While I was pregnant, I sent emails out to my friends and family, letting them know how we were doing, since we were so far away from everyone. The photo journey of my pregnancy begins one week before we left Virginia, after we had our first ultrasound.
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Oct 17, 2007
(
Letter to my mom)
Here's a few photos from my sonogram today. They looked better before I scanned them, but oh well. The little thing was flip flopping and waving the whole time.
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Dave and microsmith and I began our journey across the country, to our new home in Washington.
Grand Teton National Park, Nov 2, 2007
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Nov 22, 2007
Dave and I are expecting a girl at the beginning of April! Of course, we are welcome to any name input, because the last name has to be Smith (oh the dullness) so the first name should be exciting. Sadly, the combination of our names ("Shave") just doesn't seem to work out, so we'll have to be creative some other way.
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Jan 23, 2008
I have now entered those great months called The Third Trimester. Things actually have been going quite well. My coworkers are finally willing to believe that I'm pregnant and continuously point it out when they see my belly, like it's some celebrity sighting. (I tried to tell them it was there all along.) My days still consist entirely of standing at a desk, planning closets, however (oh the woes of the elfa sale), so my feet are generally sore at the end of the day. As of this week, I've taken up swimming to keep my back and legs happy.
The baby is extremely active, and I have a feeling she's going to give us a run for our money when she comes out. She is constantly kicking and moving. Constantly. It's very distracting when you are trying to hold a conversation with your customer about how much space they need for hanging clothes versus folded clothes. She does this thing that feels like she's popping popcorn inside, stretching out every limb and then some. And her kicks aren't cute little kicks, they're the kind that pop Dave's hand up in the air when he's got his hand right where her foot is. She also has some sort of alarm clock in there so that she wakes up at 4am for 20 minutes of jazzercise before letting me get back to my sleeping.
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Feb 10, 2008
We can now count the weeks left on two hands. It's nice being able to say, "eight weeks left!" as opposed to " twenty weeks down, twenty to go". I have to say, though, it's an odd time. Things seem to change fast, especially because the change is apparent, but it's like Christmas when you're little, the days preceding it seem to drag on and on, but you know it will be over in a flash. (Dave says that's what cameras are for.) Having two months left is an accomplishment, but those two months are going much more slowly than the last few.
As I'm sure you can all agree from the photos, there is indeed a kid in there. She's settling into a spot, kicking under my right ribs and my lower left side. We can hear her heart beat with a stethoscope, too. She still pretends not to be there if some one tries to put their hand on my belly, but little does she know, she's big enough now that you can watch her feet going back and forth when she wiggles. Yesterday I knew I was in for it because she was so quiet the whole day. Sleeping all day can only mean one thing: growth spurt. I think I had food in my mouth the entire day and it was never enough. I'll probably be twice the size of this picture in a few days if she keeps going at that rate!
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Feb 28, 2008
Feb 28, 2008
A big hello from sunny Seattle! Actually, it has been pretty sunny since those few weeks of rain ended! Last weekend was very very busy. Dave and I went to our birthing class seminar. It was like a weekend couples retreat, pretty much, except it was in an office in Tacoma instead of a spa in Hawaii. Hahah, it was fun though, and very educational (and I got a great foot rub out of it!). I think Dave will be well equipped to help me through labor now, and I'm prepared enough that I hope not to bite his head off when he's doing his best to help me. We met a whole bunch of great couples who are due around the same time we are, and I think we'll be able to keep in touch with at least a few of them.
Jessie and Katie, my New England friends, got here on Monday and helped set up for the baby shower. I thought it would be a really small shower, but my coworkers turned out in spades and we ended up running out of spoons and fruit and sitting room. It was a lot of fun, and kudos to Dave and John for representing the co-ed portion of the party! Sadly, Jessie and Katie ran off to sunny california on Wednesday before heading back home, but Jess will be back in less than two months!
When we first moved here and Dave got placed in his store, we found out that I was the fifth pregnant employee or employee's partner in the store. Everyone was due between February and April. On Tuesday, one of the girls had her baby two weeks early in a nice easy labor. Now there's just two of us preggers left, and his boss is the one who could pop any day now. If I look green in the pictures, it's jealousy! I'm not keen on being last in line... I'm a very competitive person, and I'm ready to meet this kid as well!
Bunny was reaping the benefits of me unwrapping presents at the shower.
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March 12, 2008 (The view from Dave's spot on the couch, recuperating from a cold.)
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Mar 19, 2008
Well here we are, one month away from the due date! Not a whole lot of new happening over here. The cherry blossoms are in bloom, but it's one tree here and there, not rows and rows and rows, which I definitely miss! I've been baking on my days off, and I have had a few successful recipes and a few flops. I figure I should take the time to work on it now, since I won't have much extra time soon!
Wow, you'd think I'd have more to report, but I've got nothing, really. I'm beginning to suffer from beached whale syndrome. If I lie down on the couch, I tend to get stuck unless I have someone help pull me out. If I'm on the bed, at least I can get a little momentum to roll over, but man, the couch just eats me alive! There's not much room left in my belly for this kid, but she keeps growing! Sometimes she gets snuggled into a position and pushes on my stomach so hard that it feels like she's bruising me from the inside. Here's my new belly photos. The one in the red shirt is from Dave's perspective sick on the couch. I didn't even realize when I was getting the same cold, since being achy and stuffy is just like being pregnant! Haha. The blue shirt photo is from today.... if you look real hard, maybe you can see her feet poking me.
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March 30, 2008
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April 4, 2008
Hey everyone,
I hope you are all well! We're getting close to end (beginning) now! I finally found some cherry trees that are in full bloom out here in a pretty park (as opposed to someone's front lawn... that could get awkward), so Dave humored me and took lots of belly pictures for me. Sadly, there was no one to take photos of him, but we've gotten pretty good at the self portrait to prove he exists. I figured we'd better hurry, since the trees were blooming beautifully last week until it snowed 6 days in a row. And then hailed. And now it's finally warmer, but slim pickins on the pretty foliage.
So we're a little over a week from our due date, and I think we have decided on a name. We're planning to go with Isabelle Claire. Of course she may pop out and look like a Gertrude, so who knows. Actually, Isabelle is pretty set in stone, but we went back and forth on a middle name for quite some time, debating between Claire and Faye. Faye is a shout out to Dave's grandma, so it took a lot of practice name calling before we decided against it. We didn't want to be tripping over our tongues trying to get out the name Faye when Isabelle gets in trouble. :O)
Strangely enough, apart from the anxious anticipation (will she wait til my mom gets here? will she be late and waste my mom's vacation?), this is the best I have felt the entire time. The baby has dropped, so I can eat more than one bite of food at a time, and I don't get winded walking across the room. I'm a little achy, but that's to be expected, right? I think Dave is feeling the opposite, but probably just because he has yet another new manager at work who drives us crazy. It's too bad his last manager decided to have a baby and not come back.
My last day of work is on Tuesday, so at least I'll have something to occupy me until then. And then of course getting the apartment ready for my mom (getting bunny to clean his room!). We have a last few odds and ends coming in the mail this week, so it would be nice if they got here before the baby. That being said, I told Isabelle she can come just as soon as she wants. The midwife says she's all set to go and it's just a matter of waiting for her. Tick, tock.
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The remainder of the photos are after my mom got here and Dave and I were already done with work.
April 12, 2008
(John and Christina's deck and the cherry blossoms by our apartment)
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April 18, 2008
For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath, no baby yet, sorry! But the good news is my water broke early this morning. We'll update later, wish us luck!
Shawna, Dave, Kristi (and Isabelle soon!)
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