Week 27

 We have internet now in the new house, which means I can finally add some commentary! Yeah! 

The third trimester "freak out" occurred this week.. everything that I was putting on the back burner because I thought that I had time suddenly became urgent. 

So I have jump started on the nursery ordering the crib, bedding and mobile. Next I signed us up for a tour of the hospital and some classes including Labor and Child Care 101, First Time Dads for David, Infant CPR and Breastfeeding.  

On the bookshelf this week has been, Labor triggered by Whole Living magazine article this month on the new documentary Birth Story about Ina May Gaskin, the Tennessee based midwife who's been delivering babies for 40 years. The article reenforced Gaskin's beliefs that "our bodies are designed for childbirth" and the importance of feeling calm and confident while in labor. As a newbie to labor, I must admit to being a bit scared and so I'm working on building confidence in my body and calmness that it will be ok.. I like what my own mother said, It's nothing that you can't survive!

Happy Birthday Charlie!

Mr. Charlie rocked 2 years old on June 26.

Birthday Cards from fans.

He strummed some tunes for his fans!

Charlie will have more groupies next year with the additional of Baby D, a little brother or sister and another boy cousin. hmmm.. possible future boy band..

In between sets, Mr. Charlie and his cousin Mr. Jacob cooled off at the Pirate Water Station. A must have on your tour rider!

We can move in tomorrow, rightI?

"California Ranch"

Myia greets us at the front. She loves the low windows.  

The kitchen was recently remodeled and so all the light fixtures are intact. 

We are still working on this shared living space.

There is a bar / entertaining area complete with indoor grilling vent. 

If you come visit then this is your room! 

Master Bedroom. 

Across from our room is the Nursery. 

There is no way we could have found this little gem without some big help from above.. thank you :)
We love the ranch layout.. we have a community pool, tennis courts and playground. Plus, its close to the highway and grocery store. Please come visit!

Week 26

On June 20, 2012 I am 26 weeks pregnant and officially in THIRD TRIMESTER. 

Our little girl is about 13.6 to 14.8 inches and 1.5 to 2.5 pound range. Her eyes are forming and her eyelashes are now grown. She is getting her immune system ready for
life on the outside by soaking up your antibodies, which is interesting because I’ve been reading a lot lately on "hygiene hypothesis" -- lack of early childhood exposure to infectious agents, symbiotic microorganisms (e.g., gut flora or probiotics), and
parasites increases susceptibility to allergic diseases by suppressing natural development of the immune system. Because of this we fail to induce a Th1 polarized response early in life so as we grow up we are more prone to developing Th2 induced disease. The rise of autoimmune diseases and acute lymphoblastic leukemia in young people in the
developed world has also been linked to the hygiene hypothesis.

In other words a little dirt is actually good for you!

i rather be homeless

We were all excited to move into a new rental house that was in a different part of town, bigger and had a pool. My Mom and I went to pick up the keys from the landlord and a quick walk through of the house. As we walked through the house it was just obvious that it wasn't maintained. The deal breaker was the animal soiled rugs in the main floor living room (I did wonder why the previous tenet had rug on rug) and the entire basement. The last picture is what the entire carpeting looked like and doesn't capture the foul odor. The first shot is the pool which the landlord insisted was fine to swim in and the kitchen light just another thing gone bad. The owner said our expectations were too high for a rental but we terminated lease.. I rather be homeless which is what we would be if we didn't find a new place in 3 days.  

Kaiser Permanente Breast Center offers fresh game plan to patients | ajcjobs.com#.T-SHCw0MtV0.email#.T-SHCw0MtV0.email

Kaiser Permanente Breast Center offers fresh game plan to patients  | ajcjobs.com#.T-SHCw0MtV0.email#.T-SHCw0MtV0.email

If you have a chance, check out the AJC article on my sister Victoria. Over the past few years she has accomplished so much at Kaiser Permanente Breast Cancer, focusing on putting emphasis on more supportive breast cancer care! We know first hand through Celeste's thyroid cancer experience just how hard it is to navigate cancer treatment even at one of the top cancer hospitals in the country. I know for sure that Celeste is so proud of her!!!

Thank you, Victoria!

EY Pregnancy Pact

Carrie (left), Bethany (middle) and Me (right)

 At work, I’m part of a little group known as the GTAC – SORT team,
which comprises of roughly eight people of which three of us are
pregnant. My direct boss Bethany and I are due on the same date and
Carrie is due two weeks before us. Our weekly catch up calls now have
a new item on the agenda, Pregnancy where we complain, celebrate and
generally dish on anything “bump “related.

Special thank you to Michelle and Lori, who threw us the best ever
work party.. Why was it the best? Well it included NY style Pizza,
Cupcakes from Crumbs and hilarious work related infant onesies!

I just love these little gift bags!

These onesies were hilarious! For example one was captioned, "Sleep
Prohibited" referencing how we always talk about certain services
prohibited for audit clients.

Bethany and I are officially having girls, while Carrie will find out the sex of her baby when she opens the cake at Baby Shower on July 21. The inside of the cake will be either pink or blue.

These cupcakes from crumbs are simply to die for.. flavors included
caramel apple, candy, pistachio, Elvis, cookies and cream, peanut
butter cup just to name a few.
http://www.crumbs.com/.

EY Family!

Week 24

It's Kegel time! Now that I've peed myself more then once this past week, I'm making it a point to do my kegel exercises daily! 

This past week we've been working hard on our registries at babies r us and diapers.com and are just about finished. We are still debating between two strollers: city mini gt and city elite. The first is smaller and lightweight which is plus for me but the city elite has bigger tires at only 6 lbs heavier than the mini. We also need to decide on a video monitor, as it seems like one just doesn't stand out above the rest yet. 

We are now at 24 weeks or the last month of the second trimester. The baby is about a size of a cantaloupe and I've read that my uterus is about the size of a soccer ball- WOW!  

Week 23

Oh my god... make that cramp in my leg go away! Week 23 brought on my first middle of the night leg cramp. I woke up from a deep sleep screaming from the pain and a bit of fear because I was still half of sleep. 

I think it freaked David out a bit too.. who has started to implement some new rules this week. 

Rule 1.. if you are going to start screaming in the middle of the night, at least say baby is ok but [blank] is not ok..

Rule 2.. No vague urgent texts which may raise fears about the baby like, "Please Call me ASAP" but rather include a short note like .. "Kitchen Sink is Leaking into Basement, so call me ASAP". 

So we push on with new rules and new aches! This week the baby is about a size of a grapefruit. Her face is fully formed and she just needs a little fat. Her heartbeat was about 139 at this month's doctor's appt, where the doctor said we are looking good.