All posts by timewellspent

Baby

Today's Checkup

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For the next several weeks, Joe and I are seeing the doctor every two weeks instead of once a month. This morning, the doctor listened to his heartbeat (nice and strong!) and felt around to see where his head is. Turns out he’s in a transverse position (sideways, instead of upside-down or right-side-up):

This makes sense, because I’ve been feeling lots of kicks on my left and occasional fluttery fingers on my right. Last night I was lying on my right side, with the TV remote resting on the left side of my belly. Joe began vigorously kicking, making the remote rock back and forth and wobble up and down. Patrick could see it from across the room!

I also learned from the nurse that I’ve gained a whopping 40 pounds, so I was prepared for a lecture from the doctor. (My mother still recalls the talking-to she got from her doctor at this stage of pregnancy — she went on to have my 11-pound sister, so the joke was on him!) Anyway, my doctor said she wasn’t worried about it and that I’d be surprised how much of it comes off as water weight after the birth. She’d be more concerned if I weren’t gaining enough weight. No chance of that!

Baby, Family, Friends

Shower!

This weekend my friend Alecia flew down from Boston and threw me a lovely baby shower in Fayetteville. The room was full of women I love and admire, some of whom I’ve known since I was a baby myself! (My mom pointed out the wide age range of the group, too — there were women there in their 20s, 30s, 40s … on up through their 80s!)

(From L-R: Anne, who was our neighbor and regular babysitter when we first moved to Fayetteville in the ’70s; me; my sister, Amy; and Laura, Anne’s daughter)

Aside from a huge haul of amazing gifts (Joe is pretty much set now!) we also had a yummy lunch and a delicious buttercream cake.

My only regret? In all the activity and picture-taking, I didn’t get ONE SINGLE SHOT of Alecia and me together. Alecia, please return immediately so we can fix this.

The rest of the photos are on our Flickr account!

Baby, Home

I-I-Ikea

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We had an exhausting day. Just getting through Ikea is a feat unto itself (although I never get tired of looking around there). We found a dresser that will serve as Joe’s changing table and an armoire to hold all his hanging clothes.

 

The traffic on the way home was madness, and we ended up taking not-so-shortcuts through Fredericksburg to get home. Patrick put together the crib and the dresser, but we’ve got some rearranging to do before the armoire gets put together — there’s no room left! We may have to get rid of either a bookshelf or the bed to accommodate everything. The room has four doors (yes, four!) and two windows, which makes it really hard to place furniture.

We got a package in the mail from Natalie, a friend who lives in Tennessee. I have known Natalie since we passed notes in Mr. Eldridge’s 8th grade N.C. History class. (Our other partner in crime from that class, Lisa, is now a comedy writer with “Arrested Development” among her credits. Crazy!) Anyway, in the package was a sweet little outfit for Joe — and Pee Pee Tee Pees! Those will be going right next to the changing table …

Baby

Favorite Kids' Books?

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Did you have a favorite book as a child? I’m starting to build a little library for Joe and I want suggestions. Scroll down to the comments and let me know!

Here are mine. I’ve already gotten some of them and I’m keeping an eye out for the others.

Baby, Family, Home, Products

Christmas in March!

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I swear, every day this week there has been a package waiting for us on the porch. First came the Britax marathon baby seat from Patrick’s folks:

It’s nice and roomy, which is great because now you have to keep your kids in safety seats right up through, oh, 11th grade or so. We almost put Lola in it for a test drive — that’s how big it is!

Next came a crib mattress and bedding from my folks — we were eager to get these so that when we put Patrick puts the crib together, we can get the whole thing all dressed up and ready to go.

Today we got another package from Patrick’s parents. In it was a snuggly baby carrier and a mirror we can put in the car to keep an eye on Joe while he snoozes in his little throne.

Last night was our last Confident Childbirth class. We almost made it through without laughing, but at the end we did this exercise where you have to clutch ice in your hand (ow!) and breathe through the pain. I was leaning against Patrick and hee-hee-hooing when he chastised me for not looking at my focal point. It won’t be as funny during the real event!

We might sign up for infant CPR or one of the basic baby care classes next. If I can get a photo of Patrick changing some doll’s diaper, you will see it here!

I visited MCV today. The midwives were lovely, but I don’t think that’s the place for Joe to be born. So St. Francis it is. My doctor has gotten a lot less nervous about the natural plan, so I’m feeling better about that.

This weekend, we’re off to Ikea to find some baby furniture. Joe’s room is looking a little bit like a warehouse now, with boxes and boxes of stuff but nowhere to put it all when we unpack it. If we can come home with a little armoire and a dresser/changing table, we’ll be almost finished!

Baby, Home

Stuff

Here are some things I forgot to mention in that last post:

We ordered Joe’s crib! It was marked down to 1/2 off, AND we got free shipping. Plus it was getting rave reviews from other people who had purchased it. (And yes, Amy, it has the hidden hardware to protect his little fingers.)

 

I have to tell you about my new favorite cereal. Fiber One (also known as “Colon Blow”) has been my cereal of choice for a while now. They make a raisin bran that is tasty and filling but not something you spend your work hours daydreaming about. However, they just came out with a caramel-flavored cereal that is SO YUMMY! It still has something like 35% of the RDA for fiber, but it tastes like cookies. Go get a free sample!

 

We got a DVR! My sister and several of our friends swore that it would change our lives. I wouldn’t go that far, but I will say that we haven’t missed a single episode of our favorite shows and we don’t have to rush home to see them anymore. Plus we can zip right through commercials! I am now all caught up on “Project Runway,” and Patrick has filled up about 1/2 the memory with old movies that he may someday get around to watching.

Tonight is our third “Confident Childbirth” class. We’ll see if we can get through this one without laughing!

Baby, Friends, Home

27 Weeks Down, 13 To Go …

To look at me, you’d think I was due any day now. I can’t imagine how much bigger I’m going to get!

[rockyou id=103850798]

Last week we hired a doula to attend the birth. Her name is Cynthia and she put us right at ease. (Her hobby is going to estate sales and junk shops, and then re-selling what she finds — so right away, we had lots to talk about!) She had her own six children naturally, and helped her daughters bring four of their kids into the world naturally, so she knows what she’s talking about.

But she’s not a stickler for the natural way. If you need pain relief, she’ll help make sure you get it. And if you need a C-section, she can come into the OR with you and tell you everything that’s happening. The key word there is need — if someone comes after me with a needle or a scalpel, I want to know that I did everything I could to avoid it.

When my sister gave birth three years ago, we thought that having a doula was one of those self-indulgent things only my sister would do. But when her very level-headed, no-frills husband said it was great to have one, we thought there might be something to it. In my reading, I found that having a doula at the birth dramatically decreases your chances of having a C-section, so that’s when we started the search. I think it will be nice for both of us “newbies” to have someone on hand who can reassure us that everything is normal.

The next order of business may be to switch practitioners, and possibly even hospitals. My doctor seems resistant to the natural childbirth idea, and if she doesn’t ease up soon then we’re thinking a midwife might be the better option. The only midwives our insurance will cover are at MCV, which is a perfectly good hospital but not as posh as the lovely St. Francis. (One cool thing about MCV: You can see it from I-95 as you pass the big clock tower in Richmond, so it could be an important landmark on family trips. “Look, Joe … that’s where you were born!”)

More on that as it unfolds!

The Van Halen concert we had tickets for was canceled on Friday night, so we stayed home instead. On Saturday, our friend Mike came into town. We went shopping and Mike picked up a sweet new outfit for Joe. On Sunday, Patrick did some chores around the house while Mike and I met Lisa for a lovely brunch at Lulu’s.

Oh, we got a lovely movie on NetFlix a few weeks ago: Once is about a Dublin street musician and a Czech girl he meets and begins to perform with. The music was so pretty and catchy. I think one of the songs won an Oscar last night?

Baby, Family, Home

Mending Fences

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We had a full day of really high winds last weekend, and came home from the grocery store to find that the privacy fence on one side of our yard had blown down! We never did figure out whether the fence belonged to us or the rental property next door but it came down to this: If it was theirs, the landlord wasn’t going to fix or replace it, and if it was ours, we’d have to pay a $1,000 deductible to repair it under our homeowners policy. Patrick figured he could do it himself for less than half that, so that was his weekend project.

As you can see, the whole thing was pretty gross and rotted, so he kicked it all into the neighbors’ yard and started from scratch. Look at the finished product, a day and a half later!

(Please excuse the messy yard. Between water restrictions and pregnancy, it’s been pretty neglected for the past few months!)

Lola is so happy to have her fence back. She was on the leash for a while there, and not happy about it.

We did get down to Fayetteville for a day to celebrate Dixon’s 3rd birthday. He had a party at Jumping Time, which is a big warehouse full of those inflatable bouncy house things. Patrick had as much fun as anyone — we might have to do his birthday there as well …

In other news, Joe has been a little kickin’ chicken for the past few days! He may be developing into a morning person (God help us) — yesterday morning he did a whole dance routine in there, complete with high kicks. It never ceases to amaze me. Some days I sit on the couch with my shirt pulled up, just watching these little pokes pop up all over my belly.

We started our confident childbirth class last week. We learned about stages of labor and various positions for dealing with the pain. At the end of the class, we all had to lie on the floor and do this guided imagery thing where we were supposed to imagine ourselves on a beach with the waves crashing and just relaaaaax … It didn’t work. We got the giggles so bad that I thought we might be asked to leave! We have three classes to go, including a tour of the birthing center. Fun!

Patrick has started a blog on Joe’s behalf. (http://www.joetremblay.com) He’s only got a few posts up, but you may want to bookmark it for future reference. Enjoy!