32 Weeks!

As of yesterday, I am 32 weeks pregnant. Yes, that means that we have less than two months to prepare for Baby J. At this point in time, he weighs approximately 3.75 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long. He is taking up a lot more room in my stomach these days, which has led to me having some shortness of breath issues. I just keep telling myself that it will only last for eight more weeks, but I fear that it is going to get worse.

Babycenter.com estimates that I should be gaining roughly one pound per week and that half of that will go straight to the baby. He now has toenails, fingernails, and hair. Oh, how I wonder what color hair he will have. I am thinking brown or blond, but who knows, he could be a redhead. His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.

Baby J’s 32nd week in my stomach was somewhat of a busy week. Chris and I packed up all of our belongings and made our way south to our new home in Georgia. I also completed my last physical day at work. I will be continuing to work from home until Baby J arrives. Due to the move, Baby J made his first and probably longest road trip that he will ever make…..Chris and I don’t really like to drive long distances. Maybe I should say me though, because Chris didn’t mind it too much. We spent about 14 hours on the road on Saturday and then another 4 ½ on Sunday to make it from Cambridge to Atlanta in two days. It was a long ride but it went by a lot faster than I expected.

You may be wondering that since we had so much time in the car together we would have picked a name for Baby J, but I hate to disappoint and say that we have not. We have narrowed it down to four potential first names. We are hoping to come up with four middle names for these first names in the next few days/weeks and then we will post a survey on the blog to see what everyone thinks.

32 weeks and growing strong!

And, for a little surprise, here's the 32 week bare belly pic that I haven't been brave enough to show until now. Yes, I have grown A LOT!

Another Baby J Teaser.....

As the ultrasound technician was looking up close at Baby J's face, he actually opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out. So cute!

31 Weeks!

As of today, I am 31 weeks pregnant! Ah, I can't believe we are so close. I know I say that every week, but every week it becomes more apparent that Chris and I are not so far away from meeting Baby J and becoming the responsible parents that we should be. At 31 weeks, Baby J measures over 16 inches long and weighs about 3.3 pounds. After our ultrasound this week, we expect that Baby J is probably a little bit longer and heavier than this. As of this past Thursday, he weighed 3 pounds 12 ounces. We are thinking he is going to be long and skinny.

He is most definitely entering into a growth spurt. I feel his increased strength daily. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. Babycenter.com says that I may have trouble sleeping as his kicks and somersaults increase. Thankfully, either he is on the same sleeping schedule as me or I am so exhausted each night that I never feel him. The good news is that he is constantly moving during the day and keeping me on my toes, but at least I know that he is active and healthy.

This week we have a final appointment with Dr. Vincent. Oh, how we are going to miss her!! She really has been such a great doctor. I just hope that our Atlanta doctor can live up to her.

I continue to get bigger and bigger....I guess that's what happens during pregnancy, lol!

Last but not least, I just wanted to say Happy Father-to-Be Day to Chris! We had a great time celebrating Chris on Sunday with packing for our move to Georgia. I am sure it wasn't his ideal version of Father's Day, but at least it spared up some time later this week to enjoy himself. I can't wait for Chris to become a father to Baby J, I know he is going to be wonderful. Love you Chris!

And, just to embarass him a bit.......

Chris loves argyle! (Don't worry Mike, we left it at the store!)

Just a teaser.....

Yes, that is a 3D pic of Baby J. He is such a cutie! We got to see him yesterday!

(If you are having trouble locating him, go to the center of the top of the picture and go half way down the picture and you will most likely meet the tip of Baby J's nose. Of course, his two eyes are above that and his mouth is below. His face is on the right side of the picture.)

What is that in that little blue box?

Now that my time here in Boston is winding down, my coworkers have worked very hard to send me off in style. Last week, I was surprised with a baby shower where Baby J, Chris, and I received a Baby Bjorn, Make Way for the Ducklings book, too cute onesies, and a stuffed elephant. It was so extremely nice of them to think of us and to do that. I was definitely touched by their generosity!

Last night was my going away dinner with my department. I got to share the evening with my friend Michele whose last day at BWPO is also next Friday. Wow, talk about major changes for a department happening at the same time. We had dinner at Coda in the South End.

I knew that they usually gave going away gifts, but I certainly did not expect anything as the baby shower was extremely generous. I was shocked when they pushed a little blue bag my way. What?!?! They did not have to do that! I slowly opened the neatly packaged blue box and pulled out my first piece of jewelry from Tiffany & Co. Yes, my first! It is such a perfect necklace. I love it! I plan to wear it ALL the time!

Such a beautiful sight!

And it got better with what was inside!

I am really going to miss my coworkers here at BWPO! It has been a great experience and I have definitely learned a lot from them! I wish them all the best in the future and hopefully our paths will cross again some day (I'm not saying it will be in the Boston area though, lol!).

30 Weeks!

As of today, I am 30 weeks pregnant. That means there is only approximately 10 weeks or 70 days left until we will welcome Baby J into the world. We have so much to do between now and then. SO much! We have to move, get settled, and set up the most perfect nursery for Baby J. I know that we will get it all accomplished, but it will continue to be on my mind until we are actually in Georgia and can start getting more prepared.

At 30 weeks, Baby J is approximately 15.7 inches long and weighs about 3 pounds, like a head of cabbage. He is still long and skinny, but I have to say that the force in which he pounds my insides, he seems a lot bigger. Yesterday, as we were riding in the car, it felt like he did a somersault in my stomach. No kidding! And, it hurt! This may be the first time that I actually wanted to get onto him, lol! My mom said that he wasn't allowed to get into trouble. Typical grandmother, right?!?!?! HAHA! I love it when he moves but this one really took my breath away. I guess he is just getting me prepared, because I am sure there will be more and more of these extreme movements as the pregnancy moves along.

A pint and a half of amniotic fluid currently surrounds Baby J, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in my uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision. This means that he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. I guess we will just have to hold him close!

Babycenter.com says that I will probably have a hard time sleeping at this point in the pregnancy and will probably find myself a little more clumsy than usual due to the change in my center of gravity. I am happy to report that I am not having a problem with either of these things at this point in time. My hip does kill me during the night but it isn't keeping me up, so that's good. Babycenter.com also mentions that the mood swings from the first of the pregnancy will start to creep back up, but I am hoping that they don't. Chris seems to think that overall I have been very pleasant throughout the pregnancy, aside from a few breakdowns, so let's hope I can keep it that way.

Tonight, we took our final class in preparation for Baby J, Infant CPR. I have to admit that it is a little unnerving to think that there may be a time within the next year that we will have to use the skills that we learned tonight, but we are definitely more prepared for it. During the class, we learned infant CPR along with the proper way to handle a choking infant. These are things that neither of us had any clue about, so we came out of the class feeling a little more comfortable with the techniques if the situation should arise. We will keep our fingers crossed that it is never needed though.

Below is my 30 weeks belly pic as well as a slideshow from 7 weeks to 30 weeks. My, how I have grown?!?!

My, how I've grown!!!!

Family in Boston

I know this post is a little late.....sorry!

As I mentioned before, the week of graduation we had family in town. While everyone was here to help celebrate with Chris, they were also here to tour Boston. Patti, our sister-in-law, Jared and Karlie, our nephew and niece, were in Boston for the first time, so that meant that we needed to show them all the highlights of Boston and I think we did a pretty good job. Maybe I shouldn't say "we", but I will elaborate on that later.

On Wednesday evening after HBS's Class Day, we went to Cheers for dinner. We went to the original Bull & Finch Pub that the television show Cheers was based on. It was a fun time with everyone. The eating out continued on Thursday evening after graduation when we went to our favorite restaurant in the North End, Dolce Vita, for some Italian food. We were pleasantly surprised at how much everyone enjoyed it. No trip to Boston is really ever complete without a trip to the North End. We even made a stop into Mike's Pastry for dessert but everyone was so full that we had to get it to go. Gotta love those chocolate covered canolis!

Everyone eating at Cheers!

Friday began the real sightseeing tour with our family. On Friday morning, we all went on the Boston Duck Tour. Our guide's name was Disco Danny...or something like that. Don't you love his outfit? His platform shoes had fish in the heels of them. Not real fish of course, lol! Chris and I highly recommend the Duck Tour, because it really is one of the best ways to get a good overview of Boston. That way, when you walk the Freedom Trail, you can focus on parts that you found interesting while on the tour.

Our Duck Tour Boat, the Copley Squire.

Disco Danny

Chris and Karlie

Kathy and Mike

Jared and Patti

My Mom and I

A pic of the Back Bay of Boston

After the Duck Tour, most of us went our separate ways. My parents headed off to the Union Oyster House to partake in clam chowder and oysters, I headed home, and Chris, Mike, Kathy, Patti, Jared, and Karlie started the Freedom Trail. This is where I should say that Chris was definitely more of the tour guide on this trip instead of me. I normally can hang tough and do all the touristy stuff, but after a couple of extremely busy days I just didn't think my pregnant body could handle it. So, I went home and napped, lol! I think they managed without me though, because Chris is an excellent tour guide! See pictures below of the fam on the Freedom Trail.

The Fam on the Freedom Trail

A cool pic taken by Chris of the entrance to the Granary Burial Ground where a lot of famous Bostonians are buried.

Karlie on the donkey

Mike and the donkey

After a long discussion, they discovered that they had a lot in common, lol!

Tour Guide Chris

A cool pic by Karlie...this one is of the Holocaust Memorial which displays the numbers 1 through 6,000,000 to represent the 6 million people who died in the Holocaust.

Mike, Karlie, Jared, and Kathy with the statue of Paul Revere

Saturday was a little bit more relaxed as everyone was heading out in the early evening to go back to Georgia. Chris, Mike, Patti, Jared, and Karlie went to Fenway for a tour and then we all had lunch at Chris' favorite burger place, Mr. Bartley's.

Karlie, Patti, and Jared at Fenway

Karlie and Jared on the Green Monster

Mike relaxing in some of the original seats at Fenway.

All in all, I think that it was a great trip for everyone. We certainly enjoyed having them here! We hope that we were able to give them a good overview of the place we have called home for the past two years. Maybe they might even come back one day!

To see all of the pictures from our family's trip to Boston, just click on any of the pictures above which will take you Picasaweb then click on Family in Boston on the right.

Baby J Update

On Tuesday, Chris and I went in to see our doctor, Dr. Vincent, for my 30 week checkup. Everything with Baby J seems to be going well. I did gain another 6.2 pounds since my last visit, ugh! I have now gained a total of 20 pounds. That means that if I gain a pound a week for the remainder of the pregnancy, then I will be somewhere around the 30 pound mark. I don’t guess that’s so bad. The nurse who took my blood pressure said that she gained 80 pounds, so she recommended that I not be concerned about my current weight gain. I think I will take her word for it and not worry.

I do have somewhat of a good excuse for the weight gain though. The two times that I have gained this much weight have been following stretches of eating out and eating whatever was available. The most recent cause was Chris’ graduation. We had family in town and were eating out constantly. That’s my excuse and I am sticking to it, lol! Dr. Vincent recommended that I keep a food diary to determine what may be causing the weight gain, such as ice cream, French fries, etc. The thing is, I know that I ate those things, so now I just need to cut back a little!

One minor concern is that I am slightly anemic, so I will need to start taking an iron supplement. I don’t think I have really felt any different, but maybe the supplement will give me a boost of energy that I so need during my last two weeks at work and during the moving process.

Unfortunately, she was not able to determine the position of Baby J at this point in time. I was really hoping to get some confirmation that he is facing head down, but I guess I will have to wait. He does seem to rotate a lot so who knows what position he will be in once I go into labor. I am hoping that he isn’t directionally challenged with his butt or feet down. Chris and I are hoping that Baby J gets our good sense of direction, lol!

Last night, Chris and I attended our Newborn Essentials class. It was extremely informative. We learned different holding/soothing techniques as well as burping, diapering and soothing Baby J. We received tons of information that I could never list on here, but I think we both felt a little more prepared about bringing Baby J home than we did before the class.

Last, but certainly not least, I FINALLY made an appointment with a doctor in Atlanta. He was recommended by a friend’s colleague’s wife. Got that? LOL! I will meet Dr. Graham for the first time on July 14th when I am 34 weeks pregnant. Talk about craziness! We won’t meet the person who will be delivering our baby until 6 weeks before he is due. Let’s just hope Baby J is able to hold out until 40 weeks so that we are able to get more acquainted with our new doctor, hospital and surroundings before his arrival.

Well, I think that’s all the baby news for now. I hope you are all having a great week!

29 Weeks!

As of today, I am 29 weeks pregnant! Baby J weighs 2 ½ pounds and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. His bones are soaking up lots of calcium, so I have to be sure to drink plenty of milk. During this trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited into his hardening skeleton each day.

The main pregnancy symptoms that I am experiencing right now are frequent bathroom trips and a little bit of swelling in my hands and feet. The frequent bathroom trips are sometimes caused by Baby J giving me a swift kick or punch in the bladder. We have an appointment with our doctor tomorrow, so hopefully she can reassure us that the swelling isn't a major problem.

Since we are new at the pregnancy and childbirth thing, Chris and I attended a childbirth class on Sunday. It was very informative and we both learned a lot, such as when to go to the hospital, how to relieve the pain (somewhat, lol), and how to tell the difference between real and false labor. We both feel a lot more prepared for the birth of Baby J. I just hope we can think clearly and calmy when I do go into labor. We have two more classes to take before we move to Georgia. Newborn Essentials, where we will be taught how to change a diaper, bathe our baby as well as soothing techniques. We will also be taking an Infant CPR class. You can never be too prepared.

Hopefully the shirt isn't hiding growing Baby J too much!

Congratulations to the HBS Graduate!

As of Thursday, June 4, 2009, Chris is now a graduate of Harvard Business School. He graduated with approximately 7,000 people university wide and 900 people at the Business School. I have to say that I don’t think I have ever been more proud of him. He has really enjoyed being at HBS and learning everything that he possibly could while here. And, he has excelled! I think I have officially lost the “who is smarter” battle in our household, and I have to admit that I really don’t mind at all. He really does deserve any and all accolades that he receives for such a great accomplishment. Chris, I know I have told you many times before, but I love you and I am so very proud of you!

As I mentioned last week, Chris and I had a pretty busy week with all of the graduation festivities as well as having family in town. I don’t want this post to be too overwhelmingly long, so I will just post about graduation for now and the rest of our fun filled weekend later this week.
All the graduation fun started on Wednesday with Class Day. This was a very relaxed and casual day for the HBS graduates. The Class Presidents spoke, Professor awards were given, a member of the Class of 2009 spoke, and the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, concluded the ceremony. It was a nice way to get the events of the week off to a good start. I believe that Harvard chooses to do class day so that the actual graduation ceremony does not last into the wee hours of the morning. I can imagine that our Thursday would have been much longer if the Class Day ceremony was not held. For that, I think we were all very thankful.

Jamie Dimon

Chris with his parents, Mike and Kathy

Chris and I with his parents

Chris and I with my parents, Arlene and Gary

Just the two of us

Thursday was by far the longest and most exciting day. Of course it was the most exciting because Chris was receiving a degree from Harvard! And, it was the longest day, especially for Chris, Chris’ mom and I, because we all had to be somewhere before 7 am. I snapped a picture as Chris walked out the door at 6:15 am on his way to join his section before marching over to Harvard Yard. He looks tired but excited at the same time.

The next time he saw our apartment he would be an HBS Alum.

So, the reason we all had to be up so early was because the Harvard wide commencement ceremony started at 9:45 am with the procession starting around 9 am. Chris had to line up for the procession and Kathy, Chris’ mom, and I had to be there early enough to get a seat. Harvard only allows two tickets per student and there still isn’t enough seating for everyone. The gates opened at 6:45 am. We got there around 7 and still sat 4 rows from the back. I can imagine that when the gates opened at 6:45 it was a like a herd of cattle trying to get the best seats in the house. Thankfully, we could see a screen that showed the people on stage, since we could not make them out from our seats. We weren’t even able to see Chris enter the area because they ended up coming in from another direction. Hey, at least we knew he was there, lol! See the pictures below that Chris got of himself with some of his sectionmates on the way to Harvard Yard.

A little blurry, but still a good pic of Chris with some Sectino F'ers.

Chris and Patrick Barnes with Eric Salsa sneaking in between them, lol!

Chris with Brad Barkin, Patrick Barnes and Jared Miller

Chris and Brad Simmons

The Sheriff of Middlesex County called the meeting to order. It was pretty cool to see a regular sheriff speaking as if he was in the 17th century and calling a commencement ceremony to order. It was very cool for us to be able to witness the tradition that goes on at Harvard. After being called to order, there were three speakers, one who gave a speech in Latin, an undergraduate speaker, and a graduate speaker. We all really enjoyed the student who gave his speech in Latin, completely from memory. Thankfully, the screen we could see had the English translation so that we actually knew what he was saying. The most exciting part of the ceremony was when the degrees were conferred upon by the President of the University to the Harvard Business School graduates. It was just so exciting to hear the President of the University as she read off their degree and their ability to go out and now lead people and organizations. The HBS graduates had to be the most excited of the groups as they cheered loudly before and after receiving their degrees.

The sea of graduates and guests at the Harvard wide commencement ceremony!

After the Harvard wide commencement ceremony, Kathy and I quickly made our way out of there to meet the rest of the family to attend the Harvard luncheon. It was just a quick breather with food before we all had to head over to Baker Lawn on HBS’s campus for the HBS commencement ceremony. This day included a speech by Jay Light, Dean of HBS, and then the graduates received their diplomas. It was so exciting to see Chris walk across the stage and receive his diploma for MBA with Distinction. The person announcing the names almost forgot to say “distinction”, but she corrected herself just as Chris was about to head off the stage. Thank you! Those were my exact words! After the ceremony, we attended a reception hosted by HBS where we all inhaled lots of yummy desserts.

Dean Jay Light

Chris getting his diploma!!!!

Baker Library

Chris and his parents

The Jarrett Family (Mike, Patti, Jared, me, Chris, Karlie and Kathy)

Chris with his nephew Jared and niece Karlie

Chris, Baby J and I

Chris and I with my parents

Everyone who came to celebrate Chris' graduation!

Chris and I with Teal and Laren (gonna miss those guys!)

Chris and Teal

Laren and I

Chris in his Section's RC classroom

I have to say that this has to of been the most exciting graduations that I have ever attended. I can’t believe it’s over already and I know that Chris can’t either. We will hold the memories of HBS in our hearts and remember it as a great experience that has made our lives that much better!