Surprise Baby Shower!

I am truly blessed with some of the best friends and sister that anyone could ask for (that includes both MD & NJ!!) This past weekend I went down to visit my sister in MD with nothing planned for the day other than brunch with Julie, Mandy & J. A month ago Jul gave us a specific day to come and visit and I might have been a bit suspicious then I was thrown off from that point on!

We went out to breakfast at Baltimore's only diner (which I LOVE) and had to leave by 12:30 because Mandy had to get back to NJ to be a date for a friend's wedding later that night. She wanted me to come inside so I could see the dress for her wedding this upcoming weekend. Seeing as she always has a wedding I did not question it and went inside!

Doors open....SURPRISE!!

All of my college friends were standing there. Everything was perfect -- there was great food (even homemade Thanksgiving stuffing, complements of Brenna) and a beautiful cake that Lindsey had made!! Baby J got so many beautiful and useful things that he will need and what baby doesn't need a par of "creepers."

I do not think that all of us have been together in years, so that was better than any present or lion cake!

The beautiful cake that Lindsey handmade for BabyJ (Brenna told Lindsey the theme and that it must have an animal playing sports and Lindsey sure did listen!)

After the baby shower J is showing off the Jets onesies that Liz got for Baby J. Father/son Jets football days will be here before you know it!!

This has been a busy baby week for us. The babies room will be done TOMORROW (Friday), just in time this weekend. We have had some minor paint issues because the top half of the room is supposed to be a light sand/cream color. Let me tell you, if you have ever tried to pick out a light or neutral color for a room it is harder than you think. Most neutrals/light colors have a hint or green/yellow/pink in them!! Long story short, three time's a charm!! Our third gallon of paint is the one that went onto the wall and it looks beautiful!!

My mom and Mrs. Spence are throwing a NJ baby shower for friends and family who will all be interested in seeing the babies room!! And for those that can't see it yet, I will be posting pictures on Monday for you all to see.

We have an U/S this afternoon at 2pm, which I will be demanding new pictures so expect another post sometime this afternoon. Can't wait to see him on the big screen :)

Love,
Dada & Mama J

New Doctor

What week are we up to?? I can never catch up enough before a new week begins. Going by my old doctor I would be at 32 weeks but EVERY EVERY online calculator I check says I am 33 weeks. No one ever said pregnancy was an exact science so I'd say I have about 40-45days left!!

Yesterday we went to our first appointment with our new doctor in Voorhees, NJ. We were used to a one doctor practice and this office has a main waiting room where we check in and then are told whether to go to Waiting Room A-B or Waiting Room C-D. There are over ten doctors and 5-6 nurses/midwife's at this office. We met with one of the nurses and went over tests that needed to happen today and the rest that needed to happen in two weeks. I had blood drawn and then a RHOgam shot (because I have negative blood type -- the shot protects the baby.) We are now scheduled a U/S next Thursday and doctor's appointments every week from there on out! This time I am demanding another printout of pictures from them! I felt a sense of relief when we left -- knowing that they are going to be there for me over the next few months!!

This weekend we are making our last trip to MD before the baby comes to visit my sister and some good friends in Baltimore. I know I keep saying this, but I will post pictures after this weekend!


Love,
Dada & Mama J

The Happiest Baby on the Block Class!

That is what we are going to have!! Especially after we took our first class last night entitled, Happiest Baby on the Block. This is the only actual baby class we signed up for -- the others are childbirth prep, CPR and a hospital tour.

So the philosophy behind this class is based on the actual book 'Happiest Baby on the Block.' Dr. Karp, a pediatrician in Santa Monica, Calif., and assistant professor at the School of Medicine, UCLA, offers a new method to calm and soothe crying infants. While nursing or being held satisfies some babies, others seemingly cry for hours for no reason. These babies suffer from what Karp calls the Fourth Trimester. When you bring your soft, dimpled newborn home from the hospital, you may think your nursery is a peaceful sanctuary.... To him, it's a disorienting world part Las Vegas casino, part dark closet! Karp recommends a series of five steps designed to imitate the uterus. These steps include swaddling, side/stomach position, shhh sounds, swinging and sucking.

During the class we learned the five techniques but the one that was the most over the top was the 'shhh sounds.' Doctor's and nurses all swear that if you have a crying baby and you hold them on their side and you 'shhhhhh' as LOUD as they are crying into there ear that they will be calmed. Imagine how ridiculous that sounds and if you need to see what it actually looks like here is a link to his website.

http://www.thehappiestbaby.com/

On this site is a video that automatically loads and if you watch for about 15 seconds you will see him using the 'shhhh' method. J is the most excited to try this because he has said that he always wants to cry as loud as the baby is crying...well this is his chance!! I guess he will have to tell you in about two months if this actually works.

The instructor brought in baby dolls for us to practice swaddling on. For those who do not know what it is, it's a way to tightly wrap your baby and let me tell you there is an art to it!! I am not going to explain how to swaddle the baby so I have added a picture so you can all get an accurate image of how it is done! When J was done swaddling his baby doll, the instructor walked over to him and exclaimed 'PERFECT!!' To me the baby looked like he was going to be choked by this blanket or thrown as a pass in a football game and not as something that would soothe him.

By the end of the class I was rather impressed with everything I was able to learn -- I just hope she wasn't feeding us an hour and a half of BS and this actually comes in handy!! Our next class is in October and it is a tour of the L&D floor at Virtua Hospital -- where we will be delivering him!

Love,
Dada & Mama J

The BIG Move & 30 Weeks!

The move from Hoboken to West Deptford was this past weekend and it did go smoother than I had originally thought. Moving out of any city is difficult for a number of reasons -- spending 40 minutes in traffic to get the UHaul when Point A to Point B is only 2.3 miles, contending with oncoming traffic on every trip to the UHaul, no street parking regulations, accidents that block off the one way street in which your apartment is on making it tricky!! But we had great help from Jamie when it came to moving boxes since I was ONLY in charge of safety and supervision!! :) We made it to WD by 6PM and we were unpacked by 8:30PM and sitting down for dinner at Uno's by 9PM.

This week has been quite busy, since it is my first official week back in WD.

Here was my BabyJ ToDo List:
* Find new doctor, get my old records down to him, convince them I am more important than there other patients so I can get an appt. this week or next.
*Find hospital to deliver at!!
*Schedule classes such as -- CPR, Childbirth Prep, Hospital L&D Tour and some sort of parenting class (since I do not think J has ever held a child!!)
*Fight with insurance company for a number of different reasons!!
*Finish his scrapbook that I am making for him
*Supervise painting/carpet installation for two bedrooms
*START first baby class tomorrow night (Wednesday) :)

With the new doctor I do not have an appt. until next week and they came highly recommended from a friend so I am hoping that I like them. If not, there is not much I can do about it, since I am almost 8 months along -- other than get a new OB/GYN for the next one. HA!

It doesn't seem like a lot but I am new to this whole 'mom' thing so there might be a learning curve. The good news is that I am almost done the entire list...besides fighting with the insurance company, which I am dreading!!

I will start to post pictures of the babies room, a lot should be done by the weekend -- which makes me happy!!

Sorry no pictures this week, but if I just posted one of a cow and stuck my face on it you would see how big I am getting. Promise there will be new pictures sometime this week and expect an update after our first class :)

Love,
Dada & Mama J

Mini Vaca & 29 Weeks

J & I at Boston Harbor!

Whoops, this post has been finished for about a week, I just never hit publish post!! I should never be given my own column, I am a forgetful blogger!!

This past weekend we decided to take a much needed long weekend getaway to Boston!! My mom and Gerry live up there so it was a great chance to visit them and TRY to have a relaxing weekend. I say TRY because if my mom had her way she would take us on the ultimate walking tour of the city and her pace is anything but slow. We were able to relax a little bit but we did have quite a hectic schedule. We got in late Friday night in the pouring rain so we ate takeout in BED, a bed that is not six inches off the floor!! On Saturday we went to this funky breakfast spot in Cambridge and decided what to do the rest of the day because the weather was less than desirable. We ended up touring the gardens/duck park and walking down Newbury Street. Before heading to Fenway we met up with J's old high school friend Miles who lives in the city. When we got to Fenway it was not raining so we thought the game had already started so we rushed to our seats only to find that there was a rain delay. We got dinner in the stadium and waited for the game to start!! We had amazzzinnggg seats that were right in the middle of home plate and first base -- about five rows back!! The game ended up being called in the sixth inning because of rain, but the Sox won 9-1!! The night ended with a late night trip to the only breakfast establishment open -- IHOP!!

J & I at Fenway Park !

Our amazing seats!

The next day we managed to have a delicious breakfast and head on over to my Uncle Frank's store. We went through a antique fair and farmers market where we snacked on homemade cookies and water ice!! That afternoon we headed back to the hotel to watch some Sunday football and get ready for dinner with J's old friend from HS, Miles. We went to a little pub where we had excellent food (to me nowadays everything tastes excellent.) Our trip ended with a brunch date on Monday with another one of J's college friends, Chad, who lives right outside of Boston.

We were able to squeeze a lot into a mini three day vacation and now I feel like I need a week to recover from this trip. This is probably my last "lazy" week -- I will be up in Hoboken all week with J because we are moving him out of Hoboken next weekend. There will be lots to update next week after the move!!

Love,
Dada & Mama J

Doctor's Updates!

This morning we finished what felt like a full week of being at the doctors office! I am happy to report that everything went great. Wednesday I got my monthly ultrasound, which I am always excited about because it is a chance to see my little man! They reassured us for a third time that it was a BOY, as if we didn't get the picture the first two times they pointed it out to us. He is getting bigger and bigger -- the ultrasound technician said I was right around 29 weeks and that he was almost 3 lbs. We left the ultrasound yesterday realizing that if anything was actually wrong we would not have been able to leave, so I was very happy!!

This morning we had two appointments, one with Dr. Weiner and one with Jamie from Lab Corp. Dr. Weiner came in and said that everything was progressing beautifully! I was experiencing no signs of pre-term labor, but just to be on the safe side we did another FFN test (determines if the baby is coming in the next two weeks.) From the ultrasound my cervix is no where near where it should be if I was about to go into labor. For all you med/nursing school kids -- it was at a 3.9 and when you go into labor it is a 0!! So the doctor is not worried, he said once I get to 35 weeks or a 5 lb. baby it would be safe to deliver. MY only concern is that the baby is breech, which would only be a concern if he is still breech at the time of delivery. It that were to happen I would have to have a C-Section (which might have to be scheduled, just to be on the safe side.) However, Baby J is such a mover and a shaker it wouldn't surprise me if he turned on his own in the next ten weeks!!

With Jamie from Lab Corp I had to do my glucose screening test, which consists of drinking a bottle of orange flavored sugar water in under a minute. This was a combination of Red Bull, Orange Fanta and pure sugar!! We had strict instructions not to go anywhere for an hour and after that she would draw my blood. We should get the results of that back sometime next week, just in time for another round of doctor's appointments and shots.

So overall, very good news from a week of doctor's appointments. Because I am going to be over 30weeks I am going to have to go in every two weeks -- so I have another appointment scheduled for September 24th. My next BIG task is to find a NEW doctor in South Jersey as well as a hospital to deliver at. I hate to leave Dr. Weiner, but I do not think I want to drive over two hours while in labor. With my luck J would be delivering on the side of the NJ Turnpike. I have great friends back home that have been helping me locate good doctors and hospitals -- now I just have to pick one of each!!

Keep you all updated, but thought you should hear the good news :)


Love,
Dada & Mama J

28 Weeks

We are cruising along now! Baby J is getting bigger and kicking much stronger. Jess gets pretty tired by the end of the day from all the movement!! It is pretty rare that we get a full night's sleep all the way through because Baby J is up and about so often. Jess says it is her body's way of getting her ready for when Baby J is waking up to eat every few hours. We have two big doctor's appointments this week to do another ultrasound and glucose test.

This weekend we were down in south Jersey for the extended weekend and everything is turned upside down. Jess' dad is tearing up the carpet, painting the walls for our room and Baby J's room, and all the furniture is in the hallway and guest rooms. I can't wait until everything is finished so that we can start decorating and organizing for Baby J!

Yesterday we went to the beach house to see if we could get a good beach day but it was too windy and chilly. Instead we had some great chicken off the grill with corn on the cob and potatoes. Jess' sister's friends were around for the holiday and we visited Jess' grannie too. Today she took us out to breakfast at the fabulous Borgata buffet which is one of Jess' favorite places to eat!

Jess and her grannie.

Me with grannie.

Jess looking pretty :)

Love,
Dada & Mama J