mmmm...frosting

We were at Uncle Alex's graduation party - and Luke reached out and grabbed Uncle Peter's cake...he really liked the frosting!!!

Little Swimmer

We took Luke for his first swim over Easter - in my parents new pool. It took him a few minutes (and a lot of funny faces) to get acclimated to the water - but then he started having a grand time!

Luke's 6 month check up

Luke had his 6 month doctors appointment last week. He is up to 18 lbs & 14 oz!! Definitely growing crazy :)
He was a super trooper through his shots & is finally done with them for a little while.
We are trying new foods now - one at a time to check for allergies. So far Luke has had rice cereal, oat cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, apples and bananas. He eats everything right up - he is a good eater! His first tooth also popped through - I guess he's getting ready for better food soon!
He is still waking up a lot at night - about every two hours, especially because he doesn't eat well at day care, so he makes up for it at night. While he usually falls right back asleep, its still tough never getting a good night of sleep. I can't even believe its been over 6 months since I got to sleep all night! I'll be happy when he gets a little older and eats more solid foods, so maybe he'll only wake up once at night - that would be wonderful. :)
Here's some new pictures.

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Luke turned 6 months old this week!! I can't believe how fast the past couple months have gone. Here he is, doing his favorite thing of late - playing with his feet.


He just got a beautiful blanket from some family friends in Nashville, and he enjoyed rolling over on it!



He is starting to fit into his 12 months clothes - here's a picture for his Uncle Damon.

Roll over, roll over!

Luke has become an expert at rolling over this week, although he can still only go from his back to his tummy - not the other way yet. It is funny - he rolls right over - and then fusses because he doesn't like being on his tummy. Silly boy! We are trying to get him to spend a little more time on his tummy to get stronger and more comfortable with it. Here he is with daddy.

I also put together our jogging stroller and we went out for a couple runs this week - taking advantage of the lovely weather we had! Luke really enjoyed it - he happily looked around, then fell asleep. I, being quite out of shape since I haven't run in about a year, pretty much huffed and puffed along - not enjoying it quite as much!!!

Time for a High Chair?

Here is a more recent picture of Luke - he's playing with his little duck. It is so cute, he has learned how to grab things and hold them in his hands, and is starting to enjoy his toys.


This is Luke's little hat - some one made it for him, and I thought he just looked so cute in it, I had to take a picture.

Well - Luke is starting day care for full days this week, so I thought it would be good for him to start on a little cereal since he isn't that crazy about drinking out of the bottle. He is taking to it really well - he is slowly mastering the ability of keeping it in his mouth and swallowing. And he smiles and grabs my hands & the spoon trying to get more. It is such a messy process, though...as you can see. And yes, he is in a swing. Maybe its time for a high chair! ;-p

Luke is 5 months old

Hmmm - I am really bad at keeping up with this blog. I'm trying to pawn it off on Matt. Hopefully he'll take over and be a little better than me! I guess with trying to write my thesis, keep up with the little guy, and all the other tasks that life requires, this poor little blog falls to the bottom of the list.

Lukas continues to grow up & just keeps getting cuter by the day!! He turned 4 months at the end of January, and helped us cheer the Steelers to their 6th superbowl victory a few days later. It is actually becoming a bit of a family tradition. Matt was born in 1979, and the Steelers won the superbowl in 1980, too.

He had his 4 month doctor appointment at the beginning of February. He was not happy at that appointment (maybe he remembered the trauma of the shots from his 2 month appointment?!). He weighed in at 16 lbs and 12 oz. Here is a photo of him at 4 months.

Shortly after his 4 month doctor appointment, Luke got his first cold. I came home from school around 9 pm - and Matt asks me if Luke looks red. His poor little cheeks were burning up & he had a fever of 102.2. So - I gave him some tylenol and called the doctor. She said to keep an eye on the temperature, and if it doesn't go down, to take him to the hospital. Well, normally I wouldn't be so worried, but we were planning to leave for Savannah the next morning & I was quite nervous about taking Luke for his first plane ride while sick! So, to be on the safe side, we went to the hospital at 6 in the morning before our flights. They diagnosed Luke with a little cold - and it turned out I wasn't giving him nearly enough tylenol for his size (I was using the age to determine dose...instead of size, he needed more than double what I was giving him!).

So, comforted that it was just a cold and not an infection, we headed off to Savannah. Luke did super well on his first plane rides (just slept the whole way - I'm sure much to the relief of the people on the plane around us). We had fun in Savannah and got to visit with our friends Chris & Christi. Due to his cold, poor Luke was pretty fussy and sleepy and didn't have much of an appetite (which left poor me quite engorged all weekend!). However, he was a trooper none the less, and hung in there as we shlepped him around. It was great to get some fresh air and sunshine.






After we got back from Savannah, Luke started going to day care two afternoons a week. He seems to be doing alright with it, although he isn't too crazy about eating out of the bottle there. So, he has "reverse cycled" - and doens't eat much during the day, and wakes up to eat about every 2 hours all night!! In some ways its nice, because I don't have to worry about pumping as much, but I miss the sleep. I think that we might have to start him on some cereal soon - although I'm trying to hold off until he hits that six month mark (but I'm not sure how much more sleepless nights I can take!).

He is five months now - but he didn't really have a five month birthday because of being born the 30th. He weighs about 18 lbs now (according to the scale when I weight myself with and without him - so I don't the exact amount). He has outgrown all this 6 month clothes, and is into 9 or 12 month clothes depending on the brand. We moved him out of the infant carrier car seat into a rear-facing convertible one because it was just too heavy to carry with him in it, and the belts barely fit, and with a winter coat on they couldn't buckle at all!

He can almost roll over - he gets all the way onto his side, but not quite over to his tummy yet. He is so strong, too, he "stands" really well. I think once he starts moving around, he's going to trouble!!! He has been teething lately, too - lots of drool and loves to chomp on my finger. No teeth have broken through yet, but, I'm sure its just a matter of time. He has also started to be able to grab at things that peek his interest and hold onto toys. He just loves to look around at everything. Here is one last picture, at about 4 and 1/2 months old

Hopefully Matt will be adding more updates & new pictures soon!!!

3 Months Old!

Lukas had a very busy first Christmas! On Christmas eve, we went to Matt's parents house for a party, then went to midnight mass (which sadly, I had to spend half of in the cry room!) and stayed up late to open our gifts. Christmas morning we went to Matt's grandma's for brunch & gift opening. Then, Luke & I headed to OH for Christmas with my family. Christmas night we went to the Cav's game - my parents had box seats, which was a lot of fun. The next morning we opened all our gifts, then I got together with Sarah, Melissa & Joe (and their son Finnegan) - which was super fun. We also got to stop by & visit with Erin, her family, and meet her newest little guy - only a few weeks old and oh so cute! That night my mom cooked a FEAST and some of Peter's friends came over, so we all ate and talked and laughed into the night. Finally saturday we met up with Sarah, Sprite & her girls for lunch - then I loaded up the car with all our gifts and tons of left overs, and headed back to Pittsburgh.

So - after all the holiday excitement, Luke turned 3 months old on Dec 30 - he weighs in a wopping 15 lbs now, and is getting more talkative and playful. He loves attention and being held, and enjoys looking at lights - especially christmas tree lights.

2 Months Old

Well - this post is LONG over due!! Life sure is hectic with a little baby, even internet time is hard to come by.

Lukas had his two month check up on Dec 2 - and he weighed in a wopping 12lbs 12 oz & was 23 inches long. I've heard babies are supposed to double their birth weight by 6 months...Luke is probably going to do that & more by 3 months! He's a little piggy :) I love all the chub, though - is there anything cuter than a chubster baby?! He also got 5 immunizations (3 shots) at the doctor, and was such a little trooper! He cried during the shots, but was smiling again by the time we left the doctor's office. He was a little cranky that night - but some baby tylenol kept him calm and by two days later he was back to himself (aka - eating like crazy!).

Luke has settled in on a sleeping pattern - which is a plus, although its not a great pattern, which makes it a little rough still. He usually goes to sleep around 12:30 - 1am, sleeps until around 5am, eats, falls back asleep, and sleeps until around 9 or so. Since I have to start going back to school now - the late nights are tough. Hopefully he'll start going to bed a little earlier once I start waking him up a little earlier to go to the babysitter.

Speaking of babysitters, I am thrilled that my friend Erica's mother is watching Lukas two days a week. Auntie Mary loves babies, and Lukas seems quite happy spending the day with her - he just gets showered in love and attention. So - I have my babysitting situation half accounted for. I still need to find someone to watch Luke Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons. I am really trying to avoid daycare for a bit longer - atleast until he is 6 months old, hopefully until he is 1 year old. Babies are just sick more when they are in daycare - and with me trying to finish my PhD, I don't need to get sick all the time, too! If you know anyone in the Pittsburgh area interested in a part-time babysitting job - let me know! :)

Luke continues to be a pretty good baby - although he does need lots of attention! As long as I'm holding him or carrying him around in the carrier, he is pretty content. He also loves car rides and listening to running water. He likes to look up a lot, also - always staring at the ceiling. After Matt discovered that he likes the wind-chime in our bedroom, we got him a mobile for his cradle. He seems to like it - although it only keeps him happy for maybe 5 minute stretches. I guess he inherited his daddy's attention span ;-p.

Here are some recent pictures, including Luke's visit with Uncle Steven and Cousin Virginia.

6 weeks old

Lukas turned six weeks old this Tuesday - 11/11 (i like the fact that the date is a double number...). A part of me can't believe he is already 6 weeks old, and a part of me can't believe he is only 6 weeks old. It's funny how time can be an illusionist. He continues to get bigger and chubbier every day - he has almost out grown all his diaper covers! I ordered more, and am anxiously waiting their arrival (hopefully today!) because rotating through 3 diaper covers with blow-out poops is getting to be a little tough.

I broke down a few weeks ago and starting giving Lukas a pacifier - he just loves to suck, and I was a little tired of letting him use my breasts. Sometimes he takes it - and sometimes he spits it out. He seems to like these Sassy Mamm ones the best - I think they are cute, too...my little "sweet pea." Anyway - I figure we won't force it on him, but, if he wants it and it keeps him happy - why not? I loved my pacifier as a baby - and turned out just fine. He is starting to get a little better with sleeping at night - although not great yet. We have good nights & bad nights...it seems to go on a 48 hour schedule. Every other night is good. Last night was a pretty good night - he slept from 11 - 2:3o, then from 3:30 - 7. I know that 3 and a half hour stretches of sleep might not seem like much - but I was thrilled with it, especially with the fact that they were concurrent!

Lukas also got to meet his Uncle Peter this weekend when he came to visit us. He seemed quite happy being held by his uncle! :) And looked so cute in his little rugby outfit!

Happy Halloween

Lukas turned 1month old on October 30th - here is a picture of him in some of his halloween garb. Probably because my favorite color is orange - we got so many halloween outfits, he wore a different one everyday the week of halloween! :) I loved it!

We went to the doctor for his one month check up - he was up to 9 and a half pounds! I'm not surprised, he'd outgrown all his newborn clothes - and seems to be a pretty good eater. At least my boobs can attest to that...sometimes I think I need a surrogate pair! :) Everything else seemed OK & healthy, so that's good.
On Halloween we passed out candy to all sorts of cute kids in the neighborhood, then met up with Erica and Brian at the Gypsy cafe for dinner. It was not the most exciting Halloween ever - and I'm sad to say I did not get dressed up as anything, but did manage to wear black and orange clothes. It was still a nice holiday, though. Hope you all had a ghoulishly good time!

3 weeks old

Well - here are some pictures of Lukas at 3 weeks old - all dressed up in his little 1970's velour basketball outfit (it makes me laugh - but it does seem soft and cozy!). With half Chengelis genes - I doubt he'll ever actually be a basketball super star, but for now we'll let the little guy dream! He is keeping his eyes open more, so - as you can see in the photos, we're able to get more alert pictures. I also think he's looking more and more like Matt. So far - all I can claim is his toes...his second toe is longer than his big toe, just like mine! I also think he has a lot of my personality...he can be so stubborn. :)
At three weeks old - he was very busy eating and leaving us diaper prizes. I've actually been calling him "my little poop-smith." I must change at least 10 dirty diapers a day & the other day - when I had to pick him up naked for like 30 seconds - he pooped all over me! We also finished up his thrush medicine around 3 weeks old - yippee; that sticky banana gew was no fun to give him twice a day. Lukas has his days and nights a bit backwards - so my schedule is still so crazy. I never thought I'd be watching BOTH Conan episodes every night (12:30am & 3am), or still be up at 4:30am to see the Early Today Show. So - if you find yourself up and bored at 2am - feel free to give me & my insomniac son a call. ;-p

Lukas in his first 2 weeks

I'll have to say the first two weeks of parenthood has been quite an adjustment - and super exhausting!!



Our first difficulty was deciding on a name - I think we went through about three names in 2 days before we happily settled on Lukas Neil - just before leaving the hospital. It took us a while - but we're really happy with it, and it seems to fit the little guy well.



Lukas was a pretty sleepy little baby the first few days, which made breastfeeding extremely challenging. He just had no interest in eating and would rather sleep. So, despite working with several lactation counselors, little Lukas lost a little too much weight, dropping down to 6.8lbs from his 7.4lbs birthweight - and worrying me to bits! Of course, then I was stressed out, which also did not help matters. Thankfully, though, my mom came to town for the weekend - and helped calm me down. My milk started coming in, and Lukas started eating pretty well. By the 10th he was back up to 7.2lbs, so the eating was finally coming along.



Unfortunately, Lukas also had jaundice from not eating well the first two days, and had developed quite the case of thrush. I felt so bad - I had no idea to be on the look out for thrush, and I thought the white patches in his mouth were just milk...so he had for several days before the doctor noticed it. This left us giving Lukas icky sticky banana syrup medicine for the thrush and sun-bathing Lukas to help get rid of the jaundice. I guess my labor and delivery went so well - there had to be problems somewhere!!!



However, things are finally starting to go a little smoother - Lukas is healthy & eating like champ. His umbilical cord stub fell off yesterday - now he has the cutest little belly! He still doesn't sleep very much; we are lucky to get a three hour stretch, so I am pretty exhausted. I'm having a hard time mastering the art of "burping" - which is probably part of the problem. I'll burp Lukas for like 10 minutes after he eats - and nothing - then as soon as a lay him down, he starts spitting up everywhere, so I pick him back up - he falls asleep in my arms, I lay him down - and once again...he's fussing or hic-cupping or spitting up! So - if anyone has any suggestions for burping babies - I'd love to hear them.



I have a ton of pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/DemetraAnne/Lukas#



Oh - and I was still in Amanda's wedding on the 4th - it was beautiful - she did an excellent job making it an event to cherish a lifetime :) It was so fun to see all my friends - and thankfully my mom was able to come with and help us with Lukas. The bridesmaid dress was definitely a crazy rush - I called the seamstress on wednedsay to tell her to stop what she was doing with the dress - I had the baby. I went it in to have the dress refitted on thursday - and Matt picked it up for me saturday morning. It was a little big - but did the trick. Here are some pictures from the wedding: http://picasaweb.google.com/DemetraAnne/AmandaSWedding#

The Birth Story

It was probably a combination of Cleetus's limited space inside my stretched-to-the-limit belly and the excitement of a Steeler's Monday Night Football victory that prompted our baby to make an early arrival!

On September 30th, early tuesday morning - at 3:45 am, I got up for about the tenth time that night to pee, and when I laid back down in bed, I felt like I peed my pants a little bit. So - I thought I had officially lost all control of my bladder! I rolled over to get up and clean up and change - felt a little more liquid...and this time I thought "I don't think I peed..." About 15 minutes later, I had come to the conclusion that I was definitely leaking amniotic fluid. So, at 4am, I woke up Matt with the infamous words, "Matt...I think I'm leaking amniotic fluid..." I wasn't in labor or having contractions or anything, but my doctor had said to go to the hospital if there was any fluid. Thinking that we would probably go to the hospital and have them send me back home until I went into labor - Matt showered and got dressed for work, and we headed to the hospital around 5am. At this point, my water was really leaking - and I was feeling totally gross!

We got to the hospital and checked into triage - they got me all hooked up to the heart rate and blood pressure monitors, and then everyone disappeared. About an hour later, a doctor finally came in & told us "sorry for the wait - there was some confusion about whether or not I was actually at the hospital." Good thing I wasn't in labor!!! At this point, two different residents came in and examined me - I was 2cm dilated and like 50% effaced. They took me off all the monitors and Matt & I wondered around the hospital for an hour and half to see if my labor would start/progress. We went and checked out the courtyard & got some breakfast in the cafeteria (which was pretty weak - the cafeteria in the med school is so much better!). Around 8 or so, I started having contractions - but they were only like 10-15sec long and 15-20min apart, and very mild. I almost didn't notice them. The morning continued like this, and around 10am the hospital checked me into labor and delivery - Matt was definitely not going to work that day! :)

Before checking me into labor and delivery - they had to take some blood samples and put an IV in my hand - this proved to be a very traumatic experience for me!! I almost passed out, and almost broke Matt's hand I squeezed it so hard. I hate giving blood - and that darn IV HURT!!!! Even after it was all done and taped down - it still ached. My wrist is still bruised from it, two weeks later.

At noon, my doctor, Dr. Dahr, arrived to check on me. I was about 4cm dilated now - but not as much progress as Dr. Dahr wanted to see. Since she knew I wanted to go all natural, she told us that she would be back at 4 pm - 12 hours after my water broke - and if my labor hadn't progressed on its own, they would have to start pitocin because they don't want to go more then 24 hours after the water breaks until the baby is born due to increased risks of infection. Dr. Dahr reminded me that if I wanted to have the baby the "Magee Hospital" way - with pitocin & an epidural, I'd have the baby in 4 hours - but I stubbornly stuck by my desire for an all natural birth. Anyway - this must have been the motivation my uterus needed, because after Dr. Dahr left - my contractions took off! They were almost continuous, I'd only get like a minute or two break between contractions, and they were several minutes long. The pain was all in my back - and it just felt like a really strong back ache (at this point, the IV was still bothering me more than the contractions).

I worked through the contractions - using the relaxing breathing techniques that we learned in the birthing class, and Matt was being super supportive. I spent some time on my knees using the birthing ball for support. I also spend a while in the shower, with the hot water hitting my lower back - that helped sooo much! The labor and delivery suite was pretty cold (although I didn't feel it all - my body was working!), and poor Matt in his work clothes was so cold. I felt really bad for him when I was in the shower and he was trying to help me - but was getting all wet!

Around 2pm - the other doctors checked me - and I was about 7cm dilated. They called Dr. Dahr and told her she better come back to the hospital. They told me it was my last chance to get the epidural - and I passed, figuring I had made it that far, I could make it to the end. About 20 minutes later, the contractions were finally strong enough to make me stop noticing the pain from the IV in my wrist! I did announce 1 time to Matt that maybe I needed the epidural...but, it never came to fruition because the baby was way to anxious to come out!

Around this time, I just stopped really noticing or caring about anything, and just had to focus completely on the work my body was doing. The baby's heart rate dropped a little at this time, and a couple nurses came in and put me on my side and gave me oxygen and hooked up my IV to a bag of fluid. Dr. Dahr arrived at the hospital, and between her & the residents & the nurses - there must have been like 8 people around me. Amazingly - I just didn't care. I was transitioning at this time, and contractions were sooo intense. They hurt - but not that bad - what made them really difficult to get through was fighting the urge to push. I was not quite dilated all the way - but my uterus was trying to hard to push - it was every ounce of concentration and coaching from Matt and the nurses for me to just breath through the contractions. Luckily, there were only a few contractions like this - and the doctors announced it was time for me to start pushing!

After about 15-20 minutes of pushing - and I was pushing with such gusto I popped a blood vessel in my eye - our baby BOY was born at 3:45pm!! And just like that - all the contractions subsided & I could breath again! I did have some minor tearing, and gladly let Dr. Dahr give me a local before getting stitches.

I survived my all natural childbirth, and I'm really happy I did. I was quite sore and swollen for several days afterwards - and had to sit on a little donut pillow, but, other than that, I was pain free (except for the stupid IV which they wouldn't take out until the next day!). With in an hour and a half of giving birth, I was already standing up and holding our new son (who would not get his name until almost 2 days later...). It was an amazing experience, and I was so glad that Matt was there through it all with me - it is really a powerful bonding experience.

And - for the record - "my" method of childbirth beat the "Magee" method...I only took 3hours and 45minutes!!! ;-p

37 weeks

Well, here we are - 37 weeks pregnant, and officially considered "full-term."

While I'm not actually due for about 2 and 1/2 more weeks, Cleetus could come any day now. And, I really can't wait to get this baby on the outside of me! It's just too big to be inside this belly anymore, I feel like I'm stretched to the limit. I've probably got about all the complaints that every 9month pregnant woman has - my back hurts, it's hard to sleep, i have to pee all the time, the braxton-hicks contractions are rather intense, I can't eat enough tums to quench the heart burn, my stomach is so squished I can only eat a little bit at a time & I'm hungry every hour, my wedding band is getting snug, and Cleetus's kicks and nudges are almost painful! On the sunny side - my blood pressure is just fine, I'm not leaking milk yet, and I don't have hemorrhoids (thank god!). At my last doctor appointment (this past tuesday), I was 1cm dilated - which could possibly mean I could go into labor soon, but also could mean nothing because some women are dilated 2-3 cm for weeks before going into labor. I guess we'll see where I'm at this week...

Of course - the big question I get a lot these days is "Are you ready?" I'm not sure how to answer that...I mean, "Ready for what?"

Ready to be mom? - No, but, is anyone ready to become a parent? I am ready to start figuring out how to be a parent, so sure.

Ready to go through child birth? Hecks no...but, I'm anxious to get it over with. I sorta feel like I did in the weeks leading up to the marathon last year; I oscillated between wishing I had another 10 weeks to get ready for it, and wishing I could just go out and run it & get it over with. I'm excited and nervous - but, figure that none of us would be in this world if it was really that awful.

Ready for the baby? Pretty much. We have the cradle and the changing table put together. The bathroom is stocked with clean little baby towels and various tear-free soaps. The dresser is full of washed and folded onesies, tee-shirts, socks, and blankets. We figured out how to work and install the car seat today. We also got our first set of diapers from the diaper service, today, so we're ready for the poop. Yes - we're doing cloth diapers...my environmentally concerned side couldn't help herself, plus - the diaper service makes it too easy. A Little Behind if you live in the Pittsburgh area and are interested.

So, hopefully I won't have too many more posts on this blog before they are pictures of Cleetus. I am in Amanda's wedding next weekend - so, chances are you all will get the joy of pictures of me filling out a bridesmaid dress like none-else. :)

Baby Shower

Over Labor Day weekend, my friends Erica & Christin along with my mom and mother-in-law threw me a wonderful baby shower! My mom dutifully took many photos, which I'm posting in a separate album because it will just take up too much space on this blog:

http://picasaweb.google.com/DemetraAnne/BabyShower#

(hopefully the link works)

Anyway - I have to admit I'm a little nervous about the idea of baby showers, sort of like counting your chickens before your eggs hatch. However, I also feel that there is a much greater chance of me having a healthy little baby than there is of something going wrong - so, I better be prepared for little Cleetus's arrival in the world. We got lots of wonderful gifts - tons of happy little yellow, orange, and green baby outfits, everything we need for the keeping the baby squeaky clean, car seats and strollers, and much more. Thank you so much to everyone! Now I need to work on getting those thank you notes out & everything washed and cleaned and ready.

Speaking of getting ready for the baby, Matt & I have been taking a "preparing for childbirth" class at Magee. It runs for 4 weeks - Thursday nights. It seems like it will be helpful, the lady who teaches it is a little eccentric (I think you have to be to teach a class like that!), but very nice. We're learning lots of relaxation and breathing techniques and general information about what is happening to a woman's body during labor & delivery. Last night was our second class, and we covered forms of "medical intervention." I would like to think that as a scientist I would be level-headed about these types of things, but sadly, I am not. During a video we watched receiving IV's, sterile water injections, epidurals - and more - I almost passed out. Seriously, hot flashes, pale-faced, room spinning - almost passed out. So - I had to get up and leave the class for awhile. After regaining my composure, I returned to class like 10 minutes later, only to walk in on a Q&A about epidurals - and almost passed out again. It was super embarrassing - I felt so bad for Matt, having to leave him there in that class by himself! Although I've already said I want to go for an all-natural childbirth, last night just reinforced it!! Many people might think I'm crazy for wanting to put with the pain, but there is something about a needle in my spine that I can't handle. I know myself - and I know I have a much higher tolerance for pain than for needles! :) Anyway - next week we cover c-sections...I'm sure I'll have to plan on leaving class again!

Everything else seems to be going well here. Cleetus is continuing to be an active one - and the kicks and prods and whatever else are getting VERY STRONG. I feel like there is a boxing match going on between to elves in my stomach. It can make sleeping, walking, and eating quite interesting activities - but, its also pretty fun! I am about 34 weeks along and have gained around 25 - 30 pounds. Many of my maternity pants & shirts just aren't stretching enough to cover this big old belly anymore, which I find amazing because I remember buying them thinking - "Will I really need something this BIG?" I'm finding dresses to be the most comfortable option, and need to shop for a few more of them to get me through the last 6 weeks.

Eeek - can you believe it - only 6 more weeks? And only about 3 more weeks until I'm considered "full-term" & could possibly deliver early!

Aloha!

We went to Hawaii last week, on vacation with my family. So - Cleetus and I spent week 30 in the sun and on the beach. The trip was super nice. The flights - while a little long, went just fine. Cleetus kicked around A LOT during take off and landing, I guess the baby doesn't like pressure changes! Hawaii was beautiful, although it was a little frustrating being pregnant because there were some cool things I couldn't do - like deep sea fishing and some awesome hiking. However - we did a bike ride through the canyon, went to luau, and snorkeled a bit, too...until I saw a creepy looking fish and to swim for shore! :)

The baby is continuing to grow - and stretch little me out! Cleetus has been quite active these days, kicking and elbowing and rolling over and head-butting my bladder. I've gained about 20 - 25 lbs now (depending on when I get on the scale), and can't believe I have almost 2 months left to go!! I'm starting to worry about how big this little one is going to get - and really hoping I'll go into labor on the early side of 40 weeks! I think October 5th or 6th sounds like a great birthday ;-p

I bought a name book a few weeks ago - and have slowly been making my way through it, circling & marking the names I like. So far, I've gotten through the girls names, and with Matt's input, we are narrowed down to about 9 names. Now I have to start on the boys names... Why can't babies come out with name tags on??? This is a tough decision!!!

Last Day of Trimester #2

I am almost 27 weeks pregnant now, and start the third trimester tomorrow - yikes! That means I'm almost in the home-stretch! It also means Cleetus is going to start putting on the weight - and so I'm going to get BIG! Here is a new picture, as you can see, the belly is starting to take on its own zip code. I've gained about 18 pounds to date - which I think seems like alot - but, my doctor says is right on track.

Matt and I also finally registered last week. I took him out for a beer first - I figured Babies 'r Us would seem much more interesting to men through beer goggles! :) So, armed with a check list and backed by my research on which car seats and play pens were well reviewed, we made it through the store! I'm still amazed how many things they find to sell for babies - they are so little, how could they need more stuff than me?! Oh - and if you happen to be wondering if we have a "theme" - we really don't. I guess you could say our theme is "keep in nuetral, keep it minimalist." Since we're squeezing a baby into our two bedroom apartment for the time being, its just easier to not get too much stuff or decorate a lot.

23 weeks

Here I am, 23 weeks pregnant - almost done with month 6! I've now gained about 14 lbs on my pre-pregnancy weight, and feel like I some how swallowed a watermelon whole.


Cleetus is very active these days - I think we have a future acrobat for circe-du-soleil! Sometimes at night its even hard for me to fall asleep because of all the kicking and bumping. It is nice, though, to know the baby is growing and doing well.

We went to Babies 'R Us for the first time this weekend. It was a little overwhelming - so many many things they find to sell for babies! We looked at car seats and strollers, and Matt marveled at the size of cribs (surprisingly big considering how little babies are!). We'll have to think about what we actually need/want and register soon. If you already have kids, I'd love to hear about what things you actually found useful! Oh, and Matt got me a snoogle pillow - so super comfy to sleep with!

20 week ultra sound

We had our 20 week ultra sound two weeks ago, and this one went much more smoothly than my first one! No appointment screw ups - I only had to wait like 20 minutes :) I did have to pee in the middle again, though - because my bladder was once again too full.
Cleetus was being quite squirmy so it was hard to capture great images. The technician did get a good one of the feet - which I think is quite cute. Little teeny tiny feet! In the other pictures, Cleetus looks a little scary - its "Skeletor Fetus." Good thing babies fatten up before they are born!

We could also see the heart (and all 4 chambers pumping away healthily) and the kidneys, the spine, arm and leg bones. And the very exciting part - Cleetus is developing normal & everything looks healthy!! Yippee. Only one head, two feet, and two hands - the chemicals in the lab must not be too bad! ;-)

We are still not finding out the gender - so you guys can all keep on guessing!