Week 37

Wow...little baby is really growing now. He is putting on fat, which means pure weight and inches for me! Just in the past week, I've really started feeling pregnant, as in tired with no stamina. We had a small hiccup last weekend with some pain on my side and some elevated liver blood levels. The conclusion was that I must have pulled a muscle or ligament, which caused the pain, and the elevated liver levels were caught by accident while trying to figure out what was wrong with my side. In the end, the pain comes and goes, but is nothing to worry about, and the liver levels have returned to normal. Apparently they were a by-product of the stomach virus I had the weekend before. My doctor will never believe this. I've had such an uneventful pregnancy and in the two weeks he goes on vacation, all this drama happens.

Edgar is working so hard to get our flat ready for the baby. I do what I can, but it's not much these days. He is such a superstar and I really can't say how much I appreciate him. He is the perfect partner for this journey and I really could not have made it without him. He has fed me, clothed me, cleaned up after me, painted my toenails, provided me with endless ice cream...the list really is endless. I have a pregnancy journal that chronicles the changes in baby and myself on a daily basis, and since I've received it, he's read it every single night. It's our ritual before we go to sleep. I love him so much.

Mom and Dad arrive on Tuesday morning. We are very excited to have them for a few weeks! It should be a great Christmas!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! We are enjoying our last Thanksgiving here in the UK. Edgar got off work early and I made a little feast for us-turkey, homemade dressing, sweet potatoes and salad. We splurged and also had sweet iced tea. It's hard to believe I've missed my mom's Thanksgiving feast 3 years in a row now, but she assures me that next year will be no holds barred Thanksgiving. I'm sure she is going to make every single yummy casserole we ask for. We Skyped in this afternoon and visited with everyone at their house and now, thanks to Sky Sports, we are watching the Dallas Cowboys game!! YIPPEE!! Also, can you believe that this time next year, that little bump I'm sporting will be almost or mostly walking and eating turkey of his own?

Week 36

Week 36!!! We are in the homestretch!!! My regular doctor is on vacation until next week, so today I met his backup and she is really nice. I am in great hands either way. The best part was that she has an ultrasound machine in her exam room that she uses to check the baby, so I got to see the little guy again. She showed me that he has hair and I also got to see some fat rolls on his tummy. I told her my fear that he was going to be a gigantic baby based on my 4D ultrasound, but she said she didn't feel like he was. She thinks he is the right size for my body. PHEW! Everything looked great as usual and I was in and out in 10 minutes. I'll see her one last time next week and then it's back to my regular doctor until the grand appearance.

We finished our prenatal classes this past Monday and I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with them. Not that you can ever be fully prepared to be a parent, but the organization I took the classes through focuses on the whole process of having a baby, from pregnancy and birth, right on through to the transition to parenthood. So we learned alot more than just the stages of labor and the pain relief options, we learned what we would go through personally and as a couple and how to tackle some of the common obstacles that can make that transition more difficult. We met so many people right here in Richmond and now have 14 instant friends in the same position as us. The women in the group are fabulous and I am so lucky that they all live literally a block away from me. In fact, we were all so sad that the classes ended, that we are keeping our usual Monday night time slot open, but instead of meeting for class we are going to meet at different pubs and just hang out...at least until we start dropping like flies and then eventually start showing up again with newborns.

Sorry for the lack of posting on Week 35. Edgar and I came down with some kind of stomach virus on Wednesday and I spent Thursday at the doctor's offices and the hospital for monitoring, etc. to make sure everything was OK. I was pretty dehydrated, but the baby and myself checked out fine in the end. I was just sent home and told to sip water and sleep. By Sunday, we were fine and back to normal. Thanks to those of you who kept me on my toes (...Sharla).

A Package from Home!!

Our postal workers have been on strike and I've been anxiously awaiting a package from my sister for two weeks! It finally arrived this morning! It contained some great gifts! First, was a newborn Santa outfit. Since I found out I would be having a baby very close to Christmas, I've been on a mission to find one...Shaila found it first. Isn't it cute? Next was a booklight that I can attach to my books. This is a lifesaver because my bedside lamp is very bright and annoying, and even though he won't say it, I'm sure Edgar would rather I not keep it on while he is trying to sleep. Last but not least is a SNUGGIE!!!! I've been wanting one of these for over a year now!!! Now I can read, drink hot chocolate, and change the TV channel without having to unsnuggle from my warm blankety nest. And I like that it is leopard print...so chic. THANKS SO MUCH, SHAILA!!!

Week 34

Yeah, I know...my molehill has turned into a mountain.

A Perfect Viva Baby Shower

I was completely and utterly surprised when I opened an evite from Amber last month. She is always on top of the latest cool thing to have a party for...Pampered Chef, wall stencils, and well, other things...so I thought she had found some great new invention that I would have to check out. WRONG! It was an invitation for a baby shower in honor of ME, given by my best girlfriends-the Vivas-Amber, Carolyn, Marisa, Leslie and everyone's significant others!

Throughout my pregnancy I had tried to play it cool and act like the fact that I wouldn't have a good ole traditional American baby shower didn't bother me. But the closer I got to my due date, and the more my belly expanded, the sadder I got knowing I would miss out on this right of passage for every new mom-to-be. I tried to act like it was ok that I wouldn't play all the silly games, devour some cake and punch, and basically be the center of attention.

About a week before the shower, a package arrived from Marisa containing napkins, decorations, a CD with a great mix of music, and some little gifts. Little did I know all that was going on behind the scenes. James and Edgar were busy preparing the best chat-Skype vs. Google (Google won hands down). Edgar had been receiving emailed instructions throughout the week from everyone, and he had been busy getting everything ready on this side of the world.

So, this is how it went down (as my nephew Brody would say)...Our Google chat rings, we answer, and there is everyone on the screen with huge smiles on their faces. We started with snack time. Everyone at Amber's house had some great nibbles while Edgar handed me a plate of goodies he had prepared. We then went on to the party phase. We started with the tummy measure game. Amber was the winner, hitting my waist size spot on. I am going to overlook those who guessed my waist to be over five feet around ;) The camera does add 10 pounds! We did a word scramble/unscramble, and we drew a picture of the baby on paper plates while holding them on top of our heads. We then went on to the cake phase. While everyone pigged out on cake-Amber had gotten them a delicious chocolate on chocolate because that's my favorite-James held a baby-daddy-boot-camp for Edgar. He gave him the in's and out's on diaper changing, feeding, and how to get the baby into and out of those baby carrier contraptions. They finished with the diaper race, which I'm proud to say, Edgar won! After cake was gift time! Now this was a very clever idea...since it would be pretty impractical to ship gifts all the way over here, they had emailed Edgar pictures of the gifts they had purchased for us. He printed them out and put them in envelopes for me to open. I really felt like I was opening real gifts! We'll actually receive them when we move back. After gifts, it was entertainment time! Leslie, Carolyn, and Marisa did a hilarious rendition of our new favorite song, "Cheese Enchilada" by Big Smith. If you've never heard it, look it up! Amber and Cade then sang us a few original songs that we can sing to our Little Baby when he is taking a bath.

The end of the shower was upon us and they had saved the best for last. Edgar presented me with a package of Huggies and it was explained by Carolyn that each diaper contained some piece of advice or inspiration that I would discover throughout the use of the diapers. Everyone involved in the shower had emailed Edgar these little nuggets (no pun intended) of love and he had printed them out, cut them into individual pieces and placed one each in a diaper. I don't know why, but this just made me cry so hard. I knew that everyone had worked very hard to put this together, unbeknownst to me, and this just showed the thought that went into each and everything. All combined, they had sent enough tidbits for over 50 diapers!

I tried to express how genuinely happy I was to have been the recipient of such a thoughtful experience, but I was all choked up and couldn't even speak. I just buried my head in Edgar's shoulder and had a good cry (and trust me, when I get started these days, it's hard to stop). And then everyone else did to. I think all I could squeak out was "Thank you so much". I can't tell you how much this meant to me. I really felt like I got to experience the same thing every one else does. It didn't matter that I was in a different country or time zone, I felt like I was right there.

So...just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I get an evite from my sister a few weeks ago, and it seems I get to do it all over again with my family!!! How in the world did I get so lucky in life? I have the best friends, family and husband I could ever ask for. It's not easy being so far away from everyone you love (except for Edgar, of course) during a time as special as this. It just means so much to me that people have taken the time and made the effort to make me feel extra special. I appreciate it all and can't wait to report on virtual shower #2 in the very near future!

Week 33

I wasn't sure if I would ever post a bare tummy picture, but Edgar had a "photo shoot" with me on Saturday, and I had a little fun playing around with Photoshop. I was happy with the result and thought I would share it with you as my official Week 33 picture.

Inherit the Wind

I promised myself when 8 months ago that this wouldn't become the pregnancy blog. It's just that I'm to the point in my pregnancy now that we aren't really doing too much, so I feel quite boring! We are making a concerted effort to do more things around London since we are now homebound, and I'm hoping the postings on them will be a nice break from everything baby related (although I'm sure my 5 readers probably want it to be all baby, all the time).

On Thursday evening, we saw a play at the Old Vic Theater, just down the road from Waterloo Station. Inherit the Wind stars Kevin Spacey as a defense attorney for a young school teacher in 1925 Hillsboro, Tennessee-a very conservative, religious community-and is based on the real life "Scopes monkey trial". The teacher's crime was teaching Darwin's theory of evolution, a crime back in those days. It was a critically acclaimed movie in 1960 with Spencer Tracy as the famous defense attorney. Kevin Spacey did a very good job playing a very old man! We really believed he was about 80 years old, with his hunched shoulders, slight limp, and silver hair. It was only after final bows when he ran off stage that we remembered he isn't really old at all!