Labor Day Weekend (week 35)

After a busy work week getting paperwork for the house passed around and getting Dan registered for the Gordon program, we headed up to NH. Three reasons for the trip: Grandma Judy's birthday, friends Zander and Brittany's wedding reception, and a Harjes family baby shower. Well, actually it was more like an Ibey family baby shower, as the guests consisted of Judy's side of the family.

The wedding reception was very fun. Brittany and Zander eloped in California a few weeks ago, and celebrated with a Vermont pig roast. Fun to see that crew again, especially now that Eric, Andrea, and baby Ayela are East Coasters again.

The baby shower was very low key and nice. Just Dan's NH based family, plus his cousin Pat up from NYC. Judy made a delicious meal of chicken kebabs and salad. We got one of those fun Beaba Babycookers for making our own baby food, a breast pump (much needed!!), and some great baby books that Dan's cousin's children picked out.

We returned Sunday night to spend Labor Day Monday at home. We had a great day hanging out with Grace, Tony, Ian, Dave, and even Derek and Katie on a stop from Maine back to California. After yummy lunch at Grace and Tony's we went to a BTT BBQ at Shaun's apartment in Boston. A good day all around!

What a week! (week 35)

It was a busy couple of days in the Harjes house. First, Dan got a great opportunity from his company to go back to school. It's a year long program through Northeastern called the Gordon Engineering Leadership Program. It will certainly make for an especially hectic year once BBH gets here, but it's an opportunity we can't pass up. We will make it work! Second, we made an offer on a house in Acton, which was accepted! We haven't sold our Allston condo yet, so we're a little nervous. But we love this house, it will be a wonderful place for BBH to grow up. Next week we will do the inspection, and if all goes well the P&S will be the following week.

Another check-in (week 34+)

Not much to update! I had another check-in with the OB yesterday. My regular doc is on vacation, so I saw someone else. I was in and out in less than 30 minutes!! Hmm... do you think speedier appointments is a valid reason to switch doctors?

When I was doing the urine and blood pressure checks with the nurses, they asked me how I was coming along with the L&D pre-registration forms. Do I have them filled out and stored somewhere accessible?? Um, no. No I don't. Is it really time to start thinking about that stuff? Geez...

Anyway, all is good in the BBH world. Uterus measuring at 35cms, his heart rate is good and strong, my blood pressure is good. When I lifted up my shirt for the doppler, the doc said that she didn't even need to do the heart rate check. She could tell he was just fine... she could see him moving around like crazy. Funny, I hadn't even noticed. Maybe I am so used to feeling him move, that I don't feel it as much anymore? She still did take his HR, although it took longer than usual since he was moving so much.

At my next appointment in 2 weeks they will do a step-b test, and then I'll be going in weekly until BBH gets here! Looking forward to the 37 week ultrasound to check on his weight... I feel like we might have a linebacker growing in there. Carpal tunnel is still bothering me, numb hands wake me up several times a night and my left wrist has started to bother me at work. Hopefully the brace my doctor prescribed and the ART treatment my chiro gave me today will help!

This weekend we're headed to NH for friends Brittany and Zander's wedding reception, pig-roast style. Should be fun! We'll spend some time with Dan's family while we're there, too. Looking forward to the long weekend!

Check-in (week 32+)

I'm seeing my OB every other week now. The check in this week was good, everything looking normal. I gained a little weight, which is good because I hadn't gained anything in over a month. I get to skip out on a few weeks seeing the Gestational Diabetes dietitian now (still have to go in for bi-monthly check-ins with the endocrinologist though). My blood pressure was good, BBH's heart rate was strong, and my uterus measured 32. I asked the doctor what direction BBH was heading, she confirmed my suspicions that he is head down. She pointed out where his back, butt, and feet are. Although it's possible for him to somersault in there, chances are he'll stay head down. At around 37 weeks they'll do a growth scan ultrasound because of the diabetes, so I guess we'll see where he is then!

I had my first middle-of-the-night calf cramp last night... wowza! Thought I was sliding through without that issue, but no such luck :)

Showered! (week 32)

Only 8 weeks to go! I remember way back at the beginning that 8 weeks pregnant seemed really far away. That's when our first doctors appointment was, and the time crawled. I have a feeling these last few weeks are going to crawl by as well!

This weekend we were showered... times two! It was a busy but fun weekend. Saturday was the family and old school friends BBQ shower at (soon to be Aunt) Elizabeth's house. Sunday afternoon was the BTT baby shower which Grace and Tony hosted at our house. And the rest of the weekend was crammed with cleaning house and yard in preparation for our first open house next weekend. We got almost everything done! The yard has been weeded, the house has been de-cluttered, the cabinets/drawers/closets have been cleaned up and organized, baby stuff has been put away, and all the surfaces have been polished. All that remains is tidying up the sunroom/office (me) and re-finishing the porches (Dan).

Baby shower #1 on Saturday was a nice low key event. I got the pass from the gestational diabetes clinic to eat whatever I wanted at my shower and not worry about blood sugar levels. I didn't tell them I had two scheduled this weekend :). The food was delicious, and it was fun to catch up with friends and family that I don't see often enough. High school friends Casey, Kathy and Jess (ok, Jess technically isn't a high school friend, but I consider her one anyway), college friends Jen and Kristin, and family Mom, Dad, Elizabeth, Margaret, Doug, Madeline, and Grandma Esther made up the crew for the day. We feasted on delicious pulled pork, yummy fruit salads, chip and dip galore, and an awesome lemon cake from Margaret. We got some excellent gifts: cute clothes, helpful things off of the registry, fun toys and more. The highlight was a beautiful handmade quilt from Grandma Esther. What a special thing for BBH to have and grow up with... a little piece of his great-grandma.

 

 

Baby shower #2... the BTT shower! This was fun, fun... just like a BTT social. So funny that a little over a year ago we hosted a shower for Grace and Tony at the house with a similar set-up and crowd, and now for our shower BBF was there running around, keeping everyone entertained. It was so nice to catch up with everyone- without training I haven't seen as much of the BTTers as I normally do. Grace and Tony put together a perfect event. Lots of delicious food (I cheated again, eating more than my share of fruit salad and yummy peanut butter cookies!! I didn't dare take my blood sugar). We got more great gifts, including some BTT color themed clothes, socks, shoes... you name it! We even got a piggy bank from Maggie so BBH can start saving for triathlons now. I got the chance to catch up with Rachel and Jeff and their 3 month old twin boys too. Got some good tips and funny stories from them! So glad we're only having one... although their boys are super cute.

 

 

Ian played nicely with Ryan Aronis, these guys will hopefully be good playmates for BBH!

Gifts!!

 

BBH is still moving and shaking. He's still not a fan of the kicking, which is a-okay by me. I can feel things are getting snug in there! I've still been sleeping pretty well (when the neighbors allow it). Biggest discomfort for me during the night is that my hands fall asleep several times. Hate that feeling! Up next is a check in with the Doc on Wednesday.

A lot of pregnant ladies (week 30)

The weekend involved a whole lot of pregnant ladies, as expected! Friday night we went to Harvard Vanguard in Watertown for a "Meet the Pediatrician" night. I'm not sure if we'll end up using that particular doctor or even that location (we're looking to potentially move, but more on that later), but it was really helpful to understand how the hospital-pediatrician thing works. Dan and I got several chuckles out of some of the other parents that attended the session... they were asking some ridiculous questions. One mother-to-be wanted to know whether the office had a separate waiting area for sick children. Geez Louise....

On Saturday we had a LONG but very informative birthing class at Newton Wellesley. The nurse who gave the class was funny but also straightforward and honest. Good to hear frank answers! I think the class was more overwhelming for Dan, who didn't know a thing about most of the labor process. I've been reading books and articles over the last few months, so other than learning about hospital procedure and whatnot there weren't any surprises for me. I think Dan is a little freaked out now that he knows what labor entails! The highlight of the day was taking a tour of the labor and delivery/postpartum wing of the hospital. I'm strangely looking forward to the process, and I hope that I'm able to have the experience of "going into labor" (rather than being induced). As long as my water doesn't break while I'm at work ;)

We ended up re-scheduling the "Newborn Essentials" course that we were planning on attending Sunday. Partially because it would have been a lot of information to absorb over one weekend, but mostly because we had other things that needed to be done. Now that we're getting pretty serious about this moving business, we wanted to check out some houses and also do some much needed yard work (necessary before we start showing our place). Dan did an incredible job on the yard. It was a challenge because we get flooding so frequently that we had to come up with a solution that wouldn't wash away or drown. Check out what he did! I helped as much as I could, but that pretty much meant handing him tools and getting him Gatorade.

I would be sad to part with our condo. I love the unit and the convenient location. However, as we were working outside we were quickly reminded of the reason why we want to move. Neighbors. The neighbors in the back were having a party in their parking lot all afternoon and well into the night, blasting music. The neighbors below us (who have an equal share in the lawn but spent the entire day on their couch drinking beer and watching TV, might I add), allowed their friends to come out on the front deck and smoke cigarettes. Hello, pregnant woman doing YOUR yardwork, and you're going to let your friends blow smoke in my face? I told them to go elsewhere. Getting away from neighbors is the goal here. I feel like we're slowly loosing our sanity...

Back to the doc (week 29+)

Well, it was back from Lake Placid and straight to Newton Wellesley! I had to go to the Gestational Diabetes clinic in Maternal Fetal Medicine. First up was a meeting with the endocrinologist for what ended up being a Q&A. My only question had to do with exercising. He told me that I CAN add a little snack in before working out to keep my blood sugar from going too low (mid/late day swims left me with BS levels in the 60s, too low). When I had called the diabetes nurse to ask about this last week, she told me just to exercise less. Not the answer I wanted. I'm glad to know I can adjust my food intake and keep up the exercise. He also confirmed that what I have is gestational diabetes and not regular diabetes... which is great. A blood sample they had taken the last visit was able to determine that my blood sugars had been within a normal range over the past few months. Phew! I still have a chance of remaining diabetic post-pregnancy or becoming diabetic later in life, but I'm very glad to know that I wasn't before!


Next up was a meeting with the dietitian. She reviewed my food intake and blood sugar levels. Got the stamp of approval from her, and I don't need to go back for 2 weeks. She even gave me some good new rules- like bumping some snacks from 15 grams of carbs to 30 grams of carbs, and not to count carbs in nuts/nut butters or non-starchy veggies. Sweet! I'm getting sick of recording every little thing that I eat, but I will deal!


I've been taking it really easily recently, as I've learned that my back goes out way too easily. Lifting things and housework have left me barely able to move! My chiropractor has been helping, but even with that it takes about 4 days to feel better. Not worth it! I recruited help from Nana Nan a week ago to help cleaning up some baby stuff. I have a feeling I'll be doing that again!


Next up is baby weekend o-rama! We have a "Meet the Pediatrician" night at a local doctors office, an all-day Childbirth Class at NWH on Saturday, and a Newborn Essentials class on Sunday. We're going to try to squeeze in some house shopping in between too!