Maternity Photos

by | Family Life

After a few weeks of planning a maternity photo shoot but not actually getting around to it, I was a little nervous that the baby would arrive before we had the chance. Luckily, though, we found some time last week — and finally had a nice day of weather as an added bonus.

Lots of the photos we took include Baby Rambach’s name, which we’re keeping off the internet until he arrives, so I will post the whole album once he is born. But here are a few to tide you over in the meantime!

We are so lucky to have a talented photographer in our family…big shout out to my father-in-law Steve for always providing his services (for free, no less!). Another person who deserves a big shout out is our 4-year-old nephew, Mason, who was a trooper for almost 3 hours. Uncle Zach rewarded him with a few hours at Chuck-E-Cheese afterwards.

We’re heading out again tomorrow to get a few more shots, and I can’t wait to share the entire bunch with you! It will be so nice to have these visual reminders of my last few days of pregnancy.

Week 37

by | Family Life

I have officially made it to “full term” point in my pregnancy! I never imagined that at 37 weeks along, I’d still be doing everything I’m currently doing — working out daily at 5:30 am, keeping the house insanely cleaned and organized (hello, nesting), working full time, and somehow managing to stay calm despite the fact that in just a few weeks, we will have a newborn living with us.

As much as I’m ready to meet him and not be pregnant anymore, the truth is that a small part of me is actually going to miss this. I love feeling the kicks and rolls throughout the day, and even the attention I get for this big ol’ belly is kind of fun (sometimes). But I know that it won’t compare to actually having my little guy in my arms!

We’ve been seeing the doctor for weekly visits, and at this point, she says it could be any day now. The great news is that he is head-down, and in the past week, I’ve started to feel some contractions here and there…signs that my body is preparing for labor.

I’m hoping that he stays put for at least one more week, though; the longer baby bakes, the more prepared he will be to enter the world (not to mention that my doula is on vacation until June 7!).

Faking It

by | Family Life

Surprise! We had a baby! Or…I got dressed up in a hospital gown, grabbed a doll, and pretended that we did :) Baby Rambach is still safe and sound in my belly, but we sure had fun going through a “dress rehearsal” of labor and delivery at the hospital last week.

I jumped at the chance to be models for a photo shoot at St. Johns Hospital — not only will the photos be used in future trainings, but it gave us the opportunity to have a dry run of what our hospital stay might really be like (wardrobe and all).

First came my admittance, by wheelchair of course. Not sure if I’ll actually be smiling this big when the real deal happens…

Here I am just after getting hooked up to the monitors. It was fun getting to hear the baby’s heartbeat, and now I have an idea about what I’ll be wearing as far as “accessories” during the labor process.

Fastest labor, delivery, and discharge ever! Just a couple hours later, here I am getting ready to take baby home! (That’s our wonderful doula, Janet, who also served as a model in the photos). People passing me in the hallway actually thought I was holding a real newborn, which I found hilarious since the doll was HUGE. I guess I just had that “new mom” glow!

Week 36

by | Family Life

I officially have nine months of pregnancy under my belt, with only one to go. Four short weeks left of carrying around this 6-pound “watermelon” — after that, he’ll be in my arms!

We kicked off Week 36 by spending our entire Saturday at Lullaby University, where we learned all about newborn care and breastfeeding. I learned a LOT, but probably not as much as Zach did…I think he is beginning to realize what a HUGE job a baby is. Rewarding, for sure, but much more time-consuming than he originally thought. The class also made us even more excited about our little guy’s arrival.

On Sunday, I got a little taste of what it’s like to be very pregnant in the summertime, thanks to spending a couple hours walking around the art fair in the 85-degree heat. That experience made me really appreciate the fact that I’m due June 14 rather than August 14!

The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful, just busy with wrapping up work (only one more week to go!) and getting as much sleep as I can. Coming up: another doctor’s appointment on Friday, followed by a long holiday weekend :)

The Most Annoying Symptom of Pregnancy

by | Motherhood

Pregnancy

After 9 long months of pregnancy, I’ve discovered the most annoying symptom — and it’s not one of the usual suspects. Morning sickness, leg cramps, heartburn, interrupted sleep, and exhaustion have been no fun at all, but my least favorite of all is my hoarse voice.

For almost 3 weeks now, my voice has sounded like I just finished screaming and singing along at a Taylor Swift concert (and yes, I would totally do both of those things at a Taylor Swift concert). It’s been raspy, a little mannish, and any hope of hitting high notes is out the window. At first I thought maybe I was getting sick, but I had no sore throat, cough, or sneezing. Then I suspected allergies, but I’m not really one to suffer from those. And I hadn’t been using my voice any more than I usually do, so it wasn’t due to overuse.

It all started to make sense after I explained my condition to one of my client’s moms before a music therapy session. She told me that she thought a hoarse voice was a symptom of pregnancy, and after some quick Googling on her iPhone, we found that she was right.

At my doctor’s appointment the following week, the OB confirmed that pregnancy can cause the vocal cords to swell just like the rest of the body, so my hoarse voice is normal at this point. The downside is that it’s probably here to stay until I have the baby, so I can look forward to a little over 3 more weeks of raspiness.

By now I’ve adapted to my new voice, though it sure makes my job interesting! Luckily, there are only 9 more working days left before I’m officially on maternity leave for the summer. I have quite a few new songs I’d like to record, but they just might have to wait until after baby’s arrival if I actually want people to listen to them.

So far, no cankles in sight…just a man voice and a few other manageable symptoms. I suppose if that’s the worst it gets at 36 weeks, I don’t have much room to complain :)