Beautiful Baby Shower

 The baskets above are chock full of baby clothes and receiving blankets!

Yesterday I had the most beautiful baby shower, hosted by my friend, Alexis.  We sang three beautiful worship songs led on the guitar by her cousin, Rose, and then each woman shared a meaningful poem, Scripture or bit of advice on the transition into motherhood.  They'd each brought this on paper to go into a scrapbook.  A few teary moments took place, and then the women prayed over me, Dan and the baby.  Then we had a fabulous homemade cake and homemade ice cream, and opened gifts.  It was the most meaningful baby shower I've ever been to, and I am so grateful to have had Baby Hernberg celebrated, prayed for and welcomed by this wonderful group of women. 

Dan and I both got really excited about this outfit for if we have a little girl.

The theme was a clothesline theme, and Alexis had hung clothesline all around her living room filled with beautiful clothes that she and her mom have been gathering together since they found out I was pregnant!  There were both boy and girl clothes, as well as some neutral ones, so we're covered for this baby, and perhaps for other babies of the opposite gender to come!  I think Alexis and her mom singlehandedly clothed our little baby. 

Dan and I had it on our docket for today to go out and buy the remaining items we hadn't received yet, and it was so awesome to receive so many of those yesterday!  We also received some fabulous books, beautiful flowers and came away with two huge wicker baskets and one small one. 

Today I am sorting, washing, folding and putting away all the newborn and 0-3 clothes, and sorting and stashing the bigger sizes for later.  Later this week, I'll begin the process of washing the cloth diapers, too.  Got a really cute cloth diaper cover yesterday. 

Couldn't get this to upload rotated, but you get the idea!  And it has snaps to adjust as the baby grows.

All the photos at the shower were taken on Alexis's camera, so I will post those soon!

33.6 Weeks

Tomorrow I turn 34 weeks... only 3 weeks from being considered full-term!  Here are some photos from our snazzy new camera.

Baby Stuff

A few blurry and long overdue photos of the baby stuff from our last shower organized with the rest of the stuff in the closet.  Had another shower yesterday and was so excited to get another great baby carrier (a Beco) and the organic co-sleeper mattress and 2 sheet sets!  This weekend, we'll try to buy the co-sleeper and a dresser off craigslist so I can get the baby stuff organized for real.  One more shower on Jan. 23.  Can't believe how soon the baby will be here! 

You can see the jungle theme that just sort of happened above!  Other photos were blurry, but the top two blankets were both handmade by friends and complement each other perfectly with jungle green and yellow.

The pattern of my beautiful pouch sling, which my friend custom ordered from www.etsy.com.  Yay for handmade!

Decided I did want a stroller after all, though I have great baby carrier options to last me most of the time!  But trying to pick out a stroller that doesn't weigh a bajillion pounds and works for short people and has good features is a bit tricky.  Looks like I might actually have to visit Babies R Us after avoiding it this entire pregnancy! 

Good news- we got our new camera yesterday!  Once it's charged and I'm showered and look decent, I'll post some more photos. 

Little Baby Hernberg

Today I had an appointment with my midwife, and the baby has certainly had a growth spurt!  For awhile, I was measuring a few weeks behind, but my midwife wasn't worried because I'm a small person anyway.  But today the little baby was all caught up and in perfect position.  She said it's little head was so far down that she could only feel it's neck, not the actual head.  She said she doesn't even know what it would take for the baby to unwedge and go breech.  I wasn't really worried about that, but it is nice to know that the baby is in the right position.  Such a smart little one.  :)  It does explain the hiccups I get just above my pubic bone each morning and evening... at 8 pm almost every night the little one hiccups!  But it is actually it's diaphragm, not its mouth that I am feeling right there.  Hard to believe the head is even further down.  How am I sitting?  I'm actually quite comfortable.  It is strange to think that in just 4 weeks, this little one will be full term. 

We had lunch on Sunday with two couples, one from our Bradley class who is a month behind us in pregnancy and is also using our midwife and the other with a four month old born beautifully at our local birth center.  The four month old little girl was a picture of perfection in her sweet little dress and tights and sweet little smile.  It was so fun to see the two dads-to-be getting all googly-eyed over her.  At one point, she was asleep and they were both resisting her cute little feet with great effort, hoping she would wake up soon.  Dan leans toward having a boy first, but I asked him as he gazed at her if NOW he'd like a little girl, and he conceded that yes, now he would like a little girl.  Looking at this little one just reminded us how soon our little baby will be here, and then how soon he/she will be 4 months old, then 4 years old, then....  Boy or girl, we are super excited and feel so blessed.  

To see what the average 33 week baby looks like, click here.  Granted, our little baby's head is much further down.  It is amazing how God designed the body to grow little people so perfectly.

32 Weeks and 3 Days

It's hard to believe, but I'm already 32 weeks pregnant.  In just 5 weeks, I'll need to have everything ready, though anytime between 37-42 weeks is normal for the baby to arrive, meaning it could be another 5 weeks, or another 10 weeks.  Crazy!  First babies are generally late, so while we'll be ready by 37, we're really banking more on 10 weeks to go.

Ever since week 27, my belly has been growing rapidly.  From here on out, it's typical to gain a pound a week, and the baby is gaining half of that each week! 

I'm reading an excellent book, The Mission of Motherhood, by Sally Clarkson.  It has encouraged me so much.  I highly recommend it for moms seeking to embrace their God-given call to motherhood.  Sally is speaking in Irvine in early February, and I hope to go hear her.

Last Monday was our last Bradley class.  Dan and I both feel so much more confident and more confident with each other after having taken it.  I'm bummed to be done (Dan is a bit relieved!  It was 12 weeks!), but we've made some good new friends out of the class, and it is so encouraging to spend time with like-minded people.  As pregnancy progresses, more and more opinions are being "offered" and while I never thought they would bother me, I guess the hormonal nature of pregnancy has greatly increased my sensitivity to them.  I just want this to be a time of joy, and if people could keep their negative opinions, thoughts and disagreement to themselves, that would be so delightful.  :)  So, Dan's and my mission for me these next few weeks is to surround me with positive people who support our choices and respect our intelligence and decision-making ability, and to read and watch affirming things.  Going to the Sally Clarkson conference will also be very affirming. 

Good quote from the book:  "God's design provides a completeness to the circle of life.  Our family is a vital piece of the puzzle of his design that was intended to give all children the opportunity to be lovingly nurtured so they could live their own lives well.  The mission of motherhood is strategic in providing the next generation with whole-hearted, emotionally healthy, and spiritually alive adults.  It is not simply a lifestyle choice.  It is a divine calling that will indeed affect eternity."

29 Weeks Tomorrow

Can't believe how quickly the pregnancy is flying by.  Better really start getting things together!  I had the last meeting of a Partnership at work yesterday, and several people brought me baby presents... a really beautiful handmade prayer quilt (each knot is tied with a prayer and there are some left undone for others to pray over), handmade pillow, bib, burp cloth, and crocheted blanket, some baby washcloths, teethers and the most adorable footie pj's and hooded towel.  Dan was super excited about the footie pjs and we can't wait to snuggle our little bambino/a in them!  It actually got down to 34 last night, a near record, so it is quite possible that in late Feb/early March, there will yet be many cold days and nights.  And our condo stays pretty cold- all the more reason to keep the baby in cute footies longer!

It seems as at 27 weeks, all the sudden things started accelerating.  I feel that I'm visibly bigger each day and people are now commenting, "Ok, NOW you look pregnant".  That is a good feeling because I was getting tired of the "Oh my gosh... you are SOOO small!  I was HUGE at your point!"

In the background you'll note some fine artwork by my dear husband.  The laminated ice skater on the red pipe cleaner was a masterpiece he created TWO years ago when we were Santa and an Elf at a Christmas party my work had for the families we worked with.  He was a great Santa and endured craft time and now insists that this hang at the front of the tree each year.  :)

The chiropractor and I think the baby is working toward turning head down the last few days.  Yesterday she had a hard time adjusting me and the baby has been doing all kinds of acrobatics in there today.  A colleague and I enjoyed watching the moving bump morph for quite some time this morning.  I have a midwife appointment in the morning, and it will be interesting to hear her opinion on what position the baby is in.  It's definitely doing something.  

In other news, thanks to an email from Sarah letting me know of this sale/contest, I won 3 Econobum cloth diaper covers and 12 prefold diapers from a baby boutique in Ithaca and got them yesterday.  Super exciting!  Once I'm done working (5 more work days), I should hit up some garage sales and craigslist to get a dresser and a number of baskets to start organizing all this baby stuff.

Thursday is my work baby shower!  Excited!

Off to pull together all my questions for tomorrow, fill out disability forms (even though I'm not going back to work, I still get to benefit from that!), and other various to-dos. 

28 Weeks Today

I am 28 weeks pregnant today.  The belly is getting quite noticeable, and I would post pictures for you, but I dropped our camera in the sand when we took Thanksgiving guests to see the ocean last Friday, and the camera is no longer functional.  Opps!  We'll get that taken care of as we head into must-have camera months. 

I'm feeling good, though tire easily, though I think much of it is just leftover fatigue from Thanksgiving.  I have my work baby shower next Thursday, and that's exciting.  I've been trying my best to compile a reasonable registry, and I have only 8 days left of work.  That is very exciting, especially as I'm starting to feel the crunch for getting ready for the baby (stuff I need to read, do, visit pediatricians, etc).  It is also crazy to think that I won't be working for a long time, Lord willing.  I will also miss the people at my work.  Overall, it's an emotional chapter, and as soon as I'm done with work (Dec. 15th), it'll just be 8 days until Christmas guests are here.  We're very excited about that, but it seems then that the rest of December will be filled with Christmas rather than baby preparation, and then we'll already be into January.  Ah well...

I do feel super blessed and grateful to be able to stop working early.  I can't imagine working til the end, or even one month before.  Other people do it everyday, but I am a slow mental processor, and I need the reflection and preparation time.  And nap time.

Hopefully, there will be photos soon...