Shower Time!!

Our Baby Shower

February 15th, 2009

Words can not describe what an amazing job my friends did throwing a baby shower in honor of our baby! Rhea flew in from LA and created all of the decorations and keepsake activities while Naomi and Lindsay teamed up with my mom and Aunt Barb to create the exquisite brunch menu. Many of the greatest friends I have met along different stages of my life were there to help celebrate and wish our baby the best when he's ready to enter into and explore the world! We are so blessed he has so many people who love and support our family! Thank you all who took time out of your busy schedules to help celebrate!

Birthing Class... AKA: Reality Check

This past weekend, Matt and I spent a total of 14 hours in baby birthing class. Wow... that's a lot of information to take in not only as first time parents, but also as a woman who will attempt to push a baby out of a fully dilated 10 cm circle. How big is that you say? NOT BIG ENOUGH!! Especially when you consider that the normal size of a cervix opening is barely the circumference of your pinkie finger. I get the heebie jeebies just thinking of all this.

We are now only 5 weeks away from D day... Even though we devoted our entire weekend to enriching ourselves with baby information, I don't know if we fully comprehend how much our lives will change. Those little day to day tasks will seem so foreign at first. In class, Matt practiced diapering the baby (although he was a pro anyway since he diapered the sock monkey), swaddling the baby, and my personal favorite, bathing the baby! The teacher asked all dads to come choose a baby to practice with and by sheer instinct, Matt chose the white baby with Asian eyes (he's amazing isn't he?!). After bath, he held his baby tightly to his chest and tucked it under his chin, gently swaying back and forth... Of course the teacher instructed all dads to do this, but watching Matt regardless of being told to do it was the most adorable thing I have ever seen especially since he is so eager to learn and take in any information he can in order to be a good dad!

Overall things are going well! I have not experienced any heartburn, aching in the back or swelling of the ankles... yet. The only area where I see a huge impact is when it comes to sleeping at night. I average about 4 hours but I'm not going to complain too much since I know I'll soon be up every 2 hours to feed a baby in the near future! My doctor said I am measuring at 36 cm which is equivalent to 36 weeks. The baby is now head down so he's ready to go! I just got approval for my maternity leave which will officially commence March 1st and last until August 1st (5 blissful work-stress free months!) After the 27th it's all about baby and the new beginnings of the Matt and Malaika Brown Family!

Let The Nesting Begin!

7 months down and only 2 more to go! We are almost to the home stretch! Dr appointments are more frequent, the back is starting to ache and sleep is becoming more rare...

They say when you're pregnant you go through a nesting phase. I'm thinking I went through 2 of them.

Nesting Phase I

About 4 months ago I got an "itch" and wanted to paint the family room/kitchen area (of course the biggest area in the entire house). At the time I thought, "Huh?! I must be nesting!". Well it didn't last long because after a day, I managed to paint only a wall and a half. As of today, our family room still has blue tape along the ceiling and the one wall is still only half painted. Matt either doesn't care (maybe doesn't even notice), or just thinks I'm nuts and allows me to be my crazy self (such a good husband!).

Nesting Phase II
Just this past week, our baby furniture finally arrived! It's hard to tell in the picture, but it is a cherry/espresso finish and from the color of the walls you can probably tell we are expecting a baby BOY! I'm proud to say I painted the nursery myself and it actually turned out quite nice. I still have to paint chocolate brown stars along the top of the wall, but after falling off the bar stool (this was after Matt specifically told me not to stand on it), I better slow down "project nursery" and take my time. Those of you who know me quite well, pretty much know that when I set my mind to something there's no stopping me! When the furniture came and the nesting kicked in, I was hell bent on getting this nursery set up! Since Matt was so busy with his new HDTV that Santa brought him, I decided I could paint on my own without his help... (I was wrong). I've never heard the guy run up the stairs so fast in my life! I think he even beat the Luce up the stairs and she has 4 legs! Not to worry because I'm fine and walked away with only rug burns on the knees. Mom and baby are great! I personally think the baby liked the excitement because he kicked quite a bit afterwards.

Two Months to Go!

Matt and I are getting excited! Everyone still says I don't look very pregnant and that we will have a small baby. I've already gained 19 pounds and it seems to be showing up everywhere else BUT the belly! (I'm starting to wonder if I'll give birth out an upper arm or boob!) Matt started reading up on newborn care and from what we've gathered, our baby could come out butt first, coated in white goo called vernix caseosa, have a cone shaped head, random stork bites on his face, swollen breasts (yes even the boys), require phototherapy for Jaundice , poop dark tar called meconium, refuse to eat, and on top of it all, have a skin discoloration called a Mongolian spot we'll need to explain to our caregivers so no one thinks we beat our baby! Matt said "our baby could be born a mess". Regardless we will love him just the way he is! It's a mess only a mother could love!

He did it! Matt's first diaper change

A co-worker of mine generously gave me a package of newborn diapers and it got me thinking... Matt has NEVER changed a diaper in his life! (that's gonna change!) I cornered him in his office tonight and had him take a shot at putting the diaper on a sock monkey! It took a little time, but he did well and while this picture shows the diaper successfully placed in the right area, it does not depict the step by step process on how it really went. He actually did an okay job... with exception of flipping the monkey mid air a number of times from front to back on his lap. It also took a little time for him to decide which side was the front and which was the back. After watching him tonight I love him even more now for his efforts and for using his engineering mind to figure the entire process out without my help! He's going to be the best dad ever!

Pictures of the babe to be...

We said we would post the scanned ultrasound pictures, but of course with having a BAD case of pregnancy brain, I initially lost them (I felt like the worst mother -to-be!) Guess what I found!Here they are! If I sent you the e-mail with the attached pictures, you will find these are much better to look at... the other ones were HUGE. Happy viewing and on Oct 30th we will let you know if this is a boy or girl!

That's not the baby Jesus in the grilled cheese sandwich... That's our baby!

Here is a picture of our little bun!! I'm not seeing any Asian in our baby, however I'm guessing it is probably a little too soon to tell! ;) Matt just bought a new printer/scanner/fax so once we get it set up, I will add more detailed pictures as this one was taken with my iphone. The ultrasound turned out well, with the exception that the technician was not able to get an accurate read on the measurement since our baby was not cooperating... Defiance already at such an early age?! Matt says the baby gets that from me, but I think it could be from him. When the technician tried to rattle the baby to move positions, it just ignored her as Matt will often do with me if I'm trying to get his attention while he's on the Xbox! :) So far our baby seems to take after his father... minus the political reads and fantasy football statistics. We won't know if we are having a boy or girl until October 30th but if it is a girl who reads books on politics and plays fantasy football, I may weep... Who will go clothes shopping with me and watch all the chick flicks?! As for the Luce and Maggs... both are doing well. Lucy is clueless there is a baby on the way as she keeps jumping on my stomach when I'm trying to read in bed (baby does not like that!). Maggie is content as long as it is quiet so I wonder how she'll feel when the baby comes...

3 down and 6 more to go!

I have been told that pregnancy goes by pretty quickly and honestly after the first few months... I was not totally convinced. Now after 12 weeks, I'm starting to feel a little better and getting some of my energy back (could be the adrenaline from the chaos at work along with 10 hour work days, but I'll take it!). In the beginning it seemed like the weeks were taking FOREVER (especially with the nausea and low blood sugar), but now I can't believe that I'm at that much anticipated 12 week mark, where they say the odds of miscarriage significantly decrease... (keeping the fingers crossed!)

My next appointment (and third ultrasound) is scheduled for September 5th. I have heard that the pictures will show an entire miniature baby all in one image!! Matt unfortunately has to miss that appointment because of work in Charlotte NC for 3 1/2 weeks. :(

Our first ultrasound was taken on July 17th when we thought we were having some complications. That was when we got to hear the little heartbeat for the first time! That image simply showed a little oval smudge that was the "baby". The second ultrasound was at the 8 week mark and I'll be honest with you... I saw NOTHING! The Doctor was pointing out arms and legs and how active the little bugger was. I couldn't help but think "Oh no! My baby has ADHD!!" (I still wonder...)

With the first trimester out of the way, I'm sure life will only get more peculiar as the months wear on. Our next project is working with the Luce (our crazy dog) on how to introduce the baby and preparing for its arrival. Currently she thinks she's the baby of the family so it will be quite an adjustment and shock when she finds out the truth... May the Lord help us!