*Sigh*

I went for my weekly appointment last night...no change at all. Bummer. The doctor said that if I don't have the baby by my appointment next Monday (Dec. 1), then she will schedule induction.

So the question is this: Who has the fail-proof method to get me into labor by next Monday? Any and all suggestions will be welcomed and tried. If your suggestion works I might consider naming my first-born child after you.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!!

First Photos

So I was checking out my cousin Catherine's photo blog this morning and discovered that she had added some pictures of her trip to Philladelphia in March. When she and her parents came to visit Ken and I over her spring break, I was apparently 1 week pregnant...I just had no clue at the time. It's funny to look at these pictures because I already have forgotten what I looked like before the bump. I thought I would share a few of them with you.

The Very First Photo of Pregnant Christina:

Christina, Uncle Jeff, and Catherine

(Great) Aunt Donna, Christina, and Catherine

Yes, that is a glass of wine by my plate...oops.

Blissfully happy but CLUELESS about the impending arrival.

39 Weeks and Counting

Yesterday marked 39 weeks so I had another doctor's appointment last night. I was very happy to hear that I am at 1 cm. It doesn't sound like much, but when you are ready to have a baby, it's nice to know that your body has figured out that it needs to start doing something. Of course, it's still hard to say when the event will actually occur. It could be tomorrow or it could be in three weeks (let's hope not.) The doctor also estimated that the baby is somewhere between 7 and 7 1/2 pounds. Whew!!!! No 10 lb. behemoth baby for me!

I'll continue to keep everyone posted. Now, on to week 40!

Update

To those of you who guessed that I would be 2 weeks early...Bless You. Unfortunately for me, you were wrong. I understand now why women continually hope for an early baby. Don't get me wrong, this pregnancy has been very healthy and easy and I probably don't have a whole lot to complain about. But I have officially hit "uncomfortable" on the pregnancy spectrum. Our child has not yet figured out that (s)he has run out of room in my belly and continues to do the Hokey Pokey with reckless abandon. This will definitely not be a couch potato.

Keep checking back. I will post updates as well as let everyone know here first when we are headed to the hospital.

Lazy Sunday

Sunday morning Ken suggested that we go for a Sunday drive to see the fall colors. After looking at a map, we decided to head to the Poconos-specifically to Delaware Water Gap. We saw a few waterfalls, went for a nice hike, the weather was perfect, and Ken got to test out his new camera. It was an absolutely perfect Sunday. Here are some of the pictures from our trip. (Ken refused to be in any of the pictures. He was having too much fun playing photographer.)

Monster Leaves

I was getting pretty tired by the end of the day.

I am clearly ready to pop. Only 4 more weeks!!!

Big Fish

Ken has been spending some time fishing this summer and fall. Everytime he comes home, he tells me how good he is at catching fish. (He catches and releases so I haven't actually seen evidence of success or failure.) On his last trip out, his friend captured Ken's "big catch" on his cell phone camera.

Thank goodness we both have jobs and don't have to worry about putting food on the table.

No-Nose Reita

We had another ultrasound on Friday. Unfortunately, the pictures did not turn out very well. If Ken and I hadn't been there, we wouldn't know what the heck these are pictures of. It turns out that it's a close up of the baby's face. Because it's 2D instead of 3D you mainly see only the bones of the face. This has caused Ken great distress. Every morning he looks at the pictures and says, "Our puppy doesn't have a nose."

See if you can figure out what you are looking at in these pictures:

More Preggo Pics

31 Weeks:

My belly enters the room about 10 seconds before I do.

The View From Above:
My perspective on pregnancy-note the rapidly shrinking lap

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Wine (?)

I had to travel back to Tucson on business at the end of August. Boy, was it hot!!! I am so glad that I am not 7 months pregnant and still living in Tucson. Of course, I am sure my tune will change in January when I want to take the baby for a stroll outside.

My friend Laura decided to put together an impromptu dinner party/baby shower while I was there. I was so excited to have a night with the girls again!!! Abby, Lidija, Laura and I spent the evening eating amazing food, laughing, and drinking wine--ok, so in my case I could only smell the wine, but it really smelled good.

Check out my cankles. My legs were super swollen from the flying and the heat. Laura took good care of me, though. She let me soak my feet in her tub and she let me borrow a pair of flip flops. (PS--Laura-Abby has your flip flops. I forgot to bring them back to the office for you so Abby was going to. I think she might be holding them now for some sort of ransom...like more of that good wine or the chocolate covered strawberries. One can never tell with Abby.)

Lidija and Abby

Lidija, Abby, Christina, and Laura (Can you see the chocolate covered strawberries on the table? I love dessert as an appetizer!!!)

Make Room for the Giraffe

After the realization two weeks ago that our baby is coming sooner rather than later, Ken and I spent last weekend baby shopping. Luckily, our friends Sara, Hope and Gina provided me with a list of necessities when I was in Tucson in July.

Our first stop was Kids and Kribs in Wayne, PA. We picked up our infant car seat and stroller. While Ken went to get our car so that we could load up our purchases, I bought the cutest little set of argyle socks-I couldn't help myself!

The next task was crib shopping. This did not go so well. We spent the entire rest of the day Saturday looking at either ugly or ludicrously expensive cribs. How hard is it to make a modern looking maple (or other light colored) crib? Apparently quite difficult. The second you add the word "modern" to your search you add about $1,000 to your budget. After driving all around the Pennsylvania countryside, we headed for home. Ken spent the rest of the night looking on the internet to no avail.

On Sunday morning, I found a store about 30 minutes from our house that carried cribs so we headed there. We walked in and, to our amazement, found exactly what we were looking for...or at least it was close enough! We were able to order our crib and swivel glider and we also picked up bedding. I had spent the last 6 months extremely opposed to purchasing such a "nicety" (as opposed to necessity) but we both saw the bedding and absolutely loved it. Ken especially likes the 4-foot tall stuffed giraffe that we purchased. There is something about babies that makes perfectly rational adults turn to goo.

Our bedding-definitely NOT our nursery or furniture