be difficult to tell that I am pregnant.

Finally I wanted to let everyone know that I will try and get a photo up soon. Now that I'm really showing (though most people seem hesitant to say anything in case I'm just fat) I know many of you are wanting to see "the pooch". Hope all is well. See you soon!

Up to His Old Tricks

Well, I thought that the whole not liking what I've ordered at restaurants phase had passed. Apparently not. It happened again this past weekend when Ken and I went to get carpet ordered for Kieran's room. Went to Bertucci's afterward. Ordered something that sounded good when I got it, but when it came, didn't look so good.

At least I had lunch at the office today.

Not much else to report right now. We opened the box of gifts from my mother-in-law. I don't think we'll need any more blankets. We also got a nice gift from our friends in Salisbury when Ken went down there this weekend. Right now we're just putting things in the den until the baby's room is finished.

We ordered carpet (it's called Legato and comes in tiles with built-in padding, etc for easy installation) and that should be in within 2 weeks. We will do the carpet installation (I say we, but it could just be Ken or it could just be me) ourselves and then the contractor will put the baseboards on. Then it's just getting the furniture up from my brother's house and the kid's room is 90% DONE. I really can't wait. I'm pretty happy to see it all finally coming together.

Next on the hit list will be fixing the upstairs (3rd floor) bathroom, which had begun to leak (I swear this house is rebelling against having a kid in it again). We'll find out the cost for that in a few days or next week. Such fun to always have a project to get completed.

Right now I'm at work enjoying my last few moments of lunch break while I type this. Eating candy corn makes me wonder if I can go trick or treating this year in Kieran's honor or if I have to wait until he's actually outside of me to do that.... what do you think?

Food, Fun and Family

Well, we had a nice time at Bubbie's (that's my father's mother for those not 100% up on my family tree) for a Yom Kippur supper. Good food and good company though I swear Ken was eating for two more than I was. To be fair, he hardly ever gets such good brisket and I never, EVER make cabbage rolls, which I know he loves (but I never eat, so I don't make).

Not much else is new. I think I've gained weight. I can't really tell as we have a Body Mass Index (BMI) scale that shoots a small eletrical charge through you. When we asked about this to the midwife, she said to be on the safe side, don't use it. Of course, I can't really step on the scale and see what it says anymore anyway. I know the kid is growing and he's been kicking (though I think I put him in a food coma -he's been pretty quiet since last night) so I think we're on the right track.

The last thing, for anyone interested and those who I don't have an email for - we've launched our invite to the baby shower. It's up on evite, just shoot me a comment with your email address (I can delete it when I'm done, just let me know you want me to do that) and I'll get ya invited. We don't pay any attention to the conventional wisdom. We're hosting our own, it's for men and women (and kids), and we're holding it the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I hope we don't kill each other with all this family togetherness :-). I will, however, promise we will NOT serve Turkey at this event. Have a good one!

We Survived!

So, we survived the scary movies this past weekend. Believe it or not, watching the live birth was not the worst of it (though I truly could have done without seeing the placenta passed, I almost lost my breakfast!). No, of course - for me - the worst part was finding out that an epidural is not a one-time shot. It is a shunt they put into your back and feed medication through. So, believe it or not, if I can deal with a non-medicated birth, that's what I'll do. The medication delivery system wigs me out more than the idea of birth. Yes, I know I am strange.

The class was supposed to have 9 couples in it but we ended up with 3. We were the loudest of the group (the instructor called us her "hecklers") but it helped us get through it. There was an interesting exercise we did on the 2nd day where we each held ice cubes and tried to divert our attention from the pain of the cold by using various techniques (breathing, music, relaxation, visualization, etc). It was neat to figure out what did and didn't work and Ken and I are going to try and start practicing various types of distraction each week so he can be ready when the time comes.

That's about it for now. Appetite is good (though the films really didn't help with that this weekend) and I'm starting to get tired again, but I hear that is to be expected. Thanks all for reading this and I hope you're doing well.

Sonic Flying Rodent Man!

So, we're already planning futures for the kid who has not even been born yet. Ken's dearest wish for him is to be Batman. I pointed out the legal issues surrounding him being able to be Batman and Ken offered a suggestion - Flying Sonic Rodent Man. I don't think it has quite the same ring.

Not much else is new, I've been very hungry eating two dinners and a decent sized lunch. No real cravings just yet and I'm trying to keep my overall diet in shape. I keep reminding myself that whatever I eat, he eats. We'll see how long that lasts.

The only plea I can make is that if you come across a Batman onesie of any kind, please let me know. Ken would absolutely LOVE it if we could dress the baby in Batman gear.

Midwifery

So, I think we found the midwife we like - she didn't give me crap about my weight (said that losing 4 pounds - now that I've gained it all back - was just fine, it probably meant I was eating healthy - shows her, I really just wasn't eating at all) and she was able to provide the next line to "You're that clever land shark, aren't you?" from an old SNL skit. Anyone with that type of sense of humor can't be bad.

On the downside of things, I do have another blood test to do - the blood sugar test. I don't have to fret too much about that until my next appointment but it will have to be done. I tried to beg off on it, asking if they could just check my urine for sugar and unfortunately it doesn't always show up there. So that sucks - and I'm sure the women at Qwest Diagnostics are not going to be pleased to see me again. Oh well, I'll survive. I did the last time.

Other than that, things are good. We did a VERY short stint of helping my brother out this past weekend with his 3 little ones. They are all so cute! Pete adores his Uncle Ken and continued to scream to get his attention. Becca liked to help me ensure that Ken was studying and not watching TV and Zack scored a goal at his soccer game, though I think he enjoyed the breaks more than the game itself.

Not much else to tell, I am back up to my starting weight (gained 4 pounds) and am keeping a food journal to try and keep myself healthy-ish as this progresses. I think I may have actually hit a few cravings. Mac and Cheese and mushrooms so far. Though I'm not sure if that was me or the little one. Probably a bit early for that. We started filling in the baby book and the room will be done by the end of this week (at least the drywalling, etc will be done, we still have to paint and install carpet). We've changed themes from an underwater one to a jungle/animal theme. I think they're both fun but we'll have to make up our minds soon as we need to paint and get carpeting.

For those who have asked on how they can post - under each post of mine is a "comments" section. Click on this (even if it says (0 Comments)) and you can add your 2 cents' worth. I do check this often and love the feedback. Everyone will be able to view your comments so keep that in mind as you post.

Love to all.

Scary Movies

So, we've signed up for the childbirth class next weekend (its a bit early but Ken will be in finals in November which were the only other dates available) and he and I are both dreading The Film. You all know the one I'm talking about - that film they showed you in 7th grade that made all the girls say "I'm NEVER gonna do that!"

Ken asked if we really had to watch it. I said probably, but I'm bringing popcorn and shouting things at the screen (like "Don't go in there - that's where the doctor is!") as if I were watching a horror movie at home. I then checked with a few guys at my office who have been through this before - they told me it would be perfectly OK to do that. We'll see what our class thinks about it all next weekend.

Somehow I think the little one is getting his revenge on me for this. I've had nothing but nightmares for the past few nights. One night I dreamed about a killer who could stop time - it actually will make a fantastic movie, it had an indie feel to it with great mass audience appeal. It wigged me out so bad I made Ken get up and check the bathroom for the killer. I'm happy to report that Ken and I are both alive - no killers hiding in the bathroom (no zombies either, but that's a story for another day...). Anyway - I had a few other nightmares this week, not a single one about the kid, just about work, zombies, or serial killers (I am so not not normal...). They each wake me up about 1 hour before the alarm goes off. Just early enough that I can't get back to sleep. AARRGH.

That's all for now. Hope all is well with everyone out there. Keep commenting!

The Fear of Dad

So, first let me say thanks to everyone who's been commenting - I love to know that I'm not just writing this for my own benefit. Being pregnant is really weird, and sharing it with the world is a little stranger. Oh well, I guess that's normal for any blogger.

This weekend was entertaining - specifically yesterday. Ken and I decided, kinda spur-of-the-moment to head to IKEA to get some bookshelves to replace the system we had in the living room. Mainly we wanted to hide all the wires we had everywhere - make it a little more baby-safe.

We didn't exactly plan to get the system we did. And our only vehicle is a Honda Civic, not exactly the most roomy of vehicles. Our inital plan was to go to IKEA, pick up the system then head over to Wegmans for our grocery shopping, then back home. Well, the IKEA bookshelves we got were a lot taller than the items we had been thinking about when we left the house. In order to put them into the car and be able to close the trunk, I had to sit right up on the steering wheel. Ken got a little bit more legroom (only because he's nearly 6 feet and I'm only 5 feet). We had to stop and get gas and Ken was frantic about me sitting so close to the airbag - so we switched places.

I wish I had a camera to show you just how silly it looked for Ken to sit that close to the steering wheel. His head was touching the roof of the car. He, however, had insisted that he prefer to do that instead of me driving as "If something goes wrong, it's only me that gets hurt." We realized - after we were on the road, of course - that the logical thing was to move the seat up on the passenger side so the driver could sit back. The passenger side does have an airbag, but not one that is right in the steering wheel, so it was a little more comfortable on the way home.

Anyway - I guess Ken's paternal instinct is already kicking in. He wants to protect the little one as much as possible. Its so sweet, and kinda funny at the same time, we were both laughing so hard as he drove, he'd make weird exclamations "I'm looking out of the blue!" (referring to the top, tinted portion of the windshield) and we'd both giggle. I'm really glad he's excited and I'm also very happy he drove - it was REALLY uncomfortable being that close to the wheel. Which is also funny considering how close I normally have to sit in order for my feet to reach the pedals.

We'll definitely be writing this story up for the baby book. I'm not sure how best to title it, suggestions on the title are welcome!

The Origin of Spike

Ok, so several people have asked me where the heck "Spike" came from. A quick note on this and then back to work for me....

When we first found out I was pregnant we saw what looked like a dot on the ultrasound images. For a long time we called the baby-to-be Dot in honor of this image.

As the kid grew he/she (because we didn't know at that point) looked more like a baby and less like a dot. We couldn't keeping calling him/her that for much longer. After we got our amnio results and knew that we had a normal boy on our hands, I got a lot of flack for continually calling him Dot. One of my co-workers began teasing me that it was "Baby Spike" the nickname stuck. Like I've said, Spike will NOT be the kid's name, just what we'll call him for now.

As an aside, my brother's kids were known as Peperoni (Zack), Broccoli (Becca) and Zucchini (Pete) respectively when they were in the womb. A different co-worker names the kids to be via a Last Name + McBean naming convention (Gauvey McBean). Just some ideas for those thinking of getting knocked up. OK, back to work.

Don't Mess with the Pregnant Lady

So I'm going crazy about the eating/gaining weight thing along with freaking out if I don't feel the kid move at least once a day. I'm certain Ken is going to gag me shortly as he's sick of hearing me freak out.

I don't think I've gained any weight right now, but I am still keeping my food journal. When I'm at the office I do pretty well ensuring that I eat every few hours. It's when I'm at home that I don't do as well. Though my appetite is increasing a bit, and I'm hoping that soon my food aversions will go away - I'm still having the hardest time eating chicken unless it's breaded. Which isn't all that good because most of the places that serve it breaded only serve it that way fried. Kinda defeats the purpose of ordering that and not beef. Oh well, hopefully Spike will get over his fear of poultry.

Other than that, things are going well. Saw lots of family this past weekend, which was very fun. Ken was excited because Zack and Pete (my brother's boys) were all over him, calling for his attention (though sometimes they called him "uncle crazy" instead of Uncle Ken), and generally just hanging out. He's going to be a GREAT Mr. Mom, even if he is freaked out about it.

I do believe that we have 100% decided on a name - though I won't post it until I'm 24 weeks. Yes, this is dumb superstition but I don't care. I can be as crazy as I wanna be. As Andy would say "Don't f*** with the pregnant lady." Or, Ken's more PG rated "What the pregnant woman wants, the pregnant woman gets." I'm trying not to take advantage of that right now, but who knows what hormones will bring in the coming months.

OK, somebody please comment on all this - I'm DYING without feedback!!!

The Name Game

So, now that I'm fully in hormonal swing, we've decided this is a perfect time to think about names. We've got a few favorites and a few that we keep coming back to, but I'll let you comment, even if I don't pay attention to what you say (everyone reading this knows we'll make up our own dang minds). If you can think of what kids might call a child named this, please do include any possible future taunting in your post - that's what I'm worried about most.

Possible names:
Kieran (pronounced keer-an)
Devin
Daylin

I'll add more as they come, we're only at the N's in the baby names book. Suggestions are welcome but may not be taken seriously!

Take Two!

OK, so basically blogger is moving things into a new site and I cannot get access to my original blog, www.babyspikesblog.blognet.com so I'm trying this again on their beta site and hope that I don't have any additional issues.

Things seem to be going well, except my hormones have definitely kicked in. Had a breakdown yesterday when I hadn't felt the baby move all day and Debbie (Ken's mom) has sent us a bunch of baby clothes (she went nuts last weekend at a Kohl's sale). I was convinced last night that it was a bad idea to bring the box into the house and wanted to find out if my mom could hold onto it. I'm a bit more rational today - though I don't think I'll want the box open until I'm a good six months.

We may go registering this weekend for a bunch of things with my brother - he's been kind enough to set aside a ton of baby items for us, including a dresser and clothing and much much more.

That's about it for now, I'm feeling much better and I think I've managed to gain a pound. I've been stuffing myself silly for the past two days and it finally caught up with me this morning. My stomach is pretty full but I'll try to be sure to eat enough calories today. I'm keeping a food journal in case I don't gain enough to make the midwife happy - at least I'll be able to prove to her that I really am eating.

Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for checking in and all the comments - keep 'em coming!