Shower today!!

I am so excited! I am running out to the farmers market with my sister to pick up a few last minute things. She is making the coolest menu of organic and local produce stuff, it sounds amazing. :)

I am really really exhausted though. My back and crotch area (?) are KILLING me. I guess I have been standing/walking too much? Yesterday in the car in the way home from a day of Ikea, grocery shopping, and Union Square Farmers Market I started having really really painful contractions. I think I must have been dehydrated and overdone it a little. Ugh, so boring! I want to run around and do things. Anyway, I got really scared and had horrible nightmares last night about going into labor.

I dreamed my heartbeat got too fast and I was told I had to have the baby right away. I had no idea where I was and wanted to go to my hospital with my doctor so I ran out on to the street trying to make it to my hospital, but I ended up at another hospital instead where they put me in a room with all these cots with scary women with painted faces, all in various stages of labor. I called DH and I was crying so hard, the cell phone service was so bad he couldn't hear me.. I think I woke myself up crying.

I am 36 weeks tomorrow, and I really can't imagine this pregnancy going on for another 4 weeks. I am huge and so uncomfortable and it is so difficult to move. I want to go float in a pool for the next few weeks.

OK, now I am off to enjoy my family and friends. :)

Catskills Getaway

We just got back from our little getaway to the Castkills and it was SO nice! I am really glad we were able to get away one last time before the baby comes. We rented an adorable one room cabin on 10 acres, so romantic. No internet, no cell service, no TV.. We went to the Farmers Markets and got all local produce and things and grilled and had a big bonfire and s'mores. The dogs had sooo much fun running free! We drove all through the park and went on long walks.. It really was amazing.






And now, back to reality! Mom, sister, MIL and SIL are now in town and that is already pretty stressful. Mom and MIL get along, they are pretty similar in SOME ways - liberal, intellectual, eclectic style - but their personalities are SO different. So last night was basically wall-of-sound (MIL) vs. awkward silence (MOM).. plus baby competition thrown in. Luckily, our sisters are the same age (24) and are awesome and balance everything out a little. Today, we spit up and mom and sis and I are going shopping for the shower while DH and his fam shop in the city. Exciting!

Maternity Pic preview!

The photographer who shot our photos went on vacation the day after the shoot, so I have been patiently waiting.. This morning she sent a few previews, and the disc will be here by the end of next week. I was thinking maybe it would be a nice gift for mom and MIL when they come for the shower? Maybe a cute one of my and DH in the park... one where I am not topless of course. I don't know, giving someone of a photo of myself has always seemed a little weird to me... Anyway, they look great and I cannot wait to see the rest!

Friday night we had our birth class (finally!) and it was really great. We ended up going to the one night class taught at my OB practice in Soho. The instructor was so great, she was an L&D nurse at NYU for 10 years, has 2 kids, and knows the hospital and our doctors really well which was so helpful. At the other class, I felt like every other answer was"well, you will have to check with your hospital/OB about that". The class was only 5 couples, all sitting in sofas (not 12 couples on the floor!) and yummy snacks. We went over everything medical, stages of labor, when to call, when to go, we practiced massages, labor positions, talked ALL about epidurals and pitocin and pain coping ideas. I really felt like she gave an unbiased view of everything. She also had examples of everything they will have for us in the hospital like the mesh panties, pads that hold crushed ice in them (eek!) and told us to STOCK up on everything they put out for you! She said to seriously stuff your suitcase with pads, diapers, everything! She also gave us a GREAT hospital bag list, yay! DH and I were both really happy with the class.

Yesterday I had my mommy to be meet-up and two of the girls were there with their new babies. It was really interesting to hear their birth stories, as they both planned to go natural. One had a LONG painful labor and ended up getting the epidural. She was in super painful labor for 40 hours and was dying and throwing up just getting from 2 - 4 centimeters. She eventually got the drugs and her whole body relaxed, and dilated and the baby was out before she knew it. The other girl was 6 centimeters by the time she got to the hospital! She only labored for 6 hours, and said the pushing was the worst part. Now, looking at these two girls you would never guess who had what birth. DH is worried about my low tolerance for pain, but I don't think it matters. The girl with the long painful birth has tons of tattoos and piercings, and thought she had a really high tolerance for pain. The other girl is super tiny and kind of frail and was definitely more unsure of whether she would be able to go natural. So, I am just going to leave it open. I really hope I can do it. If not, that's OK too.

Last night we had dinner with DHs cousin and his wife who are in town, and she gave me some things for the baby from the Body Shop's new line, Buriti Baby. The little organic washcloth has the cutest birds, and the products smell amazing!!

Registry Stalking... and a rant about "the man"

I really wasn't expecting much of anything to be bought off our registry, honestly. We are only having about 20 people and, I don't know... I think I am just nervous about it because my close friends can't come (live too far away) and I don't like being the center of attention at ALL. The shower is next weekend, and I just looked online and a few great things have been bought! I am so surprised! Besides what my mom bought, the Bebecook, the diaper bag, and the Svan bouncer have been purchased in the last few days! I really wanted that bouncer but I honestly don't know if we would have coughed up the $120 for it if no one had gotten it! Now I am really looking forward to the shower. :)

We had an amazing anniversary dinner on Wednesday night, the tasting menu at the Dressler was AMAZING. 5 courses, and DH and I each got something different for each course, so we both got to taste all 10 things! It was really really nice.

Last night we went to a show at the Beacon Theater, which was really fun but also a bit of a disaster. DH being a musician, he is extra sensitive and we weren't thrilled with all of the performances. I would have liked to see more of my favorite, Gillian Welch. :) But these are the kinds of things we need to do now, while we can! THEN (here comes the disaster part) on the way home, we got pulled over (in Manhattan?!) for a missing brake light! The one on the left is apparently out, leaving only the right side AND the huge brake light bar across the top of the back window. The problem is that DHs license is expired, we are working on it but the paperwork and amount of time it is going to take is CRAZY since he has to switch from an expired Texas to a NY. Anyway, we passed the officer all the paperwork, got flashlights shone in our eyes, told to stay in the car, and he went back to his car and left us sitting there for 25 minutes!! I had to pee SO badly! He finally came back and gave us FOUR SUMMONS! One for the light, one for the license, and one for an expired insurance card! I had handed him the old one by mistake, and had the new one sitting there, but he had already written it up but he wouldn't change it. He said to send it in with the summons and I can get it reversed. Can you believe it?! So I had to haul my 8 month pregnant self around and drive us home. So unbelievable. Such a messed up system. Meanwhile, how many awful dangerous drivers do I see every day on the road, out there endangering lives, and they are picking on us. The most law abiding, safe driving, tax paying, volunteer working, baby having people. It really put a damper on the night to say the least. Now we have to spend the day trying to get this light fixed, and DH can't drive until we work this out.

2 year anniversary!

Yesterday was our two year wedding anniversary, but we are celebrating it pretty much for the next week. Last night DH had a big show with his band, so we decided to postpone the soppy celebration to tonight. Tonight we are going out to dinner at The Dressler, our favorite local fancy place where we always go for special occasions. DH loves getting all romantic and soppy and we always end up crying, ever since our 1 year of dating anniversary. It is so sweet.

I think I might find our wedding video to watch tonight, I don't think we have even actually even watched it! I really didn't want a videographer at the wedding because it just bothers me aesthetically to have them in the way with the big camera and lights, tacky IMO. So instead we just left our Handycam out and different people filmed different parts, who knows what is even on there. After we got home, we were so sick of talking about the wedding we just never even ended up really watching it! I would actually love to hear the service again, it was so beautiful but I was so nervous I barely remember what was said.

I loved our wedding, and I must say that people definitely still talk about it as one of the best parties EVER. It got really wild. I will just sum it up with this photo of my Dad flying into the pool.. :) And yes, I am in the pool in my designer gown.

Headache and Exhaustion...

Oh no... I am feeling like 1st tri all over again (minus the throwing up every 10 minutes, so I I guess I shouldn't complain). I am SO. TIRED.

Yesterday I could barely get off the sofa, then it started pouring and storming so we postponed the photo session to this morning. However, the only time that would work was 9:30 AM so DH was miserable for a little while, he is NOT a morning person. When I first woke him up he said he wouldn't do it, it was stupid, he didn't know what the point was or why it was important to me (He has been coming off like a big jerk lately, right? He really isn't). My hormones and I did everything we could not to cry or get our feelings hurt, and after some diet coke he was back to his normal, wonderful self. The photos were fun and hopefully we will get something cute. I took some alone, on the bed, with DH and his guitar, with the dogs. :)

Speaking of hormones, I have been a mess lately! I am so accident prone now, and every time I hurt myself I burst into uncontrollable tears. The worst is when I burn myself, which I manage to do every time I cook. Last night I spilled my bowl of soup on my hand and onto our handmade tapestry we got in Guatemala and I totally lost it. Really crazy. DH has banned me from doing anything remotely dangerous in the kitchen, but who knew carrying soup was dangerous? Ugh.

Tomorrow is our anniversary and this week is SO busy. Now the migraine from hell has returned on top of the extreme exhaustion!

34 weeks!

I am so excited, I am getting maternity pics done today! The photographer is coming over at 4 and we will shoot some singles, then when DH comes home from band practice we will do some together. I went with the least expensive option. The photos don't have to be frame worthy masterpieces, I just want some decent pics to have for the baby book. :)

I was SO exhausted yesterday and I slept until 10AM today! Very strange, I am always up by 7. DH and I did get into an argument last night, that probably put me into a deep sleep. He has a show in DC in a few weeks, when I will 38 weeks. We already decided he should go, but I am nervous about it. He says I already made the decision, and bringing it up makes him feel bad about going which is unfair. I really just wanted some support and encouragement, but maybe I am being passive aggressive and don't really want him to go. I love his music and I do believe in it so much, but maybe my motherly instinct is kicking in ("get a real job") haha. I am going to stop. I don't want to be that person.

I read that the baby can now differentiate between songs he hears, and will recognize songs when he comes out. That is so amazing!

Now I have to go do some crazy cleaning before the photographer gets here!