A Very Pregnant Memorial Day

We took a stroll down the street to the cemetery. It was closed. Bummer. We took pictures outside the gate. It was hot and humid.

Yes, I am still pregnant and feel like I will be for the rest of my life.

First Grandbaby on BOTH Sides

Can you tell they're excited?!?!

LOST Finale in Style

 
 


Thanks to our friend Hayley, we can enjoy tonight's LOST finale with class!

36 Weeks Pregnant

Only 1 month to go. I can’t believe it! By the end of this week, the baby will be considered full-term. I thought that by this point in my pregnancy, I’d be totally uncomfortable and miserable, but surprisingly, I’m still feeling great. I’m still sleeping really well, which I am so grateful for. The baby never wakes me up in the night and I’m always able to fall asleep almost immediately. He’s so funny. As soon as I climb into bed, he starts rolling around in my belly and pushing his little body parts out, but as soon as I decide that I want to go to sleep, he stops moving and lets me. I love it! I still haven’t had any heartburn, which I’m also grateful for. I wonder if that means he’ll be bald, like the old wives tale predicts…

Adam and I have started having a little fun freaking our families out. Yesterday, Adam called his mom and said, “It’s time!” She got all excited, thinking that he meant it was time for her grandson to come, but then he said, “It’s time to talk to me!” She was mad. It was funny. I can tell that our families are answering their phones more often than they used to when we call. Everyone feels the ticking time bomb and is half expecting every phone call from us to be telling them that we’re on our way to the hospital.

The ladies at work threw me a lovely baby shower this week. Everyone has been so generous, and Adam and I only have a few more small things that we have to buy in order to be ready for Merlin’s grand entrance into the world. We started organizing his “corner” last night. The poor boy doesn’t have a nursery, just a corner of the living room with all of his stuff piled high. I’m going to try to make it look semi-decent, but I don’t have much hope for it until we get more space. I’d love to have a room just for him, but unfortunately, our circumstances don’t allow for that right now.

I totally overdid it last weekend during all of Adam’s graduation festivities and spent the week paying the price. My feet and ankles were so swollen that it literally scared me. They were so disgusting. I spent the week lying on the couch after work, taking baths, and trying to take it easy. Luckily, the swelling has gone down and they are basically back to normal. It’s amazing to me how quickly my body was able to recover from all of the walking in heels that I did.

I am running out of things to wear, especially to work. I didn’t think it was possible to grow out of maternity clothes, but sadly, I’ve learned that it is. When I’m getting ready in the morning, it’s like “Should I wear shirt A or shirt B?” I’ve basically given up on trying to look cute anymore. What’s the point, really?

A few comments from the week:

“Andrea, I don’t think it’s possible for you to get any bigger! You look HUGE!”
“Are you having 1 or 2 babies?”
“You just think you don’t have stretch marks, but you probably do. You just won’t be able to see them until after the baby is born and your skin goes back to normal.”
“You’re not going to be able to wear that anymore in a few more days.”

Aren’t people lovely?

Adam and I talk about our little guy constantly. It’s like word vomit. Once it starts coming out, it can’t be stopped. We keep talking about what it’s going to be like to meet him for the first time, give him his first bath, and bring him home from the hospital. We stare at his ultrasound pictures and discuss in great detail every curve of his little profile and every body part that was captured in the pictures. We debate who he looks like more. Does he have Adam’s lips? His brow bone? My feet? My lanky limbs? We can’t wait to find out!

He's Already Growing Up Too Fast!

Adam and I had our third and final ultrasound today. The pictures are harder to decipher than the pictures from our last ultrasound because he's getting to be such a big boy and is getting so cramped in there. Last time, he had a bunch of room to stretch, do flips, and move his limbs around, but this time, he was pretty much curled into a little ball. I was shocked to see how much he's grown since we last saw him, 16 weeks ago. It made me sad- he's growing up so fast! :)

As of today, Merl weighs in at 5 lbs 11 oz. When the tech first told us that, I thought that was huge, but then she told us that that's only the 35th percentile. He's a little bit on the runty side, which is fine with me because the chances of having to squeeze a 10 lb baby out aren't very high. He will most likely gain about a 1/2 pound per week from here on out which means he might not even hit 8 lbs at birth. That's fine with me!

Here's a profile shot. From this picture, I'm afraid he may have a face that only a mother could love. Let's hope that the amniotic fluid is distorting his features and that he doesn't come out looking this odd.

Yay! He's still a boy!

After all of the shopping and baby showers, I was praying that they wouldn't tell me he's actually a girl today. What a nightmare that would be!

Here we have another shot of his foot. I want to nibble on those little toes!

This one is pretty hard to see, but his arm is bent and those 4 lines at the top center of the picture are his fingers. I'm pretty sure he has 5, but we couldn't see him thumb. Let's hope, right?

We were super bummed because they wouldn't let us videotape the ultrasound. Lame, right?!? The second Adam pulled the camera out, she made him put it away. I would have loved to have him on tape so that I could watch it over and over...

Seeing him was absolutely amazing. Ultrasounds are definitely the best part of pregnancy! He was pretty chill while she was looking at him and didn't move much. We did catch him making a few little sucking/swallowing motions with his mouth. So cute! I can't wait to see him in color soon!

Adam Alba, Esq.

Congratulations to Adam!!!

And me too! :)

A Letter

Dear Baby Boy,

Your daddy graduated from law school yesterday. I was so proud of him that I couldn’t stop crying all day long. I couldn’t figure out if I was crying because I was happy & relieved that it was finally over or because I was sad that life is about to change dramatically. I don’t like change, you see. Your dad was wishing that you were here already so that he could have carried you in his arms across the stage as he accepted his diploma. He’s getting anxious to show you off!

Both of your grandparents came out to D.C. to celebrate with us. You don’t know them yet, but just wait. I promise that they will shower you with so much love that you won’t even know what to do with it, just like they do to us. They were so kind; paying for things all weekend, giving out compliments to us both, meeting all of our friends, and acting enthusiastic about everything were. Your dad and I hope with all of our hearts that someday we will be able to be the kind of people that they are.

I want you to know that you have the most incredible father. You are a very lucky little boy. He worked his hardest during the past 3 years so that he can give you the kind of life that you deserve. He wanted to set an example for you and to show you how important it is to get an education. I hope that you will follow his example when you grow up and that you’ll love to learn as much as he does.

The past 3 years have been extremely difficult on us in more ways than you will ever know. I don’t know what kind of experience other law students have, but I think that ours was exceptionally hard. The first year, especially. Your father seriously considered quitting more than a few times because the stress of what we were going through was driving him close to a break down. But he didn’t quit. And as I watched him, I was able to see the strength of his character. He made me prouder than I ever thought possible.

I hope you're just like your daddy when you grow up.

Thinking of you all the time,
Your mama

To Document or Not to Document?

As the baby’s birth draws nearer, I can’t stop debating about if and how we’re going to document the events at the hospital. Part of me wants every second of our experience video taped and photographed, but the other part of me doesn’t want to worry about it. I’m so torn about what to do.

We’ve decided that we’re not going to have any family members at the hospital with us during the labor and delivery, so the documentation duties would solely be Adam’s responsibility. This is a bummer because I really want him to be “in the moment” with me. I don’t want him to have to watch his son’s birth from behind the lens of a camera. I want him to be able to experience everything without worrying about getting it all on tape. I want him to be right by my side, holding my hand, and giving me all of the support I need. I want to share in the joy of bringing a new soul to the world with him without any distractions.

On the other hand, I’d love to have photos and video of the whole experience so that no detail is lost. I’m not saying I want any graphic, nasty, bloody shots, but I would love to document the looks on our faces when our seconds-old-son is laid on my chest and we get to meet him for the very first time. Years down the road, I want to be able to remember in vivid detail what that day was like. I’m pretty big into pictures and video, so to me, it seems natural to want this monumental event captured.

What did you do about this for your baby’s births? Do you have a bunch of photos and videos of everything? If so, do you cherish them? Or if you don’t, do you regret it?

34 Weeks Pregnant

I’ve felt incredibly happy the past few weeks. The closer I get to my due date, the more excited I get to meet our son. The anticipation is killing me! I can’t wait to see him for the first time, to snuggle him, to kiss his little face, and to smell his sweet baby smell. I can’t stop imagining his tiny little fingernails and tiny toes, his little eyelashes, and his soft baby skin. Lately, I cry at just the thought of him. I can’t believe that in a few short weeks, we are going to have a baby of our own that looks like us, acts like us, and is literally half Adam and half me. Man, that kid’s going to be a freak!

According to the books, he weighs about 5 or 5 ½ pounds now and is about 20 inches long. He’s about the size of a cantaloupe. His fat layers are filling out, making him rounder (therefore, making me rounder!). His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well.

I’ve started having some back pain during the past few weeks. Our son is getting to be a big ol’ boy and his weight is taking a toll on my body. He’s totally trying to slow me down and cramp my style, but I’m not about to let him do that! I’m still trying to stay as active as possible and work out a few times a week, although I’m not going as hard as I used to.

I had a few days at the beginning of the week where I got home from work and collapsed on the couch, remaining there for the majority of the night. Adam’s been making me dinner, fetching me things, doing the laundry and dishes, bringing me pillows, rubbing my back, and giving me sympathy when I complain. I cry because I feel guilty that I’m a burden on him, even though he insists that I’m not. I am so grateful for him. He’s been an angel.

The baby is more active than ever. He is also very predictable. He is busiest around 10:30 or 11:00 pm while we’re lying in bed having our pillow talk before we go to sleep. Adam puts his hands on my belly and we laugh our heads off as he kicks, punches, rolls, glides, bounces, and swims around in there. Sometimes if the baby gets especially feisty, Adam puts his head down by the baby and yells at him, telling him to be nice to his mom and to not hurt me. But he also tells the baby how much he loves him and how he can’t wait to be best friends with him. Every day, I look forward to our time together, just the three of us. I know that these moments are the ones I’m going to look back on and cherish.

Only 2 more weeks until our 3rd and final ultrasound. It will be the last time we’ll see Merl in black and white. The next time we see him after the 21st will be in the flesh. He’ll be bright red, screaming, and covered in slime, with a smooshed face and cone shaped head. I can’t wait!

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day!

Too Tired to Blog

Do you ever feel so overwhelmed by the amount that you have to blog in order to catch up that the sheer volume of it makes you not even want to blog at all? That's how I feel right now. I just finished sorting through, organizing, and cropping the hundreds of photos from my recent trip to Utah and my baby showers. I don't know where to start or how to organize it all. Do I do a separate post for each baby shower, event, funny moment, etc. or do I just slap some random pictures up and call it good? Ugh.

You may or may not see some new posts in the next few days, depending on whether I can muster up the energy. Don't be surprised either way.

Flag Football

Adam gets together with some of his friends once a week to play flag football at the park. I decided to tag along this week to be the team's official photographer. After the game, he emailed a bunch of the pictures to his friends. As expected, they loved seeing the photos of themselves with their muscles flexing, their flags flapping in the wind, and their bodies airborne.

Boys will be boys...