2 down, 4 to go

So, Julie and Tim Maxwell had their little girl, Mary Elizabeth, on 11/21/08. Congratulations to them! There is only one more to go: Josh and Ashley Brumfield, before we are due. EEEEEKK!!!
I still think it will be interesting to see if Shanti and Ravi or Katie and Brian have their babies first.
On Thanksgiving I hit the 3rd trimester mark. I'm in the home stretch. EEEK!
I'm still very comfortable in my skin and am just beginning to notice difficulty/slowness in my movements. I have to remind myself to walk slower - its ok, I'm not in a hurry.
This week I was walking to work and *SPLAT* I wasn't walking anymore. I have some bruises on my knee, and my elbow hurt for a few days, but I feel fine now. The baby is moving a bunch - so I am pretty sure he is ok. I went to the midwife on Tuesday for a regularly scheduled appointment and they said he was fine.
We had a bunch of questions for the midwife and it was our longest appointment ever. There are 5 midwives in the practice and we found one that we really like. We hope she is the one that comes to help us deliver. Her name is Alice.
We are also on a quest to find a birth assistant. This person is the equivalent to a nurse, she does the blood pressure and other vitals, and backs the midwife up. She also can act as a doula and help with the process of labor. We interviewed a few and found one that is very motherly and we think she might work nicely.
We had a happy thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday because it involves eating and hanging out with people you love, two things which I really adore.
Tom's sister, Andrea, her husband and their baby came over, as did one of Tom's little brothers, James. We ate turkey and stuffing and potatoes and sweet potatoes and more. After dinner we went for a walk in the park near our house. We saw a bunch of deer, and the sun was setting over the hill, making the sky a deep crimson red. Very lovely.
Today James, Andrea, the baby and I are going to DC to do touristy stuff. Tom and Jake are working. Tomorrow we will go to the zoo.
I send everyone love, especially my immediate birth family, who I usually spend Thanksgiving with, sorry we couldn't this year, but we love you so much and missed you a lot. We look forward to next year!
xxoo

Gumbo gets stirred.

Here is a picture of me that I took this weekend, it was in the 60s. Now it is in the 30s. I hate winter.

I realize its been 2 weeks since I last wrote. Sorry. Not much is happening. The baby kicks and moves. This week he moved from his horizontal position into a vertical one. I think he is breech, but he has plenty of time to turn. He did it while I was in a meeting. I wanted to shout, "Hey! This cool thing is happening right now, RIGHT NOW, as we are speaking, my baby is turning his body in my womb!!!" Of course I didn't, but I wanted to.

Tom went to Minnesota and brought back tons of hand me downs from his sister Monica. He also had his birthday and then got sick. He is almost done with his illness, however, and hopefully will be feeling top notch soon enough.

Gumbo is the length of a hot house English cucumber (14 inches). And weights 1 2/3 pounds. He's darling isn't he?

Finally, I made a labor playlist on my ipod of music to last 13 hours. I hope that the hard part of labor does not extend beyond this 13 hours.

That's all folks.

6 months: Little hands and feet

We're 24 weeks. 6 months. 6 MONTHS PREGNANT!!! That's almost the third trimester!!!!!!

I forgot to mention last week that Gumbo is stirring up my body. His precious little arms and legs are kicking me all over. Its fabulous. For anyone who has never felt it, I would describe it like the inside of a drum. I feel the boom of the kick or punch, but there is no noise. It would be awesome if I made noise when he kicked. When he kicks or punches, I feel like he making an inside joke with me. I love it.
He is kicking my lower left belly, i can feel it on the belly side and on the lower floor of my pelvis (that doesn't feel to good). Then I can feel teeny tiny punches up near my liver

I am still tired, tired, tired from my trip. This weekend will bring little rest. Tom went to Minnesota for his 10 year college reunion. My best friend, Liz, is coming in town at 2am tonight with her boyfriend, Mikey. I'm sure we will laugh and have so much fun.

My biggest issue this week is incredible back and hip pain. I think it all started with an adorable outfit that I wore on Tuesday. It involved a skirt, tights and a really cute pair of heels. I felt fine all day, but when I took my shoes off at night, my hips started aching. Then when I laid down to sleep I couldn't find a comfy spot on my side. Sleeping on my stomach was difficult, sleeping on my back was bad too. All week at night I fidgeted and adjusted (driving Tom CRAZY) and got very little rest.
Its Friday and my hips don't lie, they scream. So tonight I took a bath in Epsom salt, it helped a bit... but I doubt tonight will be a silent night. The good thing about tonight is that Tom is in Minnesota and I have the bed to myself, and can adjust away without worrying I'm waking him up.

Even better is that Liz is here tomorrow when I wake up! Its like Santa is bringing her! YAY!

We started taking Bradley birth classes this week, they were nice.

Oh! Exciting news: our friends Craig and Christina had their baby this week. We hung out with them in August for Adam and Stephanie's wedding. They delivered a baby girl, Samantha Rose, weighing just over 8 lbs at a birth center in Mississippi. They were so happy because they had a successful VBAC and a wonderful birth experience as opposed to their first child's delivery which was a forced C-section due to a breech. Tom and I are so happy for them. Samantha Rose is our God daughter and will get baptized in NOLA area first weekend of January. We will not attend the baptism due to our own impending birth.

When I called Tom and told him about Samantha, he said, "Oh no! That means our birth is that much closer!" I told him, "no it doesn't, we have plenty of time!" EEK

Two babies to go until Gumbo.
1st: Julie and Tim (a girl)
2nd: Josh and Ashley (a mystery)
3rd: US!
4th: Shanti and Ravi (a boy)
5th: Katie and Brian (a boy)

It will be interesting to see if the last 3 are born in that order, we are all 2 weeks apart!
More next week!
I love you!!!
xxoo

travel and consequences

So this week I was in San Diego for a Public Health conference. the conference was fun, but overall I am exhausted and feeling icky. For the last three mornings I have been nauseated again. I think its from feeling tired, the jet lag and eating at funny times in San Diego (SD breakfast at DC lunchtime, SD dinner at 11pm DC time, SD lunch whenever it fits in). I hope it evens out over the next couple of days - because, frankly, I don't like it.

In other news, not much is happening. We got a baby swing this week. We are really excited about having our baby. People are starting to ask when we are due and responding, "Oh, thats close." NO ITS NOT! Its completely really, really far away. February and early March are completely really, really far away. By new years, we will be close, it will be almost time, but NOW? we are still totally far away.

We start taking Bradley Birth classes this week. That will be fun. I'm glad we will really be preparing for the labor portion of giving birth.


Love to all!

Happy Days

We are really settling into our home now. It's nice to no longer be looking for a house or moving. I also started a new position with my company so my day to day work is much more suited to my strengths and what I enjoy doing. I am doing outreach and professional development. That said, I go to a lot of career fairs and do lots of trainings for our current employees. Its very me.

I am starting to really look pregnant and not just like I ate too much food. Its cool. It really just happened this week. We will have to post some pictures of me being pregnant.

I feel wonderful. I hate the 1st trimester. I was crying all of the time and exhausted. Now, I am so full of energy and feel like a sparkling diamond its wonderful. Gumbo is moving all of the time and that is fabulous. Its so sweet to feel a little kick when I am working on our budget at work, or giving a presentation. It feels like an inside joke, or like remembering a kiss. Its just such a sweet feeling of joy. I have my old energy back and am using it up riding bikes and walking. We went hiking last weekend and we did a very hard trail. I was so happy to be able to complete it. I'd like to try it again in the next few weeks - because its awesome.

I'm going to San Diego today for 5 days for the American Public Health Association Conference. Its a really cool conference, 30,000 people go, 1,000 booths in the expo, 20-40 presentations going on simultaneously. Its huge. I will be at the Chemonics booth for most of the time promoting our company and the health development work we do. I plan on going to a few presentations but also relaxing when I can.

We are collecting baby things more and more lately. We just got a "My Breast Friend" pillow from a listserv at Tom's work for $10! Those things are usually like $40-$50. We organized all of the baby things that we've received so far and are starting to think about what types of things we will want or need for little Gumbo. There is a bunch of stuff out there. Its nuts! Registering for our wedding was fun, because you can say "I like these dishes better than those" but for strollers and cribs and car seats you have to think about safety and how easy/hard they are to clean, durability. Its so much to think about. We will probably delay for another month or so. =)

We are starting Bradley classes in November to help us with the second part of that sentence. Overall we are so excited to know that we are having a boy, and looking forward to a smooth pregnancy and hopefully pain free childbirth (ha!).

Much love to you, kisses, hugs and more hugs. I like hugs.
Love, V

New Address

In case any of you need our new address. it's:

1619 Farragut Avenue
Rockville, MD 20851

IT'S A BOY!!!

So, we went to our ultrasound in the end of september with V's momma! It was very exciting except for the rather obtuse Ultrasound technician.baby turning way with hand on top of head

baby on back

baby on back with hand on face


...and the picture you've all been waiting for!


Proof of boyhood!