Soon there will be a small human living with us

The past Wednesday was my first day off of work which may evoke thoughts of me lying on couches and watching Downton Abbey. Okay, I did that, but mostly I ran errands, cooked freezer meals and prepped for my delightful 30th birthday party. (I know, I know, 'It's your birthday, why were you making food for it?' Because I like to, okay? I like to. Also, thank you for my birthday celebrations Joe. And Mom, thanks for birthing me that day 30 years ago.) I still have a few things I'm planning on doing over the weekend but the baby's room is completely set up. Behold! (I took these pictures, not Joe. That's why they are rubbish)

Le Changing Table and Boppy. That's Oscar in the corner. He appears to be reasonable at humidifying the air but he's still on trial in spite of his cuteness.

Note the camera so cleverly installed by my clever husband for baby spying.

These were my splurge sheets. I could have gotten another set of solid sheets for probably $8-10 less but THEY ARE SO CUTE!

Fully loaded and ready to go! See why I was so excited when I got those cloth bins at my shower?! 

Yep, all we need now is a baby and maybe some Xanax to get us through those first few weeks. Ah, who am I kidding, the sleep deprivation will be similar to being doped up, that'll probably work. 

Maternity Leave FTW!

Today was my last day at work before starting my maternity leave. My company is generous enough to provide us with paid leave 2 weeks prior to our due dates, which is awesome. I guess they are not keen on women birthing at work?

The next few days, one of which happens to be my 30th birthday, shall be full of activities (and nap time) but after I complete my checklist and settle down, the waiting game will begin. Excitement. Nerves. Anticipation. Maybe the baby can sense this because good grief the child is squirmy to the max today! Jumps, wiggles, prods, rolling around. Apparently LB feel extremely well rested today and ready to move.

I don't feel ready quite yet. I have just a few more things I'd like to check off my list before LB decides to make his or her grand entrance and maybe then I'll feel ready. Probably not.

Jen is awesome. She just wanted you to know. Or me? Maybe I wanted you to know? It doesn't matter. The point is Jen is awesome.

I Shall Answer the Burning Questions

This week I'm officially considered "full term" (37 weeks). LB has definitely invaded my lung space more than before, which is a weird feeling but makes yoga breathing feel even better than it does normally, so that's something.

I've had a few repetitive questions so I shall answer them. People keep asking me if I'm "done." Not really. I'm not in a rush though I'm excited to meet our baby and find out if it is a little boy or girl. But, I want LB to come whenever s/he is ready and I'm not looking to try to hurry or force that along. LB knows when to come. Also, I would love to be able to take advantage of my company's policy of giving us paid leave for the 2 weeks before our due dates. Mama wants some naps y'all!

The other big question is "are you so uncomfortable?" I've certainly been more comfortable at other points in my life when I didn't have a human being squishing my organs and making rolling over in bed a 4 step process (1. Flip off covers. 2. Move pillow to other side of body. 3. Turn onto back. 4. Turn onto other side) but it's not like torture or anything. Yoga is great at this point and I highly recommend it. To be fair, I think yoga is always great but when you're achy and such like carrying a bowling ball on your front can make you, it feels so good to practice yoga. Between that, my "Expecting More" workout DVD, and lots of walking I stay feeling pretty good. It's hard to want to exercise when you feel exhausted but it pays off. I sleep a lot better when I've exercised and have less aches and pains. It also gives me a glimmer of hope about my post-baby body, which I need when I see the number on the scale these days. YIKES.

Joe was like a machine this weekend. It was... amazing. His accomplishments included, but are not limited to:

• installing the video monitor (no easy feat due to our apartments lack of outlets)
• putting up the wall decal
• cleaning the whole dang house. I am not exaggerating. He moved furniture and swept under it. This was serious stuff.
• going to Target and the consignment shop with me to get the rest of our baby needs
• this was easy but I mention it because it was highly amusing to watch Joe parade it through the apartment - put the wheels on the umbrella stroller
• taking my car to the car wash, vacuuming it, cleaning the inside (which included removing the ridiculous accumulation of pens I had managed to hoard in the center console) and installed the carseat
• moving the furniture in our bedroom to accommodate the bassinet we are borrowing (thanks Mark and Meredith)

Also, somewhere in there I think he learned to control the weather since I have woken up with a few inches of snow on my car twice this week. SUSPICIOUS!

Got things to do, dang it!

LB no longer really has time to sit still and contemplate life in utero. No way man, there's wiggling to do! Squirming to accomplish! Rib and hip bones to probe! Organs to prod! This is important stuff and there is no time to waste! NO TIME!

I agree with LB's sentiments. The "nesting" that I've heard so much about has taken over full force. I'm basically insane, as the customer service rep at Amazon can attest to after his delightful interaction with my barely contained tears of rage and frustration. (It all ended well) Joe also got to receive an email of all of the things on the baby to-do list for this weekend that I didn't really need to send but I felt like I needed to because clearly, if I didn't, something terrible would happen. I'm fun! For some reason I feel like I need to be done with all things baby this weekend, not because I really think LB is going to come early, no signs of that whatsoever, but because you never know. So, Saturday is baby day. All baby, all the time. I've got my list and I'm ready to go. Also, just in case you were worried, I have washed all of the baby's bottles. I know, relief, right? Good thing I have those ready just in case even though I don't intend to use them for LB's first month of life. Did I mention I'm insane? I figure admitting it is the first step.

Also, I found myself feeling all proud and braggy about LB at the doctor's office when she told me LB is measuring right on target and has a great heart beat. I got all smug and patted my belly and said, "Yep, it is such a good baby." And then smugly left and told LB the whole drive back to work what a good little baby s/he is. I'm going to be insufferable when this child is born.

On an unrelated note, I did yoga with these ladies yesterday (Gaiam Prenatal Yoga). Who thinks I need a unitard like that? That would REALLY show off the bump.

It's the final countdown!!!!!!!!!

36 weeks today people. 1 month until my due date which means our little Blum could decide to come any day now, though I would prefer s/he wait at least a couple more weeks. 3 more weeks LB, do it for Mommy.

We had our Syracuse baby shower last weekend, hosted by the lovely Crystal. She really is a party planning goddess. When she first said to me that she wanted to throw my baby shower, I told her she was crazy because she just had a baby of her own in February! She insisted and I gave in. She did a lovely job- it was a very Blum shower and everything was clever and beautiful. When she launches her successful interior decorating/party planning side business, I will not be surprised. Thank you Crystal! (And Ryan :) )

It was such a blessing to Joe and I to be surrounded by friends in Syracuse. I'm not going to lie, there have been a few times during this pregnancy when I've thought to myself how much I wish we were closer to family and I throw myself a wee pity party. Seeing our friends rally around us to give good wishes and love to us and the baby made me feel a lot better. You are all wonderful people and we love you.

It's getting really real now that we're in the final month. LB has gotten so big, I feel almost constant movement these days because even little wiggles and twitches are registering. I've been pretty tired lately, to the point that falling asleep sitting up is not even a rarity for me, it's just a fact of life. I've also just started to have some swelling in my ankles and I think my calves, though frankly, it's hard to tell. I just can't get a real good look at them. I've been trying really hard to make sure I'm getting enough activity and I've put a large box under my desk to prop my feet on at work so I'm hoping that will help. I am feeling clumsy and awkward and really would like to skip that whole weigh in part at the doctor's office for the last month. Is that allowed do you think?

Over all though, doing really well. Both of us check out as 100% healthy at every doctor visit and that's really all I can ask for. I've not really got a waddle going yet and was quite pleased that I was able to see Joe just before the 11 mile marker at his FIRST half marathon last Sunday and then hoof it back to catch him at the finish line. He did brilliantly and I was so proud. I can't wait until LB is old enough to cheer for Daddy him/herself but until then, I'll cheer for both of us. It was pretty surreal realizing that for his next race I would be wearing LB on the outside, not the inside. Yikes!

Maybe we'll just call you "Joe's baby"

LB loves Joe more than s/he loves me. Oh sure, I'm the one carrying him/her around, feeding him/her, etc, etc, but LB loves Joe more than me. It's not right kid, it's just not right.

Last night I went to bed while Joe was up chatting with his brother and thought I would be asleep immediately, I felt so tired. NOT SO for my small offspring was more in the mood for what I'm guessing was a dance party or some form of aerobics. There was wiggling, kicking, stretching, flailing - you name it, we got it. I kept turning from side to side to try to get comfortable or distract/confuse LB into chilling out but to no avail. By the time Joe came to bed I whimpered pitifully, "Your child won't let me sleep."

What happens then, you may ask? Joe gets in bed, lays a hand on my belly and tells the baby to calm down and go to sleep. LB gives one good kick to my rib cage (it was a good one, I jumped) and then stopped. All done. Night night for LB and for me. WHAT? LB!! Why do you love Daddy so much more than me?! You little ruckus causer!

Everyone, hug Joe

We've got 5 more weeks until LB's due date and I get wackier by the day. Which is why everyone should hug Joe. I'm generally pretty reasonable but I've had some good moments the last week including, but not limited to:

1. Restlessly rearranging boxes under the bed
2. Waking up starving in the middle of the night and having to have a snack before I could go back to sleep
3. Obsessively comparing baby items online as I adjust and readjust our registries before the baby shower on Saturday.              
4. Coming home from the grocery store, super cranky and tired, greeting Joe with "I hate everyone!" and then starting to cry because Joe is being nice to me and tucking me in for a nap. (it's like when you're sick and you call your mom and then start weeping) Weee!
5. Ice cream before bed (don't tell my dad. Seriously, don't tell him Mom, don't do it). It tastes so good and I have slept better on ice cream nights. (No midnight wake ups due to hunger)
6. Flinging myself back onto the couch and holding my rumply-socked feet out to Joe in despair so he could fix my socks and put on my shoes. Yes. If I had less pride, I would probably make him do this every time I need shoes on my feet because I hate putting on my socks and shoes. I hate it. Honestly, I don't really like it at the best of times but I really dislike it right now. 

I'm fun!

I think baby is starting to get a wee bit squished in there. Every now and then grand movements are attempted but I don't know how successful these attempts are from baby's perspective. There's a lot of wiggles and what feels like turning over but somehow we always seem to end up back where we started with a foot poking out at the base of my right rib cage and an elbow/arm/hand waving around near my right hip. There were a couple of days of solid foot-in-rib action which made me very thankful that LB was just resting his/her foot there, sometimes pressing on the ribs like, "hmmm... what is this?" but never putting real force into it.

I do have a suspicion that some sort of relocation has been occurring due to the placement of the regular hiccups LB now has. We've almost got a hiccup schedule, usually 3 times a day, morning, afternoon and, much to my delight (dismay) right around bed time. The bed time ones only dismay me because they often start after I'm situated on my left side and then I have to roll over because the hiccups live on my left side. They have been relocating to a more central epicenter on and off which makes me wonder if LB is testing out positioning for his/her grand entrance into the world. S/he is definitely not committed at this point, which is fine by me. I would prefer to keep cooking until at least April 17. You hear that kid?! Give Mommy a chance to get fully prepared for you. Many thanks. XO.