23 August 2010

Family Planning

As in, how do we plan to get our family from Rhode Island to Washington, D.C., in two weeks? Coordinating trips like this seemed hard enough when it was just Mike, me, and a cat or two. Now we have a baby and all the baby stuff (plus one cat). The car seat alone takes up so much room in the car -- valuable real estate that previously went toward suitcases and cat carriers. And not only do we have to solve the problem of where all our stuff goes, but there's the little issue of babies needing to eat every once in a while. Mike and I can grab some cheese sticks and coffee and power through a drive. But the baby's not old enough for cheese sticks yet, so that won't work.

Despite not looking forward to the drive, I am looking forward to spending the fall in Washington. I've grown to enjoy a furnished apartment next to a metro stop, at least for short-term living. We'll be in a neighborhood I'm familiar with, walking distance to coffee shops, grocery stores, and some of our favorite restaurants. Favorite restaurants that deliver, which is such a nice, big-city convenience.

I'm also looking forward to all my time with the baby. Right now I still consider myself on vacation/maternity leave, but once we get to Washington I'll feel officially unemployed. It's the first time in my adult life that I won't have any sort of employment, and I'm planning on not working for a while. I don't even have any freelance projects in the pipeline and don't know when I'll start sniffing around for more. And because of our crazy schedule in advance of moving to India, I won't be going back to my online courses right away, either. Being a mom will keep me busy enough.

Argh. Just let me get to Washington. I don't have the energy to worry about moving to India quite yet.

09 August 2010

Sharkbait's a Girl!


Sophie Olivia joined us late Friday night. (For those keeping close tabs, we left for the hospital at 4:00 on Thursday afternoon. It was a looooooong couple of days.) She weighs in at 6 pounds, 11 ounces and measures 19 inches long.

If anyone ever tells you that newborn-sized clothes are too small for full-term babies so you shouldn't buy them, you shouldn't necessarily believe that person. All the 0-3 clothes we have are too big! Thus the reason she has no hands.

We all came home on Sunday, tired but happy and healthy.

05 August 2010

Condition Baby Imminent

It's our last child-free day! I'm going to the hospital tonight to be induced. My blood pressure is high and my blood sugar has gotten harder to control, so the doctor said it's time to come out. And we agree. The last week or so has not been easy for me.

It's a day of final preparations. I'm making cupcakes to eat post-delivery. I've been craving cupcakes for months, but being on a no-sugar diet for the pregnancy made cupcakes an impossible dream. (I wasn't willing to try cupcakes that are both sugar-free and gluten-free. That seems like a huge waste of cupcakes to me.) We're also making sure cell phones, camera batteries, the ipod, the Kindle, etc., are all charged up. We have bags packed and lots of snacks. We have scouted out the Dunkin Donuts nearest to the hospital so Mike can make post-delivery coffee runs. (I've been mostly caffeine-free for the last nine months because caffeine makes the baby jumpy, which makes me even more uncomfortable.) Oh, and the car seat, bassinet, and all that baby stuff is ready to go, too.

We start at four o'clock this afternoon and hopefully by that time on Friday, we'll have a little baby on our hands.

03 August 2010

The Lotus Flowers

My dad saw a photo in the newspaper and then Mike happened to run by. About a mile from our house there's a small water garden filled with large flowers:






(Click images to see them larger.)

My 39 weeks pregnant self walked the mile to the pond, sat on a big rock to rest, took photos, and walked the mile home. And then I slept for the rest of the day.