Baby's Room

When Carter was born, we lived in a two room apartment in Manhattan, so his "room" was a nook for his crib in our bedroom. By comparison, this new kid is going to get... a half a room! While our third bedroom will still function at times as a guest bedroom, the office portion of that room has been moved to either the basement or the dining room in order to give this kid some space. It's been fun to have a half a room to prepare for baby!









However, this kid doesn't have it too much better... Initially he'll sleep (we hope) in our bedroom, but when he's ready for his room, he'll sleep (we hope) in the little closet nook pictured below.  Crib in a nook, just like his brother!

(So, yeah, he's not here yet. And before you ask, no, I have no idea when he's arriving. I'm feeling fine - just as fine and normal as a girl this pregnant can feel.)

Inglorious

A couple of things that childbearing most certainly is:

Common - We've all been through it, at least one way. And over 10 thousand women do it each day, just in the US. So it's fascinating to me that while it's so common, it's also...

Miraculous - It's so incredibly cool what our bodies are designed to do. I also think it's amazing that even with all that science has discovered, doctor's can't accurately give you much better than a 5 week window to estimate when a baby will be born. That's amazing.

It's also - Inglorious.

While I promise not to go into great gory details about childbirth when this one arrives, or to walk you through the finer points of Carter's birth here on this blog, I will give you one, very small, non-gross, illustration of how inglorious it can be.

Last week's check up found me in the stirrups, naked from the waist down, with my husband, a doctor and a midwife all ogling my naked rear end. Apparently, sitting my heavier-than-usual a** down on a patterned park bench for approximately 30 minutes the day before had produced a pattern of bruises so unusual that my midwife declared she'd never seen anything like it in 30 years. So, yeah. Inglorious.

Go Cubs!

Congrats to the T-Ball Cubs on a great season!


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Care to Venture a Guess??

My mom requested a baby arrival guessing game. She may be particularly interested in this because she nailed the exact date with Carter and is looking for win #2....

In any case, tomorrow marks 3 weeks to the due date, so we set up a little poll. Click here, or use the link on the right side of the page to venture a guess.

Bellies and Brains

One boy belly, two balloon bellies



Labor pains?



There are a few things that are more pronounced in this pregnancy than they were when I was pregnant with Carter: aches and pains, fatigue and general lack of mental capacity. With regard to the latter, I've been pretty lucky so far (knock on wood) to be able to hold things together at work - and that's a feat because I've had a LOT going on. But, this time around, all the excess mental capacity I have left over after taking care of work (which isn't a lot) goes towards taking care of Carter. So that leaves no mental capacity for other things, like putting things away in the correct places or carrying on normal conversations. I've put lettuce in the freezer and recycling in the laundry bin. And I pretty much can't carry on a conversation that doesn't have a clear purpose. I guess the good news is that all the big stuff is getting taken care of, but I'm certainly not much fun at parties -- except for any entertainment my extreme forgetfulness may provide!

Grounded

As in "not flying", not "in trouble".

After a couple of final business trips the last few weeks - and a fun girls' weekend (pics of that to be posted soon), I'm officially through with traveling until after this baby is born. So now it's time to buckle down and get ready for his arrival!

It feels good to be grounded!


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Belly Shots

My mom has been suggesting, frequently, that I should post some pictures where you can get a better look at the current size of my belly. So here you go, mom!

By the way, I went through all the baby clothes that we have last night, and between what we kept from Carter and what Park & Ashley gave us, I'm pretty sure it will be impossible for this new little guy to wear everything even once. So, grandparents, you're off the hook for baby clothes buying this time around!

10 Weeks to Go, More or Less

I had an ultrasound last week and got these photos of our boy.

He's very active and is mostly treating me nicely, though I most certainly feel the 5 years older that I am this time around. Part of that is probably actually due to the fact that I was in much better shape 5 years ago thanks to all the NYC walking I did. But, I really have few complaints (today).

Carter is SO very sweet about his baby brother these days. He's taken to kissing and hugging my belly, and to talking to his little brother. Just the other day, baby brother apparently informed Carter that he likes Sponge Bob and that his favorite color is orange - just like Carter!

Frequently, when Carter gives me a hug and I say, "Thank you!", he says, "No. that wasn't for you. That was for [points to my belly]." So now I just keep my mouth shut and enjoy.

Elizabeth & the Boys

It's official. Carter's getting a baby brother, so I'll continue to be the only female in this family! We've been neglegent in blogging about the new addition, so here are a few funnies that have happened along the way:

• The day we told Carter about the baby, I asked if he wanted to call and share the news with his Mama Helen (who already knew). He agreed, so we called her and he very excitedly told her, "I won Chutes & Ladders!"
• As he's shared the news with other people, it tends to go like this: "I'm going to be a big sister!"
• One day, out of the blue, he said, "I'm number one! I'm number one! Wait. No... I'm infinity. That's the biggest number. The baby can be number one."

That's all for now!