Attack of the raging hormones

My poor husband. This past weekend I had what has probably been my first emotional breakdown. Personally, I think that’s pretty good. Here’s what my trusted resource, Baby Center, has to say: “It's common to have mood swings during pregnancy, because of hormonal changes that affect your levels of neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain) and the broad range of feelings you may have about becoming a parent. Everyone responds differently to these changes. Some moms-to-be experience heightened emotions, both good and bad; others feel more depressed or anxious. Most find that moodiness flares up at around 6 to 10 weeks, eases up in the second trimester, and then reappears as their pregnancy winds to a close.”
Considering all the hormonal activity that goes on among the other ladies just in my 2 hour, once a week childbirth class, making it to 31 weeks with only one incident deserves some sort of recognition. My husband remains unconvinced. In my defense, it was a tough weekend. And after one stern reproof from hubby and a few days of self-reflection I believe I can now address the situation with all the objectivity necessary for an online blog.
My family had just left (I hate those first few hours after company leaves and the house seems sooo quiet) and I realized the next time I’ll see them is after Lil’ J’s arrival, Handsome Coastie was about to start another 12 hour night shift, 3 day weekend (I HATE these, especially since I always end up watching Law and Order by myself on Sunday night and then can’t fall asleep!!), my job had just thrown me a few loops that I wasn’t expecting, I was suffering major episodes of pregnancy brain and forgetting IMPORTANT things, and I had a growing to-do list rolling around in my head that I had neglected to translate onto paper (finish writing Thank-Yous, sew curtains, submit final project, pay college bill, mail off half.com orders, have baby in 9 weeks, etc, etc). To top it all off I had forgotten my sunglasses. Any woman knows that if you’re going to end up fighting back tears in the middle of Wal-Mart, the first thing to reach for is your sunglasses. I was stranded.

Thankfully, we had just finished watching “Batman Begins” and I still had Bruce Wayne’s father’s wisdom in my head, “And why do we fall Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.” Haha, I jest. Actually, even better than Thomas Wayne, was our pastor’s sermon on Sunday about slowing down and taking time to pray. He opened with Isaiah 30:15, “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust (or confidence) is your strength.’” I know that for me personally, having an “emotional episode” or “hormonal attack” is really just a code orange, an outward indication that I need to slow down and find a quiet place to rest in God’s presence. And so I have one more thing to add to the to-do list, at the very top, and that is to simply be quiet and wait on the Lord.

Wear 'em low and baggy

Photo Credit:  WORLD magazine

I saw this picture in my husband's WORLD magazine the other day, and it made me realize what I, as a pregnant woman, have in common with "hoodlums" ... we both wear our pants low and baggy. Of course, my fashion statement is not intentional. It's simply a result of my hips, stomach, and butt all merging into one unit over the past few months. What's "their" excuse?

Oh how I miss thee Gap size 4 Long and Lean pre-pregnancy jeans that fit in all the right places. I promise that we'll someday be together again in the distant future ...

Ahoy Matey!

Lil' J's ship has come in!

This past weekend Handsome Coastie and I went back to Pennsylvania for our FOURTH and LAST trip this summer. It's strange to think that the next time we visit the Keystone State it will be with carseat and diaper bag in tow... and hopefully some snow on the ground for Christmas!!

We got off to a late start because HC was still writing his paper until 4:30 that morning. So he drove and I wrote my final paper in the car on the way up. [Translated, I have written and submitted my last paper of the semester and only have one more project to finish before wrapping up this adventure called grad school!] Although I would have never said the 400 mile trek to PA was a breeze, it has gotten progressively more difficult with each additional trip. We also threw in a jaunt to New Jersey, and back again, the following day for another wedding.

Aside from my college-friend's momentous event, the other purpose of our excursion was J's baby shower that our mothers have been working on all summer. The theme of the shower was, of course, nautical. The ladies did an amazing job on the food and decorations.


Here are the moms/grandmas showcasing their handiwork!


Nautical flags courtesy of Marmie.

And even though I'm not a huge fan of sitting in front of a group of people while they all watch you open gifts, seeing all those adorable outfits and baby things is just too much fun!! We are so blessed to have such awesome church family and friends back home and are very grateful for everyone's generosity at the shower!


"Me sitting in front of a large group of people while they watch me open gifts" I would also like to add that I am sitting in an adirondak chair - not very easy to get out of when 7.5 months pregnant.





Now that we finally have some baby stuff around the house, the next project is to start setting up the nursery. Stay tuned for updates!

Photos compliments of Geri Schnure

Old Friends, New Adventures

This past weekend our childhood friends N and J came to visit. We had a fun time hanging out on the beach and reminiscing about growing up together. I especially enjoyed the stories about Handsome Coastie beating up N, and N removing HC's name from a list of friends he had carved in a tree. Or J and I being the only girls on the sidelines during "friend skates" at Church Camp. Or laughing about how HC's closet was just as organized 15 years ago as it is today.

When sitting out on the beach all day got old, we decided to visit the Cape Henry Lighthouse. Much to our delight, we arrived to find out that that day, and that day only, they had specially opened the NEW lighthouse for visitors to check out - for free! This lighthouse is much taller than the OLD lighthouse, so Baby J was definitely in for a trip. And although he won't remember us pointing out the spot on the beach below the lighthouse where Daddy professed his undying love for Mommy and gave her a beautiful, sparkling diamond to set this whole ride in motion ... I'm sure he enjoyed being carried up all those hundreds of steps and getting his share of the ocean breeze!

Of course, I must admit that the hubby and I had an ulterior motive in inviting this couple to visit. Seeing how many fond memories we shared with N and J, it's only natural that we would want our kids to have the same wonderful experiences. So our plan was to convince them to have a baby ASAP and join us in this adventure called parenthood. Either Hubby and I aren't very convincing or N and J have wills of steel (I think it's the latter) but we weren't very effective in our endeavours. So Handsome Coastie, who won't go down without a fight, snuck a "Virginia is for Lovers" bumper sticker on the back of their car and sent them the whole way back to New Jersey without mentioning a word. It's good to know hubby is still young at heart. :)

I'm pregnant, not disabled

This weekend J and I were in a wedding, okay so I was in a wedding and J participated by default. My childhood friend, who also happens to be my college friend and my grad school friend, got married back home in Pennsylvania on Saturday. It was a busy weekend (it always is when we go home to visit) full of lots of fun. I'm sure J enjoyed spending time with all the ladies and listening in to our bachelorette party conversations. It was also nice having him around to kill time while waiting to walk down the aisle - i.e. Janine pokes around her belly until everyone gets a chance to see/feel J kick.

Another interesting aspect of this weekend is that I think I'm really starting to look genuinely pregnant. So much so that everyone is constantly asking me how I'm doing, if I feel okay, do I need to sit down, should I be drinking more water, etc. I was waiting for someone to bust out the wheel chair. Amazingly, I made it through the rehearsal and wedding day without tripping, fainting or going into labor. ;)

Although I must admit, that this is also the first time that I've really started to "feel" pregnant. After standing on my feet all day, in strappy heels that were slightly small, in 90 degree weather and without eating lunch I have to say I was a little worn out by evening. Lil' J, all 2.5 lbs of him, can start to get heavy after a while. And for the first time this pregnancy I got swollen feet and ankles. But I'm attributing this to the weather and shoes because today I'm back to feeling normal. Just makes me wonder how much longer I can get away with wearing heels, walking from the farthest parking lot, and dashing to my car in the rain... or doing all three at once like last week. It's getting harder and harder to ignore this kicking, squirming, growing bump but I plan on putting off the stork parking, Crocs and electric scooters for a little bit longer ... except for the foot massages, those can definitely continue (thanks honey).

More pictures of our little man

Today we volunteered to have an ultrasound at a local community college. Basically, it's when a medical student "practices" a scan on you with an instructor. In other words, you sit through an hour of baby's legs, femurs, belly, spine, brain, liver, bladder, kidneys, etc and at the very end they give you a few minutes of 3D action.

Both the technician and instructor thanked us over and over again for such a perfect ultrasound. Apparently Lil' J was very cooperative and the images she took were of textbook quality. Both ladies confirmed that J is indeed a boy, or as the technician put it "a little man." It would seem that J is appearing somewhat large these days... The ladies also commented on his "huge thighs" and "chubby cheeks." What can I say, I feed him well.
This is J playing shy, like his Mama. He's hiding his face behind his right arm.



Dismally, J's cooperative spirit did not carry over into 3D portion of the ultrasound, thus the not-so-good pictures we have here. Despite all our jiggling and twisting, J's face remained facing back towards my spine, both his hands were in front of his face, and the umbilical cord was in front of his nose. So sadly, these were the best images we could get. They might be a little hard to figure out, I think they look better when you take a few steps back. For most of them, it's a side profile picture of the right side of his face. And no he does not have a huge nose, that's just the cord.

Our little spunk kept kicking the wand but now Mama knows exactly what all that bumping and knocking is under her right ribs, and what's been keeping me from bending forward. So we just wanted to share pictures of our beautiful son with you all, now it's off to pack for a weekend trip home to PA!

Cap'ns Quarters

Our guests have left, the house is cleaned, mid-terms are over, and our plans for this weekend's guest have been canceled. So I'm suddenly left with a teeny, tiny bit of unexpected "free time." And by free time I mean an hour or so each evening after dinner and homework where my mind is free enough to start thinking about baby plans. Now that we've actually started registering, the big thing on my mind this week is the nursery. The challenge here is to turn a Coastguardman's Office/Guest Room into fun and functional baby nursery ... without removing the futon or painting the walls :(. While debating over colors and patterns, Jon and I have finally come to a happy medium - a nautical nursery. Ergo, over the next 3 months we'll be working to transform said second bedroom into a miniature Captains Quarters for lil' J.
Here is what the office/guest room currently looks like...





And here is our nursery inspiration ...




As much as I was planning to steer away from "themes" I just can't help myself with this one! After all, we do live next at the beach. Looks like a great opportunity for mom to get creative and crafty!
Unfortunately, I may have missed my energetic window of opportunity. The third trimester will be upon us next week (gasp!) and I'm already feeling a return of the familiar first-trimester symptoms of tiredness and heartburn. But it's not baby's fault. He seems to be doing well. He's moving around more than ever ... I'm just glad I don't have to run after him at this stage, I'm not sure if I could keep up with this little ball of energy. Who knew getting punched and kicked in the gut could be so much fun?!