Baby Pictures!

This one is kind of a jumble... your guess is as good as mine!



Here we have a clear view of her head.



Here she is, modestly crossing her legs at the ankles...


But she is kind enough to spread out and show us that SHE'S A GIRL!!! This picture is taken from the diaper's point of view...





You can see babygirl's head at the top left, and her arm as she tries to suck her fingers.








This is a close up of her nose and lips.






Here we have a kind of scary shot showing her eyeballs....



Here's another closeup....




This shows her heartrate is just where it's supposed to be.








Here we have a healthy four chamber heart beating normally.

Pregnancy Overview

I'm getting closer and closer to the end of being pregnant, and the beginning of being a mommy... Of course I'm scared, nervous, intimidated by the thought of labor and the impending responsibility... but I'm also feeling a strange sense of calm, of warmth, and of peace. This just feels so right.

I thought it would be fun to post the pregnant belly pictures that I've taken along the way.

6-20-2007

23.5 weeks along...
7-18-07

8-8-2007: 8-11-078-15-07

9-8-2007 36 weeks... 9-25-2007 39 weeks... (surprised she's still in there!!!!) Belly button is getting to capacity!

To be honest, my pregnancy has been a breeze - only one day with morning sickness (and it was my own fault for taking my prenatal vitamin on an empty stomach), two episodes of heartburn (which I believe were work/stress related and not even babygirl's fault), only a few new stretchmarks (knock on wood this doesn't change!). I pretty much completely avoided the common complaints of increased acne, swelling/water retention, etc. I hope that she is just as sweet and complacent once she is born! I think the biggest change (other than the belly), has been an increase in my emotional levels....yeah yeah, pregnancy hormones. I feel the correct emotion - it just hits with super amplified force... so when I laugh I laugh till it hurts, when I see something sad, the tears well up, when something is irritating... well - I'll let you ask the hubby about that one!!!

The labor dreams have finally begun - as of the end of week 38... Also, I noticed that it feels better to walk with a wider stance - aka: the pregnancy waddle. I'm avoiding it as much as possible - but I think that means we're getting very very close...

September 21, 2007:

Lori Nassayan threw me and Babygirl a shower at work!

Since I was taken off work as of 9-17, I wasn't around to witness all of Lori's last minute preparations. I know she must have been busy, because everything turned out so cute! She had loads of balloons, chocolate candy bars wrapped with congratulations as the party favor, homemade spaghetti, delicious pizza and salad, and a giant cake all ready to go at noon.

David, Israel, and Robert were all roped into attendance...
Vanessa & David came in on their day off.
I made the mistake of wearing a sweater to the party (I thought it was going to be cold, since it had just been cold and rained the day before). When I arrived and started talking to everyone, I got sooo hot. I ended up taking my sweater off for a little while to avoid passing out, but I only had a thin camisole on underneath, and felt pretty naked, so I put my sweater back on.

Look at this HUGE stack of gifts for the baby! There was a whole lotta love being poured on us girls. I feel very lucky to work with such awesome people.

Robert agreed to fan me while I opened gifts. You can see the paper plate/fan in my right hand and how red I am all over though... from heat or from embarrassment at opening a gift of Buttpaste? The world will never know!

It felt like 2:00 came and went so quickly, and I didn't want people to leave because I was enjoying getting to talk to everyone so much...but they had to go back to work. Mindy & Meleya had a good time away from their desks!

Sandy Hue & I - they've been wonderful emotional support...

When I got home and re-opened all of the gifts with Tom, we were so amazed by how thoughtful the gifts were. We are set with a stroller/car seat, so many cute clothes and blankets, diapers, bathing supplies, burp pads, even toys for the little angel to play with.

There were even a few gift cards to fill in the gaps too! I feel like the luckiest girl to be able to work with people who have such huge hearts like Tammie & Hope.

Baby Nursery!

The most recent pictures are at the top, and you can see the work "regress" as you scroll down...

Okay - we are within inches of the finish line! It feels like Christmas - the anticipation and excitement of having everything ready in time for babygirl is intoxicating! We still need to put up the window covering - a high valance, and trim up the cords on the blinds so they do not pose any hazard to the baby...
We are ready to change diapers!!!
A little bit more organization is required for her bookshelf...

Here are a few updated pictures with the wallpaper border showing...

We still have a little ways to go to get the room done though!




Aunt Gloria and Uncle Hack found the very last Paloma crib set in the US. (I don't know how I got so unlucky to fall in love with a discontinued print).

Here are work in progress pictures




I don't think that we could have come any closer on the colors, or there would have been no contrast at all! I love the dainty little butterflies.

She also found enough border wall paper for the nursery too! I framed a few sections of wall paper to bring the room together.

Isn't it cute how shimmery the butterflies are?

The walls on three sides of the room are light lavendar.

The dark purple really pops and I think that babygirl will enjoy the contrast between the doors and the wall color!

Isn't it pretty?

September 23, 2007

Toni & Pat threw a babyshower for Tom & I and invited all of our family and friends. Toni had let me pick out the colors for the shower - you can see the same purple colors that are in the baby's room, with splashes of pink. Aren't the trees beautifully decorated? The weather was perfect - a light breeze kept my hormonal body cool, and there was sunshine to keep everyone else nice and warm.

Sommer and I arrived at Toni's a little early to help with any last minute preparations. With Tom's help, we got streamers up in the trees. Okay, now it's time for a break for the big pregnant lady! It felt weird to sit around and watch everyone else working. I'm definitely a worker-bee!

Toni put out platters of meat, cheeses, and all the fixings for delicious sandwiches. Tom and I had requested that we not have any games at our shower - there were so many people who were coming that we had not been able to catch up with over the last year, that we just really wanted as much time to visit with them as possible. The food was available for everyone to munch on as they wanted, so that allowed even more time for us to chat with everyone. Finally, Toni and Pat said it was time to open gifts... Since I had just opened the huge stack of work gifts, I asked Tom to open the gifts while I read the cards.

This one is a "Got Milk" sleeper! How cute!

Check out this cute onesie from Steve & Karen! Tom can't wait to see "daddy's little pumpkin!"

The baby is set with almost everything she needs now - She has enough outfits to wear one a day for the next six months without duplicating!

Aunt Gloria and Uncle Hack found the very last Paloma crib set in the USofA (I don't know how I got so unlucky to fall in love with a discontinued print). She also found enough border wall paper for the nursery too! The nursery still has a ways to go, but we'll be ready by the time she's here!

Monday the 24th marked Week 36... by next Monday she's deemed Full Term and can come any time she wants! She still hasn't dropped down into my pelvis yet, which I've read typically happens at least 2 weeks before labor (for your first). So, I am pretty sure we still have a little bit of time...although you never really know for sure!
I mean, GOSH, just look at how big she has gotten!!!