Good-bye Pregnancy

Today, I started to pack up a lot of my maternity clothes to be stored or to be returned to the original owner. (Before you start sending me hate mail, I am not back in my pre-pregnancy clothes…but there are a lot of maternity work clothes that I won’t be wearing anymore). I felt a little nostalgic and had begun to feel that ways towards the last weeks of my pregnancy. I liken it to graduating college; the end result is something you have been working towards and looking forward to, but you will still miss the whole experience.

I had a very happy pregnancy and I loved being so close to my baby. I have a new body right now, which isn’t exactly the body I had before, so I am just learning to accept this new transition. So, here is my bittersweet tribute to my belly at its biggest. These are some pictures that Joe’s aunt took  that I didn’t get to share because much more exciting events eclipsed my farewell to pregnancy. It’s funny to think that 3 days later, Jude would come into this world. I only hope that if I am ever pregnant again, it will go as smoothly as this time.

Joe and I at the pool on the 4th of July.

 

Relaxing in the shade with Sara.

 

Joe's family after the baby shower. I thought my legs looked pretty good to balance out that belly.

 

39 and Feelin’ Fine

Well, maybe that title is a stretch. I have had a relatively low-complaint pregnancy, so I guess it’s about time that I start experiencing some pains. It’s mainly my back and feet now that my weight has skyrocketed to new levels. But, every morning I wake up, I still feel “like myself” and nothing seems different. So, I am anxious to know when the baby will arrive and how I will feel.

We’ve had a nice 4th of July three-day weekend. Although, Joe has gotten terribly sick. He thought it was allergies (and it may have started that way) but it’s a cold or something. He’s snotty, achy, grumpy, and coughy (you know…the dwarves of sickness). His older sister came to town, so we’ve been doing family stuff all weekend, like a barbeque at the park and dinner at his aunt’s house. It’s been prety relaxed.

So, we are still waiting. I appreciate that the baby didn’t come during the peak of Joe’s sickness. He was really delirious at some points. I think we are ready…well…ready as one can be. But, now we can’t even call people to chat because they want to know if we are having the baby and is that why we are calling. So folks, it’s just better to assume that we are NOT having the baby, and be surprised when we do.  Because, so far, we are not having a baby.

39 weeks pregnant

Here are some not so flattering pictures of me at 39 weeks. I took one of myself in the guest bath because you can’t really tell how big my belly has gotten in the first picture.

 

38 Weeks and Waiting

Can you believe it? The big day is getting closer and closer. Any guesses on when he will come?

 

Statesman

So, do you read the Austin American Statesman? Well, there was a picture of me modeling the Dilly shirt for an article about the woman who designed them. I checked it out, and might I say this was not a small picture, but of some size. Although, it was on the 3rd page of the Style section, so you probably missed it.

So, if you did miss it, here is the online link:

http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/style/06/19/0619stylematters.html

 

Father’s Day

So, Father’s Day was our official last trip out of town before the baby’s birth. My dad insisted that we didn’t have to come visit, but it was also his 50th birthday on Wednesday, so I figured big deals like that only happen once in a while. So, we went to Waco to take my dad out to eat for a Father’s Day/birthday celebration. It was nice to get to spend some time with my dad. Plus, this weekend I got both my parents to tell me about my birth. It puts those stories into a new perspective when you are getting ready to have a birth of your own child.

We also got to visit with Joe’s sister and brother-in-law briefly. Their little girl is over a year old now and she is adorable. Walking and everything. She is the spitting image of Joe’s sister. I have a feeling the baby is going to look a lot like Joe. I hope he gets that dark curly hair that I love.

So, now I am 36 weeks pregnant, which makes me 9 months. By Sunday, I will be medically “to term” and the baby will have developed everything he needs. When he decides to make his appearance will be up to him. So here I am, after the worst night of sleep in my mom’s very hot guest bedroom. But, this picture was prior to Joe and I building a piece of furniture, which took a good two hours, and significant amount of grumpiness on my part.

 

What a Weekend

Wow, now that the weekend is over, I can’t believe we managed to fit in all the stuff that we did. It wasn’t any more than average people do, but factoring in heat and belly, it is more than we normally do. My cousin, Leah, was down this weekend for the Texas Democratic Convention, since she was a delegate for her district in Dallas. She stayed with us a few days in the midst of her convention and parties. Here is a picture of us today, to mark my 35th week of pregnancy and 5 weeks left of half-decent sleep.

On Saturday, Joe went tubing with some friends, so Leah and I spent the day together. We ran some errands around town after brunch at Satellite. But, the best part of the whole day was the pedicure that she treated me to. Confession: I’ve never had one. Probably because I am cheap and I would never think to pay someone to paint my toenails because I always do it myself. so, Leah insisted that I experience the spa pedicure, and I was down with that. Let me say, it was awesome. I didn’t know those chairs were massage chairs. That alone was worth it. I got to soak, and be painted after I had an exfoliation, a mask, and some cooling gel. It was great and was such a nice treat for me.

Then, Saturday night we had dinner with our friends Jessica and Hal. The invited us over to their house for some tasty ribs and sides. Jessica made, hands down, the best baked beans I have ever had. Joe said I need to email her for the recipe. They were delicious. We hung out and talked about our dogs, pregnancy, babies, and the guys played some Wii. Jessica gave me a wonderful gift basket filled with cool baby stuff. I especially loved the gnome minky blanket and already have plans to put the basket to good use as a diaper caddy. We stayed out until almost midnight, which is pretty impressive for me these days. But it was nice to just relax and hang out with friends.

Today we’ve just been running errands and relaxing. Overall, I think we had a really great weekend with family and friends. I guess it’s not that exciting when written out, but I felt really like I had fun and got to do a lot this weekend.

I wanted to show off some cute onesies Joe bought for the baby from the Obey the Dachshund website. Here we are modeling them on our respective bellies (my baby bump and Joe’s daddy bump). They say, “I know a little German” and “Future Liberal.”

 

What’s the Dilly, Yo?

So, I wanted you guys to know, I am officially a model. Okay, I am kidding, well…sort of…

So, let me start from the beginning. My pal, Jessica, forwarded me a post from one of her parenting/mommy groups from a mom here in Austin that was looking for pregnant ladies to model a line of maternity shirts that she created. I read it, but dismissed it. I’m have a few physical aspects about myself that overall I am okay with (like my crooked teeth), but still self-conscious about when I focus on it. But, to my credit I do have a nicely round belly…or I guess, to the little guy’s credit.

I kept thinking about the e-mail because she was giving away a free shirt and the picture files. Since I never had any professional pictures taken, I thought it would be nice to have some to remember the pregnancy (even though the focus of the pictures would be the shirts and not necessarily me and my pregnancy). So, I decided what the heck, e-mailed the person with a link to my blog and told her to e-mail me back if she was still looking for someone.

So, the lady Aimee responded with the details. I met her and some other pregnant ladies down on South Congress early Saturday morning. It was pretty freakin’ hot for 8:00 in the morning. I was worried I was going to sweat in these brand new shirts. So, we took pictures as group and separately doing different poses. I was trying my best to not look cheese-y or self-conscious. And, in the end I got a really cool shirt (I picked a green one that said “Growing a green baby.”)

So, the pictures are up on the website if you want to check them out. www.dillybaby.com

I think the shirt designs are pretty cute. Nothing too frou-frou and I liked that they were more snug to show off the belly vs. being tent-like. She’s doing a free shipping special, so if anyone is interested in purchasing a shirt for themselves or as a gift for a lovely friend who is due in July [wink, wink], just leave a comment and I will forward you the e-mail with the discount code. Of course, I am one of the last of my friends to get pregnant, so I don’t know too many other preggos, but if you know someone who is expecting, you can direct them to the website.

So, now that I am pretty much famous, Joe will have to give in to my diva-like demands. hahaha!!

 

34 Weeks Pregnant

I have hit a new stage of pregnancy, the one where the baby is so high and big that it is getting hard to breathe and I’m getting full much faster. At my last OB visit, she said that he is head down, and showed me where his body parts were (back, butt, knees, etc). So, I have one more two week visit, then I start going every week. I can’t believe I am already to that point.

It’s hard to see how much my belly sticks out in the picture. I may have to have Joe take another profile shot so you can see how much I am expanding. I am hot and sweaty in this picture because I spent about 20 minutes trying to install the car seat in my car. My seats are so angled, that even with the little leveling foot, I still have to stick a rolled up towel under there to get a level car seat. Man, it was hot in the garage.

We did a lot of house work today. Dusting, vacuuming, organizing, etc. I noticed that things like making the bed are taking longer than it used to. I just can’t move that fast. The last day of school is Wednesday, so Joe and I are just coasting right now. Although, I still work through July, I am looking forward to a change of pace, which helps because my new pace is so turtle-like.

 

Mama Bird

I have got the nesting urge. With the baby potentially only 7 weeks away (I’m 33 weeks today) I’ve felt the need to cross some of my to-do’s off my list. The first was baby laundry. I can’t believe how much clothes we have already. Here is a picture of some the shower gifts I have received (of course, ordered by size).

Here’s the laundry basket full of blankets, hooded towels, and larger size baby clothes that I laundered and folded this weekend. Although, there is still more to do.

I also worked on some nursery decorations. Joe and I always make up songs and change them with Liam’s name. We actually pretend that Liam sings these songs…he has quite an extensive collection of classic rock hits with Liam in the lyrics. One thing I said back early in the pregnancy was that we should have a picture called “Liam in the sky with diamonds” as an ode to the Beatles song. This weekend, I finished the picture and put it up in the nursery. I think it’s a cute touch and I an proud of my work.

The finished product.

On the wall.

Last but not least, here I am at 33 weeks. Let me say the heat has already become uncomfortable. I think we are just going to have to suck it up and pay more on our electric bill this summer so I can at least be comfortable at home. Summer camp for work is certainly going to be interesting.

 

8 Months Pregnant

That’s right, I am 32 weeks pregnant today. Yikes, I better get a move on all those projects I want to finish. On a sad note, I am really frustrated with the bathing suit situation. I’ve decided that I am just going to force people to look at my beautiful body in full pregnancy with my cute two piece. I just wish I had more tush coverage. Oh well, I am sure their eyes are going to be transfixed on the belly and not on my butt.

Look we finally got the backyard mowed.