Happy New Year

As another year comes to an end, a new year begins and we all take a look back and reflect on the last 365 days. So much has happened, so much has gone on. So many new things in life. There has been pain, there has been heartache, there has been loss. To many times we have heard whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger and while in the midst of pain this seems stupid and dumb to say, hind sight is 20/20 in that this is the truth and we grow as a result of it. I usually make a New Year's resolution. This year I will not be making one. This year I only hope that the pain and loss does not linger for those who experienced it, that true joy touches everyone's heart, that we are truly thankful for what we have and where we are in our lives, and that 2012 is a more profitable and enjoyable year. Where the past is in the past, we live in the here and now and we plan for all that the future can bring us. Join me in raising a glass (non-alcoholic of course) to 2012. Happy New Year everyone!!!

I Got The Dress....... Woo Hoo!!!

Yeah! My dress from David's Bridal came in. I picked it up today and tried it on. Looks good, feels good, we are good to go. Snapped a couple of shots in it trying it on just to have for posterity. I want to get to next weekend and be able to wear the dress at the awards banquet for my company but over the next week to week and a half we are on baby alert. Day by day at best. We will have to wait and see how I feel Saturday afternoon and go from there. Yes, I do recognize that I look like a gigantic blueberry but even with my baby bump I feel like a princess.

The Baby Pool

So my Dr. is adamant about me delivering early. He doesn't think I will get to the 26th of January. He feels more like the 11th of January will be my due date. That doesn't leave me with much time and it also doesn't bode well for the Type A personality I am with the OCD. I need to know, it needs to be scheduled and I need to be prepared. So to de-stress (because I am so all about that right now), I took up a baby pool at the office. Winner gets a Starbucks card. Everyone has chosen a date. So far Shelly and Rosie are out. Thanks guys for thinking of me but I don't think I would deliver 4 weeks early. Next up is Danny and Brandi. Sorry guys, don't think I will deliver New Year's weekend though great idea. I would love to actually have a New Year's baby- one of the 1st one's born into the New Year so that she would always have a good story to tell- but still no. I am curious to see what happens next week. I am beginning to think that Mycah, Leslie, Kathy and June might be a lot closer than they think to the winning date. I will keep all of you posted on my blog as best as possible as things go down. Stay tuned.

Ommmmmmm, Ommmmmmmmm

I have to give a huge shout out to my Sister-In-Law Rachel and her husband Rick for the Christmas gift they gave me. Rick was my Kris Kringle for Christmas and they got me a gift certificate to Massage Envy for a 90 minute prenatal massage. OMG!!!!!!!!! I sooooo took advantage of that last night after work. I had the cutest little massage therapist. Her name was Lucy and she was a tiny little Asian woman with a soft voice. Very grandma-esque and she was so ginger with me and my body. 90 minutes later I was mush! I felt lighter than air and I think I actually floated out of the spa. No stress, no tension, no drama, and definitely no knots or kinks. Ahhhhhh. This will go down in the history books as THE best gift ever, that I have gotten. No words can begin to express how thankful I am. Wow, to feel like a whole woman again. It's just amazing how you carry all of that crud around with you on your shoulders, your back and neck and aren't even aware of it until it actually starts to hurt. This was awesome. Now I feel like I am totally qualified and prepared to get in that hospital and birth this baby. Watch out world, here comes "Super Mom".

The Waiting Game

Welcome to the "Waiting Game", where all moms play, all moms win the jackpot but no one knows when the game begins. Sounds like a terrible B rated game show on T.V. And I have just entered to be a contestant. My due date is January 26th. Dr. says he thinks the baby will be here by the 11th. I am finishing off this week at work (1 more day to go I am off on Friday) and then on-call all next week depending upon how I am feeling. I just have to put the diaper bag, Dan's and my hospital bag and my birthing ball in the car and sit and wait until Sophia gets here. I have to tell you the "Waiting Game" is no fun to play that is for sure. Waiting for a mucus plug, waiting for water to break, waiting for more contractions closer together and far worse on the pain scale. Sounds like those terrible side effects that they talk about on those drug commercials: may cause blindness, may cause erectile dysfunction, can cause heart attack, you can loose a limb, may kill you, may make you crazy, may make you bark like a dog when the door bell rings, etc. etc. etc. Jeesh!!!!

And then from my friends who have delivered before, "It only gets worse from here, Hon". Apparently the Dr.'s don't tell you everything in your regular visits and want it to be a "surprise" once you go into labor about what exactly to expect: vaginal vs. Cesarean, I.V. Drugs vs. epidural, hours upon days of labor, delivery of baby "BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE" delivery of the placenta (and by the way the contractions don't stop till after the placenta is out....lovely), "To episiotomy or not to episiotomy, that is the question" (this one comes with stitches either way...ouch!), breastfeed or no breastfeed (and if you do breastfeed, most likely the baby wont latch on so you think you are doing it wrong and are starving your kid), the dreaded Epi bottle and cold packs (girls you know what this is for), and on and on. Yup I am a soldier. I signed up and enlisted for the one thing guys can't do, have babies. I got little training, killed my body, carbo loaded for the journey, went through the obstacle courses of baby stores, signed my life over when I pre-registered at the hospital, and now its time to bring on the war.

This is my bottle, there are other bottles like it, but this one is mine!

Wow, What A Week. Lots To Talk About....

So I left after work on Wednesday of last week to go to my in-laws house for 5 days of vacation and Christmas R & R. So much to do, so many people to see and in such little time.

I got a chance to see my brother-in-law who flew in from Texas, my sister-in-law and her son who flew in from Northern California, my Uncle Jeff who flew in from Medford, Oregon and even got to see the usual suspects: Uncle Jim, Cousin Aliar and one of her kids Ava, Karl and Jackie and Lauren and her new hubbie Jon. It was a great 5 days.

My mother-in-law kidnapped me and my sister-in-law on Thursday morning and took us for manis and pedis. Ahhhhhhhh, feels good.

We celebrated Christmas with some of my father-in-laws family, Christmas with Dan's immediate family, Christmas with my immediate family and Christmas with my dads side of the family. Are you exhausted yet. Keep reading not done yet........

We celebrated Dan's 39th birthday on Friday (Happy B-Day Baby!), did some before and after Christmas shopping and still had time for our LeBlanc family tradition every year....... TAMALE MAKING!!! Yup, that's right, from scratch: masa, hojos, pulled pork and chili sauce, mashed, wrapped, tucked, steamed and some eaten. Yummy! This has got to be one of my favorite family traditions. It really does bring everyone together.

Wait, did I leave anything out............................

Homemade Mole making Wednesday night, home made lasagna making Thursday night and a perfect roasted turkey with all the Christmas trimmings on Sunday night, plus a trip to the movies to see Sherlock Holmes on Christmas day. Never done that before. It was kind of cool. Would like to check that out again next year. It was a nice break from all of the other craziness.

Wow, what a summary. Feels like I had a book report due on what I did over Christmas break. Ahhhhh, and now to relax until my little bundle of pinkness gets here. Time to put the feet up, grab a cup of tea and chill.

Dr.'s Visit Today

I finally got a chance to visit with the other Dr. in the practice that I go to. She is very nice. Great bedside manner and definitely feels like your mom or grandmother relationship. She looked at my charts and checked my test this morning and said all is good. No Sodium in the urinalysis, the Strep B test came out negative, my blood pressure is great, the baby's heart rate is perfect, I have gained 2 pounds since last week Dr.'s appt, and my fundus has grown- baby is getting bigger. We talked more about my swollen hands, ankles and feet. She said I was surprisingly less swollen than most women this far along in pregnancy. She said to rest my feet when I can, drink lots of fluids, stay away from ham and other salty cured meats, watch my salt intake, and get myself a good pair of support hose. Wow, I think I just stepped off the fashion train into Grandma Town! Yikes. But a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. Support hose here we come. Fashionable or not, gotta wear them to stay comfortable and relieve some of the swelling.

Today is my last day of work for this week then 5 days of Christmas Vacation at the in-laws. Gonna relax, put my feet up and enjoy. Not to mention celebrate Christmas 3 times, make tamales and celebrate Dan's b-day on Friday. Phew! A woman's work is never done. Maybe I can do all of this from the couch laying down??????? Hmmmmmmmmm.