Final Preparations

Final preparations are going on… we learned how to install the car seat, and except for the size adjustments I think we are pretty comfortable with it (We decided it would be easier without us having to hold the baby as we tried to figure out how to install the contraption).

Two weeks left in the semester… I guess I will start having to do school work now that my list of baby to-do’s is down to almost nothing. Saturday we will be at full term (37-41 weeks) so the race is on... what will come first: Me being done with school or Ryan?

A few helpful hints for parenting

I found some good parenting tips on the web, and I wanted to share them with the rest of you....

Think of all the time you have now saved, you don't have to try any of these methods on your baby!

Keep on Trucking

At this point in the pregnancy Ryan could come at any time. They estimate that around 36 weeks babies are about 6 pounds (can be as little as 5 to bigger then 7). He should be growing at a rate of about an ounce a day (they said my weight gain should start to taper off… ha ha ha, I won’t hold my breath). The good news is that if he is born now he will likely be strong enough to come home with me when I checkout of the hospital.
What this all means to me is that I have developed this constant feeling that the other shoe is about to fall, that any Braxton Hicks contraction or other pain could be the beginning. There is a large window at this point of when he could come… all the way from now to the second half of May. I have become acutely aware of every changing feeling (and when you are pregnant things change from minute to minute), being a first time mom I have no idea what I should be feeling, and doctors say everything is normal (apparently there is a great variance of “normal”).
I should stay calm and stop thinking about it too much. I talked to a midwife and she gave me good advice: make future plans. So instead of sitting around waiting, we should make plans so that if he doesn’t come tomorrow I will be able to do whatever fun thing we have planned. Don and I are going to a Durham Bulls baseball game Saturday, last weekend we went on a fancy date… at this point the timing is all up to Ryan and all Don and I can do is keep on trucking.

Baby schedules

So I've mentioned before that I have two friends (that I met in Prenatal Yoga) who are also pregnant with boys due around the same time as me. Well one of them had her baby on Friday! She was due 2 days after me. This is really going to happen isn't it? I mean her baby came out and is perfect, do I really have something like that inside me too?
Congrats Amy and baby Tyler! I saw her the weekend before and she had no signs, which means a week from now I could have a little baby! Holy Cow...
Ok I need to take a moment to take that in...

Buff Mom (35 weeks)

I figured I should post another picture so you can see the "bump".. though at this point it is more of a mountain. At least this one makes it look like I am trying to keep in shape :)

Baby Due Date Pool

Hey All, We have set up a free online pool about when the baby will be born, everyone should take a guess (you can also guess weight, length, and time the baby will be born).

http://www.expectnet.com/games/RMason

Coming Soon Near You

Ryan is due next month!!! To put that in perspective, I have been pregnant for a little over 240 days, and we have 38 days until our due date.

Big Bird Nesting

Okay, I knew that pregnant women nested before the baby came… I wasn’t aware how overpowering the urge would be. I have so far: cleaned under all the beds, cleaned out the garage including a complete reorganization, cleaned out the kitchen cupboards, organized all the electronic cords we have… and we have a lot of them. There have been other little projects but these are the big ones. I swear I caught myself dusting the fan and washing the windowsill. Poor Don, he comes home from a long day at work and there I am with a list of things that I can’t do (either because of chemicals or heavy lifting or height etc.) I feel like Martha Stewart on speed… I can’t help it, it is overpowering. The good news is that I am doing all those things that have been on my to-do list forever but were such low priority that it usually takes years to actually get them. I figure I will never have time to do it again. Okay, well I should go I have a whole list of projects to get to!

Socks

Don was very entertained by this picture. We were doing the Ryans laundry and the socks didn't dry very fast so we laid them all out on the top of the dryer. We might not have everything but we certainly have enough socks, just so there is no confusion our baby only has two feet :)

Stacey's Mom

We all have that moment when we realize we are no longer seen as teenagers. I understand that I am 26 and haven’t been a teenager for some time, but it is hard to actually accept this. I recently had these two high school senior boys come to the door to try and sell magazines for some school trip or something. At the end of the conversation the boys said to me “We are wrapping up the neighborhood and want to get one or two more houses in, are there any houses you know of with hot moms like you.” They meant it as a compliment, but wow, I mean really wow.
Holy cow, when did that happen…? That Stacey’s mom song now has new meaning to me. I guess this is the beginning of a new era.

Maternity pictures taken

though I haven't seen the pictures yet, I think it went well.. I even got into a pair of jeans. I got a little Demi in some of the pictures... let's see how well I pull that off. The best moment was when Don put his head against my stomach.. he said something which apparently Ryan didn't like, so Ryan kicked him in the face.

maternity pictures

Don and I decided to get maternity pictures professionally taken (by our wedding photographer who we LOVE). She is coming by Thursday to take them. It seemed like a great idea, I mean what a great way to remember this time. But picture this… you are 25 pounds heavier then you usually are and you have to get practically naked in front of a camera. One of her suggestions: I can wear a pair of pre-pregnancy jeans unbuttoned with a little tube around my boobs. Are we really to assume that in the gaining of 25 pounds my ass has not grown in the slightest…? I am going to declare right now that I am going to stick with stretchy material, no jean for me (I don't want to embarass myself).
I don’t really know what to expect, what poses we will have, or how undressed I will end up. Luckily my class was canceled tomorrow so I have the whole day to primp, that should be enough time right???? I will post pictures when I get them back (I am not going to rush her… I want her to have has much time airbrushing as is needed).

32 weeks

32 weeks and I can still dress up with the best of 'em

Grandma's Wedding

Ryan's Grandma got married this weekend, Ryan kicked to show his excitement on many occasions throughout the day. It was a very nice ceremony (which I officiated) and reception dinner at Fearrington Inn in Chapel Hill.