Pee Alerts

This post is at the suggestion of my lovely husband, who I think may be trying to give me another venting outlet for my latest pregnancy woes. He's dubbed the most recent as - The Pee Alert!

It's reached all sorts of new heights since we've crossed into the third trimester. Also, after my latest ultrasound this past week I was (mildly) reprimanded for not drinking enough water, so that doesn't help things.

Take today for instance. I was woken up way before I was ready by a bladder shot from our dear little one. Then, shortly after breakfast, another pee alert. I'm trying to stay active, so despite this new near constant need to run upstairs to the bathroom, I decided to make time for an actual workout - not just doing one flight of stairs every hour - and go for a swim at the university pool. NO, I did not plan on just tinkling in the water during my laps. :p

I finally get to the pool - it was very warm today to it took a bit to muster the energy to leave the a/c unit - and go figure, 45mins in the pool and no Pee Alert!! I was stoked! But as soon as my feet hit the hot pool deck - Pee Alert. :/ Ah well. I "go", then go home to shower off. This is where it got ridiculous. I hop in the shower, Pee Alert. Start to soap up, Pee Alert! Think there's time for a shampoo? Nope, PEE ALERT!! Seriously kid?!? I think she thinks my bladder is a trampoline/punching bag!

I've been warned to just get used to it, welcome to the final stretch of the pregnancy. Meh, I'm not a fan of this bit.

Baby Showers, Advice and Learning the Lingo

This past weekend I flew back to Ohio for my 'hometown' baby shower. It was a blast! My sister, Maya, and my mom outdid themselves putting this day together for me. There were awesome games, there was great food, and best of all, there were all of the family and friends I haven't seen in over a year -  it's been even longer than that for some of them!

It was a BaByQ theme...

 

...with great food...

...highly competitive games with awesome prizes...

...and excited family and friends...

...there to celebrate new arrivals...

 

...plus amazing and adorable gifts like this! 

It wasn't just fun, games, and socializing, though. I learned some great things at the shower, too. Among the game station tables, there was an 'Advice for the New Parents' table where we got A LOT of funny and useful tips. Some of my favorites are below:

• "Get sleep now while you can!" or "Sleep when the baby sleeps." (Almost every card had some variation of this.)
• "Enjoy every second as time flies!" (Lots of these too.)
• "Be sure to smell the baby's head - they smell so sweet! It doesn't last long, only newborns!"
• "You got this! Trust your instincts. Parent with ABSOLUTE courage!"
• "Babies cry. This doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong or that you aren't enough. She's a baby. Remember that!"
• "If you need to poop in the delivery room, POOP!" (I nearly fell out of my chair laughing on this one.)
• "Babies like to get into stuff. That's what they do. So if you got any cool stuff you don't want broken, give it to your cousins!" (Gotta love it right?)
• "Quit jumping while pregnant! You're scaring your mom!!" (My absolute favorite one, lol)

When it came time to open presents, in addition to being overwhelmed with the amount of cuteness I am going to be bringing home for baby Evelyn, I learned that I am no longer up to date on the baby lingo. At one point after opening a teething key-ring, I held it up to show everyone and referred to it as a chew toy. Oops! Apparently I still have a bit of transitioning to do from being a furbaby momma! Some other flubs were calling:

• leggings > pants (now really aren't those the same thing? But the moms in the crowd made sure I knew I was saying it wrong.)
• bibs > well actually I had a pregnancy brain moment and couldn't for the life of my remember what these were called at all! 

I knew what onsies were though so I guess I can't be too bad :)

I didn't get a chance to overly embarrass myself as most people gave gift cards instead of baby gadgets since I will only be able to take home what fits in my suitcase. I do have another shower planned for me back home in California come October, so it may be a good idea for me to do some research before people bring any newfangled gadgets to that one. *Said like the old lady I sometimes channel* Back in my babysitting day all babies needed were a blanket, a bottle, and a chew toy! Err, I mean teething ring.

Seriously though, this weekend has shown me how blessed I am to have such great family and friends in my life. My mother-in-law, sister-in-law and our friend who we chose to be the godmother even drove 5 hours to make it for the day! Everyone is so excited for our new addition and I really don't believe this baby will ever be able to fully understand how much she is already loved!

The Dreaded First Post!!

Here it is, the hardest post when starting a blog, the first. I have a host of firsts in my very near future so this is as good a way as any to get ready, right!

I am starting the blog to chronicle my journey into motherhood. My husband, Mark, and I are excepting our first baby in just 15 weeks. Eek!! We are excited and nervous, impatient to meet our little girl and glad we still have time to get ready. I usually just tell people we are an 8-ball of emotions!

I grew up in a very large family, so have been around babies and babysitting for as long as I can remember. But that doesn't mean I know the first thing about labor, newborns, or raising a kid! I typically didn't start babysitting until the kids were at least mobile. Now Mark, well I think he can count on one hand the number of babies he's even held. Needless to say this should be an interesting and steep learning curve for the both of us. So far I've been reading everything I can get my hands on for a natural birth, breastfeeding, baby essentials to buy, and the merits of baby wearing.

I hope you join me as I learn the parenting ropes of everything from breastfeeding to baby wearing, and  as I struggle through sleep deprivation and eventually get to that moment when I get used to being called mommy.