It's Here... It's Finally Here!

I've been waiting for it all summer and it's finally here.... The New Kids on the Block concert! I saw them 20 years ago this coming December at the age of 12 (it was my very first concert ya know!).

Above: Then & Now

I'm going with my friends Amber and Jan and Jan's friend Jodi. We're going to have a blast!! I've been listening to their old and new cds all day in preperation.

Now I know... it's kinda dorky! But I still giggle when I see them on tv and their music is fun.
It's my last big neight before Megan comes. Better make the most of it!

In other news...
Eric got in to a car accident late Wednesday night. He's fine - just a few burns from the air bag, but his car is toast. We're going car shopping tomorrow with my dad. The hope is to find a baby-friendly car that he can drive for now. Then when the baby comes, we get rid of my car and find a different car for him and I get the car we're buying now. We'll see how that works.

In baby news...
We had our 26 week apponitment yesterday. Everything looks great. We had an unexpected ultrasound since my midwife thought I was measuring a little big (well duh, I'm overweight!). Eric was thrilled to see her again. I'll try to scan and post the pictures when I can.

It's Going By So Fast!

98 days... that's all the time we have left until we become a family of 3 (give or take 2 weeks). I can't believe how fast it's going!

We have our monthly appointment tomorrow morning at 8:45. Probably just the usual quick checkup.

We started our Natural Childbirth class this past Sunday and have the second (and final) class this coming Sunday. It was pretty interesting! We got to see a few videos of babies being born and we learned some pain coping positions and breathing tips. Now let's see if we remember then on the big day!

On October 6th, we also have a Newborn Class. I think I feel pretty good about my newborn skills, but Eric's never been around little munchkins so this will be great for him and a good refresher for me. After all, Emma's 5 1/2 so it's been a while for me too!

WHAT'S BABY HOLM UP TO?
Week 26

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. She's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she's born and takes that first gulp of air. And she's continuing to put on baby fat. She now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

Wonderful Heartburn

Man - this heartburn's been kicking the last week or so! I was having mild heartburn before, but this past week it's been bad. I've had to take a pill every night this week before bed so I could sleep, and now it's starting to kick in during the day too.

I think I need to start carrying Tums with me all the time now - blah. Let's hope it doesn't get much worse!

I was talking t a doctor-friend the other (eh hem - Miranda) and she asked me how far along I was. I told her I was 24 1/2 weeks and she said "That means you're viable Linds! You could have this baby now and she'd be ok! But let's hope she stays put a while longer!"

That freaked me out.

I get my weekly updates from BabyCenter.com and it has a little line of dots that represent each week. There are now 16 dots left... 16 weeks of dots. How did this happen??

I'm excited to meet our little one, but I'm also terrified (which I've been told is normal)! I thought I'd have no problems being a mom. I did, after all, babysit for a while back in the day and from age 13 to 21, I was a counselor at a summer camp and rocked! I thought "I had no problem with that, mom-hood will be the same." God - what was I thinking??

Since they've told their family, I wanted to send a big WOO HOO out to our good friends Shawn and Jan who are expecting their 2nd munchkin in May! Jan's about a month and a half along and so far so good! I'm so excited for them!

They have a daughter, Cassidy, who is cute as a button! She's a year and a half and is already a handful!

I'm excited that Megan will have a buddy close in age to play with! YEA!!

Shawn and I have been buds since the 7th grade - 20 years!! Shaw, Amber, Julie and I were inseperable when we were teens and I love that 3 of us are still close (Julie seemed to have dropped off the face of the Earth a while back).

Shawn and Jan got married in June of 2004 and Eric and I had a blast at their wedding.

I absolutely adore Jan and I think she's a wonderful addition to our "Old Gang" family!

Here's to a happy and healthy 9 months Jan!!

WHAT'S BABY HOLM UP TO?

25 Weeks

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

I Remember....

Today is a sad day as everyone knows. But in some ways for me, it's a kinda cool day. You see, I was in Cali visiting my aunt. As terrible as it was to be away from my family, it was nice to have a bonding experience with Aunt Sue.

For those who think we've all forgotten - we haven't. We just remember in silence.

So My Mom Says....

"Did you know in less than 4 months you're going to be a mother?!" Yes. Yes, I did.

Tomorrow (Th Sept 11th) is 24 weeks. That means I have only 16 weeks left.

I feel like I don't have enough time anymore.
Not enough time for me.
Not enough time for Eric.
Not enough time for life.
Not enough time to prepare for her arrival.
I feel like I'm always on the go, yet I'm never doing anything.

It's sort of overwhelming when I really take a moment and think about everything that's going to be happening in a short amount of time.
I'm going to have contractions.
I'm going to have to get this baby out of me - either on my own or with some help.
I'm going to have to take her home.
I'm going to have to be alone with her when Eric goes back to work and Mom and Bob aren't around.
I'm going to have to listen to her cry and cry and cry.

It's all very exciting, yet very scary. I've been waiting a long time to be a mom, and now I'm not sure I'm ready. But I guess I don't have much choice do I?

I was reading through all of my past blogs and was laughing to myself. At week 9, I was complaining about how crappy I felt. Now, I feel like my old self - just a little fatter.

I quickly mentioned how Eric got to feel Megan kick while we were on vacation. I wanted to talk a little bit more about it since it was a big day.

I was laying in bed watching tv when she started moving. I told Eric and he came over. I said "I'm not sure if you'll be able to feel her, but she's here" and led his hand to my lower belly. We waited a minute and I said "There" at the same time that he said "OOH!". It was the last kick of her workout, but he felt it.

He was grinning from ear to ear and I loved it. After almost 2 months of feeling her move inside me, he finally got to feel her too.

He kept talking to her for the rest of the trip and when he did, he'd ask if she was kicking. No hon. I'm sorry but she's not kicking to your voice yet (or even mine). He'd read that if you tapped on Mom's belly, baby would kick back. He tried it, but no luck. He'll keep trying I know.

I was talking to a friend who is due in about a month last night and she asked if the baby was hicupping yet. Nope - not yet. Not sure how that will feel! The kicks are weird enough. I can't imagine frequent thumps in there! I've heard it tickles a little. I'll let you know when it happens.

WHAT'S BABY HOLM UP TO?

Week 24

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Cruising....On a Sunday Afternoon

Here it is! My review of our week on a boat!
It wasn't all we had hoped, but it was nice.

Food
The food was great the first few days, but then "Lobster Extravaganza" came and it went down hill from there. On the menu for this meal it listed lobster tail, scallops and Tiger shrimp. The plate comes and it literally has one scallop, one shrimp and half of a small lobster tail that was waaaaaaaaay over cooked!

They had an "ice cream bar" that was open from 11-5 each day (weather permitting as it was outside). You got to pick from 2 or 3 flavors and got half a scoop on a sugar cone. No toppings, no bowls, no nothing. Now tell me, what kind of bar is that??

The breakfast buffet was eh. Greasy food, the same exact thing every morning.

There was a Chocolate Buffet one night that was pretty good! Although we were hoping there'd be some fondue-type stuff, but it was all little cakes and things.

Ports
Saint John and Halifax were really nice and beautiful. We were impressed with how clean those cities were. There were recycling bins all over and our tour guides in both places told us that the public citizens donated their own time and flowers from their own gardens to beautify the city - and it showed!

The Public Garden in Halifax was beautiful. We spent a bit of time in there taking pictures of the flowers and trees and ducks.


Sydney - WHATTA STINKER!
This town was tiny and had nothing to do. On the tourist map there was a street with "lots of great shopping". I kid you not when I say it had a used cd store, some crappy pharmacies and other stuff you'd see in a smaller city that gets no tourists. For the life of us we couldn't figure out why this would be a port of call! But... it did have a giant fiddle on the pier and that made it worth the trip!

Bar Harbor - loved it
No surprise that we loved Bah Hahbah. We went there on our honeymoon and were really looking forward to going back. We stayed on the main street and visited the same places as before, but we still loved it!

Weather/Motion Sickness
Not bad at all. The weather wasn't the best, but it's to be expected in that area at this time of year. It was sunny, but chilly.

The water was fine except for early Sunday morning when we were coming back in to Boston. The storm was there and the water was super rocky. I woke up around 3 and had the hardest time falling back to sleep! But for the most part, the water wasn't too bad at all.

We didn't do much on-board stuff. Played BINGO one day and saw one show. We did some gambling as well and I had a manacure (expensive!!). We mostly just hung out together, playing cards or walking around the top deck.

I think cruising just isn't for us. We're more woods/mountain people and I like being able to hop in my car whenever I want. It wasn't as great as we had hoped, but it was nice to get away together.

By no means would I say it was horrible or tell others not to cruise. It's just not for us. We did talk about a shorter cruise or a Disney Cruise/Park with the kid(s) somewhere down the road.

And the highlight of the trip - Eric felt Megan kick for the first time - YEA!

Seriously, Eric and I are weird. The things that impressed us the most were how well the captain moved the ship around! When pulling in to Sydney, he backed the ship up about half a mile. That's right - I said backed up! And in Saint John, he moved it sideways... sideways!!

All of our pictures can be found here. Let me know if you can't see them and I'll email them to you.

Quick Baby Update

Back from the cruise today. I'll post soon about it.
But in the mean time - a quick update on the baby since I missed posting while on the ship (65 cents a minute for internet was a bit too rich for my blood!)

Eric got to feel her move for the first time last week (he thinks it was Tuesday, I think it was later). He thought it was pretty cool and kept trying to her get her to kick him more, but she is already not listening to Daddy.

He received The Expectant Father from his boss a while back and brought it on the trip. He caught up during our down time and now likes to tell me what's happening to me and to the baby. It's cute....in an annoying sorta way (just kidding!). I really love that he's taken such an active role in the whole thing.

This week we need to look and decide what pre-baby classes we need to register for.

Just under 4 months until we see the newest edition to the family!!

WHAT'S BABY HOLM UP TO?
Week 23

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.