38 Weeks - Getting Closer

This week, Deven and I spent sometime decompressing and relaxing.  Nesting has also kicked into full gear with me reorganizing every closet and drawer I touch!  We finished putting things away in the baby's room and completed our registries.  At this point, if we're not set, then I don't know if we ever will be!

Even with all of the baseball games we've been to this year, both of us have been excited to have football season back.  Deven and I watched the Georgia Tech game on Saturday and tried one of the new restaurants in the Lynnfield Marketplace that's bringing all kinds of options to our area. 

Here I am in my Yellow Jacket Gear!

We spent Sunday getting a few things in order - like my hospital bag (I can't believe how close we're getting) and then went apple picking!  It's been such a strange summer that I didn't realize the season was already in full swing, with many of the apples already picked through in the orchard.  I think we found some really good ones nonetheless, so feel free to send ideas for apple inspired foods :)

Full-Term: 37 Weeks!

The 37th week has been full of activity.  Both moms arrived on Thursday for our Boston Baby Shower.  After several errands, an infusion for me, some pampering, and good meals, we celebrated the impending arrival of our little one again on Saturday.  Here are some pictures from the party, hosted by our friends Jen (left) and Julie (right).

 

These are the cute mason glasses that they decorated with bowties and mustasches :)

 

And here are some of the adorable onesies we were gifted!  This kids will not be short on clothing, that's for sure!  I loved seeing everyone's personality worked into their little outfit :)

 

Here's the delicious strawberry shortcake from Tripoli with the onesie theme incorporated...I think I've finally found a cake to satisfy my Publix cake craving!

 

With the Grandmothers-to-be (Nani & Grammie)...

 

And Uncle Rishee (Rishee Mama)

 

After the party, we spent some time organizing the baby's room and determining what final items we need for the baby's first few weeks.  Mom and I went shopping to tie up a few ends after the three of us met with a prospective pediatrician.  She was also able to come to what will likely be our last ultrasound appointment before the baby arrives.  This week he was measuring in the 32nd percentile at 5 lbs and 15 oz.  We'll see how his growth continues over the next few weeks, but it sounds like his whole body is right on track.

 

And, as you can see in the picture below, he's still growing!!!  I'm not sure how much more room he has in there, but he seems content at the moment.

New Name & 36 Weeks!

We've talked about it for so long - I can't believe that the day is finally here!  With the impending arrival of our little one, Deven and I decided to make our family name legal, going back to his original family name - MITTAL, and me taking his last name.  Who knew that doing so in Massachusetts was such a process?

Deven filed the original petition to change our name on July 2nd, and then after some persistent follow up, we were told to notice the petition in our local newspaper.  Here's a copy of the legal ad that ran.

 

Following the waiting period for objections, Deven and I went to the Essex County Probate Court this morning (2 months later!) to finalize the motion for the name change.  After going through the maze of desks and courtrooms, and hearing some interesting (and sad) cases on custody, divorce, and child support, our name change petition was finally signed by the judge!  What a way to celebrate 36 weeks :)

 

 

Sincerely,

The Middleton Mittals

False Alarm

Since it's been about 1/2 of the pregnancy since I've last posted, I figured that yesterday's events would be as good of a time as any to resume the blog.  I'll post pictures of the bump soon so that the change from 16 to 35 weeks is more apparent.

Anyway, yesterday was a good fire drill for what could happen when Wiggles decide to make his appearance. 

After lunch yesterday, I started getting sharp pains in my lower back and abdomen.  Since they felt different than before, I wasn't really sure what this meant.  After Deven talked me down a bit, I decided to call the doctor.  However, being that I've been running to the restroom quite frequently, because Wiggles likes to use my bladder as a pillow, I went to the bathroom before making the call.  At that point I noticed that I was bleeding a bit, so after panicking for a moment, I called the doctor's office, who said that I needed to come down to the hospital for an exam - at 3:30 PM...just before rush hour. 

I was in the car at about 3:40 and called Deven who was already on his way.  We met halfway and then drove down to MGH.  By 4:40, we were at Labor & Delivery.  Fortunately it was a quite evening for them, so I was taken right into triage and hooked up to a fetal monitor and one to measure contractions.  It was definitely interesting to watch the print out of both, and the nerd in me enjoyed trying to see a correlation between them.  Though mildly, I was actually contracting, but reassured that this was just my uterus being "irritable" and getting ready for the main event.  After an unpleasant pelvic exam I was told that I was about 1/2 cm dialated and 30% effaced - which means labor isn't expected to come on anytime soon as people go a month with more dialation and effacement (thinning of the cervix).  So, in short, everything looks normal, and the waiting game, which could go another 6 weeks, begins....

Since we were already at the hospital, we thought it would be a good opportunity to complete the rest of the hospital tour we started a few months ago.  We saw the remainder of the labor & delivery unit and got a chance to see the postpartum recovery floor.  We found out more about how the process works between the two, and what to expect - compared to what we learned over the last 5 weeks during our child birth class.  I think Deven and I both felt more prepared having had the classes and learning what kinds of questions to ask.  I also felt more comfortable just seeing how Deven was so calm (maybe not on the inside!) and such a rock for me, really helping me to relax.  Needless to say, this coming weekend will entail some of the essentials for our little one's arrival - packing the hospital bag, installing the car seat & base, and finalizing our shopping list for those items we'll need during the first week - because ready or not, he's coming when he's ready :).

16 Weeks!

And we're caught up - though there's still so much going on...

Deven and I decided that mortgage rates are looking pretty great right now, so we started the process to refinance our house. Also realizing that Spring might finally be approaching, Deven's taken on the major task of "opening up" our yard.  While I've been allowed to do a bit of pruning here and there, he's really done an amazing job pulling it all together - hopefully that'll help with our appraisal in a couple of weeks (*fingers crossed*).

We also had our neighbors over for dinner, courtesy of Deven, and enjoyed their company as we shared our news with them.  I love that we live in a real Neighborhood where people actually watch out for one-another and socialize :).  It makes home-ownership even more rewarding, especially with all of the time that's invested.  Leo enjoys it as well as he has someone who will graciously tend to his litter pan while "Dad" is traveling :).

We started the weekend with a training run in Quincy (well Deven ran, and I read about pregnancy), and then we went down to the baby superstore - Buy Buy Baby in Braintree, just a town away.  This was my 3rd time in the store, and I was still overwhelmed - Deven's first.  I think we hit our saturation point in about an hour, but we did learn some great things about strollers - who knew there were so many options!!

Afterwards, we tried our luck at getting some good seats to the Red Sox game - in an attempt to get the weatherman's promised Vitamin D, of course.  The tickets were under face value and a great view of the park and the Boston skyline.  Here's a picture of us at Wiggles first baseball game :).

 

After the game, I finally got the Vegetarian Bahn Mi I was craving for the last two weeks!  We kept the weekend going with some errands, and preparation for Deven's trip, but I was exhausted by the time Sunday night rolled around.  The next two weeks should certainly be interesting without Deven around.  Here's a picture at about 15 1/2 weeks, more so Deven can reference it when I'm huge when he returns. 

 INSERT PICTURE HERE :)

 

Next on the list is shopping - because I really don't have anything that fits anymore that's work-appropriate or seasonably warm :).  Good thing Deven's on board with this plan, right babe?! 

 

Here's what the baby has going on this week... "He or she now weighs in at a whopping three to five ounces, and he's four to five inches in length - about the size of an apple or an avocado. The bones that are now in place in his ears means he can probably hear our voices - whether we're talking or singing (good or bad!) - another good reason to put my calls on speaker :). The tiny muscles in his body, especially the ones in his back, are gaining strength, so he can straighten out a little more." Also interesting is that the baby can now "see" light.  His eyes are able to make small side-to-side movements and although his eyelids are still sealed shut, he or she is visually sensitive to light! 

 

Next week - trip to Atlanta!!!

 

As a side note, not that I want to bring a downside to this whole having a baby experience, but it's interesting to see how my perspective is changing with respect to real-world events.  News stories, especially when related to families and children have started to strike a different chord with me. Maybe it's that now I'm expecting to bring another life into this world, but the events earlier this week at the Boston Marathon really hit home.  Both Deven and I have trained for long-distance races, and as everyone knows, he's actively training for the 1/2 in Napa later this summer.  Understanding the commitment and dedication that goes into training for such a race, it's so disheartening that someone could try to take that away from so many people who have worked so hard and are only competing with themselves or to support a great cause, and through running a no-agenda, non-political, marathon at that!  It's also enraging that the 26th mile, which was supposed to be dedicated to the victims of Sandy Hook, is now marred with yet another tragedy. You want to believe that people are good and that there is always a silver-lining when something bad happens, but how do you protect your child's innocence, but not allow them to be trampled on or live their lives in fear?  I'm sure it'll be something that I'll struggle with as this baby grows both in the womb and through it's own life.  As my mom has always said, "when you're a mom, you'll understand...". Thanks to both of our mothers (and fathers) for raising us to be confident and independent thinkers.  You've made it possible for us to reach for the stars and achieve our dreams, and I only hope that we have the strength and tolerance to allow the same for our little one. <3

15 Weeks!

Still catching up....

This week, I started to gain some energy back.  I enjoyed a long-overdue hair cut over the weekend, and then attended a friend's "woodland animals" baby shower (who knew there were so many cute owl-themed baby things!).  There was so much thought put into every little detail and activity, and I'm sure their new baby will love all of the wishes that were shared for him and her (and now I know where I'm getting my cake from now on...the cake was delicious!). Here's a picture of the adorable diaper cake and some of the favors from her shower.

 

 

As a side note, I'm so overwhelmed at all of the things that a baby needs.  I'm sure Deven and I will work it out as the time comes... 

 

After the shower, Deven and I went down to Boston to meet up with our cousins, Maulik & Salony, and some new friends.  It's so nice to have family in town, and people with whom to share some of the great food in Boston.  We should get as many date nights in as we can at this point!

 

Later this week, I shared the news with my office during one of our Staff Meetings. We have a sort-of trivia game that we play at the end of each meeting to help get to know one another better. Two people are in the "spotlight", and you have to guess who they are based on arbitrary clues about them - I was one of those chosen this month.  In addition to the fact that I could write with my toes, my most revealing clue was that I was expecting a baby in early Fall 2013....of course, no one wanted to guess and assume that someone in the office was pregnant, which was pretty entertaining in itself.  Though, after my "identity" was revealed, it was nice to hear all of the genuine excitement from everyone :).

 

This week, the baby is now the size of a navel orange - hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, that was the size of my entire uterus - and it's beginning to show...at least as far as I'm concerned.  Here is a picture taken after the shower over the weekend.

 

Otherwise, all of the baby's joints and limbs can now move, including wiggling her little fingers.  She can also make breathing movements, which will prepare her for life outside of my womb, and is continuing to hiccup as we've seen in the last couple of ultrasounds.



14 Weeks

Needless to say, I'm behind in updating the blog, so I'll try to recap what's been going on over the last several weeks.  Deven and I drove down to Blackburg for Easter Weekend - leaving Friday afternoon after work.  We stopped at Rein's Deli in CT, and then in Mahwah for the night.  I had planned on getting what was supposed to be amazing bagels in Suffern, NJ (just on the border), but we settled for the hotel special so we could make it to the Temple on time.  Deven and I stopped at the Vraj for the 2nd Darshan of the day, just making it on time, and then in Harrisburg for lunch.  After stopping every 2 hours or so to stretch or use the restroom, we made it down to Blackburg just before dinner, just as Mary and some of the animals arrive on one of the many move trips.  This was the first time I was able to show the slightly growing belly off to any family, which was exciting :).  We had a really nice homestyle meal at a local Italian restaurant...amazing how much my appetite has grown - while I thought I could only each half of my dish, I ended up polishing it off, and then enjoying some dessert afterwards - (so some of that belly must be food)!  That night, we shared the news with Deven's side of the family in India - they were so excited, and it was so nice to hear all of the good wishes that followed our announcement - the 1st great grandchild for Ma!  We got some rest and then made it down to Winston-Salem, NC to meet Rishee for Easter dinner at Mozzelle's. 

 

 

The food was really good southern style food, and I had my share of sweet tea to keep me going for a little while :), and our trip down to Charlotte.  That night, we were able to share our news with my side of the family in India.  After some connection issues, we finally go to facetime with my grandmother and let her know what was coming our way!

After brunch at Zada Janes (!) with Rishee in Charlotte, we started our trip back to Boston.

The next day, we had an appointment with my OB.  Unfortunately, our little one was being evasive, and we weren't able to hear it's heartbeat on the Doppler.  Our supposedly calm doctor said, "you must be nervous, but it's ok, I probably just missed it." Well not knowing what to expect, I actually wasn't nervous at that point, but cue panic.  Fortunately, they squeezed us in for an ultrasound, and wouldn't you know, the little one looked perfect - happy as can be, and twirling about. I guess our little scare gave us the opportunity to get another picture of the little one....

The baby is the size of a lemon this week. He can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another.  He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb - not sure if that's what our baby is doing in the picture above, but maybe?

He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body, and his liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells!  As a side note, it's little hands and feet, which I can't feel yet, measure about a half an inch.  Quite a busy week for the little one :)