More room details

The origami crane mobile was something I had wanted to do for a long time. I tried lots of online tutorials and ended up with lots of wonky birds until finding this one that I could understand. Pretty soon I was making cranes in my sleep. Some invisible fishing wire and skinny tree branches, and I was set. 

The wire elephant was all Steve. It's one of my favorite things in the room. 

   

I heart etsy. The birds in the window print is from PragyaK, monsieur + balloon is one of blancucha's, I am a Child of God from persimmonandpink, year of the tiger is by  Betsy Thompson, the bearded man full 'o love is laurageorge (I'm also crushing on her lovesloth print), those tiny canvases are by tushtush, and I made the papercutting of baby birds in the nest from a template over at Fog and Thistle. 

   The black crow was one of the first gifts we received from family friends after finding out I was pregnant. Marmousch and I made the other two out of fabric scraps. See here. 

I knitted the sock monkey and I can't remember where his little buddy is from! The felt balls were the one successful project I was able to make from the book Felting for Baby. Soft blocks were made from more fabric scraps and sewn up by a future Nonna.

Those are vintage Weebles on the floating shelf, we've been collecting them for the last few years. A dose of nostalgia for Steve not only because they were toys from his childhood but it's a play on our last name. And gots to represent our beloved warthog friends in Africa.

All we need now is a baby (the room)

It's a small space (about 9' x 11'), but we did our best to make it ours. Or rather, baby's. The room ended up being a labor of love between Steve, Marmousch, and I.

Nursing and reading corner with a mama-made mobile and lamb pillow sewn up by Marmousch--how could we not make it after seeing this on purl bee?  The wall above and to the right is baby's first art gallery, the wall to the left has family photos, old and new, people who love this little one already. 

  Book sling is Nonna-made from this tutorial. Those silhouette portraits were made by happythought's etsy shop. It captures us when I was in my eighth month of this wonderful pregnancy.

Don't worry, all that gorgeous natural light can be masked with heavier shades already on the windows for baby's naps.

  The wall decal is from SurfaceFlik, and the tummy-time quilt is Nonna-made (baby's Nonna= Marmousch), from a pattern by Meg McElwee. And Steve brought the crib back to life, remember?

  

who is bigger?

Never mind. I think I know your answer.

39 weeks

See that picture up there? That's me jumping. That's what I was doing at the beginning of the week. Steve wanted me to hop all over the house to bring on labor. Such was my Monday. On Wednesday we went out for a big lobster lunch (lobster contains oxytocin, supposedly stimulates labor). "You're uncomfortable, aren't you?" The waitress asked. "No, we're just really excited to have a baby."  That night we polished off Indian takeout so spicy I was sweating. We were having fun with this. What other old wives' tales could I try?

There was a red spot on my belly that was a little itchy, a little annoying, but nothing I couldn't handle.

Ha.

By Thursday the 'red spot' had recruited lots of little red bumps and had spread to my thighs. By Friday it was on my arms and chest. And on Saturday my back decided to join in on the fun. This is me, Saturday. Yuck.

It's PUPPP, something that affects 1% of pregnant women. Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy. Unfortunately the itching makes sleeping next to impossible. After a few days of frantic, howamigonnahandlelaboron45minutesofsleep panicked moments, I'm going to try focusing on the bigger picture. 1) I'm about to have a baby.  2) This will all be worth it because there's a baby at the end of all this. and 3) I'm having a baby. 

So this is me, Saturday night. Taking an oatmeal bath, drinking a half-glass of wine (midwife's permission), about to lather myself in anti-itch cream and take half a dose of tylenol pm...all of which still found me scratching, scratching, scratching on the couch at 4 am.

But.
Baby's coming.
It's my new mantra. 

38 weeks

Week 38 is when the waiting began. Time felt suspended, like we were just going through the motions of our day but there was always the looming possibility of things starting to happen. I still worked a little bit and kept plugging away at the to-do list, but there was something different to it all. One of the most exciting times of my life, in a quiet, waiting way.

Ooohh, a contraction. Let's time it. Nope. Nothing regular. Steve asks every day if today's the day. He seems to ask more on the days he works :)

My last run ended up being August 9th, in the beginning of my 38th week. It was wonderful, on the Barber Bridge around 10 pm--but recovering from it was painful and exhausting, the worst it's been. So now it's just swimming and power walks. Steve and I walk late at night on, funny enough, nearly the same route we would run (also late at night) back in the months before our wedding. Before Alaska and Arizona and our crazy trip to Asia. Before the newlywed days in Rhode Island and nights spent walking home from dinner in San Francisco. And now six years later, here I am on that same road waddling my very pregnant self alongside my husband. I like the parallel of it all. It feels like we've come full circle.

37 weeks

henna belly

Week 37. We found a pediatrician whom we love. Maybe someday I will go into the hunt-for-a-pediatrician fiasco that we've been through, certified letter and all, but not today. And with the arrival of a wall decal that was coming from Montreal and tied up in customs for over a month (national security threat?), our muppet's room is ready. Must post pictures. For husband's birthday we drove up to Orlando for a nice dinner out. Compared to Steve's birthday celebrations the last 8 years, this one was extremely low-key and quiet. Are we getting boring? But Steve wouldn't let me get down about it-- you're giving me a baby, what more could I ask for? How incredible is this man? I put aside my worries. Maybe next year we'll go down to Key Largo and stay at Jules' Undersea Lodge, but for now we're happy as parents-to-be, on the cusp of something great.

Shower deets

I didn't want to be vague about the whole shower and not show off Marmousch and Lamb's mad party-throwing skillz. I think that Lamb should quit her poopy job and start party planning and invite design for a living. And Marmousch, well I'm not the only one who says that Marmousch should open her own restaurant. 

Marmousch cooked and baked and cooked. Things like goat cheese stuffed mushrooms, panko-crusted chicken with apricot-mustard sauce, zucchini frittatas, the best deviled eggs I've ever put in my mouth (the secret is in the shallots). There was prosecco sangria (I could not partake) and virgin mojitos in mason jars. For dessert the olive oil cake with creme fraiche from last fall made a more summery comeback, this time with blueberries and raspberries.

Lamb helped to spread around the pom luv, they were hung on the celing along with globe lights. There was also handknitted love with all the little projects Marmousch and I have been making in the sweatshop, burlap love, and flower love. Favors were flower seeds in terra-cotta pots:
These little seeds are small like me,
Plant them to see what they'll be. 
It won't be long before they sprout, 
And that's the time that I'll be out. 
So please enjoy as your flowers appear,
And think of me when I'll soon be here. 

There was a peach tree and a pear tree. The peach tree will be planted if this baby is a girl, and the pear tree will go in the ground if we have a boy. What else am I forgetting? It was a such a great night.

The best part was that I got to show up 30 minutes before the shindig started and take it all in, and that was the extent of my involvement. They wanted me to relax and enjoy every minute, and that's what I did. 

36 weeks

On the last day of my 36th week o' pregnancy some of the world's most awesomest women came together in one place for my shower. Lamb and Marmousch really outdid themselves. All I did was show up and spend the next four hours picking my jaw up from the floor as I realized, over and over, how fortunate I am. How lucky this kid already is to have people like these in its life. That Saturday evening we sweated (it felt like the hottest day of the year to date), we ate, we laughed, we talked, we played my favorite game (scattergories), we joked about this impending event that is omnipresent on my mind, now. It was all so lighthearted and I'm going to strive to keep that wonderful feeling with me over the course of the next few weeks.

The Wednesday before the shower I went to a salon for a pedicure and while
picking out a nail polish it hit me that this would probably be the color on my toes when I gave birth. On A Baby Story you see the mother's feet up around her bent knees when she's pushing and I always notice the nicely groomed feet. Do other people? And suddenly the whole business of choosing a polish color seemed like a very big deal. I know how absurd that sounds but I can remember having that same do-or-die feeling the day before our wedding--again, at the nail salon. I was wavering between a polished French manicure or just a simple pale cream color and as she started to paint the tip of my nail in the traditional French style I freaked out. That's not me! I was thinking. I can't walk down the aisle and not look like myself! I went with simple and didn't look back. For the record I chose a pale cream color for this life-changing event as well, although I didn't realize that irony until later.

So to sum up week 36: nail polish and a baby shower and love going round and round.