Any Day Now

As I write this, I am 2 hours from baby Reed’s due date, or, our HypnoBabies course has trained us to say, “guess date.”  I have been so busy this last month and a half–from starting back at Cornerstone and mentoring the Latin teachers, training for my new job with the Florida Virtual Global School, having a baby shower or two, writing thank-you notes, arranging baby’s room, clearing off our registries (10% discount coupon-YAY!), ordering and opening packages from UPS, attending weekly prenatal appointments and Birth Center classes, listening to my “Joyful Pregnancy Affirmations,” deciding on our birth preferences, sharing our plans with family, keeping mum about the names, reading, reading, reading, knitting a little….

And here I am, ready to pop (as I’ve been told by many a stranger), and I’ve fallen behind on our blog updates.  But I guess David is as guilty as I am…this is, after all, our blog, just as this new arrival will be our baby.  He’s been nesting in his own way: installing baseboards and a bookcase in baby’s room, weatherproofing the windows, completing some unfinished house projects, and tending to me. 

Here are some pics, to catch you up-to-date:

Diana, Libby, Mary Jane, Michelle, (me), Melissa, and Laura

Diaper caddy and window monkey

Isn’t he CUTE!

Our free crib! Bedding courtesy of Gramma Miller

Great-gramma Miller helped us get this glider!

Vintage toys, children’s books, and photos of the parents-2-be

Armoire from Gramma Reed

Test-Drive Set of Cloth Diapers…not like the ones yo’ mamma used to use!

Roma knows her boundary…(see next image)…

because early on, we discovered THIS!! Had to break that before it became a habit. (But she’s so cute in there, isn’t she?)

My bags are packed…ready to go…

For those of you who came to my GSR shower (a month ago tomorrow!), look closely: you might see your gift in the pics!  I’ve enjoyed arranging your tokens of love and support all over baby’s room.  Thanks again to my lovely hostesses:

Diana, Libby, Mary Jane, Michelle, (me), Melissa, and Laura

And I also glad that the Grammas-2-be were able to be in attendance for the festivities:

So, until next time, stay tuned to “A Blogger Babybook” for further updates and news alerts!

 

Camera Shy

No luck getting a cameo today. The good news is that Baby is already practicing the best position for birth–head down, facing the spine (anterior). I know Baby doesn’t stay in that position all the time, but today, he/she stubbornly insisted on remaining there for our entire visit with Dr. Buchanan. Oh well!

Baby Reed-29 weeks

Talk to the hand, 'cause the face ain't watchin'

 

Summer Update

June was a very busy month for us–between finishing up the school year and diving into summer activities, we’ve only now just started to breathe… A lot has been accomplished on the baby front, so I will go over the highlights:

1) We had a sonogram back in May. As promised, I have posted a picture below. It’s not much to brag about, however; Baby was reluctant to show his/her face, so I have selected the best view that we have. Enjoy.

Baby Reed-23 weeks

2) The crib came in and shortly thereafter, the matching armoire. We are so thankful to have been gifted with such beautiful furniture for our little nursery! I am confidant that these gifts will last for many years to come!

3) We are not finding out the gender of our baby until birth. So quit asking if we’ve changed our minds! And no, we do not secretly know and are thus conspiring to keep it a secret from everyone. You’ll just have to wait and be surprised like everyone else!

4) We are not sharing names, but we welcome suggestions!

5) Baby was incredibly well-behaved in Europe. It will be fun one day to share the pictures and say, “and look, there you are with Mommy in Rome!”

6) We have another sonogram scheduled for Monday. The purpose: to get some better pics of the baby–and it’s free of charge! I hope we’ll have some good ones to post next time.

7) The nursery theme: safari. Primary colors are green, brown, and orange. Fun stuff!

8 ) The registries are up and running…see the links to the side. I don’t know how well the Amazon registry will work out…I imagine most people prefer to hit up Target at the last minute (that has been my track record, at least!). Some specialty items are so hard to find in stores–glass bottles, a durable Moses basket, organic items, etc–so we’ll see how it goes!

9) We are very excited to be using the Birth Center of Gainesville. Check out their website here:

http://www.birthcenterofgainesville.org/

10) After much reading and research, we have decided to use hypnosis in lieu of pain meds during the birth. Our home study kit will arrive any day now and we are eager to learn the techniques. Check out the hypnobabies website:

http://www.hypnobabies.com/

I think that’s about it for now. Today marks 29 weeks; 11 weeks (give or take a couple weeks) to go!

 

A Peek into the Future

We had our first sonogram today–and it was very exciting. I was looking forward to it all week, but any bit of anticipation could not prepare me for the experience. Wow. What else can I say?

The doctor was very friendly and took his time with us. For some reason, we were both expecting a crotchety old white man who was used to the routine. Instead, we met Dr. Buchanan, a thin young black man who seemed happy to see us at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon! He had recently purchased a new sonogram machine–it looked similar to a laptop–and, fortunately for us, he was eager to try out all the cool features of his high-tech gadget on us, such 2D, 3D, and 4D-imaging, zooming, infrared, etc.

He took multiple pictures during the visit, explained positioning, labeled and identified the legs, back, stomach, arms, and head. The baby was very active for us, but didn’t want to pose for a portrait, so we didn’t get a good profile of the face (maybe next time). We did get to see the heart beating, and the doctor assured us that our baby’s 4-chambered heart was much better than a 3-chambered heart! “Everything looks good in there,” he assured us–no signs of any problems…not that we were worried, but still good to know

After the sonogram, Dr. Buchanan asked us if we had decided the learn the gender of our baby. He offered to write it down and seal it in an envelope for us…

…but we resisted. We will wait. It is good to know that someone knows, though–makes the prospect more tangible, I guess.

*Oh, by the way, our due date has been moved back 5 days…so now we are looking at a potential birth on October 3rd. Or will the baby wait until our anniversary the next day??

Pictures to come.

 

Announcing to the World

I posted our official WWW announcement on my pleo page on 3/13. After posting triumphantly about our recent purchase of a MacBook and its eagerly anticipated delivery date, I added the following:
____________________________________________________________________
Oh, yeah….I almost forgot to mention…

Dave and I ordered another “little bundle” back in December…

We knew when we placed the order that it would be awhile–in the ballpark of 40 weeks, if I recall correctly.

That would put us about 12 weeks into the process. So, our estimated delivery date is nearly six and a half months from now–in late September.

Our “special delivery” is rumored to arrive via AirMail.