nesting like crazy!

i've been slow on posting again due to migraines... i'm hoping that they'll be better tomorrow.

just wanted to update this blog with my current state of mind -- i'm nesting like you wouldn't believe. yes, i can seem to do nothing except worry about finishing this home for baby block. which means that poor dave has been dragged back and forth to ikea and home depot several times now, just to satisfy my need to finish our place RIGHT NOW!

=)

we recently put together everything for my office part of the office/nursery, including my new desk. we also purchased the bookshelves for the library, the bookshelf for the bedroom, the chest of drawers for the baby, the chest for between the bookshelves, and fabric for a chair we need recovered. dave has put together a lot of ikea furniture by now! and i lent a hand myself, by finishing the drawers on the highboy chest yesterday. it's all very exciting.

tomorrow or the next day i'll take some photos to post on here. i'm also going to buy buy baby tomorrow with grandma maria to purchase the crib for baby block. i'll bring my camera with and post photos of the crib in the showroom.

26 weeks -- baby block is an... english hothouse cucumber?

ok. this is awfully specific! i've never even heard of this cucumber. LOL

from babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing:
The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

See what your baby looks like this week.

private birthing classes -- we're so priveleged!

yes, we do get private birthing classes. a midwife comes to our home and gives us all the information we need on the labor process. these sessions will be had as many times as we want until the birth of our child. and this midwife is available to answer all our questions by phone or email anytime.

and the best part? this midwife is our lovely friend kira, and she's simply doing it out of the goodness of her heart.

kira came over on saturday to hang out with us. she spent about 3 or 4 hours going through all the basic labor information -- stages of labor, drug/epidural options, birthing positions, etc. she explained what equipment would be used and what it meant. and she told us what they as midwives/doctors look for from the readouts that may alert them to the good or bad in the process. it was so helpful, and so nice to have it be in our home with our friend.

i have to do my part in reading up on techniques and positions, and then we'll talk to her again with more specific questions.

we were going to take a birthing class, but honestly this is all i wanted out of it -- the information i need to make decisions about what i do or do not want. i'm fully aware that i'm not in control that day, but the baby... but i do want to know the difference in all the treatments and options.

thank you kira!!! we can't tell you how much we appreciate your time and advice (especially on your day off).

welcome to the world, abigail sarah!

our friends shaun and sarah just welcomed into the world their beautiful baby girl, abigail sarah. she's so adorable!


congrats on your 2nd gorgeous kid, you guys.

25 weeks -- baby block is a rutabaga

they're really fishing now...

from babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing
Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

See what's going on in your uterus this week.

How your life's changing
Your baby's not the only one with more hair — your locks may look more full and lustrous than ever. It's not that you're growing more hair, but thanks to hormonal changes, the hair that you'd normally shed is sticking around longer than usual. Enjoy the fullness while you can — the extra hair will fall out after you give birth.

You may also notice that you can't move around as gracefully as before. Unless your caregiver has advised you otherwise, it's fine to continue to exercise, but follow a few safety rules: Don't work out when you're feeling overly tired and stop if you feel any pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath. Don't lie flat on your back and avoid contact sports as well as any exercise where you're apt to lose your balance. Be sure to drink plenty of water, and make time for both warm-up and cool-down periods.

When you have your glucose-screening test at 24 to 28 weeks, a second tube of blood may be taken at the same time to check for anemia. If blood tests show that you have iron-deficiency anemia (the most common type of anemia), your caregiver will probably recommend that you take an iron supplement.

funny ad from days of yore

how funny is this ad? why in the world would your child NEED caffeine and sugar? like people really need their babies to be more wired and awake? ha!

found on strollerderby.

a note from mopez

my friend meredith sent this to me yesterday from her soon-to-be-born baby boy, who we affectionately refer to as mopez.

Dear Baby Block:

You don't need to torture your Mommy by giving her migraines right now. There are better ways to torture a Mommy. Some of my personal faves:

*sticking your feet in between her ribs

*using her bladder as a speed bag to practice your boxing moves

*pushing down on her so she feels like a hard sneeze will have you shooting out of her

If you need more tips, you know how to find me.

Sincerely,

Mopez xoxo

funny baby dream last night

i haven't had a baby-related dream since the first trimester (and those were all scary dreams). so i was surprised to have this one -- especially since it's so odd.

i dreamt that i was woken up by dave at 7 in the morning (which i was this morning) and he told me that the baby was born at 1am. he had already been to see it -- so i guess i didn't actually give birth to the baby -- and she was perfect. i started to cry and asked if it was really a girl. he said yes. and somehow it didn't bother me that he left me sleeping at home to go visit baby block, and then left her where she was to come back home and go back to sleep with me! LOL... he told me he had wanted me to rest (which didn't make sense, of course, since i clearly didn't give birth!).

then he had to rush off to work. and for some reason we had to go to SI before he could go to work. but he was worried about missing his presentation. so we rushed to get him to the subway -- which doesn't exist in SI -- and then i finally went to go visit my baby girl.

very strange!! i have no idea what any of it means except a) dave's had a crazy work schedule lately, and b) we do think we're having a girl. other than that, i'm very bemused. =)

art print by etsy seller gorjuss.

24 week doctor's visit, and what's next

i had my 24-week visit yesterday with my midwives. aunt carrie and i had gotten together for coffee beforehand, and so i asked her to join for the appointment, since dave couldn't be there. she found out that she'd hear the heartbeat, and jumped at the chance.

all is well with baby block. he/she is growing steadily, has a very strong heartbeat, and is causing some serious weight-gain. that last part has to be controlled a bit more, not because i've gained too much, but because i had two big jumps in weight in the last two visits. so i'm going to try to watch myself even more -- not that i eat poorly now at all, but there are definitely times that my cravings get the best of me. so i'm going to try to work those situations out for the better.

dave and i have a lot to do from here on out. here's a brief list of what's coming:

- glucose testing for me
- tour of the birthing center at methodist hospital
- meeting with pediatricians
- do birthing sessions with kira (our own little personal instructor -- thanks kira!)
- finish the changes in the office/nursery to make room for the baby furniture

not to mention the rest of the stuff that's going on, like work, other apartment updates, showers coming up, etc. it's crazy! but all good things.

my migraines have returned in the last few days -- hormone fluctuations that i'm always attributing to the growth of the baby. so it's been a bit rough. but other than that, the pregnancy is at a good point, and i'm happy to be feeling baby block so much and having him/her as company during the day.

POLL: is baby block a boy or a girl?

i was online with my friend jothan the other day, telling him that dave and i have both kind of decided that baby block is a girl. not because i'm having any dreams of the sex of the baby, and not because i feel anything particularly strong in either direction. just that if we had to guess, both of us would guess girl.

jothan agrees... actually, he said that i'm such a strong woman, that could only mean that i'm going to have a girl or a really effeminate boy! ha! i said that while dave and i would welcome any type of boy or girl in our family, i would guess that our boy would be just as much of a guy's guy as his dad. LOL... but i digress. jothan, after letting me know that he too thinks it's a girl, suggested that i do a poll on the blog and ask everyone else what they think.

so, here it is! friends and family -- what do you think? baby boy block, or baby girl block? let us know!

24 weeks -- baby block is an ear of corn?

yes, i guess our child is an ear of corn this week. appropriate for the time of year i think. LOL...

onto our good news for the day, here is the info from babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing:
Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

See what your baby looks like this week.

sad today...

9/11 always makes me sad. i can only hope that our kid never has to live through something like that.

gift from a friend

i received this lovely present today via email. my friend nikita has been working with ambigrams and was working on a new style. and so he made our baby a lovely present for his/her room!


can you read it??

thank you nikita!!! it was such a nice surprise. =)

thank you auntie inna!!

auntie inna and i at my bridal shower, a whopping 3 years ago. where has the time gone?

this weekend we went to visit auntie inna and uncle dima in CT. inna wanted to give me some of her maternity clothes -- AWESOME!!! she really made my month. i got a ton of stuff, and all of it will really help me get through the next couple of months before it gets super cold. i feel so much better now that i actually have clothes to wear! and i even have some pants that will fit once baby block gets bigger, so those will be helpful in the colder preggo months.

thank you auntie inna! you are a lifesaver. =D

the grind is getting to me...

... but at least it keeps my mind off the fact that i'm hungry ALL THE TIME now. hehehehe...

i really am. yesterday was a great example:

- ate my kashi waffles at 7:30 am
- hungry by 10, i picked up something to nosh on when i got my coffee on my way to a meeting
- back home by noon, had a piece of fruit
- ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at 3
- hungry again by 5, i had a bowl of total raisin bran
- ate dinner with dave around 8:30
- had dessert (leftover from the weekend)

come on now!

sorry...

with being sick this week, i've just been out of it on posting on here. but then again, not much is new. baby block is kicking up a storm, which is a lot of fun. he/she can kick things off my belly, which is funny to me. and i can even see him/her moving around if i watch my bump.these are great developments.

otherwise though, not much new is going on. i'm just kinda gestating at this point.

i did attempt to get a whole new fall layering wardrobe, and i have to send back more than half of it. argh! i just wanted some cute tshirts and tank tops, and those all sucked. i did manage to secure a few cute sweaters, so that's a plus. every cloud has that lining i suppose.

grandma maria and i also found a bassinet yesterday in a used children's goods store by her. it's very cute -- white eylet, nice and unisex and without awful prints. the best part? it was only $30! i didn't bring it home yet, but the pic here is of a similar one. so at least you can see what it looks like.

and that's that. i'm heading off with dave today to buy him a suit. hot daddy!

23 weeks -- baby block is a mango!

this is a fun week. the baby has been keeping me company while i've been sick and sad. he/she makes me smile with her kicks that say, "hi mommy!" she even kicked my laptop off her last night. ha!

from babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing:
Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

See what your baby looks like this week.

sick... blah...

so i've been sick for the past 5 days. i managed to catch a cold in my vacuum-like living, and got a nasty cough that wreaked havoc on my throat and left me without a voice. the voice is back, but the cold has moved up to the head, and now i'm all fuzzy. and the fun part is that i can't take much of anything!

i'll be back on here as soon as i'm up to it.