Theo and Ruby Make Four

I celebrated my 35th birthday yesterday! I woke up to a lovely bouquet of flowers…

Jay and I spent the day together enjoying these last days without baby. It was really great. We had dinner at Peter Luger in Williamsburg, BK. It’s one of the oldest steakhouses. It may seem strange that I ate at a steakhouse for my birthday, considering I’m a vegetarian! But… we had a $100 gift certificate that we wanted to use and I had the best piece of salmon I’ve had in a long time. Their creamed spinach is also out of control and we had raspberry sorbet with homemade “schlag” (whipped cream) on top. It was ridiculously good.

We also had our prenatal appointment. I’m 39 weeks now. The midwife said the baby probably weighs about 7 1/4 lbs now and will most likely be a little over 8 lbs when he arrives. I just can’t believe I have a 7 lb baby inside of me right now! It’s so nuts. Everything else is really good. I’m right on target having gained about 25 lbs. The midwife also talked to us about breathing and getting ready for labor. She said if she was a betting person, she would think I would go around Sept 7th or 8th… the usual week over your due date. Who knows?

We met with Jessi, our doula, on Wednesday. We really like her. We went over all sorts of preferences for laboring at home and at the birth center and what our preferences are in case of a hospital transfer. We need to be prepared for all possibilities. She is going to help us with pictures, too, so we can document some of the labor and delivery.

Anyhow, we went to this fantastic store in Ditmas Park called, Sacred Vibes. It is an apothecary, herbal store.

I bought raspberry leaf and nettle teas. These are supposed to be helpful to prepare your body for labor and delivery. I will be drinking these 2 times/day. I also bought a different nettle concoction with fenugreek that is specifically beneficial for drinking postpartum to help with milk production.

I also picked up some eucalyptus oil because I really like it and think maybe it will be calming for me during labor. The store was super cool and I plan to go back. They also have all kinds of spices and other fun looking items.

Maybe my next post will be of Theo!

Belly update!

We are going to the birthing center every week now. Went on Thursday and all is looking good. I added another 2 pounds and the baby’s heartbeat is great. I started to feel him hiccuping and then we heard it on the doppler when we were listening to his heartbeat! The midwife quizzed us on how we can tell whether I am having false labor v. real labor, the dangers signs to look out for right now, when to call the birthing center, etc. We did pretty well 😉

Jay and I went to Far Rockaway beach last night to see some friends for a BBQ. Here is a photo of us on the boardwalk. I’m glad we are still able to have relaxing time together and can hang with friends. Baby is coming any day now!

For the most part, everything is all set up now for Theo. We did a pretty good job of rearranging our room to make space for the crib, dresser/changing table, and a big shelving unit for all things baby.

Here is the view from the windows and our bed:

The crib: (thanks to Jay’s mom Liz for the adorable bumper!)

And his dresser/changing table and storage/shelving unit: (thanks to my Dad for the shelving unit and Jay’s dad for the dresser/changing table!)

Not much longer now… pretty soon these areas will probably be much messier. Can’t wait!

It is hard to believe we are 37 weeks already! We are now officially into our “range of normal”… meaning we can deliver at any time and things should be okay and we are officially able to deliver at the Birthing Center… and our doula is now on call for us. Range of normal is 37-42 weeks.

We had our prenatal on Monday and will be there every week from here on out. Everything is still looking really good. I’ve gained 22 pounds, baby’s heartbeat is great, and my blood pressure is normal. He seems to be positioned well, too. Like I said in an earlier post, my iron levels are back up, too, so we are on target to deliver at the Birthing Center! I had my group B strep test done and will find out next week whether or not I will need antibiotics during delivery.

We chose a doula. Her name is Jessi. We both really like her and I think she will be a great fit. It was hard to choose between her and Briana, the first doula we met. But, I guess it’s just a feeling. This experience should be really awesome! We are working on our birth preferences and I want to start preparing some things I would like to be sure we bring with us… like music, a birth ball, and some eucalyptus oil. This may all fly out the window once I’m in the throws of it all but for now these are things that comfort me.

Overall I am still feeling great. I have slowed down A LOT and have really noticed in the past few days/week that I am just getting bigger and more uncomfortable in these final weeks. Sitting and walking are a bit more of a challenge, especially with all of the walking and stair climbing I do. I have been working from home 2 days/week and as of next week I will be working from home 3-4 days/week depending on how things go until I have the baby. I feel a lot more pressure in my pelvis which I think indicates the baby is starting to drop. That certainly makes walking slower and more uncomfortable. Anyhow, it just puts me closer to the end and closer to us finally getting to meet him. I’m excited.

Jay put the crib together on Sunday and we are awaiting some of the finishing touches. Stay tuned for pictures soon.

Our wonderful NYC friends threw Jay and I a fabulous baby shower in Prospect Park this past weekend. It was perfect. The weather was surprisingly cooperative and absolutely amazing. So many of our friends were able to be there and we just kicked back and picnicked in the park for hours. Jay took care of the grill and managed to cook veggie burgers and hot dogs for about thirty people on our tiny portable grill. Great work, Jay!

A special thanks goes out to Kellie, Lalena, Sarah, Alex, Natalie and Cori for planning our shower so that we could celebrate the impending arrival of baby Theo! We are really happy and really lucky to have such great friends. You all rule!

Here are some pics from the festivities…

Nothing like food, friends, games, balloons and crowns on a summer day. Thanks, again, to everyone who helped put this together and to everyone who could be there. We missed you to those who couldn’t! XOXO

The Floradix is working! I found out today that my iron levels are great. Both my hematocrit and hemoglobin numbers have increased and are above where they need to be. I’m very happy about that. I asked at my last pre-natal what would be plan B if my numbers didn’t increase and they said they would have to bring out the “big dogs”. I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant (probably big, gross pills) but I am glad that I won’t be finding out. So, basically I just need to keep doing what I’ve been doing – taking the iron supplement and trying to eat lots of iron-rich food – and I should be all good.

Our last pre-natal appointment went well. I had blood drawn for the iron test and for a repeat HIV test. My blood pressure and baby’s heartbeat were a-ok. Next time I will be tested for Group B Strep to see whether or not I will need antibiotics during delivery. Lots of women do.

After next Monday, we will be going to the birthing center once a week for the remainder of my pregnancy. Once I hit 37 weeks I will be glad as I can then officially give birth at the birthing center if I should go into labor before my due date. They deliver from 37-42 weeks only.

We met a doula last week, too. Her name is Brianna. She was pretty great. Jay and I both liked her and thought she would be a good fit for us. We are meeting another doula this Thursday just to have a couple of options to see who seems best for us. She also happens to be the other doulas back up anyhow… so we will be going with either one of them and the other will be the back up.

I put our swing together and it is so cozy and adorable! Thanks to my big sis for getting it for us. I hope Theo likes it. We just need the crib set up and we are good to go. More pictures of that stuff soon!

He is still kicking up a storm and I just can’t wait to meet this little person!

Throughout my pregnancy people are constantly asking me, “do you have any weird cravings?” I usually say, “no, not really.” I wondered if I was missing something. I honestly haven’t felt as though my likes and dislikes of food have changed that much from the norm. Looking back, though, on many, many weeks of pregnancy I think I notice some patterns and I guess one would call them “cravings”. First of all, I am on my 4th jar of peanut butter since January. That is a lot. Jay does not eat from these jars at all. Peanut butter is something I have always loved so I don’t think of it as a “weird” craving, but I have definitely wanted to eat it much more during my pregnancy. I think my body just told my brain that it is great source of protein and a good source of healthy fats for a vegetarian. So it has pretty much been my go to snack and/or part of my breakfast (PB toast) almost daily.

Thinking back – especially to the 1st trimester when I didn’t feel good at all – I DEFINITELY wasn’t interested in eating vegetables and raw or cooked food like that. I only wanted comfort foods like, bread, cereal, oatmeal, and waffles. I made waffles a lot. That has carried over throughout but luckily I opened up to the other types of food (vegetables, beans, tofu, yogurt… the usual staples of my diet) once I passed the 1st tri.

I most definitely have had the typical pregnant lady craving for sweets. I am not a big sweet person but I have really incorporated cupcakes, cookies, and ice cream into my diet MUCH more than before. Any offering of a sweet would be immediately followed with a, “what?” …ummm, “yes, please!” I have been eating more ice cream lately, too. Partly it’s the summer time but i think probably more because the baby wants ice cream!

So, I think these have been my cravings. I wonder if Theo will be a big peanut butter fan.

We went to this place “Birthday Presence” for our childbirth education classes. We did a weekend intensive and spent all day Saturday and Sunday there with about 7 other couples. Glad we did it that way – as opposed to taking the course one evening a week over several weeks. Overall it was a great experience. There were a couple of corny videos (one with an animated baby that spoke in utero!) but informative and helpful for getting the both of us in the mindset of labor & delivery. The class covered everything from the different stages of labor and pain coping techniques (massage, breathing and a bunch of other personal preferences of how we individually deal with pain and stress, i.e. music, visualization, etc.) to labor and delivery positions and learning about different medical interventions (medication and caesarean). That isn’t even everything. I think what was most taken away from the course is that there is no way to predict how our experience will be. This we knew already. A good reminder to hopefully reduce some of the anticipation and anxiety as our due date draws near. It is certainly helpful to know more about labor – the benefits of laboring more at home and how to know when it is time to head to the birthing center. For now, we need to think more about our birth preferences and what we hope our experience will look like. What will help me create an environment that will work best… even though that might all fly out the window. We just need to remember the important fact that this is an amazing experience that we are lucky to get to have. We are going to be 100% present for the birth of our child and I can’t wait. It will be painful and incredibly challenging, yes… but we can do it and get through it with the support that we will have and take the experience as what will probably be the most empowering moment of our lives. At least of my life.

Thursday we are meeting a doula from the NYC Doula Coop. Hopefully it will be a good fit and we will both like her. The doula will be really helpful in the early stages of labor – especially so that we can stay at home as long as we can and to help us determine when we should go to the birthing center.

We also got our crib yesterday! A good friend gave us one that they bought and didn’t end up using. It still needs to be put together and we have to get a mattress, etc. Getting much closer to having our apartment in order. I will definitely post some pictures in the next couple of weeks of how the place has transformed. Or, rather, how we are utilizing our space to make a cozy, comfortable home for baby Theo.

This pic is pretty bad… but I thought it was time for a belly update and Jay is at work. We went to the Brooklyn Birthing Center yesterday for our next prenatal check-up. I’m 32 weeks, 2 days! Only 50 some odd days to go… what?! Time is really flying by. Mom and baby are both healthy. Blood pressure was great, baby’s heartbeat was perfect, and I have now gained 20 pounds. Everything seems to be right on track and in these final weeks the baby should be gaining about a pound a week! They didn’t test my iron levels again because it is too soon since I started taking the herbal iron supplement. They will test me again in 3 weeks at our next visit. I will continue to take the iron supplement everyday the best that I can (there are all these rules… take with vitamin C, not with calcium… wait an hour to eat, etc) and hope that my iron levels are high enough that we can continue to plan our delivery at the birthing center. Otherwise, I will be sad 🙁 Fingers crossed! We have also been trying to find a doula but don’t officially have one yet.

We got all of our shower gifts back from Cleveland, believe it or not. Everything fit into our rental car and is safe and sound in our apartment. I have been organizing everything and trying to find places for all of his new things. We still have lots to do, of course. It’s really exciting to see all of the baby stuff and to get ready for his arrival. I’m excited!

Theo continues to kick away at my rib cage and move around like crazy. I enjoy every moment of it because there is no way to document that feeling other than in my own head.

Overall I still feel pretty good. I’m much more tired and much more slow but feeling great. The heat I could do without but I don’t think I’m any more uncomfortable because I’m pregnant. Just tired. We’ll see how the rest of the summer goes!

I wanted to include a photo of my high school girls! These ladies rock for making it to my shower… a big thanks to all of them for being there! It meant a lot to me. I don’t get to see many of them very often, or even talk to them often, but they all have a special place in my heart and we have so many hilarious and amazing memories. I want Theo to know how important friends are… near and far.

Jen Baus, Samantha, Erika, Colleen, Rachel, Adeline, Jenn Webster (Yonkers), Meredith, Me, Lisa, Sara (and baby Laura!)

Me and Jenn (we met in 6th grade!)