32 Weeks - the Countdown is On!!

Here are a few photos from week 32 - this pregnancy thing is flying by.....

Oh, and Happy Mothers Day!

Baby Shower, Take One

Me and Cristen.... love her.
Preggers and Leggers....
Erin hugs Aiden.
Mama shot...
Mom, me and Cristen!
Just me and Mom...
Best gift ever - peepee teepee's! You can guess their function...(we call them weanie beanie's...)
What I'll have to get used to...
Erin was my awesome gift-chronicler...
Grew up on Dr. Seuss.
So incriminating...
Mostly for Chase.
Car organizer....you can't have mine.

The Nursery

Here are some pictures of Chase's long-fought and well-ended struggle against my incessant and emotional urgings for him assemble the future lodgings of our son and his belongings...

Home Stretch!

I'm 28 weeks now, and turning into more of a creature everyday. Every night as I rub lotion on my belly, Chase stares in awe as if I'm sporting a cancerous tumor, and neither of us can get over the fact that every day I seem like I've doubled in size
I'm leaving in just over a week for my California baby shower, and I absolutely can't wait! It'll be so good to see my friends and family down there. And then, in a few weeks, my shower in Portland will happen, with my mom and sister coming down for a few days to visit and help me plan and prepare for Aiden!
He moves so much now, and you can watch my belly move as he twists and squirms. Sometimes I think the surface of my belly looks like water boiling. That's the best description I can think of!
And - the most exciting update is that we have some of our baby furniture, and began setting it up this last weekend! Thanks to our very kind family on Chase's side, we are finally getting that nursery ready! It's been slow going so far, as I first had to move my office out, and then my sister was in town visiting for the weekend, so we didn't get too far. It's impossible to describe the nesting instincts that kick in for a mother when she has unopened boxes of furniture representing the future of her baby sitting in the living room for days!
The pictures are on Chase's camera, so I'll post the assembly pics in the next couple of days for you all to enjoy. In the meantime, enjoy my 28 week pics!

3rd Trimester, Here I Come!

The last few weeks have been a flurry of activity as I've begun to really grow, and started to plan baby showers, birthing classes, pediatrician interviews and thinking about getting this house ready for a newborn.
I haven't gotten very far on this last task yet, as I have almost nothing to use in getting ready! Once we get some furniture, I will move my office, and then we can start painting, assembling, decorating and fighting about the nursery.
Aiden is really growing, and moves so much! I never get sick of it, and am falling more in love with him every day! I can't imagine what it'll be like when we actually have him with us.
Many moms (old and new) have been giving me advice on which things to buy and which routines to try, so thanks to you all! It's hard to judge by information on the internet and in books what will really make sense for me and my baby.
And I can't believe how quickly time flies! I am 26 weeks this week, and a week away from entering my 3rd trimester.... I also can't believe how one day pregnancy is suddenly much more "real" than it was the day before! I had a lady ask me at water aerobics class a couple of weeks ago if I was even pregnant, to which I took great offense - and then, one week later, I was getting into the pool for the same water aerobics class when my bathing suit actually popped open! Unfortunately, the damage was irreparable, despite the attempts of several prego ladies and the aid of a few safety pins....I went home dejected and un-aerobicized. Needless to say, my body had undergone some changes in that week!
And now, with this boy riding high and stuffed up into my ribs and lungs like a bunch of pot stickers that won't digest, I often am very short of breath without much of an obvious reason. I often have to explain to clients the reason for my difficulty with simple things like speech and movement after very little strenuous activity on my part (like unlocking a front door or bending over to determine the make and model of a furnace).
Really, though - I can't complain in the least. This boy is healthy and strong, and so am I. I'm surrounded by amazing people and have two loving families that have been so supportive as we transition to a "real" family. I've chosen to birth naturally, without the aid of any drugs, and am looking forward to hopefully accomplishing that! Mostly, I just can't wait to have this little guy with us...

Can Pregnant Women Hibernate?

I am 23 weeks this week (1 week shy of 6 months) and feeling great - other than the perpetual exhaustion. I frequently feel like I've just returned from a trip to Africa in which I had seven connecting flights and accidentally took a pack of Gravol (anti-nausea medication that makes you very drowsy). So, I'm wondering....would it be appropriate for me to just hibernate for the next several months until this critter is ready to pop?

Aiden is going through lots of changes right now - and currently weighs about a pound and is up to 12 inches long! This is a huge difference from even 3 weeks ago when his weight was approximately half that. He has a lot of catching up to do with his friend Cade who was just born
with his daddy's long legs and big feet... no Reeves will be left behind!


We just got our first baby-thing - a beautiful, crocheted yellow blanket from Aiden's great-aunt Leslie - it is soft and warm and beautiful - just like her. Thanks, Aunt Leslie! Although you did give Chase quite the scare, as he got a big dose of reality and realized this is really happening!

We're planning to get started on the nursery in the next month or so, now that our basement has recovered from it's very juvenile flooding stage, and has matured into an appropriately respectful and contributing member of our household. This means that I can move my office downstairs, and that room can be transformed into baby-dom. I can't wait.

Baby showers are scheduled - one for the Bay area on the 25th of April, and one here in Portland on May 16th - so put it on your calendar!

Here are my 23 week pictures....hope you enjoy!

Past the halfway mark!

Congratulations, me.

Here's my 21 week picture..........sorry about taking so long to post another belly pic! I'll post more often now, as I think things will be progressing a little more rapidly! Really all of the action you see here has happened in the last week and a half - Aiden is finally ready to be publicly noticed!

I got my first "can I touch??" the other day at work - that was wierd and new. I suppose I should get used to this request as it will only increase in frequency.

I did a film shoot on Friday in which I assembled a "put-together-at-home" boxspring and mattress....I hope no one who sees this commercial is offended by the sight of a pregnant woman clearly being forced to perform physically challenging duties that some sensitive male should have offered to perform instead. ;)

Oh, and heartburn finally kicked in......boo. I'm not impressed with this development, as I was hoping to avoid this one little ailment. Oh well.

Enjoy!

It's a Boy!

I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to post! Very
sincere apologies go out in particular to my sister
Amanda, who has been very disgruntled with me....

So on Friday we went to the Doctor for the BIG appointment......and found out that we are having a BOY!!!!! The funny thing is that we had come to expect a girl, so much so that hearing the news of a boy was almost as strange as hearing that we were having a baby Klingon (although news like this, for me, would probably incite more joy than shock). We took several minutes to absorb the information, getting more and more excited as we saw the pictures and realized that finally, it's all real! We can plan and dream and stop using awkward asexual pronouns!

So Aiden ________ Reeves will be our son - and a healthy, strong son, based on all of the information we gleaned from our ultrasound! Our technician was delightfully gay, very kind and funny, and made us feel like we were the first and last couple in history who would ever have the privilege of watching their baby twist and squirm in utero.....very special. Well, special once he let me drain my overflowing bladder....there were literally an extra three inches of "baby" before I got to go.....and the usual hard-to-convince-anyone-I'm-pregnant-especially-not-five-months-along tummy afterwards. Sigh. One of these days baby Aiden will come out to play...

He is kicking like a monster though - especially at night when his daddy is around and making all sorts of ruckus. These two are going to raise hell....

Well, I promise to post another belly pic in the next day or two....meant to have one up already, but we've been so busy!

Growing....

Baby Reeves is going to be a handful....I can already tell. I've been feeling a lot better the last few weeks, but still have days where I feel like.......well, like there is an alien being growing inside my body. There aren't necessarily any "symptoms" to describe - but some days I wonder where this 2nd trimester "glow" that so many mothers talk about is...

Doc's appointment a couple of weeks ago went really well! My doctor is very funny and says things to me like, "eat a tablespoon of baking soda and you'll feel better" and "you should try boric acid, but don't say I didn't tell you so when you find out that it's also used to kill cockroaches..."
Baby is strong with a high heartrate (some say this means it's a girl!), and had the hiccups! I could hear baby splashing around and had visions of future swimming lessons that I would awkwardly and tensely oversee...(due to the fact that I never learned to swim as a child and still don't believe that it's a natural skill easily adopted by toddlers...)

In other news, I've been feeling the baby move for about 3 weeks, and it's becoming more and more frequent. At first it was more of a flutter, but it has become stronger and stronger, and is now a distinct movement that often feels like a kick or somersault. Believe it or not, last night I could feel it so strongly in one location - this repeated kick, that I felt I HAD to be able to feel it from the outside. Putting my hand on the spot, I waited a couple of moments, and then sure enough, I felt the little thump. Chase was sitting right beside me, and took a turn...didn't take long, and he felt it too! We're pretty amazed to experience this so early....it definitely makes it feel more real!

So, here's my 17 week picture....almost 4.5 months along! 3 more weeks until the halfway point....I can't believe how fast the time is flying. In 3 weeks we have our appointment to find out whether we're having a boy or girl - and then the planning can really begin!



I am planning to start a Prenatal Water Aerobics class this week to help keep me active, and to challenge my body in a different way that is particularly helpful in preparing for childbirth...this should be fun, seeing as the skill I never learned as a child hasn't exactly come easily in adulthood either...

Thanks for following along!

First Preggers Pic!

I have been desperately awaiting the day when all of the pain will manifest the gain of a little "baby bump".....
Still have a long ways to go but have finally noticed some rounding out of my belly and some definite growth....(almost 14 weeks....)

Enjoy!