New Rooms

The Sooy kids seemed to have been getting a bit big for their shared room so a few weeks ago we started the process of giving the kids' their own spaces to stretch out and grow!

Some before pictures:

Sean was moved back into his old room and Clare stayed in the shared room.

Probably the most exciting part of the transition is that Seany has bunk beds!

Clare has decided to sleep on the bottom bunk for a few nights while Sean gets to sleep up top!

And Sean loves to fall asleep to the glow of the blue lava lamp:

New nursery

We've got the new nursery pretty much set up! Sean seems to like his new digs - there's a lot more room for him to play. Here's a mini-tour of the new nursery:

Sean helps Grover make his escape:

Sister's crib - Sean decided that Monkey should hang over Sister's crib and Rabbit should hang over his. The changing table/dresser and the reading chair: Some of Sean's books and animals in the bookcase (the white bin is for animals who need "Think Time"): Getting ready for our Saturday:

Sister's bed!

Since there's less than two months until Sean's little sister arrives(!!!), we thought it was high-time we got a bed for her. Although she'll sleep in Mommy and Daddy's room for the first few weeks, it's good to get her crib up and ready so that Sean gets used to the idea of his new roommate. After Sean's nap yesterday, we headed out to IKEA in South Philly during a massive rain storm to find the Little Miss a bed.

While browsing the crib section, Sean pointed to one and asked, "night-night?" When Daddy put Sean in one of the cribs, Sean promptly asked for his blanket ("nik-nik") and his bear. When we said "Night-night, Sean" he thought it was the funniest thing:

He was a little peeved when it was time to get out to continue with our shopping! We got the crib we wanted, which matches Sean's - we'll post pictures of the new room complete with "Sister's bed" in a couple of weeks, I'm sure.

While Daddy braved a soaking downpour to go get the car, Sean spied the SS United States docked at a pier across the parking lot.

Sean kept saying, "Boat! Have it? (Hab it?) Sean's Boat? Have it, please? (Hab it, meese)?"

28 Weeks!

And so begins the third trimester! I'm feeling pretty good except for demonic hip pain that started up early last week. I've been trying to combat it by walking, doing some prenatal yoga moves, and sitting with a heating pad, but I think the only thing that will make the pain go away is to have the baby. Which neither the baby nor Mommy and Daddy are quite ready for just yet. I got to the doctor on Monday, so hopefully he can help me out a bit.

Monday's appointment will be a doozy - the one-hour glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. Ick. Yuck. Blech. I am not looking forward to that. Hopefully I pass and won't have to take the three-hour test in a few weeks.

Other than the hip pain, I'm feeling good. Huge like a Thanksgiving Day float, but good. I know I'm carrying differently than I did with Sean because all the tops I wore with Sean are way too short. And the maternity pants I wore with Sean are still loose around the waist. There are two pairs of non-maternity pants in my closet that still fit - they're big pants - but they fit and they're office pants, so that's a major plus. Although I would prefer to wear yoga pants and running clothes everyday.

Another difference between Little Sister and Sean's pregnancies is that I have not felt her hiccup - at all. Sean was a hiccuping champ at this point, but this little girl would rather constantly push her feet up through my ribs, so I guess that's a fair trade? According to the books, Little Sister is also practicing blinking and making breathing movements. She should be about 2.5 or 3 pounds and measure about 16 inches long - the size of a Chinese cabbage. Here's what she looks like from the outside:

We're starting to talk to Sean more about his sister (tister?) and where she is and what she's doing. Last night, when I was taking him out of his carseat, Sean accidently hit my belly. I told Sean to be nice to Sister and he leaned over and gave my belly a loud kiss (kiss tister!) and a big hug. Nice!

Hopefully another signal that things are changing is that we moved Sean into a new bedroom! We're hoping to have the babies to sleep in the same room, but Sean's room was too small for two babies, so we swapped the guest room and the nursery. Sean didn't seem to notice or care that he's in a new room, but maybe he'll get curious when a second crib shows up?

Bumped down

We bumped down Sean's crib last weekend since he's showing signs of trying to pull himself up.

Before:

After:

And to drive home the comparison, here's my teeny-tiny babybear and how he looked in his big ol' crib waaaaaay back in May:

Happy Due Date, Sooy Baby!

"You said a baby was coming on April 30th. I don't see a baby - I guess I'll keep looking."

Oh, Sooy Baby, today is your due date and you don't seem to have gotten the memo. We still have a few hours, though. Maybe you're not sure where you'll end up? Let's take a look at your shiny, new nursery:
Here's your dresser/changing table, where I'm sure we'll spend lots of quality time:

And it's chock-full of fun clothes for you to wear:

Here's your crib, with some colorful friends to hang out with:

Here's the big, comfy, overstuffed glider where mama plans to read to you all the issues of Runner's World magazine she's been saving these past few months:

And here's a bookcase to hold your books, games, and odds n' ends:

See? Everything's ready - all we need is a baby!

31 Weeks!

This was a busy week for Thom John and me, as well as the Sooy baby. Here's what our boy was up to:

-He can process information from all five senses.
-His lungs are just about the only organs that are not yet fully mature.
-He's packing on the pounds, about 1/2 pound a week, actually. On Tuesday, the doctor estimated his weight to be 3 lbs 11 oz! We're not sure of his length since he's all curled up, but the books say he should be about 17 inches long - about the length from the tip of your middle finger to your elbow!
-Our Sooy Baby is getting cramped in his little environment. I feel him turning and rolling more than I can feel kicks and punches now - although he's still getting some good shots at my ribs every so often.

And here's what Thom John and I have been up to this week:

-We had another ultrasound of the Sooy Baby - he's growing like a champ and is head-down, so he seems to be getting ready to go. His heartrate at the appointment was 140.
-We went to visit a pediatricians. This practice has a ton of doctors, weekend hours, is close to our house and is affiliated with our hospital, so it seems like a good fit. We're going to meet another pediatrician pretty close to our house next week, and then we'll pick one and be set with that.
-We attended our last baby class: Breastfeeding Basics. The class was taught by a "lactation consultant" who works at our hospital and was really informative - almost a little too informative, as in there was a lot to remember. I guess we'll just see how it goes when the time comes.

And a couple of things I forgot to mention in previous weeks:

-Thom John and I attended another baby class: Breathing & Relaxation. It was like a Lamaze/Bradley class condensed into a two-hour session. The instructor taught us the basics and it's up to us to practice the techniques at home. This class was great - that night, I had the best night of sleep I've had in months!
-I passed my one-hour glucose screening! Woo hoo!

-The nursery is coming together. We've got a crib, changing table, bookcase, curtains and some wall art. I'll post pictures after we get a couple of other things together.

And here's this week's belly shot - another comparison, since I had my "running outfit" on again:

On the top left, me at 14 weeks pretending I have a baby belly (it was really a lot of pasta and Twix bars). The top right photo is me at 26 weeks 5 days feeling happy for having just run 3.1 miles. And the bottom left photo was taken last Tuesday at 30 weeks 5 days, feeling grateful that I was able to crank out 2 miles!

26 weeks

We're at 26 weeks! Less than 100 days left until our Sooy Baby gets here - yay! and yikes!

Here's what our boy is up to this week:

-His heart and other major organs are continuing to mature and grow. The addition of tiny capillaries in the lungs are contributing to his lung development.

-He should measure about 9.5 inches from crown to rump or 14 inches from head to heel, which is about the size of an English hothouse cucumber (what a random produce selection this week, I know). He's still looking pretty lean even though he's been packing on ounce after ounce of baby fat.

-Up until now, his eyes have been sealed shut, but they should start to open soon. And then the baby can busy himself by practicing blinking and squinting.

And what have Thom John and I been doing to get ready for the Sooy Baby? We've toured a few daycare centers, painted the nursery, put together the crib, and signed up for a slew of baby-related classes offered by the hospital. Next on the list is to find a pediatrician. Also, I can't eat enough grapefruit.

Here's a belly picture taken Friday at 26 weeks 1 day. I know it doesn't really look it, but I feel like the baby's grown about 3 feet this week. He's definitely stretching out and getting comfy in his little apartment.

Tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock

I'm trying to be a good girl and work hard while I'm at work, but who can think about work when there's so much going on in the next couple of weeks? I'm trying to wait patiently for tomorrow night (the big ultrasound!), various upcoming holiday happenings and VACATION!!

Here are some thoughts rolling around in my head:

-The fall semester is done! Yay! It was so nice last weekend to NOT have any homework, reading, or papers to do!


-Round ligament pain is a killer. It feels like there are Doozers hard at work in my belly building up a nice little infrastructure for the baby. I guess the baby, much like a fraggle, finds the Doozers' product tasty and keeps eating the structures, because there is a lot of building going on. Fortunately, I've been able to combat the RLP with yoga and pilates, in which I'm instructed to "hug the baby" with my abs.

-Thom John felt the baby move on Sunday night. Or was it last night? Saturday night? Anywho, he felt a swift punch (delivered with love, I'm sure) from the little bugger!

-Thom John and I are starting to get serious about setting up the nursery! First thing we need to do is clear out the junky guest room with the hideous blue carpeting and then think of ways to distract from said carpeting.

-I'm soooooooo glad that I'm done with nausea. It's so nice to eat fruits and vegetables again. I'm working hard at keeping my eating under control, but sometimes when I eat, I end up hungrier than I was before I started. Basically, I've been sticking to my training diet with a couple of extra quality snacks added in, but I gotta be honest - fun-size Twix bars and I are getting to be pretty good friends.

-I'm really fighting the urge to make another egg, turkey bacon and english muffin sammich for dinner tonight... that would make 4 sandwiches in 3 days which is a bit much, eh? (I had two on Sunday.)

-Running is making a comeback, no thanks to my bladder which only lets me go about 1.5 miles from the house at one time. But, I no longer feel too jiggly or worry that the baby is going to fall out, so that's a plus.

-The PepperDog has become a good little running buddy to me. I used to get a bit impatient with him - he takes potty breaks wherever, whenever and he's is very easily distracted, but now I'm glad for the walk breaks and meandering, especially because I get short of breath pretty easily.

-I'm making my way into my maternity clothes. I started wearing the pants last week (week 19), but so far most of my tops still fit. The maternity tops I do have still look a bit ridiculous 'cause they're so huge.

-Thom John and I saw "Frost/Nixon" on Saturday. Did you know the actor who plays President Nixon in the film was born in Bayonne, NJ? It's true, according to IMDB!

-Maternity pants are great, I love the elastic waists, but I'd really just like to wear my running clothes to work. I wonder if City Sports is hiring?

-Thom John and I have some appointments set up to tour daycares when we get back from vacation. I need to do some research on what types of questions to ask these places and to find out what I should look for.

-I bruise as easily as an overripe peach these days!