my sister

jean certainly outdid herself on sunday. she threw the most amazing shower ever! i know she put a lot of thought, time and money into the celebration. it definitely was not your typical shower, complete with a fun photo booth and some live music. pretty much think that little pip is going to be extremely spoiled by her auntie jean. amy and i could not believe our eyes when we walked in. lots of yummy food as usual...sibby never disappoints. stephanie did a wonderful job on decorations too. the love and support that filled the room from people that were there and also from people that couldn't make it was overwhelming and very appreciated. we are going to be very busy this weekend going through all of our gifts, washing tiny clothes and making sure everybody gets a thank you card. i can't wait to see the video and pictures.
i really can't imagine my life without my sister. would hate to see pip grow up without a sibling. ;)

week 34 - (july 21)

i really can't believe i am at week 34. time is flying by, but we still have lots to do. time to start preparing for her arrival! some things on the to-do-list are:

1) learn how to use the car seat
2) pack a bag for the hospital
3) finish the baby room, a few touch up spots remain
4) make sure the baby room is filled with everyting we need
5) try not to freak out

amy and i are really looking forward to the shower this sunday. to have our family and friends all in one room is going to be awesome! some start to arrive today and most will be here by tomorrow. i hope i have enough energy to entertain and keep up with everyone this weekend though.

we have our last childbirthing class next tuesday too. still not sure if the 1980's videos have made us feel any better. but it has been fun to talk with others in the class. from listening to all of the questions they have been asking (some are quite funny and strange), it seems like they are just as nervous as we are. next week we get to take a tour of the hospital. they also had a "meet the doctors" session last week for us to meet all of the doctors in our practice. this is just in case our own doctor is not on call or will not be able to deliver little girl. they all seem to be on the same page, so we feel comfortable with whatever happens. funny though, of the 8 doctors there, ours is the youngest and she is the only one that hasn't had any kids.

Your Baby in Week 34 of Pregnancy

What's new this week? Your baby is clocking in at five pounds and could be as tall as 20 inches by now, and the vernix (the white coating protecting your baby’s skin) is getting thicker. In other baby-related developments, those tiny fingernails have probably reached the tips of his fingers by now — and getting ready for that first postpartum manicure.

time is flying by

at work, i have a calender that hangs near my computer. it has last month at the top, current month in the middle and the next month at the bottom. i am officially freaking out because i can literally see my due date now. it is staring at me everyday. most people continue to tell us that she will most likely be late, but sept. 1st is just around the corner.
jean has been amused lately by balancing random things on my shelf AND posting it on facebook. she started with putting pens on me at work and has moved her way to oreo cookies. oh well, anything to keep my sister happy i guess?
i can feel the swelling in my feet and hands now. very, very annoying. so much that it is even hard to bend my fingers and make a fist. i actually tried to snap my fingers (toby was bothering his brother simon) and didn't even get close to making a sound. ouch! i'm going to try to swim at least 2 times a week to see if i can get things circulating again. oh and by swim i mean walk around the pool in the shallow end. oh and of course drink more water too.

Your Baby in Week 33 (july 14) of Pregnancy

Your baby is still gaining weight (about half a pound a week), and she could grow up to another full inch this week. With that much baby inside your uterus, your amniotic-fluid level has maxed out, which explains why some of her pokes and kicks feel pretty sharp these days. (There's less fluid to cushion the blows.) Antibodies are being passed from you to your little one as she continues to develop her own fetal immune system, which will come in handy once she's outside the womb and fending off all sorts of germs.

she has officially found my ribs.

was it pip or did i just get lucky?

last week i was driving home from work as usual...and suddenly the cars in front of me started to slam on their breaks (on a 65mph highway with 4 lanes). so i moved over to the far right lane on this overpass that splits hwy 290 and 360. on the shoulder, a police officer had pulled over another car. i tried to get over out of the way and panicked for a split second. silly me should have slowed down even more than i did or tried harder to get over into the next lane. i noticed that the police officer had just finished up with the car, as that car pulled behind me. as i was driving down that hill i then noticed that the cop was now pulling me over. normally i would have gotten anxious, pissed off or even nervous, but somehow i remained calm. must be the hormones. he pulled me over and i rolled down the window. yes, to be honest i was hoping he would notice how pregnant i was. really, how could you miss it? i was also secretly hoping he would notice my id badge said that i worked for the federal government. he asked if i realized that i didn't get into the other lane and slow down 25mph below the speed limit when passing a police officer. mentioned a statistic of how many officers get killed while on duty due to people failing to switch lanes. i told him the truth and said that when i switched lanes, i panicked that i couldn't get back into the other lane and should have slowed down more than i should have. he asked for my insurance and license. he also kindly offered to get my bag from the backseat since my license was in there. even told me that i can roll up my window since it was so hot outside while he checked out things. i sat patiently while he did so and was glad that he was being nice. i knew that this was no one else's fault but mine at this point. for the record, i have only been pulled over once (knock on wood), received a ticket for speeding thru a construction zone. those tickets suck. no driving class online to get out of that one or have it taken off your record. it was an expensive ticket. the cop that pulled me over for that one was kinda rude and didn't have much to say to me and didn't really care. would have liked to get off with a warning for that one considering that i have a clean record. anyway, back to my nice cop. he came back and told me that he was going to give me a warning this time because the fine for this kind of ticket was expensive. i thanked him and told him that i promised to be more careful in the future. was it pip that helped me out? or was it my lucky day?

p.s. ironically, i saw an article in the local paper the next day about a new "Move Over Law."

our first class

amy and i went to our first comprehensive childbirth class. we figured we should check it out, even though i am hoping for good drugs and a quick delivery. there were 11 couples there, all around our age. 5 couples are having boys, the other 5 are having girls and one couple wanted to be surprised. most pretty much were freaked out just like we are. the nurse practitioner that is teaching the class has been a nurse and also teaching this class for many, many years. even thanked us for sending her to ireland each year. we watched an old video (maybe from the 1980's?) that took us through the stages of labor. yes, they even showed the baby being born. i have to say that quite a few people had to turn their heads...including me. overall, the video sort of stressed me out! it was cool meeting other couples and talking about what we have been going through. guess that is probably the point of most of these classes. we even met someone with our same due date. i unfortunately realized after talking to her that i have been having contractions lately. the pressure that i have been feeling under my belly are braxton hicks contractions. we have 3 classes left in this series and lots more to learn. will let you know if it gives us a peace of mind or just makes us more nervous.

Your Baby in Week 32 of Pregnancy

What's up with your baby? She's starting to get ready for her big debut, tipping the scales at almost four pounds and topping out at just about 19 inches. In these past few weeks, it's all about practice, practice, practice as she hones the skills she'll need to thrive outside the womb — from swallowing and breathing to kicking and sucking. And speaking of sucking, your little one has been able to suck her thumb for a while now. Something else to note: As more and more fat accumulates under your baby's skin, she's becoming less transparent and more opaque.