…well, at least temporarily. I am now officially a “stay-at-home mom” for the next three months. My last day at work was yesterday (Friday, 3-28-08) and I am pleased to say that I got everything done before I left. 
It was interesting to see how everyone reacted to the idea of me stopping work before I actually gave birth. Some told me to enjoy my alone time while it lasted. Some hoped I would go into labor immediately — they thought that would be great fun! Some asked “what are you going to DO with your time”? Really. Are they kidding me? I am pretty sure I can think of lots to do with my time, especially since in theory I only have a little over a week to go. I am more worried about not having enough time to complete a few projects.
It will be a little strange not going to work for so long, but I am sure I will adjust without much difficulty. I am looking forward to all of it (well, maybe not the actual labor pains, but everything else). Ten days and counting…
Here is a picture of Jenn from yesterday (March 22, 2008). She is between 37 and 38 weeks pregnant.
At 36 weeks (last week), we had what I figured would be my last ultrasound. They do the ultrasound at 36 weeks to make sure the baby is turned the right way and to check the size of the baby. Our baby has turned the correct way and was estimated to weigh 5 lbs. 8 oz. Since the baby is supposed to gain 0.5 lb. each week until birth, they speculate our baby will weigh 7 lbs. 8 oz. at birth. Now, I think 7.5 lbs. is a nice sized baby and apparently it was the national average 20 years ago. But now, that is a tad on the small size (17th percentile). My doctor says there is nothing to worry about, but she would like me to have one more ultrasound at 39 weeks just to make sure the baby is growing like he/she should. Personally, I am perfectly fine with a smaller baby as that child still has to come out of me one way or the other!
No, I am not referring to the recent rainfall, although it was substantial and much needed. I am referring to the two baby showers friends threw for me during the first week of March. The first was during lunch on Tuesday March 4, when my co-workers threw me a lovely shower, complete with pizza and cake. In addition to all of my co-workers, I had a surprise visit from Marty, who left our office a couple of months ago when her son William was born (see bottom center picture). Here are some pictures.
Then, on Saturday March 8, my friend Jennifer threw me a shower at her house. So many people dear to me live too far away to attend, but I was fortunate to have many local friends come, along with my aunt Kathy and cousin Jenna. We had lots of yummy food, including tomato and mozzarella salad, meatballs, spinach dip, mini quiches, chocolate dipped strawberries and pretzels, shrimp cracker spread, veggies, punch, and of course, Winnie the Pooh cake! My friend Angie also made a diaper “cake,” which I just love! In one game, we had to match up children names to their famous parents (e.g., Shiloh with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie). We all got about the same correct (between 9 and 10), but Jennifer’s mom Ellen got 16 correct (out of about 25)! We were impressed. The girls also played baby bingo while I opened presents — Emily won that game fairly early on. The presents came from all over — from Florida to Texas to Ohio to Michigan to Virginia. Everything was just wonderful! Here are some pictures.
We are so lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives and are deeply touched by their thoughtfulness.
Part of the baby’s room is sort of complete. As you can see from the pictures, the crib is assembled and the dots are up! Thus, this half of the room is sort-of complete. I say sort of because I suspect some of those dots will move around over the next couple of weeks as we go in there for some reason or another and just feel like we HAVE to move some dot or another. We think the Pooh bed set is just wonderful (thanks Mom, R2, Kathy, and Grandma) and goes with the crib just perfectly. You can’t really see it in the pictures, but we have the glider (thanks Jen!) by the window — I’ll include it more once we have the window valence up and/or when we get the dresser and can post the next round of pictures. That won’t be for a couple of weeks, so I figured I should go ahead and post something so you could see what we have so far.
Ta-da! What do you think of my new car? With the baby coming soon, a new car became a priority. The S2000 does not have a back seat and you cannot turn off the air bags. Add to that the fact that I refuse to be the sole transportation provider for our child and you soon realize that a new car is in order. We kept my ’95 Honda Civic (it has been and still is a great car) so that Jason has something for transporting the baby. It is a two-door and I suspect he will find it less than fun to get the kid in and out of the backseat, but he says it is fine with him.
My new car is a 2008 Honda Civic SI (4-door) in fiji pearl blue. I think it is great! We picked it up Thursday evening. Initially, it had just over 5 miles on it, so it is brand spanking new! I have to take it easy for a while to break in the engine, but that is fine with me. It gives me a chance to get used to everything. The only strange thing is I cannot see the front of my car (I believe this is a common problem with lots of new cars these days). I have already replaced the original gear shift knob with my one-of-a-kind Gator gear shift knob (Thanks Don, Lin, and Marie). Sweet! Anyway, I just wanted to share a picture of our latest edition.
By the way — that is me (in Jason’s Carolina shirt) at 34+ weeks next to the car…
