Today is my due date.

Tiger has yet to make an appearance.  UGH.

I’ve had a few contractions.  They are mild and totally random.  

As soon as I have news….. you’ll have news.

But until then, let’s celebrate another birth.  The birth of this great nation.  I pray that it will continue to be great!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!

We are seriously getting down to the wire.  

People I’m due THIS Saturday!!!  HOLY SMOKES!

I had another doctor’s appointment this afternoon and I am 1cm dialated and the baby is sitting really really low.  Who knows?  Could be tonight…. could be in two weeks.  Although as of today I told my doctor that we should induce me by the 13th if I haven’t already started on my own.  Although I’m reconsidering that and only going until the 7th.  7/7/09 seems like a good date.  Not a good reason to be induced, but really I’m hoping to go early anyway. 

So the game is on!

If your my friend on facebook, then you have probably already played, but if your not, put your guesses in NOW.

In the comment section, please guess

GENDER

DATE

WEIGHT

LENGTH

TIME

And Bonus…

NAME

Winner will receive…… well nothing.  But you can feel good that you won (if you do)!  And really, its all about your pride right?  

Guess away!

I’ll just sit here and wait.  Literally.  Oh and freak out. 

Why?  

Haven’t you heard???  This whole childbirth process will HURT.  Yah, I should have thought about that ooooooooohhhh, about 10 9 months ago.  I mean, seriously, what was I thinking?!?!

Whew…. there is so much to say, and not too much time to say it.  I’m one tired pregnant lady.

But let me start by saying I’m touched by the outpouring of support for my little friend Ella.  To maintain their family’s privacy, I have chosen to not say the real names of the parents or share photos.  But I do have some good news.  Ella is a fighter, just like her momma and Cuban father, and is fighting the odds like a champ.  She is off the oxygen and medications and everybody is hoping for a departure soon from the NICU and a proper introduction into her new home.  

A special thank you must go out to my near and dear friend Jenn.  She has the world’s perfect blood to donate and not only to donate, but to donate specifically to premies.  Your the best and I thank you for being so generous with your time and blood.  Ok that sounds weird.  And I feel like some vampire joke should be here…. I just can’t come up with anything.  

Now on to other baby (happy) news.  I am 38 1/2 weeks!  Can NOT believe it!  Honestly I really could pop at any time.  I went to the doc today and he said I was 1 cm dilated and “soft” (he didn’t give an exact percentage of effacement).  I am also experiencing contractions at night that I am fortunately able to sleep thru, but when I wake up in the morning I would have bet money that I was somehow thrown into the ring of some WWE event.  One morning this week I thought I couldn’t even breathe because my stomach was in such a knot.  This pain also stops me from being able to turn to the other side when trying to sleep.  That particular task is already difficult, so it’s really unnecessary to add this to the mix thankyouverymuch.  

The hospital bag is packed and already in the car.  The car seat is installed and already waiting in the car.  

We are ready to go at a moments notice!

And you know what else is ready?  

The nursery!  

We had 2 showers, one family and one friends, and they couldn’t have been more fun or delightful.  Unfortunately I was too busy opening all the generous gifts so I don’t have much in the way of pictures, but I hope to retrieve them from my friends and family that took them soon.  

But I DO have pictures of the finished nursery!  And honestly, I think it looks fabulous!!!

Isn’t that monkey just too darn adorable?  I mean seriously.  And I love the bedding.  It’s beautiful and the bumper is microsuede which is so soft and comfy.  It makes me want to jump right in!  And those three long stuffed animals on top of the chest of drawers are actually mine from my teenage years childhood.  Weird or cute?  I went with cute.

TOYS!!! 

Here is the top of the hutch.  We went with neutral green containers for all of our storing issues.  Like the extra pacifiers and diapers and shampoos.  All ready and matching.  

Diaper Genie II—Check.  Extra diapers in different sizes all stored neatly in a cotton bin—Check.  

(ok so imagine this right side up…. and then notice how completely adorable even the inside of baby Tiger’s closet is!)

Here is a picture that was painted by my mother’s cousin.  I love her dearly and this picture of the painting doesn’t do it justice.  This baby is already so loved by the many people in our lives.  

This is from one of my showers.  Isn’t it just precious?  

And just to throw in one more thing… because this post isn’t random enough….

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MR. CAT!  

This is our 2nd wedding anniversary and I’m completely excited about the start of our new chapter in our lives.  We make a great team and I can’t wait to meet the newest, and tiniest member of our family very soon.

Its been a while and lots has happened!

Showers!  Gifts!  Flowers!  Friends!  

Cleaning!  Out of town visitors!  Finished projects!

And I’d love to post about all of it.

But something has stopped me in my tracks.

A friend of mine, *Casie, just had her baby days ago.  She was a mere 2 weeks ahead of me (and if your keeping track, I am 37 weeks since Saturday!) and was induced at 37 weeks.  She thought nothing of going to her doctor’s appointment, but they quickly sent her to the hospital and wanted to get the baby out as quickly as possible.  

Turns out that  Casie’s placent stopped working at 35 weeks, which of course can cause a ton of complications.  They induced her, but things weren’t going as quickly as they had hoped, so they eventually went with plan B, a c-section.  

Poor Casie passed out after the proceedure and wasn’t able to even see little Ella until the next day.  

Furthermore, baby Ella has fluid in her lungs and has heart troubles.  Her parents have been sending emails to their friends, including me, for requests for certain blood types to be donated, as Ella will need a blood transfusion shortly.

Now I’m scrambling to find someone that I know that is healthy and has the correct blood type that this poor little angel might need.  

As of writing this, Ella is in such dire straights that Casie and her husband have yet to be able to even hold their beautiful daughter.

It really puts things into perspective.

Its not all fun and showers and gifts and blue or pink balloons (or in my case green since I still don’t know the gender).

At the end of this journey called pregnancy, the only thing I’m praying for is a HEALTHY baby.  

Please send out prayers and good vibes for my friend and her baby.  These parents are looking for a miracle. 

 **************The name has been changed to protect my friend’s privacy*************

Ok Ok…. I’ll admit it.  I’ve been a bad blogger.  *slaps hand*  But in my defense, I’ve been busy.  And tired.  And busier.  And then more tired.  And now my ankles have retreated beneath a thick layer of swollen-ness.  

And frankly there isn’t much to say.  Unless you want to hear about my swollen feet and tiredness and all the pretty things that go along with creating a tiny human in your stomach.  And I’m sincerely missing all of your blogs too, but I just find myself unable to get on the computer as much as I used to.  Hope you guys understand.

Anyhooooooo……

But I was thinking that I haven’t really been that great at documenting some fun stuff that I have been experiencing in this pregnancy.  So I’d like to jot down a few things I’d rather not forget.

Cravings:

• 1st Trimester:  Love/Avocados and Sour Cream (I love avocados anyway, but the sour cream thing was definitely new).  Hate/Chocolate and Coffee.  Total bummer.
• 2nd Trimester:  Sugar
• 3rd Trimester:  M&M McFlurries.  
• Throughout the entire pregnancy:  Fruit

Firsts:

• Flutter:  16 or 17 weeks
• Kicks:  18 weeks (could have happened sooner, but I was for sure in the 18th week)
• Time I wore maternity pants:  During my stint in the Christmas show, while I was dancing.  Anything on my tummy felt like “too much”.  So about 9 weeks.  Yes I know it was early, but you wouldn’t want to wear them too if you were dancing and singing and feeling nauseous.  
• Childbirth classes:  32 weeks to 34 weeks.  
• Things I bought for Tiger:  A lion rattle/stuffed toy and newborn pj’s with feet that have lions, tigers, and giraffes on them.  Too dang adorable.
• Time I had to take off my wedding ring for the rest of the pregnancy:  35 weeks
• Time I felt “the chicken bone”:  23 weeks (at least when I first documented it.  But I felt it roughly in my 14 week)

Other tidbits:

• Finished the nursery in my 6th month.  Started in my 5th month.  
• I know 8 people who are pregnant at the same time as me (granted we all have different due dates) and 2 friends from the blogosphere.  Hi April and Bekah!

Well that’s all I can think of at the moment.  Off to bed, my favorite place to be these days…….

I’ve been meaning to post about this for 3 weeks forever.

Mr. Cat and I pulled some strings and were able to sneak on set of the final taping for the hit primetime show Bones.

 A little known band was performing.  You might have heard of them.  

Or maybe this might trigger your memory….

Yup.  Motley Crue.  

But first we had to get on to the set.

This was all set up outside for the many extras that were expected to participate in the Motley Crue performance scene.  It was fun to see all the costumes and the make up stations.  I really really wanted to be a crazy fan.  They would hire an extremely cool and very pregnant lady…….. right?  Right?

This is “The Lab” which is really a spot on the Fox lot remade to be a hip club for the scene.  This is where the Motley Crue will perform their big hit “Dr. Feelgood”.  And they were playing live so it was rocking!

Check out those HUGE drums that Tommy Lee is playing on!  Also notice the pyrotechnics beginning….

They were HOT!  Super super fun to be that close though!

Mr. Cat and I were able to catch what felt like our own personal concert up on the cat walk.  Here is our view.  We were high!  And I’m afraid of heights, but oddly enough it wasn’t that scary.  If you look hard enough you can see all the extras who also got their own (louder) concert.

Look how close the extras “club goers” are!  I would have wanted ear plugs.  Does that make me officially old?

See Nikki Sixx there with the arm band over his jacket?  At one point he looked up and saw the two of us rocking out and we had a good “moment”.  That “moment” lasted a good 30 seconds.  It was awesome!

Inbetween takes.  And honestly they were a bit welcome.  When Tommy Lee was bored he would repeatedly bang the drums and toss his drum sticks up in the air and catch them.  Well that’s cute for the first couple of times.  After 30 or so…..  no longer cute.  It was also funny to watch them down their starbucks coffee through each and every break.  They’re just like us!

Everybody was rocking out!  It was so much fun.

This weekend Mr. Cat and I decided that we would go to our local strawberry festival. I look forward to it every year.

We also thought that it would be a good idea to start our own jam making business try and make some jelly. Boy are we naive! It turned out to be a ton of work.
Here is Mr. Cat in the beginning of our soon to be long and messy process. Those are some seriously awesome and fresh strawberries. Yum.

Mash mash mash……

Isn’t that a pretty color?

Here’s where the mess comes into play.

Here is our bottle warming center. Not those bottles silly. These are just cleaned canning jars warmed up to be prepared for the deliciousness of our just made jam (or jelly…. what in the world is the difference anyway?)

Here is our finished product. Looks good huh?

However, it wasn’t all sugar and spice. Well, actually it was a LOT of sugar…..

Here are my poor swollen feet. Boy did they hurt.

This look says “I’m DONE with this standing on my feet for hours on end! Don’t you see my back brace???” (Which btw–I need a new one. This one rolls under my low hanging baby gut. Anybody know where I can get a better one fast?)

But Mr. Cat is sweet and immediately told me how cute I was and that he wanted a picture of me showing proof that I was barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. He LOVES that. Weirdo. I am exactly 33.0 weeks pregnant here, for those that are on Belly Watch 2009.

Stats:

Strawberries used: 1 palette

Pounds of sugar used: Roughly 18 pounds

Boxes of Sure-Jell used (the stuff that makes it turn from naked strawberries to jam): 11

Jars of completed jam: 30

Hours to complete: 4 hours

We are only half way done!!!! We bought one more palette (remember when I said that we were naive?). So we have 30 more to go! Holy crap.

I told Mr. Cat that instead of passing out cigars at the hospital, we will be giving away jars of jelly! We’ll just put a white and blue ribbon around it and it will be our Red, White, and Blue giveaway for our baby Tiger. LOL.

Here I am with my coveted strawberry pizza! Sweet bread, smooth cream cheese glaze, a ton of delicious ripe strawberries topped with whipped cream. Wish I could have it all year round.

Maternity Tour:  Done.

Class 1 (of 3) for childbirth and labor:  Done (2nd is this week and the final one is next week)

Caring for your Amazing Newborn:  Done 

Breastfeeding class:  Next week

Finding a Pediatrician:  Still working on it.

Watching my dear sweet and a bit stressed out husband taking about a billion notes on all said classes (thus far):  Priceless

We are having a great time learning all kinds of new things about babies that neither one of us knew or anticipated.  For example, if we have a boy and have him circumcised, he will need to have vasaline put on the tip of his tongue naughty bits.  This is to help the healing part not stick to the inside of the diaper, because that would be painful.  Ouch.  Good to know!  

Btw—we had the only officially girl baby doll in class.  Everyone else’s was swaddled in a gender neutral blanket.  Although on the inside they all had a designated gender.  But ours was a girl.  Foreshadowing perhaps???  I don’t know!  But I certainly can’t wait to find out!  :)

Learning to swaddle even this doll made my instincts kick me hard in the ribs.  I know how to change a diaper.  I know how to take on and off a shirt from even a wiggly little person.  But I found myself stroking, soothing, and making sure this non real baby was constantly bundled up because “she might get cold”.  Funny how the maternal instincts just kick start.  

I also found it quite amusing and lovable when Mr. Cat would attempt the stuff he wasn’t comfortable with.  We had to pretend to wash the baby down, sponge bath style, and he did a fantastic job.  In fact, he may not have needed me micro managing his work.  Although, why take the chance?   LOL  

He also did the swaddling technique all by himself.  And I compared his result to the rest of the class, and I gotta say, we have a natural pro on our hands!  Mr. Cat’s swaddled pink bundle was surely the best.  

***This is an actual baby, and not the doll we used for practice.  Just thought the baby was cute and noticed that it too was swaddled nicely like Mr. Cat did.***

I’m finally reading up on all things baby and am learning a ton of things I never knew before, and reassuring myself that most things that I will be a learning is an on the job type of experience.  Good thing I’m pretty good at going with the flow!  

We are at 32 weeks and we are on the home stretch countdown.  Can’t believe how time flies when your making a human life!

I hope that all you mommies had a fantastic Mother’s Day and that you were treated special and with lots of love!

This was the first time that people, strangers included, wished lil ole me a Happy Mother’s (to be!) Day.  It floored me.

It also made me realize that I too am close to the initiation process into this great big sorority club called Mommyhood.

To be honest, realizing that I’m about to be a Mom is awesome, sure…. but its also a big surprise.  Surprise you say?  Yah.  

Because its all fun and games, like showers (can’t wait for mine!), but this little Tiger is going to come home and expect ME to be it’s main source of food, comfort, security, and um…..EVERYTHING.  

Yes.  Why Yes.  I AM having another Holy Crap moment.  

Am I excited?  Absolutely.  Am I thrilled at my little bundle of joy coming home (forever)?  Absolutely.

Am I coming to terms with what all this really means?  YES.

I love Tiger.  I love that I’m going to get to take care of a child and help them grow up to be an amazing little person.  But with that comes an amazing amount of responsibility.

Yikes times a million.

Love times a million.

I will say that I had a fabulous time celebrating my first Mommy (to be) Day.  My BIL and his wife were kind enough to get me a very needed nursing gown (great for the hospital bag!) and baby sign flash cards.  And my very sweet husband got me a sweet card and beautiful cheerful tulips.

Maybe for a little while longer I’ll just focus on a tiny angelic face that I can’t wait to meet, that was made out of love.

For all you other Mommies to be….

From this Lil Momma and her baby cub, Tiger.

Tonight I went to my very first childbirth class.

I learned a lot about the basics of the body, what it’s going to do, a few things to prepare myself with, and some lovely massaging techniques that my husband was kind enough to use on me.

What did I leave with?

The beginnings of a PANIC ATTACK.

Because holy crap-n-oliiiiiiii, this baby (that still somehow doesn’t seem real) will have to leave my body.  And how will this happen, you might be asking???  Well if you’ve lived past puberty you might have a good idea where babies come from, and how babies are born, and how this general process goes.

Well let me inform you further.  They break thru the great wall of momma and I’m pretty sure it’s not just the baby that cries when this happens.  Oh no my friends.  I’m pretty sure momma is crying from the pain of it all.  

Oh yah….. and the mom is happy she has the baby out and *knock on wood* the baby is healthy.  Blah blah blah blah blah……

Let’s get back to the matter at hand here people.

THIS…

minus adorable fur outfit, is approximately the size of  THIS

Which needs to come out in something the size of THIS  

Which of course will make me do THIS

And probably a whole lotta THIS

Screaming, crying, general disarray ………  Yah that sounds about right.

Is it too late to change my mind?  Or how about paying someone to do this for me???

Holy crap.