it's GOT to be the camera angle :)

happy holidays :)

happy (early) thanksgiving!

well, to answer the last commenter's question--nothing is going on.

had a dr's appt today. fingertip dilated and maybe 30% effaced. so, for those of you who know what that means, you know that doesn't mean much. unless i go on my own beforehand, i have an induction date set for next thursday (i'll go in the night before).

so that's that. it's frustrating to think that all the discomfort i've been experiencing since saturday hasn't done anything to prepare my body. but...there's nothing i can do but enjoy some good food tomorrow and wait til the end...

gobble gobble everyone :)

no news yet....

been getting a few calls here and there, so just wanted to give a quick update :)

nothing too significant happening. i've been having inconsistent/uncomfortable (not painful) contractions and cramping since around 1pm yesterday. i got all excited when they started, but by bedtime last night when i figured they weren't really leading anywhere, it had gotten old. i'm preparing myself for the fact that they could last for days/week....so, now i'm just trying to ignore them until it becomes clear that they won't let me :)

our plan is to update the blog as soon as we know we're in the hospital to stay...so keep checking back in and hopefully there'll be something exciting to read soon!

thanks for all the well wishes and good thoughts! it's really comforting to know there are so many people rooting for us :)

40 week appointment...

so, went to the dr. today and got these comments from the nurses....

'you're back again!?'
'you're still sticking around??'
'you don't want to leave us?'

:) as nice as it is to be recognized and joked about, i'd rather not have been there myself!

things still look fine. i- AMAZINGLY- didn't gain any weight the last week, bp is good, piggy's heartbeat in the 150's, and the midwife got a kick out of the shape of my belly- she seemed to think pig was curled up in a ball and kept kicking her hand while she was trying to get the heartbeat.

she seems to think i'll go sometime in the next week (maybe this weekend?) but if i make it to my appt on wednesday, then we'll plan an induction. so....at the VERY least, i'll know by next wednesday that this baby'll be here soon. BUT, i dont want to be induced, so i'll take any prayers, labor vibes, good thoughts that anyone can throw our way that things happen very soon! :)

another week closer i guess....

so, i think i'm letting go of my hope that piggles will be here to celebrate thanksgiving with us. if it happens, WONDERFUL...but if not, i'm not going to get upset :) at the very least s/he will be here by christmas, right?!

had a really quick dr's appt this week with a dr i had never met before and kind of hope i dont have to see again. didn't get any of the stats that we usually do (ie, my blood pressure, baby's heartbeat-though we did hear it, baby's position, etc), so it felt like somewhat of a wasted appt.

so, we're still in waiting mode. growing a bit more impatient with every day (ok, who are we kidding...for me it's every hour) that passes with no sign of labor. it's all in pig's hands....welcome to parenthood, eh?

:)

quick post

we had visitors today from HAWAII!!!! my cousin paul and his daughter cassidy came up with my parents from boston and it was SO GOOD to see them! it's scary to think that it's been 9 years since i last saw cassidy (i'm not sure she was even walking then!) and 3 years since we saw paul (hmmm. the red sox won the world series just days ago. AND 3 years ago. i think he's their good luck charm :)) we got caught up and cassidy kept the dogs and kitten (cleo wanted to be by herself...) entertained. hopefully it won't be too long until we see them again! love you guys!!!

ps, paul told me that my need to clean the whole house the other day (bathroom included!) was me nesting...maybe that's a good sign!? :)

my saint's day :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVE!!!!!!

small note...

YIPPPPPEEEEEE for being full term!!

in essence, that's really all i have to say. i had a dr's appt on wednesday, but there wasn't anything really new to report. piggy is still cooperating and is head down, hb was 160 with little spurts of increase when it moved around, bp is good, weight gain seems to be slowing down (yay!) and there is so much pressure on my bladder that i may have to move downstairs at night to the futon to avoid going up and down the stairs 4x a night.

zane and i went out to dinner after my appt and as we're talking and eating, it both hit us just exactly what this "deadline" or countdown is going to be bringing us...it's gone from just a set of numbers and a date to a real life experience. we both immediately felt completely unprepared--zane, mentally and me, physically. (to help myself out, i went to wal-mart today and stocked up on baby items like lotions and creams and medicine. these things won't really help in a lot of ways, but now i feel better. if there was only something we could buy for zane... :))

zane's got a BIG birthday next week and as much as i'd love to give him a baby as a present, i know it's not up to me and piggy will decide when the time is right. so now...we wait.

life on the funny farm...

so. we've got animals using my belly as a napping shelf:

an infestation of ladybugs...you can't really tell here, but they are EVERYWHERE. this was just one of the windows they were swarming.

and here's my little monster of a husband showing how he intends to 'intimidate' the bugs...

and last but not least, the pig's latest picture (with king and marley passed out in the background)...in utero of course. just a few more weeks and we'll have pictures of it in the outside world!!! YAY! (sorry if the bare belly offends...)

not too much to report...had my (almost) 36 week checkup yesterday...heartbeat sounded good at 154 bpm. the midwife couldn't really tell where the head was and how the baby was positioned (the first time they haven't been able to tell...but i think in the end she finally decided that it's still head down). got a flu shot--i just happened to ask if it was ok to get one in this stage of pregnancy and they had extras that they were willing to give :) i'm definitely getting more and more practice contractions--some are getting painfully uncomfortable. and the complete belly metamorphases when piglet moves are wild. i'm sure i'm going to miss these quiet times when zane and i can just stare in amazement at the pig, but i'm ready to meet this little person!

a few people have asked questions about baby showers and what we're planning on doing...here's my attempt at some answers :) we've thought about (and decided on) having some sort of "meet the baby" or "late birth-day" celebration sometime after the new year. the timing of when the pig decides to make his/her debut will determine when we have the get together. however, we did register at babies 'r' us and are in the process of registering at target...so, if the overwhelming urge hits you to buy cute baby things, we will graciously accept! (but we absolutely don't expect anything other than well wishes ;)) hope that helps!

so. sorry for the way way WAY overdue update. we should be getting our new camcorder sometime this weekend in the mail (THANK YOU MAMA WALSH!!!!!!!) so we'll have to figure out how to post videos on this thing :) until then...go sox!! ;)

the walshes

happy fall!

cant believe it's october already!! we rang in the start of fall by apple picking with the pooches :) the first place we tried (where we've gone for the past few years) wouldn't let us bring the dogs out of the car, so we got a quick back of macoun apples and took off. we found another small, local orchard that was more than happy to let us roam with marley and king. (they had a blast by the way and then passed out when we got home.) we've got an assortment of apples on our counter that i'll be making into an apple pie. and i'm determined this year to actually eat the pie and like it. we'll see....



today i've been getting things ready and arranged like crazy. i went down to my sister suzanne's yesterday to see the little man, henry (i cant believe i didnt get any pictures...) and take load after load of baby things off her hands! (thank you thank you thank you!!!!) in the first picture above, after i sorted through tons of clothes to be washed, cleo made a little nest for herself and made much more of a mess than i did. then i went into the kitchen to finish our own laundry and found little roo in curled up in the clean clothes. good thing the dogs have been outside for most of the day, who knows where they would have decided to snuggle down...

i'm taking a break right now from doing some stuff in the baby's room...when i recharge and finish up there, i'll take pictures and show what's been done. since the room is unheated, it's doubtful that we'll use it much until the spring, but it's nice to have a place called 'the baby's room' anyway :)

i'd take another picture of my belly, but enough people have told me i'm huge and that's not going to change anytime too soon, so i'll hold off ;) maybe when the pig drops and lets me breathe easier i'll be excited to show off the progress....

that's all for now. hopefully at my dr's appt tomorrow they'll tell me everything is still progressing well and reassure me that all the physical stuff i'm feeling is normal :) til next time...

new pics....

as requested....

32 weeks, 6 days

little roo playing cards. :)

and as of next week when i start every project that's been banging around in my head for the last couple months, there'll be lots more pictures...

"we are family" :)

so. a few more updates :)

we're not sure why we're destined to find "twins" of the animals we already have, but when we stumbled upon this free kitten--who looks REMARKABLY like cleo did when she was a little one--we fell to mush. are we crazy to bring a cat baby into this farm-house zoo just 8 weeks before our human baby makes its appearance?? probably. but will we give her up? no way. and even if we wanted to, the dogs and cleo are smitten as well and it just wouldn't be fair to them :)so. meet "the little one" or "littles" as we've been calling her.

yesterday, we had an 8 hour condensed childbirth class. i wasn't excited to go, but knew it was the responsible/smart thing to do, and it turns out i reall enjoyed it and feel much more prepared (if there is such a thing) and excited about the day we head to the hospital. we were hoping to make some friends too through our class, but....no dice. it seems pregnant women (at least the ones that were there) aren't so friendly or willing to socialize. ah well...we've got a newborn care class coming up in october, maybe more luck then. :)

but...perhaps we should also be looking into some other classes for the other 'babies'. we came home from our long saturday out, and among some other things, zane picked this up off the floor...

(the dvd reads: training your adopted dog). now. pan out....

somehow the door to the laundry room was not blocked by the chair that is usually there and the dogs showed us their disappointment in how the weekend was going for them by pulling out bags of trash and spreading it around. needless to say, they are going to be extremely pleased when i'm home more (though it won't be as quiet as they are used to!) as of next monday, i won't be working anymore. i need to give my body a little bit of rest and healing before the real work starts :)

i think that's it for now. no more baby purchases recently, though i've suddenly become obsessed with the fact that we don't have socks for the baby and this house is going to be so cold. i know pig'll most likely be swaddled or dressed in footed things for a while, but until i buy a few socks, i won't feel as ready. is this nesting? or just insanity? (and if you have any suggestions for socks that won't fall off immediately, please let me know!)

happy sunday!

week re-cap

well well. it's been a long day of work, car repair, a dr's appt, a tour of the maternity ward and finally dinner. it's just about 9pm and we're finally getting home and settling down--the dogs, not so much :)

some highlights in the past week:

*we got our changing table up and running! got a pad and cover and set up the baskets and started going through the small things we've accumulated in the past few months :) still needs work and organizing, but it's started...

*ally's parents got us our stroller! we put it together (well, zane snapped the wheels onto the bottom) and tried it out through the house (which sent the dogs scattering)...we thought we'd be nice and not throw the cat it in, but lo and behold, she found it herself and made a cozy little spot for herself in the seat...we tried taking a picture but the camera battery was dead...

*zane got one of his weekend classes out of the way (only 4 or 5 more to go?? :(), but at least its a start. it looks like he may have his diploma in may!! yay :)

*our appt tonight went really well. we had a midwife again as the dr on-call was doing a c-section at the hospital. she checked the position of the baby--head down, facing to the left (my right), which explains the kicks i've been getting in the sides and the lumps at my belly button :) since piggy was positioned so well, we could hear the heartbeat louder and clearer than ever! it was lower this time, in the 140's :) weight gain so far--25 lbs. it couldn't possibly be because of the disgusting amounts of cookie dough we've (when i say we, i mean zane and i--the pig is innocent in this!) been eating :)

*we got the cutest fleece one piece outfit today from my friend bridget at work! it's green with a little bear face on the bottom and bears on the feet. we can't wait to put the pig in it to come home from the hospital! AND a book on making baby food! thank you bridget!!!! when the camera charges, i'll take pictures :)

*our tour of the hospital tonight was wonderful! the rooms are enormous (each one with a bathroom with a jetted tub), no real nursery (just one for babies with extra special concerns) so the baby can be with you the whole time (this may or may not be a good thing i guess! :)), they dont routinely insert iv's, but do encourage mom to eat a little something if that's what her body tells her to do :) all in all, a very laid back, comfortable and comforting atmosphere and i feel a lot better after having gone and seeing what it's all about. oh, and zane wins dad-to-be of the year, for asking multiple questions on the tour and having one of them be "an excellent" question. :)

*we got a bunch of our burp cloths from ally's mom, who has been working on sewing in patterned cloth to the cloth diapers we bought. we LOVE how they're turning out...and very much appreciate her hard work and determination (apparently, stretchy fabric can be a pain to sew to the cloth...) THANK YOU! :)

that's all i can think of right now...too tired and need to go to sleep. i'll be back on when i can think of more to say :)

love, us

piggy's new chair!

so we got a VERY generous gift today from the mom of the little boy i work with!! she'll be getting a HUGE thank you when i see her tomorrow! :) it even has toys to hang on the bar--a cow, a sheep and a PIG! what a perfect gift, we can't wait until the pig's here to enjoy it!

of course, we had to make sure it worked correctly and the only thing small enough to test it out was mish (our cat, aka "cleo")...
since we tortured her a bit, we set her free to eat as much cat grass as she wanted! zane planted this a few weeks ago and it's just taken off :) over the summer i'd take her out whenever i took the dogs out back in the fenced in area, and let her roam around in a smaller "pen" area. she loved eating the grass (most times, a bit too much as she frequently threw up whatever she pigged out on...) so we figured with the colder weather and more indoor days, she could at least have a fake version of her comfort food :)

that's all from here. enjoying the cooler fall weather and the fact that the rain let up enough to allow zane to grill some steak tips for us tonight outside :) yum.

ally and zane :)

baby days...

its been a while! here we are at 3o weeks...10 more to go. a week or two less would be fine by me :) i see this picture and i dont know how i'm going to get bigger--but i'm sure i will. piggy weighs in at around 3 lbs and for the next 7 weeks s/he will gain about 1/2 lb a week! movements are starting to get crazy strong, and i'm sure piglet's starting to run out of room in there...

today, zane and i did a bit of shopping for little baby things. a few onesies (pictured below--i *heart* mommy and i *heart* daddy--can you tell zane's excited?!) , a bunch of bathtime goodies, some diapers, and a fitted crib sheet. we're getting ready slowly but surely :)

tonight we made our first batch of homemade wipes! i found a recipe online that uses paper towels, baby oil and baby wash with water, all put into a plastic container and left to soak. who knows how well they work, but they smell wonderful!

tomorrow we have plans to lay around and watch the chiefs play the texans, (hopefully with the windows open and cooler air blowing in (it was 92 degress in concord today at 2pm!)), eat some high iron-content food (according to the dr, my iron levels are low), put ice/heat on my back (which has been helping the shooting pains down my backside...sciatica anyone?! :( ), and enjoy our day off before a full week of work. hope everyone's weekend is restful and enjoyable...

til next time...ally and zane