6 weeks left!

Just a short update after that awesome guest post last week. :) Baby is doing well and all of my check-ups thus far have been right on target. My next one (in two weeks) I'll get to have another ultrasound so we can measure him and see how he's developing! I can't wait to see this little man. Supposedly he's currently about the size of a honeydew melon and he sure feels like it! He's now at a point of kicking, punching and elbowing me non-stop. I may be uncomfortable a lot, but I'm certainly happy to know he's doing well in there! Here's a belly shot for anyone who's interested in seeing how huge I am:

And I've still got six weeks to go! Right now it just feels like I'm playing the waiting game, because his room is pretty much done and I don't have too much left to prepare. I start my maternity leave November 10th, and I plan on using that time to hopefully prepare some freezer meals in advance, get the car seat and hospital bags put in the car "just in case!" and to re-read some of the books I read earlier in the pregnancy. We also have a few pregnancy classes scheduled for the next couple of weeks, which Philip will be going with me to. :) And my mom is even going to a grandparent's class to freshen up her baby skills! It has been about 30 years since she's taken care of a newborn, but I'm pretty confident in her abilities. She's even been proactive about making sure she got the Tdap vaccine (Tetanus, diptheria and pertussis or whooping cough) especially since there has been an outbreak of whooping cough recently, and newborns are extremely susceptible to it.

So from now until November 10th it's performing Simon Boccanegra and Elektra and lying around a lot, and from then on it's a few little errands and more lying around until the little man comes and creates an entirely different life for us.  I can't wait!

Guest Post!!!

Hi, friends!  Philip here for a “guest” update!  I’m not much of a blogger, so I’ll go stream of consciousness, okay?

You know what would be an easy topic to start with?  The Hobbit.  I believe Marie has already told you (gentle reader) how I have been reading this book — tied for Greatest Book In The World — to her and the baby before bed.  And how the baby LOVES it!

See?  What’s not to like about this baby business?  Can you imagine, when the baby is born, all the stories we shall tell and the games we shall play?

I want you to see the AWESOMENESS that is the baby’s room.  It’s hobbit-themed, of course.  Yellow and green are the dominant colors.  Marie gets the most credit for the decoration.  Check it out:

The single best part is that Penny (Marie’s sister) painted some incredible reproductions of some of Tolkien’s art from The Hobbit.  These photos give you an idea of how great these look in the room, but they can not quite convey just how stunning they are in person.  I can say without wavering that these are now my most prized possession — I would rescue these from a burning building before my War of the Ring Collector’s Edition or Dungeons & Dragons White Box (but after the wife and baby and cat)!

So, thanks, Penny!  You’re the best!

Marie, though, is also the best, because, as I said, she did EVERYTHING else in the room.  Like, personally sewed it, and stuff.  She even made the Dwarf-rune ABCs!  How did I ever deserve such an amazing girl?

Anyway, we are now done with The Hobbit and on to The Book of Lost Tales — unsurprisingly, also tied for Greatest Book In The World.

What else?  Well, I joined a gym, because I want to be the most energetic papa ever.  Actually, I need the energy already, just to get through the day.  Poor Marie has such a hard time getting up, so she often has me go fetch things for her.  And the dishes aren’t going to wash themselves.  So anyway, I have a buddy that I have to drive to and from the gym at set times — 5 times a week, actually — which keeps me accountable.  So far I’ve only had to cancel about once per week.  Not bad!  But I weighed myself, and I have gained 9 pounds since I joined.  All muscle, of course, but, come on!  Luckily, Marie is glad I’m still heavier (much heavier) than she is, so, I guess that’s okay!

She really looks amazing, and is so brave to go to rehearsal all the time when she’s got such a great burden.  You can now see the baby pushing against the edges, creating a lopsided belly, and feel him kicking REAL hard!  It’s pretty crazy how close he is to being fully present with us, and yet so far away.

We had a scare about a week ago.  We were stopped at a light, when BAM, we got rear-ended.  For Marie, this was the second time in one week.  Of course we rushed to the hospital to monitor the baby’s heart-rate and Marie’s contractions.  Turns out everything is fine — thank God!  And our car, rear-ended three times in as many months, barely has a scratch!  While the cars that hit it are smashed up real good.  Gotta love Ford SUVs!  But, seriously, people, stop running into us, KTHX.

That’s enough for today, friends!  We ask your prayers for our baby as we enter the home stretch, the final two months (or less) of Marie’s pregnancy.  Holy Father Tikhon pray to God for us!

31 weeks down, 9 to go!

Only 9 more weeks to go! Only about 65 more days! Time is flying, but it also seems to be taking forever!

Pregnancy is a roller-coaster. At the moment, I am quite content to be lying down and just feeling the baby squirm around while Philip prepares a delicious breakfast-for-dinner! (I have the best husband.) Some days are great (today was one of them!) but others are just weird, painful or strange.

I actually got in a car accident on Friday- I was rear-ended on the freeway by some sixteen-year-old stereotype in her pink pajama pants and bleached blonde hair talking on her cellphone. Her front end was pretty smashed in, but our wonderful car had barely a scratch! Still, I had to go into the hospital and they monitored me for about 6 hours to make sure the baby was okay and it didn't induce labor. I had a few contractions, but nothing major so they sent me home. Then yesterday I started having contractions AGAIN, which totally freaked me out, but the on-call doctor didn't seem too concerned and just put me on bedrest for the night and had me make an appointment for this morning. Of course, today I'm having no problems, and the doctor thinks the two really painful contractions were from over-exerting myself and the less-painful ones were just Braxton-Hicks contractions and that I don't need to worry unless I have more than five in an hour, start bleeding or my water breaks. Phew! So glad none of that is happening! But the best part is that this little guy has been super active the entire time as if to say, "Don't worry mama, I'm doing great!"

I'm measuring a couple weeks ahead, which is exciting to me! But I do want him to keep cooking as long as he needs to- as much as I want to meet this little man I want him to be as healthy as possible even more.

After having these little scares this weekend, I am so happy to feel as prepared as I am. There's still a few things I'd like to get, I just signed up for a few of the classes the hospital offers (birthing class, breastfeeding class, and infant cpr/first aid) so I still have to take those and I have yet to pack my hospital bags. But if the baby came early and none of those things had happened I could deal. I don't think I'll ever feel completely prepared for the actual raising of a child (!) but at least we have a carseat and diapers and a few things for him to wear. :)

I've got the rest of my pregnancy broken down by my work schedule- I just finished the last of my music rehearsals, 2 1/2 weeks left of staging rehearsals, then 4 weeks of performances and then I start my maternity leave and the waiting REALLY begins. I think the rest of this pregnancy is going to fly by all too quickly!

80 more days!

I've decided to move from number of weeks to number of days because it feels more fun. :P

So far, the third trimester is my favorite. Things seem to be moving faster, and many of my physical woes are so much easier to bear than the the first 6 months. Other than exhaustion, everything is much more normal and mild than before, and I'm feeling a bit more like myself! Just tired A LOT, and I don't think that's going to get better any time soon. But tired I can handle. :)

The belly is really popping out these days, and I've had multiple people tell me I look like I'm going to deliver early. I don't think I seem bigger than what I'm supposed to be for the gestational age, but really, who knows? So many women are so different!

I'm just enjoying looking obviously pregnant. I don't know why I feel like it's so fun too look pregnant, but I do! I think I just want everyone to know and be as excited as I am that we're gonna have an actual baby in a few months.   SQUEEE!!!!

I'm definitely back in the swing of things at work, and it's been great so far. I am WIPED after every rehearsal though! That lack of lung space does not make for optimum singing! But I'm pushing through pretty well, and we had a concert on Saturday for the Stars of the Lyric at Millennium Park. (It's a free concert the Lyric does in the park every year as a pre-season show, mostly highlighting the Young Artists and a few of the leads from the coming season.) The concert was great, and I made it through pretty well! The chorus had a lot to sing, and I felt good about my personal sound contribution. I did, however, zonk out when I got home and had a deeper night's sleep than I've had in quite some time. I'll be interested to see what happens when we're in full costume on stage when I'm in my ninth month, but I think I'll be able to pull through.

I have a doctor's appt this week, but so far everything has seemed right on track with the baby's development. Like a good, growing Russian boy, he's almost the size of a cabbage! And he's still kicking and punching like crazy, which I love to feel.  It's so reassuring. Everything seems good, and I hope it stays that way until November!

Third Trimester!

We are officially in the double digits- only 91 days until the due date! And I am now officially in my third trimester... hooray for the home-stretch!

My mom and sister threw a wonderful shower, and it was so nice to have so much family there. (I just got the pictures from my wonderful Auntie Dina, so I just need to scan them in!) I'm finally starting to feel (materially) prepared, as the nursery is more or less done with all the furniture set up, I have just about enough clothes (minus a few things in the newborn size) for the first few months and the things we have left to get we've got budgeted out over our next few paychecks. Whew! Mentally prepared- well, that's another story! But there's only so much you can do on that front until the little guy actually arrives. Sometimes I don't think I'll actually believe we're having a baby until he's here, no matter how many kicks and punches he gives me!

Health-wise, both the little man and I are doing well. The third trimester is treating me well- I'm feeling much less sick in the mornings and haven't thrown up in almost two weeks now! I'm still having a bit of abdominal and hip/pelvic pain, but the doctor's not worried and is sending me to a physical therapist just to relieve some of it. The baby is doing great though, and is continually moving around in there. He is definitely an active little guy!

It's a good thing a lot of my first and second trimester woes have started to disappear, because I've started back up at work again! So much for the lying around all summer. :) It's been an intense week, and we already have a concert next week. But I'm feeling pretty good with my singing, and our new chorus master seems pretty great so far, so I'm pretty happy to be in the swing of things again. I may be coming home exhausted and ready to drop, but I really do love my job so it's definitely worth it. :)

November is suddenly seeming so much closer, and I really can't wait to meet this little guy!

Baby Weekend!!!

I am officially off of bedrest, which I am extremely thankful for! As nice as it sounds to have to do nothing all day and not leave the house, it's REALLY boring. I'm also thankful that the pain is gone! I have to wear a maternity support belt from now on, which helps support both my back and belly. I hope it makes a difference! But all in all, I seem to be doing well! Here's my belly shot for the week:

I'm also super excited because my sister is coming into town! She's helping throw a baby shower for me and it sounds like it's going to be awesome. A lot of family/friends are coming from out of town that I didn't expect! I am SO EXCITED to see everyone! It's so overwhelming to see the love and support that people bring when something like a child coming into the world happens. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. :)

Time for bed rest. :(

Turns out they mean it when they say to try not to be too active during your pregnancy!

After a long day of Vacation Church School, taking Ratbear to the vet, meeting up with Linden for a Chicago Opera Playhouse "business meeting" and then a lovely dinner date with my husband, I suddenly got a really strange pain on the lower right side of my abdomen. It was a kind of pain that made me feel like if I didn't sit or lie down ASAP my body might give out and make me do it anyway. Yikes! Needless to say, this scared the living daylights out of me. As soon as we got home I called the on-call doctor at my doc's office and she said to essentially sleep on it and call my doctor if I still had pain in the morning.

Well, the pain hadn't gone away this morning, so as soon as the office opened I gave my OB a call. She thinks I pulled one of my round ligaments (they are the muscles that support the uterus) and has put me on partial bed rest for the weekend. The good news is that this doesn't affect the baby- he's still happy and kicking away like crazy. I swear it's becoming non-stop lately! This only affects me, and means that if I don't watch myself I'm in a lot of pain. Yay. It's funny, because it's not like I was being super active- just walking around and standing for long periods of time, but apparently that's enough to cause problems! I'm glad it's just for the weekend though. :) And if it persists or gets worse I have to go in right away, but she seemed pretty confidant that things would resolve themselves with just a few days of rest.

So that means the rest of my week and my weekend will now consist of lying down in bed as much as possible and as many fluids as I can handle. I'm sad to be missing the rest of VCS, but at least I haven't started back at work yet and hadn't made too many plans. But if anyone feels like calling or visiting I'd love a break from the boredom!

23 weeks!

Well, I'm finally home in Chicago! I had a fantastic time in San Diego, and Masha's wedding was absolutely beautiful. I then got to see my brother in Phoenix, and he and his girlfriend and Philip and I all drove to Denver to visit my sister and her husband and we all went to a concert together at Red Rocks. It was so fun! Baby seemed to love rockin' out, although I was pretty exhausted by the time the concert was over. All in all, I had an amazing vacation, but I'm so happy to be home!

Philip and my mom painted the baby's room while I was gone, and my wonderful neighbor Marcia gave us her daughter's crib and changing table. And being who I am, I immediately got to work putting the basics of the baby's room together. After all the furniture was put into place, I made curtains, a teething rail cover, basket liners, a duvet cover (for the bed we're keeping in the baby's room) and then I dug out of storage the few stuffed animals/books/toys that Philip and I still had from when we were kids and washed them all for our little man to enjoy too. I love how everything is coming together!

I'm especially excited to get The Hobbit artwork that my sister has done. IT'S AMAZING. But you're all going to have to wait until she brings/sends it to see it!

Now that we've got all the basics in and ready, I'll have places to put the baby's things! Lots of empty drawers for cute clothes, bins for diapers/wipes/burp cloths/etc and an entire empty closet for storing any bigger things!  I can't wait for this baby to come!

On another cute note, Philip started reading The Hobbit to my belly yesterday. It was kind of hilarious because the baby was going crazy kicking pretty much the whole time he was reading. I, on the other hand, was starting to doze off, and when Philip stopped reading because I was falling asleep he immediately started kicking me harder as if to say "Wake up! I wanna know what happens to those trolls!" This is definitely Philip's son!

21 weeks!

I had a ultrasound today, and our little man looks right on target! Everything looks normal, and he's measuring right on time (except for his arms and legs, which are measuring two weeks ahead. I think he's gonna be a tall boy like his grandpa!) Here's a cute pic of him sucking his thumb.

He was sleeping at first, and then seemed to get excited that the ultrasound tech was playing games with him, because he started kicking or punching back every time she finished pressing on him. Then he would cover himself up with his hands when she would try to get certain shots, like he was being funny. Seems like he has a sense of humor already!

So he's about a 1lb now and getting close to a foot long at about 11 in. Twice the size of my last ultrasound! Grow baby, grow!

Long time, no update!

I had intended to do a weekly update, but time seems to have gotten away from me! The last time I posted was just before leaving for San Diego, and a lot has happened since then. So bear with me for a long entry!

One of the main reasons I haven't posted anything was because we had a bit of a scare, and I didn't want to be too dramatic about things when we didn't have any definitive answers. Shortly after arriving in San Diego, I got a call from my doctor who said I tested what technically constitutes as positive for Downs Syndrome. However, the "positive" result was for a 1 in 126 chance,  (1 in 600-something is normal) and they wanted me to come in for the MaterniT 21 test, a new but far more conclusive test. But being in San Diego meant I had to jump through a ton of hoops to find someone to test me. And that meant a couple weeks of waiting with some serious anxiety for paperwork to be snail-mailed to me and then given to the testing lab and then sent with my blood test to the lab that performs the test before eventually being sent back to my doctor in Chicago with the results. Phew! Although we would (of course) love our child whether they were born with a developmental disease or not, I am very happy to say that the test came out clear and our baby does not have Downs Syndrome, and from what they can tell at this stage is completely mentally healthy. We are so happy!

As for much lighter news, our little man has started kicking up a storm!  I'm in my 20th week now, (half-way there!) and he seems to be right on track. It's such a crazy feeling to physically feel another little person inside my belly. This started about a week and a half ago, and at first it was just these little fluttery feelings that were pretty unmistakable. But it wasn't anything that could be felt outside by someone else. Then as of Saturday he's started dancing away to the point of visibly being able to see him and feel him! It's SO exciting. I can't wait until Philip gets to San Diego so he can feel his baby kick! And my belly has REALLY started to look like a real preggers belly, not just like I'm ambiguously bloated. This one is from last week, and I think I may be a bit bigger now!

This past weekend, we traveled up to the Bay Area for my sister-in-law Masha's bridal shower. (Helping Masha with her wedding is why I've been in San Diego all this time. She get's married in less than two weeks, on July 22nd!) The shower turned out wonderfully, with a seriously gorgeous cake and probably some of the most amazing cookies I have ever seen. (made by the supremely talented sister-in-law Sophia! Here's her cake shop with pics of the cake and cookies.) Sophia and Masha's sisters did a fantastic job with what turned out to be a really lovely shower. It was so nice to see the family and so much love and support for Masha!

Masha and I came up a few days early to be able to visit with some of our friends in the area that we so rarely get to see. And lucky me, I also got a mini-shower with my friends! Because I'm flying back and can't exactly carry a ton, it was a "onesie" shower and I was showered with lots of super adorable clothes. And Sophia also gave me an entire box of clothes from her boys. I LOVE hand-me downs. Here's a quick glimpse at the adorable-ness they all sent me home with. I put some of my favorites on the top of the piles (assorted to size!) but it was so hard to choose!

There's also handmade burp cloths and a swaddle blanket in the picture, of course made by Sophia! And they perfectly match the decor I want for our nursery. Check out her etsy shop! I'm so lucky to be related and get this stuff for free.

Philip and my mom are painting the baby's room this weekend while I am gone so I won't have to inhale the paint fumes. It's going to be a soft popcorn yellow with white furniture. I can't wait to get back and start putting the room together! As I've said before, we're doing a hobbit themed nursery, and I've already made the crib quilt, curtains and a toy box from the palette of fabrics I've picked out. I got them all from Jo-Anns, and I'll be doing much of the nursery handmade with these fabrics.

I'm tempted to add the fabric Sophia made the burp cloths out of because I love it so much. We shall see! Even though I can't do much while I'm here in SD, I did finish the design for the wallpaper border that I'm going to print out and put around the room on removable wallpaper. The artwork is both Tolkien and Pauline Baynes. The borders are Tolkien's art for the original cover of The Hobbit, and the artwork is from Baynes' abbreviated version of The Hobbit. Pauline Baynes was one of Tolkien's favorite artists. You might also recognize her as the original artist for the Narnia books.

There are thirteen segments, (26 pictures) and the pictures tell the story of The Hobbit. I really love the way this turned out and I hope it prints out the way I hope it will!

That's all for now, but I'm sure it's plenty! I probably wont be able to update again until I'm back in Chicago, as the next two weeks are going to be super busy with the wedding and traveling. But I'll be sure to update again when there is more to tell!