The Zoe and Silas Show

I had my 35-week OB appointment yesterday morning, and the end result was BEDREST. As many of you know, life in general has become increasingly difficult for me to manage due to the large amount of weight I am carrying around, combined with a lot of pelvic discomfort (I hesitate to use the word "pain" knowing what's to come). In addition, the Braxton Hicks contractions have really picked up in the last week or so, particularly when I work/move around/do anything at all. Since I reported increased contractions to Dr. Gibbs at the appt, she decided to do an exam. She found that I am 80% effaced (meaning my cervix is almost completely thinned out) and baby boy's head is at station 0 (meaning he is fully engaged). "No wonder you're so uncomfortable!", she said. We will find out at Friday's ultrasound whether or not baby girl has changed position, but I suspect she has not. In the meantime of confirming her position, Dr. Gibbs is working on scheduling th...

One of Derek's best friends, Brad, got married on Saturday night. Derek was a groomsman along with Ricky and Keith. We figure this was our last big "event" (i.e., get dressed up) before the babies arrive. Our one year wedding anniversary is coming up on 10/11 but I'm not sure how much celebrating I'll be up for! So, figured I should post some pics of us in our fancy pants. A fun night was had by all, and Derek and I even managed to get a slow dance in before this Cinderella turned into a pumpkin (oh wait, I already AM a pumpkin as Derek would joke). I left around 10pm and the dance party was just getting started...

The nursery is finally done, thanks to: Shopping power = me, Derek & a motorized scooter Manpower (painting, furniture assembly, etc.) = Derek Organizational prowress = me & Timery Final artistic touches = me & Rachel YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once September rolled around I started working at home one day per week. I am very thankful that I have the flexibility to do that! The ratio of home:lab days has now become more skewed towards home, so that I'm now regularly aiming for 3 days home and 2 days in lab. As you might be able to imagine from the picture below, I am pretty miserable these days. I attempted to wear my Keen sandals on the day this picture was taken (33 weeks, 5 days) and that lasted for about 2.55 seconds. I have been sporting flip flips for weeks and weeks now due to my feet being incredibly swollen. We estimate that I'm now carrying ~ 12 pounds of baby! Dave is here working at a food show this week, so it's been great to see him. I just wish I was in a better mood! At the end of the workday, I head straight to bed for the evening. It's been hard this week, because on the days I've been in lab I end up having contractions pretty constantly by the time the afternoon rolls around. The only ...

Derek's mom, Joanne, and close family friend, Audrey Vieira, threw us a wonderful baby shower last weekend. Derek drove me down to Audrey's house in Swansea, where all of the guys were meeting up in order to head out for lunch. Everyone hung out for awhile in Audrey & Mike's beautiful backyard munching on yummy appetizers, and then the guys loaded into the M.V. to head to New Bedford for Portuguese food. We had a wonderful spread of fabulous food, thanks to the hard work of Joanne and Audrey, as well as Aunt Doreen and others who cooked for the celebration. We had a very special cake that was decorated with animals, going along with the theme of the nursery. Joanne and Audrey also made the cutest shower favors -- pretzels dipped in white chocolate! We enjoyed a lovely afternoon sitting outside, sharing good food and good company. Everyone was so generous with giving us gifts for the babies, and Kaylan was a wonderful helper :) We got lots of things we still needed, lik...

Shopping these days has gotten much harder than it once was. Actually, I won't lie: everything has gotten much harder! We needed to make a big Ikea run last weekend, and we decided that I wasn't going to make it through an Ikea excursion without a wheelchair. I must admit, it was the most pleasant 3-hour shopping trip I have ever experienced! Derek was so great, pushing me around and bringing me to any section I wanted. We ended up finding many things we needed for the nursery, including a toy organizer, curtains, a rug, and a small dresser. We also needed to get groceries when we were finished at Ikea and I never would have had the energy to do it without a little assistance. Thank you motorized scooter :) I did the same thing at Target on Thursday night when we had another big shopping list. Derek just laughs at me, because if I don't cut the narrow corners of the aisles quite right I have to put the scooter in reverse, and it makes a loud "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP" n...