A Girl Named PJ

packing for the hospital

June 22, 2011

I have been putting off packing my hospital bag for the last couple of weeks for fear the baby would take it as an invitation to come early. (Can you tell I’m still feeling more anxious than excited about meeting this little guy?)

But per my doctor’s recommendation at Tuesday’s appointment, JB and I finally (over)packed our clothing and toiletries bag. We also made a list of what will go in our “last minute” bag, mostly electronics including cameras, our phone chargers and my iPad.

My sweet Briscoe is hoping I’ll be able to take him with us, too. Sorry, puppy!

{my photo}

a reading list for new moms

June 22, 2011

By now I’m sure you’ve heard that Natalie Portman gave birth to a baby boy last week. (For some reason, I knew she was going to have a boy!) The next day, a writer from the Los Angeles Times put together a reading list of new mom books for Natalie “to ease any pain of brand-new motherhood” because even though she is a celebrity “that doesn’t mean she will be spared the hormone-induced self-doubt and anxiety that everyone feels right after they give birth.”

Love that.

As I’ve mentioned before, I didn’t read many advice books during my pregnancy besides the classic “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” Now I’m wondering if I need to start flipping through some parenting ones. Or is it premature to begin reading about sleep schedules and such?

What parenting books, if any, should I add to my must-read list?

{parenting advice image via Babble}

beginning the post-partum preparations

June 20, 2011

Last night JB and I made 3 lasagnas: two to save for after baby’s arrival and one to eat this week. I suppose you could say we are nesting (and that we really, really, really like Italian food).

{photo of uncooked lasagnas by me}

36 weeks: a review

June 20, 2011

This past week was incredibly exciting, productive and emotional. It began last Saturday with a 6-hour Prepared Childbirth Class at the hospital where I’ll be delivering. Oh, and did I mention that my mom, sister and mother-in-law were in town? Unfortunately, JB and I had to ditch them for most of the day, but they managed to entertain themselves just fine.

I was hoping I’d leave the class feeling more confident about giving birth than when I entered but watching the dated videos of partially naked (and underage?) women squirming and moaning freaked me out more than anything. They all looked SO uncomfortable. Yes, I suppose now we know the technical stages of labor, but I’m still not emotionally prepared for it!

On Sunday the 12th, two wonderful friends threw me a lovely, intimate baby shower. From the flowers and the decorations to the food and the favors, every detail was perfect — and perfectly me. I received such thoughtful gifts from my family and Omaha friends, and the baby is well on his way to having everything he needs to start his brand new life. There’s definitely more to say about the shower, so I’ll recap and post photos later this week.

I saw my doctor on Tuesday and learned I was now 3cm dilated but still 75% effaced, but she still thinks I’ll have the baby closer to my due date. I also had blood drawn to have my platelets counted. In April I was told that my platelets were on the low end of normal, so I’m now having them checked at my weekly appointments. At 35 weeks, they were at 107,000. At 36 weeks were, they dropped slightly to 104,000. We need them to stay above 100,000 because, if they don’t, I may not be able to have an epidural if I want one. Think big numbers for me, friends!

Unfortunately, the week ended on a very sad note. Friday night I learned that my hairstylist, an amazingly talented and kind woman, died tragically early Thursday morning. She did my hair Wednesday evening for our maternity photo shoot, and it’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that I was one of her very last clients. She was the only person who thought I was having a boy before we knew the sex of the baby, and the last thing I said to her when I was leaving the salon was that I’d bring the little man with me at my next appointment. I’m so shocked by her death that I’m not even sure what else to say…except that every time I look at our maternity photos, I’ll know I’ll be thinking about her.

{self-portrait taken at 36 weeks, 5 days}

laundry time!

June 18, 2011

Last night I did my first load of laundry for the baby — well, first two loads, since I washed lights and darks separately. Gotta get all those newborn onesies and burp cloths clean for his arrival (which will hopefully not be for another 3 weeks.)

Milestone!

For the record, I didn’t purchase that vat of Dreft. It was given to me by a friend who recently moved overseas with her husband and sweet 7-month-old. When it’s empty, we’ll go back to using our all free clear detergent. Babies don’t really need their own laundry detergent, do they?

{my photo}