Still here, still pregnant (Weeks 36 and 37)

The big news is I've/we've made it to full-term, not that there was any reason to worry that I/we wouldn't.  She could be born any time now(!) and be ready to go and figure out what those lungs are for.

I don't have any pictures handy, but I'll post some when I do.  Dick and Wendy were here over Father's Day weekend, which was great.  Wendy got to feel Jane wiggling around, we shared some good meals, and they got to see our new place, dog, and life before everything gets completely turned around.  It was a nice visit and we're looking forward to having them back to meet Jane in the flesh.  Or out of the flesh, I guess.

I've had a few noticeable changes in how I've been feeling, which the midwife assured me was due to lower levels of progesterone, signaling the upcoming end of pregnancy.  Nothing unmanageable, occasional chills and much less stamina.  I am still grateful to be having such an easy pregnancy.  I'm hopeful that Jane's chill-ness will continue on into her life at home with us.

I got some bad news at work last week.  My position was created because the office manager needed help, but the owners now agree that I don't need 30 hours a week to get it done.  Unfortunately for us, this means I'll be cut down to twenty hours after I come back from maternity leave and will be losing our insurance.  Twenty hours is not enough for us to live on, but it is something that I will have until I find something else.  We can get on Andy's insurance in August or September, so the timing will work out there as well.  It's not ideal but it's the best of a bad situation.  I have started looking around for other positions and have compiled a few possibilities.  As everyone keeps assuring me, it will work out.  I was not planning on leaving this job before we finished our time here in Mass, but you just can't plan these things out with certainty.

Andy and I practiced cloth-diapering on our Curious George doll the other night.  The snaps are a new thing for me, but we will get used to them in no time.  When our friends' baby Calvin was born, he didn't fit into the cloth diapers they had for several months, so I'll be curious to see whether they fit Jane initially or not.  They're supposed to be able to fit a newborn.  She feels huge to me when she's kicking my ribs, but I know she's going to seem tiny when I meet her, like it was impossible for her to have been imparting that much force.

This week has been and continues to be quite busy.  It's funny to have so much on our calendars, because each day I look at what there is to do, and I think to myself, "Am I actually going to be doing those things?"  Hard to tell at this point.  Tuesday and Wednesday I worked 8:15-5 (instead of my normal 2:15) because the office manager was out, today I volunteer after work and then we have our final birthing class, and tomorrow we have appointments both in the morning (midwife) and afternoon (hospital intake and carseat check).  Then a BBQ on Saturday and a Movement for Birth class on Sunday.  Busy!

Andy, Brisco and I went to a drive-in last week, which was fun.  I, unsurprisingly, fell asleep, but it was still a nice time.  We won't be able to stay out until 2 am(!!!) again for a long time, not that I'd probably want to.  There are a few pictures from that night that I'll get around to at some point.

That's enough for now, I suppose.  :)

Childhood Dream Fulfilled -- 35 Weeks

First, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, WHITNEY!  I hope you had a great day.  :)  I was thinking about you, and then, yeah, you know... I probably lost my train of thought and then wondered why I was putting my cell phone in the freezer.  You'll always be my Caesar Sister!

Anyway, ever since I was young and watched reruns of the Kids in the Hall on CBC, I was taken with the image of a pregnant woman running around in a bikini in the intro.  Well, that, and everything else about the show, but that could be an entire blog unto itself.

Cross THAT off my bucket list!  (Sarah, if you're reading this, can you believe my Bora Boras have held up this long?!)

 Yesterday Mark and Pam invited us to join them for a hike and a swim in their pool.  We skipped the hike because I don't have that much energy anymore (and can't be far away from bathrooms), but we did join them for some pool time and burgers.  And yes, I had a ton of sunscreen on.

 For once we actually had someone else around that could take pictures of the two of us!  Look how tall I look!

 Our next door neighbor wanted to paint her door and thought it'd look weird to just have one painted (side-by-side townhouses) so we got a lavender door as well.  I like it!

Last but not least, we made English muffins for the first time this weekend.  I was not overly impressed.  They were good, but maybe not up to the good: amount of work ratio.  Maybe we just needed a more amazing topping.  They also took a lot longer than expected.  I had to have two pre-breakfasts while they were cooking.

We hit quite a few garage sales on Saturday and got some good stuff, as well as a bouncer from the free store at the Survival Center, and the glider arrived too.  Jane's room is filling up.  Good thing she won't be in there right away!

34 Weeks

We had a couple of very hot days last week.  We're trying to figure out what works best to keep our apartment cool.  It seems like keeping the downstairs closed is the best bet.  My hair got curly in the humidity.  That, and I haven't had a haircut since Cat visited in January.

 I'm definitely rotating through a set number of outfits.  I'm wearing that coral-colored shirt again today.

Since our CSA ran out a few weeks ago, we've been having a harder time planning meals.  When we pick up veggies each week, we would at least have a jumping off point for meal-planning.  After much debate, we finally decided to renew our membership, even with knowing that cooking will become more of a challenge after Jane's arrival.  If we have the produce available, it puts us in a much better position than not having it.  That being said, we had a recipe for a pasta pot with tomatoes, greens, onions, and feta planned for last night.

But I wanted blueberry pancakes.

 A plethora of cast iron!  When I suggested pancakes to Andy, he was on board immediately.  Not because brinner is amazing, but because, as he put it, "You haven't had that many cravings, and I feel bad about it."  Not going to argue.

 Brisco the wonder dog, awaiting dinner of his own.  Or at least waiting for someone to drop something.

 We got two big-deal items this week: a changing table/dresser, and the carseat/stroller.  The changing table is apparently very heavy (I wasn't allowed to help move it), but luckily our neighbor helped get it out of the car and into Jane's room.  Starting to stock it up!

 My dad and Karen sent us the carseat/stroller.  Now that the dresser has been picked up (yay Craigslist finds!) we can put the carseat and base in the car to live there from here on out.  George was the test subject.  Dino-hat courtesy of Uncle Keith!

 Changing table and Brisco in his favorite room

 Filling the dresser with stuff!  If you know Zingerman's, you might recognize a smiling pig on a bib in the middle drawer there.  And the Michigan pennant that we randomly found on the ground in Amherst last summer.  Of course.

I did prenatal yoga yesterday and realized how much my muscles have changed in the last eight months.  It was much harder than I knew it to actually be (if that makes sense).  It's still kind of a foreign idea for me that there are things I can't do that I used to do relatively recently.  All in all, pregnancy is a pretty fast journey, so I guess my mind hasn't yet caught up with the reality of this giant protrusion here.  Andy's doing a great job of keeping me/us safe and well-rested.  I'm still trying to walk the dog as I'm able and keep the house in decent order.

And, equally importantly, we now have nineteen burritos in the freezer for post-baby.  And six pizzas, and several dozen muffins, a frittata, some chicken...