Childbirth Class #3

Tonight was our third childbirth class-one more to go! Today they focused mainly on interventions to childbirth. Things like epidurals, medications, instruments they may need to use (forceps, vacuum, etc), and c-sections. It was pretty interesting to learn about all of that stuff. During our breathing/relaxation time, they had us practice breathing when you're told not to push but feel the need to. We also practiced breathing for pushing. Useful? Yes....will I remember it in the moment? Doubt it :) Next week we're taking the tour before class so that'll be nice to see where all of the action will take place!

On another note, my friend Megan went in tonight to get induced! So there should be a baby arriving in the next few days! We're going to Buffalo tomorrow so I'm hoping she has him tomorrow or Saturday so we can go see the new family. How exciting!! And as of tomorrow, I have only 8 weeks left! Wow!!

Buffalo Baby Shower

Yesterday was my baby shower in Buffalo. We had it at a local restaurant right down the street from my Mom's house. My Mom and Aunt did pretty much all of the work and planning and it was wonderful! Around 35 people came and the only hard thing is that I wish I had more time with everyone-I feel like I didn't get to socialize with anyone!

The food was great-we had cheese and crackers and a veggie tray to start. For lunch, we had salad, baked pasta, chicken parm, roast beef sandwiches, and macaroni and cheese (which was to DIE for!). For dessert, my Mom got a selection of cakes-cassatta, death by chocolate, cheesecake and a strawberry baby themed cake.

We got so many great gifts-lots of great stuff that will come in handy for baby. We got a lot of bath items, our bedding set, several outfits for baby, our pack 'n' play, a convertible car seat, baby bjorn carrier, and much, much more. Everyone was so generous and we are thankful for everything we got!

Overall, the shower was a success and I think everyone had a good time. Thanks again to my Mom and Aunt for such a wonderful party!! Here are a few pics from the day!

My baby carriage cake made by Heather:


Gabe and I


Place setting (candle for favors and "diapers"-some pink, some blue, filled with candy):


One of the tables all set up:


Prize table:


Opening gifts:








Baby Connor who was born 2 months ago:


Mom and I:


My friend Megan and I-here she's one day past her due date! We took another shot of us at her shower last month so this is the updated one!

31 Weeks

Today I'm 31 weeks along-I'm officially down to single digit weeks which is amazing to me! I still can't believe how fast the pregnancy has gone! I'm still feeling pretty good. Just getting some swelling in my feet after being on them all day at work. Sleeping hasn't been fun the past few nights-I get up to use the bathroom then lie awake for a few hours for no reason. I'm sure it'll catch up to me some night and I'll crash-at least that's what I'm hoping for! So far, so good-no big complaints!

Childbirth Class #2

Tonight was class #2. The first hour we watched 2 more videos-both showing active labor and delivery of the baby and placenta. Talk about making you not want to go through it! Haha! The second hour they showed us a few different labor positions and had our coaches practice different massage techniques on us-that of course was fabulous because it felt so good! We learned a few more breathing patterns to try out as well along with the massage stuff. Then we finished with a relaxation session. It wasn't too bad-to be honest, the class goes by very fast. We only have 2 more left! I think next week they're going to talk about medications and all that so that will be interesting!

When Boredom Strikes

When you're bored, what do you do? Me? I LOVE to bake. The problem? Baking = food I don't need to eat! I have plenty of mixes at my house right now-brownie mixes, cookie mixes, bread mixes, etc. I'd love to bake them, but then I'd have to eat them. Not so good! Yes I could take them to work I guess, but that's not as fun as eating it yourself :)

So tonight I was in the mood to make something. What I had no idea, but I wanted to make something. After doing some rummaging, I had my idea....chocolate covered raisins and nuts! See, we don't really eat much Easter candy (I'm talking the huge honking rabbits and stuff) so it tends to sit around awhile. Well, one rabbit got slaughtered by my microwave tonight! I had a can of mixed nuts and some raisins so in the melted chocolate they went! I spooned them onto a pan lined with foil and they're currently chilling in the fridge right now. So when I'm craving the salty, sweet combo I love, I'll have something to snack on! And by the way, my Mom and I are known for melting chocolate and finding stuff to add to it! We call it our "concoctions"....yeah, that's probably how I put on 10lbs a few years back! Too many concoctions!

So do share, what do you do when you're bored??

9 Months

Must See!

I sent out an email about this earlier this week, but if you haven't seen it yet, you HAVE to see this!

I was on my way to work listening to the radio and they were talking about this woman on "Britain Has Talent". I missed most of the story but heard a clip of her singing. That night I had a nail appt and my nail lady mentioned the story as well and told me I had to youtube it. So I came home that night and I did. That's when I sent out the email to everyone about it.

This woman, Susan Boyle, is a 47 year old who isn't much to look at. In fact, her outfit just made me laugh when I saw it-black stockings with white shoes on. Anyways, she says her dream is to sing so she auditions for "Britain Has Talent". The judges (Simon Cowell being one of them) basically laugh at her when she walks on stage, as does most of the crowd. Then she sings....and boy does she SING! She chose a song from Les Miserables (which I've never seen) and she blew it out of the water. I swear, you'll get goosebumps and/or tear up watching her perform this song. The looks on the judges' faces is unforgettable and she gets a standing ovation from the crowd. It must have been the most amazing feeling for Susan!

After, the judges say she's one of the best performers they have ever seen and Simon calls her "extraordinary". She of course makes it onto the next round of competition.

It's such an uplifting story though and I hope Susan goes far with this because she is an incredible singer. And the moral of the story is: Don't judge a book by its cover!

Childbirth Class #1

Tonight Gabe and I had our first childbirth class at the hospital we'll be delivering at. It runs for 4 weeks, 2 hours each class. There are 2 women teaching the class-both I believe are RN's. The one was very good-I liked her a lot. She started off class talking a little about the women's anatomy so the fathers could feel our pain during pregnancy. Then she talked about the first stage of labor and the 3 phases involved. We watched a video on that too. It was informative-mostly about the types of contractions you'll have and how they differ as you progress. The other woman was a little obnoxious. She had this nasally voice like nails on a chalkboard and she ran the second half of class. She focused more on breathing and relaxation techniques. We only did two breathing styles and she had us do a relaxation piece at the end. Her part of it was just ok-her voice was more distracting than anything! The crazy part about class is that there are 10 couples. Out of the 10, 8 of them are having boys!! One is having a girl and we are the only ones who haven't found out. The one couple having the girl is due the same day as me. Talk about throwing off statistics! Wow! We'll see what next weeks class brings...

Oh No!! 3-0!

Not only was yesterday Easter, it was also my 30th birthday! That's part of the reason we were house hopping so much too. To celebrate, Gabe surprised me with a dinner Saturday night at The Melting Pot in Buffalo. My Mom, Aunt Pat, Megan, Todd, Renee, and Paul all came with us and surprised me there. It was a really good time. We had our own private room which was great! We all ordered their "Big Night Out" which is a 4 course meal of fondue. Since there was 8 of us, we had 3 fondue pots so for each course we got to try 3 different choices which was nice.

For our cheese course, we tried the spinach artichoke, the Fiesta cheese, and the Quattro Formagi. They were all pretty good I thought. For dippers, they gave you bread, tortilla chips, apple wedges, and veggies.

Salads came next and we each got to pick our own. I had the California salad which had tomatoes, walnuts and gorgonzola with a raspberry type dressing-it was very tasty.

For our main course, Gabe and I chose the Fondue Feast which had the least amount of seafood for me! It had filet, pork, sirloin, shrimp, chicken and little pasta pockets. It was pretty good-probably my least favorite course though.

For dessert we had the original chocolate fondue, the pecan turtle, and cookies and cream. The original and turtle were the best I thought. For dippers, they gave you strawberries, bananas, rice krispy treats, brownie, cheesecake, marshmallows. It was really yummy!

Overall, we had a great time-the presentation of everything was really cool and it took us almost 3.5 hours for all of the courses! Definitely takes some time, but it was fun! I don't know if I'd go back for all of the courses (it's pretty expensive), but I'd definitely go back for the cheese and chocolate courses-yum!!

My birthday was very nice-I got a lot of wonderful gifts, including a new camera! My last two posts (29 weeks and Easter) were taken with the new camera and I'm excited to have a new "toy" to play with! As for turning 30? I don't think it has hit me yet. I definitely thought I would be depressed about it and it hasn't phased me yet. I think with so much going on (house stuff going on, being pregnant, etc) I haven't had much time to dwell on it. Maybe it'll sink in someday :)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We had a very busy day today. My Mom and Aunt Pat made an amazing brunch for us-ham, sausage and egg casserole, homemade cinnamon rolls, cheesy potatoes, fruit salad, scones...it was very good! My Uncle Joe and Aunt Marion stopped over before we ate. After we ate, my cousins Rachel, Eddie, Taylor and Eddie came by and also my cousin Jessica, James, Madison, and Cayden. Lots of company!! We left Mom's and headed to my Father's for a little visit. On our way home, we stopped at my in-laws house as well. We did a lot of house hopping, but it was good to see everyone too! Happy Easter!!

Here's my cousin Taylor with her cat attire on:


Cousins Ed and Eddie:


Cayden starting to crawl:


Madison:

29 Weeks

I'm 29 weeks today! Only 11 more to go! I'm still feeling pretty good at this point-have been having some swelling of my feet after work but I guess that's pretty normal. My 10 hour long surgery days really kill me-it's a long time to be on me feet! Believe it or not, between this photo and my 25 week photo I only gained 1 pound! Hard to believe since I feel like I've been eating like a cow! Now I start my appointments every 2 weeks instead of every month-that's crazy too! The time is just flying by!

Love Long Weekends!

It's Easter weekend...normally I wouldn't get a single extra day off for it. But this year I splurged a bit. My birthday falls on Easter this year and Gabe gets off for Good Friday so I decided to take both Friday and Monday off. And what a great feeling! I left work today and am excited to have 4 days all to me. Granted I have stuff to do everyday, but going to work isn't one of them! Tomorrow Gabe and I are meeting with our first daycare then our insurance agent. Saturday and Sunday we'll be in Buffalo. Monday I have a doctors appointment and another daycare meeting. So I'll be busy, but like I said, it's better than going to work!

Breastfeeding Class

Gabe and I went to our first pre-natal class tonight on breastfeeding. He wasn't sure if he should go, but we were happy he did-pretty much everyone there had their husband/significant other with them so I was glad he was there with me. The class was pretty good. We watched a video and throughout the instructor would pause and go over things and see if anyone had any questions. We learned some positions on holding the baby and got to practice with the dolls they had, so that was good. I know it's going to be a challenging task, but I'm up for trying it out and seeing how things go! I know it'll be demanding at times, but the benefits for Mom and baby are just amazing so it's definitely worth trying. Next week we start our childbirth series-a 2 hour class one night a week for 4 weeks. That'll be interesting-I'm looking forward to learning about all of the fun stuff to come!

I Feel Like a New Woman!

Today folks, I cleaned the house! This is monumental because I haven't cleaned the house since our demolition started! So yeah, it's been about 2months! And when you're almost 7 months pregnant and nesting kicks in, it feels good to clean! See, all of the furniture from the back room was moved up front, which is where we were living when the back room was being worked on. So our space was very cramped having the extra stuff up front. So that left me no room to really clean anything! Plus with having them demolishing, sanding, etc. the house just got messy everyday. Instead of driving myself nuts and cleaning everyday, I just decided to wait it out until all was done. This weekend, Gabe moved almost everything back into the room, which means our front room has cleared up a bit-I can see the floors now! So today was vacuum and dusting day and it felt SO GOOD to get it done! When I finished I told Gabe I "felt like a new woman" having the house clean and almost back in order. He just laughed at me! I'm so glad this project is almost done! Next on the list-finishing the nursery!

Family Room Update

You may remember awhile ago we were in the middle of remodeling our back room. I haven't updated on it in awhile since it took us awhile to get to where we are right now. Gabe had to do 2 coats of drywall primer before we could paint, then he had to prime and paint the ceiling and then paint the trim and walls-lots of work!! We took these pictures on Thursday night so they're not 100% current, but pretty close.

Facing the neighbors-new speakers put in that will go on either side of the TV:




Facing the backyard and driveway side:


Facing the driveway-one speaker installed on the left side:


Ceiling shot of recessed lights:


Facing neighbors-new speakers (and Jerri of course!):


Entrance to the room-no closet anymore!


New closet doors:


Gabe's toys stored in the closet:


Friday we had the ceiling fan installed and a light put up in the closet. The speakers are all put in now as well. This weekend, Gabe rearranged the furniture and put most of the stuff back in the room. Left to do....finish a little bit of painting and put up crown molding that we're ordering. After that, I think the room might be officially done :)

Beautiful Day!

Dear Mother Nature-please keep the nice weather coming! I know you're calling for possible snow next week....I hope that's a mistake! Is that your idea of an April Fools Joke? Because it's not very funny! We like the sunshine and the 60+ degree weather so please keep that heading this way!
Thank you!