Still Hanging in There

With 1 week and 6 days to go I am still hanging in there. Last week was my first week off of work and I spent it relaxing and doing some things around the house. I washed all of Anabelle's newborn size clothes, blankets, sheets, burp clothes, and towels so that they are all ready for her when she gets home. It's funny everything is so small, you can fit it all into 1-2 loads. I'll enjoy that while I can, I know it won't stay that way for long. I also spent a lot of time cooking meals and freezing them so that we would have lots of things to heat up after the baby comes when I don't feel like cooking.
On Tuesday John and I had a little bar-b-que and went to the Cubs game with friends Phil and Liz. It was a nice night even though the Cubs got beat pretty badly, the weather was beautiful and we had fun.
Thursday, John's work threw us a baby shower, it was very nice. I had never been to John's work, and had only met a few of his coworkers, so it was nice to see where he spends his day and meet everyone. He has an awesome view of the city from his desk, but sitting there for even a few minutes made me realize I could never have a desk job. Everyone at his work was very sweet and generous and we received lots of things for the baby.
Thursday night we had part 2 of our Caring for Newborns class, this time was spent having a question and answer session with a pediatrician and a pediatric dentist. It was very informative and useful. Among many things, we learned that we will have to get a general flu shot and a swine flu shot this year so that we don't pass any germs along to Anabelle, who is too young to get vaccinated. It seems they are taking the threat of swine flu and newborns seriously, so don't be offended when we ask you to wash your hands before you touch our new baby =)
Friday, my mom came over to spend the day with me. She brought over a lot of clothes that I wore as a baby, it's nice that she kept them all of these years. There were some really cute things for Anabelle to wear, as well as some classic ugly 70s outfits that I won't subject her to. Mom and I also did a little shopping at Babies R Us, picking up the few remaining items that we needed. It was a fun and productive day.
Friday night John and I enjoyed a date night, going to dinner and a movie. We saw Taking Woodstock, which was good but didn't really meet our expectations. It did make me think about all of the little children whose parents took them to Woodstock; crazy, but fun!
Saturday Becky and Lexi came over to entertain me while John spent some time with the guys. We were extraordinarily lazy and had a movie marathon, and ordered dinner in. It reminded me of our sleepovers in high school.
Today John and I woke up and went to brunch at our favorite place and then spent a good part of the day at our final class in preparation for the baby, Breastfeeding 101. Both John and I had low expectations, but we were pleasantly surprised when we found most of the material helpful and relevant. Finally -we are done with classes!! I guess it's okay for Anabelle to come now =)
Overall, I am still feeling pretty good, my doctors visit on Wednesday was uneventful. My feet are definitely more swollen now, and I am pretty much uncomfortable most of the time-but that is to be expected. I'll be seeing the doctor again on Thursday.
Not much else going on here, just playing the waiting game. I'll keep you posted with any new events. Have a great week!

3 Weeks to Go!

Well we are into the final stretch, at 37 weeks Anabelle is officially considered full term and if born now would be fully developed. Things continue to go well here, last weekend John and I had Lamaze class. It was quite long Saturday 9-4, and then Sunday 9-2; but overall we found it to be pretty informative and helpful. This class was not your traditional Lamaze class, while they did give lots of info on the breathing and “natural” approach to childbirth; they also provided lots of info on pain medications and interventions that can be provided during childbirth. It was definitely a very comprehensive look at all of the options available to you, and therefore helpful. We also got a tour of the hospital, which happens to be about 3 blocks from our condo. The set up is very nice, with private rooms for labor/delivery and recovery. In my recovery room there is even a bed for John so he can stay with me and the baby. The baby can “room-in” which means that they sleep in the same room, and only go to the nursery for things like a bath, check-ups, or shots. Overall, I am very pleased with what the hospital stay is projected to be like.

After our class I came home and started to feel some false contractions or Braxton Hicks, I have to say I don’t like the term “false contractions” they are not false-they hurt. I’m not saying it was that bad and I know it will get much worse, but still they are painful. So I had these for a few days off and on. Then on Wednesday I had a doctor’s appointment and told her about how I had been feeling. She decided to take a look and discovered that I was already 70% effaced and 3 centimeters dilated. For those that don’t know; effacement is the thinning of the cervix-you have to get to 100%, dilatation is the opening of the cervix-you have to get to 10. So while this is a good start, I could be at 3 centimeters for quite a while. My next doctor’s appointment is Wednesday, so I will keep you posted.

This past Thursday we had Caring for Newborns class, which was pretty useless. Topics covered were, bathing a newborn, diapering, swaddling, and signs of illness. I assumed there would be more to it than common sense, but really it is all common sense. I guess it is always good to get a refresher and maybe it was a little useful for John, but I would have rather stayed home. Part 2 of the class this Thursday is a question and answer session with a pediatrician- I am hopeful that it will be more useful.

This Friday was my last day of work, while I am glad to have time off, it was sad to leave. The kids were adorable, of course; with lots of hugs, questions about the baby, patting my belly and “I’ll miss you’s”. I am hoping to stay off of work till the 1st of the year, and then work only part-time. Probably not at Loyola preschool anymore, they don’t really have part-time positions, so we’ll have to see what I end up doing. For the next 4 months I’ll be getting used to a different kind of job =)

In preparation for Anabelle, John installed the car seat today. It was strange driving around town today with a car seat. We kept looking at our car thinking it wasn’t ours. That task was one of the final things to be done, we are as ready as you can be.

This week I will hopefully enjoy some days sleeping in, and relaxing.

6 Weeks to Go!

Things are rolling right along here in the Delaney House, with only 6 weeks left we are really starting to feel like we are getting close. Overall, I have been feeling pretty well. I did start having a hard time sleeping this past week, which lead John and I to take a trip to Babies R Us and purchase a body pillow. I slept with it last night and I was much more comfortable. Although the thing is huge and sometimes you feel like you are all tangled up. One web review said of it “Rolling over is like wrestling with a giant worm!” I have to say that is a pretty accurate assessment.

Over the last few weeks we have been busy as usual. We had our last baby-free airplane ride the second week of July when we flew to Kansas City to attend the wedding of our friends Curtis and Erica. Marena and Adam hosted us while we were in town and we really had a great weekend. Marena and I learned that our men will never stop thinking that they can still party like the 19 year old college roomies that they once were!

On July 18th we had the baby shower at our place, I had a really great time! Of course I know I have great friends, and they proved me right by throwing me a beautiful shower. Thanks so much to Marena, Becky, Lexi, Jess, Darcy, Stephanie, and my mom! We spent the day chatting with friends and family, munching on yummy food, and oohing and ahhing over adorable baby gifts. Special thanks to Marena and Bonnie for both traveling from so far to share in the fun! After the shower Marena was nice enough to help me unpack all the gifts and organize the nursery, a big help and it looks great.

The following week John and I went to Wrigley Field to see Elton John and Billy Joel in concert. I have long been a fan of Billy Joel and have gone to a few of his concerts already, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see him with Elton John at Wrigley. It was neat to see them in that setting, however I was not very impressed with Elton John. He really doesn’t put on an exciting show, meaning he doesn’t talk to the crowd at all, and just sits at the piano and sings each song. Of course Billy Joel tells stories, talks to the crowd and dances around. While I liked hearing the Elton John songs, I also felt that when they sang duets I’d rather just hear the original artist sing the song. If you are a diehard fan, you don’t want to hear Elton John singing your favorite Billy Joel songs. All in all, it was a great show and I enjoyed it. I’m glad we went, with Billy Joel getting older it’s hard to know how much longer he’ll tour and with a baby on the way it’s hard to know if we’ll ever be able to afford a concert again =)

I also had a doctors appointment that week, everything went well as usual. The dr informed me that I am right on schedule for delivering Sept 12th which he claimed he almost never says.

The next weekend I went to my last of 4 Cubs games for the year, unless John and I decide to go to another one spur of the moment. It was great weather and they won, what more can you ask for? That night was spent at a friends 30th birthday party-honestly we have been to about 30 of these by now. It was a fun night spent catching up with friends at a nice outdoor beer garden. I am realizing how few of these fun nights out we have left before Anabelle comes, and trying to make the most of them.

This past weekend John and I didn’t have much to do so we decided to head out to Ikea and pick up the dresser/changing table that my parents got for us for the nursery. Of course you can never go to Ikea and buy just one thing, so we also ended up with 2 new rugs, one for our bedroom and one for Anabelle’s bedroom. John spent the rest of the day assembling the dresser and then we put everything in its place. The room looks great, and really feels like a little girls room, now we just need our little girl.

In other news I have about 3 weeks left of work before I am on maternity leave, I am taking some time off before the baby comes. I am definitely looking forward to the time off. The preschoolers I teach are pretty funny, by now they are very aware that I am pregnant, and they like to pretend that they are too. I also get lots of great questions. The other day a little girl in the next class over asked me, “Why is your tummy so big?” I responded, “Because I have a baby in there.” In a second, before I could stop her she was pulling the neck of my shirt out and peering down my shirt saying “In there? Where?” Like I was hiding a baby under my shirt, kids are so literal- I love it!

This week I am taking Tuesday off of work to have a fun shopping day with my mom, and later in the week I have another doctors appointment. Then on the weekend John and I are going to a musical (Spring Awakening) on Friday and Saturday to the Wisconsin State Fair-I can’t wait to have some corn and cream puffs!