April, May, June 2010

Where has the time gone? As David and I prepare for yet another move (a temporary one at least!) I know many people will be wanting to see Caleb's progress while we are away. So I'm quickly updating the last few months of pregnancy, adding Caleb's birth story and the newsletters I've been sending to family so that everyone who would like too can find out about our lives through the blog.

Starting with...April:

This was a busy month. We took our birth class and I began reading up on all things natural childbirth, interviewing my mom friends who had unmedicated deliveries and generally psyching myself up for "the big day". Bi-weekly OB appointments began and assured me that "Baby Gainey" was growing well.


And onto...May:

May was a really fun month. David had a month straight of training in Baltimore. I joined him on the weeks I didn't have OB appointments. We got together with friends for some last uninterrupted games of Settlers, visited the inner harbor (beautiful!) and savored our last weeks of being a couple. We also took one weekend to go enjoy a local state park, have a picnic and celebrate one incredibly joyful year of marriage. We took lots of rests on our walk as by now my 8 month belly was adding quite a bit of weight!

We also defrosted and ate the top tier of our wedding cake, which I predicted would be totally gross, but was pleasantly surprised to find was still AMAZING (pregnant women get very excited about cake...)


Finally it was June:

Although I was quite uncomfortable by this point, I still wanted my little guy to bake as long as he needed to. I focused what little energy I had on last minute preparations like freezing meals, organizing his clothes and preparing the guestroom (which had become our storage closet) to receive family. Mostly I was just huge, and I have the picture to prove it! This was taken 2-3 days before Caleb's birth:



About the last week, I started to be REALLY ready for Caleb to arrive. Fortunately I didn't have long to wait. On midnight of my due date labor began : )

Special Edition: 39 weeks

Obviously I am pretty far behind on our month-by-month updates, but right now is such a special time in our lives I couldn't bring myself to go back through the notes on my calendar and write about the past before I wrote about today.

Thursday marks 39 weeks that our little guy has been making his home in my tummy and while I continue to make plans with friends, plan a weeks worth of meals, and continue my normal routines I am definitely starting to feel a sense of how close his arrival is. David and I have really enjoyed getting our home ready for him. In fact, we've discovered an excellent way to motivate our home-making efforts:

Step 1: Join your church's supper club
Step 2: Volunteer to host dinner for 8 when you are 38 weeks pregnant (don't worry, no gourmet here, they got tacos!)
Step 3: Make sure none of them have ever seen your home before so that you want to make the best impression possible

Voila, at 38 weeks we had a sparkling clean, well organized home. We even hung pictures and art work! It was a busy week, but I feel like I can breathe easy knowing the house is clean for baby to come home to and family to stay in. I'm also making sure to soak it in since it probably won't be this clean again for another 18 years or so...

So now the crib is built, his clothes are washed and put away, the carseat is installed, I'm eating twice my weight in watermelon everyday, all our invitations are accepted with the caveat: "unless the baby gets here first" and we are so incredibly ready to meet this little person whose kicks and wiggles have been delighting us these past few months.

As much as I'm anticipating this little guy's arrival, I often find myself wondering how much our life as a couple is going to change in both the short and long term. And the fact is, it will change. Some changes I'm excited about, others less so, and I'm sure there are many I haven't thought of yet. One thing God keeps reminding me of though is that, whether we invite children into our lives or not, life changes. Some I've already experienced like moving out of state or buying a home. Others will come later: family illness, job change, financial challenges, etc. I know God is faithful and I'm looking forward to meeting this little life he is blessing us with, seeing David become a Dad, and becoming a family of 3 instead of 2.

So these are my thoughts as I sit on the threshold of parenthood. I am so blessed to have an amazing husband who ignores my crankiness and reminds me to sleep and eat even when I think I don't need to, family and friends who are almost as excited as we are to be able to welcome this little one, and a loving heavenly Father I can trust to work all things out in his good timing!

38 week belly picture:

March 2010

March finally brought us some warmer weather, despite the dark predictions of yet another blizzard from the oft-quoted farmer's almanac. In fairness, it had (apparently) predicted the last 3! As the snow melted, I noticed the yard looked like something left in the back of the fridge to long! And so, through google, I learned about "snow mold". Apparently when the ground is covered with snow for a long time (like say from two back-to-back blizzards!) mold can grow in the grass beneath it. Fortunately a few sunny days kills it. Yet another thing I never knew before moving to the north. And sorry, I didn't take any pictures of this oh-so-attractive phenomenon!

As the weather continued to warm up we spent our weekends getting the yard (now mold free) back in order. We raked leaves, picked up branches that had fallen under the weight of the snow and started a compost pile. Then, on one especially warm weekend, we (and by we, I mean David) decided to paint the nursery. What a difference a coat of paint makes!!! The room went from dark and small looking to a bright cheerful place I can actually imagine being our son's room!

Before (and a bonus shot of my prego belly!)


After : )


It was wonderful to get the little guy's room painted because each day, as his kicks grew stronger (even his daddy could feel them all the time now!) it became more of a reality that he really would be joining us in a few months. Each OB appointment told me he was growing right on track for our estimated due date (June 24th). At the end of the month I had my gestational diabetes screening, which I passed, but my iron (which was also tested at this time) was a little low so we added an extra supplement on top of the prenatal. I hadn't realized how tired I was feeling until that extra iron kicked in and I felt my energy jump 100%!

Of course David also had to travel for work some, but instead of the loneliness I used to feel when he traveled, all the girls who were still in Chambersburg (some co-workers, some co-worker's wives) got together for a pot-luck style dinner. I feel so blessed that David works for such a tight knit group, it really does make the time apart much easier!

We also had the blessing of receiving a visit from Jeff, one of David's college room mates. He came for the weekend and I was able to make him some of my (unhealthy!) favorites like breakfast hash-brown casserole and chicken parmesan (not in the same meal hehe). David is always amazed by how much joy I get from cooking for visitors, but I know it's just my mom's genetics (and recipes) coming out! While he was here, we got Jeff hooked on Settler's of Catan so I'm sure we'll be seeing him back this way again : )

At the end of the month, David and I got to combine work and play and took a mini-babymoon. He had a training in DC that let out early on the last day. So 3/31, we took the metro down to the Smithsonian station and this almost 7 month pregnant chica hiked all the way down the national mall, past the Washington monument and down to the tidal basin to see one of the most beautiful sights I've had the pleasure to see. We had arrived at the cherry blossom festival on peak bloom day. We walked around the basin, took pictures, explored the Jefferson Memorial and overall just savored being a couple. It was a really special day and I'm so thankful for David's thoughtfulness in planning it and the care he took to make sure I didn't get too worn out.