A Day In The Life

Matt asks me each day when he gets home what we did all day. There's a lot of days I seriously can't remember, but I know we did a lot. This gave me the idea for this post. This isn't exactly the most typical day of my maternity leave, but it kind of is a good picture. I recorded this the day after we came back from our trip to Pittsburgh...not typical. We also had an appointment for Q at the audiologist which isn't typical, but at the same time between myself and Quinn I feel like I have spent half my maternity leave in doctor's offices. Quinn was also a little off schedule this day in the afternoon, but of course that happens. So here is what December 29th 2015 looked like for us :)

12:14: Quinn took a little extra effort to get to sleep. She did take a very long nap midday on our drive from Pittsburgh to home. She's usually in bed before this, but we did have a very well behaved traveller, so I can't be too upset. Once Quinn was asleep, I went straight to bed.

5:55: Matt's alarm goes off for him to get to the train for work. He is out the door by 6:20. I waited for him to get ready while laying in bed and thinking about the day ahead. If I was smart, I would have tried to stay asleep.

6:25: I convinced myself to get out of bed, and was very thankful Q didn't wake up yet. This gives me time to hurry up and get myself ready. So I take a shower, get dressed, and blow dry my hair.

7:00: Time to get Quinn up, changed, and dressed.

7:10: Quinn and I go downstairs to feed her, watch our friends Matt and Savannah on the Today show, and of course change more diapers.

8:00: After Quinn's feeding, I need a wardrobe change (spit up problems), and I get my breakfast. Then we go to the gym (aka the play mat thing for babies). While she's in the gym, I pump (for milk to store) and talk to her. I get the milk in the fridge, we do some more gym time, and I change her quickly.

8:30: I fix myself some coffee and get Quinn situated in her carseat to get ready to go to her appointment. I'm happy we are pretty much stress free and on time.

9:00: We make it to our audiologist appointment on time! This was an interesting experience, but we are now sure that Q can hear very well, so that's all that matters. She was a good tester too!

10:15: I decide to feed Q in the car instead of going home since we are closer to Wegmans and it cuts out a coming and going from the house. I'm not totally sure this was the easier option, but it all worked out.

11:15: Grocery shopping at our favorite, Wegmans! Quinn sleeps the majority of the time.

12:45: We get home. I unpack the car and put away the groceries. Thankfully Q stays asleep when I take her out of the carseat so I have some time to eat my lunch, clean up bottles and pump parts, and organize all the pumped milk that we transported back from our trip.

1:30: Quinn's lunch.

2:10: Play time. Including tummy time and more time at the gym.

3:00: Quinn takes a nap. I am holding her. I usually don't do this, but I'm getting sad my leave is coming to an end so I decide to hold her a little longer. I pay bills with the other hand :)

3:35: I put her down in her rock and play which we keep downstairs so I can go through the mail and prep dinner for tonight.

4:10: I check in on my insurance...something else I have been doing a lot of on my maternity leave. I also spend some time just looking at facebook and other stuff on the internet.

4:40: What I call 'Quinn's senior citizen dinner.'

5:00: Now Quinn needs a wardrobe change and afterwards we do a little tummy time and read a story.

5:45: Typically Quinn would take a little catnap, but she's a little fussy and wakes up after 15 or 20 minutes. I let her fuss a little bit in her rock and play while I fill in the details about her first Christmas and her two month well check in her baby book.

6:15: Feeding. More like a snack.

6:30: Snuggle time.

6:45: Matt comes home and takes a shower while Quinn and I finish up getting dinner together. Matt plays with her for a little before dinner.

7:30: Dinner...the three of us always have dinner together.

8:00: I clean up dinner while Matt plays with Quinn and changes her. I go through the pictures from our Christmas trip.

8:40: Quinn gets a little fussy. Typically she would take a little nap before her last feeding, but that's not working out.

9:15: I prep her last bottle. Matt feeds her a bottle at about this time every night. While he is feeding her, I pump then store the milk or make a bottle for the next day, and then wash all the pump parts and bottles from the day.

10:30: Bedtime for Q. Matt is putting her to sleep tonight so I get myself ready for bed and try to stay awake until Matt is done. I was not successful. Apparently he came to bed at 11:15 :)

Two Months!

Baby Q is two months old today! People always tell you how quickly time goes and it's so true. I can't believe how big she is and how much different she is this month than last month. She had her two month well visit yesterday. She is still keeping it long at 23 inches and now weighs 10 pounds 13 ounces. The doctor was very pleased with her growth and her strength. She can push herself up, hold her head up very well, and has good control during tummy time. Sometimes we can even get a smile out of her until she starts screaming to get off her stomach. We also suffered through her first round of shots (3 injections and 1 oral vaccination). I have never seen Quinn so upset, or so red. It was tragic. So sad. I am not looking forward to doing that again. I pretty much let her do whatever she wanted for about 5 hours after that...that included eating and sleeping.

Quinn's latest accomplishments include rolling from tummy to back. The first time she did it was on Thanksgiving when she was five weeks old, but she has become a lot more consistent recently. Also around five or six weeks she started smiling intentionally and even laughs! It's the best! She is still quite vocal - in a good way - at all times of the day, even in her sleep. She is a very happy and content baby. Matt and I consider ourselves so, so lucky to have her, and even more lucky with her wonderful sleep and demeanor. She still sleeps in her crib, in her own room, each night, and pretty consistently sleeps all through the night.

In addition to those tricks, she has also really begun to focus on objects. She still loves lights, but now looks at you when you talk to her and definitely could stare at the lion in the gym for a very long time. She might be in love with him. Quinn can also track objects, like the lion or people, when they move. She swats at toys and reaches for things as well. She can grasp things if you put them in her hand. She might be considered a local celebrity at Wegmans, Target, and The Running Store!

It has been a busy social month. We have had visitors, celebrated Thanksgiving with friends, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, she met Santa Claus, and Quinn even attended her first Christmas party. She was very well behaved for all. We are so looking forward to the next week of social events for the holidays. Quinn will get to meet more family members, take her first road trip, and of course celebrate her first Christmas!.

Obviously, Quinn doesn't come without challenges. We discovered that Quinn has a clogged tear duct (thanks Aunt Caitlin!). Hopefully it will go away with time, but for now I am providing her with nose massages. She also continues to spit up on a regular basis as well. That's probably her most frustrating quality.

We love Quinn so much and are enjoying every moment with her. I always feel so torn..I wish I could stop time and she could be this small and I could stay home with her all day, everyday, but at the same time I cant wait to see what the next month(s) brings.

Friday Love

Happy Friday everyone! Especially to my co-workers - Happy Winter Break! I just can't believe it's December 18th, it's winter break, and it's Christmastime. My days are flying. FLYING. Like I said in my last post I feel like I skipped a while season. At the same time, I don't know what season since it's been in the 60s and 70s here recently. We are supposed to get cold here this weekend before having a 60 degree Christmas. Today, I have a short {Friday Love} for you. This weekend Quinn is having some special visitors I'm excited about and we are going to her first Christmas party (hopefully she cooperates)! Happy weekend!

{one}

Serial. Pretty much the only podcast I can handle. It's back for a second season. I haven't started listening yet. Matt and I planned to save the first couple episodes to listen to together on our upcoming road trip. I have to admit, I'm not super hopeful or psyched about this season's story. I really don't know how you could top season one either. I do hope Sarah Koenig proves me wrong.

{two}

Amazon Prime. I'm late to the game on this one. A little while ago we joined the rest of the world in 2015 and bought an Amazon Prime membership. They are impressive. I ordered all Q's Christmas presents and they were here the next day. The next day.

{three}

Stomach Sleeping. Remember all my pregnancy posts? How I was so miserable sleeping on my side? I had this fantasy of coming home from the hospital and just laying on my stomach for 5 uninterrupted minutes. HAHA. Then I had a C-section. Wellll my stomach sleeping has finally resumed! It's weird. In my old life all the stars use to have to align for me to be able to fall asleep. Now, stomach, side, sitting up, it doesn't really matter...I fall asleep.

{four}

Playing Santa. I'm so excited that Matt and I get to play Santa this year, even if the recipient has no idea who I am let alone who Santa is...oh well.

{five}

We're Still Here!

It's been so long since I've posted. I can't believe how fast time is passing. November and December are notoriously the quickest months of any school year I have ever worked. There are just so many days off from school and lots of holiday excitement. Now that I have been on leave from work since late October it's almost like I skipped fall entirely this year. I remember checking into the hospital on October 20th and leaving a week later and thinking somehow Matt and I missed all the trees turning colors and somehow we were already in the middle of fall. It was weird.

Obviously, life is very different right now. I keep getting those 'you have memories today' messages from Facebook. A year ago I was doing a lot of running. I was outside all the time. This year, I'm lucky to leave the house for an hour or two a couple times a week. Quinn is seven weeks old today. That means had everything gone completely normally with my labor and delivery I should have gone back to work a week ago. I just can't even fathom that. No one wants to leave their six week old at daycare with strangers. Beyond that, though, I feel like I just figured out how to go to the grocery store successfully, I don't know how I will throw in a full time job in addition to the mothering, and the dozens of extra things that come with it. It's overwhelming to think about.

Quinn's first trip to Wegmans!!!

Family leave, in my opinion, needs to be a full year. The place I work gives six or eight weeks paid leave (depending on how you deliver), and up to twelve weeks family leave total. It's a little sad I was kind of happy when I had to have the C-Section because I knew I would have more time at home with my baby. It's even more sad that when I went to my six week check up last week my doctor wrote me a note to take extended time off, due to my legitimate near death childbirth experience, that I was suddenly thrilled to have had a postpartum hemorrhage, blood transfusion, hypertension, and renal insufficiency. And his note had to state all that for me to remain paid, even though I have more than enough leave to cover well over twelve weeks of maternity leave, but can't use it because it's 'just bonding' with your baby after your medical recovery period. Sad. Anyway, enough of my rant, but really something needs to change.

In other news...we had a great Thanksgiving. We stayed in Virginia and celebrated with some family friends. Quinn looked like a little turkey and was very well behaved the whole time. She continues to be such a delightful and easy baby. In the past few weeks she has started smiling with a purpose, which is so much fun. We are getting very excited for her first Christmas and being able to play Santa, even though she really has no idea what's going on. It will also be Quinn's first long trip in the car. Cross your fingers.

Last weekend we took Quinn to meet Santa. It was one of those times when the new mom thinks she has a great idea and then realizes she's still an amateur. I got Quinn all ready, looking all cute. We arrive on the scene. No line. I walk up to the high school elf and he's asking me a bunch of questions before telling me it's a 3.5 hour wait. Ummmm, WHAT?! He also tries to tell me that he knows how hard it is with a baby. I thought I was going to cry right there. He says he can text Quinn when Santa is ready for her and how long of notice do we need. I was thinking to myself...well about 3.5 hours. Everything did work itself out and Quinn met Santa. But, really, 3.5 hours to see Santa?! Only in Northern Virginia.

Stay tuned for more updates about Quinn's accomplishments. She certainly has checked a few things off the infant to do list since her one month post. Like I said before, it's crazy how quickly the time has gone. 

One Month!

Today marks Quinn's one month birthday! While the first two weeks did really FEEL like two weeks, the second two weeks flew by. At her four week check up on Thursday she weighed in at 8 pounds, 8 ounces and measured 21 and 3/4 inches. Even though she is up a pound and a half since birth and a whole inch longer, the girl still can't wear pants that fit. She has chicken legs. I still wonder daily what color her eyes will come to be...some days they look blue and others like they might turn to brown. She still has all of her dark hair. The doctor says she is still perfect!

She loves eating and sleeping, her black and white picture book, and her true friends are all the lights in the house. She's also quite verbal. She's always making noises both when she is awake and when she is asleep. I like to think she enjoys my comedy, and I know she enjoys when Matt talks to her and reads with her every day after work. She's not the biggest fan of tummy time or baths, and changing her diaper has the potential to send her into a tizzy. Even though she doesn't like tummy time, she can lift her head and turn it from side to side. The doctor was impressed with her head control last week. She is challenging us with burping and spitting up, and she's not really sure what to think of the vacuum. She started taking one bottle a day from her dad this week too. She is fussy in the evenings and wants to eat the whole time, but then she has a LONG stretch of sleep each night when we go to bed. 

I can't believe how quickly the time already seems to be going and that our scrawny newborn is already at the one month mark! Even though she is little, she is already a BIG COUSIN! Matt's sister and her husband had a baby three days ago! There been lots of excitement in her first month. We obviously think Quinn is just the best and we love her so. I just want to squeeze her and keep her little for a little longer. 

Recipe of the Week!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Spinach, Onions, and Craisins

I got the general idea of this recipe from Wegmans. We went one busy Sunday before I had a baby and they were making a similar recipe and handing out samples. I decided to try it at home. It's pretty easy and it's definitely delicious. I think it would be a good one to add to Thanksgiving if you are feeling inclined.

Also...two things mentioned in this post...Wegmans and cooking. Both have become more difficult since October. We were about to take Quinn to Wegmans for the first time so I could feel like a normal person at the grocery store when she spit up ALLL OVERRR her car seat. She was then grounded from leaving the house (or the car seat was out of commission for the day) same thing. Cooking is just hard unless both of us are home (like on the weekends) because it's dear sweet Quinn's fussiest time of day, so just eating dinner is hard enough. Thank goodness for the frozen meals I did, and generous friends!

Ingredients:

1 pound butternut squash, cut into bite sized pieces

Half a medium red onion, sliced

2 handfuls of baby spinach

1/2 cup of Craisins 

olive oil

salt

pepper

Directions:

Place butternut squash and onions on a foil lined cookie sheet. drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 450 degrees until tender. Once tender, place roasted squash and onions into a skillet over low heat on the stovetop. Add spinach and Craisins. Saute until spinach is wilted. 

Friday Love

It's been awhile since I had a {Friday Love} post. Mid-week I started to feel the cabin fever pretty badly, so I decided to start keeping a to-do list (this post will help me check something off) to feel a little more productive in Quinn's downtimes. I feel way better with my little list of projects. Here's a little list of some things I have been enjoying. Beware the 'new mom problems/items.' Sorry! Enjoy your weekend

{ONE}

The Boppy. If you don't know what a {Boppy} is, it's a 'C' shaped pillow marketed toward pregnant people so you put it on your baby registry. At first I was like, "Boppy, schmoppy, I am no fool, I will use a regular pillow." Then I was like, "What the hell, just scan it and put it on there." OMG. I seriously can't live without the boppy. I am so glad I have this thing. I don't know how I will go anywhere without it. How will I hold a baby for extended time in public without the support of the boppy? I'm nervous. Also...I have one improvement for the boppy. You might see me on Shark Tank featuring boppy with cup holder.

{TWO}

Family of Three. So it's a pretty big transition going from our simple couple life, to a family of three. We are still majorly learning about everything, but so far things are pretty good. If it weren't for the night, things would be easy most of the time. While Matt and I are both learning to deal with extreme tiredness some days, Quinn is very worth it. She is a great baby. I consider her a good sleeper, and even then I say you don't know tired until you live with newborn. It's so fun to think about what she will be like and think about the things we will do as a family. I'm so excited it's the weekend so that we can have our family of three time for the next two days.

{THREE}

Butternut Squash. I have been enjoying some roasted butternut squash in our vegetable line up the past couple weeks. I suggest you buy some this weekend. Toss with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, roast in your oven until tender, and enjoy. I have a better recipe than that for next week :)

{FOUR}

Microwaves. I mentioned in my last post that our microwave died a terrible death and I've been missing it. With baby Q, I can never finish a cup of coffee while it's hot, and now I can't just stick it in the microwave to heat it back up. We are also eating lots of leftovers recently...another reason to miss the microwave. Our new one gets installed on Monday!

{FIVE}

The Return of My Legs. You might remember from my weekly pregnancy posts that my legs were formally beyond recognition at the end of my pregnancy. Someone even called them memory foam legs. The nurses at the hospital poked at them all the time. I'm so excited to tell you that I'm back to my former skinny toed, narrow heeled, tiny ankled, and non-inflated limbed self. So great. I'm enjoying wearing shoes again too!

Today vs. Four Years Ago

4 years ago

Four years ago, Matt and I got engaged on Skyline Drive! It was quite an adventure! We told Quinn the story today, and it only seemed fitting to point out both members of my family have tried to kill me. Just kidding (sort of!).

Today we decided to venture out to celebrate our four year anniversary, and the new member of our family. We had been wanting to try the new farm to table restaurant, Birch Kitchen and Bar, up the street, so we went for lunch. I had such high hopes for this place, but was so, so disappointed. Both Matt and I were. Quinn slept the whole time, so she was pleased. I mean maybe it will improve, but as of now I definitely would not go back. It was still nice to get out and about, and to be able to spend the day as a whole family :)

Today

In the Past Three Weeks

In the past three weeks:

• I've had a 40 hour labor followed by 5 hours of pushing
• I've had a C-Section
• I HAD A BABY GIRL!
• I hemorrhaged a few hours later
• I've had a blood transfusion
• I have some unexplained high blood pressure
• I had a 6 day hospital stay (I've never been happier to leave a place, and I'm pretty sure this made coming home with a newborn seem like the easiest thing in the world comparatively). 
• Between Quinn and I, we have had more doctor appointments than I've had in years
• Our toilet broke
• Our microwave broke (I don't even love microwaves, or use mine that much, but really you never know how convenient one is until you are living without one)

It's been a crazy whirlwind for sure. To say that motherhood started off a little rocky (mainly with the birth, medical emergency, and lengthy hospital stay) is putting it lightly. Matt and I are getting use to our new normal. What a huge learning curve! We have already learned lots of lessons, and continue to learn new ones each day. All of the crazy events have been worth it though. Quinn is doing great and I am recovering slowly but surely. Matt is doing a great job as a new dad, Quinn loves listening to him talk to her. 

Today is our first day by ourselves. Matt was home with us for the whole hospital experience and the first days we were home from the hospital, and my mom stayed with us last week. My mom took care of some serious business while she was here...the laundry (since she's the queen of laundry), groceries, making all the meals, cleaning, taking care of our appliance issues, and just helping us take care of baby business so we could have a little break. 

On our first day alone, Quinn and I successfully made it to one of my doctor appointments and Quinn was such a good baby! Really, Quinn is a very good baby in general. I feel like I might jinx myself, but she's usually very pleasant, easy to soothe, and obviously we just think she's the cutest :) 

We have also had some fun in the past two weeks we have been home. Quinn exercised her right to vote on election day, she's strolled around the neighborhood, and had quite a few visitors. We are very thankful for our friends and family to have sent us/brought us dinners, sent us cards and gifts for Miss Q, and for everyone who has thought of us and sent messages offering love and congratulations! We are very lucky to have so many wonderful people around us!

On The Day You Were Born

Matt and I are so excited to share that Quinn Flaherty Keough has arrived and made us a family of three. Believe me when I tell you that her entrance into the world is quite a harrowing tale. I think Matt and I have probably just made it through the most stressful, dramatic, scary and exciting days of our lives. I am going to share an abridged version (as abridged as 48 hours gets) of the hours leading up to her birth and of course a few of our favorite photos from over the last week.

I had my last doctor prenatal doctor appointment on October 14th. Quinn's due date. At that appointment we decided I would be induced the following week if nothing happened on it's own before then. I called and scheduled the induction for October 20th at 7 a.m. Matt and I very anxiously checked in that morning, hopeful that we would find out if Baby K. was a boy or girl (BABY HUNCH RESULTS {HERE} - Aunt Caitlin is our winner!) by the day's end. By 9 a.m. I was hooked up to Pitocin to start labor and Penicillin because I had tested positive for Group B Strep. I should also mention that upon checking in my blood pressure was totally out of control high. It remains that way until right now. I still don't have an explanation for it. Later that afternoon I hadn't made much progress and the baby's head was still very high up. The doctor couldn't even be sure it was a head so she did an ultrasound to be sure. She shared that she was concerned the baby was facing up and had their hand on their head and might not be able to be delivered. My water also broke around this time, so everyone was hopeful things would pick up. The doctor's changed shifts at about 9 p.m. and I was still not making much progress and my contractions never really got strong so they gave me a intrauterine catheter to better measure them. They still were not strong. The next doctor really broke my water around 11 p.m. that night. Overnight not much happened. I couldn't sleep, but tried. The next day (October 21st) around lunch time the Pitocin was cranked up and I started to get stronger contractions. The doctor came to check me, but I still wasn't making progress. He too made it seem as though a C-section was in my future. He and the nurse also suggested an epidural to help with the pain and to help relax my body to possibly move things along. About an hour later I decided to try it, seeing as how at this point I thought for sure I would be having a C-section and would need something anyway. Over the next few hours I got a few hours of sleep and made progress dilation wise. A little after nine, and third doctor later, I was allowed to begin pushing.

I pushed for about an hour, but nothing much was happening. The nurse and doctor made a new plan with my Pitocin to try to make things more productive. At this point I was getting extremely frustrated with the lack of progress, the amount of medication, and just not having a baby after almost two days. Also, I wanted some food. I was given an hour break from pushing to wait for stronger contractions. Once they got a little better, I pushed four more hours, until about 4 a.m. on October 22nd. At this point the doctor came back. He stated my options. The baby wasn't low enough to have any help with a vacuum, I could continue pushing, but I wasn't making progress after five hours, and then lastly he C-section that had been on the table for a few days. I asked him what he thought was best and he I could tell he thought I should have the C-section. I agreed. Matt and I were both quickly prepared to go into the operating room.

Once we were in the operating room they prepped me for the procedure and the anesthesiologist asked if we were having a boy or girl. I said I didn't know. So they gave us a special drape that we would be able to see the baby when it came out (but not see all my guts) and I would be able to announce if it was a boy or girl. Matt came in and things went very quickly. They held the baby up and asked me what it was. I saw, but I couldn't believe what I saw. I said I needed to see again and SHE WAS DEFINITELY A GIRL!!!!! SO CRAZY! I was so convinced she was a boy. I kept saying I can't believe I had a girl. Matt went to be with the baby when they cleaned her off and weighed her and checked her out. I started seriously feeling the effects of anesthesia. Matt brought her over to me all wrapped up and I kept telling him about how she was a girl and asking about what her hair looked like. I also couldn't believe she only weighed seven pounds. They thought of of the reasons she wouldn't come out was because she was a big baby. Turns out the first doctor was right, she was facing the wrong way and she had her hands on her head so she was impossible to push out.

In the recovery room, I couldn't wait to hold her, but I was feeling really bad from the anesthesia and didn't trust myself to be able to hold her. Matt called our parents and told them the great news. I could hear my mom yell in disbelief about it being a girl as well. After a little while I was finally able to hold her. I couldn't believe how soft she was and she was also very alert. She was loving playing with her tongue. Soon we were moved to the postpartum wing of the hospital and that's where things get very dramatic and take a turn for the worst for me. But all of that is a story for another day. We are so happy our Quinn is here. The past week - good and bad - is something that Matt nor I will ever forget. We are so thankful for our families help during all of our craziness and for all of our friends who sent messages of concern and congratulations. We can't wait for everyone to meet her :)

Life Lately

It's been awhile since I posted anything but a recipe or some weekly statistics about Baby K. I suppose baby prep has been keeping us busy, and sometimes I just don't feel like mustering up a blog post. So before life changes forever here are some random thoughts and things that we have been up to...

Fall: I love fall! October is one of my favorite months of the year! We are finally cooling off in Virginia (it's actually very cool the past three days) which is makes it feel like we should be doing fall things. We also get to open the windows! We visited a farm up the road last weekend to pick some pumpkins and we've been enjoying some more fall-like recipes at our house. I'm even liking some butternut squash this year. Stay tuned for a recipe.

Football Season: Probably the best part of fall is football weekends! Sadly, though, none of my teams are very stellar this year. Saturday mornings we start off with College Gameday and then we are usually lucky enough to get the Penn State game each weekend. Steeler games are a little harder to come by on Sundays with the DMV having two home teams, but the Steelers are usually 3rd in line so that's good. We shouldn't even get into how bad my fantasy team is this year. Embarrassing.

On Being Overdue: I'm five days overdue. It's weird. It's like we are living on the edge. I'm OK with it. I'm enjoying the simple life, but I have to tell you I was pretty much checked out of work toward the end of last week, especially when the doctor told me there would be a good chance to have the baby last weekend. I'm not really sure what the baby is doing in there, or when it thinks it should come out. I have walked and walked some more, I've had my membranes swept (TWICE), I've had some spicy food, and all those other things people think you should do...I've done some of them, but Baby K just hangs out like nothing happened.

TV: I'm glad fall TV is back. We have been enjoying Wednesday night TV at our house, and of course Shark Tank, one of the few agreed upon shows at our house. And have you been watching Jeopardy? There was a contestant that was on a roll and highly entertaining, but his run ended last week. We were a little devastated. Lastly, we are currently using a trial of Amazon Prime...in which I discovered they carry The Sopranos. I have been wanting to watch that show for a long time. Critics rank it up there with Breaking Bad and Mad Men.

On the Last Days of Being a Party of 2: Matt and I have very much been enjoying, and taking advantage of, our last days as just the two of us. This pretty much means we sleep in on the weekends, leave our house on a whim, go out to dinner, and basically just enjoy our life of leisure. It's weird to think that I'm going to leave my house one morning and come back with a different life.

Stay tuned...next time you hear from me I will actually be With a Little Flare :)

Happy Due Date!

It's Baby K's due date!!! How exciting! We have waited for this day for a very long time. Last week at my appointment the doctor said I had a 50% chance of going into labor within 72 hours (after trying to help things along), but obviously that didn't happen. Today at my appointment I was pretty much the same status as last week, which was kind of disappointing. I am supposed to get a phone call tomorrow to set up an induction for sometime next week if Baby K doesn't decide to make things happen on his/her own. I am hoping for a spontaneous labor, but I will be happy to have a Plan B in place tomorrow. And here is what I think might be my last weekly update (I probably just jinxed myself)....

How far along? 40 weeks!

How big is the baby? One website says a pumpkin, the other says a jackfruit. I hope it's a little tiny pumpkin. If you scroll to the bottom we are debating whether the baby will be bigger or smaller than the pumpkin I'm holding. It's 8.5 pounds. I'm hoping for smaller.

Maternity clothes? I'm ready for real clothes to be back in my rotation, but I'm still making due in my dresses and skirts, and a pair or two of pants thrown in there.

Sleep? Having a little more trouble sleeping and still waking up frequently during the night to use the bathroom.

Symptoms? Same things. Terrible swelling below the knees and a tired and sore back.

Best moment this week? Enjoying last Thursday off with Matt, having a nice relaxing weekend, and picking out some pumpkins. Matt also brought me lunch on Monday since he was off and hung out at BES for a little.

Food cravings? Buffalo chicken dip, salt and vinegar chips...both of these were satisfied by one of my thoughtful coworkers this week.

Food aversions? Nothing really. I still have to be careful not to eat too much as not to feel sick.

Gender? It's a surprise! I shared our Baby Hunch pool and we have LOVED seeing your guesses! The pool is locked now, but I can't wait to see who wins!

What I miss? Sleeping on my stomach, easier movement, having more than one pair of shoes, energy.

What I'm looking forward to? Having a baby, hopefully soon! Finding out if that baby is a boy or a girl!

39 Weeks

Not much has changed in the answers to my questions from last week. Up until now I have been fine with waiting on this baby to make it's grand entrance in it's own time, but I'm starting to feel like I would be OK with that being in the sooner rather than later time frame. I say that, but I'm also very much looking forward to another relaxing weekend as it could be our last one. 

At my appointment last week the doctor estimated that the baby could be about 7.5 pounds already (I was surprised by this), but it's really only an estimate and I'm hoping she was a little off. She also said I was about 1cm dilated and 60% effaced. I am curious to see what tomorrow's estimates will be, and am hoping they are a little different than last week. Cross your fingers for some progress for me!

How far along? 39 weeks!

How big is the baby? One website says a watermelon, the other says a MINI watermelon. I will take the mini please. 

Maternity clothes? I prefer pajamas, sweats, and running clothes, but I still have to go to work and it's mostly in maternity wear. 

Sleep? Waking up frequently during the night to use the bathroom, but sleeping pretty well in between. I have been waking up early in the mornings, though.

Symptoms? Same things. Terrible swelling below the knees and a tired and sore back. 

Best moment this week? Getting a pedicure! And just trying to enjoy the last days/weeks of being pregnant. 

Food cravings? Nothing major. I just wish I could eat more. 

Food aversions? Nothing really. I still have to be careful not to eat too much as not to feel sick.

Gender? It's a surprise! I shared our Baby Hunch pool and we LOVE seeing your guesses! Submit one if you would like, just follow this link: http://www.babyhunch.com/poolpage.php?poolid=afff7a33bcd4c7d922db1523e31ba3e3

What I miss? Sleeping on my stomach, easier movement, having more than one pair of shoes.

What I'm looking forward to? Matt and I both took the whole day off tomorrow. I have a doctor appointment in the morning and then we are just going to hang out and have a relaxing day off to include walking a few miles. I've had a mileage goal for this pregnancy and I am 1.5 miles from it. I was doing very well with walking this summer, but with all my swelling I can't get tennis shoes on anymore unless it's first thing in the morning. So I am looking forward to finally reaching my goal tomorrow (as long as things go as planned). And to clear up any confusion from last week...I am looking forward to finally finding out if the baby is a boy or girl when it is born. No way would I find out if it's a boy or girl before it's born, especially this late in the game. 

Recipe of the Week!

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

I had been wanting to make these forever and I'm so glad I did. They are delicious and so very easy. They make a great snack too. My only complaint is that they are far better fresh from the oven than at any other time. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, but they definitely lose their crunch quickly when I make them. They still have good flavor, but I prefer the warm crunchiness of this snack when they are fresh!

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400°. Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients until evenly coated. Spread the chickpeas in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 30 to 40 minutes.

38 Weeks

Today at work I dealt with a lot of 5th grade weirdness. First I happened to somehow find myself teaching social studies on a whim. While passing out papers I was asked, "Ms. Flaherty, how is your baby doing? How old is it? I forget." Then on the other side of the room as I near a student, "So does that like hurt?" I mean if nothing else I guess they feel comfortable with me. Then as I'm walking through the front office helping another student, there's some kind of 5th grade luncheon going on (another weird situation), and I can hear them start to discuss my pregnancy, but I'm not really paying attention to them until I hear, "Yeah, she must be having twins." I think my head turned a full circle as I said "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!!?" Then all I could do is laugh. At least the other kids were like, "ummmmm don't you know that was offensive..."

In other news, I have one pair of shoes (flip-flops) that fit. They match almost nothing I wear, are not exactly work appropriate, and are soon to be very out of season. I also don't really care about any of those things. Then there's the fact that I can't comfortably paint my toes and my only shoes are flip-flops. I will be getting a pedicure this weekend. I am excited about that. Alright, now for the stats, and Matt forced me to take a picture...according to him the kid is going to be dying to know what I looked like pregnant. I have never asked to see a picture of my mother pregnant. 

How far along? 38 weeks!

How big is the baby? One website says a leek, another says a pumpkin. It sounds like the baby is between six and seven pounds and about 19-20 inches. Also...pumpkin vs. leek? I'd rather push out a leek...

Maternity clothes? Still in the same rotation of dresses. I can still do some non-maternity wear such as the tops pictured below. I did try on my real jeans...I could do it, but it would have made for a very uncomfortable day.

Sleep? Waking up frequently during the night to use the bathroom, but sleeping pretty well in between. I have been waking up early in the mornings, though.

Symptoms? My main symptoms this week include the horrible swelling below my knees, mainly my feet and ankles, and a very tired back in the evenings. The swelling really doesn't go down anymore. I'm so crossing my fingers that all my old shoes will fit again one day.

Best moment this week? I've had a better appetite! Matt and I packed hospital bags and we've been trying to go on lots of dates while we still can.

Food cravings? Nothing major.

Food aversions? Nothing really. I still have to be careful not to eat too much as not to feel sick.

Gender? It's a surprise! I shared our Baby Hunch pool and we LOVE seeing your guesses! Submit one if you would like, just follow this link: http://www.babyhunch.com/poolpage.php?poolid=afff7a33bcd4c7d922db1523e31ba3e3

What I miss? Sleeping on my stomach, easier movement, having more than one pair of shoes.

What I'm looking forward to? My doctor appointment tomorrow morning and finding out if Baby K. is a boy or girl. TOMORROW IS OCTOBER!