Monthly Appointment

I am in my 6th month of pregnancy now, the far side of the second trimester. I've completed 23 full weeks of pregnancy. The photo below is a representation of the typical size of a baby in the 23rd week of gestation, though our boy is much cuter than this example baby. I am feeling movement throughout the day now, and starting to notice some patterns to the sleep and movement cycles. I can feel the baby move, but the movements aren't strong enough yet for Michael to feel them. And I have read that the baby is now much more aware of what is going on outside of the womb. He can feel my movements and his hearing will pick up loud noises in the environment. It might be time to start playing him music. So another month done of pregnancy means another monthly appointment with my doctor's office. I visited today with my regular doctor's partner, in case she ends up attending the actual birth in my regular doctor's absence.

I learned today that the baby is fine according to the last ultrasound we had on August 29th. The baby is in the 44th percentile so he is running small, or at least 56% of all babies born would most likely weigh more than him. I am starting to think that maybe I better have more little newborn sizes of clothes on hand and not just assume I'll have a big baby that will fit right into 3 month clothing quickly.

The baby's heart rate was 150 and strong. I could actually feel him hitting or kicking the Doppler when the doctor pushed it into my stomach/his space to listen to his heart rate. I could hear a different thunking noise on the Doppler in conjunction with the movement I felt.

And my blood pressure remains fine at 120/70. I've started a prenatal pool exercise program on Monday and Wednesday nights after work so I can guarantee at least twice a week I get some exercise in. I've had some pelvic pain due to the hormones relaxing the pelvic ligaments, so it is nice to have an hour in a heated pool to get the weight off my lower back, pelvis and knees. And it is fun to talk to other expectant mothers my age and compare notes.

Michael and I are also all signed up for the prerequisite baby classes, so starting next month we will learn infant CPR, basic baby care, attend the child birth class, do a tour of The Family Place where we will have the baby, and even take a quick course on breast feeding.

We've also done a handful of child care center tours and have the baby on multiple waiting lists for child care for next April, when I assume my maternity leave will be over if everything goes as planned.

I am going to stop referring to our son as "the baby" in my blog entries because Michael and I have decided to call him Gabriel. We are using his name already and have had a chance to tell both sets of Grandparents. So baring any strange events that change our mind, like he turning out to be a she, we are going with Gabriel.

Quincy's Baptism

After a night full of hard rain from hurricane Hanna, Michael and I found clearing skies as we left our house before 6 am this morning. We went to the St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Pittsford, Vermont for the 9 am mass because Quincy was being baptised during the service. I think technically Quincy was the youngest guest at our wedding since he was still in the womb during the festivities. Quincy was such a trooper through anointment and the water dousing; he never made a peep. And he looked so cute in his little white outfit. We last saw him in June, but already he has changed and seems to be the spitting image of his older brother Noah. After the service, we headed off to the Pittsford Recreational Park for a reception with the whole Bruttomesso & Eugair clan and a home style luncheon. I also got to see Amy and her boys as well. And it was a beautiful day. Those in the sun playing volleyball were comfortable in shorts. Those of us under the picnic table covering needed a light jacket. Just the right temperature in my opinion.

Michael and I visited with my parents on the way home. It's definitely harvest season since we came home with a winter squash, two bags of black berries, another big bag of white potatoes freshly dug from the garden, black berry jam, and a tomato. Oh, and Dad had made a batch of baked beans too so we have a container of those for an upcoming meal as well.

Let me know if anyone has a good recipe for black berries.

Michael and I also took a break from driving home by stopping at the Powerhouse Mall in West Lebanon and visiting the Rugged Bear children's boutique. We got a few more things for our little man.

Our Boy is One!

Lucas turned one year old on September 2nd, so it's time to put the puppy food away and switch to big boy dog food. It's hard to believe how fast the time went by.

He celebrated birthday weekend and got three rides in the car, including one trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house. For dinner on his actual birthday, he shared a special can of dog food with his sister. We gave him his birthday gifts last night. Michael found a little dog bone shaped elevated food bowl set for the kids to share and then I had ordered Lucas a whole box of new Schnoodleware fleeces to destroy. Elleigh was much better at getting the new fleece toys out of the box than Lucas was. Of course, we went around the house picking up and chucking his disintegrated fleece toys the whole weekend so that was a bit traumatic.

A little doggy biography on our boy.

Weight: He weighs 22.8 pounds the most recent time Michael put him on the scale.

Height: Taller than his sister by at least an inch on the back and two inches at the head.

Favorite Toys: Schnoodleware Fleece Toys ripped to shreds and strings, anything with taggies, anything that Elleigh has at the moment.

Favorite Food: Anything on Mommy & Daddy's plate, Merrick's Brauts & Tots canned food on special occassions.

Favorite Spot: Snuggling face to face with Daddy on the couch

Favorite Activities: Laying on Sissy's head, snuggling with Daddy on the couch, going to Grandma & Grandpa's house, going for a R-I-D-E, rolling in pooh, going to the dog park, sleeping in sun spots with Sissy.

Least Favorite Activities: Tubbies, rain during potty time, vacuuming

Favorite Trick: high five

When happy he wiggles his whole behind and his little tail stub.

When he thinks he is in trouble, he tries to smile or goes to the other parent to see if they are as mad as the first one.

Accomplishments: Graduated from Puppy Obedience class, learned how to get up on the couch

Goals for the upcoming year: Becoming a good big brother to a human baby, learning to share more, smiling just right so that Mommy can catch it on the camera to post for the world to see

What We've Bought So Far

This post is mostly so my Mom can see some of the things I have gotten so far for the baby, but maybe you will enjoy it too.

This is baby's first outfit. Well, the first one purchased by his parents at least. I wanted to wait until we knew for sure what sex baby we were having so I could appropriately buy pink or blue. But when I got to Baby Bungalow in Concord, what really got my attention was this green Kushies play suit because of the cute sheep on it. And it is such as soft cotton. So baby boy's first outfit is gender neutral. It's a 6 month size but looks like it will be wearable for a while since the cuffs all are long and fold over. And the little feet even can be made into feetie pajamas when the baby is on the smaller side.

I also fell in love with this bag while shopping at the PowerHouse mall with Kimi in West Lebanon. So after thinking about it a while when I got home and wishing I had purchased the bag, and checking that Michael was okay carrying a light teal/aqua bag, I found the same Timbuk2 bag on eBay and plan to use it as a diaper bag.

The very first purchase made for the baby was this stuffed dog. Way too big to play with initially but we will let it sit on the floor in the baby's room. We thought everyone of the humans in the family should have their very own Boston Terrier. Another find from Baby Bungalow. Can you tell which ones are the real Bostons in the photo below? Hint, the impostor dog is the one with the least disgusted expression.
And then at the PowerHouse mall with Kimi again, I did find this little Boston Terrier that the baby will be able to snuggle and play with. This little dog is actually very interesting to Luke and Elleigh, so it lives in hiding for the time being. We have a lot of family adjustment ahead of us.
And I found this interesting handmade product that I found at Etsy.com. It's a very pretty wet bag. They sell it as a bag to put wet diapers and clothes in when you are out and about. I am currently using it as yarn storage for a little project bag and have once used it as a wet swimsuit bag.

And I certainly have bought yarn with baby in mind.

Zen Baby

This is the crib set that we have decided on for the baby. Well, Nana and I finalized the decision this morning, and Mike is indifferent. It is Zen Baby by Kimberly Grant, available through both Target and Babies R Us, as well as other on-line sources. The Kimberly Grant line gets a good review in the Baby Bargains book. And I saw some good reviews on-line by people who had already purchased the set. I like that this has boy colors, but it is not so predominently blue that I can't pull in the sage green and browns. At this point, we are still thinking about painting the walls in the baby's room sage green and getting a lot of green accessories. There are also a number of blues in there, so I can do slate blue, light blue, medium blue, teal, maybe even an aqua color. I don't think there will be any trouble finding baby things to coordinate. And I like the shapes on it. Nana is on a mission now and hopes to maybe find the set in Burlington or New York this weekend.

Another Glimpse At Our Baby

Michael joined me this morning for a second attempt at our 2nd trimester screening ultrasound. We don't have the results from the ultrasound yet, but the technician congratulated us a few times and just seemed too peppy to have seen any horrific problems on the ultrasound. I counted 2 feet and 2 hands myself, and saw a lot of fingers and toes. We also clearly saw little boy parts, so we are quite confident now that we are having a boy. IT'S A BOY! We have posted one of our ultrasound photos so you can try your own hand at gender determination. It is amazing how much change we could see just since the last ultrasound 2 weeks ago. The technician said our boy weighs 1 pound and 3 ounces now. Elleigh gets to maintain her reign as the princess, but Lucas is now our big boy.

Memory Walk

My high school friend Kristie will be participating again in the annual Alzheimer's Association's Memory Walk in Bangor, Maine Walk on Saturday, October 4th. This will be Kristie's 3rd consecutive year as chairperson for the Bangor walk. She participates in this event in memory of her grandmother. I just went to Kristie's fundraising page and made a donation to support her. I thought I would list her fundraising sight on my blog as well to help her network for her good cause. Just click on the highlighted words and it should take you to her page.

Pregnancy Acknowledgement

A man at the hospital handed me paper work today and then immediately looked down at my stomach and announced, "You must be pregnant!" He's an acquaintance at best. I haven't seen him in months, and even then it was just in passing at the hospital. And his wife was in toe and she looked mortified at the acknowledgement until I confirmed that I was in fact pregnant. So I believe I must have enough sticking out now that I don't just look heavy anymore. Even Mike agreed that it was a pretty risky thing for a guy to say unless he knew for sure I was pregnant. So I am soon going to be able to start taking advantage of the bump with the general public and perfect strangers. I should be invited to the front of the line soon and have my waiting time for restaurant tables cut down. Isn't that the way it works? There has to be some perks to pregnancy, right?!

Tio Juan's Margaritas

One of my long time favorite places to eat in Concord is Tio Juan's Margaritas in Bicentennial Square. I have enjoyed the Mexican food there for well over a decade. I use to frequent it much more often except that it was so popular that the wait for a table could be long. And as I have gotten older I have opted for other places with faster seating or gone searching for unique dinning experiences elsewhere. But nothing quite compares to Margaritas' Mexican. The prices are fair and I always go home with a tin container of leftovers.

The baby wanted spicy last night, so we went to Margaritas before grocery shopping. Michael started off with a yummy strawberry margarita. We of course got the complimentary big plate of warmed hand-cut tortilla chips and the restaurant's own salsa. Michael went with the steak Burrito Supreme: chunks of sirloin rolled with refritos in a flour tortilla and topped with cheese, home-made red chile sauce and sour cream. So big that half of it came home. I got my old stand by, the fajita grill! Mmmm! It comes to the table sizzling on a cast iron pan. I got the Chipotle Barbecue Steak Fajitas with hot smoky flavor just for the baby. The fajitas come with all of the fixings: grilled onions, grilled peppers, grilled zucchini, Spanish rice, black beans, shredded cheese, guacamole, pico de galo, diced tomatoes, and sour cream. I had to assemble the ingredients myself into warmed flour tortillas, and the fajitas were so juicy they dripped down my arms. I should not have worn a white T-shirt.

We had dessert too! Mike got a whole quarter of a strawberry margarita pie. Luckily, it was a light cool whip texture and not a cheese cake consistency, so he actually was able to finish it. I forget the name of my dessert, but it was all chocolate! It had an Oreo cookie crust and layers of chocolate on top of that, and the dessert was shaped like a Reese's peanut butter cup. It was very tasty and half of that came home with me to go along with a big pile of leftovers from the fajitas.

Our plan worked because we were so stuffed by the time we made it to the grocery store that we didn't linger long on anything. Unfortunately, having not been grocery shopping for just under two weeks, our bill was too low to actually have made an effective trip to the grocery store.