BabyBean

Weekends of Wine Tasting & Designated Driving

We just had a great couple of weekends of driving around the Santa Cruz Mountains and tasting wine (smelling for me that is). The weather was not too hot, it was a tiny bit sunny, and even though for the first time I couldn't try the wine, I still had a blast!! (And so did everyone else if you measure it by the volume of the singing in the backseat!)

For once there is a picture of us together, and it actually looks good! We are at the Chaine d'Or Vineyard in Woodside, about 10 miles or so from where we live. I wish we could just live up here too...

A 9 year old told me on Saturday that, no, it doesn't look like a basketball really, more like a BEACH BALL.

The Crib is in!

In the last few weeks we have spent most of our time doing bean-related chores, I mean tasks... I mean... Well, there's A LOT of work figuring out what we need, especially when you don't have a clue. One of or friends pointed us in the direction of "Baby Bargains", a 600 something page book about what to, and what not to get, for the baby. Phewey. That is some pressure. But it's also been sort of our bible as we've gone through all the baby stuff the world has to offer. And oh yeah, there is A LOT of baby stuff out there. A LOT. Most of the time it is totally overwhelming, but also soo fun. We must have looked at a couple of hundred cribs on numerous websites, and finally settled on one! They had it in stock at Babies r Us, so we just bought it. Silly to think it would fit in the Prius, but with help from a friend we still got it home! Some reviewers complained about not finding a mattress that fit. Our first purchase was too short, more than two fingers between the crib and the mattress is not a good thing. So we measured the crib, then went back to BRU and found a mattress that did fit. (Of course it was not as cheap as the first one, but it FITS and we're happy.)

An entire evening was spent moving every piece of furniture around our tiny tiny bedroom in order to find the perfect spot for the crib. But first thing is first. We had to put it together. It was really a breeze. This is not some shoddy and rickety IKEA furniture for sure.

Musical chairs of furniture arranging began. How about here?

Or maybe next to the bed?

Or maybe on this wall?

Or here?

 

The moral of the story? There was really no need to move everything around. We ended up putting the crib where we originally had planned to put it. Typical. But at least now we know! We also got some cute red linen curtains and other stuff, but no pictures of that  yet.

Yesterday was another Doctor's visit. They are starting to be more frequent now, every two weeks, for another month, and then every week. Gained 4 lbs in 2 weeks (but seriously, I think the big lunch we had before going to the Doctor's attributed to 2 lbs probably, normally we go early in the morning. But anyway.) Baby Bean is definitely growing. Uterus is now at 33 cm, blood pressure is normal, no protein in urine, yadda, yadda, yadda. We got to hear the baby heartbeat again. Somehow it is the most tell tale sign that we do have a baby growing. Apparantly all the kicks, rolls, twirls and general wobbliness of the stomach is not enough. Hearing the heart beat is always new and amazing and wonderful. 145 beats per minute said the Doctor. Isn't there some old wives tale about predicting what the sex is when you know the heartbeat?  I asked if she could tell which way it is situated, and she poked around and said " here's the spine", poked around some more and found the baseball, I mean the head. So we were right. It prefers to hang out on my left side, it scooches its entire body up on that side, head up, and my stomach looks warped with the entire body on the left side, and nothing on the right. Silly baby. The Doctor said it has plenty of time to turn, and to turn numerous times before labor.

It is funny how used to its schedule you become, and how conditioned you are when it communicates "HEY GIVE ME MORE ROOM!" by kicking straight down. We are supposed to do "Kick Counts" now. How long does it take for the baby to kick, twirl, roll, move 10 times? It shouldn't take over an hour.  When it is awake it usually takes about 5 minutes for it to complete the kick count requirement. And it definately has a very specific schedule. This baby wakes up with us in the morning, bops around a little and then goes back to sleep. Around 10 am it is exercise time again, then nap until noonish, exercise, nap until 4 pm, and THEN it bops around until 6-7 usually, regardless of what we do, sitting on the couch, or being out and about. Sleep again until 10-11 pm, then make a ruckus when the parents are trying to go to sleep. It is really the best time to watch the Alien Belly TV though, so we don't mind.

The baby doesn't like when I switch sides either. "Imagine laying in water balloon, and then it changes direction, that has to take some readjusting", my friend said today. After switching sides last night, it looked like the butt was sticking straight up as I had turned on my right side, and it took a while for the baby to readjust. And then I had to switch again.

The funniest thing yesterday was when Jacob was dawdling getting out of bed in the morning. He felt a couple of baby kicks in his back and said "Ok, I guess the little one thinks I should get up too." This week it's supposed to be able to distinguish sounds, so I bet it heard him. This is one opinionated little squirt we have.

Bean Belly

Since so many of you have complained, here are some belly pictures. These were taken last week, wearing non-pregnant jeans, just for a comparison. It has certainly grown in the last month!

We had a Doctor's appointment last week. Gained 2 lbs in a month. (Seems to be all baby weight, these ninja punches are starting to make me flinch!) Blood pressure and all that was fine. The uterus measured 31 cm. Usually it measures in centimeters what it is in weeks, so we should be at 29, pretty nifty huh? But the Doctor just brushed it off, he said it wasn't a big deal. We asked if he could tell which way the baby is situated, he said in week 32 he can, just a couple of more! I'm pretty certain it's in breech, since I keep getting kicked in the ass every day. Multiple times a day. It looks a little like a bowling ball, huh?

Also signed up for a few baby classes, most of them in July. It's getting closer, only ten more weeks... and this is certainly not something procrastinable (that's a word right?)

The bean is as active as ever, especially right before lunch or dinner, or after I drink fruit juice, and ESPECIALLY when it's time to go to sleep. It's starting to get tough to sleep when something is having a party on the inside! Jacob can't feel sorry for me, after all, it is a GOOD thing it's active. It's nice too, and crazy when you feel something very hard and round (a head? a butt?) move across the entire stomach. It makes you wonder what is going on in there sometimes.

Oh, almost forgot! We finished Bay to Breakers! We walked the race at a pretty slow pace, it took us about 3 hrs and 20 minutes, we BARELY made it under the time! Probably an hour slower than normal. It was hot trekking up Hayes Hill, but getting into the park we started feeling the breeze from the ocean, so it was nice! (And check it out, we managed a picture with ALL of us and NO naked people! That may be more difficult than it sounds.)

 

Walking back to Footstock was tiring, but the grass was nice and soft to lie on. We walked about 10 miles that day, got maybe a little sunburnt, then went home and spent 2 hours in the pool before BBQ:ing. That was maybe the nicest. You would think with all that water on the inside, you'd float better in the pool, right? Not the case.

When We Were Young, Very Young. Part I.

Let's start with Jacob. Look at those baby blue blues! There's another picture too with his signature look, but he likes this one better because he smiles, so it goes on the blog! Adorable!

Jacob and big brother Dustin in their cute matching sailor outfits.

We still got in a picture with his signature look. This is still the look on his face when he watches TV. He doesn't hang over the couch like that anymore though.

And how cute is this? Check out those cute little shoulder blades. So adorable when he sleeps! And he still sleeps just like this.

50 % of Baby Bean genes. I think they are pretty damn cute.