Time for an Update!

Here I am at nearly 42 weeks pregnant! 

Ouch! 

At least in this picture I'm headed into the birthing center to have my baby.  Yes, after about 18 hours, 2 1/2 hrs which were pushing, I finally had my nearly 9lb baby!!!  I've never felt so wasted and so awesome in the very same moment. 

(pic taken 1.27.10)

Invites to my private blog are going out to those who have already requested.  (I think I've over laoded my blogger account and will have to come back to this process later to wrap it up.)  If I accidentally missed you or if you're interested in following my family blog please let me know!

Awaiting Labor : 38 & 39 wks

At 39 weeks I'm feeling stiff, sore, and walk like an old man but am happy to finally move past feeling really sick. My best Boston friend, is super motivating and has me optimistic that I'm nearing the end...Whether it's another day or up to another couple weeks before our babies arrive, at least we have time to treat ourselves to some delicious ice cream while we wait it out together!

(Pic taken 1/14/2010. I'm 39wks...Ginger is a trooper at 41wks!)

Looking back over a week ago:
Here I am running on 3 to 5 hours of bad sleep each night (it got worse when I suffered through the worst of my cough and had several nights with zero sleep), currently have a never ending cough and congestion, have swollen feet, and gained roughly 25+lbs. It's a good thing I'm 38 weeks pregnant or there would be something really weird going on!

(pic taken 1/4/2009 at 38wks)

37 Weeks

We seem to have difficulties getting our old camera to take a focused picture in our apartment.

Below is the clearest followed by the funniest shots Matt took to document week 37!

Merry Christmas - From my Family to Yours!

(picture taken 11.26.09)

3 Foot Gold Tinsle Tree

A Charlie Brown Christmas....
I decided it was too much for me to dig out any holiday decorations this year not only because I'm late in pregnancy but also because our storage unit is completely packed with a year's worth of extras jammed in the front. It's hopeless.

Luckily, my sister in law Lori sent me this super cool gold tinsel tree. It rules! Janice shared with me a mobile from baby Matt's nursery which has temporarily made an appearance in the tree as ornaments. I thought it turned out perfect for this particular year.

Boston College Girls

I have such sweet girlfriends here in Boston. My Boston College girls (a bunch of girls who have boyfriends/fiances/husbands in the MBA program) got together to celebrate my fascinating growing belly and Pinkberry! I thought it was quite perfect that they chose to carry on a collegiate theme as everyone shared their favorite childhood book. I came home with a lovely stack of classic books for the little one to enjoy which I am really excited about.


Kathleen and Krista, our lovely hostesses pictured above, made this the most thoughtful shower I could have imagined. Herbal teas, delish sandwiches with the crusts cut off, scones, cookies, a fruit tart, and even Dove chocolate mint pieces! It was so pretty and I'm still not sure how they got into my head so well...Each thing was so personalized and a personal favorite.



Now it's time for a few classic shower games. A name game, how BIG is Jana's belly, and draw a baby. (check out the pictures for that last game mentioned. It was quite funny to watch and the results were even more entertaining.)



Thanks again BC girls. I guess we're adding one more girl (a baby girl) to our get togethers in a month or two.

Nesting

I've discovered first hand that "nesting" is a real thing. Over the past several months I've gone through a phase of intense energy focused on organizing, cleaning, and improving many unnecessary projects! I don't have a second bedroom right now as we are renting a one bedroom apartment, so I don't have a baby's room or nursery to focus this frenzy on. The part that cracks me up is that all of the deep cleaning I've completed will be back to normal amounts of dust and dirt within mere weeks.

Here are a few of my accomplishments that I am so re-leaved to have done.

• Hand stripping, waxing, and buffing the kitchen floors
• Touch up paint throughout the apartment
  
• Rotating the 8x10 area rug
• Cleaning out and reorganizing all our closets, clothing, and paperwork
  
• All miscellaneous deep cleaning including dusting under our bed, cleaning kitchen cabinets and refrigerator
  
• Lists upon lists of 'must do' things that I've already forgotten what they were
  
• Refinishing a flee market kitchen table three times before I got it right (almost)
• Creating a spreadsheet for every possible thing I can track and organize
• Reading every pregnancy, birthing, and baby book I can get my hands on
• Taking an over priced birthing class
  
• Analyzing and researching all possible baby products and needs that we could possibly encounter then realizing that most of it is unnecessary
  
• Picking fabrics for a quilt and crib bedding so my mom can work her crafty magic
  
• Daydreaming about what our baby will be like

I've also discovered that even 'soon-to-be-grandmothers' need to nest. Matt's mom has hand made four smocked dresses, two beautiful quilts, a baby bag for me, and fixed up many priceless vintage baby items circa baby-Matt! Every time I speak with Sasa I hear there is another special project in the works!

(One of the darling smocked outfits by Janice/Sasa!)

My mom has only recently had her time freed up but has also been working her handy work for quite some time now. Just a few special things she's completed are super cute burp clothes, several ultra soft crochet blankets, and also the precious crochet blessing blanket that takes hundreds of hours of work and even has tiny jade beads all around the boarder (which she hand picked out from the jade market in China). She's now working on crib bedding for Pinkberry.

(A couple Gramma Julee blankets awaiting the baby's arrival.)

I've really gone to town making "the baby's corner" especially nice. Yes, I swept away all the dust bunnies and set up the "Cariboo Basinet" which I bought off Craigslist.

(Nana has gotten in on the action as she's made up a quilted mattress pad made to fit the bassinet perfectly!!!)

What a pleasant surprise!!!

My parents called me up on Tuesday, Dec 1st to ask what I thought about a visit. "OF COURSE!!!" It was so exciting because my dad booked the tickets that very day and they arrived the following day.

Much like when Matt's Mom visited in October, it is really exciting to show your parents the hospital /birthing center we're using, our little set up we have in our apartment, and how my belly is growing in real life. It's wonderful to have such a supportive family and loving parents. Matt and I were really proud to show Dad and Mom around Boston College and around town. We were so happy (we actually felt spoiled) they were able to come out and visit with us....even though that meant they were sleeping on aero-beds in the family room and here just in time for arctic cold weather and snow!


(My Mama and my Papa at "The Breakers", a beautiful mansion we toured in Newport, RI.)


(In the woman's restroom at The Breakers....Leave it to me to take a picture in the bathroom yet to forget my camera the majority of their visit! She sure looks cute in this bathroom though!)


(Mom and I made a wreath which is now hanging on my apartment door. Ok, Mom did all the hard work which is why my wreath looks good.)

35 weeks down, +/- 5 weeks to go!

I feel like I'm filled with doll parts that are moving around.




Here I am today at 35 weeks:

Thanksgiving 2009

This year we enjoyed Thanksgiving in Philly with Ryan, Megan, and Cora! We also got to visit with Matt's cousins Dustin, Raven, and Sandy who also live in Philly. Aside from feeling the effects of swelling feet from sitting in the car when 8months pregnant, we had a really fun time!





PS - Baby Cora rules!
PSS - Matt is feeding Cora baked sweet potato fries home made by Megan.

Week 30 & 31 = HUGE

Is it possible .... To get any bigger?
My back is breaking!

30 Weeks


31 Weeks


The belly has been "cute" up until now.
The third trimester is all about sweat pants, whenever possible, just to be comfortable!