He Is Here! He Is Here! He Is Here!

Trip and I are proud to introduce the birth of Keiran Connor Johnson, born March 18th at 3:39pm. He is 6.9 lbs, and 19.25". Mommy is still recovering, but baby is absolutely perfect. He'll have his own site soon, so I'll post the link as soon as it's up. And yes, there will be pics. :)

38 Weeks and Counting...

Just a quick update. :)

I had a doctor's appointment this morning, and it sounds like baby is getting ready to make his grand entrance! I haven't dilated much, but my cervix has thinned about 40% she guesses. 

My belly didn't grow this week (still at 37 cm), but she didn't expect it to. Especially since baby's head is literally pushing down on my cervix! She laughed because she felt the top of his head immediately. So that explains the intense pressure I've been feeling the past few days, and the need to go to the bathroom every 30 minutes. 

Her guess is that he is about 6 lbs. 12 oz as of now. Any guesses on the birth weight?? 

Oh, and speaking of guesses, I've put a poll up for baby's arrival date. Please let me know what your guess is!! :)

As for me, my energy level has gone down a bit, and lower back pain has intensified, but besides that I'm doing well. We can only hope delivery goes as smoothly as my pregnancy has! 

Today is my last day at work, so I plan to update you all more frequently as we head down the home stretch...  It's getting exciting!!

Eighth Month Belly!

I can't believe I only blogged once last month. This past month just flew by! I guess it helps that the last few weeks I have been knee deep in a huge social networking project for BlogHer. So between that, my usual work load, school, and getting ready for the baby -- well, life is crazy and time is flying.

And now here we are, entering the last month of pregnancy. The crazy has just begun...

The good news is I think we are pretty set for baby's arrival! We finished our birthing classes last week, with a tour at El Camino Hospital. I can't imagine not doing that dry run. It was great to see exactly where we should go (day or night), and what the birthing rooms look like. We even got to peak at a newborn. I think it was the first time all of this started to feel "real". I know, you would think after 8 months it would all be pretty freakin' real. But it's just so hard to imagine it all when you have no real frame of reference. Like, we love our cats. We love each other. We love our family. But this... this little tiny miracle. This kind of love is so unknown. So seeing that newborn -- literally just a few hours old -- and watching the proud papa with her... well, I probably don't have to tell you the pregnant hormones kicked in and I got a little weepy. "That will be us soon." Wow.

And soon is very soon. You see the floating baby over there on the right -- >> Well floating baby tells us we are 27 DAYS away from our due date. And as my OB reminded me yesterday, only 7 days away from full term. Although she suspects I will go the full 40 weeks (as most first time mommies do), she said we should be prepared for baby to arrive any day now. So the next few days we'll make sure the bag is packed and the car seat is safely in place!

Belly measured 35cm yesterday, so growth has slowed down a tiny bit. But my weight gain continues to be right on track. His heartbeat sounds fantastic, and she said his activity is great. Actually she said, "Sounds like he's having fun in there." Hee hee.

Speaking of being in there... the other day I told Trip that I am really going to miss baby being inside me. I've been so lucky with a such a great pregnancy that, despite some annoying backaches, I really have gotten so used to his constant presence, his movements. Of course Trip responded that he's pretty sure I'll appreciate seeing his little face and holding him more so, but I can't help but think of how I'll miss feeling him in my belly. Sounds kinda crazy, huh.

Okay, enough rambling. I know you all just want to see that belleh. :)

125# and 37.5"

At 36 weeks, baby now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long.

My progress:
One Month: 100# and 24"
Two Months: 101# and 25"
Three Months: 104# and 31
Four Months: 107# and 31.5"
Five Months: 112# and 33" 
Six Months: 117# and 35" 
Seven Months: 120# and 36.5"
Eight Months: 125# and 37.5"

Shower, Nursery, and Shoe Fetishes.

This past weekend we had our baby shower, hosted by my sisters. It was wonderful. Beautiful. Fantastic. Overwhelming! The food was amazing. The cupcakes, "off the hook". And the company, well, what can I say... we were surrounded by some of the most important people in our lives. What more could we ask for?! And of course we (well, baby boy), were completely spoiled. It was a great day!

Having fun opening the bazillion gifts we got!

Thank you SOOOO much to everyone who came and celebrated with us. We are truly grateful. We can't wait for the little guy to thank each of you himself!

So of course, even though I was completely exhausted, I had to come home and unpack everything. The nursery is almost complete! And as promised, here are some pics. We still need baskets for the changer (to put all the diapers, wipes, etc. in... please ignore the mess as it is now!), and we have a toy box that Tripple is going to paint to put against the wall under the animal pics (to house all the stuffed animals baby boy already has!). So a few things to do, but soooo close!

All credit goes to Tripple for the idea of putting the decals on the closet. How cute is that?

Oh, and I thought you all might like to see that I am already fully aware that I am raising my husband's son.

Like father.

Like son.

Seven Month Belly!

I know, I lagged a bit this month. Although depending on what book or what site you are getting your info from, your eighth month can start at 31 weeks or 32 weeks. As of today I am 32 weeks, so maybe I'm not a week late posting after all (and can you believe I'm in my eighth month?).

So, I thought I felt baby boy a lot last month. I can't believe the movements I feel now! And not only do I feel more powerful kicks and nudges, but I SEE them too. It's pretty amazing (or kinda freaky -- depending on who you ask. I say amazing!). The cutest new development this month are the hiccups he gets every night, right at bedtime -- although they don't make getting to sleep very easy. But hey, I'd much rather feel his movements then get a good night's sleep. Getting me ready for parenthood I suppose!

I only gained 3 pounds this month, but my belly measured exactly 30 cm at 30 weeks, so baby is growing well. My OB said my belly, "is big and round and perfect", so I'm not worried. :) I can tell you I am definitely not skimping on eating. I eat about every three hours now, which is the best way to keep the heartburn at bay. And now that I know my glucose level is good, I am definitely not skimping on the sweets either. Tripple surprised me with a chocolate cake the other night, and I've almost finished it -- all by myself (how awesome is my husband?!).

The nursery is really coming together. So exciting!! Uncle Adam has proven to be invaluable with his carpentry skills, building the crib and changer in no time and putting in all the new baseboards. We just have some rearranging and decorating to do, and then I'll take some pics and post!

8 weeks to go! I'm now going to the OB every two weeks, and my last four weeks I will go every week. We have an appointment on Friday for an ultrasound, so we're very excited to sneak another peak. We haven't seen him since 20 weeks, so we can't wait to see what he looks like now. Hopefully we'll get some good pictures to post. He doesn't like to stay still for very long, so we'll see if he cooperates. 

I want to thank those of you that have already spoiled this boy with some extremely thoughtful and generous gifts. Trip and I are so grateful, from the bottom of our hearts. It's so amazing to know we are bringing this precious boy into the world knowing how much he is loved by so many!

Well here it is... Look at that belleh! I think the profile pic doesn't really do the belly justice, but I think the straight on photo you really get a sense of how he is filling me up!

120# and 36.5"

At 31 weeks baby weighs about 3.3 lbs. and measures over 16 inches long, about the weight of four navel oranges.

My progress:

One Month: 100# and 24"

Two Months: 101# and 25"

Three Months: 104# and 31"

Four Months: 107# and 31.5"

Five Months: 112# and 33" 

Six Months: 117# and 35" 

Seven Months: 120# and 36.5"

Eat Less Meat. Save the Planet.

Ideal Bite had a really great tip yesterday that I thought I would share:

Don't wanna give up meat altogether?

The Bite
Try for a happy medium - go meatless at least once a week for ginormous environmental and health benefits, without compromising your taste for the occasional sustainably raised burger.

The Benefits

• More-than-middling health payoffs. Compared to meat eaters, vegetarians have lower rates of diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, and obesity.
  
• Coming together for the planet. Livestock accounts for 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and 8% of water use - and a meatless diet is 50% more effective at cutting CO2 than switching from a standard car to a hybrid.

Wanna Try?

• Try cutting out meat one day a week. Meat substitutes and eco-focused cookbooks make it easier.
  
• 101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian - facts to help you stick with it ($3).

I created a poster on this same subject matter for a course last semester:

Giving up meat just once a week is not only good for you, but the environment. Start a family tradition -- Meatless Mondays! :)

10 Weeks To Go!

I just saw my little countdown widget (yes, the one with the scary floating baby fetus), and it said "10 Weeks to go". 10 Weeks, people! How is that possible! We have so much to do, so much to plan. We haven't even started our baby classes yet. Ahhh!

Okay, breath... 

The crazy Capricorn planner in me needs to settle down. 

In reality, we have gotten a lot done. The nursery has been painted, the crib arrived (thanks Mom & Daddy!), the mattress is on its way (thanks Auntie Nay Nay!), the registry is complete, the first aid kit has been put together (if anyone wants the list we received from our Infant CPR and Emergencies class, please let me know!), the shopping list for baby's essentials is ready to go, and the rest of our prenatal classes have been scheduled: Intro to Pediatrics in a few weeks, then our birthing classes, and then Breastfeeding Your Newborn. 

So I think we are on the right track, got our ducks in a row. But that doesn't mean I don't wake up in the middle of the night thinking, "We have no idea what we are doing. How are we going to do this?" (that and, "Is this seriously the seventh time I've had to go pee tonight?" or, "Why is there a cat sleeping on my head?"). I guess it's the whole new parent thing, this feeling like we are no where near prepared for our baby's arrival. Anxiety is to be expected, right? This is normal, right? Hopefully? Please?

Oh ya, and then there is the whole name thing. We do have a short list of names we are considering, but we really want to see his little face before we decide on anything, so I haven't really stressed much on that (Let's be real, people... you know I'll be stressing on that in a few weeks. In due time.). 

Everything is fine! It's all going to be great! La la la la la.

la... la...

la.

Yikes.