Kenny has been talking to Chicklet's butt...

By the way, I just thought you'd all like to know that Chicklet is practicing for her teenage years already. Kenny often writes about talking to Chicklet via the "belly phone", which is my belly button (which looks strange and flat now, by the way). Well, when we were at the doctor's office on Friday, the nurse told us that Chicklet is head-down now. (We got to feel her head for ourselves, which was really cool.) That means that her butt is right about where my belly button is, so for the past week or so, Kenny has been talking right into her little tush, rather than to her head as he thought he was. She has obviously developed an attitude already when it comes to conversations with her dad...

Stroller Envy

Remember the stroller wars of several months ago? Kenny wanted the Graco stroller, whereas I wanted the Peg Perego. I finally won. Well, about two months ago we were shopping in Babystyle, when the sales associate informed us of a new stroller soon to be available in the U.S.--the Quinny "Zapp". This stroller promised it all- style, convenience, safety, and affordability. We were really excited about it and have been counting down the days until its arrival in the store. When we finally got the call that it was in, we raced down to the mall to check it out. Oh..my..god..UTTER DISAPPOINTMENT! Sure, it looked cool, and sure, it could fold up into something the size of a briefcase, but it just wasn't what it cracked up to be. The wheels were foam rather than rubber tires, the fabric was cheap, and it just didn't feel very sturdy. It failed Kenny's test of running full speed around a corner. So there we were, standing in Babystyle, feeling defeated in the realm of strollers. I've never seen Kenny so disappointed. He's been talking about this thing for weeks, and all of his dreams were dashed. Well, he feels better now because he finally sold me on the Bugaboo. I've trashed this particular stroller as too expensive for the average person (it runs from $500-1000). But, having been through all of the other stroller brands and eliminating them one by one (except for the MacLauren, which we have yet to check out in earnest), this one is certainly the best. It is the Mercedes of strollers. Actually, make that the BMW of strollers, because at $750 a pop (for the "Frog", which is the one we want), it ought to come with all attachments, plus a nanny to push it. However, you have to buy the cupholder, car seat adaptor, and UV-protected sun screen separately. Oh well. I've been scoping Ebay for used models, and while they seem to hold their value extremely well (as in, I can't find one there for anything under $600), we can still save a hundred dollars or so. Or maybe we'll get lucky and 20 of our friends will pool their resources and buy it off of our registry. I'm sure they offer financing...

Life finally calms down

Kenny and I just returned from a very relaxing, much-needed weekend away at La Cantera resort in the Texas Hill Country. We had been extremely busy with the house, getting it in order for Chicklet's arrival over the past few weeks, that we barely had time to just sit down and relax, so I booked a weekend out there for us. It was a very family-friendly resort with tons of kids running around. Thankfully, they had an "adults only" pool where Kenny and I spent all day reading and swimming. I was really wonderful. They also had this pillow in the hotel room that was really great for me- it was long and skinny, and just thin enough to fit under my belly when I was on my side. I almost stole it from the hotel, but figured we could buy our own for much less than what they would probably charge upon discovery that it was missing.

AS for the house, the cause of our need for vacation, we have a ways to go, such as having the remaining hardwoods laid, choosing carpet for our bedroom and Chicklet's bedroom, and painting our bedroom. Once all of that is done (hopefully before mid-October), we'll be ready for Chicklet to come greet the world and enjoy her environmentally-safe home (Kenny made sure all of the products we used for painting, laying floors, and the carpets themselves don't release toxic chemicals.
As for Chicklet, she's trucking along just fine these days. She's about 15 inches long now and weighs between 2.5 and 3 pounds. She's just as active as ever, and now that she's settled into her head-down position for birth, she's enjoying kicking me in the ribs and stomach. She also likes to punch my bladder, which is less-than-fun. As uncomfortable as some of her movements are, I still love feeling them. She's becoming more active at night now (as in, in the middle of the night), which doesn't bode well for my ability to sleep (or Kenny's, as I toss and turn in the night trying to get her to quit kicking me). Again, I wouldn't give it up for anything. I just hope it doesn't mean she'll be up all night when she arrives.
We did have something of a pre-term labor scare on Friday, though. I woke up early in the morning with cramping, and dismissed it as aches and pains of pregnancy. Then I started feeling it again at work the next morning, so I called the doctor and they had me come in for an exam. They checked me out and tested some sort of protein level, and after a few anxious hours, determined everything was ok. I think the pain I was feeling was probably Chicklet pushing on something she wasn't supposed to. I haven't felt it since then, so no worries. I'm excited for her to make her grand appearance, but not quite yet. She still needs to bake for a few more weeks at least!

Movin' Right Along...

soooooo... it's been a little over 4 weeks since we last posted. at this stage of the pregnancy game, 4 weeks is a huge deal - the baby's growing about an inch a week, but has gone through her major growth already. now, as i understand it through my amateur ob-gyn wife, it's pretty much advanced organ and brain development and weight gain. last week we went to the first of our biweekly ob-gyn checkups - we go every two weeks from now through the last month of the pregnancy. the last four weeks we get weekly checkups.

as long as everything progresses as expected, we won't be seeing any more ultrasounds. as much as i want to see chicklet move on video again, i'd rather wait and see her live in person come november. on the flip side of not getting to see her via ultrasound, she's made her presence known by allowing us to actually watch her punch and kick cindy's stomach. it's really cool, though simultaneously disconcerting, to watch Alien occurring inside Cindy's stomach. freaky, but cool. just a few weeks ago, in fact, i was talking to Chicklet via the bellyphone (belly button), and she decided to pop me in the head.

these few weeks have seen a lot more than just Chicklet and Cindy growing. since we last wrote, Cindy and I have closed on a house, personally renovated the interior, moved in, and had 8 friends visit for a weekend. it's been supremely chaotic, and we still don't have time to catch our breath. we're looking forward to things slowing down to a normal pace in the next few weeks just in time for us to gear back up for Chicklet's arrival.

as a side note, our interior renovation included repainting every room, removing carpet from every room, ripping out glued-down vinyl sheeting, and laying hardwoods in the living room, dining room, hallway and office (those 2 are actually still awaiting the wood). we did all that in the span of a week and a half. right now the chem-free exterminator is treating the house w/ all of the non-chemical goodness to keep the bugs away but our family safe. next week comes the tree doctor...

Chicklet's First Movie!!

Check out the video montage from all of our ultrasounds, including the really amazing 4-D video we got on Monday!

It's been a while...

Things have been pretty nuts around the Grossman household for the past few weeks, hence the lack of new posts. Given the pace of the next few weeks, I can't promise that I'll improve my posting frequency, but I'll give it a shot.
So in the past month, Kenny and I have both started new jobs. He seems to be adjusting to his pretty well and enjoys the work. I think he's still getting used to getting up early, but he's doing great. I love my new firm and keep wondering how it could possibly get any better. Although I am still getting to know them, my co-workers seem fantastic. The firm is very professional, and the work is really interesting (and constantly flowing). What's even better is that so many of the attorneys there are women, and most have young children, so they're very flexible with the little scheduling surprises that kids can throw at you.
We have also been in the process of buying a house, and are finally closing on July 13th. We've spent the past few weekends shopping for hardwood floors, paint, and appliances. We bought a kick-ass washer and dryer last weekend. I can't believe I'm actually bragging about my washer/dryer. The house itself needs some aesthetic work, which is why we're replacing the carpet with hardwoods and painting the walls, but other than that it's in great condition. We plan on doing a major renovation to the kitchen, master bedroom and bath, and the living room sometime in the next two years. Kenny is already busy drawing up the plans.

Perhaps the most exciting news in the past month is that we finally broke down (ok, Kenny finally broke down) and decided to find out what Chicklet is! We had our big anatomy ultrasound on Monday, where they take a really close look at all of Chicklet's major organs, bones, brain, and yes, sex organs. We had a whole plan on how to find out that involved two boxes of baby clothes: one had a girl's outfit in it and one had a boy's outfit. We marked each box on the bottom and handed them to the doctor and told him to give us the correct box, which we planned to open a little later. Of course, the surprise was ruined when I counted the sonogram technician's keystrokes as she entered the sex into the computer. Four keystrokes means GIRL!!!! So there it is, Chicklet is a girl. I should have known when my supposedly-male parrot laid an egg two weeks ago that we would be having a girl. Kenny is really excited about being the man around the house with his two girls. I think Chicklet will have him wrapped around her finger as soon as she arrives. Kenny's days of sticking to his guns are numbered...

High kicks in the womb

If Chicklet is a girl, she is determined to be on drill team or a ballerina with excellent extension. If a boy, then I think we have a soccer player on our hands. I was thrilled when, on the early side of on-time, Chicklet decided to make its presence known to me by flittering around in my belly. This happened at sixteen weeks and one day. I have enjoyed feeling Chicklet almost every day since then. In fact, although I've been told by many people not to worry if I don't feel the baby move each day, I only had maybe two days where I didn't feel it move. And that was less than a week after I felt it move. Then, on Wednesday night, one and a half weeks after I felt the first movement, I was laying in bed reading with my hand on my belly. As happens every night, Chicklet was doing its acrobatics, when I noticed that I could feel the movements in my hand as well as in my belly. I quickly yelled for Kenny, who was busy preparing for his camping trip with his dad, and told him to put his hand on my belly. He did, and although it took a few minutes, he finally felt some movement from Chicklet. Since Kenny has been gone, I've felt the movement every night, and many times during the day. On Thursday night I decided to see whether I could actually see Chicklet moving. I pulled my shirt up over my belly and sat quietly. Then I saw it. It was straight out of "Aliens". I felt three little kicks, and saw my belly poke out just slightly each of the three times. As bizarre as it is, it's also really cool. I have my own little portable entertainment system.
Chicklet also seems to get really excited about phone calls, but only when the phone calls are for him/her. Kenny called from Utah tonight and wanted to speak to Chicklet, so I held the phone up against my belly. A few seconds after he started talking, Chicklet kicked it into high gear and really turned up the kicks. It's too early for it to recognize Kenny's voice, so it must be something about the sound of the phone through my belly.
My only concern about all of this activity is that Chicklet has another 21 weeks in the womb. If it's this active now, I'm afraid of what lies in store for me in the coming months...