Getting Ready for Baby

"One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving."

(Paulo Coelho)

To give a brief update to my last post, I have good news: My OB said that whatever I had been doing worked because Ava, who was full-term breech, turned and is now head-down, so thank you for your thoughts and prayers! I was very conflicted about having an external cephalic version (ECV) -- which would require an epidural and other medications, is only 50% effective, and can have serious risks -- and wanted to avoid additional medical interventions, so I did everything I could to get the baby in a vertex position: inversions, shoulder stands, and yoga cat/cow/downward dog poses; using music and light, and ice and heat; praying; talking to her; manually trying to move her; and finally visiting a chiropractor for the Webster Technique. The chiropractor -- who I'm planning to see again before birth and then again several weeks afterwards -- was the one who told me she thought Ava might have flipped so until I could get ultrasound confirmation I should hold off on continuing the various techniques. My OB performed an ultrasound confirming that my chiropractor was right. But anything can happen between now and my due date, and I still needed to see an ultrasound specialist because there is another issue that could present a problem during birth, but we won't know until I'm in labor so I'm not worrying about it now.

So here we are, and my due date is rapidly approaching! By this point, most pregnant women feel that time is dragging on. I'm very excited to meet our baby girl, but to me it's all still going by so quickly.

In just the past several days, I was able to pull together the baby room, though she probably won't actually stay in there for a while. My mother-in-law's church friend passed along a crib to us, which I wasn't expecting -- I hadn't planned on having any real nursery furniture (e.g. crib, chair, changing table, dresser, etc.), and was only going to use our Graco Pack 'n Play Day2Night Sleep System, which we ended up putting in our bedroom -- and finally, after months of consideration, I decided to buy a swivel glider/recliner chair from Overstock.com when it was on sale, which arrived on Friday. Please see below for photos of my recent progress preparing for our baby's arrival.

Our Bedroom Baby Station

The Graco Pack 'n Play with bassinet, napper, and changing station is in our bedroom, since we put the crib in the baby room. It's stocked with newborn-size Honest Company diapers, Size 1 Pampers, 99.9% pure WaterWipes, Boogie Wipes, tissues, Desitin and A&D cream, Vaseline, Aquaphor, and hand sanitizer. We also have Huggies diapers and Kirkland wipes that my mother-in-law picked up at Costco, so I'll have to see which brands works best for our little one. I've heard good things about Target's up&up diapers, so we'll try those too at some point.
 

Portable Pack 'n Play Sleep System

Bassinet

Side view... shoved in by the glass doors

Diapers and more underneath changing table

Adorable diapers in a basket I crocheted

Other Baby Supplies

I bought a 2-tiered non-skid turntable to hold baby bath, body, and health supplies, which are now in the bathroom. A good friend gifted me with a 3-month bundle subscription to The Honest Company, hence all the great Honest supplies.

Bath, body, and health supplies

Some of my Honest Company stash

More baby-care items

Gender Neutral-ish Nursery

The baby room is decorated in mostly grey, white, and aqua to complement the seafoam-colored walls. I wanted it to be on the more gender neutral side, but it's still pretty girlie after all, with the pink accents. I transitioned the room from my brother-in-law's old bedroom, to my home office after moving here, and now to a baby girl's room. I moved the twin bed to the other side of the room, and originally was going to paint the headboard shelving white, but would have had to detach it from the bed frame, which seemed like too much work. Then we were given the crib -- which came with the teddy bear mobile -- from my mother-in-law's friends, so I decided I would definitely not bother painting anything.

Grey, white, and aqua with seafoam-colored walls

Crib holding my collection of Boppy pregnancy pillows

Walls decals I arranged

Comfy swivel rocker/recliner, grey striped rug, and bed

Headboard with books, blocks, and baby crafts

I'll try to post about baby crafts separately

Grey and white memo board with maternity photos

Girlfriend has a bigger and more colorful wardrobe than I do

Some of her cute little shoes, socks, bibs, etc.

Closet dividers to organize clothing by months

PJs, bear suits, leggings, swaddlers, blankets, and more

Hooded towels hanging on inside of room door

Door latch stoppers in cute prints

Hospital Bags

I packed up a couple of bags for the hospital, including the baby bag and my bag. The baby bag contains hats, socks, a couple of simple sack-style one-pieces, receiving blankets, her going home outfit, baby book cards for footprints, nursing pillow cover (my sister is sending me the pillow), Itzbeen Pocket Nanny Baby Care Timer, hand sanitizer, large zip-top bag, a "0" candle, and a little crocheted garland. 

Baby bag items to bring to hospital

Newborn hat, outfits, and socks

Variety of cards for baby book, "0" candle, and baby-care tracker

Monogrammed going home outfit with hat, converter gown, and blanket

My mom bag contains a pillow, maternity gown, PJs, tops, yoga pants and leggings, undergarments, Belly Bandit, socks, on-sale Crocs flip flops and clogs to easily clean after being in the hospital, hair and body towels, toiletries, vitamins, and an extra zip-top bag. The hospital will provide other supplies, but I have stocked up on lots of postpartum products.

Items in my bag to bring to hospital

PJs and comfortable clothing

Towels, undergarments, footwear, and socks

Toiletries and vitamins

We still need to pack up the tech gear, general supplies, snacks, drinks, candy, and mints, nurses gifts, documents and records, plus my husband's things... and install the car seat!

List of remaining items to pack for hospital

Finally, below are links to 2 videos I've watched and enjoyed:

This is really cute and makes me cry every time!

"I'm So Pregnant" Iggy Azalea Parody.

Spring Things, Including our 2nd Anniversary, Sam's Graduation, and Leaving Brooklyn

"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on infinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."

(C.S. Lewis)

The past month, and the year to come, has and will be full of changes for my husband and me, as I've mentioned earlier. Change is good, but moving is the worst; not specifically leaving NY (though I can hardly believe it's been 2 years since we moved to Brooklyn), or coming to Michigan, but just the act of moving. We'll most likely have to relocate at least a couple more times before we settle into what will hopefully be our permanent home, and even though we just got to Michigan this week and still have a lot of unpacking to do, I'm already dreading the next move a year from now because we'll have everything we just shipped or drove out here, plus everything we stored in NY, plus whatever we pick up along the way this year, plus baby gear and clothes... oh, and plus a baby! To keep from stressing, I think I'm just going to try to avoid thinking about it for the next several months at least.

Today is the first day of summer -- and the longest day of the year -- so I wanted to post a spring update now while I still have some time. I haven't finished uploading and looking through some of the more recent photos on my older camera, but please see below for some highlights from the last few months.

Spring Occasions

We flew to Chicago over the first weekend in April to celebrate our nephew Micah's 1st birthday. We made M&M and jelly bean candy pillars -- I did the one for the year of the snake, and Sam did the ones on the side -- which we took as our carry-on. (The ones Sam made got a little battered and started falling apart... just saying...)

Happy birthday, Micah! (Image: Frenzi Visuals)

My sister-in-law Grace did an amazing job with the superhero theme

Back in NYC, we went to the Party Rental Ltd. Spring Open House in mid-April to check out their newer products and get some refreshments before dinner. There was a lot of food -- and a donut table! -- so had we known, we probably would have just stayed there and snacked for a couple of hours.

When you work on events with strict budgets, it's hard to get fancy rentals

Mmmm... donuts, drinks, and more food

My father bought us tickets to see La Bohème at the Metropolitan Opera, which we finally had the chance to do in April. I'm glad we were able to see this, Tosca, and The Magic Flute this past season.

La vie Bohème

The day before Mother's Day, some of my good friends and I went to Ladurée in Soho for brunch, afternoon tea, and French macarons. Thanks again, ladies, for a lovely time!

I ate literally everything

Our friends Julienne and Elliot invited us to the Queens Museum Gala in early June, which was a lot of fun. How could it not be, with an Andy Warhol-inspired photo booth and cotton candy for dessert? Elliot's father was honored at the event.

With our recently engaged friends

Cotton candy

We also went to the Hope For New York Spring Benefit, which was a nice event in support of the poor and marginalized in NYC, held at Hudson Common in the Hudson Hotel.

In addition to family and friends' birthdays, Mother's Day, and Father's Day, spring was also a time for baby showers (Heather and Jeannie), and a bridal shower and wedding (Emily). Congratulations, everyone! It was an honor to be part of your special days.

Ushering, with my friend Leslie as receptionist

I snuck in for a moment to capture Sam singing his solo for the bride and groom

More photo booth fun

Our 2nd Anniversary

On May 26, 2014, we celebrated our 2nd anniversary. We decided to go to Atlantic City, since it was close enough to drive to easily, but still felt different and far away enough from the city to get away for a couple of nights. We stayed at Revel, which is one of the newest casino resorts in AC, and enjoyed some great meals, a relaxing stroll down the boardwalk, and a windy afternoon at the pool. I also spent some time at the wonderful Exhale Spa. Neither of us really gambles, but I found my game: the Sex and The City slot machine! I won $40.01.

Views of the hotel and our room

Seafood overlooking the beach at Azure by Allegretti

Relaxing at the pool and spa, which had more pools and a salt room

Yummy tapas and huge squid ink paella at Amada

The day we returned to NYC, we had a reservation at The NoMad, which capped off our anniversary celebration. If you haven't been there for dinner, the whole-roasted chicken for two and the milk & honey dessert -- their signature dishes -- were delicious.

Rich and decadent dinner at The NoMad

Brooklyn Bucket List

Before we left Brooklyn, I had somewhat of a bucket list in my mind of things to do, since we likely will never live in there again. Some -- such as Smorgasburg, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's cherry blossom festival, and the Brooklyn Museum -- I've experienced before but wanted to go to again. Others -- including a few local restaurants we had not gotten around to trying, BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge -- were done for the first time.

Smorgasburg 2 weekends in a row! So much food to try...

Too many vendors to re-list here (check out my Instagram for more info)

Sakura matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Eating at Grand Army Plaza food trucks outside Prospect Park

Ai Wei Wei and Swoon exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum until August

Dinner at Marco's, a trattoria from the Franny's team, right across Flatbush Avenue

Dinner at al di la, another trattoria just down 5th Avenue

Checking out BAM and the DanceAfrica Bazaar before ice cream

More iced creamy goodness at L'Abero dei Gelati in Park Slope

My 1st time walking across the Brooklyn Bridge

Sam's Medical School Commencement

On Saturday, June 14, my husband and my brother-in-law both graduated from medical school! The St. George's University commencement took place in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, and the weather that day was perfect for gathering outside by the fountain afterwards and taking photos.
Sam's sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece were able to make it to NY for the occasion (after terrible flight delays and a cancellation the day before), and it was great to be able to celebrate with them as well as with my side of the family. After the ceremony, we had dinner at IchiUmi, and then met up with friends for drinks at The Archive.

So proud of Sam for being 1 of 26 in the Gold Humanism Honor Society

Being hooded by my father on stage before receiving his symbolic diploma

The Son siblings

Me, Sam, and Baby

A little graduation/Father's Day gift for Sam

The Move to Michigan

We were able to get a lot of things packed, shipped, and stored before graduation, but by the time we were supposed to leave on Monday, there was still a lot to do, and Sam was the one who had to do all the heavy lifting. Somehow, we had the apartment cleaned, got everything out, packed up our car with no room to spare, and hit the road. We stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Express in Clearfield, PA to break up the trip, and arrived at our destination in Michigan on Tuesday evening.

This isn't a picture of the car packed up, but here's Greg, our Honda CR-V

A bottle of bubbly for our new tenants who moved in on Tuesday

Lunch at Sheetz in Hermitage, PA

Since we're staying with my mother-in-law, we don't have any of our furniture here and won't need to buy much, which is fine with me because like I said, I'm already concerned about how we're going to move back! But we did buy a couple of inexpensive nightstands at IKEA the other day, and I got a cute glass lamp to place on top of mine. I also needed more hangers, so I got 2 boxes of Real Simple clothing hangers. I own the slimline hangers in Stone but left them in storage in NY, and the Bed Bath & Beyond we went to here only had the bulk boxes in Peacock or Pink, so I decided to be colorful and went with the Peacock. Plus, it better complements the seafoam-colored wall paint in the house.

{IKEA: LYKTA table lamp, OLTEDAL white nightstand, BRIMNES white nightstand}

Bright hangers holding tops, cardigans, skirts, dresses, and blazers

T-shirts, sweaters, jeans, pants, and more

I have a number of inexpensive maternity clothing basics -- mostly t-shirts, tank tops, and jeans or casual pants from Gap, Old Navy, and Target (on the 2nd shelf in the photo above, plus a few maxi dresses on hangers) -- which I haven't started wearing yet. Today I'm at 19 weeks and 5 days, and as of now I can still wear my regular clothes, but I'm sure I'll be transitioning to some maternity clothes in the next few weeks.

I'll post a pregnancy update separately. Thank you for reading and sharing in our lives!