Monday, March 31, 2008

As the belly turns...

40 days left. The baby weighs about 4.75 pounds now and is almost 18 inches long. He's definitely running out of room in there - poor thing. :) He's also definitely permanently upside down and getting ready to exit. At the doctor's this past Thursday, Dr. Adams (one of the other doctors in the practice) helped me to feel his head wedged in my pelvis. Very very cool. One extra thing that's really great to know is that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks generally do fine so I am done worrying about preterm labour. I am only looking forward to meeting this little miracle.

At home, we are slowly working to get the house ready for the new lil' one. With less than 6 weeks left to our due date, I'm starting to feel the pressure of actually getting everything on our TO DO list done. A big one off that list - Graeme is completely toilet-trained and has settled into his "new" life of sharing a room with big brother Ethan (Ethan is still adjusting to it, however, but is being such a super big brother). We worked on the backyard some this weekend, getting it ready for planting a small flower garden. Next, we have to get the deck ready for the spring/summer BBQs that we love. Ethan and Graeme were both the biggest help with the backyard cleanup project - they are such awesome kids!

Summer is a going to be such a great time to be home from work. The weather will be incredible and there will be lots to keep us busy. The Rodman and I are also looking forward to all the movies we'll be able to catch up on during that first month when we are just lounging around the house with the new baby.

Life is great. Love is great. We are all so happy!

Monday, March 24, 2008

47 Days To Go!

Actually, considering my track record, I'm thinking it's really more like 42 days left or something more like that. Ethan came 10 days early; Graeme joined us 5 days short of his due date. I am treasuring each day.

This past weekend was quite a treat. We enjoyed some unadulterated family time in the beautiful spring weather. On Saturday, we headed out to Chinatown in SF. My mom came with us and it's always a treat watching the surprised looks when she spits out her perfect Cantonese. On Sunday, we went out for a family brunch, picked up new baby clothes, took the boys to an Easter celebration at Bay Meadows race track where we had time to bet on one race (We are THE best parents, taking our kids out gambling instead of to church on Easter Sunday - hahahaha!), then hung out at my mom's house with my brother Manolet and his family. We also found time to look at the Saturn Outlook (no minivans for us ever, I hope!) and head out to Pacifica to have dinner with my dad and "the Manolets" again. I love non-stop weekends like these. So what if the laundry and dishes are piled up - I won't go to my grave regretting all the laundry and dishes I didn't do, you can count on that.

Today, I am clued in to how out of shape I've gotten -- my calves hurt today from all the weekend walking and it wasn't even that much! It's hard to imagine that I am the same person who ran a half-marathon when I was 2 1/2 months pregnant. Wow, I've come a long way indeed. So sad...

About the bambino: he's about 4 pounds and has passed the 17-inch mark. I think knowing that makes me feel all the more how close to the end we are getting. At least we finally have the baby names figured out (the boy name always takes longer; our girl name's been picked since we first started dating so that one is super easy).

Some random baby trivia: A Russian woman holds the record for having the most children. Between 1725 and 1765, she was pregnant 27 times and had 69 children.

Life is good. Love is good. And babies are the best way to start people, it's true.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Who ate all the Frusen Glädjé?

We've got nails! Yep, the baby's got nails covering the tips of his toes and fingers now. It's almost strange to realize that not everything just appears at the same time, that there's a timing to everything. The baby's about 3.75 pounds now (about 20% of the weight that mom's actually gained, but let's not talk about that right now) and about 16.7 inches long. He's taking up so much space that his movements are really seeming more and more like the alien from "Aliens" trying to see his way out of my tummy. So far, my guess for this kid's future occupation is acrobat/contortionist.

My sweet tooth has not abated. On Saturday, I admit it, I secretly ate the last of the Butter Pecan ice cream that Rodney showered us with. I doused it with hot fudge and ate it straight out of the carton, making sure that I finished before any of the boys strayed in my direction to see what I was up to. How demented, huh? At least no one noticed that the ice cream was gone before I had a chance to replace it with a new half gallon yesterday - hahaha! Now I just need to avoid the "what happened to all the chocolate-covered pretzels" conversation and I'll be all set...

Happy happening of the day: I won tickets to the Duran Duran concert on the drive in to work today. Show is on May 2nd so I need everyone's positive thoughts that this kid won't decide to show up before or during the show. :)

Monday, March 10, 2008

Thoughts for a Monday Morning

Not that I'm greatly eager to be done with the pregnancy or nearly ready to evict this kid from the womb just yet, but I am excited to report that there are 61 days left to "B"(irth) Day. That's under 9 weeks left. Amazing how time flies and I am relishing every moment.

My favourite pasttime during pregnancy? Belly-watching. Watching the baby shape and reshape my belly while he is twirling or kicking is both amazing and, yes, plain crazy. Seriously, I think this kid is trying to kick his way out half the time! I just love it, though - feeling this secret language of baby movements - it's like a personal show 24/7. The times when we can actually feel actual body parts pushing out, that's just pure bliss!

Graeme, who loves to look at my belly, kiss it, and talk to the baby will refuse to even put a hand on my belly if I tell him the baby is kicking. I think he's afraid of getting hurt. Hahahaha!

Some things I love about being pregnant:
* Realizing again how easy it to love someone even at the point when they're no bigger than a grain of rice.
* Allowing the belly muscles to relax from years of sucking it in. :o)
* Finally having a GOOD and valid reason why I can't clean the cat box - now I just need to pay the doctor for a note for why I can't do it the rest of the time.
* Feeling the baby move when no one else knows it's happening - you just can't help but be happy during those times; it's like a being in a secret conversation, just the two of you.
* Wearing cute maternity clothes and letting the baby bump speak for itself. YAYYYYY to flaunting the baby bump!
* Working on THE perfect baby name - Aldous Bukowski Grussing is cool, right?
* Having the best excuse to take naps in the middle of the day.
* Eating an extra (or 5) helpings of food and everyone thinks it's funny, not gross - well, they could think it's gross, I just don't care.
* Listening to the baby's heartbeat and seeing the baby via sonogram - I only wish it could be every day.
* Knowing we are going to bring in the next mini-Rodney (aka, the spawn) and looking forward to meeting him.
* Looking at baby clothes and supplies for hours on end, just planning for his arrival.
* One word - cleavage - hahahahaha!

On the other side of the coin, there are things I'm not as keen about. Not to complain because it is all so worth it, but there are just a few things... come on people, back me up here:
* Increasing brain cell/memory loss and plain old acts of dumbnification, like walking somewhere and forgetting why I'm there or telling a story and forgetting my point midstream
* Sleep deficiency. Between the multiple bathroom trips and insomnia alone, I'm lucky when I get 3 hours straight. I keep forgetting that this is nature's way of getting me prepared for the next few years of sleep deprivation.
* Hyper-clumsiness. Seriously, how many times can you drop and pick up the same pen off the floor?! Sometimes I just have to leave it there so, for anyone who's wondering why there might be random items collecting at my feet, here's the answer.
* Getting emotional and teary-eyed over silly things like dropping the pen for the 10th time. :)
* Don't even get me started on what the iron pills are doing to me!

I am feeling really great though and am lucky to have escaped all the other dregs of pregnancy one more time, yes including the morning sickness at the beginning. I think I inherited the knack for breeding from my mom - she only had 7 kids, you know.

The memory thing can be funny, though - even at this late a stage, I've found myself waking up to see this huge belly before me and being surprised for a minute because I've temporarily forgotten that I'm pregnant.

To update you on the baby, this newest Grussing is over 16 inches long now and weighs about 3.3 pounds. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's moving a lot more now, too, so he is now able to wake me in the middle of the night with his kicks and turns. His eyesight continues to improve and he will respond to light shone on my belly (direct experimentation will begin tonight). I'm also starting to experience Braxton Hicks contractions, which just makes me feel even closer to the day I will meet this new little miracle.