A lot can happen in 2 months ;)

Well folks, since my last post, a lot seems to have transpired. So I shall start from where we last left off...

So the middle of March or so, I stopped working and stayed home. I ran a lot of errands during the weekdays to keep myself busy while Johann was at work. And of course, cleaned and laundered everything I could possibly find in our apartment in preparation for 'Mr. Baby.' My cousin Joy & my friend Jera threw me a shower here in NY at the end of the month. It was a lot of fun and a lot of the West Point Math dept ladies came. Afterwards, Joy, Sara, Dina, and I drove to Highland, NY to meet up with Johann, Dave, & Daymien for frisbee with Luna-dog, dinner, drinks, music, muppets, & video games. A great night to top off a great day :)

For Passover, I tried to make a traditional dinner, but I had to scrap the idea since no one in town had any lamb left :( Easter we spent in Brooklyn with cousins Joy & Auran. We went to an awesome little restaurant called Bark: http://barkhotdogs.com/
I didn't get a hotdog though, since I have cut them out of my pregnancy diet completely. Then we did a little window shopping on the way back to Joy's apartment. Johann & I grabbed a few cupcakes from Magnolia bakery in Grand Central for the train ride back home. Yum!

The middle of April, I attended CollectorFest as a vendor, trying to sell off as many comic books, action figures, etc misc that I could before the baby comes. I only sold enough stuff to recover my table cost, plus $50. Not what I had hoped for, since I still came home with a trunk full of stuff. People were very nice, and I made friends with another vendor. I think they were mostly stunned to see a short, preggo lady running a table by herself :) We also found an apartment- this time in Highland Falls (just south of West Point). So it looks like we will be undertaking a move this summer. Some great things about this place are 1- Johann can walk to work if he wants, 2- It's not much smaller than our current place, 3- Konrad will get his own room, 4- quiet, safe neighborhood, 5- CHEAPER!

Spring has definitely sprung; the weather is so beautiful and the flowers are amazing. Unfortunately, the pollen is insane! I am also missing out on a lot of 5ks and other runs/marathons. I really miss running, but there's no way I am going for a jog or run right now. Konrad's about as big as a coconut and it feels like he weighs a ton. Our childbirth classes came to an end, which was both exciting and sad. Next time we meet, it will be with our baby boys in tow :) The very next day, Konrad dropped lower in my pelvis and my belly looks ridiculous (Johann says it's outta control, hehehe- see picture below). Then my Earth Day cleanup got rained out, then I seemed to have no energy to work outside later that week. I have had a lot of ankle swelling lately and no shoes fit me anymore (the same can be said for my clothes).

The end of the month, we found out that Konrad was breech; he turned back to a head's up position. I have been pretty panicked ever since (and up until recently). We went into the hospital on May 3rd and tried a external cephalic version procedure, where the doctor manually tried turning the baby. Konrad was very stubborn, and did not want to be turned to the vertex/head down position. The doctor would get him turned about 180 degrees one way or the other, and Konrad would float on back to his favorite spot :( He tolerated the attempt well, so we did not end up with an emergency c-section. He was about as big as a pumpkin at this point. My mom arrived from FL that same afternoon :)

The day after Cinco de Mayo/Supermoon night, mom & I went to Storm King Art Center and walked around the outdoor sculpture garden for 2.5 hrs. I was convinced Konrad had turned, but I soon found out I was wrong. We stopped doing a lot of walking within the week since I didn't want to go into labor with a breech baby and have to rush to the hospital. I had already tried yoga, exercises, music, light, talking, positive visualization, a bag of cold peas, etc to get Konradito to turn. Now we were facing the very real possibility of a c-section, which still freaks me out. I was so against it, and now we were staring it in the face. We kept putting off scheduling it, hoping if we gave him more time, he might decide to turn on his own. We had another sonogram done last week to see how big he was, and if another version procedure would be worth trying. Turns out, even though he has plenty of room to turn, that he is growing to be a big baby and his weight might be the reason he isn't turning. We saw the doctor this past Monday, and he guessed the baby was about 8 lbs 9 oz or more (as big as a large watermelon), and didn't think another version would be worth trying. We finally scheduled our c-section for this Thursday (tomorrow, yikes!). It took me this whole time to become ok with this option, it is really the best, safest thing for both of us at this point. And I get to meet this not-so-little, stubborn dude tomorrow!!! I am so excited, a little nervous, but mostly relieved. Today is my due date, and I am staying home to relax. Johann's mom arrived on Mother's Day, and we will all go out to dinner tonight at Gasho to celebrate our last pre-baby meal: http://www.gasho.com/about.asp

Next time I update, Konrad will be here! Pictures and more details soon, I promise!

3D sono & Weekend in Beantown

Above are some pictures from our 3D/4D sono from last week. I know I was very excited to finally see little Konrad's face! Johann smiled the whole time as he watched it. Konrad was very cooperative and played with his umbilical cord and made a lot of cute/funny faces for us. The doctor's office was so impressed with the images he let them take, that they might want to use them on their website. One thing I know for sure, he doesn't mind having his picture taken (unlike his daddy). Hope you can all see his face in these pictures, it wasn't obvious to me at first when they were on the screen. I'll be 32 weeks this Wednesday, time is flying by fast. We can't wait to meet our baby :)

This last weekend, we took our last trip together before the baby- our 'babymoon.' We drove the new car to Boston to visit our friends Nat & Adrielle. They threw an awesome belated housewarming + whiskey tasting + St. Patrick's Day party on Sat night. We met a lot of nice, interesting math people from MIT and Harvard, and got to see some old friends :) Simply put, we had a great time.

Wow, time got away from me (again)...

Well, February, if I recall correctly, went by ridiculously fast. I worked through the month, we spent Valentine's Day at our childbirth class :) My sister-in-law Liz was busy planning my shower at the end of the month.

I failed my 1 hour glucose tolerance test by 7 points :( So that had me freaked out. But after taking the 3 hour test, I passed with flying colors. Apparently this is very common. Why don't they just skip the 1 hour and make everyone do the 3? Still keeping my daily food journal and keeping active my working, walking the dogs, or cleaning house. I have done SO much laundry getting ready for baby Konrad. And Johann, as always, is so awesome because he does so much around the house. When I got back from my 4-5 hour doctor appointment marathon (appointment + 3 hr GTT), he had cleaned the whole apartment and it looked and smelled so nice. Then we both crash-napped on the couches :P

Feb 24th, I got up to snow, lots of it. Johann put the luggage in my car before he left for work. Then I got my car checked before I hit the road to LaGuardia airport. The drive was great, because no one was on the road due to the snow. My flight was by far the WORST ever. So much rough turbulence, there were people getting sick everywhere. And it was so rough, that they weren't letting people out of their seats to go to the bathrooms unless it was an emergency. So since I couldn't get up and stretch as needed, my feet and legs swelled up like crazy. As I walked off the plane, a stewardess said to me that I was the only pregnant lady on the flight that didn't get sick. Go me! Had it been during my first trimester, forget about it.

Being in Orlando again was great, the weather was gorgeous and it was so good to see everybody. The baby shower was amazing! Liz & David's house= gorgeous! I got to see people I haven't seen since college or the wedding. Food was great, dessert was ridiculous! The gifts and love and support showered on us was overwhelming and humbling. This baby is going to be so loved  and spoiled :) Coming home to the cold, and having to go right back into work the next day had me exhausted. But one good thing about the cold, is that it keeps me from swelling up.

March 3rd was the Math department's Semi-Formal. It was fun! The professional photographer they hired didn't show (still not 100% sure why), and Johann brought his camera. So naturally, he ended up being sort of in charge of pictures. I think we clean up nice :) Since then, we have been researching cord blood banking, test driving cars, looking for a new place to live, and making plans to head to Boston this weekend to visit our friends, the Stapletons. This week, we meet a prospective pediatrician and get to see Konrad via 3D sono and video. I'm not gonna lie, I am super psyched to get a closeup shot of his face!

Post Holidays Wrap-up

We spent Christmas break in Tribeca with Johann's parents. We did a lot of walking around NYC for 3 days, saw the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall and Jersey Boys and ate a lot of great food. Then we went to Orlando for the New Year, where Johann's aunt Jenny had the whole family over for a big party. We had a great time! In between I got a haircut and another ultrasound.

Konrad (yes, that's his name) moved so much during the end of the ultrasound (when they stop taking measurements and start taking photos), that these were the only ones we could get of him. It's not very good, you can see the outline of his skull and facial bones and an arm. The doctor said he looked great. We'll try to get better pictures next time when we get the 3D ones taken. The pictures of me below are from this past Saturday, I was 24 weeks and 3 days. I feel great, just some occasional heartburn which is manageable as long as I stay away from certain foods and drinks, and don't lay down or recline for a good half hour or more after eating or drinking. The baby's about as big as a grapefruit right now.

I didn't end up going to Boston with Johann after all, but he gave a talk and had some good food and fun with friends from the university of IL and West Point. Work is going well for both of us. Johann took up skiing recently and I have been working on purging more things from our apartment to make room for baby. We started looking for another place to live for this summer, hopefully we find a house to rent. Our house in Urbana is going to get new tenants soon, so we will pull it off the market while its rented.

That's all for now! Hope everyone's having a great new year so far :)

Seasons Greetings!

Happy Holidays & A Happy 2012!

Love- Amber, Johann, baby Thiel, 

Golbez & Agro

First trimester updates

Hello All,

Since I am now in my second trimester, I thought I would do a first trimester wrap-up. So my heartburn and nausea went away (finally), and I got my appetite back. The baby started moving a good amount after week 15. I am now 17 weeks and the baby is around the size of a large onion. Cravings have gotten less specific lately. The picture below was taken at the end of my 1st trimester. I won't be taking week-by-weeks photos. I figure once every month is sufficient to see change. We've been slowly creating room for the baby's nursery in half of Johann's office, which is pretty roomy. We got a crib and dresser set from Johann's parents. I can't wait til we get them put together.

I got a job as a nanny 3 days a week watching our friends' 4 month old baby girl. She is such an easy baby to care for, very happy and cooperative. Johann's glad to have the extra income, and I'm happy to have the baby practice :)

We've been to 3 holiday parties so far this month, and that's on top of two Thanksgivings. It's sure feeling like the holidays (to our stomachs) and we are looking forward to seeing Johann's parents for Christmas. Then, we plan to head to Orlando for the new year, and on to Boston for the Joint Meetings (math conference). Things will finally settle down again after the second week in January, and I will return to work.

Hope everyone is well!

This Last Month

So this last month has been a struggle with my stomach. I had been so proud that I didn't have any typical 'morning' sickness symptoms. Counted my chickens before they hatched, because then I couldn't stop feeling nauseous. Saw my doctor recently, we tweaked my prenatal vitamins, so fingers crossed. So far, I feel pretty good. Cravings are definitely happening more oftennow. Lately, it's been lemon-lime gatorade.

I have recently started selling off a lot of the collectibles I have been hoarding since my childhood. Time to make room for baby, and I find myself finally less attached to these things. Goodbye Breyer horses, Star Wars and Thundercats action figures.

My mom and stepdad have gotten really into supporting Occupy Gainesville. I have been living vicariously through their emails and facebook posts. I would like to go to Zuccotti Park here in NY someday, just haven't made it there yet. Plus, I don't trust the NYPD to not spray me with pepper spray.

Johann suggested and took me to the West Point wide yardsale Oct 16th and we hunted for hours for a jogging stroller. It was freezing and I forgot to wear socks. We spent 2 hours or so looking around, bought a lime green bumbo seat, some gender-neutral baby clothes, books and toys. Just as we were leaving and the neighborhood was getting packed with yardsalers, we spotted a JEEP jogging stroller and snagged it for $10. I'm so proud of our bargains and of Johann, because he seemed to enjoy it too :)

He's been awesome through this pregnancy. He generally cleans up after himself anyway, but he's been dusting, vacuuming, and making meals and desserts. He spoils me.

It snowed like crazy the Saturday before Halloween, so we didn't go out or dress up like we normally do. The dogs were shocked to see it, especially since they always bolt out the door. Golbez peed on our front step instead of going out into the snow. Lazy bum. Agro just eats the snow.

Looks like I will be working for a friend of ours, watching her almost 3 month old baby 2-3 days a week. I got a job offer in retail, but after some thought, decided not to do that to myself again. Plus it'll be great practice- I'm so excited.

Our baby is already the size of a peach, which is amazing to me. I don't feel the baby very often, so it's nice that I get these automatic updates from thebump.com that tell me what the baby is doing each week and the size. Have also gotten some nice strong heartbeats at the doctor appointments. Had my 1st trimester screening done today in Poughkeepsie. They did another ultrasound to look for any abnormal genetic markers, and saw nothing worrisome. I got some great pictures, which I will touch up and post here soon.

Overall, a great month. Hope everyone is doing well. xoxo