Bigger is better?!?!?

How come everything i read says that "by this point your weight gain and belly growth should have reached its peak" LIARS! Last week alone i gained 3 lbs and i OBVIOUSLY am getting bigger. Thankfully, i'm dropping. I still don't think the pics show it, but trust me...the view from above says otherwise.

The the yellow pic is 33w7d and brown pic is last night 37w6d. Ok, now that i write it out - i feel silly as its been 4 weeks. Man does time fly by when your havin fun.

Pregnancy cravings

Yea ~ That's about it. I'll admit: some days i get a random want of brownies, pizza, or mexican, but nothing really compares to my craving to wear a smokin pair of FMP's and go dancing. Last night was no exception. We went to "Catbo", now called Border Cafe, (tomorrow prob something else) to listen to my fav band out here.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=61692706

I mean how can you go wrong when a guy can combine Prince, Otis, and Hootie into one set?!?!

Nonetheless, I just had to sit there any enjoy. No dancing for me these days. However I do have to say THANK GOD for this band, else i would feel like i've slipped into Pregnancy oblivion.

M-I-C

Awe Mickey...your so cute. But do you see those HANDS??? Now add a finger. Yes, perhaps just a pinkie there on the end. And voila...that is what my hands look like these days.

I swear I wake up in the middle of the night with club hand. It progressively gets a lil better come morning, but these lil sausage fingers may never be the same.

P.S. - baby's dropped a lil and i can BREATH...but...gotta go pee ;)

YES!!!

Ok - i'll admit. I watch videos of EVERYTHING online...ok I skip the yucky mean things, but everything else is pretty much free game. And with this, I typically watch, form an opinion and quickly forget them.

This video - i don't ever want to forget.

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~tm322203/Midwife/

I want to share share share it with everyone i know. The sentiments in this video are MINE and I couldn't have said any of it any better, much less found/created more perfect imagery to go along with the words. The video was placed on another blog I often read (http://thelactivist.blogspot.com)

Its not about or done by the midwives that we're seeing. And though we'd love the opportunity to deliver at home, we'll be at a birth center (for insurance purposes). Nonetheless, its a beautiful video and I too, wanted to share.

Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite

You'll notice that this post also falls under the rainy weather, crafty...what to do time frame as the previous.

For the past 8 mos (well prob only 6 or so) we've been looking and looking and looking for baby bedding. What is a simple chore for some, has been sheer torture for me. For starters, the baby's sex is a surprise. This immediately takes away 80% of the commercial bedding on the market. Next, I'm not a huge fan of anything overly cutesy...yes I do have a pink poodle purse, but i SERIOUSLY draw the line at anything Disney. Then I have this thing for softness. At age 5 I 'borrowed' a blanket from my grandmother because it was the perfect level of worn and soft. NONE of the baby blankets i have found even come close to what I want.

Now I know that you don't use these blankets in the beginning and some don't even use them at all, but...to me not having one verged on sacrilege, so i had to do something.

Thankfully I have a very understanding and encouraging husband who actually got excited when we found the perfect fabric and convinced me that YES - I could make the blanket myself and we could easily pick up the other pieces to match. And so I did...well a teeny tiny teddy bear size prototype at least. The rest/best is yet to come.

She's Crafty...

Oh how i wish I could have the Beastie Boys playing in the background while this post is being read, alas...the idea will have to suffice.

Baby Brewing and rainy weather are a dangerous combination. What started with wanting a natural ~ i.e. drug-free and midwife attended birth ~ has lead down a slippery slope of hippie-dom. We slowly progressed to organic eggs and rBGH-free milk, since i was consuming so much of the two it just made sense. Then we decided we wanted to cloth diaper, as we practice 'leave no trace' when we camp...shouldn't we do so in our lives as well? And on and on - up to today - I mixed up my first batch of homemade laundry soap. Why??? Well it too just made sense. Why purchase that special 'baby soap' when we can make our own completely natural product.

Laundry Soap
2c borax
2c washing soda (a little hard to find - we bought at a pool supply store)
2/3 bar grated castile soap
Mix it all in a glass jar and use 1-2TBSP per load

Of course - peter had to take a pic for posterity’s sake.

31 days...is that legal?

Its hard to imagine that in 31 days (+/-14) that there will be a baby...here...on my lap. And it will *gulp* my OURS.

I'm trying my hardest to keep working (though i really don't have anything to do) but all i really do is sit on the sofa and daydream. My two favorite to-be moments in my head are (1) singing happy birthday on your real "birth" day here at home, and (2) soaking in the tub with a little wiggly you, exploring just how far those arms and legs can really reach.

Enjoy your last few weeks in there. I know I am.

Dear Baby Taurus... Love Dad

Baby Taurus - your name for now - to be revealed the day you are born. You are for now a mystery hidden inside your mommy. Safe, protected and well loved. We're so excited to meet you.

For the past 34 weeks you've been growing: developing a brain, a nervous system, a heart and circulatory system, lungs and a respiratory system, a stomach and digestive system, a pituitary gland and endocrine system, bones and muscles, and skin to protect it all. All this growth and development - all this genetic work inside mommy, a mix of Alcantara and Sapp to produce you, baby Taurus.

Our baby, our joy. What a miracle for when you are born you will know us without knowing what we look like. You will know, because it is written inside of you - every cell - and you will know us by our voices. This amazes me. For you are not even physically with us, yet you are already learning. You are amazing.

You may arrive very soon. Estimated date of arrival is in 5 weeks...May 13 ~ Mothers day! And you have an amazing mother. I'll tell you more about her later. But for now, know that she loves you very much and is looking forward to meeting you.

Holy Pressure Batman

So last night - i think i may have over-done my yoga'ing. Well, perhaps not 'overdone'. Perhaps I've done exactly what i should be doing, but just don't like it.

Somewhere between the bazillion swats i did and the other hip opening postures I think that i've just dropped, well rather ~ baby Taurus has just dropped. Yes, yes, yes ~ I KNOW technically it isn't something that happens immediately, but try telling that to my body. All i know is that when i went to yoga i felt ok. When i left i felt like crap. (Its like I've been doing a spilt for 3 days then immediately got up and tried to run.)

Now I'm actually trying to think of another option instead of just getting up and walking to the bathroom.

Estimated time left:
5 weeks 4 days = 38 days = 912 hours = 54,720 minutes

Types of boobs

So typically when one thinks of having babies, at some point one beings to think of boobs.

From the days of conception, sore boobs in the first trimester, big boobs in the third, to ginormous feeding vessels after the baby is born.

However - there is also a rarely discussed species of boob out there that most don't dare discuss. Its in Webster's dictionary as "She who lacks faith in her family and friends, and continuously throws pity parties for herself. See also ~ Jenn"

This rare variety of "boob" was spotted at her SURPRISE baby shower this past Saturday. For MONTHS Yujin among other friends and family have been watching me suffer at the idea of just not being loved enough and trying my best not to be/act selfishly. But man it has not been an easy road, and man is it embarrassing when you confide (constantly) in your best friends.

Alas, under the guise of getting pictures taken on the mall during the cherry blossom festival, i was (thankfully) all cute and spiffed up. Becky had told me a few days prior that the decorations were still up from Yuj's surprise birthday party, so i didn't suspect anything immediately when i walked into their appt. BUT something did catch in the corner of my eye. People - lots of People, and they were people that didn't belong in this space. I was very confused and then got the big "surprise!"

I couldn't believe it. My best friends from DC, my family from Pittsburgh and Peter's from CT. ALL here. FOR ME (oh and that baby of course). Finally i could STOP worrying about not having ANYTHING and i could feel a little better about why Peter was sooooooooo pase about the NEED to go shopping. (doesn't he love me, doesn't he love this baby?)

Its great to be LOVED...even if you are a boob of course.