i'm in love

Ryan Kennedy Velasco

September 25, 2008

10:16am 8lbs. 4oz. 21 inches

big old belly!

Stick a fork in me, I'm done...

suburban rhythm

We are officially a two adult, one child, two dog, homeowning, SUV driving family... who knew? As much as I was in love with my cute car, we chose to give up the 4dr sedan lifestyle and become a member of the SUV club. Don't get the wrong idea... we didn't buy a gas guzzler. Of course, anything we could have bought would get less mpg than the other car, but we were mindful of the mpg when we were car shopping. So, we are now the owners of an brand new awesome CRV in taffeta white (searched high and low for that color!)... had to stay in the Honda family, of course... now we have enough room for us, the baby and the dogs - comfortably!

I am really enjoying my time off, too. ;)

i take that back

So, my last day ended up being yesterday... not next Friday! The swelling isn't cute anymore - the sausages kept growing and spread to my ankles and legs and I was barely hobbling around by the time I got home from work last night. Luckily my doctor took pity on me when I went to see him this morning - he provided me with two interesting nuggets: a doctor's note saying that I shouldn't be at work anymore (hallelujah! - it's great being paid to be at home) and I am officially one centimeter dialated and "thinning". I think 1cm is a good number - any less than that and I would have probably been disappointed... any more than that and I would be nervous that I would go early.

1cm is perfect. Good progress!

puff the magic...

Without a doubt, my favorite side effect of pregnancy thus far has got to be my puffy feet. I just noticed the puffiness last Thursday (pretty certain it didn't exist for long before that) and when I discovered it at work and pointed it out to a coworker... she laughed and said they looked like Fred Flintstone feet. They do! I wasn't even offended! They're getting puffier and puffier as each day goes on (and generally start off less puffy at the beginning of the day and the funniness progresses as the day goes on)... and now they are even more interesting. If you press on the top of my foot - it leaves an indentation! Amazing. They're only just now starting to get uncomfortable, so I may not find them funny for long... but for now, favorite side effect of my pregnant body... hands down. Errr, feet.

My due date is two weeks away! My last day of work is next Friday!

worky work

My coworkers are awesome – they threw me a surprise baby shower yesterday afternoon… lots of good food, fun baby shower games, cute outfits and an outrageously generous $250 gift card to Babies R Us. Steve and I were blown away – it was so unbelievably nice of them! I’m going to miss some of these people (some… not all) when I go out on leave in a couple of weeks. It’s bittersweet because I know that a lot of people will be leaving our contract while I’m out and we may not be able to stay in touch! Speaking of our contract, the company that won our contract over us has been slowly contacting employees and trying to snag us – why they’re doing it this early, I’m not sure… considering we have a few more months left… but regardless, they offered me a position this morning. It was more money than I’m currently making, plus a signing bonus, but I have no desire to be working for them while they’re in transition. Perhaps once they have completely taken over the contract (and seem to have some semblance of what the roles they’re offering may entail), I would consider making the move… but not anytime soon. Plus, it’s a farther commute! Yuck.

My friend Jen found out today that she’s having a GIRL! :) So excited for our little Ryan to have a playmate… and they’ll only be four months apart! There must be something in the water – I know six pregnant people right now… wow.

dates

December 1, 1979 - my parents got married
September 8, 1982 - my birthdate
December 30, 1982 - my love was born :)
April 1, 1985 - my little brother was born
July 12, 1993 - my little sister was born
June 12, 1998 - our first kiss!
January 5, 2005 - engaged in Central Park
February 22, 2005 - Lila was born
May 7, 2005 - Graduated from college
May 27, 2006 - MARRIED to my love :)
August 12, 2006 - Luke was born
March 16, 2007 - became homeowners
January 20, 2008 - found out I was pregnant
…September 29, 2008? October 1, 2008? October 5, 2008? ...sometime soon, our daughter will be born and it will be the most important date yet.

last fruit update EVER!

This is it! The last time I'll ever give a fruit update! "Practice makes perfect! Refining the blink, suck, inhale and exhale … She’s the size of a watermelon!… At week 37, your pregnancy is considered full term, meaning baby is likely to thrive after birth. Baby spends these last weeks in preparation for the outside world… meaning careful refinement of the blink, suck, inhale and exhale. Meconium, which you’ll probably find in the first diaper, is accumulating in the intestines. If (okay, as) you worry about giving birth, consider what it’s like for the little one. During the journey out of your womb, baby will produce more stress hormones than any other time in life."

Crazy! I don't think I look like I have a watermelon in there, but I am definitely large and ready to go... and it's pretty strange that she's fully grown in there with the exception of an additional pound or two that she'll gain in the next couple of weeks. She's ready - we're ready - I just want her to hold out until she's due so that my dad can make it back for her birthday!

I am about to fall asleep, but I also thought I would throw in a funny picture of Luke that I took today... we took him to 'dog days' at Bull Run Park and he got to swim and run around as much as his little heart desired... and they had free Frosty Paws - he was stoked.

my newer obsession

Happy birthday to me...

It's been a good week on the technology front.

my newest obsession

Coolest phone ever.

september!

My favorite month is here! Not only is my birthday next week (on a Monday… how crappy) but my due date is at the end of the month! Fall starts this month! I’m so ready for the weather to start cooling off (although it seems like that happens more in October now rather than September), the leaves to start changing, the pumpkin patches to open… I’m ready for jeans and sweaters (even if I have to buy some new jeans temporarily). I don't even care what size I have to buy as long as I get to wear jeans and my Chucks and any non-maternity shirt/hoodie/etc.

We had the most relaxing long weekend ever – we literally did nothing except lounge around the house and go out to eat. We went out with our friend Jen and her husband which was great because Jen’s five months pregnant and she wanted me to fill her in… there’s a lot of information that isn’t in any of those pregnancy books. Hopefully I didn't scare her when I talked about labor and delivery, but that's where my mind's at! Our nephew turned one so we of course went to his birthday party… we packed our hospital bag (!) and learned how to install the car seat (!!)… and we took the dogs on an adventure in the woods yesterday afternoon. We’re trying to spoil them rotten before the baby is born because there won’t be many day trips (if any) revolving around keeping the dogs entertained (the dog beach, for example) once Ryan joins us. Luke saw his first real life deer (up close and personal) and I don’t even think he could comprehend that it was an animal – it was too much for his little head. He’s still acting super clingy and thinks it’s his duty to escort me wherever I go… really cute.

I ordered the new titanium Voyager – so excited. It was time for an upgrade so I’m treating myself to a cool new cell phone as an early birthday present to myself. Steve is also really awesome and is treating me to the digital SLR I’ve been wanting to get for months… and just in time for baby photos. :) Yay, birthdays!

Political news is overwhelming. Although I truly believe that children (and other family issues, for the most part) shouldn't be a part of the election discussion, the news of Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter is everywhere... and it is really making a mockery of the abstinence-only approach to sex education that her mother is so supportive of. Honestly, I don't care that her daughter is a pregnant teen... but when you preach abstinence-only and can't even implement it in your own home, how can you expect to implement it in the U.S.? How would teaching abstinence-only in public schools do anything except raise a generation of kids who are ignorant of birth control (and in the same boat as her daughter)? All politics aside, I think it's kind of a shame that she took the nomination at all - she knowingly allowed her daughter to be subjected to such press and scrutiny. Clearly she (and McCain) knew this would become such a hot issue... assuming he did his research on her at all.