hot now

Oh my goodness, you don't update your blog for a week or two and everyone is all concerned that you're having a baby or something :-) So much has been going on that I was not even sure where to start. First of all, we had our last baby shower two weeks ago and it was so fabulous. My friend Jen did an amazing job decorating a special tea party for Lila. We got so many fabulous gifts and are pretty much all ready for her arrival!

The next week, we celebrated my 27th birthday! I love my birthday, it is my favorite holiday of the year. But this year, I am a little distracted and haven't been able to pay it a lot of attention. Go figure. I had a great birthday lunch with Jen which made my whole day brighter and was definitely fun to catch up on some girl time.

Brian did an awesome job making it special, with flowers, tickets to see Wicked in April, and a run through Krispy Kreme for a HOT NOW doughnut. Have you ever had a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut? Because they are like a little piece of heaven. A sugary, melt in your mouth, little piece of heaven. Perhaps this is what manna tasted like?

Then last Thursday, Lila decided to make a practice run. We had been having some contractions all week long. On Thursday night, they got down to every 5-10 minutes so off to Labor & Delivery we went! Luckily we had the hospital bags pretty much packed, but we still had some running around to add last minute stuff. Because obviously you cannot have a baby without snacks and bedroom slippers packed. And then I made Brian do the dishes...another thing that cannot be left undone, lest the baby be born into a world with cereal bowls in the sink. And what kind of a beginning to life would that be??

So we got to the hospital, hooked me up to a bunch of monitors, and handed me two giant jugs of water to drink. In case I didn't understand what "Are you dehydrated and maybe that is what is causing your contractions" actually means. The contractions didn't go away but I wasn't dilated at all so they sent me back home after about 5 hours. Basically Lila was just really concerned that we hadn't taken care of all the last minute preparations. Glad she is running the show here.

And THEN, my sister flew up from Florida for the weekend to surprise me! It was such an awesome distraction from Lila Bean craziness and we had a great time having a last girls weekend. It was sad to see her go back home, but it made it better to know she will be flying up here any day for Lila's birth.

I went to the doctor again yesterday and am still not dilated. He says in his professional, crystal ball opinion, she will probably be born between 36-37 weeks. Which is a week and half to two weeks away! Which is perfect since my dad is inconveniently in Africa until this Saturday and we were all in a dizzy that he might not back in time. But now we should be good! Yay Lila is almost here!

Cab drivers are living proof
that practice does not make perfect.
~Howard Ogden

doctor doctor give me the news

Brian and I have been excited that we are so ahead on all of Lila's preparations. Why yes, I do have a list taped to my hospital bag of all the things that have to be added at the last minute. Is there something wrong with that?

One thing we have been working on is finding a pediatrician for Lila. You have to have the name of your pediatrician when you go to the hospital, since they schedule a follow-up appointment for the baby within 72 hours of being released. It is hard to narrow down the list of dozens of medical practices when you are not even sure what you are looking for. My major criteria:
1. Have regular hours on nights and weekends
2. Have a pretty, friendly looking office (since it will obviously be my home away from home)
3. Have a nurse advice line (since I don't know what I am doing)
4. Great recommendations from other parents

It might seem like this is a short, easy list, but sadly it is not. Brian and I narrowed it down to two different practices and went for "Meet and Greet" sessions. The worst thing about those meetings is having all these expecting parents rapidly taking notes and trying to look like they have a clue what to ask the doctors. I just nodded my head and said a lot "Hmmmm" and "Exactely. That's great." I think it worked...we finally picked one and no one kicked us out for being incompetent parents-to-be!

First the doctor told me the good news:

I was going to have a disease named after me.

~Steve Martin

party people

And baby shower season is upon us! I have 5 baby showers to go to in the month of January (not including my own). I kicked off the parade with 2 showers this last weekend and got to take a fun picture of us four girls who are all expecting their first baby within 5 weeks of each other.

Casey- Baby girl due on March 30
Me- Baby Lila due on March 7
Lindsey- Baby boy Sam due on Feb. 16
Jen- Baby girl due on March 3

We have also been getting ready for my birthday next week, which I keep forgetting about. I think its hilarious that I am so distracted by my giant jumping belly that I keep forgetting about my favorite holiday. I am looking forward to a little celebrating so hopefully I will remember the day of. But before that...I have a baby shower coming up on Saturday! Can't wait for all of Lila's fun little gifts and getting to finish up the rest of her nursery.

Lila has been very active over the last week and appears to be getting tired of being squished up. She definitely has more purpose to her movement now and has some serious power behind her kicks and punches. Her little feet stay up underneath my ribs so she has better access for direct kicks to the lungs and stomach. She loves to jump around in the evening and apparently is also excited about the return of American Idol.

There's a party going on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you
~"Celebrate Good Times" by Cool and the Gang

peanut butter jelly time

This baby is hungry. No joke. The last several weeks has shown some major growth to the belly as Lila is picking up steam with her weight gain. This presents a key problem...since Lila is squishing my stomach, I have a hard time eating enough to keep her happy. Basically, every few hours my blood sugar drops as a gentle reminder to FEED THE BABY. I know, I know, the pregnant woman is whining because she has to eat all the time. But imagine waking up the cranky, pregnant woman at 1am every night to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich so she doesn't have a blood sugar crash in the middle of the night.

Other than being a crazy hungry pregnant woman we are all doing well here. We are working on adding some more decorations to the nursery and I will post more pictures when we get them all up. We are also planning on getting the car seat installed this week. Seems like it would be an easy task, but apparently it is not since 80% of well-meaning parents do it wrong. Which is why there are websites- whole websites- dedicated to making it as idiot proof as possible. We are taking it over to the fire station afterwards to see how we did, so I'll let you know whether we have passed or failed in our early parenting test.

Going hungry never bothered me...

it was having no clothes.

~Cher

diet coke: just for the taste of it

Being pregnant and remembering to keep up with responsibilities (like blogging) is very difficult. So I am going to blame this one on pregnancy brain. And since I am so big and pregnant, I don't think anyone's gonna challenge me on this one. To prove my overt pregnantness, I promise to post a belly shot this week. Until then, this example will have to suffice.

Last week, Brian came home from work and we were having the normal, "well what do you want for dinner?" convo. I decided to open the freezer and get out some meat for spaghetti. Brian in the other room hears "Oh my gosh! Oh no!" and comes racing into the kitchen. FREE TIP: If you are a third trimester pregnant woman with preterm labor problems, never yell any exclamation of surprise or shock without a quick explanation following. Or your husband might have a mini heart attack.

Back to the story, I opened my freezer to see a diet coke half sticking out of the ice bucket and frozen drips of diet coke slush all over my freezer. In the door. All in the ice tray. On the ceiling. Covering packages of food. Funny thing is, I don't even remember putting the diet coke in the fridge that day. Hopefully that is the last thing I inadvertently leave in my freezer to explode.

We have had a very productive last two weeks getting Lila's room all ready for her arrival! At this point, we have all of her 0-3 month clothes, blankets, sheets, burp rags, or any other piece of fabric that might come into contact or remotely near any part of her skin washed and put away. You can never be too careful about those pesky fabric chemicals. Here are some fun pictures of her striped walls, bookshelf full of fun books, assembled crib, changing table/dresser, and closet full of clothes that is coming dangerously close to challenging Sarah Jessica Parker. The sign above her crib is courtesy of my oh so talented, never to underestimate when you off-hand mention a crafty idea to her friend, Ellie :-)

Decorate your home.

It gives the illusion that your life is

more interesting than it really is.

~Charles M. Schulz