Just coming up for air to announce that on Tuesday, August 21st, 2012, at exactly 5:06 p.m., hubby and I welcomed our daughter into the world.  She is two months early and to say that we were surprised to see her would be an understatement.  Now that she’s here, we are so unbelievably in love with little Peanut… who is actually…

But we’ll keep calling her Peanut on here, because… well… she is one.  She’s a tiny little bundle, which is to be expected considering she insisted on being born at 31 weeks pregnant instead of 40 weeks.  (Apparently Peanut has inherited her dorky parents’ tendency for being embarrassingly early to parties, only she’s taken it to new levels by showing up two months before her own birthday party.)  But even though she’s tiny, Peanut is a feisty little lady who made her entrance with eyes wide open, looking around at the world when she was only moments old, and who is constantly impressing us with how amazing she is at this young age.  She’ll have a few weeks’ stay in the NICU while she gets nice and pudgy so we can bring her home and show her all her fun toys and clothes and her cute nursery, which we are obviously still working on.

This has been a pretty harrowing ordeal, as you might imagine.  I went from blissfully on vacation (babymooning in New York City), with no real indication that Peanut might be an early arrival… to strict doctor-ordered bed rest in a last-ditch attempt to hold Peanut in for a few more weeks… to becoming a mommy to an incredibly gorgeous preemie… all in seven days flat.  The time in between was full of unbelievable highs and lows and lots of tears of both the happy and sad variety (sometimes at the same time).  I was planning to share a birth story on here, but I’m really REALLY not ready.  It was both the worst and best week of my life, and I’m completely overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted right now.  Maybe someday I’ll be able to tell you how it all went down… we’ll see.

Now that Peanut is here, she’s captured our hearts completely and we couldn’t be happier.  But we’re still going through a challenging time as a family as we learn to be parents in the NICU.  So I’m going to take a bit of a break from blogging.  My life currently revolves around this little girl and she needs every ounce of love and attention I can give her.  I can’t really focus on anything else at the moment.  So let’s meet back here in about a month, on October 1st.  (I will respond to comments in the meantime, and I’ll still be reading and commenting on other blogs – I just need to take this time off as hubby and I adjust to being Mommy and Daddy and help Peanut grow big enough to come home with us ASAP.)

See you in October… and in the meantime, please keep us in your thoughts and cross your fingers for Peanut!  I’m sure she will be running around terrorizing us all in the blink of an eye.  In the meantime, we’ll be off enjoying our sweet baby girl.

Okay, pregnancy itself isn’t funny, but it sure as heck leads to some moments that can be… if you choose to laugh and not take yourself too seriously.  Here are some of mine:

~I swear half of my lunch ends up lodged inside my clothes these days.  Food seems to fall down my shirt and sit on my belly.  One recent morning I felt something sharp and stabby.  I wiggled the hemline of my shirt and out dropped a large chunk of toasted bagel.  I’m talking bite-sized; this was no crumb.  How it got there in the first place… I have no idea.  And I don’t want to know.

~The baby is already developing a sophisticated set of personal boundaries.  Lately we learned that she doesn’t seem to like having her heartbeat measured.  At my last OB appointment she’d been quiet all morning, but woke up just in time to give a good hard kick to the Doppler.  Won’t even kick for her Daddy, but the Doppler gets a good hard “Get this thing off me!” smackdown.

~Crying, crying, crying.  (Me.)  Everything sets me off.  I’ve cried over videos of kittens meowing for their food on YouTube (nothing sad about it, just they were so goshdarn cute and I’m allergic and DANGIT I WANT A KITTEN), Barefoot Contessa episodes (in my defense, Ina was helping some developmentally disabled kids run a bakesale, and then she gave them KitchenAid mixers… it was TOUCHING, people!) and television commercials… but my lowest of the low was crying in the jetway on my way home from a work conference because I had just thought, for no particular reason, about the book Love You Forever.  Even I knew how insane I looked.

~Biggest Three Stooges moment of pregnancy so far: whipping hubby in the face with my Snoogle.  I bought the Snoogle (it’s a C-shaped body pillow) because I was having hip and leg pain in the middle of the night.  And while it has pretty much solved that problem, the Snoogle creates another problem – it’s a barrier between me and the edge of the bed, which means I have to push it aside in order to get up three times per night.  One night I decided to try folding it in half, and it immediately recoiled and smacked my sleeping hubby, HARD, right in the face.  He made an angry noise and rolled over while I frantically whispered “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!” over and over.  The next morning, I apologized again… and he had NO memory of the incident.  It didn’t even wake him up… but that doesn’t stop him from reminding me, incessantly, “Hey, remember when you whipped me in the face with your Snoogle?”  To which I have to reply, “Yes, but YOU  don’t.”  Good gravy.

I have under twelve weeks to go, and I’m sure there will be plenty more shenanigans ahead…

17 weeks and ready to tell the world!

Tomorrow starts week 28 and my third trimester – hard to believe.  (Well, probably – some sources put the beginning of the third tri at 27 weeks even, some at 27 weeks and 3 days, and others at 28 weeks.  I’m taking the conservative estimate and declaring third tri at 28 weeks.  It’s good to be here!)  This pregnancy is just flying by.  It’s not over yet, and I’m beyond excited for the next steps, but I already know I’m really going to miss being pregnant.  Especially this trimester; so much has happened and I’ve felt incredibly blessed every single day.

So today, while I’m off traipsing around D.C. with my fabulous penpal, the gorgeous and brilliant Katie of Cakes, Tea and Dreams, I thought it would be fun to share a brief look back at the milestones, thoughts and feelings of my second trimester.

Week 14 – Yay!  First tri in the books, gangstas!  I’m feeling a lot less worried about miscarriage now and I’m starting to finally relax (a little bit) and let myself get excited about having a baby in October.

Week 15 – Headed off on a business trip and got to enjoy spending time with my work friends out of the office.  It still doesn’t totally feel real, but every day it dawns on me just a little bit more that after waiting a LONG time, I’m honest-to-goodness pregnant.

Week 16 – Doctor’s appointment – woohoo!  Hearing the baby’s heartbeat is my “new favorite hobby,” according to hubby.  It’s the most beautiful sound in the entire world.

Week 17 – Finally worked up the nerve to share my news with the world beyond immediate family and close friends – meaning the blog and far-flung friends via Facebook.  I’m overwhelmed by all of the people who are happy for hubby and me.

Week 18 – I think… maybe, just maybe… I might have felt a little bit of movement in there.  Is that you, baby?  It’s earlier than I expected (normal for first-time moms is somewhere between 18 and 22 weeks, but I assumed I’d be on the later side for some reason).

Week 19 – Yep, definitely feeling the baby move.  It’s faint and it only happens when I am sitting still and concentrating – if my attention is focused anywhere else I can’t feel the movements – but it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before and it’s unmistakeably baby.  And awesome.

Week 20 – ‘Nother doctor’s appointment, and this time my fabulous sister-in-law joined hubby and me.  I didn’t expect that anyone in our family would get to hear the baby’s adorable little heart beating, so being able to share it with my sister-in-law was incredibly special.

Week 21 – Biggest news of the pregnancy so far (after the positive test, that is) – baby-to-be is a GIRL!  And one of my first thoughts on getting the news – of course – was “Oh, yay, I can’t wait to read ANNE OF GREEN GABLES to her!”

Week 22 – Headed up to western New York to see my other sister-in-law graduate from high school, and got to share the TEAM PINK news with that side of the family in person.  There was cheering!  Baby girl has a lot of people anxious to meet her.  I enjoyed the cooler temperatures and relative lack of humidity, and of course we were so proud of my sister-in-law for her accomplishments.

Week 23 – Made a tiny bit of headway on clearing out the room that will become the nursery.  Visited with my bestie R, met (and approved) her boyfriend for the first time, and enjoyed plenty of cute baby kicks.  Maybe she’ll be a standout soccer player like her Aunt G?

Week 24 – Headed down to Texas to visit some wonderful friends there!  Had a fun time picking our friends’ brains about pregnancy and parenthood, and checked out a prenatal yoga class.  (Baby girl loved it – she told me with plenty of kicks during savasana.)  And when we got home, we enjoyed the fourth of July with lunch out, ice cream, books, and plenty of time spent daydreaming about the little miss.

Week 25 – Entertained R and her sister over the weekend, and then ordered a CRIB and dresser for Peanut!  The rest of the week was devoted to a massive, all-consuming project at work.  But I didn’t mind, because I was looking forward to…

Week 26 – NYC on my changeover day!  Hubby met up with his dad for a Yankees game and I played by myself for the day – that meant trips to the New York Public Library to visit Pooh and friends, and (obviously) shopping at the Strand.  A good kind of day.  Toting a baby bump around New York was a new experience, but I think Peanut enjoyed herself.  The rest of the week was devoted to that same massive work project that had me working overtime, but the little miss kept me entertained by playing and wiggling in there.

Week 27 – This week’s news: had another sonogram and it’s still a girl!  Yippee!  (Not that we would have been devastated if we’d heard “oops – it’s actually a boy” but as the doctor said, once you get into a particular frame of mind it’s hard to get out on it, and we’re 1,000% on board the girl train by now.)  After getting a second opinion I felt confident enough to buy her some girly nursery bedding.  Also, it’s starting to dawn on me that I’m growing an actual person.  Every so often I stop and think “Whoa, there’s really someone in there!”  That blows my mind, man.  So far it’s felt as though she was a figment of my imagination – but she isn’t, she’s real and she’s coming and she’s going to have her own little personality.  That’s wild.

What a whirlwind this trimester has been!  I’ve had so much fun.  And the third trimester holds the promise of even more fun – more kicks and wiggles, finishing the nursery, taking a babymoon, and finally welcoming our little girl into the world at the end of it.  I’m most excited for that last part, but I’m also trying to enjoy this time and take it all in before our lives change radically (for the better) with our new addition.

I can be guilty of wishing time away.  I just love to look forward to things, so no sooner than one exciting event or milestone passes am I on to the next.  Right now I’m having a great deal of difficulty focusing on the here and now, since all I can think about is meeting our baby in October.  October, October, October!  When will it GET HERE ALREADY???

But the thing is, there’s a whole summer and early fall to get through before the little miss will be ready to come out and greet the world.  And it’s also the last few months hubby and I will have in the time B.C. (meaning “Before Children,” as my parents used to say).  I don’t want to wish that time away – I want to savor it and enjoy it and make the most of it.  So in that spirit, here’s what I’m looking forward to enjoying this summer:

~New York City!  Twice!  One day trip up while hubby meets up with his dad for a Yankees game and I entertain myself (I’m thinking NY Public Library and the Strand for sure), and then a babymoon, perhaps around the time of our anniversary.  We’ll see a Broadway show (but what to see? I’m torn between my old standby – “The Phantom of the Opera,” which I’ve seen at least five times – and something new, like maybe “Wicked”).  And there will be afternoon tea, breakfast at Sarabeth’s, more shopping at the Strand, wandering Central Park, dinners out…

~Browsing for used books at Second Story and The Book Bank, and carrying home a steal or twelve.

~A visit from the beautiful and talented Katie and her husband.  I can’t wait to show them around my favorite DC haunts, and to take a few days off work to play tourist.

~Tart yogurt with my coworkers, a welcome break on hot afternoons.

~Wandering the trails in Rock Creek Park and at Great Falls – once this current heat wave evaporates, that is.

~Grown-up dinners out with hubby.  We’ve made a pact to eat out at least once or twice every week this summer, which is something we don’t usually do.  But there’s not much time left before frequent dining out in nice restaurants will be a rarity, and goshdarnit, we’re taking advantage of this time.

~Summer reading.  Of course!  Sometimes that means a big chunkster, and sometimes it means lots of light fare.  This summer, I think it means revisiting my favorite childhood classics, like the Anne and Emily books by L.M. Montgomery, and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  And further denting of the TBR list, naturally.  And along with this one goes: having time to read, period.  I don’t know how much time I’ll have come fall, so I want to get in a few more lazy afternoons of lounging with a book in before the little miss shakes things up.

~Peanutty preparations.  We’ve got a nursery to get ready!  You all know what that means: SHOPPING.  I don’t love shopping for myself (well, sometimes I do – definitely for books) but shopping for adorable baby decor and tiny dresses?  I’m so there.  (Oh, it also means childbirth and infant care classes.  I’m excited about the infant care classes, but approaching the childbirth classes with considerable trepidation.)

~Welcoming R home from her faraway job.  I can’t wait until she’s safely back Stateside for good.

~Evening walks with hubby around our hilly neighborhood, where we hold hands and smell the fragrant summer blooms and carry on two separate conversations simultaneously.  (I babble about all things pregnancy and baby, and he critiques the neighbors’ lawns.)

~Visiting the farmers’ market regularly.  And eating delicious fresh fruit, as much as I can.  Especially cherries and peaches.  And watermelon.  And strawberries.

~Spotting fireflies in my backyard.  They’re my favorite bugs.  I can watch their little glowing butts for hours.

What are you planning to savor about summer?

…And everything nice…

That’s what little GIRLS are made of!

Y’all, there are some excited grandmas up in here.  Woe betide anyone who gets between these ladies and the tiny dresses at Baby Gap.  Oh, and hubby and me?  We’re pretty excited too.  Neither of us has stopped smiling since we got the news.

Hurray for baby girl! 

…We should be finding out whether we’re having a girl-peanut or a boy-peanut.  Soon I’ll be able to use actual pronouns when talking about the baby – “he” or “she” instead of “it.”  Soon I’ll be planning a cute little girl or boy nursery and buying little dresses or tiny button-downs.  I can’t wait.

(Of course, this all depends on whether the baby decides to cooperate.  During our last ultrasound back in April, it was pretty obstreporous – we almost had to reschedule.  So we’ll see how this one goes…)

As the day gets closer, our family and friends have been placing their bets and almost all are voting “girl.”  (I don’t know why.  Wishful thinking?  Most of these people haven’t seen me at all for the entire pregnancy, so they have no idea how I’m carrying or what I’m craving or about any of those other old wives’ tales.)  Fortunately, I know that all anyone really wants is for the baby to be healthy and happy, so I’m not too worried that there will be legions of disappointed people if it turns out to be a boy.

And me personally?  I was shocked at how many people have asked me if I “have a preference” or if I’m “hoping for one or the other.”  And also at how many people, in response to my “Nope, I couldn’t care less as long as it’s healthy,” have winked and elbowed me and said “Yeaaaaaah, of course, but really, if you could choose… what do you want?  Boy or girl?”  (Pregnant Chicken says that I should respond with: “Actually, I’m hoping for a kitten that can burp glitter.”  Maybe the next pregnancy.)

Really, REALLY, I’ll be thrilled no matter what, and so will hubby.  We’ve waited a long time for this baby, and we’re going to be equally ecstatic whether it’s a boy or a girl.  No disappointment here, no matter what!  (Well, I’ll be a little bummed if the baby is shy during the ultrasound and won’t show us one way or the other what to expect.  Come on, baby, you’ve got a host of grandparents who want to start planning!)  In fact, I don’t even have a vision in my head about the baby – boy or girl, who it will look like (oh, let’s be real – it’s going to look like hubby; his genes are so powerful that I don’t stand a chance) or anything.  I haven’t even really dreamt about the baby, although hubby has (interestingly, in his dream the baby was a boy, even though he’s convinced it’s a girl).  Now that the big ultrasound is approaching, I’m getting more and more excited to know one way or the other – not because I have a preference, but just so I can start imagining my peanut as a little boy or a little girl.

But… just because it’s fun… here’s how some of the old wives’ tales shake out:

–How I’m carrying: It’s sort of hard to tell, but so far I seem to be carrying pretty low and out in front.  BOY.

–Cravings: Mainly dairy, which doesn’t mean anything except that the baby wants plenty of calcium for strong bones so it can kick me harder.  But I’m also all about fruit and have been since the beginning, and for awhile I was a bit of a chocoholic.  (That’s over, thank goodness.)  GIRL.

–Chinese gender predictor: I tried it out as soon as I got my positive pregnancy test back in February and it said unequivocally BOY.

–Baby’s heart rate: It’s never been below 158, which sounds like a GIRL.

–Morning sickness: I never had any to speak of.  (Relief!)  My mom never did either, with me or my brother, so my doctor thinks my good luck is hereditary.  But the old wives say that lack of morning sickness means BOY.

Yeah, the old wives’ tales mean nothing at all.  But it’s kind of amusing to see which way they go.  And if all goes well tomorrow, we’ll be finding out one way or the other which of those old wives’ tales held true for me… of course, you know I’ll share it with you when we do find out.

Okay, so National Poetry Month was actually LAST month (did you have fun?) but I’m not quite done.  Today I have one more of my favorite poems to share, and then afterward there’s something I’ve been dying to tell you guys…

Us Two, by A.A. Milne (source)

Wherever I am, there’s always Pooh,
There’s always Pooh and Me.
Whatever I do, he wants to do,
“Where are you going today?” says Pooh:
“Well, that’s very odd ‘cos I was too.
Let’s go together,” says Pooh, says he.
“Let’s go together,” says Pooh.

“What’s twice eleven?” I said to Pooh.
(“Twice what?” said Pooh to Me.)
“I think it ought to be twenty-two.”
“Just what I think myself,” said Pooh.
“It wasn’t an easy sum to do,
But that’s what it is,” said Pooh, said he.
“That’s what it is,” said Pooh.

“Let’s look for dragons,” I said to Pooh.
“Yes, let’s,” said Pooh to Me.
We crossed the river and found a few-
“Yes, those are dragons all right,” said Pooh.
“As soon as I saw their beaks I knew.
That’s what they are,” said Pooh, said he.
“That’s what they are,” said Pooh.

“Let’s frighten the dragons,” I said to Pooh.
“That’s right,” said Pooh to Me.
“I’m not afraid,” I said to Pooh,
And I held his paw and I shouted “Shoo!
Silly old dragons!”- and off they flew.
“I wasn’t afraid,” said Pooh, said he,
“I’m never afraid with you.”

So wherever I am, there’s always Pooh,
There’s always Pooh and Me.
“What would I do?” I said to Pooh,
“If it wasn’t for you,” and Pooh said: “True,
It isn’t much fun for One, but Two,
Can stick together, says Pooh, says he.
“That’s how it is,” says Pooh.

So.  That thing I was going to tell you?  Well…

After almost seven years of marriage, our little family of “us two” is finally becoming “us THREE.”  Hubby and I are beyond thrilled and counting down the days until we get to meet our little Pooh Bear.

Playtime begins in October.