37 Weeks

Seriously?! 37 weeks?! That's a lot of weeks. Here's a picture from last week because we forgot to take one this weekend.

We're a bit distracted lately. Seriously. I have a hard time focusing and I'm blaming baby. I find that for cleaning, setting a timer for 25 or 30 minutes helps. Sadly, I discovered this after 3 unproductive hours of attempting to clean. Today has been pretty productive, but then I slept a lot last night. Maybe I just need more sleep, which is of course getting trickier because I keep waking up. I don't have to pee. The baby's not kicking. I just wake up. Actually, the past couple nights it might have just been our weather radio's fault. (We need to find the "Only Wake Me Up for Warnings" button because if I don't need to go to the basement, please just let me sleep.) The best sleep I've had I woke up to realize that *gasp!* I was lying on my back. (Don't worry, my midwife assures me that it happens and isn't a big deal if you sometimes sleep on your back because I don't have any risk factors that would make that extra dangerous. But should still be avoided. I didn't realize I was such a back sleeper until I realized you should avoid back sleeping during pregnancy.)

I think the impending baby is starting to take a toll on Lee's usually sharp mind as well. We left the house yesterday to run errands and we had decided it would be best to go to Fantastic Sams first and then Babies R Us. About a minute later, Lee is asking me the best way to get to Babies R Us and we are about 2 minutes from Babies R Us before we realized we were going to go to Fantastic Sams first. Not a big deal, but I had to rush through Babies R Us to learn that Fantastic Sams isn't open on Sundays. Lee thinks the order we took our errands turned out for the best, of course.

At least for now, I am loving washing the baby things and putting them away! I think this is about the only time I'll be able to say it so I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts.

Technically, Elizabeth could arrive anytime between the next 1-5 weeks. What bugs me about this is that I'm starting to outgrow a lot of things. (Oddly enough, the things that fit me best at this point are a pair of pre-pregnancy sweat pants, a pre-pregnancy skirt and Lee's T-shirts from high school.) If it's just going to be another week or two, I can tough it out. If I knew now that it would be a month, I'd probably pick up a couple things. Let's think positively and stretch my stretchy skirt as far as she'll go!

I think I've decided what my absolute least favorite baby comment is. So far this has only come from strange old men, which might make it better? Or worse. But the absolute worst comments are "You know how that happened, right?" and the similar "What'd you get into?" Umm...I know my fingers are swollen so I'm not wearing a ring and I hear I look younger than I am, but what do you want me to say?! Yes, I had intimate relations with my husband of two years?! We are 27/28-years-old and have a house and that's our only debt and we are happy, responsible, God-fearing people. I guess they think they're being funny but I really don't appreciate what they're implying. It's just rude. And creepy. And if I don't know you, there's no need to say anything at all. Seriously, is there any way to even respond to those comments?

Speaking of implying things, I realized that I went out the other day without my ring (because of the swelling) in Lee's high school t-shirt. That probably looked kind of sketchy.

Last week I got the best package in the mail: One of my friends had organized a long-distance library shower. She collected books from friends from California to DC and boxed them up and sent to me. It was the cutest thing ever. If you have a pregnant bookworm friend I highly recommend you do this for her right now.

I'm trying to decide the best way to preserve Elizabeth's first year. I'm kind of obsessed with this daily baby photo project and Elise's wedding album. I've narrowed it down to doing daily pictures, probably in our arm chair so there's a size reference. I bought a cute 8.5 x 11 binder to store the photos in. I want to a sentence or two with each picture about the day. Now, do I do all the layouts electronically and print them like Elise did or do I want to scrapbook it a bit more so where would be handwritten notes, which seem more personal? Thoughts? Also, if your in-laws got you an awesome photo session for a baby gift, would you want those photos taken really early on, or maybe a few months out when baby starts to smile? I guess you run the risk of baby not smiling on cue, but I think I would rather wait a couple months for fun facial expressions.

For someone with good dental hygiene, my gums are receding a bit more than me or my dentist would like. Apparently this could be caused by grinding my teeth or clenching my jaw a lot. I'm pretty sure I don't do either, and Lee says he hasn't noticed me doing any of that. Yet for the past few days, I have noticed myself clenching my jaw a lot. Is this pregnancy related or am I just losing my mind? I ask myself that about a lot of things lately.

I don't know if I the whole "I'm having a baby thing" just hasn't hit me yet, or I might actually be feeling pretty calm about labor. I hope it's the latter. My main goal is not to panic. As you learn in Bradley classes, fear causes tension which causes pain. So no fear for me, please. Wednesday I have my "almost baby time" appointment with my doula and I'm so excited about it. I think she's super cool and if anyone can take me from "not too scared" to "genuinely excited that I'm giving birth!!" it's her.

34 Weeks

When I'm home Zoey stays within 5 feet of me. Except for when she's sleeping in. Seriously. She will stay in bed for hours after I get up. She's actually in 80% of my bump photos, and normally I crop her out, but I left her in this time for added amusement.

I think my hormones have realigned a bit so I feel less grumpy which is awesome. I'm not a fan of being grumpy.

I watched Pregnant in America this weekend and was disappointed that there weren't as many births in it as The Business of Being Born, which I think is a sign of personal growth. I love watching how the mom's face instantly changes from all the tired frustrations of labor and pushing to the extreme, sublime joy of holding your baby. It makes me cry and reminds me that it's all worth it. (Both documentaries are excellent by the way and get a big thumbs up, but if nipples and crowning heads creep you out, you might want to stick with Pregnant in America.)

The dark nursery and baby craft fabric is in the laundry at the moment! Can't wait to start sewing!

I haven't asked about the estimated size of the baby and I don't plan on it. I'm not sure if my midwife will just tell me but I might ask her to not tell me. It's normally just a guess and if she says anything over 8 pounds it will make me unnecessarily nervous. If I can make it, I can get it out. At the 20 week ultrasound she was "normal" so that's all I need to know. I don't plan on finding out how dilated I am either, unless we're running far enough past my due date that we're starting to discuss induction. I do like to ask if she's head down though, and so far so good, to the best we can tell.

After some confusion, Elizabeth's middle name will be Anne. Someone asked the other day, Lee and I exchanged looks, and Lee answered Anne. Problem solved.

I picked up some cloth diapers the other day and some fabric to make cloth wipes with. I'm so excited about them! I just got 15 prefolds and 2 covers (a Flip and Econobum) since a friend might have some I can have and I've heard that different brands work better for different babies depending on leg chunkiness and potty habits so I'll wait a bit before we commit. I think I definitely want to stick with prefolds though because they're so deliciously cheap. And look at these cover options! OMG the cute!

I haven't worn my wedding ring for a couple days. I was just taking it off when I go for walks because the exertion makes my hands swell, but I had trouble getting it off the other morning when I was getting ready for church and since then I've left it off. I'm paranoid about it getting stuck, but I miss it. Maybe I'm being too paranoid about it?

32 Weeks

We are getting increasingly lazy about taking weekly pictures...or biweekly pictures for that matter. It doesn't help that I'm spending more time in sweat pants. So here's Lee and I at a wedding this past weekend! (Confession: I've always been a bit anal about the separation of brown and black. This is the only thing I have ever disagreed with Stacy and Clinton on. It even goes so far that I regret not wearing my hair up at the wedding because I hate the way my brown hair looks when it's down against a black top. Note: Khaki and camel go lovely with black.)

I'm getting tired of being pregnant. It's not that I'm that uncomfortable, I just miss my normal clothes. This sounds shallow and vain and horrid but, I miss skinny me. I don't like not being able to run or eat raw fish or drink too much wine. Recently at a bachelorette party a dear friend had no one to do tequila shots with her and I totally would have! What a tragedy! I'm tired of the extra attention. I'm tired of strangers touching me. I felt the same way toward the end of our engagement: I just want life to go back to normal again. And I know things are never going to be "normal" again, but I'm ready for the new normal.

At this point my biggest fear of birth (and Lee's) is me being afraid of birth and dissolving into a state of panic. So far though I think my fears are staying reasonably low. As suspected, I'm still more afraid of needles than actually pushing out a tiny human, which I think is a good sign.

We have a pediatrician! (We actually have two since we're giving birth in an Indiana hospital and our Louisville pediatrician can't go to Indiana for the in-hospital things they do.)

I have fabric for the nursery! Finally! There are many important baby decisions to make, and I'm sorry to admit that this is the decision I devoted the most brain power to. I should probably save my apologies for Elizabeth. Pictures and more details on all those plans will hopefully come around next week.

Baby shower 1 of 2 is this weekend and I'm super excited. It's actually a shower for me and one of my oldest friends hosted by two of our other oldest friends. There's something quite wonderful about knowing someone since kindergarten and still being a part of each other's lives over 20 years later. One of the hosts has a 1-year-old and I remember meeting him and thinking, "I first met his mom when she was closer to his age than our current age." which just seems crazy. In four years there will be a kindergartener running around whose mom I played with in kindergarten. Crazy. Awesome, but crazy.

I joined the Louisville Mommies forum yesterday. Part of me feels like a total dork, but all of me knows that it's important to know other moms in the area. Or at least that's what I gather from friends who have lamented not having other mom friends.

Friday I hit the 33-week mark, which means we are definitely in the single digits for weeks remaining! Wow.

28 Weeks

Hello, Third Trimester!

Some think this sounds morbid, but honestly: I'm relieved to know that if for some reason I went in to labor right now, Elizabeth would very likely survive thanks to modern technology and NICUs. I'd infinitely prefer she stay where she is for another 12 weeks, but it's a small comfort. Like making it through your first semester and knowing you have a much lower miscarriage rate.

Apparently, Lee and I both thought Elizabeth's middle name was going to be something different. I thought we had decided on Anne; Lee thought we had decided on Jane. Now we're open for debate again. Thoughts? I'm not sure if Vince Gill's song Liza Jane helps or hurts my affection for Jane. I also thinking naming my daughter after my favorite fictional character and author seems  a little much for one name. Of course I also adore Anne Elliott so the alternative is naming her after two of my favorite fictional characters. I have long considered Anne as a potential name though, before I knew and loved Anne Elliott, so does that make it less weird? In college I made calls to high school students encouraging them to come to Centre, and one girl I called was totally named Elizabeth Bennet LastName. It could be a family name, or maybe her mom and I should be friends.

Lee finally felt Elizabeth move. It was exciting.

I have my glucose test this week and I handled the blood work portion like a champ, meaning that I did not make Lee speak to me in his squeaky voice. He did have to sit right next to me though and I squeezed his hand.

I was kind of getting tired of reading birth books, even though I've only read 1.25, but I think I'm going to power through them. The more I can hype myself up mentally for this birth thing, the better. Lee and I agree that the only thing between me and my happy fuzzy image of a natural birth is my tendency to panic. I'm so good at panicking. I really do believe birth is largely mental so I will indoctrinate myself with everything (ish) Ina May ever wrote. (And yes I know that birth is unpredictable and the only thing that matters is that we all leave the hospital alive, but I also think it's important to have goals and plans for accomplishing large feats, like helping my tiny human out of my belly and into my arms for snuggles. Very much looking forward to snuggles.)

I have been consuming a ridiculous amount of candy and root beer floats lately. This prompts the following conversation with myself:
- You really shouldn't be eating all this candy.
- What Elizabeth wants, Elizabeth gets.
- You know you would never actually give Elizabeth this much candy.
Then I nom away anyway.

The nursery color scheme thoughts that have been floating in my head were finally starting to form into a solid plan...until Joann's sold out of my favorite yellow fabric. I'm hoping the room will be decorated by the time she's five. Basically we're looking at pink/yellow, teal/yellow or teal/pink.

I painted my nails last night for what is probably the last time before baby. I could barely reach my toes. Lee has been informed he might have to take over the feet grooming for awhile. I can't remember if I've told him he's also going to have to start bathing Zoey and scrubbing the bath tub because leaning over the tub is unpleasant. Hmm... Maybe he'll think of bathing Zoey as a form of torture and enjoy it.

Slightly-baby related news: I've been wanting to improve my photography skills for sometime but really haven't. I have oodles of online tutorials and articles bookmarked for me to read and study but I still haven't sat down to do it. So I signed up for a one-day, four-hour class at a local camera shop. It's not until June 25 so just in time for me to be ready to take oodles and oodles of baby pictures. (I kind of want to do a photo series like this one.)

 

25 Weeks

We're over halfway through the pregnancy which is all kinds of exciting and horrifying at the same time!

I definitely look pregnant now which is fun. I'm not too big, but just big enough to definitely not look fat or bloated.

Our last Bradley class is this Thursday, which is bittersweet. I'll miss class, but our teacher said I could come sit in on the next round of classes up until birth if I want to. I'm kind of wishing we had waited for the next round of classes but I was afraid I might go into labor before they were over. Now I'm afraid I'm going to forget everything by July. I'm sure it will all be fine, and our Bradley teacher is also our doula so all the knowledge will be right there with us.

I've started to feel Elizabeth move daily which is wonderful! After months of always wondering if she was still in there and doing okay, I love the reminders that's she's alive and well. Lee hasn't been able to feel her move yet but that should happen in the next few weeks.

We survived registering this weekend! It was fun but by the end of it we were both exhausted. I think we got to Target around 3:30 and left Babies R Us around 7. There were some follow-up hours of my questioning our decisions once we got home, but overall the day was a success.

All this March Madness has been rather stressful for me so I don't know how much Elizabeth has picked up on that. Lee has wisely recommended that jumping isn't the best way for me to express my joy at the moment so I've started bouncing a bit in place with my feet always on the ground. Or just biting my fist while fighting back tears of joy. FINAL FOUR!!!!!!!!

I have about seven fabric swatches lying around from which I hope to pick the fabric for the curtains, bumper and crib skirt. I think it's going to be pink and yellow in the end, although I'm not ready to commit 100%. There are still some blue and peach possibilities floating around.

Our next midwife appointment is Thursday. Yay for hearing Elizabeth's heart beat!

 

 

It's a Girl!!

Like so many other things, it began in November 1998 when I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time. My love for Jane Austen, which began the previous year after reading Sense and Sensibility, was confirmed. I fell for Mr. Darcy, his breeches, his beautiful estate and his broodingly delicious combination of arrogance and gentleness. And I fell in love with Elizabeth Bennet. She is my favorite of the Austen heroines. She is funny and smart, a winning combination that no other Austen heroine repeats. And at some point in all this falling in love, I knew when I had a daughter of my own, she would be Elizabeth.

Maybe it's because I'm such a girlie girl. Maybe it's because I've had my daughter named for over a decade and things seem so much more real once they're named. But I hoped that this baby would be a girl and I am so excited that she is. As I often reminded Lee, you can still have Nerf fights and throw footballs with Elizabeth, but I can't paint our son's toenails or put him in dresses. Well, at least I probably shouldn't. ;)

So after years of thinking about her and planning for her and hoping for her, in July I'll get to hold my Elizabeth. In the meantime, I felt the need to compile a brief list of some of the main reasons I love the name Elizabeth.

19 Weeks

We are days away from the half-way mark and everything is going lovely. I think I'm finally getting that second trimester energy burst and I'm feeling increasingly confident about pregnancy, birth and afterward.

We've made a few big-ish decisions since the 16 weeks' update. We have started Bradley classes, had our first midwife appointment, and have a doula. We LOVE our midwife and our doula and I couldn't feel better about it (especially after watching The Business of Being Born, where the only thing more frightening than the statistics is the nudity. I totally support their choice to be nude, but I definitely saw some things I would like to unsee.) We're really enjoying our Bradley classes, even Lee. Watching Lee get into the birth stuff is freakin' adorable. Almost as adorable as tiny baby clothes.

I have felt sporadic baby movements but nothing consistent. Nurse said it could be up to 24 weeks before I feel them so I'm not too worried.

We'll be finding out gender on March 1. While I had been feeling neutral, I'm increasingly hoping this is a girl. I picked up Lee's almost-14-year-old sister's birthday present tonight and came home gushing about its girly awesomeness and features and Lee said, "You really need a little girl." So true. If we find out it's a boy, I will probably have to buy some argyle and stare at Lee's baby pictures to cheer me up. (Lee was the cutest baby ever. Evidence below.)



(Of course I will totally love our baby whether boy, girl or some complicated third option. I'm just really girly and have a thing for little girls in the most appropriate and socially acceptable way possible.)

I picked up an avocado and cucumber roll from Whole Foods this weekend hoping it would stem my constant ache for sushi, but I think it only increased my hunger. Le sigh.

I got my first random inquiry from a stranger regarding my due date which I'm thrilled about. I don't mind looking pregnant since I am, but it makes me sad to think I just look pudgy.

Only 21-ish more weeks to go!

January Loves (and Loves Nots)

+ WordPress and their magical ability to reply to comments.

+ Watching all three seasons of Arrested Development for the second time.

+ Designing my first website. Which will hopefully be live here someday soon. Like by March?

+ Michael Scott met David Brent and it was perfection.

+ Buy one get one half off maternity jeans.

+ A trip to Guadi's. (Guadi's is the Mexican restaurant where I went to college and I'm obsessed with it. This is largely emotional, but the food is also tasty.)

Not so much love for:

+ Snow.

+ Winter.

+ Cold.

+ The American. (The movie with George Clooney. In general I really like Americans, but The American wasn't worth the $1.06 from Redbox. Boy agrees.)

The First 16 Weeks

Last Friday marked 16 weeks of pregnancy! Since it was an Internet secret until last week, here's what's been happening...

We weren't trying to get pregnant necessarily, but we weren't not trying to get pregnant. So while there was a good amount of shock that it actually happened, it wasn't that surprising when the pee stick said "pregnant" on October 30.

Much to my joy, when I called to schedule a doctor's appointment, they said they could get me in the next week, which was only 5 weeks. I was still unsure when I wanted to start telling people but after the appointment it seemed time to notify immediate family. That and I knew I wanted everyone to know by Thanksgiving because I hate big announcements like that, no matter how happy.

We just kind of showed up at our parents' houses and told them. It was fairly anti-climatic. They kind of guessed what was coming since we just showed up out of the blue. Especially my parents, since we drove two hours to see them on a Monday night. Everyone is ridiculously excited, sometimes overwhelmingly so. Nugget (better than "it" until we find out gender) will be everyone's first grandchild and 3/4 of our grandparents' first great-grandchild. And for my grandma who already has great-grandkids, this will be the first one in-state.

I felt perpetually a little nauseous for about two weeks around Thanksgiving (Fortunately that didn't keep me from eating turkey. I just had to keep eating the saltines between turkeys.), but have been doing mostly okay since then. I'm still prone to more nausea than pre-pregnancy, but am fine most of the time. I've only vomited twice so I consider than I win. And only 1 really bad headache, but those are becoming the more predominant situation.

Considering I've always been prone to sporadic food cravings, I'm not sure how much of this is pregnancy or just me being me, but in the past few days I've wanted a lot of peppercinis. I have also longed for Panera's Greek salad (with Parmesan instead of feta) and French onion soup. Tragically, I have a huge, unsatisfiable (for another 6 months) longing for Dragon King's Daughter Sushi and the Banshee roll (cream cheese, garlic, avocado, salmon and basil outside). In the meantime I'll have to settle for some cooked sushi, but it's not the same. I've already checked with my doctor that I can eat raw fish while breastfeeding and I might make Lee stop and pick us up some on the way home from the hospital. Unless anyone wants to bring me some to the hospital, which means I will love you second best, right after Nugget.

Yes we will find out the sex of the baby in about another month. Elizabeth (possibly Elizabeth Ann) for a girl (This has been my plan since 1998 when I read Pride and Prejudice the first time.) and Albert Lee Earley V for a boy. We're still debating what we want to call Albert, so if you have any good nicknames, do share. We would go with Albie, but Albie Earley is just too cruel. Especially since if he takes after his father, he'll be genetically disposed to be late. Hal is currently in the lead.

Hmm...am I leaving anything out? I currently have no "feeling" about if we're having a boy or girl, and while I've always really wanted a girl, lately find I don't care as much. Oddly enough, I have the boy nursery idea much better planned out (light blue, red and white nautical theme) than the girl nursery (Peach and gray? Pink and yellow? Paris? Purple and gray? Tea party? Flowers?) I will hopefully breastfeed (unless it proves physically impossible) and want to cloth diaper. I've decided to switch from an OB to a Certified Nurse Midwife (still giving birth in a hospital!) since I'm hoping to do this with as few medical interventions as possible. I'm still debating on if I want to take Bradley or Lamaze classes and I'll picking a doula soon.

It looks like I shrunk back down some. Is that possible?

Yay for finally sharing all of that! Feel free to share any advice (Especially on products. Is an Ergo truly the superior toting device? What's a good breast pump/car seat/crib/stroller?) and let me know if there's anything else you're curious about!