Emskyrooney

Last night we had our final "Prepared Childbirth" class at the hospital.  And we FINALLY had the tour of the maternity ward which was the part of the class that Paul and I were most looking forward to.  Although I really don't have anything to compare it to, as I haven't been in a maternity ward since my youngest brother was born, it seemed pretty nice.  We walked through the whole thing, from arrival at the hospital, to registration, to labor and delivery, to postpartum.  And we go to peek at some super cute little newborns in the nursery which was the best part!  The women in the class were ooohing and ahhing and most of the men looked pretty nervous.  I asked Paul if he was ready for such a tiny baby to come into our lives and he said "I didn't think they'd be quite so little!"... I think he has a lot to learn! I also had a doctor's appointment yesterday.  Everything is looking good and I go back in 2 weeks for one last ultrasound to check t...

And a couple of days.... Apparently, as of today, I'm 40 days from the due date.  Honestly I feel like I was just telling people that I'm pregnant and now here we are, in the home stretch!  A little over a month from now I'll hopefully be holding our little guy in my arms- crazy!!! Here's the week 34 update: "Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds ( like your average cantaloupe ) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once she's born — are filling him out, making him  rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor , you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as w...

Bostonians (and people from Massachusetts in general) are not known for their good manners... In fact there's are many good reasons why locals are known as "mass-holes" (please excuse my naughty language!).  In my eight years as a resident of Massachusetts I've found that people just aren't outwardly friendly.  Most people are polite in one-on-one situations, cashiers will usually say hello and maybe small-talk a bit, but in general people don't say smile or hello to each other on the street, hold doors, or pay any attention at all to any one but themselves.  When I got pregnant I was warned that complete strangers would ask me when I was due and touch my stomach but no one has done this to me yet- it's just not a Massachusetts thing. The T (which is our subway system for any reader not familiar with Boston) has recently started a new "Mind Your Manners" campaign.  They've posted signs on the trains that say things like "Be sweet, offe...

Wow!  Down to 44 days (give or take a week!)... Here's the update: "This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds ( heft a pineapple ) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance .) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood." Paul and I had class #4 out of 5 of our "Prepared Childbirth" classes last night.  We were supposed to have a tour of the maternity ward but it was too busy so we've been promised the tour next week.  Instead we talked about things that could go wrong during labor and delivery and also about w...

Today Paul and I are celebrating our second anniversary... Two years has gone by so quickly! In the past two years we've been to Las Vegas several times to visit Paul's brothers, travelled to Lake Tahoe on our honeymoon and decided that one day we'd really LOVE to live there, sold Paul's "bachelor pad" house, bought our first house together, bought new cars, completely gutted and renovated our kitchen, redecorated several rooms in our home and got pregnant.. Whew! No wonder the time went so fast! I wouldn't change anything about the last two years or about our relationship (except, of course, to add to our family!) and I love my husband more and more every day. He may not be an overtly romantic man but the little things he does for me sure add up to show me how much he truly cares... He (almost always!) listens to me, he laughs when I need to be laughed at and comforts me when I'm upset, he lets me park in our garage even though he leaves the house i...

So Wednesday was a busy day baby-wise. I had a regular doctor's appointment. Am still on track weight-wise, etc. and Little Guy's heartbeat sounded great. He had the hiccups while we were listening to him which was pretty funny and super cute! I go back in two weeks and then I think I start going every week after that point... Also found out that the stabbing pain in my lower right abdomen every time I stand up and/or move is round ligament pain which is what I suspected. One of the wonderful side effects of pregnancy... And another one of those side effects that you really can't do anything about... Oh well, at least it's not hemorrhoids (knock on wood!) We had our third childbirth class on Wednesday night. We went over the stages of labor in more detail and then talked about the various options for controlling pain during labor. I've never in my life even CONSIDERED going all natural but I have to say that the epidural section totally freaked me out. I a...

...by all the love, affection, good wishes and presents Baby and I received this weekend at the baby shower... My mother organized the shower in my hometown at a local restaurant. Lots of family and friends were there and it was so wonderful to see everyone! Here's my dad and I before the shower... Here's my mom and I... Some of the guests: Here's the giant pile of presents: Some of the decor (my baby book and photos of Paul and I as babies): And a special cake my Aunt Cindi brought (which came home to Massachusetts with me for Paul to enjoy!): Here I am digging into the pile of presents which included a beautiful handmade blanket from my Aunt Pam: Super cute Ugg baby booties from cousin Ellen: A GIANT basket of goodies from my Aunt Cindi (which included a Yankees baseball rattle that Paul LOVES): A "Pack And Play" from my cousin Cathy and my cousin Andrea: A super cute handmade sweater from cousin Gayle: Baby necessities from cousin...

Well I have about 7.5 weeks to go (assuming the little guy comes on time and not late!)  And I just counted and only have 30 more days at work before my maternity leave starts! Here's the week 32 update: "By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds ( pick up a large jicama ) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth." Mmm.. jicama.. I love jicama :) I was in Pennsylvania this weekend for my baby shower which was fabulous!  Paul and I are completely overwhelmed by the number of gifts we received- it was truly over the top!  I'll have a special baby shower blog...

Funny funny stuff... McDonalds is opening their new "McCafes" up here in these parts and while I doubt that I'd stop at a McD's specifically for a latte (french fries, yes, latte?  hmm.. .), I'm finding their commercials to be pretty darn clever and wanted to share in case they're not being shown nationally yet... Here's "Hipsters":  And here's "Intellectuals":

Here's a picture of me at 6 months as well.. I think Paul still looks a LOT like his baby pictures but I'm not sure that I do....

Was scanning some of Paul's baby pics and thought I'd share this cute one with you!

Here's the 31 week (and a few days now!) update: "This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds ( try carrying four navel oranges ) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy." All I have to say about this weeks update is that they are right- he's moving a LOT.  Tons. All the time.  Non-stop.  When I'm awake, when I'm asleep (which is not often as I wake up every few hours), when I'm standing, sitting, lying down- he's ALWAYS MOVING.... I know this is a good thing but I really hope that it doesn't mean that we'll have a hyper-active baby who never sleeps!  Guess we'll f...

So I finally got around to uploading the pictures I took of the baby blanket I made to match our little guy's nursery.  I used Michael Miller's "Dick and Jane" fabric on the front and pieced in a strip of red with white polkadots on which I embroidered baby's name.  The back is blue and white ticking with a piece of the red and white polkadots pieced in as well.  I did wavy quilting stitches on the Dick and Jane portions and straight stitching on the red and white portion and bound the whole thing with white trim with red polkadots.. I think it turned out pretty well! Here are some pictures: The embroidery on the front- love my embroidery sewing machine! The front, back and binding... Front and back... Front of blanket.... Yesterday Paul's parents took us to BabiesRUs as they wanted to buy us the carseat for the baby... We chose the Chicco KeyFit 30 which gets great safety reviews... They purchased an extra base for it as well so that we can easily transf...

The definitions of many words, like effacement and dilation . That there's a fundus among us. That our instructor likes to be very dramatic in her description of labor (there was lots of heavy breathing, funny faces and squatting coming from the front of the room). That my husband winces quite visibly every time the word circumcision is used. That we all deserve a nice new pair of pajamas and slippers to wear at the hospital after we give birth. That finding parking at the hospital is pretty much impossible which is why they offer valet service (which we will be taking advantage of on labor day as I refuse to circle the parking lot for an hour OR be dropped off alone at the hospital door as my husband suggested). All in all the class was pretty good. The instructor is very enthusiastic which is nice since all of the students seem to be a bit on the freaked out side at this point. She explained the different stages of labor in ways that make it much less scary which was good. ...

Ok- I think I've finally got the blog set up pretty much the way I want it... Hope you all like the changes! Had a doctors appointment this morning. All is well! I only gained 3 lbs this time around (funny how getting heartburn every time you eat makes you eat less and gain less!) and am measuring right on track. They told me I'm slightly anemic so I get to take an iron supplement every other day- yum... I also have to start going to the doctor every two weeks now as we're getting towards the end- fun stuff! Paul and I start the childbirth classes tonight, hopefully all will go well and they won't freak us out too much with gory videos!