Looking Forward

It really hit me today... I was sending out an email to the volunteers about what's happening in the next two weeks, and I realized that we're REALLY close to April! Suddenly I can't decide if I'm excited or nervous. There's a certain healthy fear of the unknown surrounding the whole labor and delivery experience. I've seen Chuck go through some pretty brutal hospital experiences, but I've never even had an IV. I hate being medicated, but I don't think I have a very high pain tolerance, so I am planning on having an epidural. I'm just hoping I get a good anesthesiogist who gets it just right the first time.

Technically we have a month left, but both my mom and Chuck's mom had their first babies a couple of weeks early. They also both labored without medication and neither of them had any problems. If that is any indication of what my experience will be, then it could happen anytime and hopefully it'll be free of complications. I'm thinking positive thoughts and visualizing a calm birth experience.

I'm definitely excited to meet our daughter. I'm also looking forward to having my body back. I realize it won't truly be mine again until I'm done breastfeeding, and it may never be quite the same as it used to be, but I'd just like to be able to read laying on my tummy and sleep on my back. This might sound strange, but at my baby shower I got close to 300 diapers (and so much other great stuff)... I'm excited to put it all to use and get this going!!!

Today was a good day

I made it back to yoga this morning after a couple weeks of not being able to go. The theme for this class was finding support, and not being afraid to ask for help once our babies arrive. It makes me feel so much better knowing that I have a support network of friends who will be stopping by in the first couple of weeks to bring food. Normally I wouldn't ask for help - when Chuck went through chemo, I was happy that I could take care of the cooking, cleaning, driving to appts - whatever I could do. But after just having the flu for a week, I know that Chuck has more trouble being the caregiver - especially when it comes to providing food. Just picking up soup and keeping enough clean bowls and spoons was a challenge. It will be harder with a baby, but we will have lots of help.

We just got back from dinner with Raquel (who's expecting her first baby in September), Jackie, Jessica & Neil. Jessica and Raquel were both sick last week and couldn't make it to the shower, so you guessed it, baby girl got more gifts! Socks, spoons, burp cloths, scrapbooking supplies... all kinds of good stuff! We also received a box of Baby Gap clothes in the mail yesterday from Ramesh & Suzanne.

Speaking of clothes, I just washed my first load of baby clothes. Kelsey said I can't come to work on Monday until I've packed my hospital bag, and I've heard I'm supposed to wash all the baby clothes before she wears them. Picking out "the outfit" she'll come home from the hospital in was impossible... I think I packed 4 choices. Let me tell you, she will be wearing some of the cutest little outfits. Don't worry, I also packed grown up clothes and the necessary toiletries. We'll just have to grab the iPod and laptop once the time comes (I need the laptop, how else could I blog from the hospital!?).

The past couple of nights I've been waking up with pretty bad braxton hicks contractions which last about half the night. I've been taking calcium with magnesium and potassium, which helps - and trying to stay hydrated enough, but probably not doing the best job of it. Regardless, my body's just getting ready, so it's good to have the bag packed.

35 Weeks

I'm starting to feel better, just really low on energy. My OB said that staying hydrated, taking tylenol to keep my temperature down, and resting are the only things we can do. She told me to stay home from work yesterday, and I went in for a 1/2 day today to ease back into the swing of things. I'm still coughing (which is pretty hard on these already too-tight abdominal muscles), and now Chuck's coughing again too. But enough about that... you came here for a baby update!

According to my baby center email, she's the size of a honeydew melon now. Over 5 pounds and (a very squished) 18 inches long from head to toe. At yesterday's appointment her heartrate was in the 150's, and I'd gained a pound even though I haven't been eating much, so everything's on track. Our next sonogram is in a week and a half, when they'll estimate her actual weight, but I don't think anybody can get it accurately until she's on that scale by herself.

Our friend Ramesh was here visiting for SXSW and told us that his baby was born at 35 weeks and is perfectly healthy - yikes!!! I don't think we're that close yet, but we are getting there. Maybe it's time to pack a hospital bag so that we're prepared when the time comes. Wait, first we have to install the car seat! It does still feel like there's a lot to do... including writing over 40 thank you cards for the 2 showers!! It's a nice problem to have. I only wish I could've been doing it during this time off, but it's hard to focus on anything when you're sick.

Sick Girls

Today is day 3 of the flu, and day 2 of staying home from work. I hate calling in sick from work, but I'm in no shape to leave the house right now. Chuck wouldn't let me if I wanted to.

Keeping the fever down means taking extra strength tylenol, which makes me all sweaty. Yesterday was primarily a fever and achiness, and today has included sniffling and a bad sore throat. Chuck's been taking good care of us, picking up soups and juices, and checking in on us while he works. And baby's still moving around like normal, so I'm pretty sure she's doing fine in there. I have my regular OB appointment tomorrow morning, so we'll see if my doctor thinks we need to do something more than we've been doing. Oh, and Tater's a good sick day companion.

For now, I feel like I'm on bedrest, and it's pretty miserable. Let's hope tomorrow's a better day.

Visiting Momma's

Well, it looks like yesterday's exhaustion has turned into today's flu. This afternoon I found myself with an achy body, fever with chills, sore throat and a cough. It's never fun to have an achy body, but it's weird when you're pregnant - my legs and belly are just sore. I'm taking Tylenol as directed, drinking lots of "yogi tea for the mother to be" that Helen gave me, and I'll be heading up to bed in a minute.

Before I do that, I wanted to write a little about the visit from my mom! Let me start by saying that we only see eachother about once every year or two, and since my parents are coming in May to meet their granddaughter, she was not planning on coming to the shower. Being here meant that she missed my dad's birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!!), an open house, and her volunteer shift at Fairchild Gardens. Well, she made it out Friday afternoon to come to my baby shower. It was a short visit, but so neat to see her and have her see me pregnant. She just decided to make the flight from Florida about 2 weeks ago, emailing "I just really feel that I should be there - it's my sweet only daughter's first pregancy, first baby shower - what the
heck! - what's the money for?" And I think she's glad she came :)

She helped pick out the food at Sam's Club with me and Candace on Friday evening, gave me a pedicure and helped set-up for the shower, and last night we went shopping at Target where she helped us pick out a Pack 'n' Play. This morning we had brunch at La'Madeleine, walked around the Hill Country Galleria, and I showed her the hospital where we'll be giving birth before dropping her back at the airport.

While I don't have all the baby shower pics yet (a few people will be emailing their footage), I just wanted to post a few shots of me and my mom, who made a comment that as amazing as it is that I'm having a baby, it's so amazing to her that 31 years ago she had me, and now the cycle of life is continuing. Indeed!

Thank you all so much...

My home baby shower just ended, and I honestly cannot remember the last time I was this exhausted. And yet, I can't close my eyes to take a nap! My mom, on the other hand, is upstairs snoozing, and Tater's sleeping next to me, so happy to have the house back to normal.

It was really wonderful to have so many friends here to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Little Lady Wadey. It's hard to believe that after less than 2 years of living in Austin, I've been lucky enough to find such an amazing group of friends who have been so supportive and have helped make this pregnancy so special. I remember 11 years ago when I was getting ready to get married, my mom threw me a bridal shower with about 10 friends and neighbors. I didn't have any idea what to register for - we figured we had everything we needed in our tiny apartment with hand-me-down dishes and pans. Our lives are so much different now, and having a baby is a completely different journey.

Chuck took video of opening the gifts, which must be an hour long - I've NEVER opened this many presents in one sitting before!!! I can't wait to find places for all the neat new baby things. Grandpa (or should I say, GREAT-Grandpa) and Bernice were generous enough to send us a check which should cover the rest of our immediate needs. Everything else (including diapers and wipes) is pretty much taken care of now!

So thank you everybody. Thank you to my Mom, Daniela and Daniela's Mom (who I now know is named Hilda), Teresa, Kim Barnett, Kathy, Amelia, Jennifer, Devon, Sue, Melissa, Gina, June, Christina, Erin & JD, Bethany (for the advice too), Jessica, Dragana, Lakshmy, and most especially to Chuck & Candace (who did all the work). Photos to come!

An Amber's Eye View

Oh no, I almost can't see my toes anymore!!! We were watching the video from my baby shower, and went back to watch footage of painting the nursery. It was a mere 2 months ago and my tummy must've seemed pretty big at the time... but compared to now it was TINY! My how you have grown little miss baby girl.

She's also starting to make her momma's life just a little more miserable each day. The other night I had Braxton Hicks contractions all night long, and last night I couldn't even sit down without getting horrible heartburn (even after taking a Pepsid). Today one of my ankles is swollen, and just walking has been putting serious strain on my lower belly. I'm sure she'll never apologize or thank me, but that's okay.

And really, it's not so bad. Most of the time I feel great, and if I wasn't documenting all of this I would probably forget the bad parts as soon as they're gone. Maybe it's helpful for my many pregnant friends to read about my aches and pains - or maybe one day my daughter will read this when she's pregnant and know that it's all normal stuff. It could happen!

Baby Shower Time!

Yesterday we had our first baby shower with my work friends. It was such a nice lunch. We went to Romeo's, where they customized the cutest menus for us! Chuck came to take pictures, and ended up taking video of the gifts being opened, so there are no actual photos of that. But my coworkers were all so generous. Most people went in on gifts together to get us a couple of the big things we need, along with many other great presents which are all so appreciated.

They started a pool to guess what day and time baby will be born, and Amy guessed April Fools Day... that's not okay!!! Kim put April 9th at 10:29am, which I believe is exactly when she was born almost 44 years ago. And people signed up to bring us food once the baby's born, which I have to say is the coolest thing ever.

I really am the luckiest girl to not only have a job I enjoy, but to work with such a wonderful and supportive group of people. In the cards, people said over and over that they can't wait to meet Blueberry. I guess we're both the luckiest girls :)

Under Pressure

I was going to wait to blog tomorrow after my first baby shower, but today has just been a strange day. Since about 2pm I've had so much pressure in my tummy - the baby's pushing and bulging out like crazy. It kind of feels like she's growing faster than my tummy and she needs more room. It's not scary, but it's certainly not comfortable!! It also feels like I'm having more intense braxton hicks tonight. I actually left work early to take a walk with Chuck before our OB appointment, which was great, but didn't really help much.

This was our 32 week OB check. We'll be 33 weeks this Saturday, so we have about 7 weeks to go. Could be 4 weeks, could be 8... who knows?? In the last 2 weeks I've gained 2 pounds and 2 centimeters on the belly measurement. At the last appointment I was measuring 29, and this time I measured 31, so we may actually be measuring a little small, but Dr. Belt said we're within a normal range and she's growing the way she should be. Did you know that your tummy measurement (from the top of the uterus to the bottom) is supposed to match up with how many weeks along you are? How does that work!?!? Amazing.

Baby girl is moving a LOT these days, and according to the doppler her heart rate is fluxuating a lot too, which is a good thing. No sonogram today and no sonogram in 2 weeks... Dr. Belt thinks everything looks great doesn't want to give me another sono until 36-37 weeks to check her position, weight, and fluid levels. That feels like a long time away, but it'll be here before we know it...

Are we nesting?

It's a good thing we finished the nursery early, because there are a LOT of other things (besides childbirth education classes) we want to get done before the baby comes. Our new deadline isn't April, it's March 8th, the day we're having a baby shower at my house. This weekend was our first free weekend at home to focus on cleaning and home improvements, and we accomplished a lot! We:

• Started contractors fixing up the detached garage
• Had our air vents cleaned out
• Got the carpet cleaned (including the area rug Tater peed on)
• Secured the TV cable along the wall (instead of under the rug)
• Changed the rear surround speakers to a wireless system (less cords = less tripping hazard)
• Went through all the paperwork cluttering our house to organize taxes and shred what we don't need
• Raked up piles of leaves outside
• Scheduled a cleaning for the dirty kitchen tiles and grout

All that, plus laundry and yoga! This week Chuck has his annual oncologist appt, I have another OB appt, and we have our tax appt. I also have my work baby shower!!! I'm so looking forward to that. It'll be a busy and fun week.

PS: Congratulations to the newest member of the LAF mom-to-be club!

Blueberry's first political rally

Last night we braved the crowds to attend the Obama rally, thanks to VIP tickets we got from the LAF. I was hoping it wouldn’t be so crowded that people would step on me and elbow my tummy the whole time, and as it turns out, our VIP tickets truly were VIP! We bypassed the long lines and ended up in an area right up front with plenty of room and seating.

About 20 minutes before Obama took the stage, the chairs were pulled away and we got scrunched right up front - and about halfway through the hour-long speech my back and hips did start feeling pretty sore.

We didn’t watch the Austin Democratic debates on Thursday night because we had a Moulin Rouge sing-along at the Alamo Drafthouse (gotta have our priorities straight). It was fun, but I must say I wasn’t a very good mom that day. I had a cup of half-caff coffee in the morning, forgot to take my prenatal vitamin, then had a glass of sangria at the show (the alcoholic equivalent of half-caff). But, after all the rallying, singing, and half-strength drinks, baby girl seems to be doing just fine!

While we’re on the topic of the president, I just learned that you can send away for a baby’s birth greeting from George W. Bush! According to the White House website, that’s a standard thing you can request. Who knew? No matter what anybody thinks of the Bush administration, that would be an interesting keepsake for the baby book.

It got me thinking, and I started asking people at work – do you even know who the president was the year you were born? It’s a surprisingly tricky question for a lot of people to answer! I was born under the Ford administration, and Chuck under Carter… but I didn’t know that until Chuck did the math and I confirmed it online. If you are reading this, I want you to post a comment below right here on my blog telling me who the president was when you were born (you don't have to "sign in" and can even remain anonymous if you’d like - so just do it!).

Sleeping through the night

Chuck's been sleeping on the couch this week. Friday he spent the whole night coughing, sniffling, and sneezing, and the next morning - I don't know about him, but I felt like I hardly got any sleep. Not a good idea considering that I really don't want to catch his cold! So, he offered to sleep on the couch. He's mostly feeling better now, but has continued to have coughing fits every night - keeping him in the dog house.

On Monday I went to lunch with my friend Julie and her 10-week old son Ramsey. She gave me some good advice about breastfeeding, and told me how she got her son to sleep through the night (ALREADY!?!). I'm hoping we can do the same thing.

Here I am with one baby in my arms, and one about a third the size in my tummy: