Am I prepared for childbirth now?

Today was our last class in the prepared childbirth series. I must say, I'm a bit sad that I won't see most of those women on a weekly basis anymore. They were all very keen on learning about the birthing process as well as how to take care of their newborns. I guess they wouldn't have been there otherwise. We did make a few friends though, and we hope to hang out with them postpartum. We even met a German woman (with an American husband) who works at UCSB, and who, like us, would like to raise her child bilingual. Hopefully we can help each other along! So, all in all it was a successful class. Although, am I really prepared for childbirth now? Well, let's just say I'm a little more prepared...

Baby clothing smorgasbord

Today we washed the layette. It doesn't get any cuter than this.

Santa Barbara Baby Fair- for all things baby!

Today we went to the Santa Barbara Baby Fair at Goleta Cottage Hospital and got lots of free stuff ranging from hefty literature on starting a college fund (ALREADY!), to little, red heart outlet covers, to canvas bags, to a little baby t-shirt that says "I eat at Mom's." Adorable. It was fun being around loads of other moms and moms-to-be. I was even approached for maternity modeling!

Pregnancy update

Well, things are certainly moving along rather quickly. I'm already 34 weeks tomorrow and am getting ever bigger! My total weight gain to date is 28 pounds on the dot... not too bad, although I still have at least 4, if not 6, full weeks to go. Keep the poundage comin'!

Symptoms (I've omitted the ones you probably don't want to know about!): 

Luckily I am not feeling as tired as I was in my first trimester, but have a little fatigue

Occasional Braxton-Hicks contractions

Fainty feeling in the morning for about an hour (probably due to my body trying to catch up from having not eaten in 8-10 hours- protein seems to work for this)

Little bit of hip/back pain from waddling everywhere (I guess my hips are spreading?!)

Trouble taking deep breaths (this sucks when it comes time for beddy-by)

We've been attending a prepared childbirth series over the last month and have a few more classes to go. We are also attending a child CPR class and a baby basics class to learn how to hold, bathe, dress the baby, etc. Andreas went to a three hour "Dad's Bootcamp" on Saturday and learned all about fatherhood. In addition, we've chosen a doula to attend the birth as I'd like to try and go as naturally as possible, and feel like she could help mediate between Andreas/me and the nurses/doctor (who sometimes do whatever they want to your body without first notifying you). If you aren't familiar with the work of doulas, they greatly benefit the mom in her birthing experience both psychologically and physically.

The nursery is almost finished. We ordered a mattress, but of course it was defective, so we are waiting on the new one. The crib, dresser and changing table have all been replaced (long story) and are set up in their respective spots with tiny clothes already ubiquitous. We've hung a shelf for baby books, have a clothes giraffe, and got a little toy chest for the closet. Now we just have to wash all the clothes and bedding and put the carseat in the car and I think we're set. I'll take video/photos of the finished product in a few weeks. We are going to be parents soon... it's still so surreal. 

My birthday!

Today was my 28th birthday (gawd I'm getting up there...). It was fun, for the most part. Andreas and I got up early to have a nice brekky at Sambos downtown. We walked around a bit afterwards, as Andreas was very eager to buy me a little birthday something. He kept saying how extremely generous he was feeling, as I continually kept rejecting the idea of a birthday present (no, I am not insane thank you- the reason being we still have lots of baby stuff to get and have already spent a small fortune!). However, I got a surprise. We came back to the car to find a birthday parking ticket in our window (this was the not-so-fun part, if you haven't deduced- I also had to work for 4 hours, which didn't help!). So, if I didn't want a birthday present before, I REALLY don't want one now! I can't think of a bigger waste of $41. Anyhow, I couldn't tear Andreas's thoughts away from at least treating me to a nice dinner; so we went back to our favourite steak house- Ruth Chris. Again, if you haven't been- please do the world a favour, and go! It's yummy. They also gave me an amazing chocolate explosion cake for birthday dessert, loaded with vanilla ice cream, injected with oozing chocolate ganache and drizzled in caramel. Need I say more?

Here, then gone,... and back again!

I have an incredible story to tell. So here goes: my bike was stolen Sunday morning around 8am, from in front of our apartment about three weeks ago. While laying in bed, I actually heard the person riding away with the second love of my life (this bike is really comfortable and rides well, despite its age). Needless to say, I was devastated. But you have to understand, bike theft is extremely commonplace at UCSB because it is the most widely used source of transportation for most everyone in Santa Barbara. I almost feel like if you haven't gotten a bike stolen during your time in SB, you can't really say that you ever lived the UCSB life. Anyway, I digress. So ever since that fateful day, I have determinedly been searching campus for my little blue bike. And yesterday, coming back from a hard days work at the library, I found it. It was in front of the engineering building, looking exactly as I had left it (with a bit more lube on the chain of course!). I was ecstatic and couldn't believe it. This is no easy feat- I'm talking about a campus with like 50,000 bikes. Andreas and I tried to figure out how to get it back in one piece (it was locked really well with a kryptonite lock)- we asked construction workers, facilities management, Campus Security and finally went to the police. In the meantime, we took every unlocked/available piece of the bike (right down to the pin that holds the wheels to the frame!) we could so the culprit couldn't just ride it away while we searched for a solution. Finally, we persuaded a cop to follow us to the site and had Campus Security cut the lock off with heavy duty bolt cutters. We put that baby in our car with such a sense of accomplishment. It was a great feeling! I just wish we could have staked out to see the look on the poor tool's face that had his stolen bike stolen back!!! HA! Serves you right culprit... stealing from a pregnant woman...

An Aussie in Cali

Seeing Xavier Rudd in concert is truly an incredible experience. He's such a talented musician- he plays guitars, Yidaki (didgeridoos), Weissborn slide guitars, stomp box, harmonica, percussion AND sings!!! Karen, Oleg, Andreas and I rocked out to Xavier last night at the 4th and B in San Diego. I almost felt like we were back in Oz... well, for a few minutes at least.