In order to maintain sanity and not get a bajillion replies on my Facebook wall I’ve opted not to post anything about my early “labor” there, but for those of you stalking this blog to get news, here’s a quick recap of the past week.

Wednesday, Sept. 7: I start having contractions before bed. Dan and I get excited and little freaked out, but decide to wait and see if they are still going on the next day before alerting anyone.

Thursday, Sept 8: Contractions continue sporadically this morning, so we call my mom and she jumps in her car and drives down here. I tell work I’m pretty much done, but manage to hang out with the girls at lunch and at happy hour, pausing occasionally for contractions. Mom arrives this evening.

Friday, Sept 9: The midwife checks me at our weekly appointment, but I’m only about 1 cm dialated although very soft. Mom and I go to lunch at the Southern Sun, and their lovely sandwiches seem to kick my contractions into high gear. We start timing them but it gets to be bed time and they aren’t too strong, so we take the midwife’s advice and go to bed.

Saturday, Sept 10: By morning the contractions have stopped again, so we mess around the house and run errands all morning and afternoon. That evening around 4pm they start up again, finally getting closer together (3-4 mins) and feeling like they are serious and strong. We pack up the bags and head to the hospital, only to find out that I am still very slightly dialated. Once again the midwife recommends going to sleep, and advises us not to stay at the hospital.

Sunday, Sept 11: Once again the contractions have died off by morning and we keep busy around the house. There’s very little action in the contraction zone, although they come and go throughout the day.

This is the pattern that we’ve maintained ever since: sporadic, irregular, and pretty mild contractions that go on throughout the day but don’t increase or accelerate. Even the full moon on Monday didn’t seem to give us the extra oomph that we need.

Yesterday Mom and I had massages, complete with work on acupressure points for me, and I followed it up with a visit to the acupuncturist to hopefully kick things up. So far that hasn’t lead to labor, but I’m holding out hope If it doesn’t work today/tonight I have another appointment for acupuncture tomorrow morning, followed by a midwife appointment where we may see if they will sweep my membranes since my due date will only be 3 days away at that point.

Generally the process has been sort of frustrating as it drags on, but I’m doing my best to stay positive and optimistic while maintaining realistic expectations about this process. It’s fantastic having Mom here to help keep me occupied, especially since I’ve stopped working. The best thing is that one way or another, this baby will be here in a relatively short amount of time

This past weekend we had one of the best parties ever thrown for us by two of my best friends, Jessica and Lindsay.

The hostesses

Jess is an event planner, so she offered to throw us a baby shower and recruited Lindsay to help out. I knew with those two in charge it would be a great day, but I was not prepared for how awesome it turned out.

First of all, they made adorable caterpillar invitations, which I understand required many hours and several bottles of wine to complete. This was the start of the general caterpillar theme, which was continued in the food and decorations.

The Friday night before the shower my mom, both grandmothers and my sister-in-law flew in from Texas to help with the preparation. It’s a good thing they did, too, because otherwise Linds and Jess might not have gotten any sleep that night.

The food in the above photo represents only a tiny fraction of the abundance that they put out. There were melon ball skewers, caprese skewers (mozarella, tomato and freshly picked basil), and cheddar and grape skewers along with veggies and dip, pulled pork sliders and grilled veggie sliders.

And of course the crowning achievement was the cupcake caterpillar that Lindsay put together – isn’t it adorable?

After a night of prep work and fun it was time for the actual party, which was just great. There were white onesies to be tie dyed and drawn on (mad props to all the artists, by the way), gifts to be opened, and of course lots of snacks to be eaten. Matt and Jess’ pulled pork will be made by quite a few people in Texas in the coming months

We were overwhelmed by all the people who came out to show us love and support. We are truly fortunate to have found such a great community of friends here in Boulder, and we can’t wait to introduce the baby to all these great people.

Of course it was also fantastic to have family there too. It was a whirlwind weekend for Ginger, my sis-in-law, and then my grandmas and mom stayed over the rest of the weekend to help wash baby clothes and setup the nursery. I’m still amazed by how much work it takes to setup a room for a person whose needs don’t extend beyond food, sleep and poop, but the room is set and ready for baby Partain’s arrival.

Again, I just have to say thanks to everyone made the effort to come out (particularly Andrea Oh who drove in straight from the airport after a massive delay in her flight home). You are all amazing friends and we are so lucky to have you!!

It’s been one of my goals not to be a whiny pregnant lady, and for the most part that’s been remarkably easy because the whole experience has been 99% positive. But these past few days have made me realize that I am suuuuper pregnant, and there is a lot of discomfort that can come with that.

The main culprit is the heat, which has been over 90 degrees for many days in a row now. Having been cold blooded for most of my life, it’s been hard for me to adjust to sweating while going up and down our stairs or walking to the car. The 1.5 block walk to church (at 8:45am) on Sunday was ridiculously hot for me, even though it probably wasn’t above 80 at that point.

Those of you in Texas are most certainly rolling your eyes right now, and I’ll admit I sound like a wuss compared to pregos enduring 105 or 110 degrees somewhere else, but this is my blog and I can complain a bit if I like

Also adding to the fun of the last 9 weeks is baby Partain, who has discovered that it’s highly entertaining to kick mom in the same spot over and over and over again. I’ve actually said “Ow!” out loud several times out of surprise and pain. I admit I wasn’t expecting this onslaught — what did the left side of my belly button ever do to the baby?

And of course the wee one is not so wee anymore, meaning his/her movements seem to distort my whole belly and make for some highly uncomfortable times while s/he readjusts.

Speaking of adjustments, last week at our midwife appointment they demonstrated how I can impact the baby’s position in these last few weeks of the pregnancy by how I sit (!!), so I’ve been trying to have excellent posture to avoid a posterior presentation. It turns out reclining with your feet up (the preferred position of pregnant ladies the world over) may encourage the baby’s back to swing around the wrong way. It’s good to know so I can prevent it from happening, but I do miss lounging with propped up feet.

I had no idea that this was even possible, and I certainly want to do everything I can to make labor faster and easier, so I’m spending a lot of time on my fitness ball and sitting up nice and straight while I work.

At the end of the week we’ll be hitting the 8 month mark, which I can hardly believe. I’m definitely getting ready to meet the baby that has wreaked havoc on my body for the past 32 weeks, and to start on the road to getting that body back into shape! Just 61 days to go!

It’s official, we are in week 30! It could be less than 10 weeks before we meet our little one, which is both exhilarating and frightening. We’re starting to check some of the big things off our pre-baby list, including our birthing class which finished last night. As I mentioned before it was pretty out there, but it did make us feel really, really, really good about the location where we’ll be having the baby. The nurses seem fantastic, the birth suites are amazing, and we’re confident that as long as we’re prepared the birth will go great.

Check out those baggy eyes! Can you tell sleep is getting challenging?

On a less baby-related note, my work has slowed down A TON in the past month or so, leaving me with a lot more spare time during the week than I usually have. I’m trying to use the time well by doing baby prep and getting my volleyball website up to speed, but it’s very strange to have to expend so much effort to fill enough hours in the day/week.

On the other hand, the free time has proven to be a blessing in a big way because it’s giving me enough time to workout daily and get plenty of rest. As you can see from the picture both of those things are becoming more and more crucial as I’m getting bigger and bigger.

Walking and yoga are my best friends right now, and I can’t imagine how pregnant women made it through 40 weeks without regular exercise and stretching!

In other news, Dan’s softball league is winding down, and while he is doing great at 3rd base his team has yet to win a game. They do have a good time though, and they will be signing up for the right league for the fall season (they are in the competitive league this time instead of the rec league), and I’m sure they’ll bring home a lot of wins next season.

As July winds down we’ve got a night of camping planned with our friends up in Estes park, and my family is coming for a week at the end of the month to help us build a new front porch. (This is all assuming that Boulder doesn’t get washed away in the next week by the torrential downpours that we’re having every afternoon.) Lots of exciting events coming up, with the hope that I’ll be able to participate in them all with my burgeoning belly!

For those of you keeping score at home, the baby is now the size of a bunch of cauliflower, but moves around a whole lot more.

As of Sunday we will officially enter the third trimester, and it’s starting to feel very real and a little bit more scary (at least for those of us contemplating birth in a few weeks).

Part of the third trimester “stuff” is that we’ve started our birthing class. We chose the one recommended by our midwives, called “Magical Beginnings.” It’s based on a Deepak Chopra book, which I suppose should have tipped us off, but we were not prepared for how hippy it is.

We spend a decent part of the classes doing visualization and/or meditation exercises. These are cool, but aren’t quite what this somewhat analytic, information-driven couple was expecting. We’ve still got two more classes to go, so maybe there will be a little more practical advice and a little less guided deep breathing.

It’s interesting to see the other couples in the class too. We are the farthest away from our due date, with one couple’s due date only a few days after the class ends. I mentioned to the midwife at our last visit that my bump seems to be as big as some of these women’s who are due a month or more before me, and she said it’s because I’m so short. It really is surprising how different builds impact how women carry their babies, and I’m pretty sure short chicks get a raw deal.

Anyway, for the most part the pregnancy continues to roll along without too many issues. Dan is hard at work sanding and staining all the new furniture that we got second hand for the baby’s room, and I think it’s going to look AMAZING when it’s done. The only problem is that it’s hard to fit sanding into an already busy summer schedule, so hopefully we will have finished pieces before we have a baby.

I had my first really bad day of back pain on Tuesday and ended up spending the better part of Wednesday trying to figure out how to make it go away. After yoga, a bath and a nap I was feeling almost back to normal, and it appears that not stretching after my Monday water aerobics created some very tight muscles that were making their displeasure known. So there is a lot of yoga and stretching in my future!

This weekend we’re getting together with another couple who are due a month after us to make a huge amount of gnocchi and ravioli to freeze for after the babies come, which will be one more thing off our massive “To Do Before Baby” list. It’s great having another couple so close to our date to hang out with, although I think the guys get sick of us girls talking about nothing but pregnancy the whole time.

Finally, I’m getting one last trip to Texas in before I’m too enormous to get on a plane. I can’t wait to see the family next week, but the prospect of 100+ temperatures is not enticing. I’m sure it will be worth it to see the looks on everyone’s faces when they feel the baby kick!

We’ve been back from our jaunt in Cancun for a few days now, and life is getting back to normal (except for the massive pile of laundry). First I have to say that getting completely and utterly away from my computer and cell phone for several days was AWESOME, and I totally recommend it. And now, on to the recap.

Our flight out was completely uneventful, which was a blessing given the extremely tense passport situation of the day before. (For those not up on that story, the short version is Dan’s passport was expired and he had to get a new one less than 24 hours from our departure time, but it all worked out in the end).

I think the only black mark on the trip down there was the hour long line at customs. Seriously, Mexico, not the way to make a good first impression. I had been warned by my midwife that I would likely swell up like a balloon after travel, but thanks to copious amounts of water and lots of walking that didn’t happen.

The resort was, in a word, perfect. They met us with cool scented towels, smoothies, and a flower for me, and then upgraded our room for free. We also discovered that our 4-night stay entitled us to a $750 credit toward spa treatments, day trips, and several items not suitable for pregos (zip line) or vegetarians (lobster dinner on the beach).

Given our restrictions we chose a short trip to the Mayan ruins at Tulum, a couples massage, and a manicure/pedicure package for me.

Our first day at the resort (Friday) we took full advantage of the opportunities for doing absolutely nothing. We slept in, had breakfast overlooking the ocean, and then snagged prime seats by the lagoon to watch the surf, read, and snorkel/swim. We stayed under our thatched awning when we weren’t in the water, as there were many, many, many walking examples of what happens when you stay out in the sun too long.

A side note: anyone who hasn’t yet read Tina Fey’s “Bossypants,” go and get it now. I was laughing out loud and nearly snorting virgin pina colada out my nose all weekend while reading it.

Saturday was our excursion day, so we loaded onto a bus with 39 other vacationers and motored about 30 miles down the road to Tulum. The ruins were amazing and right on the ocean, but they were also unfortunately completely unshaded. Our tour guide did his best to talk in the shade, but it was super hot and our water ran out quickly.

After the official tour we had some time to wander around, but we just went down to the beach to frolic in the water and try to cool off. Unfortunately between the heat, the epic stairs and my increased girth we were slow getting back and almost got left behind. Important lesson: heat + walking + 5.5 months pregnant = bad.

The bus then took us to a “real Mayan market,” a.k.a. the place where they want you to buy souvenirs. Being savvy travelers who have seen this trick before, we declined.

After the forced shopping time they took us to Xpu-Ha (pronounced ish poo ha) Palace, another in the chain of 7 or so Palace Resorts that was associated with ours. It was mostly destroyed in the last hurricane (2004 I think) and rebuilt as an eco-resort.

Basically this meant animals in a zoo-like setting, no air conditioning, lengthy walks between everything and very little shade by the pool. As someone who was already overheated I didn’t really appreciate the lack of shade/AC or the walking, and I was very happy to get back to our “real” resort.

Sunday was our spa day, and we started it off with some early morning yoga. It turned out that the yoga was not in the air conditioned gym as we thought but in a hut by the ocean; this was cool because you could hear the surf while you did downward dog, but uncool because of the ridiculous humidity and sweatiness.

After yoga (and second breakfast for those of us on two-hour feedings) we headed to the spa. First stop was hydrotherapy, also known as “a room full of things pregnant women aren’t allowed to do.” Dan however thoroughly enjoyed the sauna, steam room, hot tub, and cold immersion tub before meeting up with me once more for our massage.

I admit I was skeptical about the prenatal massage capabilities of the resort, but the lady was very knowledgeable and I was very comfortable the whole time. After lunch I had my mani/pedi treatment, leaving me more relaxed and well-groomed than I have been in a very long time (especially since I can’t easily reach my feet).

Monday meant more travel, but this time not the uneventful kind. It started off with our plane having to turn around as we left Cancun because they forgot to load something that only our giant plane could carry, which turned out to be the nose piece for a smaller plane.

Then we landed in DFW only to find that inclement weather, also known as “rain,” had caused them to cancel several flights earlier that day. This meant the terminal was super crowded, and that our flight was ultimately delayed an hour and a half. All this combined with the fact that we had to leave our resort 4 hours before our flight took off (“just in case” according to the staff), and we had a very long day.

I like to think I’m a pretty good sport about this whole pregnancy thing most of the time, but I was ready to kill people with my bare hands if they came between me and food or my bed by the time we got home. Fortunately there was no need for violence.

And so, now we’re back to work and reality. For us this means all the pregnancy/baby stuff we’ve been putting off, like registering for gifts and finding a pediatrician. I’m actually excited and ready to get going (I know, it’s shocking that I want to plan and prepare!)

We didn’t do much in the way of photography, but I’ll get Dan to download what we did take and add them soon.

Today we sort of got to meet our baby, by which I mean we had our first ultrasound! It was amazing to see the baby moving all around, especially when it started kicking like mad and I couldn’t feel it at all. It’s weird to think how much it does that I don’t know about.

Anyway, the whole ultrasound thing was fascinating. We got to see the brain, heart, kidneys and bones, and the tech took all sorts of measurements. Dan was thoroughly fascinated by the whole process, (and of course in awe of seeing his first born).

Actually, we averted our eyes during the kidney part because we didn’t want to accidentally find out the baby’s sex. I’m not going to lie – it was hard not to peek.

We got a few stills printed out, one of which is included here. It’s a slightly fuzzy scan of a slightly fuzzy ultrasound picture, but hey, it’s more than imaginary drawings in a book, which is what we had before today.

A little blurry, but a good idea of the current bump size.

So next week marks the halfway point of our first pregnancy, which means I’ve been meaning to put something like this up on my site for almost 20 weeks now. Definitely a world procrastination record for me.

Although I suppose the first trimester wouldn’t have been that interesting. It probably would have been something like, “Sick and exhausted today. What in the world was I thinking” over and over for 12-13 weeks. Riveting.

Anywhoodle, the pregnancy is actually fun right now, because I’m showing quite a bit but still reasonably mobile. I actually look pregnant and not like I’ve suddenly gotten a big spare tire. Getting huge is still one of my biggest worries about the whole pregnancy thing, though you wouldn’t know it from the amount of ice cream that seems to find its way into my mouth lately.

But I don’t feel too bad about my regular sweet indulgences, because my other significant pregnancy craving is raw fruits and vegetables. I am seriously happiest sitting down to a huge pile of greens covered with fruit, avocado and walnuts. And if it’s followed by a bowl of chocolate peanut butter zig zag ice cream, so much the better.

A few major updates to cover since I’ve been so remiss in getting this whole blog thing going:

• At our last appointment (April 15) the baby’s heartbeat was super strong, my blood pressure was right on track, and I had finally gained weight. Up until then I hadn’t technically gained anything, despite my jeans no longer fitting.
• This past week I’ve been able to feel the baby kick a few times, which is both very cool and very weird. Dan doesn’t believe me yet because the baby has been uncooperative and won’t kick when he’s around.
• We’re going in for our ultrasound next Wednesday (May 4). We opted not to do any of the first trimester testing, so it will be really nice to see the baby and know that it’s OK. We don’t want to know the sex; fingers crossed that works out!
• Friends in Boulder and/or those who are down for a road trip: the baby shower is scheduled for August 20. Mark your calendars!

My current favorite thing about the pregnancy is that we’re going on a babymoon in May. (That’s where you go away as a couple either before or after the baby comes – like a honeymoon) We’re headed to an all inclusive resort in Mexico for four days, and I cannot wait.

Between now and then we’re doing a wedding in San Diego and I’ve got a business trip to Chicago, so I’ll be putting the theory that the second trimester is the best time to travel to the test. Yes Mom, I promise to take care of myself and your grandchild.