It's a...

healthy baby!!!  Sorry to disappoint, but we aren't spilling just yet.  I wanted to have a"gender reveal party" that seems to be so popular these days, so we are having a little gathering with the grandparents on Sunday to reveal the news.  I've always been a fan of a little suspense and so is our baby!  While they were taking measurements of the legs and feet baby was being very modest.  It wasn't until the very end of the hour long ultrasound that they went back to see and finally gave us a confident boy or girl answer.  Towards the middle I was getting a bit worried baby was going to keep us waiting!

Overall the appointment went really well.  Baby was moving around like crazy (might have something to do with the cupcake I ate right before the appointment...)  All the measurements checked out normally, and we got to see lots of different parts.  The office we go to just updated their ultrasound machines a few months ago and it's amazing the detail you can see - both lobes of the brain, the heart valves opening and closing, every little bone in the spine, etc.  Apparently baby has a "very nice head shape" & very long fingers.  Mostly the doctor just said we had a boring baby, which is exactly what you want.

In other news - I might have felt my first kick.  Right when the ultrasound started I felt a little pop, like a kernel of popcorn popping.  Might have been something with the ultrasound machine, but it was different than anything I've felt before, aka not a gassy feeling.  I am amazed how much baby is moving without me feeling anything though.  Now I just need to feel it again to confirm!

It's Finally Here!

Anatomy Scan Day!!  I am so excited to see Poppy in a few hours!! I can't wait to see how much the baby has changed since our 8 week ultrasound, and I really want to find out if everything is progressing as it should.  Overall, I have had very little worries with this pregnancy so far, but a few days ago a lady on my August 2012 birth board posted that she lost her baby at 19 weeks.  Since then, I've had just a tiny nagging worry about our Poppy.  I keep telling myself that its much more likely than not that Poppy is just fine, and she is just 1 out of over 12,000 women on that board, but it will be nice to be able to confirm everything today.


And we get to find out if it's a boy or girl!! (provided Poppy cooperates, of course).  Everyone polled so far is leaning towards girl, so either we are all right or we are in for an awesome surprise.  I honestly don't care either way - a girl would be super fun, but I do remember my little brother being awfully cute too. 


3 more hours!!


*update* I just realized I'm wearing blue today.  Maybe my subconscious isn't quite as certain of baby being a girl as I thought?  Or maybe my wardrobe just has a lot of blue in it?

Post Labor Meal

Arthur and I have visited 2 hospitals now (Mount Auburn & Newton Wellesley) and during both visits the topic of food has come up.  I guess this should come as no surprise that pregnant ladies need to know the food situation at the hospital where they will be spending a few days.  While the hospitals claim their food it pretty good, it seems quite common for people to order in their favorite dishes to enjoy post labor.  I've told Arthur several times what I'd like, but he's worried he'll forget so he's asked me to write it down.  So bookmark this page, honey.


From Haru:
1 Kiss of Fire roll
1 Gramercy Park roll
2 orders of salmon sashimi
1 spicy tuna roll
extra wasabi, please
plus whatever you want because I'm not sure I'll want to share :)


You can even do Online Orders 


Of course I don't really have any idea what I'll really want come that day.  Maybe food will be the last thing on my mind?  For now, this is definitely what I would like, preferably with a glass (or 2) of white wine.  I'm pretty sure the hospital would frown on that though...

Dear Baby - Week 17

March 15-21

Dear Poppy,

It’s been another quiet baby week.   I hope you are this chill when you are born!  Over the weekend Mommy & Daddy got to see lots of friends.  First Mommy’s friend Claire was visiting with her cousins.  Mommy & Claire met at Camp Matoaka back in 2005 and have stayed in touch over the years.  Her cousins from the UK were visiting the US, so we met up with all of them while they were in Boston.  I hope you are able to experience all the fun of summer camp someday.  Mommy really enjoyed her time both working and attending camp.  On Sunday Mommy & Daddy went to South Boston for a little bit of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.  Mommy showed off her little bump to a few people who hadn't seen it yet too.  Overall it was a very fun weekend.

Current Cravings: nothing much.  I think I’m back to eating the same as pre-pregnancy, minus sushi & wine.  I did kind of want a beer on St. Patrick’s Day though.  

Current size: Onion (5.1 inches long)

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

A Little Comedic Relief

This video is making it's rounds on all the babycenter.com boards - it made my morning.  I hope I have this much energy when I can't see my feet!!  


Watch for a good laugh :)

Pre-Pregnancy Splurge

Kate Spade Denise Baby Bag

Back in July my favorite flash sale site Rue La La had one of my favorite designers, Kate Spade. Le sigh – I just adore her beautiful, overpriced goods.  I browsed the loot, and while there were quite a few cute items, nothing stuck out until I saw it…a beautiful black and white Kate Spade nylon Denise Baby Bag with patent leather straps.  What?!  I wasn’t pregnant.  We weren’t talking about having babies (at least not after the honeymoon scare).  But there is was and I wanted it.  Rue La La sales run for 48 hours and they sell out very quickly so I thought I would let fate take over.  I’ll wait and check back tomorrow to see if they still had it.  Which, of course, they did.  What to do?  Arthur and I hadn’t been married that long, so we hadn’t 100% figured out our whole discretionary spending budget/habits yet (I like smaller more frequent purchases; Arthur prefers larger purchases less often).  I wasn’t pregnant, but I knew we weren’t going to wait that long.  Also, I knew I could never justify a $400 diaper bag, especially once we were expecting.  But at 70% off…and Kate Spade stuff is pretty classic so even if we didn’t have babies for a couple of years it would still be cute.  Moms need cute things.  I could just picture myself strolling baby, Mercedes, & my new bag through the Boston Public Garden.  And I liked that pictured.  A lot.

So I bought it.  And hid it and only told my mom about it (she was rather amused).  And I’m very happy I did.  Won’t it look so cute with a red stroller?

Tons of storage

2 separate waterproof sections

Lots of pouches & storage sections (I counted 13)

Separate pacifier pouch

Changing pad

Changing pad folded

Arthur has informed me that he will not carry such a beautiful bag unless I am present, so the hunt is on for a nice manly bag too.

1 Week!

Only 1 week left until we found out if it's a boy or girl!! When we booked the appointment 3 weeks sounded like a long time, so I didn't get too excited, but now that we are down to just 1 week I can't stop thinking about it.  Soon we can stop calling the baby "Poppy", although I do think Poppy is kind of a cute girl name.  I can almost start shopping!! I'm also really anxious to see our little bundle on the screen again and to make sure everything is ok.  I still haven't felt any movement yet, so every so often I wonder if everything is still on track.  


This week is definitely going to drag.

Crazy Pregnancy Dreams

So I had heard your dreams get pretty intense when you are pregnant, and boy is it true!  I've been having rather vivid dreams on and off since I got pregnant, but last night's dream was over the top.  Arthur was having an affair with a much older woman, and I was livid.  I've read the infidelity is one of the most common 2nd trimester dreams, so I guess this is just par for the course, but it was still a bit disturbing and I woke up a little bit angry.  


In the dream Arthur was happy I found out his affair and wanted to have both a wife and mistress (a la Ernest Hemingway in "The Paris Wife" that I finished about a month ago).  I wouldn't have any of that so I stole all his credit cards and went on a shopping spree to Louis Vuitton and Gucci (neither of which are store I particularly like or own anything from) just to make him mad.  Then I stole the mistress's passport and burned it so she and Arthur couldn't go on any exotic trips together.   I'm pretty sure there were a few other schemes in there too, but I can't remember those now.

Andrea Parker aka
Jane of Desperate Housewives

Seriously, out of control.  When I woke up I could still see the mistress's face and knew that I recognized her from something.  Finally on the way to work it hit me - it was Jane from Desperate Housewives!  If you don't watch the show - Lynette and Tom are separately and she is Tom's new girlfriend, only on the show she is the same age as the other characters.  I found this extremely amusing.   Does this make me Lynette and Arthur is Tom?  


So I guess Pregnancy + reading The Paris Wife + watching Desperate Housewives = dream with Arthur having an affair with a woman 12 years his senior.   I wonder what crazy thing I will dream about tonight...










*Update* I might need to start a dream journal.  The next night I have to fly to London and have 24 hours to ride a train all across Europe escorting my classmates home.  Only the inside of the train looks like a school bus.  I guess I'm the leader/teacher, but we are all 20ish, and I have no idea what school we all attend.  We take our journey and finally reach Istanbul, which in my dream is the capital of Kazakhstan.  It is very dangerous and the remaining classmates and I must sit very quietly while some sort of military searches the train that looks like a bus.  We don't drop anyone off, and then continue back to London.  I wake up completely exhausted.  No Arthur.

Dear Baby - Week 16

March 8 -14

Dear Poppy,


It has been another fairly uneventful week - Mommy really likes easiness of the 2nd trimester.  Mommy still has her cold, but it isn't as severe.  Daddy fought it for a week, but he has it now too - hope you don't get it!  


We worked hard on the office/guestroom space this weekend and its nearly finished.  We just need some curtains and a few decor items now.  Mommy is excited to start planning your nursery, although it will be easier once we find out if you are a boy or girl.  Only 13 more days until we find out!


Mommy is belly is growing too!


Current Size: Avocado (4.6 inches long)


Current cravings: red meat


Love,
Mommy & Daddy

The Toothbrush Cleaning has Commenced!

And it was awesome.  On Saturday Arthur implied I was being a bit lazy napping all afternoon while he built furniture (pregnant + cold =naps in my book.  I think he’s definitely reconsidering now that he has my cold too…) so on Sunday I thought I would prove him wrong and clean the house.  We are both a bit stubborn like that.  Once the cleaning started I just couldn’t stop.  Now to be fair, I actually really like cleaning, so this isn’t an entirely pregnant thing.  My roommates in college used to joke that if you gave me a couple glasses of wine the apartment would be clean in no time.  I love the smell of lemon floor cleaner & playing with my pretty red vacuum cleaner.  And nothing gets the gunk out of little crevices like a toothbrush, especially when you have a dog that likes to get in the shower every morning and then jump out with muddy paws.  It was a very satisfying day.

Dear Baby - Week 15

March 1-7

Dear Poppy,

Lots happened this week.  First the whole family went up to Maine for the weekend.  Mommy visited some of her friends for a wedding shower, and Daddy and your Andersen grandparents worked on the Boothbay house.  Mommy caught a nasty cold and has been feeling pretty yucky, and can’t take any medicine while pregnant.

On Wednesday we went to the midwife for our 4 month check-up.  Everything measured well – you had a strong 150 beat/min heartbeat, and Mommy measured 16 cm fundal height - right on track for almost 16 weeks (15 weeks, 6 days to be exact).  Mommy and Daddy signed up for a new kind of pre-natal care too.  First we met with the midwife for your checkup, then we went to a group class they called “Centering”.  About 10 other couples were in attendance and each session there is a topic for learning & discussion.  This time the topic was nutrition.  Mommy & Daddy didn’t learn too much new (except that Mommy really needs to up her protein – she is supposed to get 70 grams a day!), but it was really nice to meet other future parents and hear their take on everything.  Everyone is due within 6 weeks of each other, but you are one of the first babies due in the group.  We also scheduled our big ultrasound when they will tell us if you are boy or girl. So exciting!

Current Cravings: any sort of nasal decongestion meds (which Mommy can’t have!)

Current Size: Navel orange (4 inches long).  Note: until week 21 the charts measure from crown to rump, so you are really 4 inches, plus legs.

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

20 Days!!

Last night we had our 4 month check up (everything is all good) and got to schedule our next ultrasound.  Only 20 more days until we find out if it's a boy or girl!  


I really think it's a girl...I dreamed about it so it must be true!  But the ultrasound will help prove this to Arthur.  Then again my parents thought I would be a dark haired, olive skinned boy named Philip...

Hungry as a Bear

Last night I woke up for my usual 4am bathroom break (and by usual I mean since becoming pregnant - oh the days of sleeping through the night).  Due to the lovely cold I've been battling this week and lack of pregnancy approved cold medicine I was unable to go back to sleep, so I ventured out to the living room to find Mercedes for some puppy snuggles and maybe an upright nap.  While sitting in the dark on the couch with a very happy pooch, I realized I was starving!  At 4am.  Ugh.  My laziness trumped my hunger last night, so I just made up for it at breakfast.  Cereal & and an english muffin!  And somehow at 10am I'm hungry already.  This is becoming a little annoying - especially right now when eating & breathing at the same time are not really possible.  At least I stocked my desk with triscuits on Monday. 


I found too many pictures of cute & funny bears, so here are some more to enjoy.

Bear doing some yoga in a Finland zoo

Funny costume

Heart melter

Baby bear!

Babymoon

Couples Sans-Souci Resort

When Arthur and I were researching honeymoon ideas last year I came across a new (to me) type of vacation – the babymoon or pre-baby vacation.  I knew right away that when the time came this was definitely something we would want to do.  Traveling and exploring are probably our absolute favorite activities, and to be completely honest it was the one potentially barrier for us to having babies right away.  But then again, I don’t think there ever is a “perfect” time to have children, so we promised ourselves that once baby was old enough we would continue to travel as a couple.   I do believe it is good for both child and parents to spend a bit of time apart, not that it won’t be a little hard.  I miss Mercedes’s cute face and wagging tail after just a weekend away (something Arthur likes to make fun of me for, although I think he secretly misses her too).

Couples Tower Island Resort

So when we got our positive back in December we started to think about our babymoon.  Everyone says the best time to travel is the 2^nd trimester, so springtime!  Being a tax accountant means post 4/15, so we started looking at the end of April, beginning of May.  Originally we had tentatively planned our spring vacation to be another roadtrip – this time through the deep south (blast down to West Virginia, then explore Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana (ultimate destination New Orleans).  We had an awesome time on our West Coast roadtrip, and my Mini Cooper lease is up in July and I’m about 12K miles short of my 30K limit.  Roadtrips are awesome, but I’m not sure how awesome a pregnant roadtrip would be.  I currently pee every 45-75 minutes.  And the Mini Cooper is a great city car, but honestly, not the most comfortable cruising car.  It boasts a “go-cart” driving experience, and it certainly delivers.  So roadtrip out.

My ideal babymoon would probably Greek Island hopping.  Exotic, warm, & water centered.  But let’s be realistic, we are having a baby & babies are expensive!  So Europe out.  Also any place with good wine (mostly France & Napa).  That would just be cruel.  A cruise popped up on our radar – they are easy, economical, and provide lots of options for a husband who can’t sit still and a wife who will probably be happy reading by the pool.  We found one we liked – Southern Caribbean, only 1 day at sea, stopped in Bonaire – a place we both really want to go for diving (so fun for Arthur).  Then we sort of stopped looking.  A few weeks ago we though – hmm if we are going to do this we better book it.  So researching started again.  Flights weren’t looking so hot.  There was only 1 week we could actually go, as it seemed all the cruises leave the Caribbean after April, and April 15 falls in the middle of the week, so we could only go the last week of April.  Then I read cruise ships allow pregnant passengers, but not a minute over 24 weeks.  I get the calendar out, and ugh, I’ll hit 24 weeks right in the middle of our cruise.   So cruise out.  I started to get frustrated – maybe it just wasn’t meant to be and we should save our money.  Arthur didn’t agree, and we continued to look.  Austin, TX?  Palm Springs? No, Arthur really wanted water.  Hawaii? Mexico? Anywhere in the Caribbean?  So many options!

Couples Negril Resort

Finally I browsed through Caribbean Travel Magazine and found an article on the best all-inclusive resorts, which is something neither of us has tried.  They had 4 categories: luxury, family, value, & romantic. I researched each of the four romantic resorts they recommended and finally settled on “Couples” resorts in Jamaica (also an island we haven’t been to).  They have four resorts in Jamaica, all of which are couples only, and all super inclusive (airport pick up, top shelf liquor, all activities including sailing, scuba diving, etc).  Also one of the top rated spas in the Caribbean.  It was hard to pick a resort, so we opted for a special they were running for the more “adventurous” couple.  For a pretty significant discount, we pick the days, they pick the resort and will tell us a week in advance.  All four resorts were in the top 13 out of 130 of trip advisers “romantic hotels in Jamaica” so we figured it was pretty safe.  We settled on 5 nights on the resort, and 2 nights in Montego Bay.  Can’t wait!

Couples Swept Away Resort

Dear Baby - Week 14

February 23 - 29

Dear Poppy,

You are getting so big!  Mommy can now easily feel where her uterus has moved and is poking out.  Last night she felt some little twinges that maybe could have been you moving around, although you only a weigh a couple ounces so it’s pretty early and difficult to tell.  Mommy and Daddy read lots about your development and this week your kidneys started to function and you are peeing into your amniotic fluid!  And then drinking it.  It boggles our minds how fast you are developing.

Last weekend Mommy and Daddy looked for strollers for you.  Daddy painted the new guestroom/office so we can start emptying the current office and working on your nursery soon.

Current cravings: fruit juice – mostly orange juice with lots of pulp and Odwalla Superfood juice (or as Daddy calls it “juice with grass in it”).

Current size: Lemon (3.4 inches long)

Love,

Mommy & Daddy