Last Weekend Getaway Before Baby

Corey and I decided we wanted one last hurrah before the arrival of Baby Girl and our world is rocked. So we cashed in a gift certificate from my brother Cosmo for a stay at the Boar's Head Inn and spent the past weekend in Charlottesville, VA.

We arrived Friday night and went straight to dinner at Zocalo's on the Downtown Mall. We were starving and ordered fried cheese balls and a spinach salad with bacon vinaigrette dressing to start. Not exactly a cholesterol-friendly meal but scrumptious! For mains, Corey got the strip steak and I got the salmon with a virgin mojito, and we dined outside taking in the scene.


Both of us remarked at how cool the Downtown Mall is now. There's tons of restaurants and shops, and it's not just weird townies that hang out there. There were lots of families and young singles there, making for a really nice atmosphere. I encourage all to check it out if in the area.

Saturday, I had booked a 10am reservation for us to go tubing on the James River. What could be better than to waste away a beautiful summer day floating on an inner-tube and taking in the gorgeous views of the Blue Ridge Mountains?!

Well, unfortunately, we overslept and missed it.

Oh well.

Instead, we threw on some workout clothes and headed over to the Corner for a breakfast at Bodo's followed by a walk around Grounds.


While walking down the Lawn, Corey and I reminisced about the glory days, and decided to check out our old Econ building, as it was during our Monday and Wednesday classes where we first met. The feelings of nostalgia quickly evaporated when we entered the doors of Rouss Hall and saw that it had been completely transformed.

The old Rouss we remember had peeling paint, no air conditioning, a unique musty smell that never seemed to dissipate and these horrible wooden desks.

The new Rouss, however, is now part of the Commerce School. So, of course, only the best for those little nerds with their group presentations, O.B. class and ridiculous grade inflation. Mock trading floors with real-time ticker tapes, dual flat-screen monitors, ergonomically designed chairs, bathrooms that were stocked with an abundance of t.p. as well as cans of air freshener. Even the snack machines had an assortment of treats that were within their expiration dates.

I was in shock. This place was nicer than any office I'd ever worked in. I just couldn't believe it. Corey and I both remarked that we may have actually gone to class more had we had such nice facilities. (Well, maybe Corey would have... I can't say for sure.)


We continued on past the old dorms, new dorms, the football stadium and then down JPA to Newcomb for a little something for Baby Girl. Her Daddy picked out these booties and she is going to wear them for every Cav football game!
Back at the Boar's Head, we laid out and soaked up some sun at the pool for a few hours, and then got changed up and sought out a place for food and sports. We found ourselves at Wild Wing Cafe watching the Olympics, the Giants pre-season game and the Yankees play the Angels. We topped off the night with a trip to Arch's frozen yogurt for a large Black Caesar. Heaven!

What a wonderful weekend away!

Week 36 Update

I had quite a busy week so I thought I would give a quick run-down of all newsworthy events from my 36th week of pregnancy.

Adventure 1--The Finger

The week started off a little shaky with a trip to the hospital. No, not for anything with Baby Girl, but for my left index finger. Tuesday morning, I got up and was busy cleaning up the kitchen from the previous night's dinner when I clumsily dropped a water glass and cut my finger pretty badly.

Good News: Corey hadn't left for work yet and was able to drive me to the ER. There would have been no way I could hold a bandage to my hand and steer at the same time.

Bad News: When I walked into the ER, there was no one to be found. Some random guy in the waiting room had to help me find a nurse.

Good News: I got checked in right away (once I found the nurse). I guess Tuesday mornings are a good time to find yourself at the ER.

Bad News: We were reviewing my medical history and the computer said that I was last treated at the hospital for "a whole in the head."

Um... what?

First of all, the only holes I have in my head are purposeful (like nostrils) or are self-inflicted (pierced ears). Secondly, hole isn't even spelled right on my chart.

I started to explain to the nurse that the last time I was at the hospital was about 2 years ago for sitting on a knife. When I saw the look on her face, I said, "You know what, just leave 'whole in head.' That's fine."

(For those of you who don't know the story of me stabbing myself in my ass-cheek, wait until you do something really stupid and embarrassing and then call me. I guarantee once I tell you my story, you won't think what you just did was bad at all. I've got you beat, I'm sure.)

Good News: I was taken back and put in a single room, and a nurse came right in and checked the wound. "Yep, you cut yourself alright." Gee, what a brilliant diagnosis.

Bad News: I ended up waiting for close to an hour for the doctor to come in and do his magic. I should have lied and told the nurse that on a scale from 1-10 with 10 being the worst pain I've ever had, that my finger was more like an 8 than an honest 2.
Good News: Dr. Azie didn't have to stitch me. Because I had a nice, clean cut, he was able to use glue.
Bad News: He used about a mile's worth of gauze to wrap my finger and I have to wear this ridiculous bandage until tomorrow (Friday). Check it out.

Adventure 2--Appointment with Doc

At this visit, in addition to taking the vitals, listening to the heartbeat and getting my fundus measured, I had my first internal exam. Not exactly the most fun I've ever had, gotta tell ya, but a necessary procedure to see if I have dilated at all at this point.

Doc said to forget about an early arrival--my cervix was almost fully closed and the baby's head hadn't dropped deep into the birth canal yet. No worries, though. Doc explained that some people dilate gradually until their due date, and others don't dilate at all until their water breaks and they go into labor. He'll check me again next week and every week thereafter to monitor my progress, and hopefully get a better idea of when this baby might come. But for now, he told me to plan for a September birth.

Cool, because a) Doc is going on vacation in a couple weeks and b) we still have no furniture for the baby's room.

Adventure 3--Shrinking Boobs

I've decided that I'm going to give the whole breastfeeding thing a try. If it works for me and Baby Girl, then great. What I'm not going to do, however, is pressure myself to keep doing it if both me and B.G. are miserable. But since I'm going to give it the ol' college try, that means I need to stock up on nursing bras.

I made an appointment for an official bra fitting. Unbeknownst to me, the shop where I made the appointment was actually part of an office dedicated to the breastfeeding cause. There was a ton of literature on the subject scattered all over, and all sorts of newspaper articles posted that were so severe that they almost suggested that anyone who formula-feeds is a terrible mother. As if! Luckily, I was able to sneak past the lactation consultants and the 'boobies are best' cheerleaders and go directly in for my bra fitting, avoiding any unwanted confrontation.

The woman running the desk came right over with her tape measure and asked me to lift my arms to she could determine the right bra size for me. She came up with 34 B.

How could my boobs have shrunk?? I've always been a 36 B or, according to those women at Victoria's Secret who love to flatter me, a 34 C. But 34 B?

Oh well. I ended up buying 2 sleep bras (size small) and another nursing tank that I thought will be great for layering come the fall.

Successful shopping, especially since I had a coupon for 20% off, but a little discouraging.

34 B, eh?

Adventure 4-- Baby Girl's First Massage!

Today, I had a prenatal massage with Traci, one of the massage therapists at my yoga studio. She made me feel so good last time I saw her that I couldn't wait for today's appointment. Traci focused on my neck and back, as requested, and ended with my favorite-- the scalp massage. But she also changed things up this time and massaged my belly, essentially giving Baby Girl her first massage. I'm already turning this little girl into a spa-junkie like me!

Adventure 5-- Accused of being a "Bad Shopper" at Pottery Barn Kids

Now that I've had all of my baby showers, I have spent a lot of time this week organizing and taking inventory of all my loot. Turns out that I have gotten a lot of duplicate gifts. And since I still have some things outstanding on my registries that are necessities, I decided to make some returns and exchanges.

I first hit Babies R Us. They barely even looked to see if I had the receipts to go with the merchandise I was returning and gladly issued a hefty store credit. Nice!

My next stop was at Pottery Barn Kids. I was quickly greeted by a bubbly sales associate who offered to help me. When I told her that I had several gifts to return, she admitted she was new and had to ask her manager to step in.

Manager was a total monster.

Monster: "What's the reason for all of these returns??"

Me: "Well, some are duplicates. And some are things I registered for, but I've changed my mind."

Monster: "Changed your mind? I shouldn't even agree to take these things back. You asked for them, and now you're returning them? That's just bad business. Bad shopping."
Me: "I'm not allowed to change my mind?"

Monster: "I'll honor these returns, but just know that we wouldn't normally do this."

I felt like telling her to go F herself. A bad shopper? I've never been so insulted. I'd say I'm a great shopper because now I know never to buy anything from them again since their customer service sucks!

The Stroller Incident

My husband, Corey, is a wonderful person. He's funny, good-looking, sincere, smart, thoughtful... I could go on for pages.

But there is one quality that he's missing, and I can't help but find it funny as it has become more apparent recently with all of the new gear we've been getting for the baby.

Corey...how should I say this... has a severe lack of ability/understanding of how to put things together. And I think I find this to be so amusing because:


a). it's one skill that I (surprisingly) have that he doesn't


b). he gets so frustrated when he doesn't get simple mechanics


Ask him to figure out how to decrease the area of the Earth by the area of Virginia and he can actually give you a sensible answer (at least according to the people who administered his case-study problem for the Jefferson Scholars exam). But replacing a hinge, assembling furniture-- it's usually up to me or it's hired out.


So you can understand why I was astonished when Corey actually wanted to be part of the assembly for the stroller. He actually asked that I not do it and wait for him so we could do it together.

"Have at it," I said.

I was roaring when I was watching him try and put together the stroller and carseat combo Grammy Dot gave us. He was cursing like a sailor the whole time, and I think he had about 3 beers to help him get through the entire ordeal.

I do have to give him props for trying-- he definitely puts forth a good effort. And, some of those manuals aren't exactly the easiest to follow. I know I was ready to pull my hair out the first time I tried putting together the pack n play. But watching him struggle locating the harness button was just too funny to ignore and not document for the blog.

Thankfully, though, after a couple hours of labor, we're all ready to go. I "supervised" the stroller project and made him practice getting the carseat in and out of it. And I also got the carseat installation checked by the local fire department so we're all set to drive home from the hospital with Baby Girl!

Baby Shower in Alexandria

I had my third and final baby shower in Alexandria, VA on Saturday, August 2nd, hosted by 2 of my mother's best friends, Lynda West and Juli Mulhollan.

It was a lovely affair! The menu was fabulous, my favorite dish being the shrimp and dill pasta salad. And of course the party wouldn't be complete without something for my sweet tooth. Lynda and Juli served up a lemon-creme cake topped with a combination of seasonal berries for the grand finale. YUM-O!


And the gifts! They barely fit in our SUV. One of the things I noticed about this shower that was different from my previous 2 parties was that almost all of the women attending were already grandparents or mothers, so their gifts were ones of experience. A few to note:


A Boppy seat. To earn yourself precious minutes in the shower.
Zippered pajamas. Forget doing snaps at 3am.
Money. It's never too early to start saving for college.
Medical kit. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to suck it up and learn to take the baby's temperature rectally because the ear thermometers just don't work.


I can't thank everyone enough for truly going above and beyond, and for being so generous towards me and Baby Girl.


Even though this party was in my honor, I think my mom, Lois, had the best time of all. She is the last of all her friends to become a grandparent and she couldn't help but tell all her pals that they better 'ooh' and 'ahh' over all her pictures and stories of this grandbaby because she's been doing that for them for years now. "My turn!" she said.


I didn't get to snap any pictures at the party-- I think we were all too busy chatting and eating that we forgot our cameras-- but we did take a few family photos once we were back home.


Big thanks to my sister-in-law Sara for traveling all the way out from San Diego to come to the shower! And another shout-out goes to Grammy Dot and my mother-in-law, Nancy, for making the drive from Salisbury!

Preggo Pics

On Wednesday, July 30th, I had my photo shoot with photographer, Melissa Worthington.

It was a little awkward at first, especially since many of the photos weren't the usual "look at the camera and smile" type of pose, but once we got some music going and started trying some different looks, it became very comfortable, and Mel says she got some really nice shots.

We'll get our proofs in about a week more, but she did send this one as a preview. I call this look "Blue Steel" ("Magnum" wasn't ready yet).

Visit to Chez Magid

While Corey got pulled away on a last-minute business trip for work, I decided to head down to Durham, NC and visit with our good friends, the Magids.

As always, it was a great time hangin' with Laura, Dan and Sydney, but I especially enjoyed being there to experience life with a baby. Something I desperately need as my due date gets closer and closer!

I arrived on Sunday and helped Dan watch Sydney while Laura was finishing up a shift at Pottery Barn. With my extra set of hands, Dan was able to put together some delicious hamburger patties for dinner while I entertained Syd. Then, it was time for their little princess to start her bedtime routine--bath, bottle, book, then bed. When Laura came home, we chowed down and then settled on the couch to chat the evening away.

Monday morning, Daddy went off to work to earn that big dolla while me, Laura and Syd planned a day just for us girls. We took Syd and the dogs for a walk, fed Syd her breakfast, showered and headed out for lunch and shopping.

We had a very productive day! Our first stop was at a cute stationary store in the plaza where we had lunch and we found the perfect invitations for our friend Amy's baby shower next month! We passed up some over-priced duds at a baby boutique and decided to spend our cash instead on ice cream at a nearby parlor! Needless to say, Syd wasn't too pleased that she had to eat applesauce and Gerber Puffs while we chowed on chocolate peanut butter cup and rocky road. But I told her as soon as she grows some teeth ( and mom and pediatrician give the green light ) that I would be happy to take her for her first sundae.

Next stop was at a maternity boutique that Laura had frequented quite often during her preggo days. It was quite apparent that she was a very good customer because the ladies recognized her right away and asked her how her latest purchases were holding up while fawning all over Sydney. As Laura's friend, I got wonderful service and walked out with a diaper bag, changing pad, nursing tank top, nursing bra, belly oil and a nursing gown & robe. It felt so good to get so many things purchased and crossed off my "list of things to bring to the hospital."

We went back home, let Syd take a quick catnap and then got ready to take her for a little splash in the pool.

Unfortunately, Laura had to work at PB again that night. But, that meant I got to spend some time 1-on-1 with Miss Syd, as Dan was working late. We watched the crazy dogs run around in the yard, read a story, practiced standing up, played on her tummy-time mat and sang along to all the songs and sounds that came from hitting different buttons on her Baby Einstein toy.

The one hiccup while I was left in charge was when the pizza delivery man came to the door.

How does someone hold a baby, answer the door, pay the man, and try to control 2 dogs all at the same time? Um, not very well. Thank goodness Dan walked in just as I was trying to corral the dogs outside and I could hand over Syd. I think I gave the delivery man a 40% tip for his patience through all of the commotion.

Dan was a natural and took Syd and began the bedtime routine. When he came down, we enjoyed our slices in front of the tube and discussed all the pros and cons of 529 plans and tax-deferred saving. Who would have thought 5 years ago that we would spend our free time listening out for sounds on the baby monitor and talking mutual funds? Boy how times have changed!

The next morning, Laura, Syd and I enjoyed a yummy breakfast at Foster's before I hit the road back to Richmond. Thank you, dearest Magids, for a wonderful visit!! Next time I see you, I'll have a little friend for Syd to play with.

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.