Trick or Treat!

She is indeed my little pumpkin, and the cutest one in the patch.

Our Beanie is growing into a BEAUTIFUL vine. Her costume is 3-6 month sized, so way too big for her (please note the rolled up sleeves, and the fact that the bottoms of the legs are totally empty.) But it's a nice fleecy material, and I figured I could use it as a sort of snow suit when it gets cold (not that it's going to snow, but you get me.) Saves me from having to pack a hat!

We went and trick or treated at Grams and Gramps' house today (Grandma Eileen had also come by for a late afternoon visit, but before we stuffed her into her costume.) It was our first time taking her someplace other than the doctors, so that was fun. Any time I can get out of the house, I feel a bit more human. And being at Grams and Gramps is much like being at my own house, except that there are three people who will snuggle her up while I go take a nap. She did take a big poop while Gramps was holding her though. Her baby manners leave something to be desired.

Happy Halloween!

Hello again from the couch, my full time home. Ellie and I are getting a better hang of things it feels like, though mostly I just focus on taking it day by day. Or rather, in three hour increments of changing, feeding and napping. Lather, rinse, repeat. Newborns, they are sort of boring, though in the past day or so she has had greater periods of alertness. We've worked on doing some tummy time (which she hates) and just spent time sitting and chatting with her.

She's ready to get dressed up tonight, though I'm not sure where exactly we'll be taking her. This is also our first chance to hand out candy at our house - last year we were just moving all of our possessions into the garage! What a difference a year makes, eh?

Here's a couple of pictures from the past couple of days.

After we gave her a bath, we turned her hair into a rhino horn.

She also has incredibly long eyelashes.

Here she is clearly saying "call me!"

Friday Morning.

No big news to report today. We had kind of a rough night last night in terms of sleeping and eating. I think Elizabeth may be hitting a growth spurt (materials I have read say that this is a common time for a first growth spurt) and she is eating for HOURS. Thank goodness I am from America's dairyland, because I feel like quite the cow. I will also be amazed if she weighs less than twenty pounds at her two week checkup, at this rate. The good news is that I am able to provide for her and she's a good little eater most of the time (the only bummer is that usually when she's having issues, it's around midnight or later. When mommy is more prone to bursting into tears from sheer exhaustion.)

All I can say is, her last name may be Ford, but that baby sure eats like a Thiel.

In other news, I got brave yesterday and stepped on the scale, and have lost over half of the baby weight. My pre-pregnancy fat jeans don't button, but they would work with my bella band in a pinch. I am able to wear my wedding ring again, which makes me feel a million times better about my life.

We're taking it easy today. I am ready for about ten naps!

SUCCESS!

The baby slept in her Lulyboo bassinet last night! Granted, it was in our bed with us, but she was in her own little bed, not being spooned by me. We are hoping that by the end of the week (when Tim goes back to work) we can put her Lulyboo in her crib and she will sleep in her own bedroom. We are working in baby steps, and just trying to remember that a week and a half ago, she was living inside me, hearing my heartbeat all of the time, being warm and comforted. Being put in a giant crib is a very different experience. I have a sleep aid stuffed animal that I am hoping will help her a bit. And if it takes us a little longer than we'd like, it takes a little longer. She's still a newborn - it's not like we are letting our 12 year old sleep with us at night.

I am feeling awesome today after getting the best sleep since the hospital. She did a three hour stretch and then two stretches of two hours apiece. I have to admit, I am looking forward to when she can go a little longer in between feedings, and when she can do her eating in shorter time frames. I mean, I am getting a lot of late night HGTV watching done, but I'd rather be sleeping.

What else? Yesterday we went for a nice walk around our neighborhood and Ellie met her first dog (she was uninterested. She is a cat person, clearly.) Lulu and I took a two hour nap on the couch, which was a beautiful thing.

Here is a picture of Ellie's cuteness. I bought her a bow at Walgreens.

Here's what happens if you don't sleep a lot.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Just ran to Walgreens to get the last set of prints for my baby belly book. Oh, how long ago my pregnancy seems!

So, I was putting them in my book, and then figured I should check my shower book for due date, weight and length predictions to see who the big winner is.

No one guessed her actual birthdate. But my friend Joy was the closest in overall details, guessing that she would be born on the 21st, and weigh 8lbs, 7ozs and be 20 inches long. Considering she was 8lbs, 6.2oz and 20 inches long, I think we have a winner.

Still not sure what the prize is though. My eternal love? Joy already has it!

A Week Old!

Yesterday Ellie was a week old, and we had a really good day together. Things are getting a little easier, day by day. She's awesome at nursing and I am getting better about it. She's sleeping in her egg crate during the day (though still not at night, which makes me a tad bit crazy.) Also, yesterday we were able to go for a quick 15 minute walk - it was amazing to just be outside for a few moments - I must admit that I am starting to go slightly stir crazy, since I am chained to the couch nursing for about 20 minutes out of every hour. On average. Not counting the times that the baby decides that she would like to spend a solid hour and a half eating (like... last night between 10 and 11:30pm, when I just wanted to go to bed.) We also gave the baby her first sponge bath, which she enjoyed. The electricians had to put our heater fan on a separate circuit a few weeks ago, and I remember thinking "oh, that stupid fan, we never use it. It's useless." Umm... it is actually quite useful when you're trying to keep a bathroom warm enough for a live nude baby. She was surprisingly unfussy throughout the whole process, and now her hair looks beautiful.

This mothering stuff is not for sissies, but Tim had been an amazing help in everything - from making sure my water bottle is always topped off, to feeding me when I have my hands full and an empty belly, to reminding me to go take a nap or keep up with my pain meds. And every day it gets a little better! And the baby gets EVEN CUTER. I sometimes get a touch of the baby blues, but even as I'm freaking out, I realize it's just a surge of hormones, and that nothing is actually wrong.

This morning we had to be up and dressed by 8am to head to the pediatricians office for our first post-hospital checkup. The biggest thing is checking the baby's weight for proper growth. She was 8lbs 6oz at birth, and then lost a little weight, down to 8lbs the morning we checked out. Today she was back to her birth weight, which the doc said was great, because it normally takes babies a full two weeks to gain back all that they lost! This is even counting the fact that she pooped the second they started to pull off her diaper. She still has maybe a touch of jaundice, but nothing to be concerned about (they didn't even bring out the laser measuring device.) They want to see us again next week for her regular two week checkup and in the meanwhile, the doc gave us some tips for helping her go to sleep in her bassinet, and encouraged us to start putting the baby on her stomach for "tummy time." She's actually already pretty good at controlling her head - mostly when she's on my shoulder getting burped and wants to let me know that she'd rather be eating.

Here are some photos from our big day yesterday:
Snuggling with Beanies.

Daddy with his little girl (immediately pre-diaper change, hence her displeased face.)

Auntie Sara helped with some of the walk.

Here she is before bed, plotting some inevitable badness.

One Week.

Here's my little baby in her baby straight jacket, laying in her egg crate.

We're hoping the combination of these two things will help her get to sleep on her own better. Thus far, not a huge success. But she's a newborn and still just learning about the world, so I shall cut her some slack. And if she wants to sleep on my chest, she can sleep on my chest.

It's amazing to think she's only been around a week (well, as of 10:30pm.) She has completely turned our lives upside down, not to mention our sleep schedules. It's sometimes overwhelming, always rewarding, and a beautiful thing.

Goals for today include getting another 2-3 hours of sleep for me, and giving the baby a bath.

Some Cat Stories.

So, we all worried about how the cats would handle the baby. The good news is that they are mostly ambivalent, but also fairly friendly.

The only bad part is that Lulu's carpet peeing has slightly accelerated. We are managing that as very best we can, but ugh. That's Lulu for you. She is my best friend in the middle of the night. I sit on the couch and nurse and she sits next to me on her little blankey nest and purrs. She occasionally sniffs Elizabeth, and once when I showed her the baby and said "Lulie, this is MY kitten" she dutifully licked the baby. (also can I just say how relieved I am that the baby isn't allergic to cats? I mean, she would have had a slim chance of that actually happening, but it still a relief.)

Thor mostly ignores her and stays away. The funny thing is that since we've come home with her, he has gotten SO much braver. He's out and about more, and though he steers clear of the baby, except for occasional sniffings, he's out in our living room while we're entertaining guests. People who have never seen Thor are suddenly amazed to see him stroll into the room. I think maybe he figures that he's the second smallest person in the house now, so he's safe. Vultures will eat the baby first. Last night when Ellie was in my arms wailing for dinner, Thory sat on the coffee table and cried back at her.

We're keeping the door to the nursery closed full time now, mostly because they like to hide under the guest bed, and it's really hard to get them out from under there. So to save ourselves stress late at night, they don't go in at all. Thankfully, they haven't tried to get in. I think they know that the loud crying thing lives in there, and they don't really want a part of that.

Just wait until she can get her hands on their tails! Let the tuggin' begin.

We made it through our first full day at home pretty smoothly. Tim and I both got showers, we both took naps, we ate delicious food that friends and family dropped off, we spent time staring at our beautiful daughter.

She's a good baby and I love her beyond words. She's eating like a champ (sometimes for over an hour at a time!) and filling diapers and doing all of that good baby stuff. She was very pleased with her first Packer game, and with visits from her grandparents.

Here she is in her victory onesie. She pooped about ten seconds after I got her dressed. Thanks, sweetie.

If only her grandparents liked her. I mean, sheesh.

Game Day.

First Night Home - SURVIVED

We actually did pretty well, after having a pretty awful first afternoon (nothing bad, just new parent jitters combined with my lack of prescription painkillers. By 8ish, we were looking pretty good.)

We finally got the baby's crib fully set up (we'd been avoiding putting the mattress in so the cats wouldn't sleep in it. From now on, we're just keeping the bedroom door closed so the cats can't get in her crib or hide out under the guest bed.) The plan was that she'd sleep in her crib, Tim would sleep in our bed, and I would sleep in the bedroom with the baby just for the first night to make sure everything went smoothly. We laid Ellie down in her crib around midnight and all curled up into bed. She was basically not having it.

They told us in the hospital that you have to remember that your baby is used to being snuggled up in a very small space, where they can feel you and hear your heartbeat. The crib is basically the opposite of that. There's a lot of space, and in the modern era you're not supposed to have ANY blankets or pillows or toys in the crib - just the baby. So she got lonely in there and let me know. I ended up getting up with her and snoozing on the couch with her on my chest (and Lulu on my feet. Lulu is tolerant of the baby and will sit with her on the couch. And when I held Ellie over to her for a viewing in the middle of the night, she sniffed the baby and then licked her face.) We got a couple of good two hour stretches in there between feedings and changings. Tim was sleeping so hard that I could hear him snoring.

At 7, he got up and sat with her, and I went back to our bed for a delicious two hour sleep. Now we are all hanging out on the couch, watching football and awaiting the next feeding. She's a pretty good baby - she sleeps for about 2-3 hours at a stretch and then nurses for about a half hour. She really only fusses when she's hungry or has dirty pants. And she submits to me kissing her ALL THE TIME. It's her own fault for being so stinking cute.

Here's Looking at You, Kid!

A little video that Elizabeth and I made the other day.



We came home from the hospital this afternoon. There was a lot of hurray up and wait all afternoon. The big thing we were waiting on was my prescription for painkillers (my doc didn't give me a script, and they had to wait for the on call OB to call it in.) See, this would all be fine if when Tim went to get the prescription filled, they didn't say "oh, the doctor didn't sign it, and we can't give you these meds." ERGH. So Tim spent a few hours tracking down the doctor and my pills, and Elizabeth and I navigated the tricky waters of nursing. It's tough, but it's oh so good.

We're getting her settled into her nursery and setting up some of her little baby items. I can't wait to start dressing her up (Packers clothing tomorrow, of course.)

So, last night we sent her to the nursery again, just because it might be our last chance to get a stretch of sleep 3 hours long for a very LONG time. I woke up at 6am with a start, thinking "where is my BABY!" The nurse brought her in about five minutes later, and I thought to myself "oh, I am such a mom." It's a good, good feeling.

Day 3.

So, today Tim had tickets to Blizzcon and so I spent my first day on basically full time mommy duty. It wasn't bad at all, and it's also hard to get stressed when you know that there is a crew of professionals just outside your door if you need a question answered or a drink brought in. Seriously though - everyone we've come in contact with at the hospital has been incredibly kind and helpful. All of our nurses have been great, I've been able to meet with several lactation consultants, and even just the cleaning crew and lunch delivery folks - they have all treated me like a queen.

Overall, Elizabeth and I did excellent. She's such a good baby. She'd eat, she'd sleep, and I'd either sleep with her or take the opportunity to return emails or make phone calls. It was just nice to relax, she and I together, since we'll be apparently hanging out a lot in the next few years. I did have to change my first diaper though - Tim's been handing that task basically full time since she was born. She did not go easy on me for my first time on the job, and managed to both pee and poo all over her little mattress pad while I was trying to get her clean diaper out and on her butt. Again - thank goodness for the nurses - I called and they quickly helped me clean up the poo-pocolypse. I also made up some good songs for the baby, mostly incorporating her name into popular show tunes.

We had a few visitors - mom, Sara and Granny Jannie stopped by for a half hour or so before Sara had to go to work. Elizabeth obliged with being incredibly cute and sweet. Dad supervised the installation of our new shower door at the house and then swung by to spend some time with the new love of his life. He got to hold her without having to fight off all of the womenfolk, and so he spent some time explaining the facts of life to Ellie. She listened pretty intently, because she knows who's boss. She is looking forward to wearing her Packer clothes this weekend and cheering her Gramps' favorite team.

This evening all of the Fords stopped by, once Tim and Jake returned from Blizzcon. Grandma Eileen was here first, so she got several hours of uninterrupted baby holding time. It meant that I got to scarf a hot dinner and then take a nap during the Rangers game.

Tomorrow morning/early afternoon we should be heading back to our house, hooray! I can't believe that I finally get to go back outside - it's strange to think that I've been basically in the same 20 square feet since I walked into the hospital in the rain on Tuesday afternoon. I'm ready to be in my own bed, to show Ellie her nursery, and to see what the cats think of the newborn. My doc stopped by today and gave me the thumbs up so I'm actually officially discharged. They will do an assessment of the baby tonight before she goes to the nursery (giving mom and dad a few hours of uninterrupted sleep) and then the ped should discharge her in the morning. She's done a great job in holding close to her birth weight, she regulates her own temperature, she nurses like a champ and she produces quality diapers. Between that, and the fact that she can already read and write, and make iPhone app games, she's basically a complete genius.

Also, we still need to fill out her official birth certificate paperwork. Funny to think that we've introduced her to the world, but legally, she's just "baby girl Ford." Mostly though, I call her Beanie. So, we'll keep you posted, just in case we do end up naming her Sequins at the last moment.

Once we get home I can upload all the photos I've taken, so be prepared for an onslaught of images.

Good Morning, World!

With a clean diaper and a full belly, Elizabeth is ready to tackle day 3.

Day Two

That's right, we've been parents for almost 48 hours!

Last night's sunset was beautiful and I made sure Tim took some pictures - how fitting that the morning of her birthday the weather was stormy and wild like in the midwest but the evening was a beautiful California sunset.

We are both feeling much improved after almost 48 hours. Last night at 11 they took me off all of my IV meds, including the magnesium sulfate, which had been making me feel pretty sick (but which they make you be on for 24 hours post-delivery if there's pre-eclampsia.) The baby went to the nursery for a few hours in the middle of the night and we slept like champs, and then when she came back, the nurse pulled me off of ALL of the various machines that I'd been chained to. I'm not the best walker in the world, but it's nice to no longer be confined to bed! It all made this morning seem so much brighter and more manageable. Tim also went home and took a late morning nap with the cats, so he is back to being his old self.

Today I got to take a shower and even ventured across the hall to get my own ice water - it's the first time I'd left our room in over a day. We had some nice visitors and I received some lovely flowers, and all and all, I feel lucky that Elizabeth and Tim and I get to bask in so much love.

She and I are both healing well and growing like champs. The doc says I should be cleared to go home on Saturday morning, and everyone who sees Ellie comments on how big and strong she is. She and I are having adventures in learning how to feed, but all of the nurses are really nice and I think we're getting the hang of it!

She is an absolutely darling baby and even sometimes when I know I should shut my eyes and try to get a little nap in, I can't stop myself from just looking down and marveling at her expressive little face. It cracks me up how upset she gets when she has a dirty diaper, like, "WHO THE HECK POOPED IN MY PANTS, YOU GUYS!" When she's really upset and crying her bottom lip does this really funny little quiver that I can't help but smile at (even as I wish I knew exactly how to stop her crying.) I love when she's laying on my chest and staring at me with those big, dark blue eyes, or holding her own head up while trying to tell me how bad she needs to eat!

Tim has been an angel in all of this - he's changed EVERY ONE of her diapers thus far, and for a guy who was always afraid to hold babies, he has no hesitation in grabbing her up. There is nothing sweeter than my big tall husband and our tiny baby curled up together. He's such a good daddy, and he's been an amazing husband to me in my hobbling state.

So in short - we are happy and thriving, and looking forward to getting home and settling into our life together. In the meanwhile, the nurses, the mommies and everyone is taking GREAT care of us, and we couldn't be happier. Well... maybe if the hospital had better sleeping arrangements for the fathers, but other than that! (Tim brought an air mattress tonight because he can't deal with the pull out cot anymore.)

Also - we DEFINITELY have more pictures to follow.

Family of Three

Elizabeth Rosemarie Ford, born 10.19.10 at 10:30pm. We are calling her Ellie, and we are all doing just fine. I ended up having a c-section because of pre-eclampsia, which is not the most fun thing I've ever done, but it yielded the nicest reward in my life thus far.

Things I Did Today.

Showered and dressed - check
Actually put on make up - check
New tires - check
Trip to Officemax - check
Management of my retirement funds - check
Checkbook balancing & general financial prudence - check
Met with shower door guy to get quote and measurements - check
Talked to my favorite grandma - check
Lovingly parented my cat children - check
Finished a book - check
Cooked a hot meal for my hot husband - check
Had a baby - hmm... sorry, not today!

What a Day!

...and it's not even 5pm yet.

So, I got hardly any sleep last night. I am a little loopy today. It's the baby due date and I know everyone is foaming at the mouth for me to produce some live young.

The overhead lighting in our bathroom started flickering this week. This morning Tim decided to buy some new bulbs to get it all fixed up. While removing the little plexi glass thingie on the light box, it broke. So, his trip to Home Depot required both bulbs and a new plastic cover. No biggie right? A quick fix. The other thing he purchased at Home Depot was some new casters for our shower doors, which don't roll very cleanly anymore - and one of them actually doesn't grip the glass half the time (I'm not explaining it well, but just go with me on this.) After his overhead lighting project success, he went back to the bathroom, promising that he would fix the door and then he would come and sit with my tired butt on the couch. About a minute later, cue a crash and a holler. He'd gotten the door off the tracks, but then it just SHATTERED in his hands. And it's safety glass, but still glass. I went in there to an enormous mess, which we have spent the last two hours cleaning up with the help of mom and dad's shopvac, some yard work gloves and a lot of sweeping and swearing. The good news is that Tim (who was in the shower in shorts and bare feet) didn't get too cut up.

Yeah. Not our best look. But thankfully with some cleaning, the shower will be usable. Tim and I are already joking about how it reminds us of the hotel we stayed at in Nice, on our honeymoon. Except on our honeymoon, the one sided shower door was on the opposite side of the tub from the shower head - it ended up that one person stood behind the door and soaped and then the other person was responsible for helping them rinse. It was very romantic, in a "lots of water on the floor" way.

In addition to the storm of glass, we also realized today (thanks to Dad) that Tim's car needs new tires IMMEDIATELY. If it's not one thing, it's another. So tomorrow I'll be taking the car for new tires and trying to get someone out to quote us on new shower doors.

I was also joking that tonight will then probably be the night that I go into labor, since I'm already tired beyond belief. I can just see myself walking in to the hospital and demanding the good drugs, so I can sleep for an hour or two before having to push. It would be just my luck.

In the meanwhile, I present a photo entitled Due Date, With Cat

She is not looking at the camera because she wants to get up on the mantle and break something too.

You're Welcome.

In lieu of me going into labor and presenting you all with a baby, here's this:



It makes me laugh like a mad woman. But then again, I slept for about six hours last night, in two separate stretches. So I may not be the best judge of things right now.

Nesting.

It's been a quiet but productive week around the house. Now that all of the painting and patching work is done and no other workmen dudes are due at my house any time soon, I was finally able to tear the place apart cleaning.

On Thursday I spent FOUR HOURS scrubbing everything down, and it was so refreshing. I played my iPod super loud, sang into the mop handle and finally felt like my house was back to normal. Went grocery shopping and filled the fridge and tackled the mountain of laundry. And while I was doing it all, I thought to myself, "okay Sequins, whenever you want now, you can come out. All of our chores are done!"

She apparently has no inclination to do so though. I wake up every morning and stare at my belly, and she is as high in my abdomen as ever. Who knows though - I've read so many different things - stories from women whose babies didn't drop until they went into labor, stories of women who went into inductions showing no progression towards labor and who had their babies pretty easily, and of course, just the stories of people who thought they were going to be pregnant forever and then suddenly whoosh, their water broke out of nowhere. Whatever happens, I just want her out and healthy and in my arms, but I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally don't want her to arrive via c-section. And so of course, that's what I worry about at night when I can't sleep. Or when I wake up to go to the bathroom (again) and then can't fall back asleep.

In the meanwhile, I'm still enjoying her. She's such a sweet little baby, and she's obviously so comfortable in there. Her body is still always on my left side, so when I wake up in the morning, I give her backside a little pat. On my right side are her feet, so sometimes I can poke her and get her to kick me back. Yesterday while I had my hand resting on my belly I could actually feel her practicing her breathing. I am still amazed that I grew her from that little tiny thing with paddles for arms that we saw at our 7 week ultrasound. Now she's a person! With actual arms and hands!

Tomorrow is my official due date, but of course, normal delivery dates are anywhere between 37 and 42 weeks. So she wouldn't actually be overdue until two weeks from now, she's just be post due date. I read that the average first time baby is 8 days late, so am trying to bear that in mind when I feel like OMG my baby is NEVER going to get ready and we are NEVER going to go into labor and I am going to have to have her surgically removed!

I ordered a cute diaper bag this week too, so I guess now, we're officially ready to go. Now I will just wait her out, and try to get in as many hot dates with my cute husband as I can before we become a family of three.

A Funny Thought

(which I know I will get glared at for expressing. I am prepared for said glare.)

So, you know how sometimes your parents look at you when you've done something annoying or boneheaded, and say "oh, I hope you end up with a kid just like you," and you think, "FINE, ME TOO, I AM AWESOME."

Parents, think twice about expressing that sentiment. Because I have heard it more than once from my mom and dad. And now, as they wait eagerly to become grandparents, it's coming true. Granted, Sequins is not overdue yet, but like her mother, she seems to have no inclination to get born, just as 29 years ago, I hung out in the womb for an extra FIFTEEN DAYS until evicted.

Hope you're happy that I'm getting a kid just like me, mom and dad. Happy, and enjoying the interminable wait.

In the meanwhile, I am keeping busy today by scouring the house while blasting showtunes. I am secretly hoping that like her parents, the baby will love showtunes enough to want to come out.

Obligatory Baby Update.

Had my 39 week check up today. The baby has lots of delicious amniotic fluid. She grew quite a bit from last week but is still not alarming huge or anything. She was appropriately active on the nonstress test. The doctor once again proclaimed her "perfect." I am apparently very excellent at growing happy and healthy babies.

However, she continues to show no inclination towards moving towards the exit. She is fine sitting in the middle seat on a non-exit row even as the plane as approaching the airport for final descent. There is not really anything I can do to get her out, so the doctor said he would give me until week 42, but then we'll have to induce. I have my concerns about inductions, csections and medical interventions. In my hormonal state, I actually have a LOT of hysterical concerns, but I can't let myself get too crazy about it all.

I know I will have her in my arms by Halloween. Other than that, I am just working on taking deep breaths, enjoying her little baby kicks and rolls, and enjoying spending time with my boyfriend and our families. I feel like quite the watched pot, but it's nice that everyone is excited for our little arrival. All I can say is, we'll be sure to let everyone know when there is news to know, but in the meanwhile, send thoughts out to Sequins that she needs to get her bags packed and start heading south for the winter.

Date Night.

I have officially completed all of the tasks that involved pre-purchased tickets during the end of my pregnancy. So now Sequins can come when she wants, because I won't lose out on anything that I've already bought. Last night Tim and I head up to LA to see They're Playing Our Song at the Freud theater. It was funny to both of us because the day we found out we were pregnant, we also had a date at the Freud. We'd both commented "wouldn't it be funny if we went into labor tonight, and the baby's life was bookended by live theater?" It was not to be, which was probably for the best. One of the ladies at the theater saw my belly and said "you sure are brave." Little did she know I was an hour away from my hospital (but thankfully, minutes from UCLA medical center.)

The show was great and we had a fabulous date in Los Angeles, which is always fun. We walked around campus for awhile and joked that if Sequins did get into and attend UCLA, we would probably be the world's most embarrassing parents. We'd be the parents with season tickets who try to show up at their kid's dorm room too often, and who overshared about their own college experiences in the face of a bunch of bored teenagers.

Yesterday the guy came to clean up and fix our ceilings. It took him longer to tape everything off than it did to actually spray, so now that's finally done. Tomorrow the painters will come and put a coat of paint onto everything. And then, hopefully this long and beautiful construction project will be completed, and I can entertain myself with some dusting and some floor cleaning and other wonderful things. I am sincerely looking forward to it.

Other than that, no news to report. I am as pregnant as they come, and still pretty comfortable. The biggest thing I miss right now is being able to sleep on my stomach, and not having to flop around like a walrus every time I want to roll over in bed. I'm sure Tim is also excited about the prospect of me being able to move around without grunting and flailing and waking him up.

Not Boiling Yet.

Don't worry, I'm still pregnant. No babies to report here. Well, outside babies. The inside baby is still cooking and kicking away.

A funny story. So, sometimes I like to call Tim during the day to update him on things, or talk to him, or tell him something stupid that the cats have done. When he worked at EA, I'd always have to try his desk line and then leave it at that, since his cell phone didn't work in the building. Well, now his cell gets signal, so I call that first. Makes sense, right? Except that every time I call (which is not THAT often, I do have a life and things to do, you know) he picks up right away and sounds super panicked. And I'll be halfway into my story about Thory licking Lulu's face, and Tim'll interrupt me and be like, "sweetie? I just stepped out of a big meeting, can I call you back later?" So now my system is - if I need to tell him something dumb, or if it's something that does not require immediate attention (ie: if I am NOT calling to say that my water just broke) I call his office line. I am all about working out a system - especially after the day that I called and left him a voice mail on his cell to call me, but I WAS NOT in labor, so no rush, and then he called me back 4 times in 5 minutes trying to get ahold of me (I was on the other line with dad, and couldn't figure out why Tim was so frantic... turns out he hadn't gotten my voicemail.) These last few weeks of pregnancy, they are crazy. Now I know what a watched pot feels like.

I've spent a lot of nice time with mom and dad this week. What did I do when I lived 70 miles away? Wednesday mom and I did a craft project, which was a lot of laughs (mostly at how badly our scarves turned out) and then I stayed around to watch the Twins and pout at their inability to get it together versus the Yankees. Oooh, I hate those Yankees!

Then yesterday mom and I drove up to LA to visit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to see their new exhibit on fashion. They had all of these beautiful garments from the 1700s and 1800s. They were absolutely amazing. I especially liked the ones with bustle styles - dresses that give you an even bigger butt really work with my shape. Also, dresses with lots of embroidery and sequins. It was just a really fun afternoon, and mom even let me pilot the Prius! It's also always fun to me to buzz through my old neighborhood.

So, that's where we are for now. Tomorrow Tim and I have tickets to see They're Playing Our Song at the Freud Theater at UCLA. That is, after the painter comes in at 8:30 and turns out house back into a giant dust bin. But we are almost finished, and odds are, the construction will be finished before we bring the baby home, which is all I really wanted.

40+

Whelp, it's Tuesday, so that means I budget two hours of my day to fart around at the doctor's office. Such is the life of a lady in her last month of pregnancy. We had our usual operating procedure, and Sequins was an overachiever on all counts. She looked darling on the ultrasound and is slightly above the curve in terms of growth at around 7.5 pounds. She's got plenty of amniotic fluid around her and is a happy little beautiful baby.

My blood pressure is fine and dandy and nothing to be concerned about. The baby rocked out during the nonstress test, with plenty of kicking and punching and accelerating heart beats. The nonstress test is a funny thing - I both love it and loathe it. On one hand, it's nice to just sit there for 20 minutes, reading a book, hearing the baby's heartbeat. The chair is comfy, I usually spend time texting with my child's father, and I talk to Sequins as she does her little baby dances. On the other hand, they always say "I'll be back to check on you in five minutes" and they NEVER come back until 10-15 minutes has passed. And there is no way of alerting a nurse or doctor that you are done or that the baby has moved and slipped off the monitor, other than unstrapping yourself and going out with a goo covered gut to talk to someone (which I have only done once, on a day when I was FURIOUS about being left for a REALLY long time.) Today Sequins got really busy in the first five minutes of the test (which would be enough for the doc to probably say "okay, you're good, get out of here") but I was there for almost a half hour while she alternated between sleeping and then kicking the crap out of me. I think I am going to suggest that they get some sort of alarm system in that room. Even just a tin can on a string would suffice. Especially because, not to be graphic, but I generally shotgun 12-20 oz of water or Gatorade before a doctor's appointment, and a half hour is a long time for me to be separated from bathroom access.

So, that's the baby news. As for me, the doctor said that my body is not doing anything that would indicate that labor is impending, and he thinks I'll go at least a week late. I'm not surprised - I've been feeling like I'll have an elephantine gestation since very early on in the pregnancy. I feel like it took me forever to show, and even at 9 months, I'm not very big (in the belly area. My walrus arms and shelf ass are a different story) and it's only been in the last two weeks that strangers have begun commenting on my pregnancy. I mean, I got through an airport without a single raised eyebrow at 35 weeks pregnant!

The good news is that I'm fine with going overdue. I'm still really comfortable, other than the constant bathroom breaks and the trouble I sometimes have falling asleep or staying asleep. I love having the baby live inside me, close to my heart. She's still moving all of the time, and I love just sitting there with my hand on my stomach, feeling her kick and roll and generally act up. I also realize that once I have her, my life will never be the same. An extra week of pregnancy might mean one more date night with Tim, or another chance to go up to LA to meet a girlfriend for lunch. I know everyone else is eager to meet her, and I am too, but I love being pregnant with this little nugget. Even if Tim does accuse me of hogging her. IT'S TRUE. I AM BOGARTING THIS BABY.

So, I guess this means that if you would like to revise your bet for when the baby will arrive, please let me know, and I can update the tally. At this point, there is no prize for being correct, but we can perhaps think of something. Like... winner gets a picture of my freakish belly button. Or not.

Here are some much cuter pictures:
Here you can see her cute little profile, and both of her grubby little paws up near her face.

She is super excited about her first post-season. I have purchased her a Homer Hanky of her very own. Hopefully, she will make it out in time for the World Series. At the very least, I'd like her to wear her Halloween costume.

The Construction Continues!

Well, here we are two weeks later, and still not done. The new painter/patcher came by today, took one look at the kitchen ceiling and said it couldn't be done with what he had in the truck. There'd been so much texture and paint and junk layered and scraped and layered and scraped on the ceiling that he's going to need to scrape it all down, bring out the texture gun and start fresh. The earliest he can do it is Saturday, and then on Monday someone else will be by to paint. It's a hassle, but it at least gives me a few days of down time between then and now to just relax around the house. I fully intend on cleaning the wood floors, even if they'll just get re-dirtied next weekend.

I also really like the new painter guy. He sort of looks like if Jeff Bridges got a haircut, and he sort of talks like Jeff Bridges' character in The Big Lebowski. The dude abides, and is going to fix my ceilings.

In the meanwhile, the plumbers are here installing a permanent water softener (forget you, Culligan!) and my new kitchen facet. Also, just crawling under all of the cabinets and checking the plumbing. I have to admit, the thing I am most excited about is getting our bathroom drain fixed so that it doesn't take a full minute for the sink to drain when you brush your teeth. They will be done today. The only downside of the plumbers is that they turned off the water for a couple of hours. It's hard to be a pregnant lady with limited toilet access.

Here, Thiel men, check out my appliances!


Tim laid those paving stones himself.

The good news is that my friend Becca and I did some brainstorming about how future renovations should go. Any kitchen or bathroom renos will have wait until Dad is formally retired, and then I will offer him a small stipend to supervise construction, and complete authority to make decisions. In the meanwhile, I will go on vacation and not come back until all of the work is done. I think it's the perfect plan.

Overall though, it's not so bad. All of the contractors have been really nice, everyone is doing a good job (or are totally willing to fix the bad jobs) and I haven't gone into labor in the middle of it all, and that's what really matters.

The cats are also doing better after getting a weekend pass out of kitty prison. Thor has put some weight back on, and now our next big job is getting him used to the ceiling fans. He won't come into the room if the fan is running, and if I carry him out in my arms, he cries and struggles until I put him down, and then he's out like a bolt of lightening. My plan is to take him into the office with me (because there's no good place to hide) run the fan and try to get him to see that nothing bad is going to happen to him.

Look at this little face. Can you see why I just want him to be happy?
He is just a little kitten with mittens.

The baby continues to be good. She hasn't dropped and no contractions, and I continue to maintain my theory that I'll go past my due date. In terms of actually giving birth, I realized last night that I am much like a cat. I'm sort of hoping I'll go into labor late at night so I can just sneak off and do it without too much hubbub. Sort of like a cat going and hiding in a drawer to have her kittens, and then carrying them around in her mouth to a good hiding place. I hope the skin on the back of Sequins' neck is strong enough for that.

Mostly Photos.

So much for sleeping in this morning - I was up at 6 and that was it. I predict quite the nap later this morning. In lieu of resting, let me offer you some pictures of the recent action around our house.

The paint job is not done. Yesterday the same dude who'd been struggling to get the patches right on Tuesday, Wednesday AND Thursday was sent again, this time with a sidekick. So... the dude can't get it right, and now he's the foreman of the job? After 4 hours of the same crap on a new day (texture the crap out of the ceiling, ask me what I think, I say it doesn't match, he tells me it either just needs paint or it just needs more texture, then I say I don't think so, scrape and start over...) I called uncle. The contractor is sending a different crew on Monday. He said the dude who'd been here usually handles patch and paint jobs of my size without problem. Well, the original 1 foot square patches in my foyer and bedroom have now become 3 foot blotches that look like ceiling pimples. And my kitchen just sort of looks like it's been painted - you can still see the exact outline of where the light box was. I have total faith in the contractor, I know he'll get it right and he won't leave until it's perfect, but SWEET FANCY MOSES. I am now 38 weeks pregnant. I'm hormonal. I'm nesting. I'm pretty OCD about cleanliness even when there isn't a second person sharing my internal organs with me. I am ready to not be sweeping my floors every night. I am ready to not be getting up at 6:30 to wrangle cats. So, hopefully they'll be done on Monday. Or maybe I'll go into labor and someone else can supervise the job. Just kidding, I am not ready to go into labor.

Would you like to see something funny?
So, since about week 30 or so, Sequins has been in the same general position at each ultrasound - head down, body on my left, feets on my right. I realized yesterday that when she's in her normal resting mode and I lean over, the left side of my belly actually sags forward. Can you see the bump on the left side? That's my little friend!

Oh, there was one good piece of painting and patching yesterday - they got the entire ceiling of the living room painted, so that room is complete. Here is a compare and contrast on the most commonly used room in the house, taken without using the flash.

Before: One floor lamp meant that if you lost the remote, you needed a flashlight to find it.

And now... LET THERE BE LIGHT!

Here's a picture of how Lulu spent most of her Friday in kitty prison.

But then she tried to bite a guard, and got sent to do some time in the hole.