FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!

Well, it is official- I am FINALLY on Maternity Leave! Wow- I really never thought this day would be here! I'm so excited! I half thought I'd come home from work and just start "nesting" but instead I plopped on the couch and spend an hour reading People and Us Weekly- my normal Friday afternoon routine :) I guess I'm more tired than I thought?

It was a nice day today at work- I kinda figured the last 2 days would be a nightmare, but they were easy. Some friends from work thru me a surprise baby shower which was so nice! They had a beautiful cake, HUGE balloons, soda, snacks and some really nice gifts. I am still overwhelmed by people's generosity. It's just amazing.

So, Jason is out of town all weekend and that means I get the house ALL to myself! This is very rare and will be that much more rare when AJ comes. Obviously I love my husband, but I enjoy my alone time too. I have a whole list of things to do this weekend so I think Jason should be happy not to be here- I'd probably put him to work if he was:)

Two more weeks till D DAY!!!

Counting down the minutes....

Nope, I'm not counting down the minutes to having the baby (yet!) but the minutes I have left at work! WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!! I have ONE MORE DAY and then I'm FREE!!! Man, what a feeling! Today I found out who my back up is, sent her all my pipeline info and I just need to update it tomorrow and I AM DONE! AMEN!! I seriously remember thinking 6 months ago that June 6th would NEVER get here and it's tomorrow! WOW!!

I had a great day today- a few girls from work took me out to lunch which was SO nice! We went to CPK and I had a great sandwich and we all just chatted and hung out. They got AJ some super cute little gifts. He even got his first football, soccer ball and basketball! One guy from work got him a Mr. T onesie! It's freaking adorable! (Thank you Cale!) He also got some adorable elephant shoes, a frog onesie and matching towel, and an cute little bathset from Pottery Barn! I am so lucky to have such a great friends!

Haven't had the contractions like I did yesterday which is kinda nice- I still feel large and off balance, but nothing like yesterday. I can at least move without looking miserable.

Still waiting to hear the results from Jason's doc appt the other day. I am REALLY hoping it's nothing big so he can get better soon and enjoy his weekend.

Dang, I just realized I'll be 38 WEEK PREGNANT on Saturday! WOOW!!!!!! This is happening!

What is this feeling??

Today has been a particularly rough day and I'm not really sure why. I think it's a combination of many things; I've got 2 days of work left- and this job...let me tell you..ugh. Moving on, Jason isn't feeling well and I've started getting what I THINK are either contractions of Braxton Hicks. Really tho- how do you know when you've never felt a contraction before??? It feels like AJ is kicking a soccer ball nonstop in my stomach while my stomach has been tighter than usual all day and it's even harder to breathe- if that's possible. Much as I'm trying to be happy today and not have that "kill me" look on my face, I can't seem to do it. I decided to call the doctor to see what they think it is; had to leave a message so we'll see. This child MUST stay in for a few more days! I need some time to nest- argh!!! Much as I'm over being used as a human punching bag, I am really looking forward to crossing things off my To Do list that keeps getting longer and longer as the days goes by. Well, we'll see???

Ok, the nurse just called back and said that it's probably nothing- not to worry or do anything until I can't talk or breathe thru the pain- or if my water breaks :) OH JOY!!

Sweet AJ at 28 Weeks



The Nursery



Heather, Holly & I at my Baby Shower!

37W/3 Days

Went to the doctors today for my 37 week appt and it's a good thing I'm not DYING to get this child out cause he's not ready! Seems he's warm and happy inside and not too excited to meet his family :) Dr. Chu said that I'm not dilated and am the same as last week. The good news is that he certainly is head down. He's facing my back so that gives him all kinds of room to kick the hell out of my ribs- which has become his new way of having fun with mommy! I was getting used to and enjoying getting kicked on my sides, but now he's all about the ribs- not as much fun for me :)

I'm feeling pretty good today- it all depends on how well I sleep. With Jason not feeling so well (snoring!) on top of having hip pain, getting up to pee 10 times a night and shifting from side to side each hour I get little sleep most nights. But as EVERYONE wants to remind me- this is preparing me for when AJ is born and then I really get no sleep.

The other reason I'm probably feeling good is because I know I only have THREE more days of work until I go on Maternity Leave! YIPPEE!!! I can't explain what a great feeling that is! I'm ready to do some nesting (ok- lets call is what it is- cleaning) and catch up on some Oprahs and take the dogs for some long walks. I also plan to get all my scrapbooking caught up. Let's hope I can get to all this before the "little bird" is born :)

18 days! YIPPEE!

37 weeks 2 Days- ready for baby!

Well, I really wish I had started this blog when I first found out I was pregnant, but seeing as though I couldn't keep my eyes open and was feeling so crappy- I never did... So, I figure it's a good time to start. I'm just about to have this baby- sooner rather than later lets hope- and I want all of our friends and family to be able to have updates on Baby AJ's birth and all the "firsts" that we go thru. I will learn to upload photos on here too so everyone can see the little man.

Jason and I are feeling as ready as we can be to have the baby. I'm working my last week at Hewlett Packard- feeling like this could be the longest week of my life- but we'll see! I'm feeling exhausted, VERY big, it's hard to walk, I'm constantly getting kicked, my ribs are sore and all that fun stuff, but it's still very exciting! The nursery is all set up (thank you Mom), his clothes are washed, we borrowed the bassinette from Heather and Dominic and and will be putting the car seat in the car in the next day or two. I put together the bouncer yesterday- it's SO CUTE and I'm sure it'll get used a lot! We're all set with the dogs- our neighbors are kind enough to take them to Camp Bow Wow once we give them the green light that it's time. Everyone has just been so incredibly generous and helpful- we've got amazing support.

This weekend we had what might be out last horray for a while with our friends. Had a great spa day to celebrate my birthday - got a fantastic facial!- and then just hung out and made dinner together. I am SO lucky to have such wonderful friends. I remind myself of that daily.

I am sending Jason away for a guys weekend next weekend to celebrate his first Fathers Day. They'll fish and golf and do whatever guys do (I'm sure the Wii and Jack Daniels will be involved)Just need to keep this kid in until Sunday and then I'm good to go anytime!

I've TRIED to not think about actual labor because I keep telling myself "he's coming out one way or another" so there is no reason to stress about it, however, the closer it gets the more scared I am... I just remind myself that women have been doing this for YEARS and so I can do this! I had another "holy crap" moment this weekend when we went for our hospital tour. It was great and I got a lot of information and questions answered, but when they showed us the labor room and the bed had stirups and so many other gadgets, it scared the hell outta me!

19 Days!!!!

Recap of the last 37 weeks

Well, I figure since I'm starting this blog at 37 weeks pregnant it wouldn't hurt to do a recap of how this all began!

Jason and I decided in January 07 to start "trying" to get pregnant. So after 15 years on the pill, I decided to go off it. I didn't realize it for a while, but my cycle had been really messed up because of the pill and it was at 50 days- making it that much more difficult to figure out "when" I could get pregnant. But... with the help of an ovulation monitor (Thank you Holly!) I was able to get pregnant in April 07. I was just over the moon- so incredibly excited. I decided I didn't want to tell my family until I saw them in person, but sadly just before my 1st OB appt (and a few days before I was to see my family) I had a miscarriage. I was probably about 6-7 weeks pregnant at the time and there was no reason I miscarried as far as the doctor could tell- it just wasn't meant to be. It was probably the hardest thing I've ever gone through in my life emotionally. Just terrible. But... life goes on...

So, we tried again. Because of the monitor, it didn't take as long this time and in late September it said it was "go time" and low and behold- I got pregnant! YAH!!! It was terrifying obviously because of what I'd just been thru, but we were thrilled none the less. Quickly I realized that this was a different pregnancy- I had symptoms and signs I hadn't had before. I was TIRED and SICK and MISERABLE and all that fun stuff. I thought for sure I'd be the only person on earth who had morning sickness for my ENTIRE life, not just the 1st trimester. I had just started a new job and they expected me to show up?? And do work? And learn this new job?? haha! Ya, that was tough. So, I put in the best 1/2 day I could, came home and was asleep many times by 7pm. Woke up the next day and was just as exhausted as the night before. Luckily, once the 1st trimester was over, I was feeling much better and wasn't sick anymore.

We weren't going to be able to find out the sex of our baby until my 20 week appt- that's how my doc does it- but I was going to see my family in California when I was 18 weeks so I wanted to know so I could tell them in person. I made an appt with a local place where they do 2D, 3D and 4D ultrasounds so we could find out the sex. At 16 weeks, we found out that we were having a BOY! To be completely honest, I was secretly hoping for a girl- I told myself it didn't matter, but once I saw proof of a boy, I was a little sad.... It only took a day or so and I realized how happy I was to be having a boy after all! I was just so happy to have a healthy baby (I know everyone says that, but they do mean it!) and as time went on I realized that yes they DO make cute boy clothes! (Even tho boys only get 1/3 of the store and girls get the rest)

There was little talk of baby names since we'd pretty much already decided. Somehow Jason got to pick the boy name and I got the girl name. Had he been a girl, she would have been Julia Claire Lewicki, but... since he's a boy, we happily named him ANDERSON JAMES LEWICKI! Anderson is after Jason's grandfather and James is after my grandfather and father. I call him AJ for now, but we'll see what he's called when he's born. Other nick names so far are.. "the baby", "little bird" and any other crazy name I can come up with.

We went to my doc for the 20 week US and they checked all his parts to be sure he was healthy and he was of course- he was moving around like a mad man! The tech was laughing cause he was so crazy! (Let's hope this isn't an indication of how he'll be outside the womb!)

I'm not totally sure when I first started feeling AJ kick- (bad mommy for not writing this down!) but I want to say it was near the 25 week mark. They say it feels like gas at first and it's so true! It's like gas that you don't need to let out! haha- sorry TMI... I kept waiting for Jason to be able to feel him kick but that took some time. Jason wasn't terribly patient and AJ wouldn't kick on demand- back then... Now, this child kicks like he's trying to get out! He's all over the place!

Around 28 weeks, I was tested for gestational diabetes, which thankfully was negative. All my tests have been very normal. Also, I was able to stick to a 12lb weight gain for MANY weeks which thrilled me! My biggest concern (besides AJ's health of course) was weight gain. I've always been like that so it's no big surprise. Funny how I was so worried about weight gain, but not worried enough to work out during my pregnancy and not worried enough to not eat a bunch of crap all day every day! I am now up to 20lbs and hoping to not pass 25. We'll see! Jason made fun of me cause for months all I would eat was mac n cheese or bagel sandwiches or toast... I didn't eat "meals" for months! Finally I'm back to eating like a somewhat normal person... Poor Jason had to be on his own for many meals.

Starting my weekly appts at 35 weeks has been interesting.. I feel like I'm at the hospital all the time (where my doc is) and I guess I am. So far, at 36 weeks I'm not dilated- probably a good thing at this point.

We've taken all but one of our classes. We took Childbirth Express which was informative, but BORING! haha- We ditched half way through. I hope that doesn't come back to bite me during labor! Then we took Baby Safety which was good, but we think the lady tried to scare the crap out of us- needless to say, I returned many things to Babies R Us that weren't "safe" she said... I am planning to breastfeed so I have that class coming up this weekend- I don't' quite know how it'll take 3 hours, but they say it will?? We'll see. I'm going to do my best to pay attention cause this is very important to me. I really think breastfeeding is the best for the baby, but selfishly I'm really hoping that I lose weight QUICKLY because of it.

Some things that I'm concerned or thinking about for the future are:

How the dogs will do not being the center of attention
Getting sleep!
Having a life with my husband again...
Working out and losing weight (quickly I hope!)
Our financial future with me not working