Home Sweet Home, Ready for Baby!

We are all moved into the house now. Everything is unpacked (except the office), the dogs are like puppies again (digging in the yard but happy), and the nursery is all set and ready (but no baby yet- I'm hoping today).

We love the house and are so excited to have the space again. It is so nice not to always have everyone in the same room. Patrick even asked the other day, "Where are you?" and started laughing at the fact that he hasn't had to wonder that in a long time. We are still very close to the city. Only a 30 min drive or train ride away. Patrick's commute to the office every day is only 15 more minutes than what it was in the city believe it or not and he enjoys the down time on the train ride home- where he actually gets a seat unlike the subway.

I will post pictures as soon as I can. In the midst of all the chaos our computer broke so until we can get a new one I can not upload pics. I can use my work computer but it will not allow me to install the program to add my pics.

Now we are just waiting for the baby. I am ready. I have been 80% effaced for two weeks and am now dialated to almost 2 cm. I am having contractions all the time- but apparently not the good ones that eject a baby. My fingers look like plumped ball park franks and my feet only fit into my loosened tennis shoes. Oh yeah and I never thought I would see the day but I only fit into large and extra large maternity shirts- the belly is really out there. Like I said, I am ready.

It's official!

Well it is now official, we own a home or should I say have a large mortgage for one :) We closed on the house today and are so excited to be moving in on Thursday. I can not wait to take the dogs to the house and see their reaction to having a yard again. I am going there tomorrow to get things ready and cleaned and give the girls a chance to run around the empty house before the chaos of moving day. I also can not wait to set up the nursery for the little guy. Patrick is in Washington D.C. until Wednesday night so I told the little guy he has to wait until at least Friday so that his father is home and we are all moved in. Hopefully he is not like his mother and will be obedient.

Please feel free to come visit us, we are still only a short distance to the city and now have extra room for visitors. I like to think it's the best of both worlds.

No More Bedrest

We had another appointment today with the doctor. The good news is I no longer have to be on any form of bedrest! (That was short-lived) We are past the questionable point of lung development with the baby so we are free to deliver at any time. The baby looks and sounds great. They estimate his weight to be just under six pounds. He is head down and out of room! The only concern they now have is that the amniotic fluid levels looked a little low at the office so we had the "non stress test" (I think that is what they called it) done at the hospital. They monitored the baby and measured the fluid levels. Currently we are on the low end of where they would like them to be but are not in the "bad" range yet. We will just have to go in weekly at this point until the baby is born to get rechecked.

Other than that, things are great! I am trying to get everything in the apartment packed up before next week, just in case. Next week is crazy though! I told the baby today that he needs to wait until at least next Friday to come out. Monday we close on the house, Patrick is out of town Monday night to Wednesday night, and we move on Thursday! Yes, we are crazy.

Wish us luck...

"Modified Bedrest"

Well, yesterday after spending four hours at the hospital I was put on "modified bedrest" until the little guy arrives.

I never planned to call the doctor, and probably never would have, but when I saw my physical therapist yesterday morning she called the doctor herself. Needless to say I was sent to labor and delivery for "a half hour of monitoring" which was a lie. Like I said, four hours later they let me go home. I am having active and consistent contractions but am not dialating yet so in an attempt to slow or stop the contractions I am supposed to stop all exercise, walk only small distances and relax (feet up) the entire remainder of the time. This is very difficult for me. I just want to move around! I can't even walk the dogs anymore! Hopefully this will all keep the little guy inside for as long as possible though.

The good news is that the baby has already settled into the pelvis head down- no breech baby here thank the Lord! He looks great and had a great heartrate. They said that at this point (34 weeks 3 days) if labor starts they will not try to stop it because he is fully developed. Obviously we hope he stays put as long as possible to keep growing and fatten up!

Please say a prayer that he hangs in there until April.

Good news, we have officially sublet our apartment as of April 1 so we will not have a mortgage and a rent payment! We are so blessed that everything is falling into place with this move.

Our Niece

I just realized I have not shown everyone our niece, Kaylee Elaina. Kaylee was welcomed into the family in September and has been so much fun to watch grow since. We are very excited that our little guy will have a cousin his age to play with- and a girl no less to teach him the feminine things in life.

33 Weeks

Only 4 weeks until full-term! Although Pat and I are very excited about the arrival of the little guy we have a lot to do in the next month. We are definitely utilizing every last day of having a
"contained" baby- and enjoying our sleep!

Nothing new to report with the baby. He is growing, as evidence by my expanding belly (sorry no pics, our home computer broke and is the only one with the software to download from the camera). The little guy does not really kick anymore because of a lack of room but he certainly still rolls around and throws an elbow every now and then- especially in the middle of the night when he settles to one side, usually under the rib.

I am interviewing a pediatrician tomorrow near our new home. I just don't think the one we picked out in the city will be very practical anymore.

Other than that we are just taking things one day at a time enjoying our last few weeks overlooking Manhattan.

Keeping our fingers crossed...

Everything looks good on the house so far. The appraisal and inspections are complete without any problems. Now we are just waiting on the title search and to schedule a closing date with the lender and sellers. If all goes to plan we should close and move in the week of March 19. We are also very optimistic that someone will be leasing our apartment by April 1 to let us out of our contract. As of right now, everything seems to be falling into place- but I don't want to jinx us so we will just wait and see.

Other than that, the baby just needs to stay put and wait for his nursery to be set up. Oh yeah- and they need to deliver the "fixed" crib before we move.

No stress here! Can you tell?

Our House- almost...

We went into contract officially on Friday to buy our new house. We are very excited but will not be celebrating until we get the keys. Real estate in New York is a different animal altogether. We had no idea. Anyways, here is a glimpse of the new pad we are hoping to move into before the little guy is born. Please keep us in your prayers so that we can get the nursery set up and the girls in a new yard before the baby is born.

NYC Hazardous to Dogs

Well many of you know that the city has not been kind to Emma and Bella. They have been sick at least once a month since we moved here and most recently Bella was seriously ill and went into shock from an unknown toxin off the street. Tonight however we found another very serious hazard to dogs. Manhole covers. It is 10 degrees below zero here tonight (at least it feels that cold) and on our nightly walk Emma decided to explore. Needless to say the advice to school children not to lick the flagpole applies to dogs not licking manhole covers. Emma learned the hard way. Luckily it wasn't a full lick.

For those concerned: she ate her treat just fine when she got home.

30 Weeks

This past weekend we looked at more houses. I had forgotten how stressful and draining it is to search, but now I remember. The good news is that I think we are getting closer to finding a place to call home. Keep your fingers crossed!

Sunday was a relaxing day at home. Patrick and I took advantage of our time off and got aquainted with some of our baby gear. Good thing they warned us about the car seat. It is in fact more complicated than it looks. After reading the instructions we now know how to install it and adjust the straps to fit the toy cow. Hopefully it works the same for the baby. This is all getting so exciting! Only 70 days to go!

29 weeks

Only 75 days to go! I am starting to finalize the organization plan around the baby's birth. Agendas have been created, checklists have been printed, instuctions for Patrick have been laminated, the hospital bag is being packed, baby clothes are washed and in the drawers (Patrick and I now have no drawers), records are at the hospital and the baby has a pediatrician. As much as I feel ready and anxious to finally meet my little man I feel like I still have so much to do. I know I will always have more to learn but there is this lingering fear of forgetting something so big and obvious I will be put on an email forward for idiot of the year! (No comments)

Patrick and I continue our house search. We have a new realtor (#4) who will be helping us on Friday and Saturday to try to find shelter for the family. Please say a prayer that we find our dream home (or at least something with a roof that doesn't leak). I am trying to be optimistic. What is meant to be will be...

28.5 weeks

Even the half of the week counts at this point. I am starting to feel huge and uncomfortable. I don't want to complain because I love being pregnant but I can see how in a few weeks I will really be ready to have this over with.

The baby is kicking all the time. His new favorite spot to hang out is under my ribs. I think they are bruised by now.

We are still looking for a house. We had put an offer on a home we loved but after a bidding war we lost when another party was willing to pay cash. Some of us poor people actually have to get a mortgage :) Everything happens for a reason. We know we will find a better place out there for our family.

27 Weeks- It's a boy!!!

Well, the cat is out of the bag- It's a Boy! We announced the good news to the grandparents over the holidays so we may as well spread the word to everyone else.

We are officially in the third trimester and couldn't be more excited! The crib has been delivered (although they have to order us a new one because it has some issues), the newborn clothes are washed and in the drawers, and the showers are only a few weeks away. I can't believe we are almost there.

We are currently looking at houses in Westchester County, NY, and are very optimistic that we will find a nice home for the little man. We can even get a yard for the girls. They are very happy. Other than that, things are going great!

There have been several requests for a picture of the big belly. Against my better judgement here is the latest picture. I will point out that it was taken after a grueling workout explaining my sexy attire- at least I'm still working out :) Enjoy the laugh.

22 Weeks

I can not believe Christmas is less than two weeks away! Everyday now I feel like I have the greatest gift of all. My growing family of course! I can feel the baby more and more everyday. Patrick can even feel it now which is very exciting for us. I am starting to feel like time is running out though. The crib is ordered, the showers and lamaze classes are scheduled, we are looking for a new home, and the dogs even know that something is changing, but I still feel like there is soooooooo much to do before April. I hope this is normal to feel this way.

20 weeks

Last week we found out the sex of the baby at the anatomy ultrasound. The baby is looking great weighing in at 11oz. The baby loves to suck its thumb and is kicking a lot!