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!
