Sick at 32 weeks

Pea's strong and healthy, so that's good, but Pea's Momma's been sick since last Wednesday. Funny that I teach 3rd grade, have managed to avoid all the stomach bugs, colds, lice, etc, but I go home to relax in warm weather and come down with a little bronchitis. Darn. Things just progressed over the few days after Thanksgiving and led me to stay home Monday and Tuesday from school, go to the doc, and get a baby-safe antibiotic to clear up my chest.

All that said, Friday and Saturday were still great to spend with everyone in Houston. Friday, Mom & I had a pedicure, and the lady who did Mom's was pregnant, too, due 2 weeks earlier than me, and she was TINY ... but, then again, she's also a tiny little Vietnamese lady. Mom & I even went out to see the new Twilight, and we're all glad that Pea's no vampire-baby, attacking me from the inside ... creepy! Then, on Saturday, Mom and Ginny took me to a lovely lunch at the Backstreet Cafe before a matinee of A Christmas Carol to celebrate Pea, a special, intimate baby-shower day together. They gave me/Pea perfect little gifts, too, even though they already had! Now Pea has about 10 more books and several other great little things.
At our fancy lunch:

Everyone got to feel Pea! Mom, Dad, Peter, Ginny, & Ryan - everyone! That's because Pea's busy. Ryan had never felt a pregnant belly before, and Mom and Gin practically laughed at how much activity there was during the last 20 minutes of A Christmas Carol =). I'm really glad they all got to "participate". I read yesterday at the doctor's that I'm about as big as I'll get because the baby will begin to drop soon, so I'm double-pleased that everyone got to play along =). It was so strange leaving, though, because the next time we see each other, it'll be a whole new ball game - whoa!

Speaking of ball games, I can't let a Thanksgiving report go without mentioning that all of our teams won: Nebraska, LSU, Texas, BAYLOR, and the Saints =).

Now it's Advent. The wreath is already in use, and decorations are going up. Tree-buying is on for tonight. Hence, this week's photo:

Thanksgiving with little Pea at 31 weeks

We're in Houston! Dylan and I arrived safely on Tuesday night after an excited day at school =). Here's the regular bump shot from that evening:

No problems at the airport, easy, direct flight, warm weather, and Mom & Dad on the other end make for an excellent trip down for Thanksgiving. It's great to spend time with everyone - Mom, Dad, Peter, Ginny, & Ryan ... and of course Jake, Gus, & Cookie, the critters. We enjoyed a fabulous meal together (Dylan's first Thanksgiving dinner with the Brauds!!), nice fires in the firepit, and everyone's been feeling Pea. Pea's danced, hiccuped, kicked, and poked back at the hand touching him/her, and it's been really fun having the family get in on the fun. I love Thanksgiving! And there's so much to be thankful for. A few pictures from the day:

Only unfortunate thing is that I've had a funny nasal drip that's turned into a mean sore throat ... hopefully not on the way to a cough =/.

PS: a photo from Tuesday with the kiddos ... many of them had been doing this on their own, so we decided to pose for a group shot - ha!

Pea's first snow!

And so Pea becomes our Snowpea.

I thought the next post would be from TX already, but I didn't account for the possible snow forecasted this weekend. There's not much to report, so I'll just post a few pictures from Saturday night in a very late first snow in St. Paul.

Mike, Colleen, Dylan, and me with our sandcastle-style snowman (made with buckets b/c the snow was too dry to stick otherwise):

Mini-snowman balancing on Snow-Pea!

Dylan, me, and Pea in the snowy backyard:

Wow - 30 weeks!

Today's the 30 week mark, that's about 7months along with about 10 weeks or 2 months-ish to go. Unbelievable!

Dylan, Pea and I went to the doctor today, and we took a tour of St. John's hospital's maternity wing. Lots of info! Next time in the hospital is when Pea'll be out and about on his/her own! Dr. Anderson said growth's great, put the little doppler on my belly for the heartbeat, and all we could hear were Pea's kicks and smacks =). That was cute and made me laugh, which made the doppler go all loud. Eventually he found the heartbeat, and everything's great. At the hospital, we toured where visitors can wait, eat, internet, etc, as well as spending most of the half-hour in a birthing suite. It'll be the same room for labor, delivery, and recovery, and there's a full bathroom with a tub for easing labor pains as well as a sofa pull-out for my "labor partner" to overnight. It all seems as nice as I could expect; it just makes it a little more real ... and gets me worked up in a combination of anxious and excited. Makes me think we or I or somebody should probably make a list of the don't-forget items to bring with us. It was a good evening =).

Work's getting tiring, so I'm glad there are only 5 more schooldays til Thanksgiving!! And then 3 weeks before Christmas. I can do that. (We'll talk about those last few weeks in January after Christmas...)

Here we are, growing, growing, and growing:

I said to Dylan earlier to take a look at this Pea! He said, yep, as far as peas go, that's a pretty big Pea ;).

Next post will be from TEXAS!

Baby Shower on 11.11.11

Colleen and Steph threw me a baby shower on Friday night! There were 8 of us, and it was really fun and nice. We didn't take a picture of us all together, though - darn! Mom and Ginny even weighed in and sent lovely gifts beforehand telling me to wait until the shower. (They mentioned skyping throughout the shower, but they went camping out in the woods with no skype possibilities.) It's pretty convenient having a couple of young moms give advice and sworn-by gifts. Pea ended up with a stroller and a bassinet sent with love from Texas, as well as onesies, hats, mittens, socks, slippers, a blanket, a bathtub and towels, a stuffed ducky, swaddle/nursing blankets, a portable diaper changer and wipes, and a pumping kit for those few weeks back at work before summer. Pea's first Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs & Ham, was given by 4-yr. old Gianna, too =).

I am very thankful for all of the help, support - in both a moral and "stuff" sense! It seems to make Pea's birth somehow more imminent ... that I won't just stay pregnant!

Here's a shot of the hostesses with me & Pea:

Me & Pea at 29 weeks

It's starting to go by quickly! When I think about beginning counting down next week "only 10 more weeks" ... it seems like Summer and Fall have just flown by. We saw Dr. Anderson last Friday, and things are looking great =). He said growth since last check-up is slightly more than he'd expected, but not in a bad way. I don't know if that means in comparison to what I/Pea was last time or for the average 29-weeker. In any case, I'm starting to FEEL big ... which is pretty neat, I must admit. I have to roll out of bed, squat funny to sit down at school, waddle a little when I walk. It's all still exciting.
So, here we were yesterday evening:

We're in the 11th week of school. Somehow that number seems like few, while it also seems like we've been at this for months! Is it too early to start winding some things down? There are only 2 weeks of school before Thanksgiving and then another 3 before Christmas! Craziness.

week 28

Yaay, sleep. Since last week, sleep has both gotten worse and then better again. We rigged a couple of different systems to try out with pillow positions, side of bed, etc, but all that led to a very tired and cranky 3rd grade teacher on Monday - Halloween; ugh. I came home and crashed on the sofa. Monday night, however, Dylan massaged between my shoulders and my neck for a good 15 minutes before bed, and now the pillows are stacked behind me, like a fort, to lean against. Aaah, successful combination!

Parent-teacher conferences are this Thursday evening and all day Friday. Just sayin'.

We think Pea likes the organ ... every time we're in church, Pea starts bopping around =). That's been kinda nice to watch - yes WATCH - not just feel.

Here's Pea's very own Halloween Pea-o-lantern:

Here's Pea, Lucy, and me trying to look like Lucy:

And here's the regular Tuesday, 28 week-mark shot (with Lucy =) ):