More New Hampshire pictures

I got a few more New Hampshire pictures from James...

Here we all are on the boat


We shot off lots of big fireworks




Jeff and I battling it out on Guitar Hero


The girls look like sea lions!


They liked hanging out on the diving board...as long as no one was jumping off of it. Although once they were on, it was tough getting off.

Shower!

So the baby shower was last Saturday. Amy did such a great job with everything! Lots of yummy food (pastries and quiches from French Memories in Cohasset, mini sandwiches, cheese, fruit, etc.), mimosas (I had a couple with just a touch of champagne...yum!), super cute decorations (a Paris motif with flowers and accents in hot pink, baby pink and black) and a scrumptious carrot cake with white chocolate dipped strawberries from Konditor Meister. And the favors were these delicious white chocolate and cranberry cookies. It was a great day and we all had fun.

Mary Jo and Barry came in from Virginia to spend the weekend, which was great. Jeff's grandmother, Nana, was also able to be there, which she seemed excited about. Jeff's Aunt also came down from NH, Amy's Mom, and some local friends were in attendance as well. I tried to persuade the boys to hang around, but they weren't having it. In any case, the baby got lots of great gifts and we really appreciate everyone's generosity. Thanks!!!! The baby's closet finally has some clothes in it and the dining room is getting a bit crowded with baby gear. It's so exciting!

Here are some pictures from the day:

Here is the main table with a cute clothesline hung above it






I didn't get a picture of the dining room table, but there was more delicious food on it!

The baby throne with a Christmas-like grouping of presents


First we had some mimosas and a few bites to eat




Next it was time to open the gifts






I don't know what's going on in these...




The aftermath






Then we had cake!

Look how cute this cake is! Yes, it tasted as good as it looked.


Cutting the cake




Jeff and I at the end of the afternoon








Awwwwwwww


And just for fun here is a cute picture of Jeff and I that my brother took at the Red Sox game when he was in town a couple weeks ago

Front door construction

Our front door is getting replaced this week. Here are the pictures I just got from Jeff, who worked from home today to supervise...

This is the door with all of the trim (original to the house) removed


They had to increase the size of the space for the door. This is above the current transom. Check out how they built houses in 1895! With no insulation too! Jeff said it was original horse hair (?) plaster, but I'm not sure what that means.


Here is the new door, just sitting there on the porch


The door is out and we have just a giant hole in the wall. Glad I wasn't home for this.


And how it looks now apparently...nice and fresh! Can't wait to get home and see it.


So I guess they are coming back tomorrow to finish up. Then we'll get it painted and stained later in the week or early next week. No more sunlight or winter breezes coming through the giant crack in the door!

This is a picture of what it originally looked like from the outside. It doesn't look that bad from far away, but close up it was a mess. Besides the door being cracked, the paint was peeling and the wood between each of the windows was rotted and chipped. Not so pretty. When it's all painted and finalized I'll post an after picture.

Certification acheived!

When we decided we would have a baby this year (and I actually got pregnant) I set a goal of getting certified in my field before the baby came. I had attended a seminar about the certification back in March 2007, but hadn't really done anything about it and was procrastinating. But then I got pregnant and the clock started ticking!

I am proud to say that I received my certification today! It is a C.P.M., which is a Certified Purchasing Manager. It is awarded by the Institute of Supply Management and is the top internationally recognized professional credential in Procurement/Supply Management. It involves reading and studying about 1000 pages of material and passing 4 exams. They also require a number of years of experience and 2 letters of recommendation from former employers.

It was A LOT of work, but I am so glad it's done! YAY!

Childbirth class & another ultrasound

Well I guess sleeping more than a few hours at a time is officially a thing of the past. If I get 4 hours in a row it's a good thing. I guess I better get used to it! Overall though I'm feeling great, if not a little uncomfortable.

On Saturday we attended an 8 hour (wow!) childbirth class at the hospital. They explained the different stages of labor and went through the various scenarios that could happen. We also watched several videos of actual births, which to be quite honest, were horrifying. Jeff was awesome...very engaged and participative. And he didn't really freak out about the videos (well, maybe the first one). I was surprised that some of the other guys there were jerks...made me thank my lucky stars Jeff isn't like that! Some looked like they were going to faint or cry after the videos. I had to bury my head in my pillow (we had to bring pillows) and laugh at the looks on their faces. Priceless.

All in all I have to say that taking the class made me feel a lot better about the whole labor experience. I think Jeff feels a lot more comfortable too and understands his key role in the process. I am glad we took the class and now know that although it's basically out of my control, my reactions do have some bearing on how everything happens. RELAXATION is the key. And an epidural at some point... ;)

This morning we had another level 2 ultrasound. It was really awesome! The kidney issue is completely gone, although the doctor said that she does have large kidneys...like toddler-sized kidneys. But, she said they see that a lot and it isn't a problem and they don't know why it happens. She said perhaps she just needs to grow into her kidneys. She said she looks great overall.

She is 4 lbs, 14 oz right now! She is the perfect size...not too big, not too small. Keeping my sugars under control and doing the insulin at night is clearly working!

At one point during the ultrasound the tech showed us that she was grabbing her foot with her hand. Too cute! Then later the doctor showed us her face and she was opening and closing her mouth. Then she showed us her hand opening and closing as well. She also was practicing her breathing and moving around a little. It was really neat.

We go back in one month for another ultrasound. I assume that will be the last one because I'm due just 2 weeks after that.

Overall the pictures we got today aren't that great. I tried to take pictures of them to post, but the light in my office right now is really bad so I will try again tomorrow morning. If I can get decent pictures I'll post them then. There are a few of her face, foot, arm and leg.

I have my regular doctor's appointment on Thursday morning and an appointment with the nutritionist in the afternoon. I am dreading the nutritionist...her appointments take forever!

Mary Jo and Barry arrive on Thursday as well. Then Saturday is the baby shower, which I am very excited about. Amy is really good at putting parties together so I am sure we'll have a great time. I can't believe it's already here...time has been flying! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post them as soon as I can.

Only about 7 weeks left to go!

Back from vacation

I had a doctor's appointment today and started the non-stress tests, which will be done every week from here on out. Basically they just made me lay on a table with 2 microphone-like things strapped to my stomach while they took measurements of the baby's heartbeat and movement patterns. It was a little uncomfortable because they made me lay still on my back and then on my side for a while, which made my hips hurt. The baby wasn't cooperating and kept moving around so they kept losing the heartbeat. They decided to just give me an ultrasound instead, but in the end she ended up cooperating a bit so they could get the measurements they needed. The doctor also said my sugars are looking good and didn't measure my stomach because I'm having an ultrasound on Monday.

I actually had a non-stress test on Saturday as well because we ended up heading to the hospital on Saturday morning. The last couple of days of vacation I noticed that the baby wasn't moving around as much and wasn't kicking me as forcefully as she had been. I chalked it up to just being super-sensitive because we were basically just laying around enjoying the sunshine. On Saturday morning we woke up and went out for breakfast and I really tried to concentrate to see if she was moving, but I couldn't feel anything. Even after breakfast when we went home she wasn't moving. So Jeff and I decided to call the doctor and they told us to come in to L&D for a non-stress test and possible ultrasound. To make a long story short (yeah right), all was well and we were in and out of the hospital within an hour. In fact, she made a liar out of me because she was moving around a lot once they hooked up us to the monitors. In the end it all worked out and she's been moving a ton lately! I guess she was just on vacation too. I can even discern feet and legs at this point!

This past Tuesday night we went to the Tufts Open House. There was a short presentation (which we missed most of due to lovely Boston traffic) then the doctors gave tours of the L&D and Mother/Infant units. Good news is that I learned the doctors will let you have an epidural once you've reached 2 centimeters! Yay! Even though I worked in a hospital for several years, it was a little scary seeing an L&D room and knowing that I'll be in one soon. They were smaller than I expected and a little too "hospital" like. I was hoping for something a little more homey like my old hospital had. As long as I have an epidural that works I guess I won't care.

Speaking of labor, my doctor and I had a little discussion today about when I might go into labor. She said she'd bring her crystal ball AND her ouija board to my next appointment. ;) Actually, she said she will not let me go past my due date. She said if I make it to the end of October, she will most likely induce me on a Tuesday (that's her inducing and c-section day) before my due date. So I figure that will be either October 28th or November 4th, since I'm due on Wednesday the 5th. If the latter case happens I'll have to go vote on my way to the hospital!

Moving on...

James came into town on Aug. 27th to visit for a few days. Well, a few days soon turned into many more due to hurricane Gustav. His flight home got cancelled and he ended up coming with us on vacation to NH! Good timing I guess. I am happy to report that everyone faired well with Gustav at home. Although Baton Rouge apparently wasn't so lucky...

When he arrived on the 27th we went to Sorriso for dinner with Jeff, Doug and Amy. Here we are enjoying some of John Paine's culinary delights!


On Thursday I had to work in the morning and also had a doctor's appointment so James hung out at our house with the girls. That afternoon we headed down to the Prudential Center to take a Duck Boat Tour around Boston. Unfortunately when we arrived all of the tours were sold out. So we ended up walking (the wrong way at first) to Newbury St., then Jeff came and picked us up and we drove around for a while before heading to the North End (which is basically the Little Italy of Boston).

Here is James in front of the big pool at the Christian Scientists' world headquarters.


It's actually a really pretty place.


And in front of a big church in Copley Square.


We walked around the North End for a while and ended up at Neptune, which is a delicious seafood restaurant that specializes in raw oysters. I was bummed that I couldn't partake of the oysters, but Jeff had some and I had some steamed mussels that were delish while James tried some yummy New England clam chowder. Here we are at the bar...


And here are the boys walking around the streets of the North End


James and I in front of a statue of Paul Revere, which is in front of the Old North Church. The picture is awfully blurry...but check out the size of that belly! Whew!



Doug and Amy eventually came to meet us and we enjoyed a lovely Italian dinner followed by some awesome gelato (don't tell my doctor!).

The following day I was bound and determined to get James on a Duck Boat Tour so I bought tickets online that morning and we headed down to the Pru for our 11am tour. Duck Boat Tours are the cliche tourist thing to do, but there was no way I was walking around Boston at my size! And it actually was kind of fun. Here is James enjoying the sites of Boston...


We then went to Harvard Square for lunch and walked around Harvard Yard for a bit. I have to say that James didn't seem impressed. Oh well.

That evening we headed to Fenway Park to see the Red Sox take on the Chicago White Sox. We had a small glitch when our tickets were rejected at the gate! Apparently I got scammed by an online ticket broker (I am now in the process of recovering my money from the credit card company). Luckily fate intervened and as we were discussing the situation with the Fenway ticket office a woman overheard our conversation and happened to have 3 tickets she didn't need and was willing to sell us. The tickets ended up being the same price but were WAY better than the tickets I had purchased online. So all was well and James got to see a game at Fenway. Incidentally the Red Sox won 8-0! We had an awesome time and I think James thoroughly enjoyed his Fenway experience. After the game we met some friends at a restaurant called Red Bones where we ate bbq well into the night. I was up until 1:30am, which was about 4 hours past my usual bedtime! Here is James taking it all in at Fenway.


And Jeff too


The next day I was exhausted and my ankles were the size of tree trunks so I made the executive decision that we'd just hang out at home. It was my birthday as well so we got lobsters and steamers with all the fixings for lunch. James had never eaten steamers, but I think he was pleasantly surprised with how delicious they were. Everything was super tasty and we enjoyed a nice and relaxing day.

The next morning (Sunday the 31st) we packed up the car, the girls and James and headed up the lake house in New Hampshire!


We couldn't have asked for better weather! It was absolutely gorgeous the whole week, although it was a little windy the first couple of days. We basically sat in the sun, bbq'd, canoed, took some boat rides, and the brave among us (namely everyone but James and I) swam in the glacial water. Although to be fair James and I eventually made it into the water up to our knees! On Monday night we set off some giant fireworks as well and there was a slight mishap when one of the fireworks was apparently defective and started shooting straight at James and I. It was a little scary, but luckily we were unharmed. The girls have never been happier and absolutely loved the boat and all the swimming. Here are some pics...

James hanging out on the dock


Jeff and the girls on the dock


Jeff getting towed to shore by the girls (he grabs their tails and they swim in)


Their favorite place was sitting on the back of the boat


Swimming




Floating


Canoeing






The girls really didn't like when someone went off the diving board and would run to the edge of the board and cry. So cute! They even jumped off once. But only once...I think they were surprised and scared when they went all the way under water.


Nice views


I think James got some way more interesting photos and maybe even a little video with his fancy camera. I'll try to get some of that stuff from him and post it if I can. There are no pics of me because I was in a bathing suit all week!

Next up in life is an ultrasound on Monday. I'll post pics as usual! Oh and I almost forgot...we have the dreaded full day of childbirth class on Saturday! I am looking forward to having lunch in Chinatown that day, but not looking forward to the videos we'll be forced to watch. I'll report back next week with Jeff's reactions as well! ;)