Monday, September 24, 2012

What a Weekend

My weekend started Saturday morning with Simon showing me a text from my mom:
"I know you're up before Allison, so I thought I'd text you. Kim is in labor." (or something to that effect)

So of course the phone calls began. Mom was already on her way to Columbia. I talked with Lori, and we agreed to wait until I was out of my breastfeeding class to make any decision - as we all know these things can take time.

I headed off to my breastfeeding class where really the main things I remember are the three Ws: Wake (baby should be awake, duh); Wide open mouth; and Whop him on (otherwise known as latch). Oh, and evidently during his first three weeks of life, I will be consumed with these three Ws. I have marked my calendar.

While I was at breastfeeding, Simon was at Daddy Bootcamp. He said he enjoyed the class but couldn't really say too much specifically about what he learned....other than the importance of fatherhood. That seemed like enough for me, so I'd say it was well worth his time!

Needless to say, Kim is pretty much a baby-making professional, so by the time my 2-hour class was out (11 a.m.) we had a new "Aiken Girl"....even though she's not really an Aiken, I know. So I headed to Lori's, and we hit the road. And here she is:



 
 
She was a little slow to warm up, so me, mom, Lori and all 6 kids entertained ourselves in the hospital until she was warm enough to leave the nursery. We wanted to see her in person - not just through the nursery windows.
 
 
The girls were very impressed with the moving recycle belt and cleaned our tables....only after complaining about having to "work here" to Nanny.
 
 
My (aka) walking baby doll niece and I hanging out in the hallway. As you can see there was not a lot going on for a Saturday afternoon....most of Columbia was watching the Gamecocks, so it's understandable.
 
While we never got to hold the new baby, we finally got to see her in person before we headed back to Charlotte.
 
This left Sunday with a whole list of chores to complete. Luckily, Simon had completed all the normal home stuff Saturday, so I got to take part in the more fun activities like.....
 
putting together the changing table (OK, so I mostly observed Simon putting it together):
 

Voila!



I did give Baby Z's walls one final coat of paint...after Uncle Skip finished up the edging in blue. I also found the white paint for the molding and was able to touch up that all the way around the room. Here's a shot (pre-edging) with his crib mattress up against the wall.


Now Baby Z has a clean, painted room and a place for us to change his diaper...and we even have some diapers and wipes. P-R-O-G-R-E-S-S feels good.

We ended our weekend having dinner with Baby Z's soon-to-be BFF, Nolan, down the street. Nolan is 4 months old and will be sharing all the big, bad, boy secrets with Baby Z, I am sure! His parents, Laura and Ricardo, will share them with us (hopefully)!

On a side note....my awesomely talented friend Annie came up with this logo for our Team Kim: Charlotte Edition breast cancer walk. We'll be walking in two weekends....read more here.

Friday, September 21, 2012

It's a Total Team Sport

I've never played a team sport...unless you consider my fourth grade teacher's mid-afternoon soccer games a "sport." I was on our high school swim team, and yes, I was on a few relay teams, but let's be honest....swimming is an "I" sport.

I technically work as part of a team in my current job. All my coworkers are great, but again, it's more of an "I" job that I do. Our team really consists of four web guys and me. (yes I'm the only chick on the team)

Needless to say, I had kinda assumed this whole pregnancy thing would have to be an "I" event in my life. Yes, I am married, and I knew Simon would be supportive, but I thought I was being realistic when I told myself to be prepared to do all the work. Well....I am happy to report I WAS WRONG!

From the day I showed Simon the pee stick that read: PREGNANT, he's been a super champ, and I don't know how I would have made it this far without him. Seriously how to single women do this?

Once I started showing, all of the attention was focused on me. I'm sure he doesn't mind it most of the time - he's not a real attention hog. But I wanted to take this moment to share a little bit about how Simon has been such a fabulous partner in this journey.

  • he does ALL the dishes - without even being asked
  • he does all the grocery shopping
  • he never complained once when I started over shopping for maternity clothes :)
  • he covers me up at night because I can't do it myself anymore (awesome body pillow makes sleeping great but getting into bed tricky)
  • if/when I forget something up/downstairs, he voluntarily runs and gets it for me
  • he saves the last grapes for me
  • he bought me a prenatal massage
  • he wants to go to all my appointments....but I tell him it's really ridiculous for him to be there at the ones that last 5 minutes
  • he tells me I'm beautiful
  • he notices when I am wearing something new/different
  • he props my feet up on the couch for me (dude, lifting my own legs is getting more and more difficult)
  • when I came home crying because everyone continually tells me they're certain I'm having twins, he comforted me and listed to my ridiculous rants of "What's wrong with people"...to which, of course, there is no answer
  • every time I wake up to pee at night, he asks me if I need anything
  • a billion other little things that I don't have time to type out
And perhaps the most useful thing he does is get this look on his face when we're together and random people make sweet comments. He looks so proud and happy.

I think I see much more of this in his future:

I am one lucky woman!

Monday, September 17, 2012

A 30-Week Update

Baby Z is pretty active...especially in the mornings at work. At today's 30-week appointment, the doctor went to listen for his heart rate and kept saying, "Wow, he is a mover." Needless to say, he found a solid place to listen in, and Baby Z's heart rate sounded great. The doctor also pushed around my belly and confirmed that he's head down with his bum right up in my right rib cage. That was our theory since that part of my belly is as hard as a rock, and I can feel him sneak up there from time to time. Supposedly, all the movement could start to slow down soon since he's going to start running out of room.

Here's how we're looking:



Simon and I had our first childbirth classes Thursday and Friday nights last week. They were pretty helpful, and we had a fun teacher (which always helps). Probably the best piece of advice she gave was to the dads: "Don't watch any procedure that starts with an E!" (epidural, episiotomy, evacuation of anything....you get the point!)

I'm still feeling pretty good. Other than when he seems to crawl up in my right side, I can still sit comfortably and breathe well. I am still able to be pretty active, and my energy level lasts fairly well these days.

After cooking me breakfast Saturday, Simon and I started painting his room. I think it looks really good. The color is called Deep Ocean Blue, and I'd say that's a pretty fair name. Lori and the girls came over to look at it Sunday, and they agreed. Uncle Skip will come paint all the edging for us sometime soon. Neither Dad nor I are patient enough to do a good job at that!

French toast...yummy!
 

 
Here is the fabric up against the paint on the wall. We've ordered enough fabric for Miss Nadine to make some curtains for his room. I can't wait for it to come in.  I've also ordered a fitted sheet off Etsy in the same pattern.
 
 

I am now seeing the doctor every two weeks, so we should have another update on Baby Z's progress in October!

Friday, September 14, 2012

How Training for a Marathon Prepared Me for Pregnancy

While on the treadmill today, I had a thought: "I've felt like this before...." When? How? Then it hit me....during my previous marathon trainings. So here are my thoughts is my thought on how all those months of running prepped me for all these months of growing a baby:
  1. Both consume your life
OK, so here's how/why that happens:
  • Both dictate when, how much and how often you go to the bathroom....and yes, I went straight for the bathroom commentary. If you've either grown a baby or trained for a marathon, you know why.
  • Both dictate your sleeping patterns - everything from going to bed at 7 p.m.; waking up at 5 a.m.; and the achy hips you discover at 3 a.m.
  • Both totally dictate your eating patterns. You have never in your life wanted a milkshake so badly nor ever in your life known a milkshake was probably the worst thing you could consume...which leads me to...
  • Both make you ridiculously responsible. From not drinking alcohol while prego to wearing sneakers with your dress pants for safety the week before your race.

Yes, that's been me!


So yes, I am still running at 30 weeks pregnant. Why bother, you may ask? Well, for me, running has become my free version of therapy. I take the time to either:
a) watch trashy television while on the treadmill OR
b) jam out to some total chick rock music while on the road.
After a mere 30 minutes of running, I have worked up a good, healthy sweat and have forgotten about any and all things that may have stressed me out just 30 minutes prior.

When I got pregnant I did some research (OK, Googled the heck out of it) about running while pregnant, asked my doctors, asked some friends who are moms and runners, and finally I came to terms with the fact that I might only have a few weeks left with my afternoon therapy session. The consensus among the aforementioned group of experts (including Google) was somewhere in the 20s, I'd probably have to stop running and resign myself to walking. :(

So here I am at week 30 and still enjoying running. I can't believe it! Granted, I'm not getting my usual 3 miles in 30 minutes anymore, but who cares! With a little 5-minutes walking warm up, I can hang in there for at least 20 minutes of jogging. I don't get as sweaty anymore because everyone says it's important not to overheat (and I keep the fans directly on me at the gym), but that's worked out well too since my hair isn't gross and sticking to my face afterward!

With 10 weeks to go, I'm sure the day will come soon enough where even a mere 20 minutes seems like an eternity to me on the treadmill. Until then...I'm going to be hitting the rubber road - aka treadmill with fan and TV.

And yes, I've given up wearing heels to work again.....no one seems to mind or really to have even noticed!


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Will he LOVE grapes?

I'm a big fan of borrowing other people's ideas...isn't that the most sincere form of flattery? So when I read this the other day, I thought I might write a little bit about my pregnancy food regimen.

From about week 6 to week 12, I didn't want anything. Even my most valued food possession in the house - the bowl of crispy M&Ms - just sat there. Every day I looked at them and thought: "Nah, don't feel like it today."



I quickly realized this was probably a blessing in disguise. I mean, pre-pregnancy, I could eat an entire "pounder" bag of M&Ms in one sitting and not blink an eye. So, by having them simply not even look appetizing, I probably saved myself a good 5-10 pounds of what I would have obviously called pregnancy weight.

I knew I was heading out of the woods of the first trimester when all of a sudden I wanted to eat those crispy M&Ms. Fortunately, they'd now been sitting on our counter for 3 months and kinda looked gross....but yes, I still ate a good number of them!

But even then, after about a handful, I was content. The thought of housing a pounder bag did not sound fun anymore. And then somewhere around the middle of the second trimester, chocolate began to give me heartburn when consumed in more-than-a-handful-sized quantities.

I've had no real cravings for anything in particular. Well, from the beginning, I noticed a growing love of chips and salty things, so I suppose you could say I have craved them. But I haven't had Simon running to the store at midnight for anything - except TUMS once.



All of this to say....I've had many women tell me how much they loved being pregnant because they just ate whatever they wanted without a care in the world. I usually just smile and give a nice Church Lady-like "well, isn't that special."
 
But what I really want to say is: "Why would you do that? Isn't  now probably the most important time in your life to be eating well?" Perhaps one day I'll understand?
 
Now that I'm into the third trimester, I have indeed become HUNGRY from time to time. I told Simon last weekend that I felt like I was back in marathon training where you eat and then 2 hours later you're starving again. As during marathon training, I'm working on being good and sticking to healthier snacks like granola, yogurt, fruit, etc, but man, is the Dairy Queen down the street looking more and more appetising (and no, I have not made a run for DQ....YET).
 
I've probably eaten my weight in grapes and apples, but I just can't seem to get enough of them - especially the grapes at night! So my guess is that Baby Z will either passionately love or passionately hate grapes when he arrives (and grows teeth, of course).

Monday, September 10, 2012

Where is the Chick-fil-A?


Simon and I had our hospital tour Friday after work. Our plan is to deliver at CMC-Main...mostly because that's where our practice prefers but also because I am comfortable there. I  know where the Chick-fil-A and parking lot are...perhaps the two most important features of any hospital, right!?
 
I'd seen one of the old delivery rooms when Lily was born, but we got to see one of the new rooms during the tour - both are very nice and spacious. The tour guide was disappointed to tell us the new rooms don't have VHS available - only DVD and BluRay. (She really didn't look that old!)
 
Saturday we celebrated our 1 year anniversary. We went to Zebra and spent way too much money, but we figured this was probably our last chance to a) spend that amount of money on something as silly as food and b) have a peaceful, stress-free night together. Simon ate all 20 ounces of his bone-in-fancy steak, and we both wanted to lick the dessert plate when we were finished!

So after several nights waking up with ridiculously sore hips, I broke down and bought one of those body pillows. Luckily I was able to get it at the local consignment store, so it was only $25 as opposed the the $50+ I've seen them advertised for. I'm not sure if it really helps me sleep, but it is at least way more comfortable than having 6 pillows surrounding me on the bed!
 
All throughout the weekend, we had strangers talking to us - asking how I was feeling, when we're due, what's his name, etc., etc. Luckily no one asked if we were having twins, so Simon didn't have to hurt anyone! Here's the latest look at my belly...
 
 

 


 

Friday, September 7, 2012

People Can Be Nice...


So after a week feeling like a whale  because of strangers' comments, today I realized some strangers are still nice.

I had a dentist cleaning this morning and all the ladies in the office smiled at me and said sweet things about little boys.

I walked into a meeting at work where there weren't any empty chairs and three people (men and women) stood up to let me have a seat.

And then (has nothing to do with people being nice) I realized I (hopefully) will be 8 month preggo at Halloween this year - oh we can have fun with this:


You know me and the beach....this one could be perfect!
 
 
 
I think Simon could really enjoy this one.....

 
And I have always wanted to be a mermaid....



OK, I am realistic and understand that none of the women in these photos are probably 8 months along but hey - have I ever been super modest?


Thursday, September 6, 2012

It's not actually all about me

Even though - as I was reminded this weekend - I didn't cut my own meat until I was probably well into my teens, I do realize this life is not all about me. And what can I say...I had a grandfather who enjoyed taking care of me.

With that in mind, I shall try and make this blog NOT all about me either!

So here goes my first attempt:

I must admit, when I'd heard about my friend Kim's diagnosis, I was scared. Kim was 33 and had just added a sweet baby girl to her family six months prior. After losing a dear friend to cancer not too long ago, I had begun to think of the 'c-word' as something that was unbeatable. Luckily, I was WRONG. Kim has beaten her cancer and is proof that something so negative can really bring out the best in people.

Instead of me trying to tell her story here, I encourage you to read it here.

 
Kim's Family


And so yes, I am also asking for your donations to our team: Team Kim. We're walking in the Oct. 6 Komen for the Cure Walk in Charlotte. You can donate on my page here. The others on my team are certain that I will be able to raise a bazillion dollars, so please don't let them down (no pressure!)

But really....thanks in advance.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Showered With Love

We had our first baby shower over the Labor Day holiday weekend - thrown by our Florida Family. And as usual, it was spectacular. Simon and I took Friday off and drove down. Skip, Lori and the girls were a few hours behind us. We stayed in NanaBob's house across the street from the Micklers. At one point Allie said, "Mommy, I like this house better than ours." She's in a fairly complimentary mood these days, but I think she might have stayed there forever if we let her!



Dad Mickler and Simon headed to the Gator game in Gainesville Saturday afternoon while I stayed inside with the AC on full blast. The Erwin clan hit the sights on St. George Street but then also had to come hibernate indoors with me!

The shower was Sunday evening, and thankfully, the heat and humidity had dissipated a bit...and by dissipated, I mean it was only 90 degrees with 70 percent humidity. :) We had a delicious spread of food and fun boy blue decorations everywhere. Isla and Allie enjoyed passing out our presents.


I think you can view most of the present-opening fun in the video above? (We...ok I cannot lie.....my favorite gift was, of course, his first Gamecock jersey!) It's kinda long, but be sure and skip to the end to see the special messsage from Allie.

Needless to say, it was a wonderful weekend, and we are truly blessed to have such awesome extended family.

THANKS Florida Family!!




Love, Alli, Simon & Baby Z