Lisa's Baby Bump - Wk 22!

OK - so here's the latest baby bump pics - Lisa is now 22 wks, so a few weeks past mid-way... and has gained about 10 lbs over her normal weight before getter preggers.   She's definitely starting to show - but in a good way!  And she made me post a front view, so you can see that people really can't tell she's preggers straight on...

Lisa Baby Bump Wk22 - Side View

Lisa Baby Bump Wk22 - Front (Lisa's preferred view!)

According to BabyCenter, here's what's going on with eggy inside Lisa - he/she has lips and is growing eyelids and eyebrows - WOW - I wonder if they're black or dirty blond? ; ):

BabyCenter Wk 22

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Crazy!  We have our 3D ultrasound on Mar 10th, so hopefully some continued good news and we can settle the issue of boy/girl once and for all!!!!

Eggy hauls! Thanks to friends with twins!

We're very fortunate to have some very good friends here in Boston, many of whom have oddly-enough had twins recently... we just scored a huge baby haul from Ian/Marla who are "downsizing" from their 1400 sf condo to a 4000+ sf townhouse on Marlboro Street.  We're just fortunate their li'l ones (Jack & Sophie) have started to out-grow their things and that Ian/Marla only buy the best of the best!  They're like my "Ed" hand-me-downs - stuff I probably would never buy on my own ; ).  Anyway, we haven't really even started our baby registry yet and most of the stuff we need we already got!

Phil & Tracy, whose twin boys John & Henry, also gave Lisa a TON of maternity clothes, including a maternity bathing suit which Lisa used extensively on our PR Babymoon... plus a full-body pillow (see pic below), which at some point will replace me - the thing literally leaves no room for me in bed!

Our other friends, Prashant & Kalpana, whose twins Mallika and Akshay, have also offered to give us lots of things... thank god for friends with twins!

We've still got a long way to go until Jun 27 (or so), but can't wait to "pay it forward" to our other friends who have kids after us!

Lisa had another appointment with Dr. Mimi last week - heartbeat is still very strong, and Lisa's weight gain is right on track... we've got our next (and probably last) ultrasound in 3 weeks on Mar 10th!

Mr. Bear in Baby Bjorn Carrier

My Breast Friend, Full Body Pillow, Infant Feeding Seat

Crib Mobile that plays Classical Music - Abba will love this!

F-P Bouncy Chair & Chicco KeyFit30 Car Seat (#1 rated!)

F-P Cradle Swing (the "Porsche" of swings), Mini Bassinette

Happy Valentine's Day!

I’m feeling a lot of extra love this Valentine’s Day, maybe it’s just the hormones, but I’m more inclined to think it’s because of my wonderful, sweet husband, who surprised me at work today with not only 1, but 2 dozen beautiful red roses!

I know I’ve said this before, but I don’t think I can say it enough, falling in love with Richard was by far the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have him, and my mission is to never take him for granted. He was a wonderful boyfriend, surprising me that 1st Valentine’s Day with a beautiful diamond necklace, thoughtfully hidden in my Philly apartment on his visit the weekend before. He helped me make the decision to pursue my passion instead of money in my post-MBA job search, which I am thankful for every working day.

Then he became a wonderful fiancé, actually doing things like cutting out “signature paper” and gluing it onto hundreds of tiny white boxes because it was my wedding vision. Never mind that he knew people would just throw the things away with barely a glance, he did it because it was important to me. And as a husband, he constantly showers me with love, warmth and security. My favorite moments of every day are the ones I spend cocooned in his arms, it’s always a perfect fit.

I’m so excited to experience this next phase of our relationship, Richard as a Dad. He already has done so much for little Eggy – between multiple trips to Baby furniture stores to setting up Eggy’s new closet to coming up with a great list of potential names (something I haven’t even done yet!). I can tell Eggy is always on his mind by the way he is constantly rubbing my expanding stomach to try to get a feel for Eggy’s little movements. He is going to be such an amazing father, he is so compassionate and generous, loyal and fair, and most of all he just has so much love to give.

Happy Valentine’s Day sweetie!

Belated post - Lisa's birthday gifts!!

OK - so a little tardy in posting this, but Lisa got some great gifts for her birthday back on Feb 2nd... here's a smattering of what she got from lovely friends & family:

Pregger dress from Lisa's Mom - perfect for weddings this spring!

Cute pregger spring shirt for last few days before Eggy is born!

Comfy pregger pink shirt for lounging around the house!

Lil Red Sox Eggy Fan Inside! Feel like I'm seeing double...

Butt toning shoes for hot eggy momma

Cute chapstick from future aunt Clara!

Moo-lah from umma & abba - so we can buy more eggy stuff!

Lisa's Baby Bump - Wk 20 - Halfway Point!

Wow, time flies... at least for me.  Lisa, who happens to be carrying li'l eggy, may not agree!  Actually, in the weight gain department, Lisa's right on track (it should surprise no one that she's tracking it every week).  According to BabyCenter, who sends us a weekly email with what happens during different stages of the pregnancy, Eggy at Wk 20 is about6.5 inches from head to bottom, or 10.5 inches from head to toe, or about the size of a banana.  Whoa!  He/She is also starting to swallow (weird) and producing meconium (eewww!).  Here's their pic of what eggy looks like in Lisa:

Fetal Dev Wk 20 - Eggy swallowing!

Here's our pic of what Lisa looks like with eggy inside at Wk 20... as we mentioned earlier this week, we're actually starting to feel eggy move around - which is way cool... more to come!

Lisa Baby Bump - Wk20

Doesn't she looked relaxed post-babymoon?  On tap for the weekend, we're going to pick out a glider for the nursery... good times!

First signs of movement?

I think I've had the first signs of movement from Eggy! It's hard to say for sure, as it seems like the whole pregnancy has brought about new feelings and sensations I've never had before. But I've been feeling some weird twitches on and off the past few days, and I think its Eggy moving around! Its really amazing to finally feel it, it really makes the whole "growing a person inside you thing" hit home - what a miraculous thing it is! Although if Eggy is anything like me, I bet its hating being confined in such a cramped space. I can't imagine how scary it is in there, all alone in the dark with weird sounds and nowhere to move. I just started reading "Happiest Baby on the Block", a book many friends recommended for its techniques around calming a crying baby in those 1st few months after birth, and the author talks about how we're supposed to do things to recreate the womb experience, since that's all the baby knows and feels safe with at that point. I don't know, it seems like the womb would be a pretty miserable place to be for 9 months - isn't the baby happy to get out of there?

I can't wait until the kicks start getting a little more obvious, I want Richard to feel them! I'm sure in a few months I'll be missing this point where the kicks are mild and cute, I've heard they can get pretty aggressive at times. But I'm just so excited for more signs from Eggy!

iPod speakers for Eggy's room?

Your wish is granted... but I didn't really realize it was on our Eggy budget - I knew this was Lisa's "last" birthday as a wife before she became a mom.  From that point on, we have pretty much assumed our gifts for each other will be toned down for a while... so I wanted this one to be something for HER - Lisa loves music so much (as you can tell by her post) and I know she wants to pass along that love for music to Eggy.

sonos s5 - coolest audio system ever!

I got the new Sonos S5 system - so I'm a bit of a gadget geek, so I'd heard of the system and how audiophiles go gaga over it, but even I didn't realize how cool it was.  Ten minutes out of the box, I had Pandora streaming Decembrists for her, and was setting up NPR and ESPN Talk Radio stations.  Not to mention Lisa's entire inventory of (mostly legally acquired) music.

sonos ecosystem

The system is so cool - we can control it from either of our laptops or iPhones to play different music in different rooms.  So, Lisa can have Pandora playing in the living room, while I enjoy Mike & Mike in the Morning in the bedroom.  Who knows what we'll be streaming for eggy - but I know the sound fidelity will be great!

The whole "networked" home is becoming more and more a reality for us - we've got a wireless Networked Attached Storage (2 terabytes!) which basically is our media server for music & pictures, we stream high def video thru Netflix via Roku box, have a wireless Brother printer, and now Sonos!  I hope they don't determine all these wireless devices don't cause some bad ailment someday!

Babymoon!

We're on our way To Puerto Rico for our baby moon!

It's been a brutal winter already, and we're so happy to be getting away from the mountains of snow. I just want to lay by the pool for 3 days straight, my body needs to thaw out!

It was a little tough finding a place to get away. We only wanted to go for a long weekend ( saving those vacation days for post-eggy) so a direct flight from Boston was critical. PR is perfect, 4 hours on a direct Jet Blue flight (yay for tv!) and we're there! We're staying at a new St Regis down there, which looks really nice.

More to come on the trip!

Beach palapas at St Regis - this will do for now... but pls come back in 5 mins to spritz me.

UPDATE:  so, this place is EXPENSIVE (maybe not for Ed's tastes, but for ours!).  Rack rates are $1000+ / night!  Fortunately, we used Starwood Points (LOVE this affinity program - by far the best) and are staying here for the bargain price of 20,000 pts per night.  When we checked in, we were given champagne, and the butler is now coming over to our room to mix me a mojito and bring Lisa a chamomile tea!  Why are we only staying here a few nights?  Oh yeah, we went dry with our points!

We got here around 230PM today, and grabbed a quick lunch by the pool, and soaked up a few rays.

Lisa for poolside lunch - Mahi Mahi with spicy mayo!

Beach in the background - Most of the guests stayed by the crazy nice pool, but the beach is so close too!

We're about to head out to dinner to Pasta & Pueblo - which is supposedly one of the best restaurants in PR - run out of a shack by a few former surfers.  Ed, I'm sure you'd love this place!

Did I mention they have bocce ball here?!  But they call is boules... there will definitely be a bocce/boule throwdown over the weekend...

UPDATE #2

We’re halfway through Babymoon, 2011, and we’re having a wonderful time down here! This morning, after a light breakfast on our balcony, we went kayaking for about an hour,  where we saw lots of turtles/coconuts, iguanas (here Lizard, Lizard!) and golf holes. Richard was practically salivating watching the golfers out there, but the whole purpose of a babymoon is to spend time together, so he didn’t play (thanks Sweetie, I appreciate it!).

A large iguana

Then we got on a tandem bike, which I’ve learned is one of those things that looks more fun than it really is! Maybe it’s just cause I was in the  bike and couldn’t see anything, plus I missed the feeling of freedom and adventure you get when the wind is whipping through your hair. The property isn’t that big, so we only biked for about 30 minutes. There are a couple famous people with homes here, which we shamelessly took pictures of  (see below)

Lisa in front of Oscar de la Hoya's $14.5MM vacation home

 The afternoon was spent at the pool, where our lounging was interrupted a few times by sudden but brief rain showers. Its amazing how fast they swoop in and out, most only lasted for 5 minutes. In between, we managed to fit in a quick came of boule, but out of respect to Richard I can't tell you the outcome (only that it was practically a shut-out and he was not happy at the end of it!)

We're off to Fajardo for dinner tonight at La Estacion, which is a super cool restaurant we stumbled upon last time we were in PR.

Eggy's new closet

So, step 1 of the transition from 2nd bedroom / office / lisa's extra closet is complete.  Living in the city with only 1000sf forces you to be selective about what you have and what you need.  Does Lisa REALLY need another closet full of clothes she doesn't wear?

Here's what we used the closet for BEFORE nursery

So, we started operation purge - and ripped out the old closet and used EasyClosets to design a new one that is eggy-friendly - that is, with more shelves, drawers, and smaller hangers.  We were VERY impressed with EasyClosets online software - very user-friendly and tons of options to choose from, plus pretty cheap!  Ours was $550 (including delivery).  I ordered it on a Wed afternoon and the stuff arrived that Friday.  How amazing is THAT?

Removing old closet

Closet torn out before paint & install

Closet after spackling & painting

New & Improved Eggy Closet - with more shelves & shorter hangers

Drawers for cute little Eggy socks

Still a little room for Lisa's clothes - I think sacrifice is something we will get used to!