Maternity Leave To-Do List

Things to do before the baby arrives.

1. Install car seat. DONE Also drive around with Dottie in the car so she can get used to it. DONE and it was hilarious
2. Build pack and play. Baby should *probably* have a place to sleep when she comes home.
3. Wash baby clothes. DONE
4. Finish packing hospital bag. DONE
5. Take Dottie to the vet to get her vaccines updated and her nails clipped. DONE
6. Get nursery furniture arranged and decorate.
7. Buy more dog food for Dottie. DONE Make a little overnight bag for her in case she needs it.
8. Figure out disability paperwork and get it turned in.  (Hmmm....maybe this should be #1) DONE
9. Sleep. OH YEAH
10. Knit before my hands and brain are turned to mush by a newborn. WIP

Anything else someone recommends?

Oh, just remembered...get a haircut DONE and pedicure DONE.

I'm so done with work.

Only 2.5 more days left of working before I'm on maternity leave and I'm SO happy about it.

Don't get me wrong. I really like my job. I never dread getting up and heading into the office. But commuting and working 40 hours a week is getting a little harder when my brain is focused on baby, baby, and more baby.

My office threw me a baby shower yesterday. It was really nice. People floated in and out. There was cake and a few gifts. Nothing fancy which was perfect. Plus now I have plenty of Target gift cards to use to purchase the last few things we 'need' and maybe a few other things too. Diaper covers, changing pad, waterproof mattress pads, the green rug John wants for the nursery floor, etc.

I've been spending these last few weeks watching a lot of TV, trying to organize the nursery, attempting to sleep, deciding where to put all our stuff, and knitting for me.

Here's a new picture at 38 weeks wearing the sweater I just finished for me..all for me. Its an awesome dark peach color in yarn that's 50% alpaca and 50% wool. All machine washable.

(Don't look too closely at the background. Our home is still a war zone in the name of organization.)

Next on our to do list...install the car seat. Nothing like a little last minute prep, right? 

I'm sick of Maternity Clothes

Baby is due in about one month, and all I can think about is wearing sundresses again. Dresses like this.

I officially miss my waist.

I want to wear pretty dresses that are not made of stretch fabric. Ones that do not have an empire waist. I want to wear a full skirt with heels and maybe a little button down blouse.

I want to buy new shoes without the fear of sudden swelling in my feet. (The swelling hasn't happened but I'm on a vigilant watch for it.)

But mostly I want to have my waist back so I can make myself some pretty new breast feeding friendly clothes. Because the more I think about my pre-pregnancy wardrobe, the more I realize everything is missing some all important assess to my boobage. But I don't dare assume my post-pregnancy size will be the same as my pre-pregnancy size.

How about this one...good for breast feeding and going back to work?

How long does it take to regain some sort of waist again? My heart says 'It only takes like a couple of weeks right?' But my head says 'Be ready for a long and arduous journey you crazy nut.'

Addiction

Hi! My name's Jessica and I'm addicted to knitting baby sweaters.

Plus one dress...

I have one more sweater and dress completed. They only need buttons sewn on.

I think I should stop, but they are just so darned cute and quick to work up that I can't help myself. How many hand knit sweaters does one baby need? Like 4 or 5 in each size right? Because that's where I'm headed with my obsession. Forget nesting by arranging a room or buying diapers...I'm just going to knit an entire baby wardrobe.

30 and 30

This week I turned 30 and I'm 30 weeks pregnant. Time is flying by.

Turning 30 wasn't too bad in the grand scale of birthdays. 25 was much more difficult. I was a single woman living in Los Angeles. My roommates and I were signed up for E-Harmony and trying to find love,  or at least go on a few dates. I felt like I hadn't met any of my life goals.

Now 5 years later, I'm married and pregnant with my first child. I didn't hit my career goals like I thought, but really I perfectly okay with that. Oh and back when I was turning 25, guess who I had just started dating...

Anyways, here I am in all my pregnant and 30 glory.

Belly is definitely there now. She is doing good. To celebrate my birthday we took the hospital tour. Ekkk! Made me realize I've never been a hospital patient since I was born! (I think, am I right Mom?) Since many of my family members have worked in hospitals the whole atmosphere doesn't bother me. Actually the smell reminds me of childhood. BUT...being a patient is totally different.

The Labor and Delivery rooms are like a cheap motel plus medical equipment. I know they are trying to make it seem like home, but they totally failed. The Maternity rooms are straight up hospital with horrible lighting.

Oh well, it is what it is and I'm sure when the time comes the decorations will be the least of my concerns.

Had a check up this morning and baby is doing excellent. I also passed my glucose test. Yay to no gestational diabetes! Bring on the Christmas cookies! Doctor thinks its going to be a late February baby, but we'll see. Maybe early March.

In other news, did you know Christmas is 2 days away? I've got butter softening and pie crusts defrosting in preparation.

Dottie is eagerly awaiting Santa arrival, even if she's not totally deserving.

See what she did to the yarn I was using?

But really even though she was bad, overall she was a good little girl. She even got her own stocking this year. It turned out a little bigger than I anticipated.

So...what is Dottie getting this year?

We think it will be a big hit!

Baby and Me

Did you know Christmas is less than 2 weeks away? Oh shoot! That sucker sneaks up on you fast when you're more concerned with growing a human and keeping your husband away from the fallen power lines.

Also, that means my 30th birthday is on Monday. Monday...that's like really close. And you know what? I feel fine about it, just overwhelmed with how busy I am.

You would think I would have enough sense to pace myself, but that just isn't the case this year.

Museum event + power outage + birthday + Christmas + New Year's + husband's birthday + baby classes + finding a day care + finding a pediatrician + working full time = tired Jessica

Now add sleep deprivation to the mix. Two nights ago I woke up at 5am because I was dreaming that Prince William and Kate moved in next door. I'd taken a part time job in their house as the copier fixer. I sat around the kitchen drinking really horrible coffee and gossiping with their staff all day. It was FABULOUS! Last night I had no dreams, but still woke up at 4:10am and never fully went back to sleep.

Everyone tells pregnant ladies to sleep all they can before the baby comes, but I just can't. I find myself staying up much later and unable to sleep through the night.

Thankfully my last day at work before the holidays is December 16th. Then I can enjoy two blissful weeks of family and friends, and maybe the return of sleep.

Oh lastly John and I started classes last night with Infant Care. My favorite quote from the evening. "Enjoy that Golden Hour of time with your newborn while the doctor is performing your repair work" Gulp. That does NOT sound fun.

No electricity for us.

With winds gusting up to 100 mph in Pasadena, we're lucky we only lost electricty.

Here's our yard.

Side yard.

The alley way was blocked too.

I tried to walk Dottie, but to the right there was more debris blocking everything. To the left there was a downed tree with power lines wrapped around it.

Last night as I finished watching Top Chef the lights started flickering. When I went outside I found one of the power lines sending blue and green sparks flying. Moments later the fire dept. showed up to cut the power and block off the alley.

My biggest fear was that the neighbor's tree would come down onto our house. Its a huge pine tree that should be taken out, but since that would cost several thousand dollars, they just leave it there.

I think its safe to say we couldn't get much sleep last night. I was convinced the tree would come through our roof or a branch would come crashing through our front window. Dottie would run to investigate and either get hurt or jump out the window and get lost.

But thankfully we made it through the night with no damage to our house so far. There are lots on people less lucky, like this house near the coffee shop.

The city of Pasadena has declared a state of emergency and cancelled school today.

The winds are expected to last through tomorrow, so hopefully we will make it through okay.