nursery

We spent the entire weekend deconstructing and reconstructing our closet system, moving it from the nursery-to-be to our bedroom. Yes, the baby is going to sleep in what was the master closet but it is really a cute little room. It has windows and lights. See:


I wouldn't say it is a nursery, yet, but we have a room that is mostly empty (I still have a few things to sort) so that we can start the fun part when it is time. And we couldn't help but put a few baby books and decorations in there for a start. I promise the pictures will get better to look at as we go!

After Donavon uninstalled and reinstalled this whole system, the next most herculean task was sorting and hauling all of the winter clothes to the basement or to the donation pile, in order to whittle it down to what you see here, as we no longer have an entire room to house our clothing.

Happy Anniversary

Four years ago tonight, Donavon and I had our first date at La Tomate in Dupont Circle. It's been a great four years, puppy. It can only keep getting better.

No champagne today, just a burrito-versary lunch and a cookout with neighbors tonight. And a baby to remind us that we are stuck with each other forever :)

Indy, Holsten’s, Tag Sale and Breast Pumps

We just came back from a weekend trip to visit Kristen, Peter and the kids where we filled the back of the car with hand-me-down baby crap stuff. We spent a major portion of the weekend covering and uncovering the tag sale items from the rain. Later we went to Holsten’s for dinner where Peter bought me a Soprano’s t-shirt and then went to see Indiana Jones. But if I take anything away from the weekend, it would be the fact that I don’t feel comfortable talking about “breast pumps” with Peter.

14 weeks

I had a 14 week checkup today and all was well. I was doubly blessed with not only hearing the good strong heartbeat but also finding out I had lost a pound since the 10 week checkup. So, the last few weeks of eating really well and exercising is actually having an effect. It's good encouragement to keep it up - with an occasional Frosty :)

Happy Father's Day, Donavon

I'm honored to start this next chapter of our life together. You are a loving, fun, and kind father to Evan and I look forward to watching you grow and continue in that role, again. If the last few months are any indication, our child is going to be very lucky to have you as a father. I'm proud I am going to become a mother with you. I love you. Happy Father's Day.

Must eat...

For the last couple of weeks my appetite has been really mild. And when I wanted to eat, it was fruit or salad or vegetables...with an occasional trip to Wendy's that sat like a lead weight in my tummy. But sweet Mary, since yesterday I've been a ceaseless eating machine. I had my peanut butter toast this morning with an egg white and a cappuccino. Until today, that would have held me until a light snack of fruit or a light lunch that I had to make myself eat.

But today, I was starving at 11am! I wanted a plate of everything. We sat outside at a lovely Father's Day Brunch at the little bistro down the street. I ate all my food - toast, eggs, potatoes and half of Donavon's pancake. And I was not unhappily full. I think we're going through a growth spurt.

Update: After a 2pm ice cream I slept for 2.5 hours. I woke up hungry. I made it until 6:30 and my stomach was GROWLING. We had dinner at Bertucci's and you know, I ate a lot and was only pleasantly full. It's 9:00 right now and if a Frosty were in front of me, I could eat it. As enjoyable as this bulking stage is, I really hope it doesn't last.

Fashion Show at Lunch!

Here is Alyssa sporting her new line of “Just the 3 of Us” ready-to-wear. She is shown here wearing a very fashionable maternity top. Also available, but not pictured is the matching logo handbag and clutch purse.

Friday 13

What a rough day. I have had little energy all day. I did a mile walk but that just left me tired, not energized. I took a useless long nap in the wicked heat of our third floor bedroom. Then I had a little spotting and mild painless cramping.

I just wanted a Wendy's Frosty and chicken sandwich. Then, in the drive thru we learned that Tim Russert unexpectedly died today. He was only 58. I had a big crush on Tim Russert since I first watched Meet the Press. You could tell from tv that he was just such a great guy. Ugh, that is too sad. Rough day.

Books!

Let the research begin. I have my haul of books and I'm starting to learn all about this birth thing. Here is my reading list:

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin - Sounds a little like an etiquette book, doesn't it? Chapter 1: What to serve guests when you are 5 cm dilated. Deviled eggs! No, it's actually the bible of the modern midwifery movement. Ina May is this badass hippie who taught herself to deliver babies born on the Farm (a big old hippie resort in Tennessee that was a hotbed in the 60s and 70s). She discovered that by trusting women to give birth, as a natural event that women know how to do, and creating an emotionally and physically supportive environment, the need for C-sections, forceps, vacuum and episiotomies was drastically lower than hospital rates. Most modern midwifery springs from her movement to encourage women to have positive spiritual experiences with birth, that it is nothing to fear but rather cherish and embrace. It's a good read even if you aren't pregnant because it is amazing to read stories of birth that are so different from the standard Hollywood hospital scene.

The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger - It's kind of a progressive "What to Expect...". An overall reference book about everything, but with all kinds of birth acknowledged and respected. She challenges women to be informed and vocal about what they want, whatever that may be, and not to be railroaded by the system. This is not a problem for me, but I trust the book more because I respect her thinking.

Active Birth by Janet Balaskas - Chock full of different positions and exercises and breathing for both before and during birth. It gets to the most important tools - massage, breathing, yoga and specific positions that help not only with pain management but also with progressing labor efficiently. I'm all about the efficiency of my efforts.

Easing Labor Pain by Adrienne Lieberman - There might be some big crossover here with the Active Birth book. It is just an entire book dedicated to ways to manage labor. I'm taking all the suggestions I can get.

Mind Over Labor by Carl Jones - This is strictly dedicated to the act of visualization and has a specific program. Where the other books might have a small section on it, this one is in depth. It seems like an important skill, so I want to learn as much as I can about it.

Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon - This one I got because I want to learn about the Bradley Method. I might be able to integrate some of it into what works for me. The Bradley Method was the next big 'natural' childbirth method to become popular after Lamaze - so I want to know what the fuss is about. However, the original book by Dr Bradley was titled "Husband Coached Birth" which really biases me against this method in theory. It doesn't imply the kind of female empowered experience I am looking for. Yes, I know Donavon will be my INCREDIBLE support. He is amazing at it and I believe it will be a huge help to me that I look forward to. But I'm not about to prioritize his role to the title of a book. I'm the one having the baby. Couldn't Bradley have at least said "Birth as a Couple" or "Delivering Together"? Ew. It just takes it all back to a women needing a guiding man to help her with something hard and it freaks me out a little. Now, to be fair, I think the terminology HAS changed since the original book, and it is now much more inclusive of any old birth partner. But I'm still a little annoyed with this Bradley guy, which makes me less trusting of his "man centered" method. But I'm going to read it - I want to be informed. Either I'll cut this guy some slack or I'll REALLY have something to say when I am done with it.

I've read most of the "Complete Book of Pregnancy and Birth". I'll probably move on to the Active Birth one next. I'm halfway through Ina May's book - learning about napkin folding ideas for placenta delivery. Hehe.

I’m opening the bidding today

To get a jump on the celebrity magazine bidding rush for the first baby photo, I’m opening the bidding today for the rights to publish the first photo.

This will be a closed bidding system. Submit your offer in writing by July 1st. I will require half the money down upon acceptance of your offer.

I’m not going to publicly guess what I think the bidding will draw, but it is estimated that the first pictures of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s baby (or babies) could get $10 million. This figure comes after Christina Aguilera was paid $1.5M for her baby photos and Jennifer Lopez received $6M for the twins. I’m just saying.

mommy practice

I have always said I would NEVER get a puppy. The only thing that will ever get that much of my time and patience, dedicated mostly to eliminating itself and eating, will be something that comes out of me.

Well, we are puppysitting for some friends, just for a couple of days. And I stand by my original feelings on the subject. I am already on a mommy schedule of something gross having to happen every few hours. While he didn't need to go out or eat in the middle of the night...he did make an awful lot of noise in that crate. Often.

chocolate milk

mmmmm. two large glasses of chocolate milk tonight. couldn't get enough. it required a trip to the market for more milk but that didn't deter me.

glass half full

Donavon and I are alike in a quite a few ways. I can't think of any of them right now, but I'm sure there are a few. But we are also very different in certain ways.

Today we were discussing that Donavon likes to say he sees the glass half empty (yet he is somehow for Obama, who gives speeches about how the glass is totally full no matter how much liquid is in it) while I prefer to see the glass as half full. Which way will our child turn out under such opposing influences? Given my optimistic outlook, I believe he will turn out like me, glass half full. From Donavon's perspective, well, the glass is half empty so it will probably turn out like me...which means glass half full. Perfect. Full glass baby.

sweet, sweet caffeine

So, "they" recommend less than 200 mg of caffeine a day while pregnant. Well what does that mean?

The first beautiful discovery came when I learned that a can of Coke only contains 34 mg of caffeine. Beautiful Coca Cola. That remedy of all things hangover related and, coincidentally, morning/all day sickness related - exhaustion, nausea, headache. I'm sad, even bitter, that I went through the first few weeks without knowing that a medicinal Coke a day was really not a huge health hazard for the developing munchkin.

Since the morning/interminable sickness has pretty much abated, I once again long for my morning coffee. I'm at 12 weeks, things are looking good (I mean did you SEE the video?) so I'm indulging. That's right. One shot of half caffeinated espresso. How much caffeine is that? Well, experts tested millions of shots to come up with the less than informative range of 50 -120 mg of caffeine per shot, making my half caff anywhere from 25-60 mg. It's a big spread. Which is why I'm limiting it to one a day. Such a welcome return to normalcy.

Gender prediction #3

This test uses a needle and thread held pendulum style over your wrist. Not only does it predict gender, but number of children.

Results: 3 children - boy, girl, boy.

Hah.

Gender prediction #2

So far, according to Madame Zaritska, we are having a girl. However, according to the Chinese gender prediction calendar, based on my age and the month of conception, we are having a boy. One of them is AMAZINGLY accurate.

Daily ritual

I watch that video every day now, in the morning and at night. I can't think of a better way to start and end a day :)

Baby's first video

Today we visited our friend Karen, who works for Philips (they make ultrasound machines and in this case the HD7 Ultrasound). She needed to practice on the new machine and asked Alyssa to be her guinea pig. We happily agreed. The last ultrasound was at 10 weeks and the little creature looked like a gummy bear and measured 3.3 cm. Today is 12 weeks and it looked a lot different, measuring 5.4 cm! Go baby, go. She was kind enough to give us a real show, complete with video. We are very lucky. Thank you, Karen!

I had a little fun with the files:

In some of these clips you can "see" the heartbeat. In the more still shots, keep a close eye on the chest for the movement of the blood rushing in and out. At the 0:37 time mark, around the small light blue bars in the middle of the screen, you can see it for a bit as she was actually measuring the heartbeat. So beautiful. This time it was about 164.