Welcome Molly!

Just about 19 days ago, hubby and I welcomed our little girl into the world. In some ways, the (almost) three weeks have gone by super fast, and in others, super slow. But in all ways they've been super good.

J is a fabulous father already. Tender with her and taking care of me. We'll see how long it will last - the taking care of me part at least. I think our little girl will become first in his eyes in the near future. If I can only get him to stop brainwashing her on the whole dog thing.

As for me, I'm feeling good. Tired, and the whole "sleep when your baby sleep" doesn't really work in practice as well, at least when her sleep patterns during the day are erratic. But I get the occasional nap here and there, and can get through the night pretty well.

Motherhood. It's going to be one heck of a ride.

38 Weeks

So, at this point I could go into labor any day. As my doctor told me, "my wife never made it to her next appointment with all 4 kids". And it's amazing that for 36 weeks I felt totally fine. Well, not totally, but close enough. Then wham! At 37 it was like hitting a brick wall. My leg/back started hurting at every step. The exhaustion came back at full force (yes, staying up till 9 is a reason to celebrate). And suddenly I get why my boss laughed at me every time I said I was going to work till the week of my due date.

And I certainly can't do what I thought I could. Cooking is becoming tiring - I made lasagna last weekend and needed a nap after spending 45 minutes in the kitchen. And a heating pad. And a massage. So I think I need to stop working sooner than I originally thought. One more week, and then a week and a half before my due date to finish mentally and physically preparing. And hopefully she won't be too late (because then I'll feel silly having sitting around with nothing to do)

I guess we'll see when baby Brady arrives. Fingers crossed!

1 month to go....

Yes, there are 30 more days till baby day. Well, approximately. Because as much as I'd like to be all organized and list making and scheduled, I'm sure Baby Brady will make her own entrance when she's ready, be it early or late. I hope she takes after her parents and is late.

So how am I feeling with a month to go. Gulp. In one moment it can't come too soon, in another I'd be happy to have 2 more months. Especially with the hours J's been putting in (tech/crazy show) and will continue to put in for the next 3 months, as it's his busy time. We've been ships passing in the night (or actually morning, as my bed time is earlier and earlier).

So I wonder if my next post will be about our little girl, or if the writing bug will hit earlier. We'll see!

Mornings

I love the mornings. Especially on mornings that I don't have to do anything right away, or need to be rushing for work. And even more especially in the winter, as I sleepily stumble to the living room, and sit with the cats to the glow of the christmas tree as the sun slowly comes up. I feel my energy rising with the sun, and pull up the laptop and begin indulging in my curiosities. Searching for recipes, pondering mysteries of why my cat howls over her water dish, catching up on news from friends and family. I know these mornings are limited, and soon my mornings will be early and busy and not about me, so I am trying to enjoy every moment of them now.

Today, on this particular morning, I'm getting ready for the feast of GiJackika. Our annual Christmas party. In past years, by 7 am I'm starting cooking and prepping for the evening. But this year, I simplified my menu since I knew my energy, back and feet were not what they were in the past. Yesterday I baked, chopped and marinated, and today I have very little prep to do - purposefully so I won't fall asleep on our guests. This way, I get to enjoy my quiet morning and prepare for our friends calmly. Oh, how I love the morning.

Baby, Life, Me...

According to the calendar, I am just over halfway through my pregnancy. I no longer look like I've just been spending time at the donut table, but actually look pregnant. I can feel Baby Brady kicking, and moving and doing all sorts of ballet. And I am having moments of sheer an utter panic that then morph into an odd calmness and excitment. And then back to panic.

So my days go on, and life goes on. I go to work, and while the dreaded "pregnancy brain" is making me occasionally spacey, I've been pretty good at keeping on top of things. Although I have reached the point of feeling a little overwhelmed with all that needs to be done in preperation for maternity leave. Especially because I'm learning there are some things that come second nature to me, that no-one else in the office can do. I don't mean that in a snobby way, it's just there are some things that I've learned over the years, on the technical side, that others haven't had to do.

Looking at what the next few months (and years) will bring, I'm happy. And determined. Determined to to enjoy it, to find things that are wonderful, joyous and blissful. And to celebrate the ups, downs and inbetweens.

Nesting, or how to annoy the husband...

It's time. Time to start getting the nursery ready. Besides the overwhelming day of registering, and a few things coming into the house, we haven't really been prepping the home life for our little girl. Partially because we've been busy, partially because we've been trying to not get too caught up in the baby and still enjoy each other, but whatever the reason has been, we've been keeping the nesting to a minimum.

Till today. I woke up, the weather was cool, I had a full day ahead of me with no plans other than some work and food shopping, and an urge to get things moving. So by the time the dear husband woke up up, I had drafted our new floor plans, moved furniture and boxes into the living room and had the cats cowering in the corner with the "she's a crazy woman" stare. It's starting to come together, and now with the crib assembled and the bookcases removed, I can actually start envisioning what the room will look like.

And the nesting begins.....

It's a girl!

Yes. We decided we wanted to know if we were pink or blue, so we did. And like the 6 of the other 8 babies in the S. clan, it's a girl. Which totally suprised us. I would have laid money on a boy, only because we had the girls name all picked out. But a boy, well the Seamus/Liam/Sean argument was still raging. Whereas a girl we were happily agreeing on a nice Irish name for her.

So are we happy? Yes. Is Jack already panicking about her being 13. Yes? Is he already making plans that whatever house we live in MUST have a second bathroom? Yes. And am I excited about the pink tulle skirt and black leather vest I saw in the store? Yes. It's all very exciting, and as I've begun feeling the flutters and kicks, it's all becoming very real.

Scents and Sensibility

For those who don’t know, one of the “side effects” of pregnancy for some women is a superhero type sense of smell. Which on days that I’m baking cinnamon rolls, or sauteing onions and garlic, is really awesome. But on days where you are driving down the turnpike, and smells of rotting food waft your way from the garbage truck that is a few trucks ahead, you begin to wish that you could shut down. It kinda brings the morning sickness feeling back all over again.

Guess who's having a baby?

We did it. We outed ourselves finally. We shared the news in person with the last remaining friends in our inner circle and then the facebook announcement went up. After I tried to find a clever way to say it. I don’t know if I succeeded, but I like to think I did. And so, the world can start preparing for the little hellion that will be joining us.