BABY TIME!!!

Went for my Monday appt totally dreaming of lunch afterwards and maybe even stoppin to finally get my oil changed....WRONG! They did an NST and it took us a bit to get him moving but it was good bc his heart rate was variable with his movements (drinkin a lil water goes far). However, when the dr. did an ultrasound to check my fluids things changed a bit. She tried 3 times but it kept measuring low (at about 3 when 10 is the low "normal") and she sent me to labor & delivery -- quite a walk all by yourself when you weren't expecting it! I was all ready to wear my cute maternity clothes through Thurs. when they were originally going to induce. So I got in and all hooked up at 2pm...pitocin started at 3pm...at 7pm when they checked me was barely 1/2cm dilated and 50% effaced....still chillin' there when checked again at 9pm. Dr. let me unhook from bed rest & pitocin then to eat something & shower (so relaxing & good time waster) since it probably won't be until after 9am when they make a decision on how he's makin his entrance into the world. Doc isn't so sure my beautiful but non-childbearing-friendly pelvis will actually let Peanut engage...so we're giving it a good ole college try for now. Jimmy has been amazing with massages and all other requests. Gma Chele refused to go to work so she didn't miss anything and John kept her company for awhile. Pops & g.g. made it up here safely to join the par-tay too. Dad is the only smart one that went home to sleep some tonight and keep Easton & Charlie from going doggie crazy. So it's 2:40am now and I can't get uber comfortable to try and get some zzzzz's but I think it may be worth a shot so we have some energy to meet our lil' man in the morning! Lotsa love!!!

And So My Summer Break Begins

I made it through 38 weeks, 2 days at work! The drive was getting to be an event I dreaded every day -- 45 - 60 minutes each way of being kicked and having nerves hit was getting old. The CNW (cert. nurse midwife) had told me to stop at 38 weeks, but I figured the 2 extra days would be good to round off my semester and hand it all of to my guest teacher and then I'll miss a nice even 60 days of work -- good thing I haven't taken many sick days since I've been working and they'll all be paid (cha-ching)!

I'm glad I married an engineer so I don't have to do all this baby-gear assembly! Jimmy got the stroller/car seat all set up and it's pretty surreal but we've had the car seat chillin' in his car for over a week now, just in case ;-) Easton is also trying to figure out what the heck the pack-n-play is doing in his spot in the family room -- sorry pupsters, we have limited space in that room.

I had pushed back my weekly visit to Thursday so I could see either the Dr. or the CNW that are the only 2 people in the office that can deliver me right now..well, of course, they were both in doing C-sections, so I got to meet the new PA. She was very nice and informative but the physical part isn't yet her forte as she just switched to obgyn from peds. To the best of her knowledge, I'm still not dilated AT ALL (which I can't believe bc of all the hip pain and the Braxton-Hicks I thought I was having). So I'm going back Monday to get 'er checked out again (so not fun) and they'll tell us the plan for later in the week. If lil' man doesn't come out on his own, they are going to induce bc my pelvis has measured small and they're not sure he'll fit (OUCH)! So if I'm dilated = probably go in Thurs. very early and start Pitocin; if not dilated at all still = go in Wed. night for Cervadil medicine to get the parts ready and then start Pitocin early in the a.m. on Thursday. They said usually babies are born around dinner time on the day they start, but it could potentially go into Friday. If labor isn't progressing, it means he probably can't fit through my pelvis, so they'll have to do a c-section...I just hope they don't let me labor all day long w/ Pitocin contractions (I've heard wonderfully awful stories about them) to only make me go under the knife. At least the Big 10 Bball Tourney starts and Jimmy and I will have something to watch to help distract us during the day! Will update more after my appt. Monday.

My friend Jenny keeps telling me my belly has definitely dropped and gotten bigger -- well, she's finally right. I had been at the same circumference since the 1st of November and when I measured last night, it was actually 1.5 in. bigger -- so looks like Peanut has dropped (easily seen) but also probably put on some weight finally. The PA said she's not very good at estimating weight, but she thought "we have a pretty good sized friend in there" much to my amazement because he was only estimated at 5lb 2oz two weeks ago!!! WOWZERS! The fundal height was measuring at about 39 weeks, so still one week ahead -- maybe he will say Phooey to this induction and just get things done himself!

One of my fav pictures below.

Some Finishing Touches

The weekend of the baby showers, my mom finished up the nursery by adding the safari border to the wall-papered wall, a lamp that was actually mine when I was young (but is now updated with a cute "abc" fabric on it) and having Jim and my dad hang this uber-adorable valence above the window (might I add there was actually NO fighting while hanging this valence..may be a first for g.g. and Pops)! It has lions and elephants on it and the bottom is the "abc" material used on the lamp.
This week Jim and I did some major shopping to Target and Babies R Us to add some finishing touches to the nursery. We needed a mattress to put in the crib (helpful) along with some other items. I did a load of laundry to get all of his essentials (i.e. sheets, mattress pads, clothes to come home in) that say "wash before use" all cleaned up for him Saturday night (fun, no, but yes, productive night). I was afraid of the "Wrath of Jan" so I ironed the dust ruffle for the bedding this morning after giving Easton breakfast -- which lead to me ironing the sheets -- WHO IRONS SHEETS!?! I must admit, I kept thinking I was going crazy and told myself it was stupid to do, but I HAD to get the wrinkles out of at least the sheet that would be the top layer -- can you say "nesting?" Maybe he won't make it to being induced - ahhhh, scary! We read somewhere to do a few layers of sheet-mattress pad-sheet to help make bed changes easier in middle of the night -- hopefully it works! Here is a pic of the bedding all put together (a crib looks so much nicer w/o baby clothes all over it)! Don't worry people, the quilt and bumper will be promptly removed when he starts sleeping in there, just looks so darn cute right now. Did you know, having a fan running anywhere in the nursery and all bumpers and quilts removed from the crib has shown a reduction of SIDS cases by 90%? SOLD, consider them gone! We got a mesh bumper for later to keep the airflow moving but keep his arms/hands inside the crib and have some sleep Halos to try out too.

The decor turned out awesome! We added some shelving, which is now the proud home to the giraffe bank Aunt Kris got Peanut, a stork and Curious George from Amanda. Laura S. hooked him up with the lion, monkey and elephant for the wall above the dresser -- thanks ladies! PS -- I got some turtles in there on the dresser, no worries ;-)

The changing table wall features a longer shelf with a bank, music box and clown decoration from my nursery and the frame to hold a newborn pic and his ID bracelet from the hospital. The diaper changing station has been all set up but I'm sure we'll have some tweaking to do when we start to figure things out!

Now all we need is a Peanut to fill this stuff up -- but we're both OK with him waiting until closer to his due date so we can get a few extra nights of shut eye ;-) Less than 3 weeks!

36 Weeks

We went for our 36 week appt on Tuesday. It included the last growth ultrasound (which Jim got to see, yeah, but didn't prove for a good pic as Peanut is pretty much out of room in there), a non-stress test and some very interesting "predictors." The ultrasound showed Peanut at about 34 weeks, approx 5lbs 2 oz...puts me behind about 2 weeks; however, he's still in the 49th percentile for his gestation age...only weird part is he only put on about 4oz in the last 3 weeks, whereas they are supposed to gain .5-1.0lb/week the last few weeks. The amniotic fluid was at 10.7 (normal 10-25), so towards the lower end there, but still "normal." The non-stress test was good -- midwife came in room bc she heard so many baby movements -- he was going to town in there with his kickboxing routine! Then she measured my belly with the tape measure and it showed me at 37 weeks -- so one week ahead on this one! As I was all over the place she went to talk to the doctor (while I took the chance to pee for the 18th time that day) to see if I needed to get a Level II ultrasound (not scary, just more information about if the placenta and other necessary things are working properly...who knew a placenta had an "expiration" date of sorts, huh?). She came back to tell us no ultrasound, but that if the baby hasn't made an appearance by 39 weeks (March 11th), they are going to induce me...seems that my pelvis just wasn't made for watermelons to squeeze through (which is what I've been saying for years) so they can't let him get too big or we'll end up with either a stuck baby or a C-section and that is far more scary than going early. It's only a week early and he'll be "full-term" on Wednesday this week, so no worries folks! Plus, March 11th makes me that much closer to winning the baby guessing game ;-) Next appt: Tuesday to see what's going on in there!

Amazing Baby Shower Weekend Extravaganza

We had a fun-filled President's Day weekend with 2 baby showers! On Valentine's Day, Jen K. and Amanda threw Peanut an amazing co-ed shower. We had family and friends from both near & far come to celebrate! Thank you to everyone for your thoughtfulness and generosity -- can't wait for you all to meet the Lil' man!

The wonderful ladies in charge of getting the party off without a hitch -- Amanda and Jen K. -- we cannot say enough "Thank yous" to let you know how grateful we are!

The happy parents-to-be

We love Grandma's -- Jimmy, Dani & Grandma 'Chele

I love my Mom -- g.g. (Grandma Gross)

I heart my Dad too -- Me and Pops

Aunt Kris and Aunt Cass drove in for the occasion too! They can't wait to meet their first nephew, but do enjoy rubbing the Buddha belly to try and feel him moving in the mean time!

Jen K. made a cupcake cake, Twon, who was magically delicious :-)

Marketing pitch warning: Tasha made this amazing diaper cake -- it makes me sad that I will have to take it apart bc it's so stinkin' cute (I'm sure after use it will be "stinkin" of a different sort, hehe) -- she should think about making some extra moola on the side doing this...if you're interested, I'll play the middle man for you!

Sunday brought another wonderful day as Jim's mom, aka Grandma 'Chele (pronounced: "shell," name not set in stone, but I do find it sort of flows off the tongue nicely), hosted a beautiful shower for Peanut at Boston Blackies. Montalbano-side family and friends were all there to get us ready for his arrival -- boy did they hook us up with some great items -- from necessities to toys to clothes and everything in between! Thank you very much to all for your words of wisdom and your thoughtfulness :-) (I didn't have my camera, so pictures will have to be added at a later date).

Surprise!

Oh what fun!Oh what joy!

The Montalbano’s are having a sweet baby boy!

Please Join us for Jim’s Baby Shower in the Kitchen

Wednesday, February 4th at 3PM

So the actual evite looks much cuter than above, but it gets the point across. Jim's work pals surprised him with a baby shower at work yesterday. I think that is fantastic! Let's him be the main source of attention for once regarding the baby and get the props that he deserves because he's going to make an excellent father. He came home with his hands loaded with baby gear and I was surprised too, so that was fun! It was so nice and kind of them to think of us and I'm happy he works with such excellent, caring people. Thanks to all involved and I'll post pictures when I get them from Mikey.

Christmas Pics

The Whole Fam (minus puppers Callie and Dutch)

I know, a little past the season, but I just received copies of our Christmas pics, so I thought I'd share and re-live the holidays. We were here for Christmas -- the Montalbano side on Eve and the Romano side on Christmas day...then we headed off to Indy to visit my family. I don't think we got any group shots from the Chicago-land Christmas', but we'll see what we can do for next year!

Our family pic
Easton got into the action but actually opening his present too, versus just trying to eat the wrapping paper :-)

I HEART MY SISTERS!!!