Christmas

Opening presents in our jammies. Every year, Kenneth's mom gives everyone a Christmas ornament, so naturally X's first ornament was a baby's first Christmas one.

A little Christmas tummy time with Juniper

Our family, 2011.

 We did it with the self-timer, so this is one of 5 takes, but we managed to get 3 out of 4 of us looking at the camera. Whoo hoo! 

Giving the blue steel look as he models his Christmas day ensemble. (Thanks, Grammie!)

X started giving real smiles. No laughs yet, but real, non-gassy, happy-to-see-you smiles. I wanted a real smile from X for Christmas, and I got it. :)

X's birth

X's birth
Mom wrote up X's birth story and posted some pictures here and mom puts it eloquently, but here are some (less eloquent) additions:

The day before X was born: I've heard the day before you go into labor, a lot of women have a burst of energy and nesting, and a few women are more fatigued. I walked the dog and went to Michael's to pick up supplies to make X's baptism candle. And I was totally exhausted after those 2 things, which was odd since those 2 things weren't usually that much for me. I thought maybe the extra exhaustion meant labor was close... but it could just mean I was a woman who was 39, almost 40 weeks pregnant. Big deal. Later that night though, we had dinner with some friends, and on the way home I told Kenneth that something has changed... I couldn't explain what exactly, but I knew something was up. I just felt different.

39 wks

39.5 wks pregnant... I wanted to compare to this picture: 

14? wks

ASHAMED TO ADMIT, BUT TRUE:
1. Before labor, my contractions were often regular, but never closer than 8 minutes apart, and they usually didn't come closer and closer together. So when my contractions went from 6 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart from 6am-9am, and it became clear I was actually going into labor in the morning on my due date, one of my first thoughts was "HA! Michelle isn't the only Ellis woman who has babies on their due dates." With a 6am start to labor, I thought I'd have the baby by the end of the day. ---> This came back to haunt me when I was still in labor 24 hours later. D'oh!

2. At one point while I was in early labor (that is, when I was in pain, but still able to go for a walk with Kenneth and not put ALL of my concentration into getting through contractions) I actually said to Kenneth "Wow, if this is as bad as it gets in early labor, I don't understand the women who demand an epidural as soon as they arrive at the hospital. They must have really low pain thresholds." <---- Hahaha. Words that would come back to haunt me. When the hospital sent me home the 2nd time at 9pm, the nurse mentioned something about maybe sending me home with morphine so I would be able to sleep while I progressed more at home before I could be admitted. So when we came back to the hospital the 3rd time at 3am, and said I was almost at 4cm, my reaction was this: "OH! THANK GOD! Can I please have morphine now?" (It took at least 2 more hours before I got the epidural.)

what would've been 41 weeks

Things people told me about labor:
TRUE: "Any concept of modesty you once had goes out the window while you're in labor/after you have a baby." So true. After enough strangers see and poke around your nether regions, you stop caring. At least for that day.

FALSE: "The contractions only last for a minute or 2 at most, and there are 2 or 3 minutes between them so you have breaks. UNLESS you have pitocin or other drugs to intensify or start contractions." This I heard a lot from the natural childbirth fans. And this is false. False, false, false. I had 5-6 minute long contractions with just a few seconds between them during the hours that I pushed. Granted they had nice gradual build ups, but we were all sitting around waiting for the darn contraction to peak so I could push. After a while I felt like that wasn't doing any good and just pushed when I was close-ish to the peak, and then I just pushed 4 or 5 times until I felt I needed a break.

FALSE: "An epidural will slow your labor" and "If you have an epidural, you won't be able to EXPERIENCE birth." Ok, the first might be true-- I was at 6cm when I got the epidural. But I kept progressing right along, no problem. From hospital check-in to hitting 10cm was less than 7 hours. The epidural had no bad side effects as far as I can tell. And it made the c-section go quicker. As for it interfering with the experience, since I was actually able to pay attention to what was going on around me after the epidural, I'd say it helped me experience labor more-- I actually remember more from my time in the hospital once I got the epidural-- and I remember NOTHING from the time we got to my labor room to the time I got to the epidural.

Other things about the epidural:

• We got the bill from the anesthesiologist yesterday--- crazy expensive (before insurance kicks in), and worth every stinkin' penny.  
• Mentally, I think of my labor process as pre-epidural/horrible, post-epidural/feeling happy, and OH NO! Epidural wearing off!!!! The epidural is basically how I remember what happened when during my labor. That is, there was the time where I was in pain,  the time I wasn't in pain, and the time when the pain came back.

FALSE: "If you have a c-section, your milk won't come in and you won't have the initial rush of hormones to help you bond with the baby." False and false. I was on such a high after X was born. It lasted for days-- and I can now tell the difference between the post-birth hormonal high that bonded me to my son, and the bond I have with him now. And I'm feeding him just fine too.

He came out blue, but screaming-- and that was a beautiful sound. 

Kenneth held X first, and then brought him to me so I could meet our little guy.

And also,


WEIRD: Introductions in the OR room. Once X's heart rate sunk to 80, and wouldn't come back up, the doctor gave us the option of a c-section or a vacuum assisted birth-- but either way the baby had to come out fast, and my previous 3 hours of pushing made it clear I wasn't going to get him out fast enough on my own. Kenneth and I talked over the risks of each with the doctor, and then Kenneth and I talked things over, and opted for the c-section. (More risks to me, less for the baby. Baby wins, obviously.) I don't think either of us have ever been so scared-- I was about to have surgery because our baby's life was in danger. So when we got to the OR room, and everyone started introducing themselves, it was bizarre on a few levels:
1. The only one in the room not wearing a mask was the one on the table. We won't be able to recognize you outside of this OR room, so why are you bothering to introduce yourself?
2. I already knew the midwife that assisted-- so why was she introducing herself again?
3. Most importantly--  HELLO! The baby is in trouble. Why are you wasting time with introductions and why haven't you started cutting me open yet?  Between getting me to the OR room and getting the baby out, it took only about 10-15 minutes, but that still felt like a long, long time when you're worried about the safety of your kid.

Other weird things about the c-section:
1. Hearing the med student say "Can I do the staples?" (What? Why is the med student doing anything at all?)
2. Hearing "Almost done", looking up into the lights (which reflected what the OB and midwife were doing) and seeing they were not putting my skin together as expected, but were actually still working a little deeper... Ew.

(6 days later he was 20 inches, so the nurse measuring him said he was probably measured incorrectly at birth, so I've been going with 20 inches as his birth length)

Growing

Birth day

2 weeks

2 weeks

7 weeks

7 weeks

7 weeks (lookin' cute, feelin' cute in my cloth gDiaper)

7 wks (this isjust a gas smile, but he's really close to happy smiles now)

(sometimes the photographer photo bombs the pictures)

Videos of X

I figured out how to embed videos (not that it's hard, I just never bothered to look into it before), so here's a few videos of X so far. The good ones are the ones at the end where he rolls over, and if you missed it, there's video from his baptism too. (Just as a warning, the 2 baptism videos come to about 15 minutes total. Everything else here is much shorter than that.) 

X in his first hour after we were brought to the recovery room:

I was going to post his first bath too, but realized he might not appreciate his little boy parts being shared with the internet when he's older. So imagine a cute naked baby in his Puj tub here. 

Baptism part 1:

Baptism part 2

X rolling over for the first time at 5 wks:

X rolling over again today:

This sums up parenthood so far:

Because not every day is easy... or maybe it's that no day is easy at this point. Because no matter how sick you are, mommies don't get sick days and there's nothing worse than being sick and taking care of a sick baby. Because some days, you just can't make a fussy baby happy. You just can't. And because nothing is as exhausting as  a newborn ... And because  that's the stuff that the old ladies that ogle your baby at the grocery store don't bring up. No one talks to new parents about just how hard the hard days are. 

But even on those really awful days, the baby does something amazing. Like rolling over for the first time at 5 weeks old! Or something that makes us laugh, like the funny sounds he makes or the way his head (that he mostly holds up on his own now) is still pretty flopsy at times. Or something that makes us proud, like how well he behaved during his baptism.  Or he gives us a little glimpse of the smile he'll someday show us-- oh man, is it going to be a cute one-dimpled one-- (but right now it's all still gas). 

He gives us some reason to be more joyful and enjoy life more every day. Even on the bad days.

If...*

So much to say, so little time... between visitors, feedings, sleeping, and just trying to stay up with everything at home. Someday, I'll write out what I remember about X's birth, and put more pictures of him up here, but until then, this will have to do...

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; 

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 

But make allowance for their doubting too:

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, 

Or being hated don’t give way to hating, 

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; 

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim, 

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster 

And treat those two impostors just the same:

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken 

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, 

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 

And lose, and start again at your beginnings 

And never breathe a word about your loss: 

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, 

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, 

If all men count with you, but none too much:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute 

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, 

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, 

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

*Kenneth read this to X the other day, and I'm not sure anything else sums up the man we hope X will be someday than this poem. The poem is If and it's by Rudyard Kipling.

Full term & Popping... again

High fives all around! We made it to full term! Whoo-hoo! And, now my doctor joked about how ironic it would be if I ended up having to be induced. (Note: With the roller-coaster ride that the last few months have been, while I see the irony of it all, the idea that I might have to be induced is not that funny. We're ready for this baby to be out!) In the end, it seems my body likes to contract and wanted to get a really early head start and go very slowly with getting ready for labor; slow but steady.

In other news...

Mom has been worried that I haven't been looking big enough to be at full term. I think I am now.

32 wks

33 wks

34 wks 

35 wks

36 wks

37 wks

38 wks

(Can you tell which of these pictures were taken while I was still on bed rest, and which were taken after I went back to work?)

Kenneth says that X now seems to think he's in a race. He's cozy in my belly and wants to stay there now, so he's trying to put on as much weight as possible before I go into labor. That way, he'll be too big to leave. (Apparently, X is not aware of C-sections.)

The shoe repair man, a trustworthy source with all things related to childbearing I'm sure, told me the other day that I was clearly having a boy, and I confirmed that was true. Then, today, he informed me that baby will arrive on Sunday, no later. We'll see if he's right...

P.S. If you haven't had a chance to yet, or we've neglected to send you the link, click here to join the baby pool and compete for the glory of being more all-knowing than the rest of us (including the shoe repair man)! 

36 weeks!

You too, could look this awesome in your sweats and just-out-of-the-shower hair  if you spend 7 wks on bed rest!

36 weeks and off of bed rest!! Hooray! 

Rewinding a bit, at my 32 week doctor visit, it turned out that my contractions have been productive after all (so not entirely Braxton-Hicks contractions, but real "let's get ready for labor!" contractions). Since I don't think everyone wants the details, suffice to say that if there are 20 steps of 3 different things that have to happen before or during labor, I was at step 5. This is normal if you're around 36 weeks pregnant... It is not normal at 32 weeks. Bed rest became a little more important at that point. 

Today I had my 36 week appointment, and I'm still at step 5, with 1 thing going back from 2 to 0 since a month ago, and one thing going from 3 to 5. BUT-- this is normal for 36 weeks. I was so excited that I would have hugged the doctor if were on those terms, but I didn't think he would be ok with that. After 7 weeks of bed rest, I'm now off of bed rest, off of the medication, and I have the "ok" to start resuming activity as if this were a totally normal pregnancy-- because now it is! 

Juniper turned 2

Juniper turned 2, so for her birthday, I made her a sugar free carrot & oatmeal cake with peanut butter/cinnamon/honey in the filling. She also got a trip to the dog park, a new rope toy, and a seat belt to wear in the car so she doesn't go flying on us or the baby if we're in the accident now. Lucky dog.

Ready for X!

X will be term next week, but there's nothing like being at risk for pre-term labor to motivate you to prepare early for baby's arrival. Over the last 2 months, we've fixed our cars, gotten vaccines, finished packing the hospital bag, bought post-partum supplies, finished buying the "must have for the 1st month" baby things off our registries, installed car seats, and started the process to donate X's cord blood. The only things left to do are complete the cord blood donation paperwork, finish stocking the freezer with some meals for post-partum, and get an oil change (that can wait until after X is born, but why not get it out of the way so we don't have to do it after he's born). That's it-- other than that, we're ready, and X can come any time after next Monday! Which means that starting Monday, I'll be drinking teas, going for long walks, and doing pretty much every old wives tale I've heard of to get X to arrive. Because truthfully, I'm really anxious about going past my due date when this baby has a head measuring 2 weeks ahead of the rest of his body. 

Middle name?

One thing we aren't ready for is naming X. We love Xavier, so that's not changing. Our problem is the middle name. We're torn between 2 great names for his middle name. We both feel attached to the names, and we both feel like if we went with one of the names, we would later regret not giving him the other middle name. I'm ready to give him 2 middle names and avoid going without one-- why not? But after naming him Xavier, is it fair to give him 2 middle names on top of that? Plus, Kenneth isn't 100% sold on the idea of having 2 middle names. So, remember when we said we're taking bids on naming rights for his middle name? Well, that's still an option, too, if anyone's interested. 

32 weeks!

32 weeks, still pregnant!

On the scary day a few weeks ago, the doctor came into the room and started talking about what happens when babies are born at 28 weeks, and then said "but I'm confident we can get you to 32 weeks." But she was noncommittal about getting further than that. Well-- here we are at 32 weeks today, and my new doctor (the old one moved to Australia a week ago) is talking about 34 weeks as our next goal. 

My doctor says to expect that I'll be on bed rest until I reach term. Not something I'm thrilled about, but it's REALLY nice to have an end date (even if it's further off than I was hoping for). When the doctor and I spoke last week, she lifted some of my restrictions though-- I'm allowed to help Kenneth with dishes & other household things, I'm allowed brief outings if I'm still spending 9 hours a day laying down, and I'm allowed to work from home (yay!) as long as I take breaks when my contractions come at 3+ an hour.

I see the doctor again on Wednesday, so hopefully I'll have more of an update then. Until then, YAY, 32 weeks!

Still on bed rest...

I'm a bad news first/good news second person, so I'll get this out of the way first:

I'm still on bed rest. The doctors keep saying "stay on bed rest a few more days, and we'll check in at that point." A few days go by, I check in with them, and they say the same thing.

The medication seems to work in keeping my contractions around every 30-90 minutes, (which is down from about 9/hr on Tuesday, if we're going off the non-stress test rate-- the NST caught contractions I wasn't even aware I was having), but it hasn't stopped them completely. Luckily, the contractions aren't painful, even with my embarrassingly low pain tolerance. Some are more intense than others, some wrap all the way from my belly to around my back. The bad ones start with a hot flash before I feel the tightening and I find myself holding my breath until they pass-- but still, they aren't causing anything I would call pain. Thank God! 

I'm trying really hard to keep a good attitude about bed rest, but it hasn't been easy. Bed rest seems like fun when you aren't pregnant, but really, it's not. It's boring, isolating, and for me-- frustrating.  I'd rather be going to work, running errands, seeing friends, visiting family, doing things outside while it's summer, cooking, and getting the most I possibly can out of this time before becoming a mother. 

The worst part: There's no scientific evidence that bed rest is even effective at preventing pre-term labor. I'm still doing what the doctors and nurses say to do, but it's hard to be enthusiastic about doing something that is prescribed because "it can't hurt." I'd rather be putting my energy into something that's been proven effective, rather than putting my faith in "it can't hurt," and "well, that's just what we say to do in these situations."  If you're actually interested, here's what I've been reading on this: this article from the Chicago Tribune,  this from the New York Times, this from March of Dimes, this from the Mayo Clinic, and-- a little less hard-hitting, but this I've also read this from Parents Magazine, and this from BabyCenter. 

 

On to better things-- 

One upside from this has been the additional ultrasounds we've been doing last week and this week. They aren't quite as fun now because he's too big to get a good shot of any particular body part. And anyway, right now, they're more focused on checking to see if his kidneys are functioning and his blood flow is good than on getting good shots of adorable little noses and toes. (Happy for his kidneys to work and all, but I just don't get quite as excited about kidneys as I do looking at his face or his hands.) But we could see that so far, all X's organs are doing fine. The contractions have had zero effect on him-- he's still as active as ever with no change in heart rate. He's now flipped & in birthing position, and he's practice breathing now-- both of which earned him "lots of points" from the ultrasound tech. And not surprisingly, the tech also said his diaphragm is well developed. (He's gotten that comment on his diaphragm from every tech & doctor who's seen his ultrasound since he was 12 weeks along.)

And, bed rest isn't awful all the time. On nice days, I've tried to spend an hour or so laying down by our apartment complex pool. I'm on modified bed rest-- so I'm allowed to go on brief outings in town, to take the dog outside to do her business, etc. as long as I'm still spending 9 hours a day laying down. Getting outside helps with the cabin fever... and it makes me feel like I'm able to enjoy a little bit of our fleeting Seattle summer.

Quick update

Well, I'm still on bed rest through Monday or Tuesday.

I'm still having contractions, but they've slowed down to about 1-3 an hour.  The doctor is still concerned by the fact that I'm having contractions, but the fact that they're spread out more is a good sign. The lab tests ruled out an infection, so we still don't know why I'm having contractions. (But I'm happy to come off the antibiotics. Blech!)

So, I'll go in for an ultrasound Monday or Tuesday to make sure the contractions aren't starting labor. If the ultrasound shows no signs of labor, then I might come off of bed rest! Yippee!

Numbers and Bed rest

25: Number of contractions I had on Monday
90: percentage certainty I felt that the contractions were just dehydration
10: Time I started a non-stress test at my doctor's office on Tuesday
3: Number of contractions I had in 20 minutes
117: Lowest heart rate measured for X during my 1st non-stress test on Tuesday (some cause for concern, but now seems to be just a fluke)
140-160: X's heart rate 99.9% of the time, even during a contraction (which is excellent, and a reason to think X is handling contractions like a champ)
3: pounds X currently weighs
2.5: pounds most babies weight at that point... my son is a big boy. And bigger babies have better chances when born early.
1.5: weeks ahead that his head is measuring (in other words, he's got a big head. D'oh!)
12:40: Time I started talking to my doctor after several more tests
0: Amount I'm dilating (this is GREAT news--- it means I am very unlikely to deliver within a week of taking that measurement-- anything more would be, well, bad.)
29: Weeks gestation I'm currently at
32: Weeks gestation my doctor is "confident we'll get to"
37: Weeks gestation my doctor is "hopeful we'll get to" (this is considered full-term)

1: (pound) weight at birth required for some expectation of survival

90: percentage survival rate for babies born at 29 wks, but with significant long term complications

Extremely high: survival rate for babies born at 32 weeks

Extremely low: chance of long-term complications for babies born at 32 weeks.

0: Expectations I had for having that conversation with my doctor on Tuesday
1: (Hour) time I was given to go home, eat, and pack an overnight bag before I had to be checking in at the hospital
5.5: Hours spent in the hospital Tuesday
24: Hours I was supposed to spend in the hospital (yay for being discharged early!)
1: Shot of Turbutaline given to stop contractions
4: Rating I gave the contraction I experienced just before I got my shot of Turbutaline (most I've had are 1 or 1.5)
2: Number of contractions I had after I had the shot of Turbutaline, over the course of 5 hours
3: Number of tries the nurse made to get my IV in place (3rd time's the charm)
1.25: Liters of fluids I got while hooked to the IV. Fun.
5: Number of visitors I had at the hospital (lucky me!)
5: Days I was told to go on bed rest
2: Times a day I have to take a pill that is supposed to stop contractions
4: Times a day I have to take an antibiotic in case an infection is the culprit behind the contractions (Crossing fingers that's all it is behind this craziness-- never thought I'd say "I sure hope I have an infection" before.)
9: hours a day I'm supposed to spend in bed, light activity and 1 short outing a day permitted in between 3 hour blocks of time in bed.
3/3: Days Ken has been home with me while I've been on bed rest
22: Hours my mom spent with me while I was in the hospital/first morning at home
5: Meals my mom made or bought for us while she was here (thanks, Mom!)
0: Amount of money Virgin America Airlines charged me to cancel my flight to California when I told them I couldn't fly because I'd been put on bed rest
259: Amont of money they credited my account (the full price of the ticket I couldn't use)
1: New huge fan of Virgin America Airlines
18: Contractions I had Wednesday (1st day on bed rest)
19: Contractions I had on Thursday
5: Contractions I've had so far today
1: Contraction I'm currently experiencing
100: Percentage I'm ready to be done with this contraction/bed rest business
5: Meals Kenneth has brought me in bed or on the couch (Lunch yesterday: Black bean burgers with cheddar-- yum! Breakfast this morning: Waffles with cinnamon butter, veggie sausage, and eggs)
2: Times each day he brings me a new, cold, full water bottle
1: Fantastic husband taking over household -- everything-- while I'm on bed rest
1: Lucky wife (me)

Trying to look on the bright side of things:
1. Even if I'm on bed rest until I get to term, that's only 7 more weeks (and I know women who have been on bed rest for most of their pregnancies). We'll need a game plan, but even in worst case scenario 7 wks seems do-able
2. Worst case scenario-- if pre-term labor can't be stopped, we're far enough along that while there would be a long stay in the NICU and other unpleasant things, X has an excellent chance of surviving and thriving.
3.  X is incredibly healthy and handling this well. He's a big, healthy, active little guy and that's a really good thing for now.
4. I'm starting to figure out what the contraction triggers are: stress--even incredibly mild amounts, and any movement that uses stomach muscles-- like going from laying down to sitting up, sitting up to standing up, etc.
5. We find out today if it's just an infection, and if that's the case, this will all blow over as soon as the infection clears up. Then I'll be back to a normal, low-risk pregnancy. Cross your fingers that's the case!

Quick update, in list form

1. Our mom's families threw us baby showers. Yay! Between the showers and our friend Dana, who gave us some of her son's outgrown clothes (thanks, Dana & family!), X is now (we think) all set for clothing until he reaches about the 9 month size. (PS-- these were family only showers, so don't be offended if you weren't invited.) 

H family shower

A cupcake, with X on it!

And the E family shower. 

I forgot to bring my camera. Oops. But my cousin Patty and my mom both posted pictures on their blogs, so check them out here and here. This shower was a joint one for my sister and I (she's due 4 wks before me)... thrown by my cousin Michelle & my mom. 

This was actually more of a family reunion BBQ with a shower intermission. My sister Sara flew up for the shower, and we hung out pretty late with cousins after almost everyone else left. I actually had to leave at 11:00 pm to meet up with friends for late night coffee-- and felt really bad. (I expected the family BBQ/shower to be over by 10.)  But that's how awesome it was-- my cousins, their spouses, my parents, and my sisters are really fun to hang out with. 

I had to steal this picture from Mom's facebook. Contrary to what the evidence seems to show, I was actually 20 wks pregnant at the time. I just didn't stand at the right angle for it to be obvious. This picture is of me and the other pregnant ladies there-- my sister and Michelle.

2. Speaking of Michelle, she had her baby Wednesday-- on his due date! (She's now 2 for 2 with having babies on their due dates!) She's hilarious, and a faithful blogger. (Blogging the birth story from the hospital HOURS after he was born!) So check out her blog post on her baby's birth. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll try to nominate her for a Pulitzer (or whatever they give out for blog posts).

3. Kenneth climbed Mt. Rainier. Well, almost. He got sick a few thousand feet from the summit and had to turn back. Here are some pictures:

4. Baby updates...

• My hunch is that X is going to arrive on or before November 1. Somewhere in week 39 maybe. We'll see if I'm right, but that's what my gut keeps saying. (I've probably now jinxed it and X is going to come at 42 wks. Bah.)
• Apparently mothers who consumed a large quantity of nuts during their pregnancy (i.e. nuts or a nut product everyday) increase their child's risk of developing asthma by 50%. Guess what I have for breakfast everyday? Peanut butter on toast. At 7 months pregnant, the damage is probably already done, so I'm planning to continue eating peanut butter on toast. Sorry about the asthma, X! At least I haven't given you fetal alcohol syndrome or something worse!
• X has been kicking for a while now. Kenneth has felt them now, and he's even seen the kicks from the outside! So bizarre, and yet so cool!
• I don't have gestational diabetes! Hooray! But here's the thing about the test-- everyone warns you about how nasty the drink you have to have is. But no one told me about how hard it would be to fast for 12 hours while pregnant. Or having my blood drawn 3 times (I thought it was just twice.) That was no fun at all!
• We've been re-organizing our apt for the last 2 months. We're staying in our 700sq ft apt, so we're making space for baby things. Our apt now looks like it has been furnished by Ikea, but it gets the job done. We have a few things to take to Goodwill, and a few things to put in storage, but other than that, we're all set. Pictures of what it looks like to cram 2 adults, a big dog, and a baby in 700sq ft to follow.  I'm actually kind of proud of how it turned out-- we made it work!
• We now have all the ABSOLUTELY necessary baby things-- car seats, bassinet/crib, clothes, diapers, and food source (me). We need to get more diapers and more odds & ends, but if heaven forbid, X were to arrive tomorrow, the amt of scrambling we'd have to do is pretty minimal. We've even started packing our hospital bag! (Ok, full disclosure-- it has 2 pairs of loose, old sweat pants for me and 4 going home from the hospital outfits for X. But it's a start!)
• We're signed up for childbirth classes, a hospital tour, and a car seat safety class. Kenneth took a class called "Conscious Fathering" last night. On a related note-- Kenneth has been great during this pregnancy. He lets me whine when my back aches or when I was feeling nauseous, brought me breakfast in bed most days during my 1st trimester, and he's been there for every doctor visit I've asked him to go to. Pregnancy isn't easy, even with an amazing partner, so I have a new appreciation for the women who don't have the support of their partner during their pregnancies. 
• Nothing is official yet, but we think X's baptism will be Thanksgiving weekend so we can sneak it in just under the wire, before Advent starts. (A lot of Catholic churches won't do baptisms during Advent). But we still need to decide on X's godparents and whether he'll be baptized at the church where we got married, at Kenneth's family's church, or somewhere else entirely. 

5. We've got an exciting month ahead of us-- a trip to the beach! a trip to CA for my dad's 50th birthday! Kenneth turns 30! A visit from my stepsister! Great-great-aunt-Grace turns 99! Not the best picture of her, but she really does make 98/99 look good.