Born on January 21st.  Mama and Papa are in love.

Update on the birth story to come, but short story is: water broke -> tried no meds -> tried epidural and pitocin -> had c-section -> gave birth to lovely healthy baby and mama is doing great and St.Lukes Roosevelt Hospital Labor and Delivery Floor is the best.  The cowlick on Parker’s head is from the knot that formed because she wouldn’t budge past the pelvis from her face-up position.   Grateful for my wonderful husband and awesome doula.  I feel so lucky!

The last week or so before I become a mommy!!

Right now I’m playing the waiting game till my newborn arrives.  Too bad I didn’t take a weekly belly photo but there are so many belly photos out here on the web and it’s not like mine is that much different.  I basically look the same except for the belly.

Things I’ve done this week since maternity leave has started:

- Able to sit in the car while waiting for alternate side street parking to open up.  During this time I sit in the car for 1.5-2 hours and work on a baby quilt I’ve been trying to finish since December.

- Got a mani/pedi from Bliss spa thanks to Phil and his work!  Painted my nails in a light cotton candy pink.

- Started playing Bejeweled Blitz excessively.

- Napping a lot with the cats.

- Ordered 4 inch Rag & Bone booties on sale at Barneys (plus an additional employee discount) with the firm expectation that I’ll get to wear these after pregnancy.  My feet haven’t swollen up too much but I have been wearing size 7 Born shoes the entire past 6 months in order to stay comfortable.  Hopefully my feet will fit right into those size 6 R&B’s next month…

- Some walking around, some food shopping but nothing excessive.

- met with our doula, sit on yoga ball, do laundry

Things I still have to do:

- Make sure labor bag is complete.  I think all I have to do is make sure we have cookies/treats to give to the staff at the hospital.

- Pack stuff in the apt – we’re moving again in a month!!

- Practice labor moves like stretching and belly dancing.

I kind of wonder what I’d be doing if this was a staycation and not just me waiting for a baby to arrive.  I kind of feel like I’d be doing pretty much the same stuff but a whole lot faster and with less moans and grunting?

Things I can’t wait to do again after pregancy:

- Working out and exercising.

- Going back to my normal wardrobe.

- Eat sushi

- Drinking alcohol

Things I will miss about pregnancy:

- Random strangers being nice and concerned

- Sleep bombs (napping excessively) without guilt

- Feeling the baby move in the belly

I wonder what else I’ll think of once our baby arrives.  Phil and I are super excited and it’s strange to be in this waiting period, since we kind of have to hold our excitement in till the baby comes.

Yes I’m 27 weeks along on the pregnancy road!  The baby is the size of an eggplant now and seems to correlate with the size of my growing belly.  I will probably be posting a lot more baby related posts on this blog, but will try to keep it mixed up with other things — but I can’t guarantee that this won’t turn into a full-blown mommy blog.  There’s just so much to discuss about in this world!!  I will also be posting a lot of baby stuff on the other blog that I share with pa pa.

I’m still working full-time now which makes it tough to post regularly.  After work I want to do nothing but surf the internets about baby things, and on the weekend I like to lounge around the apartment while husbie makes breakfast.  Now that I’m heading into the third trimester, I’m ready to start thinking about my labor and just ordered this book from Amazon: Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds.  I’m planning on giving birth at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital at the Birthing Center but am trying to prepare myself in case I won’t be allowed to (depending on when the baby decides to arrive.. if it’s breech.. etc…)  I really want an unmedicated birth and am going to try to stay in labor for as long as I can at home before heading to the hospital (which is only 5 blocks away).  I know a lot of moms say this and end up demanding pain killers but if anyone knows me they know I will really follow up on this… I think pain is relative and can be mentally controlled.  We’ll see.

I’m still actually going to band practice which isn’t too demanding since we haven’t had any new shows since June.  We are planning on a show in November and a radio show next week.  I don’t know if I will be able to do more than that though, pregnancy does make me lethargic but I would like to play one show where I’m nice and big.

My first public belly picture. So excited! Still no strange cravings yet but I do get teary eyed about anything remotely sentimental.

Wedding bouquet that I wanted to keep and not toss…

Us hiking along a coastal trail in Oregon…