Baby Contest

I forgot to mention that there's a baby contest Aunt Mindy has set up. It is at www.expectnet.com Enter babylake as the game name and you can enter your guess as far as due date, gender, weight, length, etc. The winner will receive an unlimited amount of baby sitting and diaper changing! Quite the deal!

End of Week 31!

Whew! Time is really starting to move quickly now for us as we try to finish up the last of the 'normal life projects' before digging into the 'baby life projects' (baby furniture, clothing organization, etc.). We now have 8 weeks left (allegedly) which is less than 2 months! Yikes! Got to keep a truckin'!
Yesterday we completed our hospital based childbirth class. It was a really good class with very frank and, I believe, honest instructors. For the first 1/2 hour, Doug kept on tapping me and saying, "This is something you should really pay attention to," or "That's a really good thing to know." It was good to see him so excited and he was definitely into the material! I guess you can't just take the doctor out of the dad! haha! We also went through some relaxation techniques and after five 1 minute long practice contractions where he provided massage or soothing light touch, he reported his hands were pooped! I can't say mine wouldn't be either. That's got to be work. Time to buy some tube socks for tennis and golf balls and a pastry roller!
This week was marked by a wonderful surprise giant baby item stuffed basket from the ladies at work, ordering the stroller and diaper bag (we'll just call the stroller a baby ATV for price and off road features), and the now humorous great cake incident....
Last weekend, Doug and I hosted a shower for his brother and future sister-in-law Jed and Tammy. We had some cake left over which was very, very yummy. Tuesday night, after returning home from a day of continuing education, venturing to Costco, and a La Leche meeting teaming with 5,000 busy toddlers, all I wanted prior to going to bed was a glass of milk and a serving of that buttercream frosting cake! I poured myself that glass of milk, headed down to the basement to get the cake from the fridge, and opened the refridgerator door. Gasp! The cake was gone! My throat constricted as I tried to breathe and eventually yelled up the stairs, "Honey, did you eat the rest of the cake?" "Yes," he hesitantly and very cautiously replied. Those were the last words we spoke to each other the rest of the night. I covered my milk and went to bed silently.
The next day Doug sends me an apologetic email stating that he had started to eat the cake and after a few bites, realized it wasn't a good choice for him to be eating and that it probably wasn't the best nutritional choice for the baby me either. Then acting for best interests, he admitted he threw the rest of the cake in the trash...
I must say say that as a pregnant woman, this was a very sad moment for me to realize that yummy, beautiful buttercream frosting cake was in the trashcan. I'd rather just known that he couldn't help himself and ate it all (as I can identify with that). And while he definitely acted with the best of interests, it was of little consolation as we pregnant girls have to give up all sorts of yummy stuff (soft cheeses, lunchmeat, coffee, tea, wine, sushi, homemade ice cream, etc.). After a bit of talking it out, we can now laugh at the incident, and I'm starting to see the silver lining in it all; he has offered to take me to Cold Stone Creamery twice already since Tuesday! That great sacrifice is starting to work in my favor! Who woulda thought? Yummy yummy!

End of 30 Weeks!

Another week down and out! This week was lonesome for Baby Lake and me as Doug traveled to Stanford and we were left to our own devices. Luckily we had each other to keep company, although Baby doesn't talk nearly as much as I do (yet)! With Doug's being gone, I ate a few meals in front of the TV, reclined on the couch, and my plate or bowl resting hands free on my belly. Whenever I spilled some food such as noodles or macaroni and cheese, it simply landed on my shirt and rolled right back into the bowl! No spills or no mess on the couch! Quite the excellent find! On the other hand, there were a few more aches and pains that came on to the scene this week: I have developed a bit of left shoulder pain from sleeping on my left side incorrectly a few weeks ago; I also started having some pain shooting up and down my right lower back and upper leg, particularly whenever I get up from sitting; and lastly, a few of those baby movements haven't been so kind in their targets as in the past. However, on a good note, I received a massage yesterday and it has already helped by shoulder and back a great deal. I could have a lot worse things going on, but I still feel pretty darn well!

End of Week 29

Hard to believe that we're marching down the home stretch! (And stretch is the operative word there!) Now just 10 weeks (give or take 2) to go! I think the realization of reaching week 30 has made me more pensive than when I hit my 30th birthday a few years ago!
Baby Lake continues to have more frequent and powerful kickboxing sessions and I find myself eating more and more. One day this week I craved raw carrots as the finishing touch to my breakfast! I never knew how good they could be in the morning. (And yes, breakfast is now a multiple course meal: Banana; juice and 2 eggs with ketchup; homemade waffles with raspberry puree and peanut butter and 2 glasses of milk; and then a handful of carrots or an apple..) That's a lot of work, but it usually holds me over until 10:30 or 11 am.
Doug and I finished our 10 session Bradley method childbirth class this week as well. It has been one of those experiences where I have realized the more I learn, the less I know. But we are glad to have done it. I am coming to the conclusion that giving birth will probably be similar to parenthood: you never know what's going to happen, but ready for anything and do the best you can with what you've got to work with.... Hmmm... We'll see! Hoppy Easter!

End of 28 Weeks!

Another week gone and all continues to remain well here in baby land! Doug and I took some major steps this week as we traded in the cars of our "youth" for a 4 door sedan with great safety records, plenty of room in the back seat, and LATCH systems. It would be hard to say who was more sad, Maleia walking away from her Chevy Lumina (124, 000 miles, squeaky hubcaps, but a great tape deck, awesome KU stickers, and a spoiler) or Doug handing the keys over to his racy black BMW convertible coupe. Either way, we are now in sedan land and looking forward to sharing it with a 3rd passenger in less than 3 months (hopefully not closer to 4!).
As for Baby Lake, s/he appears to be enjoying the trampoline s/he found on the right side of Mommy's belly as she lays down at night. One of these days, my belly button is going to get nudged from the inside (or more likely used as for target practice) and out it's going to pop! It's hard to imagine this belly getting any bigger, as it already feels as if it's stretching as far as it possibly can; but then I wake up the next day and see that the belly fairy has visited again. Outward and onward we go!