Hello, beautiful!

I am happy to report that our brand-spanking new Solsta sleeper sofa has arrived! I have a feeling the delivery guys may start stalking me. They seemed really taken in by my early-morning beauty and puppy paw print pajamas, my fuzzy hair, pale face and enormous belly, not to mention the fact that I was washing dishes when they rang the bell and went to the door still wearing my orange rubber gloves. How does anyone resist, I ask? (Aren't they supposed to call before they come so you can put on sweat pants!?!?) Anyway, there is a huge box in the middle of the living room, which Marcus will open and assemble when he gets home today. The best part is that this means goodbye to the futon. The nasty, bulky, uncomfortable, collegey-looking futon! Sure, it's served our sitting needs, but it's time to be grown-ups and have a real couch. (this is where you judge me a little because our "real, grown up couch" is from Ikea...) I'm terrified to find out what is under there, though. Old newspapers? Dead bugs? Dust bunnies? That green pea I dropped during dinner last week? I may leave while Marcus moves it out of here. I"ll come back when my beautiful new sofa is assembled. Happy Jen.

I have to share a funny story with you now. You know how sometimes young ladies who are a big, um, chunky, wear shirts that are a little tight? And sometimes their fat rolls stick out from under their shirts? Well, my dear husband refers to that as "Looking like a busted can of biscuits." Years ago when we were in college, I made him promise to tell me if I ever looked like that. Fast forward to last night, 8 years after that initial conversation. My belly is big, no denying it. I had on a size small maternity top, which I swear shrunk in the wash, and some sweat pants, which I wore slung under the belly. So some of my tummy was sticking out the bottom of my shirt. Marcus came in from work, took one look at me, started giggling and said "Baby, you look like a busted can of biscuits!" I laughed harder than I have in months. He took me to the mirror to show me our "little biscuit." And he was right. At least he's true to his word. :)

AMAZING news!!!

HELLO! We just got the best news ever--Bradley is officially a match for my mom! He goes to Birmingham for his exam with the doctors on TUESDAY, Dec. 4, and from there, they schedule the surgery. January is going to be a busy month for our family! At the transplant center in Birmingham, he'll go through a routine physical with my mom's doctor, more blood work and a psych evaluation. I am excited beyond words and can really think of nothing else to say except THANK YOU for all your support and prayers! Please keep them coming as we head into the end of this very long road. What an amazing thing.

Yowza

I think it's safe to say we've officially reached the painful part of pregnancy. My back and tailbone ache, it's hard to take a deep breath due to the little baby parts constantly pushing up into my ribs, my hands and feet are a little swollen (no more wedding ring) and I wake up with leg cramps at least three times a night. That said, we're almost to the finish line! Welcome to week 31. It's been a big one so far. We finally made it to Ikea on Sunday, after I spent almost 2 hours on the phone and online Saturday trying to find out whether or not our sofa was in stock. (it was) It will be in our hot little apartment on Thursday. Goodbye, nasty futon. I will not miss you. At all. We also got a new end table to accommodate things like baby bottles, our lamp (which has lived on the floor since the untimely demise of our old end table) and our printer, who we loving refer to as "Kinko's." I think the nesting instinct kicked into overdrive while we were at Walmart because I bought 24 rolls of toilet paper. At least we know they'll get used. The apartment's starting to really take shape. We have an actual plan for putting together the bassinet and such, so I feel like it's all doable. At least today I feel that way. It changes by the hour lately!

I just found out that November is National Blog Posting Month. (NaBloPoMo) Who knew? I think it's also NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month--is that right, Eileen?). My friend Eileen wrote a novel last year. It was cool.

The picture above is of me wearing my "This is what Awesome looks like" t-shirt. It was purchased for me (and one for Marcus) by McKinley, the young man who suggested we name our child Awesome, after him.

Pregnancy continues to be an adventure. We're getting so excited. Marcus is absolutely adorable about it. He had his finger on my stomach today and told me he and the baby were holding hands. :) Then he had to stop before he cried. I have re-discovered wonderful culinary delights like Jello Pudding (Pregnancy makes your lactose intolerance a little more tolerable!!), frozen yogurt, and ice cream. We got a webcam for my parents and they got one for us as Christmas gifts. We finally figured out how to use them tonight and had a fun chat with my mom and dad. They even held up Audrey the kitty to say hi. Then she hid under the bed. It was fun to show off the belly and some of our baby gifts to them. It will be great once the little one is finally here and they get to see him or her every day. Yay for technology!

The next couple of weeks are going to be a whirlwind of doctor's appointments, classes and the like. We are interviewing the pediatricians on Monday, seeing my doctor next Friday, touring the hospital one night, taking classes a couple of days, then heading to DC for Christmas. I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to fly...and then we'll have a baby. Wow. WOW.
Now I have to stop before I cry.

The big 3-0

We have made it to week 30, ladies and gents! Our baby will be born in 10 weeks, maybe earlier. (I don't accept the fact that it could be later. The kid will weigh 30 pounds if it stays in there longer than Jan. 27!) The third trimester is kind of uncomfortable. Back pain, leg cramps, trouble sleeping and this awful pulling in my lower abdomen, apparently caused by the little darling pushing on my ligaments. And I've never gone to the bathroom so much in my life. We keep joking that I should keep count, but then I wouldn't have time to do anything else. By New Year's, I expect to just move into the bathroom full time. Baby continues to amaze and amuse us with new tricks like sticking his/her butt (or maybe head?) out, making a hard lump appear on my stomach. Dear, darling Marcus Lane is now in charge of rubbing lotion on my legs, feet and abdomen every night, which is the closest thing to Heaven I can think of right now. Overall, we're both feeling pretty good. We got a LOT of gifts this week, about which we are SOOOO excited! Above, next to the picture of me in one of my new sweaters, you can see Marcus modeling our Boppy pillow. He really likes it when I take pictures of him.

The china cabinet is no more. The lovely and talented Daniel came over on Thursday and helped Marcus haul it to the curb. We threw a bunch of stuff away and put the rest in storage bins to go to Grandma Claudia's at Christmas. Neither of us can believe how much bigger the apartment looks with it out of here. Now we have room for the boxes containing the car seat, swing, pack n play, etc. After Christmas we'll put the bassinet together and prepare Baby's little area. There's even room for a wall hanging. ;) Last night, we went to Babies R Us and picked out a stroller. It was pretty comedic. They should post the instructions for how to fold those things up! Watching Marcus do "crash tests" to make sure the baby wouldn't fall out was my favorite part. We settled on the Maclaren Quest Sport, a sassy model in grey and green. That tidbit of information probably means about as much to you as it did to us 7 months ago. It's funny all the new things you learn with a little one on the way. My vocabulary now includes terms like "five-point harness," "one-hand fold," and "cradle cap."

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in NYC!! (I love Christmas, in case you hadn't noticed.) This week, we'll celebrate Thanksgiving with our NYC family, a tradition started 4 years ago. Kitty's mom, Sheryl, will get in on Tuesday from Michigan and the fun will begin then. Thursday will be a blast, as we all gather at Kitty's to cook, eat til we pop, then maybe play a little Uno. And I will win.

Today's my mom's birthday. Happy birthday, Mom! Wish I could be with you. We could eat chocolate. Your grandchild is doing the cha cha in your honor.

I've seen the lights go out on Broadway

I felt the need to comment on the current Stagehands strike which has shut down all but 8 Broadway shows. I don't know the exact details of their negotiations, so I won't go too far into my own opinions, but it is amazing that this has happened. (For details, go to playbill.com.) Union rules are extremely clear on who can do what on a show, and without these folks, the show truly cannot go on. My union does not allow me to touch any props, costume pieces or set pieces during a performance. If I want to move something or re-set it, I have to go get a stagehand. They do all the scene shifts, whether manually or computerized. They are our electricians, our sound operators, our dressers, prop and set crews. I'm interested to see how long the strike goes on. There are currently 8 Broadway shows not affected (they are non-profit theatres, like Lincoln Center, who have different agreements with the unions) but over 2 dozen who will remain "dark" until the union reaches an agreement with the producers.

I can't help but think about how this has been affecting the people in my union, Actors Equity Association (the union for actors and stage managers). I read today that there is a small strike fund and if it goes on, the union will pay actors and stage managers the weekly maximum for unemployment insurance until the fund runs out or their unemployment benefits kick in. (It takes 7 weeks for unemployment to kick in, by the way.) Now, $405 is the weekly maximum for unemployment insurance. This is not even half of what the lowest paying contract on Broadway, say for a chorus dancer in his/her first show, makes. It's scary to think that these people who are in long-running shows, even on smaller contracts, may be faced with such a small weekly salary so soon. A lot of "chorus folks" stay in smaller roles because of the job security and use the nice paychecks to buy their first apartments in the city. I can't help but think of how those folks will be affected. I"m glad it ain't me.

On a nicer note, there is a fundraiser scheduled for tonight at the Marquis Theatre (home of Drowsy Chaperone) to benefit a home for mentally disabled children. Rather than force the producers to cancel the benefit, the stagehands have agreed to cross the picket line and come in to work this event, but to do so free of charge so as not to affect their current negotiations. I appreciate that they are donating their time to a worthy cause.

Nesting

All the pregnancy books talk about the "nesting" instinct kicking in during your third trimester. It has hit the Lane Family Home in full-force. I spent half the day Monday taking baby clothes off of hangers and getting a load of baby laundry ready to be washed on the gentle cycle with Dreft. I have cleaned out some drawers in my dresser especially for baby clothes and blankets. My beloved china cabinet will be out of here next week to make room for the pack n play and baby swing. Gifts from our registry have started showing up, which is SO exciting! And no, I don't think it's a coincidence that the baby kicks up a storm when the UPS or Fed Ex man shows up with a package. He/she is obviously intellingent and very excited and appreciative of the outpouring of love from our friends and family. :)

The apartment purge continues. Tomorrow we will do an enormous drop-off at Salvation Army to get rid of clothes we either have not worn in years or will never wear again. Kitty gave us some big rubbermaid containers to pack up things we need out of here to make room for baby stuff. We have registered for our prenatal classes and will be touring the birthing suites at the hospital soon.

It's all coming together. The event we've been waiting for is a mere 80 days away (if we make it that long). I have always wanted to be a mother and Marcus and I have always planned on having a family together. And now, the reality of it is so sweet. Watching my belly shift around and jump from time to time is an incredible and constant reminder of the little person who will soon be the center of our universe. (complete with his/her sweet little hair!) This poor kid. I hope it's prepared for me to cry all over it for the first week of its life.

Baby Big Head

I saw Dr. Moritz today. I have gained 10 pounds since my last visit, for which I got in trouble. :( oops. But I'm healthy and, fortunately, all the weight is in my belly, mostly comprised of amniotic fluid and our giant child! Baby weighed in at 2 pounds 13 oz. A quick sonogram showed that his/her head is measuring at 31 weeks! (I'm 28 weeks along.) After a quick review of the anatomy of birth, the doctor admitted that any baby coming out of me would be big, but this one is looking like it could turn out to be a porker. He said we'll see how things go because the body can do amazing things during labor. (This is when I asked "So when can I get the epidural?") The coolest thing about the sonogram is that I saw the baby's hair! It's got hair! The doctor told me to laugh or cough to shake up my belly and it's little hair floated like it was blowing in the breeze. I want to brush it. Baby is now head-down (who knows if it'll stay that way), which is more comfortable for mom. The feet on the bladder were killing me. As of now, we are leaving the due date where it is. And I have to stop eating cookies.

It was a big day at the doctor. I had to drink the nasty glucose potion, which isn't as bad as they say. Mine tasted like a flat orange soda. Don't get me wrong, it was nasty, but it could've been worse. Delsa the nurse gets kudos for doing the best blood draw EVER! I have one vein that you can get blood from and it is usually pretty uncooperative, but she got me on the first stick. I guess they will call me with the results of the glucose tolerance test. I'll let you know how it turns out. I also had my Rhogam shot. Rhogam is a shot they give mothers with Rh Negative blood so that, in case your baby has Rh positive blood, there won't be any problems. The problems would occur with the next pregnancy, as Rh positive blood in your system makes your body produce anitgens, so it would attack an Rh positive baby as if it were a foreign body. That's no good. So, I got a shot in my fanny, which now is very sore.

Now the BIG adventure that is the third trimester begins! We've got to do our classes, tour the hospital, get the apartment in order, pick a pediatrician and I should probably get a pedicure. (can't reach my feet) It's all becoming even more real and exciting! Plus it's almost Christmas. And you KNOW how I looooove Christmas!

Marcus's show ran with flying colors this past weekend! They hit their attendance goal, which means they can afford to do their next production, and everyone ended the run with a smile. Between shows on Saturday, the students surprised us with a baby shower! They gave us a bag of adorable clothes and other little baby items and an AmEx gift card, which we'll be using to buy our stroller. It was so touching to have them do this for us. We also started the baby poll. Everyone filled out a form guessing the weight, length, birthdate, gender, and time of birth for the baby, along with how many hours they think I"ll be in labor. (I hope the one that says "half an hour" wins!) Once the little Lane is here, we'll figure out who came closest, declare a winner and award a prize. If you want in, let me know. :)