Anthony William DiMuzio is due ONE MONTH from today!
Sweet baby we can't wait to welcome you to this world! You will be loved and cherished like no baby before you! Mommy and daddy love you so much!
2007-02-20 (35 weeks)
Things that make you go Gggrrrrr!
February 20, 2007
4 weeks to go!! I can't believe it's almost time! Luckily we have his nursery set up and all the essentials in place. I think we're about as prepared as soon-to-be parents can possibly be at this point. I'm so nervous... and excited... and anxious....!
I've heard and put up with a lot of unsolicited advice and commentary throughout this pregnancy, which is to be expected, so I haven't thought too much about it. Everyone's an expert when they see a pregnant woman, or a mother, for that matter. Some things have annoyed me more than others of course, but here's my top five things-that-know-it-alls-say-that-annoy-the-crap-out-of-me:
1) "Get all the sleep you can now because you'll NEVER sleep again!" (usually followed by an evil laugh). Ok, I can appreciate that a full night's uninterrupted sleep will be considerably less common now, but I refuse to believe that I will never, ever get a full 8 hours in one shot again. Our friends Anthony and Noelle have a great system on the weekends-- one gets to sleep in on Saturdays while the other gets to get up and take care of their child, and the other has Sunday duty. Besides, there are these wonderful things called grandparents that may be able to help out with that occasionally too...
2) "It's good you had 4 years to yourselves before you had children because you'll NEVER have a romantic weekend away again!" Again, I refer back to these wonderful things called grandparents...
3) "I said I would lose the weight right away too, and look at me now, [insert number of months post partum] and I still am in maternity jeans! Forget about having time to exercise!" I am aware that most people will find any excuse in the book to avoid exercising, and a baby is the perfect one. However, I have been very dedicated to my exercise regime for over five years now. I want to become a personal trainer and a fitness instructor, for goodness sakes'. I have a goal to run the Disney 1/2 marathon next January. I intend to see these through, and I'm not going to use my kid as an excuse. My gym has childcare. Adam can watch the baby in the evening or on the weekend so I can go out for a run. heck I can take the baby with me for walks and when he's old enough, I'll get a jogging stroller so he can run with me too! yeah, never going to exercise again... bite me.
4) "You should get Netflix because you'll NEVER go to the movies again". Um... I guess babysitters are a thing of the past?? In actuality, with the lousy selection of movies out in recent months, that would be a blessing anyway. I'm just saying.
5) "Life as you know it is over!" (followed by dramatic sigh) I'm not deluding myself into believing that my life isn't about to be changed dramatically. I realize this isn't quite like owning a cat. However, I like to think that our lives will be enhanced in a good way and we'll manage to find a healthy balance to still have time for ourselves and our own interests. yeah, yeah, I know that's what you said too, but I actually mean it.
I think the problem is that in general, most people are extremely negative and love to knock you down. We experienced the same thing when we got married. Everyone said we'd be fighting all the time and all the romance would be completely gone as soon as we got back from the honeymoon. Needless to say, five years later, that didn't happen.
Anyday now... the cookie will be out of the oven!
Chantel
2007-02-08 (34 weeks)
Young and Restless
February 8, 2007
Ok, I am 30 now, so maybe I'm not all that young anymore, but I certainly am restless!! I've heard that time just creeps once you're in the final home stretch and that seems to be the case here. The minutes and days just go by soooooo sllllooowwwww-- and even though I can say it's less than 6 weeks to the due date, I'm still like, I have SIX MORE WEEKS to go?? Argh! We're doing quite well on getting things ready for him. The nursery is pretty much done, with the exception of the dresser/changing table we're waiting to be delivered. We have the car seat, stroller, diaper pail, and a stockpile of diapers. Now we just need a baby!
Physically I'm still feeling pretty good. My belly is enormous of course, but I really thought the third trimester would be harder than this. For that matter I thought the whole pregnancy would be harder than this! I guess I've been very lucky. Maybe this is God's way of assuring I'm willing to have another child! I'm proud to say I'm still exercising 4-5 days a week. I'm definitely the most pregnant woman at my gym. I wonder what people are thinking when they see me chugging away on the elliptical glider or working on the weight machines-- good for her, she's staying in shape! or she must be absolutely crazy. Most likely, they're probably too preoccupied with how their butts look in spandex to wonder about what the pregnant lady is doing!
It's started to feel like he's dropped down a bit. My heartburn has eased up, and I'm peeing even more often. Plus, all the movement I feel is pretty much below the belly button now. I'm not having the shortness of breath problems as often either. I have my 34 week checkup tomorrow, I'm sure the doc will tell us then if he's in position or not. Oddly, I'm not getting freaked out about the labor. Knowing I'll have an epidural makes me a lot less afraid of the pain. What's really odd though is having all this stuff for someone who's not here yet. I was packing my hospital bag the other day, and I put in his going home outfit, and I was just thinking wow, this is really bizarre, packing clothes for someone who can't wear them right now! And the carseat... it'll be empty when we go to the hospital, and full when we come home! Just very strange to think about.
34 weeks and counting... I'll go on record as saying I think Mr. Anthony may join the world a little early. Not dramatically early, but a week or two, sometime in early to mid March. We'll see! That's only a MONTH away!
Until later... will this cookie just bake arleady? SHEESH!
Chantel
2007-01-31 (33 weeks)
Showering my baby!
January 21, 2007
This past weekend was our baby shower! I had a wonderful time, and my sweet little boy got all kinds of fun things to make his life more pleasant (and ours too, for that matter!) Mainly it was just wonderful to be sharing such a special time in my life with friends and family. The "Ya-Yas" hosted, and as always they threw a great party. We had a few games, but they were tasteful and fun, unlike some other baby showers I've been to where the adults had to revert to babyhood themselves.
On Friday I spent the day with my mom, which was very nice because I didn't get to spend any one-on-one time with her at Christmas. She took me on "show and tell" at Parisian where all of her co-workers oohed and aahed and fawned over me and the baby. We also raided the baby department and got sooooo many cute outfits for Anthony! We also went to Motherhood and got me a nice outfit for the shower, and I bought some nursing bras and tops. I'm definitely starting to feel more prepared now.
This past Monday we had our tour of the Brandon hospital. I was very happy to see all the rooms are private, and the labor rooms are more of a fancy hospital room than a giant surgery-type room, which is what I had pictured in my head. I was also happy to find out that baby can stay in the room with us the whole time we're there, unless he's sick or born C-section. That is great because it'll give me a chance to learn how to nurse and basic baby care with the help of the professionals nearby. Our tour took us by the nursery and we saw a few newborns. They were so cute and tiny!! I didn't have the feeling of panic I've had in the past when I've seen a tiny baby, but I did feel a little afraid. It's hard to believe it's up to us to take care of such a little helpless person! This is a level of responsibility I've never experienced before, so of course I'm a bit anxious about it.
Only 7 weeks to go, and that's if he's born when they say he's going to be. I don't know, but my intuition is saying he's coming early. Not dramatically early, like tomorrow or anything, but I think he'll be born somewhere between the 10th and 20th of March. We'll see if that intuition is as accurate as my gender intuition, which needless to say, was not accurate at all!
