Week 29, 30, 31....

Wow, I can't believe how behind I am on my blog. I can't seem to keep up with time now that I have entered the third trimester. I have been very busy and according to my pregnancy ticker, I only have 59 more days left. It's been a great couple of weeks. I had my first baby shower here in NH on June 6th. Constant and I and our little man were incredibly spoiled and are still very choked up about how incredibly generous everyone was. The shower was extremely nice and thanks to my mom and her team of assistants, the baby shower was far more spectacular than we could have ever imagined. We are so appreciative and are very thankful for the many wonderful people we have in our life. I was even surprised by my dear from Jess who came up from NJ and my dear friend Becki who came from Albany to celebrate our special day. I of course have pictures, but will post them later :-) You have to see how precious the invitations and center displays were.

So, with all of our new goodies that came during our shower and have been arriving in the mail, we have been busy organizing and getting the baby's room ready. I can't believe a little baby needs so many things. How did kids ever survive back in the day? We've also been busy being a little crafty and put a stencil up on the wall....here is one that I can share, the other is a surprise! It says...."shh....baby dreaming"

I've also ordered the curtains and a rug...just have to get the curtain rod to hang the curtains and some minor other things and I think his room is officially ready for his arrival.

We've also been busy with Bentley as he had a torn ACL and luxating patella and had to have surgery a little over a week ago. He had been limping for awhile now and wasn't the lively dog he once used to be. For the record, he was never officially very lively, but it sounded good. So, we took him in for surgery and warmed up the credit card and after a little over a week later he's finally starting to come around. Let me tell you, this guy is one big HAM SANDWICH when it comes to recovery. He wouldn't eat for four days and only started to eat when I was instructed to buy him beef baby food. I am just glad that the hard part is over with. Now hopefully he is headed for a healthy recovery. His BFF and sister Sophie has been absolutely lost without him as we have had to keep them separated.

This week I am getting maternity photos taking by Bella Luce Photography and can not wait. You have to check her site out. She is an absolutely amazing photographer. I promise to post preggo pictures of me after she makes me beautiful. I am so excited as she is going to take infant photos of our little man a couple of days after he is born.

http://www.labellalucephoto.com/

How am I feeling? Overall pretty good. The last week or so I have started to get swollen ankles and hands and really do not enjoy that. I have been trying to relax a little more and keep my feet up in order to avoid it as much as possible. I've steadily been measuring two weeks bigger than I am suppose to be so either I am having a big baby or I'm just big. I can't decide which I hope it is. Either way, the important thing is that the baby is healthy. He's had consistently great heart beats and he's been very, very active. I love feeling him kick my tummy. It's probably one of the greatest feelings that I have ever had. I can't wait to meet this little guy.

I've been trying to envision what he will look like and I can't help to think that he's going to look like a little Constant with dimples. How precious will he be?

This coming weekend we are headed to NY for my shower with my family. My cousin Melissa has been working for months in preparation for our special day. I can't wait to see my family. It's been so long and I miss everyone so much.

Today we are celebrating Constant's first Father's Day as a daddy to be.He's already been a great dad and I am so excited to raise our little boy together. I know without a doubt that he will be an amazing father.

28 Weeks- 3rd Trimester, SATC2 and Memorial Weekend!!!

I hit a major milestone this week- The Third Trimester--Yippee!!!

I started the 3rd Trimester off right by watching Sex and The City 2 (SATC2) accompanied by my husband. I didn't even have to twist his arm to go. What a great man. When I went and saw SATC1 I remember looking and feeling fabulous wearing my favorite purple pumps. In this spirit of wanting to feel FABULOUS again, I dressed up a  black T-Shirt and my maternity jeans with a pair of pretty earrings, necklace and sparkly flip flops. Though I waddled into the theater this time versus strutting with confidence, I have to admit for that short period of time I felt equally fabulous. 

I've been a huge SATC fan since my girlfriend Jen introduced me to the series. My connection was never about the men, it was about the incredible friendships, journeys and about that "little something"-- to make you feel fabulous.

Of course I loved the movie which made me realize just how much I really needed a good dose of my girlfriends (even if they are my SATC gf's). I've also realized that more and more through pregnancy how important girlfriend relationships are ever.  I have really good friends in my life and for that I am very thankful, I only wish they lived closer b/c as SJP says "sometimes you just need to get away with girls".

Week 27- Last Week of 2nd Trimester

Wow, it's the last week of my second trimester. How did that happen? I can't say that it was all gracious and care free. As the weather warms up and my belly begins to explode, I wonder how I will make it to August 18th. I guess as any person in recovery would say: "one day at a time". Luckily, I really do feel great. I still have most of my energy and find myself comfortably staying up until 9:15 :-) Except for the occasional surprise, morning sickness is pretty much gone and I really am still sleeping well. The lil man seems to be doing fine as well. He's getting into a kicking schedule- I find him the most active in the evenings when I've settled in for the night.

I have so many exciting things coming up and so many finishing touches to work on over the next 13th weeks. I have Baby Showers to attend, maternity pictures to have done, a baby room to finish up, a lot more reading and research to do and dogs to train for the arrival of their little brother. I suspect that it is going to be a busy couple of months.
I found this frame yesterday and couldn't resist. Isn't it ADORABLE!!! I think for me, I fell in love when I saw the 2 little lines on the p-stick though :-) I can't wait to meet our little man.

Week 26- Bradley Birthing Classes

Scanning over my entries, I realized I haven't talked much about the birthing class that we have been taking. Per recommendation from our midwife, we have been taking the Bradley Birthing Method classes. The classes started in April and we meet every week for two hours over the course of twelve weeks. We are joined by two other couples and meet in at our instructor’s house. We chose The Bradley Method over Hypnobirth as my midwife pointed out that if we had remotely "A" Type Personalities that we would probably struggle using the Hypnobirth method. Seeing that Constant is an Engineer and I am an Excel freakazoid, we naturally chose the Bradley Birth Method.

In general, the classes are to prepare you for natural child birth and are referred to as a Husband Coached Childbirth Method. In general, your husband /partner, etc. is responsible for being the coach during labor. I can't speak for any other births as I have never participated in any, but from the way I am understanding this is that Constant will be my main coach during labor (versus the nurses/doctors/midwives) - we will use the pain management techniques and relaxation exercises that we have learned and practiced throughout the class. Some folks that were not familiar with the method asked me "12 weeks- why so long", I guess the answer is- If I was training for a marathon I wouldn't just go for one short run would I?
I really didn't know what to expect. This week we will start our seventh class and honestly, I've really enjoyed the classes- much to my surprise. Regardless if you're planning to have a natural child birth or not, the classes prepare you in so many ways that I really believe you will have a better birth, if anything, a much more informed one.

So far we've learned everything from good pregnancy nutrition to the changes and stages that your body will go through during labor. Don't get me wrong, never have they ever said natural child birth was easy and pain free- they do call it labor right?--but I have learned that the pain is manageable and understanding the stages that my body will go through (particularly the transitional stage) has made me feel more comfortable with natural child birth. For me personally, I think just understanding what I will go through during the process has put my mind at ease (for the most part) and has taking the fear out of the process.

I hear a lot of stories from woman that say they for example didn’t want to get an epidural and had planned for a natural child birth, but couldn’t take the pain anymore and opted for one. Most likely that person was going through the transitional phase (on average lasts from 10-30 mins) which really means that stage 2 labor-- pushing/birth was right around the corner and they were almost there. Had they been informed and understood the process, maybe their choice would have been different. Just a thought.

Week 25- Momma at 6 Months

We've been really busy. I'm tempted to say that preparing for a baby is busier than planning your own wedding. It's like you want to get everything done and do anything and everything you've ever had on any list or any desire to ever do NOW for fear that you won't be able to resume these activities for at least 18+ years...and by that time you'll be broke and ragged. That's pretty much everyone's advice to us: "Do it now or else you can't afford it and won't be able to do anything for another couple of decades".

It's amazing that anyone ever knowingly decides to have children.

Not only are we trying to get everything done before we are confined to our house until we are in our early 50's, we also have been taking Bradley Birthing Classes, La Leche League Breast Feeding Classes and reading every other book under the sun in preperation for this lil man to come. As I type this entry, my husband sits next to me on the couch reading Husband Coached Childbirth- 'o how are lives have changed. The change to come is bitter sweet: welcoming, but also scary. I almost feel like writing a letter to myself titled "See you in 20 years old buddy :-)".

In all seriousness, pregnancy is wonderful, but difficult in the same sense. The changes that occur in a woman's body alone are crazy---strechmarks, vericose veins, huge belly growth and darkening areolas to name only a few. It's hard to be sporting that pregnancy glow all of the time when your body is constantly throwing you curve balls.

I had a growth spurt the last week or two and now believe that I have officially adopted the waddler as my "normal" form of walking. I never thought I would be a waddler, but it just happened and I really don't know how not to waddle with a huge basketball tied to my waist. I asked my husband if he thought that I grew too fast and he replied with an encouraging "you have been eating a lot".  He's trying to be supportive, for example he just turned to me and said "babes, the book says we CAN have sex."

I can't believe that I have a little over a 100 days to go...I can't imagine how huge I am going to be around July and August for bikini season. Overall,  I've felt pretty good and my morning sickness has been occuring only 1 or 2 times a week. I still have lots of energy and am only getting up at 12, 3 and 5 am to pee...not bad.
I hate my pictures taking. I don't think I look adorable..my sister in law who lives in NC asked for a photo of me the other day...this is the one I sent her :-) It's my baby buddha. 

Week 24- Our Lil Man's Cave

Thanks to the assistance of the owner of Polka Tot Designs where we purchased our crib bedding, we were easily able to decide on the color of our lil mans room. I wanted a shade lighter than or hallway wall color- which is an espresso type color and she reccomeded a color called "Trusty Tan". It was perfect and so Constant painted the lil mans room last weekend. Here are the results of his hard work.

As you can see, he also assembled the furniture as well.

Here are some Tonka Trucks that he recieved from Cindy and Trisha. Aren't they cute!

Here is a little elephant blanket that he recieved from Kelli, Ro and Laela and some running pants from Katie, Jon and Tyler.

What is this you wonder? Well, Constant and I have been practicing changing diapers on this little lamb my mom gave us. The lamb has been sleeping in the crib and we practice getting Bentley and Sophie used to the new baby by showing them the lamb in the crib. It seems to be working except that they think their new brother is a lamb :-)

 We are really happy with how the room is coming along...now we just need to decorate it.

Week 23- The Crib Bedding

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that picking out crib bedding would be so agonizing. I suspect that for most new mothers it is not an issue, but for me it was. In some aspects of my life I have a tendency to agonize over the smallest details and obsess about getting the perfect thing. Clearly in other aspects of my life, I do not :-)

Early on in this struggle to find the perfect crib bedding, I realized that the soft colors and cutsie little animal prints or sports designs were not that appealing to me. I also realized that for whatever reason, it is difficult for stores to produce barely any decent bedding sets for little boys.  I am not sure of the exact figure, but I suspect that the world is made up of at least 50% men and given that fact you would think they would have some better options available. After an exhaustive search, I almost caved and purchased a Lamb Bedding Set from Pottery Barn Kids. However, I couldn't close the deal and am so thankful that I didn't.

I stumbled on a website called http://www.polkatotbedding.com/  and they are a little shop in Mobile, AL that does custom crib bedding. I immediately fell in love with the fabrics and colors and just everything. After remortgaging the house to buy the crib bedding, this is the set that I finally decided on with some slight modifications. The skirt is tailored rather than "foofy" and there are no little brown balls on the skirt. Also, I had a "Y" embroidered in the bumper for "Yu". The owner took my order and let me tell you, she was a sweet little southern bell....so pleasant to do business with. She even assisted me in deciding on the paint color for the lil mans room.

Though I realize that my lil man will ultimately not give a shit about the pattern on his crib bedding and will probably rarely use it his mom feels much better :-)