and showered again

This one was truly a surprise- on Wednesday, my supervisor walked into my office and demanded, "You're coming with me now. No questions," and led me to our main conference room where about 20 of my co-workers had assembled along with piles of food, a bouquet of pastel balloons, and a stack of wrapped gifts. It was a baby shower for Ishkabibble!

The biggest surprise? I think it was organized by my mother! Whether she did it unprompted or because colleagues suggested it was her responsibility, I'll never know (and I will not ask), but it was very sweet and I really did have tears in my eyes when I walked into the room.

We all sat and had lunch together- finger sandwiches and meatballs, and salads, and a chicken-rice dish, and stuffed mushrooms- all made by my co-workers and smuggled in without my noticing. They had taken up a collection site-wide and gave me an envelope of cash with the explanation that a gift card was too limited, so we're to spend the money on whatever Ishkabibble needs, wherever we need to buy it. The ladies with whom I share a building chipped in separately and bought the car seat that we registered for (Chicco KeyFit30). Two others had purchased a small wooden toy and a board book ("On the Night You Were Born"- beautiful, simple story) for our little one. After unwrapping the gifts and reading the cards, we dove into a beautiful cake that another colleague is famous for (she makes a cake for nearly every event we celebrate- birthdays, retirements, bridal showers, etc. and they're always gorgeous and deelish)- she could go pro with the cake business if she didn't want to be a scientist any more.

On the baby-front, Ishkabibble continues to grow and pass the NSTs and BPPs with flying colors. I've been having BH contractions for several weeks now, but didn't identify them until a nurse pointed them out on the monitor during an NST. Occasionally, they're VERY noticeable, but sometimes I hardly feel them at all. Now that we've passed 35 weeks, nothing will be done to stop labor once it starts. I've chatted with Ishka, though, and assured him that she's a March baby. At work, I've shown everyone how to do pretty much all that I do. They're not comfortable doing it solo yet, but I'll be kind of sitting back from here on out, available to help out and answer questions but no longer actually "doing" my job. My ankles are officially gone, no longer returning after a night spent horizontal. And I now sleep almost sitting up, propped on a pile of pillows because I can't go more than an hour on either side without back/hip/knee pain waking me up. Now that I sleep sitting, though, I generally manage 5-6 hours at a time... I should have thought of it sooner!

This weekend, we'll finally pick up the furniture. I'll wash all the baby items and tuck them away in the new dresser. 'Thank You' cards will go out to all the generous gift-givers from both showers. We'll finally hang the mobile that I've wanted for so long. And I'll see if my new sewing machine works by trying to make my own crib sheets and sleep sacks.

The countdown continues... 34 more days, or whenever Ishka decides it's time.