34-Week Appointment

Corey and I got to see Doc again this past week for my 34-week check-up.

You all know the drill by now...
Urine sample, weigh-in (I hadn't gained any weight from last time) and blood pressure were all good, and we listened to Baby Girl's heartbeat which was beating strong in the 120s! Doc measured my belly and I have started to plateau a little, measuring only 34.5-35cm this time, but perfectly in line with Doc's expectations.

He also felt all over my belly and reiterated his finding from last time that Baby Girl is head down. He let us put our hands where his were and we could actually feel the head! He also located and let us feel her tushy-- it was much softer than the head. Let's hope she doesn't come out with too much junk in the trunk!

With all the medical stuff out of the way, we went right into Q & A.

Our main question for Doc was regarding the "big day." Having never given birth before, I'm starting to get a little nervous about how exactly everything is going to go down.

Earlier in the week, Corey and I had taken our hospital tour at St. Mary's. We saw the labor & delivery ward, the postpartum wing, nursery and amongst other things, learned all the places in the hospital where we'll be allowed to use cell phones.

It was during the tour, and particularly when we saw a very pregnant woman come thru the double-doors of the labor & delivery wing huffing and puffing, walking the halls to try and allieviate the pain of the early stages of labor, that I started to have a bit of a freak out.

"I can't believe this is really happening," I said to Corey. "Everything is happening too fast. How did 8 months go by already?! Did you see that woman? She was totally sweating and about to give birth. I'm getting scared. I don't want my privates ripped apart, but I guess it's too late for that now."

"Do you want to take more classes? You know, Annie, we haven't actually done any childbirth classes. Do you think it would make you more comfortable if we did?" Corey kindly offers.

"Absolutely not! I don't want to see that. I'd rather go in blind and hopefully I'll be so doped up on drugs that I won't have any recollection of what actually happened in the delivery room."

I don't think Corey was too thrilled with my attitude so we relayed the gist of this conversation to Doc to get his opinion. With his usual charm, he quickly calmed me down and said that all of these feelings are perfectly normal.

"There is medical staff there to help you through all of this. We're not going to admit you and then close the door and walk away until the baby pops out. We're there for you, to help you breathe, explain what's going on and to guide you through the process. I like to say that giving birth is like riding a bike. You can read all about it, watch others do it, learn the physics behind it, but until you actually get up on that bike and try to pedal, you'll never truly understand the experience. Don't worry. We're not going to let you fall."

Don't you just love this man?! With that simple response, I completely re-gained my confidence. I have to remind myself that everyday, women in every part of the world have babies. And probably most are without the quality of medical care and information that I have. Why am I worrying? I've made it this far, right? Right!

All of our other questions for Doc were minor--can I take car trips (YES but no more than a couple hours away), is sexual activity still okay (YES as long as you feel like it), are you still going on vacation (Sadly, YES, but Doc assures me he's back by the 20th of August).

We shook hands and Doc told me to keep up the good work--I'm in the home-stretch now-- and he'll see me again in 2 weeks for my first internal exam.

False-Advertising at the YMCA

In an effort to stay out of the 99-degree heat and still get a workout in, I decided to try out a water aerobics class at my local YMCA today.

I looked online and read the class description for Just My Speed as "ideal for expectant mothers and those looking for a low-impact workout." Perfect... or so I thought.

I got to the Y about 15min before class was set to start. I wanted to allow ample time for mixing and mingling with all the other preggos who would be in the class. I had visions of talking doctors, registries, swollen ankles. And at the end of class, we would all be instant friends and decide to meet for regular lunch dates!

Unfortunately, as I snaked through the maze of the locker room and entered the pool area, the only women I saw were those women wearing swim caps in the first two lanes. Oh, and did I mention they were all over the age of 75? Yeah, there were no pre-menopausal women to be found. Where were all the preggos? Surely I was in the wrong pool. So, naturally, I turned around and decided to get clarification from the front desk.

Me (looking very eager and smiling): "Hi. I was wondering where the 9:15am water class is? The one called Just My Speed with Janet?"
Lady at the Y (staring me up and down): "Lane 1 of the pool. Weren't you just in there?"
Me: "Yes, but I didn't see any pregnant women."
Lady at the Y (now smirking): "It's not just for pregnant women. It's an open class."
Me (feeling like a supreme a-hole): "Oh. Thanks."

Since I didn't bring any regular workout clothes with me, I decided it would be better to try "Sweatin' to the Oldies" than go home and not get any exercise. So back into the pool I went, trying to conjure up some positive energy.

I was greeted by Janet, the instructor, who was so happy to have a newcomer in the class.
"We just love it when a mother-to-be joins us! Makes us all feel young again! Grab a noodle and go ahead in the pool. We'll get started in just a sec. I just need to get my 8-track loaded..."

Okay, so the part about the 8-track is an exaggeration, but you get how I felt. An hour of bouncing around the shallow-end wasn't exactly what I would call a workout. But hey, looking on the bright side, it was probably the only time in my life I could say I had the best bathing suit body of all the women around!

Shower-fest #2 in Richmond!

Two of my best gal pals, Laura Magid and Amy VandeSand (also preggo), hosted my second baby shower in Richmond this past Saturday, July 19th.

Lots of yummy food, tons of gifts (this time I was officially embarrassed) and some of my best friends made for a fabulous day! Thank you all so much, especially those of you who traveled to be there. I can't tell you how much it meant to me!

THEME: Distinctive Duds
Like my first shower, I was so impressed with the theme and creativity of the party. All the guests were asked to bring a "distinctive" onesie to build up Baby Girl's wardrobe. And of course, the theme would not be complete without a onesie dessert treat and party favor. Big thanks to my mom Lois for the onesie-shaped sugar cookies she baked and decorated. (I think I'll have one right now...) And another big thanks to Laura and Amy for supplying each guest with a plain white onesie and paint pen so the guests can make a custom onesie for Baby Girl once she's here.

I don't know where my friends found some of these outfits, but I was dying laughing when I unwrapped onesies saying "Bringing Sexy Back," "iPood," "High Maintenance," and "I Can't Read."

Several guests who could not attend the party sent homemade onesies. Yep, Baby Girl's Aunties and Uncles in San Diego decided to puff-paint onesies, my favorite being of the 4 of them (stick figures) with the saying, "Behave!"

GAME: Guess the Flavor of the Baby Food
As my friends know, eating is one of my favorite pastimes. They decided to test my palate, and those of the other guests, by setting up tasting stations for 5 different baby food flavors. Unfortunately, all of my guesses were wrong, but I quite enjoyed the mango-banana combo. That would be a perfect summertime dessert if served over some ricotta cheese!

GIFTS RECEIVED: Again, too many to list! I was really overwhelmed by all the generous gifts. Even friends who couldn't be there sent wonderful presents and I am so incredibly thankful. Baby Girl is going to love being carried in her Baby Bjorn, being soothed to sleep by her butterfly nightlight, eating at her high chair, jumping in her bouncer and being mesmerized by her pink Yankees mobile. Thank you all!

Thanks again, Amy & Laura, for such a great party!

It's Shower Time!

Marian, Dot, Joleen, Me, Nancy & Lois

On July 13th, I had my first baby shower in Salisbury, MD hosted by 2 of my mother-in-law's best friends, Joleen Roe and Marian Hack.

Delicious food, tons of presents and the attendance of so many special people made it a wonderful party. Thanks to all who helped make it such a fun day!

THEME: Polka Dots
To match the bedding I have picked out for Baby Girl's nursery. Even the cake was polka-dotted, as was the invitation. These women didn't miss a beat and every detail was just perfect. There were even chocolate candy bars with customized polka-dotted wrappers as favors. I think that Joleen and Marian should go into the party-planning business as they sure know how to do it right!

GIFTS RECEIVED: Too many to list! I loved all of the gifts I received, and was almost (note I said almost) embarrassed by all the generous presents. This kid isn't here yet and already she's a spoiled little princess. She's even got 2 pairs of shoes already! At this rate, she's going to need a bigger closet by the time she cuts her first tooth.
Some of my favorite gifts were:

"Baby Dance with Me" CD

The book "If these Boobs Could Talk"

Peg Perego Car seat

Rainforest bouncer

Boo-boo buddy ice pack

Baby's first pair of Reef sandals and hot pink rash guard

Baby's first pair of pink Ugg boots

Hangin' with Grammy Dot

While in Salisbury, I thought I'd take the opportunity to not only spend time with Andy and Nancy, but with Grammy Dot, too.

We went down to Ocean City Beach on Tuesday to soak up some rays, and I decided to stay the night and have a sleepover with Dot at her place.

Around 4:30pm, we took up our chairs, showered up, and put on our finest cruise-wear for dinner. We ate at a nearby restaurant called Jules. We had stopped by earlier in the day to check out the menu (Dot had a hankering for soft shell crabs) and though there weren't many patrons inside, decided it was still worth a try.

We each started with a salad, Dot got her soft shells which came with wasabi mashed potatoes, and I ordered rockfish (don't worry Corey, it's not on the list of bottom-feeding fish) over pesto gnocchi. Everything was divine, and the presentation was worth a picture-- see below.

We came home and changed into our sweats--I needed an even stretchier elastic waistband after that meal!--and watched Dot's regular evening tv program, Larry King Live, before hitting the hay.

The next morning, we woke up early and I treated the D.O.T. to a healthy breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. Why not, right? I played the pregnant card for my excuse, and Dot had physical therapy later that day so I knew she'd work it off-- no donut guilt for us!

We drove back to Salisbury to run a few errands before Dot had to be at Peninsula Regional Hospital for PT. She's always talking about how she does the exercise bike when she's there and how good it makes her feel, so I thought I would accompany her and see her in action.

We arrived early so that Dot could get herself all hooked up to her heartrate monitor, and I busied myself making friends with some of the people in her class. Walter was especially locquacious and within 5 minutes, I learned that he was in the military, had been to Hawaii and Paris and used to be a professional in the IT services industry.

Pat was another guy I got to know quite intimately. Pat wasn't in the class but comes and waits while his wife Margaret does therapy. I thought he would sit there with me and read the book he brought, but apparently a smile and a hello was considered an invitation for Pat to ignore his reading material and tell me all about himself.

"That's my wife over there," he says. "The one who's 6 feet tall. Can you believe how tall she is? She's here to work on her knee. When she was little, she had polio that badly damaged one of her legs. Doctors tell us that over time, the other leg had to work so hard to compensate for the polio leg that it got weakened. And she had to get a new knee in the good leg. So that's why she's here. We've been married fo 50 years."

"Congratulations."

"Yep, it's been a journey. We have 5 kids and 10 grandchildren, though one of my daughters... I don't much care for the father of her children. Can't seem to hold a job for more than 3 weeks. He recently got fired from being an electrician's apprentist (that's right, not apprentice, apprentist). He's so hard-headed. Doesn't want to listen, just wants to do things his way and it's not up to code. And then he wonders why he gets let go."

The things people tell you! He went on like that--unprompted, mind you-- for at least 10 minutes while the patients did their warm-up with Nurse Ruth. Nurse Ruth had them doing some pretty challenging moves--squats, tricep extensions, even moves to target the deltoids. Though, as Pat pointed out while we were observing, not everyone's technique is up to snuff.

Some people were really working-- getting down low in the squat and exhaling loudly. Others, mostly the women, just kinda stuck out their butts a little and counted that as their "squat." But the Dotster hung in there quite well. She did have to get a little extra attention from Nurse Ruth on one of the moves for the upper body, but I was very impressed nonetheless.

After the warm-up, Dot and the gang moved on to cardio. They pick 2 different machines and do 15minutes on each. Dot started on the bike and then tried out the rowing machine. She did a super job (though I think she only did about 10minutes on the bike...I had my eye on her).

I have to say that going to PT with Dot was the best free entertainment I'd had in a long time. People there were so funny--making jokes about how cold it was (it was in the 90s), complaining how they hate airports because they can't carry-on their pills in the pill organizer (they have to be in the original bottles). It was a riot.

Dot and I celebrated her successful completion of yet another PT session with what else but a big lunch out. Fries, too!

It was so nice to spend time with Dot and I was so happy she included me in her day!

Visit to the Shore

This past week, I've had the pleasure of spending time in Salisbury, MD with my husband's family. Corey and I made the 4 hour trek for the July 4th weekend, and since I have my first baby shower here on Saturday the 13th, I thought I'd let Corey go back to Richmond while I stayed the week to get in some q.t. 1-on-1 with the in-laws.

Nancy and Andy have been nothing but hospitable. I've enjoyed some wonderful home-cooked meals, trips to the beach, powerwalks with Nancy, cheering on the O's with Andy and watching the circus of dogs play around the house. All-in-all, it's been a very relaxing week and I can't thank them enough for all they've done to make me feel right at home.

One thing I've noticed about the Benjamins, just from palling around and running errands with them, is that they are quite the celebs in their hometown. We can't go anywhere without seeing someone they know and having a chat. Everyone is super nice-- the neighbors we've passed while walking the pooches, the folks manning the desk at the gym and even the girl behind the MAC counter at Macy's--and all have been very solicitous of me. The most amusing run-in this week, however, was with the girls at the deli counter at Giant.

We were cruising the aisles for a few things for dinners and lunches, and after giving a wave to the butcher who called out to Nancy from behind the counter, we stopped at the cold cut case to put in our order. Judy, Teresa and Marsha all came right over to say hi and fulfill our request.

Judy got busy slicing the cheese for the burgers we were going to have, which left Marsha and Teresa up front to chat with us.

"This must be the grandbaby-on-the-way we keep hearing so much about," says Marsha, as she nods at my belly and smiles at Nancy.

"Yep, she'll be here soon, " I reply.

"When are you due?"

"The official due date is September 1st. I can't believe it's less than 2 months away! "

"Girl, you look good. You all baby! And way out in front. But you won't have a problem losing that weight neither, un-uh. (The other girls nod). When I was pregnant, I had it everywhere," she tells me, as she straightens both her arms to her sides to indicate how big she was. "I was so big! And you're having a girl, right?"

"Yep, it's a girl!"

"Yeah, you can tell, cuz it's low. Look how low she's carrying, Terry. How low can you go!" Marsha sings with a smile, revealing a rather large gap in her two front teeth.

Marsha gets to slicing our bbq chicken and Teresa says, "You're going to have a pretty baby because you're so pretty."

"You're so sweet," I say. What a compliment!

Our ziplocks were ready so we waved good-bye and proceeded to check-out.

What is it about me and grocery stores lately? I've been having the best time. Hopefully, Nancy and I will have missed an item on the list so I can go back and get another ego-boost from the deli girls. There sure is something to be said for small-town living.

31 week Appointment

This morning, I had my 31 week check-up with Doc.

As usual, the nurse called me back for a urine sample, weigh-in and blood pressure check. Again, everything was normal so we listened for Baby Girl's heartbeat.

This wasn't the nurse that usually sees me, so she asked me up front where the regular nurse usually finds the heartbeat. I told her on my right side, pretty much parallel to my navel.

She lathered me up with the ultrasound gel and started her search but couldn't find anything. New Nurse moved a little lower and more towards the center of my belly, right under my no-longer-an-inny belly button and there it was, beating strong and healthy. She guessed, and Doc later confirmed, that Baby Girl has shifted to a "vertex" position, or head-down position, and is now centered in preparation for birth. Way to go, Baby Girl!

When Doc came in, he immediately congratulated me on the results of my glucose test. He said my bloodwork was "super" and that there is no need for additional tests--everything was excellent. My pancreas rocks!

Instead of proceeding with his usual question of "so what has changed since we last met?" Doc gave me some prompts. I guess he was sick of my "I got nothing" report and told me that he's specifically looking for 3 things:
1. Have I had any bleeding?
2. Am I still feeling the baby move regularly everyday?
3. Am I experiencing any Braxton-Hicks contractions?

Answers:
1. Nope.
2. Yes, definitely. Baby Girl is up and at 'em around 6:15am and I feel her most strongly after I've eaten.
3. I don't know if I've had any Braxton-Hicks but I have had a couple cramps. Mostly when I'm exercising. It feels like a cramp you'd get while running, just lower. Nothing to get excited about.

Doc was pleased with all my news. His only comment was that if I'm confused as to whether or not I'm feeling contractions then he knows I'm not. He is looking for strong, rapid and frequent contractions. Clearly not my case.

With that, Doc took out his measuring tape and proceeded to record the height of the fundus. 32 cm... again a little ahead of schedule... but looking good. He felt all over my bump, and that's when he told me he could feel the head in the downward position. And, there was something sharp over on my right side-- he guessed a leg or foot that was responsible for all the jabs I'd been feeling in that area. Doc said the baby seems to be developing well, and that I should be prepared for a growth spurt. I should expect to gain about 1lb a week from here on out.

Me: "How much of that 1lb is going to the baby because I don't have anywhere to put 8 extra lbs. As it is, I'm developing this disgusting armpit fat and no matter how many bicep curls and tricep extensions I do, it's not going away. And I can't exactly pass that off as swelling."
Doc: "You're so funny! Well, typically, about a half pound goes to the baby, and the other builds up your fat storage."
Me: "Fat storage? That's lovely."
Doc: "Well, it's just Mother Nature's way of making sure that if you were in dire circumstances and couldn't get food, that the baby could survive off of your stored nutrients."
Me: "That makes sense, I guess. Maybe that extra weight will go to my boobs. Is there anyway I can designate a location? Just kidding."

Time for Q & A.

Me: "The only question I've got for you Doc is in regards to sunbathing. I'm not sure if you noticed when you were measuring me, but I've been working on my fundus tan."
Doc: "Fundus tan?"
Me: "Yeah, you know-- belly tan. I figure my belly is still a lot smaller than some of the men at my pool, so if they're going to show off their bumps, then I'm showing off mine."
Doc (laughing): "That's so true!"
Me: "So my question is, do I have to worry about too much sun exposure? Will it affect the baby?"
Doc: "Nope, the baby is fine. I would advise you to take care of your belly just as you would the rest of your skin and use at least 15 SPF, though."

Doc told me he'd like to see me again in 3 weeks. And then after that, I'll probably start going every week! I can't believe how time has flown by!

My Dog the Devil

Don't let this face fool you. She is pure evil.

Turns out our mini-labradoodle is aptly named, and proved it this morning by eating 4 blueberry muffins. Yes, Miss Luciferous Rex Benjamin, III is officially on my S-List today.

I got a rare itch to bake this morning and decided to make some blueberry muffins to have for breakfast tomorrow and to take with us on our trip to the beach later this week. I whipped them up and let the muffins cool on the counter while I took a little powerwalk.

I left Luci at home, as usual, thinking nothing of the delicious smell that was now permeating the house and probably driving her already turbo-charged olfactory sense mad.

Thirty-five minutes later, I walk in to find bits of aluminum wrappers on the kitchen floor sprinkled with crumbs, and a jolly pup trotting over to greet me to see if it was time to play fetch yet.

My reaction was pretty much like this:

"Yeah right, Luci! You better turn around and walk away right now or you will never see another tennis ball again! I can't believe it, you ate...(me counting)... 4 muffins?! You bitch! That stinking package only made a total of 10 and you ate 4! Granted, they weren't from scratch or anything but still, Luce. C'mon!"

I was met with a blank look, and then a couple seconds later, she licked her lips as if to say, "Ha! Gotcha!"

Damn, devil dog.

To retaliate, and in an effort to clean up the floor, I ran the vacuum for about 30min. Take that, Luci!