Thankful

Yesterday was Jake's first Thanksgiving. To say that we are thankful this year is a major understatement. We spent Thanksgiving with our Connecticut family and Jake had a blast playing with his two big cousins. We are truly blessed.

8 months of bliss

Jake turned 8 months old last week! He is such a wonderful boy with new and amazing skills. He is babbling up a storm with lots of "da da, ba ba, ya ya." I think he tries to say "ball" which comes out more like baaaaa. Jake is such a BOY. He climbs on everything and is pulling himself up to stand.

Speaking of skills, Jake has developed some incredible dancing skillz. It's easily the best part of my day!

A Career Mom's Survival Guide to Pumping

Hi there. I'm 4.5 months into my return to the working world. When people ask me how things are going, I get the impression they think that being a career mom is like having a chronic disease. They look with sad eyes and ask questions like, 'how are you holding up?" In reality, my return to work has been relatively smooth. I started back in mid June at 4 full days per week, with Wednesdays "off" in the middle of the week to care for Jake. I think the time in the middle of the week with my boy combined with excellent caregivers when we have to be away really helps to keep my working mom guilt in check. It's not the right solution for everyone, but it really has been great for us.

It also really helps that I find great fulfillment out of my work as a clinical psychologist. I work with a supportive group of colleagues and the day always flies by. My favorite part of the day is my evening walk with Jake where I tell him all about my work day. I hope one day he understands that it is special to have a mother who loves her "mommy" job and also her career. I know that I found satisfaction in understanding that about my own mom.

Don't get me wrong, the return to work has not been all rainbows and butterflies. Hence, the point of this post. One universal truth that working moms can commiserate on is the wretched act of pumping. The dull WOOSH, WOOSH sound and the large black bag have been enough to serve as a re-experiencing PTSD event to mom colleagues. It's. that. bad. UGH, even has I write this I think of terrible things to call that vile machine. Nonetheless, it is a sad reality that if you want to continue to breastfeed your baby, a mother must put her detest aside and develop and amicable relationship with pumping at work. To this end, I have some advice.

1. DRINK DRINK DRINK. I'm talking about water here. I arm myself with a hiking grade Camelback water bottle and easily drink  60 oz while I am at work. Think about it - you need fluid to produce fluid. It's basic math. Research shows that drinking water will help with milk production. Increasing my water intake is always the first thing I do when I notice a dip in my supply. It works. Also, avoid caffeine if you can, as it serves as a diuretic and will undue some of the work of all that water guzzling.

2. Spare pump parts. I learned this one the hard way. It was my second week back at work and I had just sat down prepared for the first pump of the day. I was armed with water, snacks, pictures of Jake. I cleared my mind and started to pump, only to find that the usual WOOSH sounded like a creaky door instead. I realized that after washing all the parts the night before, I had forgotten to reattach the yellow jammy (I have no idea what it is really called), onto the flange. Well, guess what - this is an essential part of the pump. I flew out of my office and traveled to two stores before I finally found a box of replacement pump parts at Target. The $30.00 was well worth it. I now keep a spare set of parts in my office in case of emergency again.

3. Pictures/video of your baby. This is a tip that many moms swear by. I have also heard that if you listen to an audio clip of your baby's hungry cry, this will help with your let down. Pictures of Jake definitely help me. When my supply dips, a friend had told me to try taking the PJs that Jake wore the night before in with me to work. This actually helped a lot, but it did make me miss my little guy more than usual!

4. Relax. This so much easier said that done. There is nothing relaxing about sitting half naked hooked up to a milking machine with a countdown on the clock for 15 minutes and 10 emails to return. Most of my pumping sessions were spent looking like the above scenario. However, if I was having a tough time with supply or noticed that I was particularly overwhelmed, it did help to unplug from email and my phone, close my eyes and listen to music. I am lucky that I can usually be a very productive worker while pumping, but I know that this is not always the case for moms and it might be really important to have a relaxing routine while pumping.

5. Be assertive. This might be one of the biggest challenges for moms who return to work, and it certainly was for me. Before you return to work on maternity leave, know your company's policies on providing time and space for nursing moms. Also know your rights, which differ state by state. Talk to your supervisor about your plan to pump while at work. It's not always a comfortable conversation, but I have found that when you are up front with the time and space you will need, it is more likely that you will both be on the same page. Finally, be flexible. You may need to get creative about how long you can pump for and what times work best on any given day.

For more pumping tips, check out Meghan's advice, too!

Halloween is tomorrow and we couldn't be more excited. We have a baby lion in our house celebrating his first Halloween!

I'm really looking forward to seeing Jake's face when we have trick-or-treaters tomorrow night. We've lived in our Connecticut town for 2 years now but haven't had a fair weathered Halloween yet. Two years ago we had a freak snow storm in October and last year we were still without power after Hurricane Sandy. The weather for tomorrow night looks great and we are stocked with a couple hundred pieces of candy.

Michael and I are both planning to leave work a little early tomorrow night to enjoy some time with Jake.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A Day in the Life

Our life lately has been jam packed. From the moment I wake up until my head hits the pillow, I'm on super drive. This little blog is a way for  me to remember all of the intricacies of our every day life and share them with the people I love.  I thought it would be fun to document a run down of a typical day.

5:30/5:45. Jake wakes up to nurse. We are trying hard to break him of this early morning habit, but at this point he has been about 11 hours without eating and, well friends, you don't get those rolls by skipping meals.

6:30. Michael leaves for work. Jake wakes up for the day around 6:45. I rush to get him changed and dressed for the day. Our babysitter arrives at 7:00 and I am out the door at 7:10. I usually get some morning snuggles and smiles before leaving, which makes the morning chaos well worth it.

7:45. I arrive to work. Check emails, get ready for my clinic.

8:30. Pump #1

9:00 - 12 noon. Individual patients in 30 or 60 minute appointment slots. This part of my day flies by. Working with veterans is incredibly rewarding. I am lucky that I get to make a difference in their lives by helping them overcome anxiety, PTSD, depression, stress, coping with chronic disease, and life adjustment. It truly is privilege.

12 noon. Pump #2 followed by lunch and emails.

1:00 - 3:00. Supervision. Part of my role as a staff psychologist is as a core member of our internship and postdoctoral training committee. That means I spend about 20% of my time supervising predoctoral interns and postdoctoral residents in their clinical research, and interprofessonial goals in Health Psychology. Clinical supervision is where I really come alive and it is hands down the best part of my job.

3:00. Pump #3 while returning emails and phone calls. I pray that anyone on the other line confuses the WOOSH sound of the pump with a photo copying machine.

3:30 - 4:30. Research and end of day emails.

4:30. Despite the fact that my work to-do keeps increasing, I scramble out the door at 4:30 in order to make it home to that cute face! The babysitter leaves around 5:15 after giving a brief report of Jake's day.

5:30. Short walk. This Fall weather has been incredible for nighttime walks. Jake and I stroll around the neighborhood for about 15 minutes. I chat with him about the day and he usually talks back with a lot of "gee, gee" and "aa, aas."

5:45. Dinnertime. Tonight it was chicken and avocado. Jake went back for seconds and had a blast getting avocado all over his face. Parenthood has chilled me out. This mess would have been anxiety provoking in years past, but I have learned to embrace the chaos and laugh along with my giggling boy.

6:00 - 6:30. Tub, nursing, lullaby and bed. Jake is usually asleep in his crib by 6:30.

7:00 - 8:30. Dinner, treadmill (if not totally exhausted, this happens about 3x a week), DVR'd General Hospital, Bones, or Grey's Anatomy. GH is particularly awesome right now. Robin is ALIVE and Nicholas just found her locked up in his lab on Cassadine Island. Don't judge. We all have our trash tv and mine just happens to be a soap opera that originated in the '80s.

9:00 - 9:30 Final pump of the day followed by bed. I always try to be in bed by 9 or 9:30 which seems to really help my energy levels for the next day. Jake is a great sleeper, but I still wake up to his rustling a few times a night and awaken for the day at 5:30. Sleep is not something I am usually willing to compromise on and I have found that I really can't run on fewer than 7 hours a night.

Sweet dreams. I'll be up at 5:30 to do it all again tomorrow :)

7 months

7 months and Jake is on the move! He is very strong, can stand with some support and will go from his belly to sitting with  no problem. Between rolling, schooching, and reaching, he can span a room in a matter of minutes. He hasn't figured out the coordination required for crawling yet, but we think that it will happen any day now. We lowered his crib because he is able to pull himself up onto his knees!

In the verbal department, Jake is starting to mimmic our sounds. He clicks his tongue and when I click back, we seem to have a very important conversation. His first consonants are "gee" and "gaaa." I'm on the look out for "ma ma" and "da da" but they haven't arrived quite yet. He is very vocal and responds to voices and also singing.

He's started eating a wider variety of foods and likes pretty much everything :) Don't worry, buddy, the countdown to birthday cake is down to 5 months now!

Under Construction

This little blog of mine has recently been revamped. Do you like the new header? It only took me 2 hours and a crazy amount of patience + Picmonkey (a free photo editing tool). My friend Meghan over at House Built of Walls also just gave her blog a new look. Snazzy, right?!

It's 7 pm on a Sunday night. Little monkey is in bed and Michael and I are enjoying a glass of red wine and some DVR'd TV. We both have off tomorrow for Columbus Day and we have big plans for pumpkin picking. Pretty much a perfect weekend.

Wedding Season Recap

Hi friends! (okay, friend....hi Meg :))

We've had a very busy wedding 2013 wedding season this year.  Let's start off in May when our brand new little family headed up to Portsmouth, NH to celebrate the wedding of good friends Pete and Kara. At just 8 weeks post-partum, this was our first major road trip with Jake. My parents made the trek from NJ so that we could party hard with our friends.

 

 

Next up, I had the honor of being a bridesmaid in my good friend, Sarah's NJ wedding. It was a beautiful day in June with a beautiful bride.

 

 

Another NJ wedding brought us to Princeton to celebrate Chris and Pryia. It was another wonderful day and we had the opportunity to visit my parents and brother while visiting.

 

 

We rounded out the wedding season at my cousin's wedding outside of Boston, MA.

 

 

I'm exhausted just writng this recap! We had tons of fun and traveled a lot, but I am certainly happy we have a few weekends this Fall where we can count on staying home. On the to-do list: apple picking and hayrides for sure.

 



6 months

Jake turned 6 months old on September 11th! I used to think that the crazy, red-eyed, sleep deprived moms that would stop me in Starbucks were delusional when they offered the advice, 'Enjoy it....time goes so fast!' Turns out they were right. And now I'm that crazy woman when I see a mom and newborn out and about.

Jake's hit some major milestones this month. He is officially a side sleeper, which is pretty cute. And he continues to be a pretty fantastic sleeper, albeit still a fairly awful napper. He has started solids and so far really loves: cereal (any kind), sweet potatoes, squash, apple sauce, pears, and bananna. He will actually eat pretty much anything as long as it has some bannana in it. We're moving on to the meats and eventually some dairy soon. He's eating 2x per day, breakfast and dinner. Boy, that kid can eat!

He's very vocal and is babbling a lot now. He is learning how to get our attention with differnet sounds and behaviors. He is very into his environment and doesn't like to miss out on anything. He is also sitting very well independently. I bet he is crawling soon!

Baby Essentials Birth to 3 months: Baby Gear + Bath

A few weeks ago, I shared my favorite baby items for sleep. Next up is general baby gear and bath essentials!

PART TWO: BABY GEAR + BATH

1. Swing: Our swing was gifted to us second hand by my sister and brother in law. We couldn't be happier with this Fisher Price version, but I would imagine that if it had a motor and rocked Jake, he would love it! For months 1 to 3, Jake took many many many naps in his swing. He is approaching 6 months now and I dread the day he completely outgrows it. What will we ever do to get him to take a 3rd nap?? Lifesaver.

2. Footed PJs and onesies: Our favorites for sleepers have been Carter's and Ralph Lauren. They are super soft and Jake seems to stay cozy. Since Jake's newborn days were during the early Spring, we made sure to dress a plain white onesie under all of his outfits. Definitely a staple in the Tuller house.

3. Aquaphor: We use this stuff for everything. It's amazing. Better than Windex, as declared in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Jake has very very sensitive skin and also a dairy sensitivity that makes him very prone to eczema. Applied 2-3x a day clears it up very fast. We've even used it as a diaper rash cream in a pinch. I also really like using their shampoo + bath wash for eczema.

4. Baby tub: This picture gets me every time! Who wouldn't love the tub that this chubby baby was in?! This version has been our go-to for bath time since Jake's umbilical cord fell off and we were given the go-ahead by the pediatrician to bathe him. There's a great insert to help with sitting and the size is manageable in the sink or the bath tub. We started a bath routine with Jake from the start and I really believe that it has helped him establish strong sleep cues.

5. Car Seat: We love the Chicco Key Fit car seat. Michael and I both have a base in our cars and the seat is easily transferable from one place to another. We also have the Key Fit Caddy, which is the stroller frame that the car seat snaps into. It's really convenient for quick trips to the grocery store, mall, etc. We are also able to use it with our jogging stroller (see below). We chose the red color and love that it is gender neutral!

6. Stroller: LOVE LOVE LOVE the BOB. It is definitely on the pricey end, but I recommend waiting until the end of the year to purchase the model (Amazon sells it on super sale at that time). We have an adapter that we've used to that our car seat will fit. I am a pretty serious runner and I did a lot of research on jogging strollers. I'm confident that this is the best one I could get my hands on. I've been running with Jake (with car seat + adapter) since he was about 3 months old. The ride is so smooth. Warning: this stroller is heavy and you cannot easily open and close it with one hand. It also takes up quite a bit of room in the trunk. For a legitimate jogging/running stroller, though it's top notch. We chose to get it in Navy and haven't been disappointed!

Separation Anxiety

My mom has always told me that when I was a little girl, I struggled big time with separation anxiety. My anxiety was so high in kindergarten that I would present to the nurse's office weekly with a new complaint in hopes of going home. Fast forward 25 years and it is no surprise that I have separation anxiety when leaving my little boy when I go to work.

Transitions have always been, and will always be, hard for me. This week is a big transitional week. We are changing caregivers for Jake and my stress is on high alert. We adore our current caregiver and are so sad to see her go (despite the fact that we know it is for bigger and better things in terms of school!). Jake lights up when he sees her and his giggle is pervasive when she is around. I can only hope that our next caregiver will be as great of a fit for our family.

Getting to work today was a struggle of emotions. I felt guilty for leaving Jake, sad that we will be saying goodbye, and resentful that I could not stay home. We are in transition mode at work as well and the start of the academic year is always very busy. We say goodbye to our current training class and start orientation next week to a new group of anxious interns. I can't help but realize that I will be emphathizing with them. After all, transitions are hard for everyone, right?!

Baby Essentials Birth to 3 months: Sleep

Hello, hello! When I was embarking on the adventure of motherhood a few months back, I scoured the internet for reviews of great baby products for the early days. I found a lot of great suggestions from moms and I'd like to pay it forward with a little round up of my own favorites. The categories are divided into sleep (part one: a category all on it's own!), part two: baby, and part three: momma

PART ONE: SLEEP

Jake has always been a great nighttime sleeper. Naps are a different story, but more on that at a later time. At 6 weeks, he was sleeping 6 hours straight a night which I hear is really great for a nursing baby. At 10-12 weeks, he was sleeping 8 hours straight in his crib. Before you start voodoo on me, I will explain that I think we have a great sleeper for 2 reasons: 1) it's just his thing - some babies are great sleepers and 2) we started developing a sleep routine and strong sleep cues from the very beginning. Here are a few of our very favorite sleep items:

1. Aden and Anais receiving blankets: My best friend Meg recommended these blankets to me and as soon as she found out we were having a boy, she thoughtfully sent us a set. She is also a sleep guru, so I took her sleep recommendations very seriously. We've used these blankets from day 1 and they have so many uses! Swaddle, cuddle, stroller blanket, line the floor to play, etc, etc. I always have one in the car and my diaper bag.

2. Fisher Price Rock and Play: If you are having a baby or know someone having a baby, chances are you've heard of this awesome cradle. Jake slept in his Rock and Play until about 8 weeks old. It was a great item to bring on trips up until about 5 months old when he has sadly outgrown his. Beg borrow and steal to get yourself a Rock and Play.

3. Miracle Blanket Swaddle: Jake was swaddled every night for sleep from the day we brought him home from the hospital. I strongly believe that this was the first step in helping him self sooth and develop healthy sleep habits from the start. After about 4 weeks old, he started to develop Houdini skills and was able to break out of any Aden & Anais swaddle we tried....until the Miracle Blanket came around. Sure, it looks like a straight jacket, but I promise that you won't care at 2 am.

4. White noise machine: This is another "s" (sound) that is strongly recommended by Harvey Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block (see below). And since having Jake, it is strongly recommended by me as well! We have a ranch, so it has always been very important for us to have a great sound machine in Jake's nursery so that we don't have to tip toe around the house when he is asleep. Karp also suggests that the white noise mimics the sound babies are accustomed to in utero.

5. Happiest Baby on the Block and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: Sleep in newborns is a longstanding controversial topic. I won't go into the nitty gritty of these two books, but I will say that they both helped us develop a strong sleep routine for Jake. I highly recommend both for new parents.

And that wraps up my sleep essentials recommendations from birth to three months!

Which items are in your top 5?!

5 months!

Here is Jake at 5 months and guess what...?! I am right on schedule.

 

I'm happy to announce that Jake is now rolling up a storm! It must have been all the tummy time training with Papa on Cape Cod because within a week of returning home, he started rolling over all the time. Jake has also started eating solids this week and he loves rice cereal. Next up, bananas!

One of his favorite summertime activities has been the bucket swing at the park near our house. Here he is enjoying some swing time in the shade.

We've been having a great summer so far!

Jake, 3 & 4 months

Somehow I dropped the ball on posting Jake's 3 month picture. I also dropped the ball on his 4 month shot....woops! He'll be 5 months next week so I figured I better get on it.

At 3 months, Jake is smiling up a storm. He smiles the most at faces and will entertain himself for quite a while in the mirror. He loves his Discover and Grow Piano Gym and goes nuts hitting the keyboard and reaching for toys. He also rolled over from his tummy to his back! He did this several times in a row over the course of a few days and must have since decided it was no big deal because he didn't do it again for another 6 weeks. Go figure!

At 4 months, Jake continues to light up our lives with his smile. He smiles wide and also with his eyes, which is my favorite part. He is also belly laughing now. He will get into a laughing spell for over a minute and it is just about the best part of my day. He is definitely reaching for toys purposefully and he can hold toys with one or both hands for a few seconds at a time. He prefers to be sitting with support so that he can look around the room and continues to be so curious! He is getting close to rolling over from his back to belly but I think *ahem* his rolls might be getting in the way. And speaking of rolls....oh.my.goodness. I do love a chubby baby and my boy is a chunker! Jake sleeps through the night now from about 6:00 to 6:00. I am really thankful that we have such an excellent sleeper BUT that wide window of sleep only leaves me about 1.5 hours with him when I get home from work. I usually start bedtime routine which consists of a bath, nursing, a pumped bottle (he works hard for those rolls), then a few verses of Sweet Baby James and then crib. I love this routine.

 

If you ask our nanny if Jake is a great sleeper, she would tell you a different story. He an AWFUL napper. AWFUL. I guess we can't have it all!

I'm looking forward to all of the exciting milestones that lie ahead!

I've survived.

I'm seven weeks into returning to work post maternity leave. So, how's it going you might ask? Well, given that is has taken me a whole seven weeks to update my return to work on the blog, that might be a pretty good indicator that things are.....BUSY!

The first few weeks after I returned to work, I was in a groove. I really felt great. Jake started sleeping through the night around 3 1/2 months old and his nursing schedule seemed to be totally in sync. It was fun to see my colleagues at work and it was great to hear so many people "oooh" and "ahhhh" over pictures of Jake. I was finally using my brain to do something more than calculate how much frozen breast milk I had in my freezer stash. I remember thinking, "I got this. I can be a mom AND have my career."

Sure enough, those words were my Achilles heel. For some mothers, the first weeks back might be the most challenging. For me, it was most definitely weeks 4-6 that presented the biggest challenge. Call it a slump, call it baby blues, call it whatever you want but I was most definitely not calling it "great." All of a sudden my clinics picked up, my work responsibilities seemed to triple.  I never felt like I was accomplishing my list of things to do by the end of the day. I was rushing out of work at the end of the day, feeling totally unaccomplished as a psychologist/supervisor/colleague. And here is the kicker  - I was rushing home to my son who's entire day I had missed, feeling totally unaccomplished as a mother. I now understand the true meaning of "mother's guilt." It hit me hard.

So, how did I dig myself out of the baby blues abyss? Running. Just as with other times in my life, my sneakers and the open road are the exact therapy I needed to help me feel like myself again. The big difference now is that I have such limited time to myself to escape with a run. Convinced that finding time to run would be cheaper than therapy and healthier than a bottle of wine, I committed to running two days on the weekend and once during the week. I ran a 5 miler race while vacationing on Cape Cod and I could feel the life pulse again through my veins.

I'm seven weeks into returning to work post maternity leave and I'm happy to report that I've survived. I now know that I will have great days and days where nothing goes my way. I think I can work out a balance as long as I can still find time to wear my Asics.

The "b" word

Welcome to my blog. Where I get to talk about things like the 'b" word, which is breastfeeding by the way. I would have never in a million years written anything with the word "breast" in it on the internet before becoming a mother. Since Jake has arrived, all of my modest tendencies have flown out the window. I have nursed Jake in a restaurant, hotel bathroom, mall parking lot, gas station....you get the idea.

Newly pregnant friends have recently asked me, "what do you wish you knew about being a mother before Jake arrived? what do you wish someone would have told you?" My answer is always this: breastfeeding is hard. I had a vision of this amazing bonding experience that would provide nutrition for my son and feelings of euphoria for me. In reality, that's not what happened. The other thing I am always sure to mention is "babies eat a lot.....like, all the time." I remember hearing that babies ate often. In fact, I think I knew that my newborn would need to eat every 2 hours.  Someone failed to mention, however, that this time interval began when you STARTED feeding. Oh, and breastfeeding takes up to 45 minutes or longer when you first get started. So, you do the math. All of a sudden, 2 hours looks a lot more like there is a tiny human on your breast every hour of the day. One day I will share our breastfeeding story with the hope that it might help a new mother cope with a new and challenging situation. Until then, I will leave you with this great blog post on why breastfeeding totally sucks.

Tomorrow marks our three month anniversary with breastfeeding and as far as I ever thought I'd make it. I'm happy to say that we will surpass this three month goal. The next challenge is returning to work where I will become very friendly with my breast pump. Stay tuned, this is for sure going to create a whole new set of challenges!

Beginning of the end {of maternity leave}

Monday marked the beginning of the end of my maternity leave. Our nanny spent the morning with Jake and I to start to get a handle on our routine. It went really well. Better than I could have hoped for, in fact. So why did I cry alligator tears into Jake's whale tub later that night as he happily splashed around? Because the day marks the start to an important transition from full-time mommy to career mom. June 13th is the big day. Ready, set, go.

Jake, 2 months old!

Hi again! Just stopping by to share Jake's 2 month photo and stats. He has his visit with the pediatrician yesterday and weighed in at 12lbs, 4 oz and 23 inches long! We are now into month 3 of breastfeeding and I hope we can keep it up as I transition back to work.

Check out these cheeks!

Efficiency

The most useful lesson I have learned as a new mom is one of efficiency. I've always been an organized and efficient person, but having a 5 week old has taken this skill to another level. I know exactly how long Jake will tolerate his vibrating seat (7 minutes) before he becomes bored and starts to cry. Thus, I have perfected the 7 minute shower. His naps during the day last approximately 30-45 minutes now. As soon as I am able to put him down, I run around the house with a rotating list of priorities and hold my breath until I'm needed once again by Jake. Shockingly, I never get the list completed! Despite my amped up ability to be efficient, everything seems to take 3x as long as it did before Jake arrived.

I wonder if perfecting this efficiency skill will benefit me when I return to work?! Hope so!

Welcome, Jake!

Michael and I welcomed our beautiful son, James Axel Tuller, into our lives on March 11, 2013. He weighed 7 lbs, 10 oz and was 20 inches long.

 

The first month has been a whirlwind of exhaustion and bliss! Today, Jake is 1 month old. He is growing so fast and we notice amazing changes every day.

 

 

We are thankful for all of the love and support that our family and friends have given us over the last few weeks!



I wrote the post below on March 10th, the day before I went into labor. I got distracted before I was able to submit it. It's fun to look back on my thoughts the day before Jake arrived!

"I’m 39 weeks pregnant today. The pregnancy gods have truly blessed me with an amazing 9 months. I should be thankful. Other mothers would shoot daggers when I’d tell them that the worst part of the first trimester was mild nausea and some early bedtimes. Second trimester I hit an even better stride and speaking of stride, I ran five miles almost every day from day the EPT came back +. Somewhere around 37 weeks, though, I lost the pregnancy mo-jo. The glow has been replaced by some edema and the smile on my face cringes every time I walk into work and someone says in shock, “You STILL haven’t had that baby yet?!”
 

At 39 weeks, I am ready. Ready to have this baby. Ready to no  longer be pregnant. My brain tells me that once he arrives, life will become blissfully harder and I might even wish I was still pregnant. My heart, though, is so ready to meet our son. I’m physically, emotionally, psychologically ready. The big question now is……when will he be ready? This is most certainly motherhood lesson #1…..my schedule has officially become secondary."

A first blog post might be the most intimidating one to compose. Here’s the thing – I’m not an eloquent writer. I’m more of a scientific writer by nature and training which has lead me to believe that this blog could be quite boring. The main goal here will not be to put my readers in stitches or provide essential information on life changing topics. Instead, the goal is to have a place for my thoughts on the delicate balance of life as mom, wife, psychologist, avid runner, friend, and daughter. It's an experiment that I might abandon before I even get the chance to tell anyone it exists. And if it does get off the ground after I hit "publish", it will be a place for my family and friends who live hours away to see pictures of our soon-to-be son and hear about important milestones for the both of us. If these topics interest you, hop on the blog train! And if not, don't sweat it - I'd rather be watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, too.