8 months / 35 Weeks Young!!!!!!!!

{Eeeek, I'm over a week late with this post!}


With a mega-watt smile, and a personality to match it, she is one bright little girl in every sense of the word.  And we are soooooo lucky to get to spend our days watching her make new discoveries and constantly learn new things.

Dearest Emily, you are the perfect combination of smart, sweet, silly & strong!  Daddy and I love you so much and enjoy watching you grow, day by day!  Happy 8 Month Birthday!

Funny enough, Emily's 8 month and 35 week birthdays fell on the same day!

But seriously, how is my little baby so big already???

All About Emily:

• Measures 18 lbs 12.5 oz {73rd percentile}, 28.5” {92nd percentile}, 43.5 cm {52nd percentile} -- I am so proud at how well she's growing!
• Has THREE teeth!
• Wears size 9 months footies, size 3 diapers, and clothing in 6/9 months sizes.  Her cute little biscuit feet seem like they're outgrowing her body though, and some of her socks are 12 month sizing!
• LOVES her jumper!  She jumps so energetically in that thing that it sometimes makes me dizzy to watch her!
• Is pretty bored with staying on her play mat {despite all the toys she has to keep occupied!} and is now crawling all around the apartment -- her favorite places to head to are the pantry, the recycling bin in the kitchen, and the hallway.

• Continues to have some separation anxiety, which is developmentally appropriate at this age and means she has established a strong and loving bond with us, but hard nonetheless when it causes otherwise-unnecessary tears.  :(
• Enjoys shaking, banging, dropping, and throwing any item she can get her hands on!  Emily finds it extra fun to drop items off the side of her high chair, and bang her toys on the ottoman we have in the living room.
• Can now very easily pull herself up to a standing position, and even took a cruise along the length of the couch last week while holding on!  In early January, she began trying to go "hands free" while standing -- quite a little daredevil!
• I think she might be starting to understand what "no" means, but there is still lots of room for improvement here.  ;)  Babbles a little bit, but spends much more time observing and taking information in versus "talking".
• Has a great sense of humor and loves being silly with Mommy & Daddy.
• Enjoys looking at and reading books, and singing songs {especially ones with hand motions}
• Loves chewing on tags and her high chair safety strap.  Over the past month she's started occasionally nibbling on her thumb.  It isn't really sucking, since her mouth is open, but more of a little chewing motion.
• Turning into a little cuddlebug!  Over the past month, she's started coming over to us and laying her head down on our legs {if we're sitting on the couch near her play area} or our shoulders {if we're holding her}.  My heart melts every time...
• Graduated to a rubber ducky tub that sits in our actual bathtub.  No more bathing inside the kitchen sink!
• She's tried a bunch of news foods over the past month, including mangos {not a fan}, apples {which she likes mixed with other foods but not on their own}, and some Stage 2 purees!  She loved the squash, peas & pears combo and all of the proteins {turkey, chicken, lentils} she's tried so far too!  There doesn't appear to be any correlation between fondness of the food and messiness of the face.  ;)

Since Miss Em is a lot more mobile these days, we found ourselves having to do some childproofing, stat!  We switched all of our outlets to "safe plates", installed locks on the lower kitchen cabinets and the cabinets in our entertainment unit, got locking mechanisms for the pantry doors and fastened the TV and some of our heavier/taller furniture pieces to the wall.  Phew, just in time!

When Emily was born, everyone was all "Oh, she's Shep in a dress!".  They looked like twins from different decades in some of their newborn pictures.  As she grew older, some people began commenting that she's starting to look more like me, which I chalked up to them being nice.  But, as time goes on, I do see a little more of myself in her every day.  Here's one photo I took of Em that reminds me of some of my own baby photos.

This past month was big for both Emily & Mommy.  I went back to work, just 2 days before Emily's 8 month birthday.  Until that time, I could count on both hands the number of times I'd been away from her, and could probably count on fingers and toes the total number of hours.  Well, after just one partial week back at work we were separated longer than we'd been her entire life until then!  It was definitely hard, but we both survived!  Emily did slightly better than Mommy in terms of coping, I'm sure.  ;)  Here's a photo of the two of us from my last night of maternity leave!  Sniff, sniff...

The past 8 months have been the most fun-filled, emotional, sentimental, amazing, exhausting and wonderful 8 months of my life!

Back to Work

Well, this is it.  My last day of maternity leave.  Well, technically last Monday marked the end of  my leave, but Emily and I were both sick for days so I never actually made it in to work my first week!  Thus, this week is Back to Work -- Take 2!  ... And I'm dreading it.

I love my company, and my team.  I generally consider my teammates friends.  They're good, interesting, smart people, and fun to spend time with.  I get compensated fairly for the work I do, and am valued by my management.  There is tasty food at work, and my commute is pretty easy.  But none of this makes leaving Emily easy, at all.

I get that I'm beyond lucky to have had the time I did with Emily.  Watching her first smiles, holding her in my arms, seeing her grow and develop day by day has been such a blessing.  Especially given the dreadfully non-existent parental leave most employees in this country receive {click for link}, I have absolutely nothing to complain about.  Yet the nearly 8 months I've had at home with Emily simply don't seem enough.  They've passed too quickly -- in the blink of an eye.  There was so much I wanted to do, and so many more daytime snuggles I want to share.  I have many beautiful memories, and some funny ones too, of time spent with my Emily during my leave.  Scenes in my mind that I'll never forget.  But I don't want them to be memories.  I don't want this special time to be over!

Aside from the sentimental, let's be practical -- I have absolutely no idea how to be a working mom.  I'll be brutally honest; I don't even know how I'm going to get up, dressed and out the door at a reasonable time tomorrow!  Most of my days have been spent in my PJs, until at least noon!  A few months ago I read a very sweet piece of advice from The Today Show's Natalie to Savannah {click for link}, and have tried to take many of the lessons to heart.  I also got some good advice from some fellow moms at work.  It all seems so daunting though.

And on top of all that, I worry about Emily and whether she'll adjust to daycare and drink her bottle, or cry and be sad and afraid that I've abandoned her.  A little dramatic, yes, but infants can be dramatic!!  I will miss her so dearly, every single minute of my day tomorrow!  I'll wonder what she'll be doing or thinking, hoping she's smiling but missing that too.

My plan is just to take one step at a time, but I will tell you right now the hardest step is going to be that first one out the door in the morning.... no stroller in tow, with tears in my eyes.  I'm crying just thinking about it.

Wish me luck . . .

36 Weeks

Helllloooooooooo Honeydew!  {Picture that in Oprah's signature voice.}

Source

Symptom tracking:

• Trouble sleeping: Sunday and Monday nights were particularly bad.  I simply could not get comfortable, no matter how many pillows I used, how I proppsed myself up, or how many times I tossed and turned.  Sunday morning I got up out of bed at 6:30 am after I realized laying there was not going to induce more sleep.  Yesterday morning I willed myself to go back to sleep from 5 am - 6:30 am, and finally did for an hour or so at about 8 am.  Thankfully, last night brought a bit more sleep and I was able to sleep some more this morning after Shep left for work, so I'm feeling semi-normal again today.  I guess on the bright side maybe this practice with lack of sleep will make the frequent feedings less hard since I'm already used to being a zombie? Maybe? I'm hoping. ;)
• Swelling in right foot/ankle:  I've been lucky in that I haven't had to deal with much swelling so far during this pregnancy.  But, over the past week or so I've definitely noticed some puffyness, especially in my right foot, on almost a daily basis.  I've been gulping down extra water and propping my foot up when I notice it to help ease the swelling.  Yesterday the swelling was pretty bad; I'd say the worst it has been to date.  But, today it's better.  I'm just thankful I haven't had to deal with this throughout more of the pregnancy.... I feel for women pregnant in the hot summer!
• Frequent peeing:  Like, 6 times per night!!!  It's insanity.  But it's expected and normal, so I'm trying to be cool with the many potty trips that are definitely not helping me sleep any better.  :)

In other news, baby has dropped!  WOOHOO!!!!  Shep and I have been a bit concerned about that since I've still felt a lot of moving around and what I thought was kicking way down low as recent as this past weekend.  But, according to my OB, the baby's head is in the down position {let's hope it stays that way!} and is in my pelvic area where s/he belongs, which was a big relief for us to hear!  When I asked the doctor if this meant baby might be coming soon, her response was:  "Nope, it just means you have a nicely-shaped pelvis".  Um, thanks I think??  Due to this new development, it's a bit easier to breathe {yay!}, but those many potty trips are becoming even more frequent {if that's even possible!}.  According to the Pampers website, my uterus is now 1,000 times its original volume!  Wowzers!  From here on out, I will have weekly doctor visits until baby arrives!

This week I got my Group B streptococcus (GBS) test, and the results will be ready by my next appointment.  If I test positive, they'll administer antibiotics to me through an IV for at least 4 hours before baby is delivered, to prevent the bacteria from passing to baby during delivery.  According to the American Pregnancy Association, approximately 25% of healthy adult women carry this infection.  Though the bacterial infection is not harmful to adults, if passed to baby it can cause severe breathing and other complications, which is why physicians include GBS testing as a routine part of prenatal care during the late third trimester.

To-Dos on the agenda:

• Write and send out baby shower thank-you notes
• Purchase remaining items for and pack my hospital bag
• Wash and put new waterproof mattress pad on our bed
• Pre-register with the hospital {turns out my OB office did this for us; score!}
• Install baby's car seat
• Review childbirth class materials & practice breathing/relaxation techniques
• Fill out birth preferences sheet
• Prepare short list of baby names
• Wash baby's crib skirt, sheets and changing pad covers
• Start washing baby's clothing!

My first week of maternity leave is going pretty well.... I haven't really gotten much done at home yet this week, but I have been able to catch up on some television, keep my foot propped up, do a little bit of laundry, and start writing out my baby shower thank-you notes.  I still have lots more to do, but I'm taking things one task at a time.  Either it will all get done, or it won't!  Baby doesn't care whether the to-do list is complete or not... s/he will make an appearance when ready!  :)

Bump Watch Alert:
Whoa, belly!

Last Day at Work

Friday was my last day of office work for a while.... the next few weeks will be spent prepping and waiting for baby to make an appearance, and then the real work will begin..... motherhood!

In honor of the occasion, my incredibly sweet hubby made me a sash to wear!

my "last day" sash

Yes, it's made from toilet paper and a sharpie marker.  But let me tell you -- I was pretty impressed with his creativity and craftiness seeing as he made that gorgeous sash in the 2 minutes before we walked out the door on Friday morning!  ;)  I did wear it for a little bit toward the end of the day {though unfortunately don't have a photo to share} but otherwise proudly displayed it on my monitor.  :)

This may sound odd, but I'm going to miss my co-workers!  Don't get me wrong -- I'm so grateful that my company provides me with pre-baby maternity leave... I think it is a very generous policy and I certainly need the time at home to decompress from the corporate world, write out thank-you notes for all the wonderful gifts we received at my baby shower, practice my breathing and relaxation techniques for labor, and try to get our apartment in order before our newest family member arrives.  And I'm definitely looking forward to attempting to relax a bit over the next couple weeks instead of dealing with contract redlines or deadlines on a daily basis.  But, the truth is that I consider the teammates I work with my friends, and I'm going to miss them on a personal level!

A couple weeks ago, the entire group of my NY colleagues {and some from CA as well!} hosted a surprise baby shower for me at work.  The fact that all of these incredibly busy people took an hour out of their super-jam-packed schedules to come eat pie with me and send me off with the very best well wishes meant so much.  They also contributed money and presented Shep and me with a VERY generous gift card!  I was so surprised, humbled and grateful, all at once.  I'm telling you... I could not ask for a nicer group of people to work with.

I received so much support outside of my NY working group as well!  One of my former teammates from CA who now works in another group sent me a super cute cookie monster onesie, and another of my CA colleagues sent me an adorable yellow "bear" hoodie, complete with ears!

Source

Then there were these beautiful flowers that arrived on my desk out of the blue on Tuesday afternoon...

And on Friday morning this little package of muslin swaddle blankets appeared!

How could I not miss working with such thoughtful people like this?!  And, no, it's not just because they bought me presents.  ;)  They are super smart, but fun and caring people.  The good news is that my office is only a train ride away.  Once baby arrives, I can take him or her to meet the team over lunch, and I've let them know that our door is open for visits as well!

I'll admit -- I've been counting down to this "no more work" day for so long now, but it was a bit surreal waking up today and realizing that I could in fact stay in bed as long as I wanted!  It was odd to just lay around while Shep got dressed and left for work.  But, I think it's something I can get used to.  That is until the little one arrives and then there will be no more sleeping in!  :)

Happy Maternity Leave To Me!

20 Weeks -- We're Halfway There!

20 Weeks!!!  We made it to the halfway point!  If this were the Super Bowl, Beyonce might be shaking it on stage right now.  Well, I may not be a sports fan, but I simply could not let an occasion like this go by without a song, so CLICK HERE PLEASE to help celebrate us!!!!  {Sorry, I'm a big fan and just couldn't resist!}

Source: The Bump

Current symptoms include:
- Weird/scary dreams
- Stuffed nose/nosebleeds
- Pain below left rib cage, especially while laying on left side
- Waking up every ~3 hours to pee {though oddly the past 2 nights I've slept through the night!}
- Continued feelings of movement in my belly, though it doesn't seem to be every day
- Continued gas, reflux & nausea, though....

This *might* be wishful thinking on my part, but it seems my nausea may finally be getting better.  Don't get me wrong, I still experience tummy queasiness at least once a day, but it seems like it might be less frequently/less intense than it used to be. While I wish the queasies would exit stage left entirely, I'll take any improvement at this point!  If it doesn't ease up more by the end of this week though, I think I'm going to look into acupuncture.  I have a LOT to do in the next 20 (plus or minus) weeks and I just can't afford for this nausea to keep slowing me down!  My to-do list is calling too loudly!

Speaking of to-do lists...

This past weekend we finally signed up for childbirth classes, and just in the nick of time!  Our hospital recommends that patients sign up by their 20th week, and we registered online on Saturday night.  Talk about waiting until the 11th hour.... quite literally!  ;)  The schedule includes five 3-hour long sessions, which will take place at the end of March/first half of April.  Just having to think about registering for lamaze classes made me start thinking more about the actual birthing process and let's just say I'M SCARED!!!!!!  I'm going to do what any self-respecting woman would do though and just avoid thinking about it for the next several months!!! Great coping mechanism, huh?!

This week we'll be going for a fetal echocardiagram test and our 20-week anatomy scan ultrasound.  PGAL {pregnant after a loss} brain has me a bit nervous for each of these, but my fingers and toes are crossed for good results at both appointments.  I think if I get my wish and we get double-healthy thumbs up this week, I might, just might, stop worrying quite so much.  Maybe?

We also still need to:

- Continue our research on local pediatricians, and set up some appointments for any potential contenders.

- Continue research / decide about using a birthing doula so we can book one if desired.

- Research the specifics of each of our maternity/paternity leaves.

- Research cord blood banking {I have lots of brochures from my OB on this topic.}

- Look into maternity & newborn photographers, as I've heard these book up fast.
- Plan a babymoon!!!!

It's just like people always say -- so much to do and so little time...  I better get to it!

But not before I leave you with an encore presentation of my favorite NJ band of all time, because I know you all love Bon Jovi as much as I do {just kidding -- not possible!} and just can't get enough ...