In order to prepare for baby’s birth and my after hospital stay, I went on a tour of the general Labor and Delivery and a Birthing Suite at the hospital where I will deliver. Each mom has a room to herself with her baby (or babies if she is having multiples). The baby will room in with her. Continue reading “Labor and Delivery Tour “
Today during the part I’m church when new visitors may introduce themselves if they choose, Pastor Mariellen announced it was Kira’s first time visiting. Everyone turned to see Sean and Ashley’s seven week old daughter.
A few weeks ago I saw the Baby Area Birth Information Expo advertised on Facebook. It looked like an intriguing mix of providers, so I was eager to check it out. I made sure to be there early as goodie bags from the vendors would be given to the first 100 attendees. Upon entering I was given five raffle tickets, and a Harmony canvas bag containing all these items.
Some moms to be have their going to the hospital bags packed at the start of their third trimester, whereas others seem to be leaving it till one of the last things to do before they expect to give birth. I’ve had a plan in place of when I’d start in general, and I promised Matt and myself I’d start after our baby shower. This was in part as some of the things I thought I’d need could be things I’d get at my baby shower. I’ll technically be bringing a bag inside a bag, the main bag being a rolling suitcase that was a wedding present and inside this Tactical Baby Gear bag (with matching changing pad) that was a shower present.
Several weeks ago Matt and I and my friend Rachel went to Carmel River State Park, one location we had used for our engagement photos, to take my maternity photos. At first I had envisioned myself in two diffenet dresses until the day of the shoot. Ok that day I happened to find an infant sized cap which inspired me to run the idea of us wearing 49es gear for the first part of our shoot, an idea that would well giving our photos a fun and casual look.
Continue reading “Maternity Shoot, Part One – Casual Outfits “
One of the most frequent questions I’ve been asked during my pregnancy is whether I’m expecting a girl or a boy. With two months to go, I still don’t know, by choice and am looking forward to finding out at his or her birth. Still, it’s a lot of fun to have people guess or flat out tell me what they believe I’m having.
Today several churches that reconciling ministries including my home church, Almaden Hills United Methodist Church attended The Silicon Valley Pride Parade to march in solidarity. Though months ago I had mulled over going, the heat and crowds let me decide to skip this far in my pregnancy. Our pastor, Mariellen, upon hearing this asked me to help her with our local service instead, and I happily accepted before I knew what my role would be.
Continue reading “Supporting Silicon Valley Pride Parade While Attending Church”
One of the great things about working so many different temporary assignments is the chance to experience new companies with their very different populations and cultures. Sometimes this is reflected in the style of dress allowed and also what is subtly encouraged to wear. The company I blogged about as Company C was a startup and very casual, I mostly wore T shirts over jeans and even my below the knee shorts were typical of what a lot of people wore. At my current office assignment, an office in a large company, while pants for the dress up days, Monday through Thursday, most women wear dresses and skirts. Two weeks ago Candy and I went shopping for my baby shower dress, after which, I shopped at the mall at The Gap Outlet for a few more dresses I could wear professionally and continue wearing after the baby is born. Not only did I have a Gap gift card, there was also a huge sale going on.
Continue reading “Dressing up for Work at 7 Months Pregnant “
I was on Facebook when I saw an ad for the Brain and Behavior Infant Experiences Study at Stanford University. There wasn’t a lot of information on the ad, yet it looked intriguing and so I filled out the form, a simple survey about my pregnancy so far. For additional information I wanted them to know I mentioned my age and how it might be interesting to have me as an older mom in the study. Less than a day and a half later, Marissa, a recent graduate from the Psychology Department at Stanford, called me to do a prequalification phone screen.
I was delighted that today was the first Sunday for which I would serve as a Shepherd, a helper with the Children’s Ministries. During the church service Peggy Joy called up a few kids to talk about sinking and swimming, demonstrating with props and water, then we heard the story of Jesus walking on water during a storm and how temporarily his disciple, Peter, was able to do so (with Jesus aiding him) until he no longer believed he could do so, and then started sinking.
Continue reading “Serving as a Shepherd for Grades K-5: Singing and Science Activities “
Over 40 First Time Mom 