Josephine, age 5 minutes

Mad knitting skillz

Check out this sweater that Beth knit for our baby to be...can you believe it's the first one she's ever made? She also made the card, although the light is too bright to see the cool stamps in this pic. You also can't see the two wooden buttons on the left shoulder, but trust me, they're nice, too!

Thanks, Beth!

Countdown

OK...I'm getting kinda huge now, and it's not just the edema. Today the doctor said, "Did anyone tell you you've got a big baby in there? You do." When I asked her how she could tell, she pointed to my stomach and said "I just can."

This is week 36 which is a mere 4 weeks away from the standard 40 week "end of the road" marker. Most of what I've read says that generally people deliver between 38 and 42 weeks, so there's no telling when this will all go down.

And here are some pix of the strollers we assembled this weekend. The first is a car seat carrier (being test-driven by the sock monkey)...highly recommended by those in the know because you don't have to wake a sleeping baby to get them in and out. The other stroller is designed specifically with public transportation in mind...those front legs fold up quickly (or they will when we get the hang of the thing, I hope). We'll probably have to wait until she's bigger to use that one:

And, lastly for now, here are some pix of (just a few of many) cute things that we're getting excited about using. The shoes are a gift from Nan. The hot fuschia color doesn't quite come through in the photo. The next pic shows some of the cloth diaper covers (OK, maybe I'm a little more excited about using those than Jack is...he's still not sold on the cloth idea):

I miss my ankles

Health-wise (so far), I have had a relatively uneventful pregnancy. That is, until the edema set in. "They" (doctors) say that your blood volume doubles during pregnancy and peaks at about 34 weeks, which is where I'm at. This picture doesn't quite do justice to just how sausage-like my toes are, nor are the sock lines really conveying the overall swollen-ness. And notice that I'm barefoot--I have one pair of shoes that will fit after having loosened the strap out to the farthest hole. I feel like one of Cinderella's ugly stepsisters trying to cram her foot into the glass slipper every morning when I get dressed.

But if this is the worst of my pregnancy symptoms, then I feel lucky. And it makes the idea of more snow and slush that much more tolerable knowing that I won't have to go out in shorts or a skirt anytime soon. Plus, maybe I can inspire an artist like Botero:


PS Apologies to anyone surfing for sexy foot fetish photos online...these must have been a disappointment

Almost 8 months

On Wednesday we'll officially hit 31 weeks. Almost eight months down, nine weeks to go.* It's hard to believe I'll get nine weeks' worth of bigger...yikes.

*Some clarification: Apparently, a full-term pregnancy is measured at 40 weeks, which sounds like 10 months but is really still closer to 9 months because most months have closer to 4.33 weeks in them. That's why you hear everyone talking in weeks instead of months, usually, so as not to confuse people. But I know I'm confused just thinking about it. Here's a link to a site that offers some explanation and related math: http://www.babiesonline.com/articles/pregnancy/a10monthpregnancy.asp. Bottom line that I saw somewhere in all of the explanations: Your baby will arrive when he or she is ready.

On an unrelated note, here's a picture of Zeeb doing her "Cat from Outer Space" impersonation:

A visit with our librarian pals and their baby

Jack and I got to visit with friends of ours from library school and their eighteen month old while we were in Philadelphia. Although it looks like she is distressed in this picture, she actually was enjoying sitting on my lap, I swear.






And speaking of enjoying sitting on laps, take a look at this picture. Jack can attest that normally babies and small children do not warm to him quickly (it was years before his nephew didn't burst into tears when handed over to Uncle Jack...okay, maybe not years). But not this small child. She climbed right up and handed Jack a book to read to her. Very cute.

Greetings from Philly

Here's a highlight from baby's first library conference. This pic was taken across the street from Philadelphia City Hall where there is some public art featuring giant dominoes as well as large chess pieces, checkers and even some Monopoly and Parcheesi pieces. Later, baby went on her first Masonic Temple tour. We'll be at 28 weeks the day after tomorrow.