Week 32 ~Merry Christmas~

I could get used to this whole non-working, vacation time! I enjoyed a whole work-free week that began with Mommom and PopPop, moved on to Amelia Island, and ended back in our cozy Orlando bed. Flat Rock was fun (and snowy!) I was able to spend some much needed, pre-holiday time with MomMom and PopPop. My mom and I literally shopped until we dropped each day, even icey roads can't stop shopinldy and shopinldy jr! I flew home on Wednesday, just barely avoiding airport craziness caused by the underwear bomber. Seriously people, a bomb in your whitey tighties? Christmas day was fantastic as well! We spent the day with Grandpa and JoJo lounging, napping, skyping, and eating a DeLiCiOuS turkey dinner. The Astor's are officially up and running on Skype, all ready for little man's arrival. You can find us by email: meganastor@live.com or Skype name: Nolen.Astor. We'll be broadcasting the entire delivery (kidding, kidding, or are we? :)

My latest sonogram today revealed some surprises. Our little man is already pushing 5 pounds! The books all say that he should gain 1/2 pound each week from here on out. (5 pounds + 1/2 pound x 8 weeks= one big baby!) I'm guessing

A. we're either going to have one hefty baby or

B. Little man is going to make his debut before February 17th.

While little man is busy gaining weight supposedly I've been busy losing it? At my appointment today they said I was down 4 pounds. The nurse asked if I had been dieting. Well if you call skipping the gym, drinking Starbucks caramel brulle lattes daily, and putting extra gravy on my Christmas dinner dieting, then yes, I have been dieting! Who knows whats going on, at least our stinker is a growing machine. She didn't seem concerned with the weight lose, so I suppose I shouldn't be either.

The sonogram technicians aren't allowed to say a whole lot, they leave all the talking to your doctor. I was however noticing whenever she took a measurement the machine said he was 34 or 35 weeks along, that's 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Humm... grandparents, you might want to start packing a bag for when you get that special phone call :)

Week 31

Dear Nolen,
Hi stinker, it's me mommy! Lets talk about those tootsies of yours. They are awful cute, and I love feeling them kick. I was just wondering if you could find a new place for them. Or maybe you could just move them from my right ribs to my left ribs. This might also help with that soccer game you've been practicing for. Also, I wanted to let you know that we are on VaCaTiOn!!! That means you can sleep in! No need to wake mommy up at 6am for the next 2 weeks! So go ahead and relax, you can practice your break dancing later.
Love you,
Mommy

P.S. Sorry for having that 2nd caramel brullee latte today.

My breakdancing Ninja in action!

I was able to catch our little breakdancer in action, enjoy! (*Tip* turn your head to the right to enjoy my view) He gives us 4 good kicks in the first minute...

Week 30

Week 30, 10 more weeks (or less) until little Nolen is here to party! This week he decided to go ahead and flip head down. I think our little man might be getting a little impatient in there, but I don't know where he'd get that impatience from (eh-hum Tim??) With his head down that means his feet have a new home in my ribs. Very cozy (not!) It is fun always knowing where those little tootsies are though. Nolen and I have started playing a little game of tag. Anytime I give those little tootsies a push they kick right back, so cute! However if Nolen comes out with flat feet I had nothing to do with it :) He's still sticking to his waking and playing schedule. He wakes up at 6:30am (weekends included), practices his dance moves around 3-5 each day, rests, then it's back up around 10-12am. That's a lot of awake time for a little guy! Hopefully it doesn't have anything to do with my current craving, Starbucks caramel brulee lattes. (Starbucks why must you come out with all this holiday deliciousness while I'm trying to stay away from caffeine?)

Nolen Reed @ 30 weeks

I was able to get a 3-D sonogram done this morning to see our little man. Can't believe how much he's changed in just 10 weeks. His little cheeks are getting chubby and he's so big! I assure you that he has 2 hands and 10 fingers, although these pictures don't make it appear so. His hands were up really close to the front, while the pictures focused on his cute little face. Enjoy!

Here is the link the Nolen's first video, he's a bit swirmy, can't seem to get comfy :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoenWdLoWrM

week 29

Saturday, oh Saturday. We spent the entire day (9-5) at the hospital in childbirth class. Mucus plugs, episiotomys, bloody shows, bowel movements during labor...they covered it ALL, pictures and videos included! Now for those of you who know Tim well, know that he has an extremely weak stomach. I was a little (OK terribly) concerned how he was going to fare with all of these things. It was just as I had expected, his eyes grew wide, his legs began to shake, and he managed to bite all ten fingernails at once. It was a good thing we were learning about labor that day. I was able to make him more comfortable with my Lamaze pillows, teach him some deep breathing relaxing techniques, and offer him supporting words during the extremely difficult times. Folks, I'm more worried about my labor coach then I am labor. Especially since I now think that I want to give natural childbirth a whirl! I don't know that he'll be able to handle all the extra pain. Can the hospital give Tim my epidural?

Natural child birth...yes you heard me right. I absolutely hate the feeling of being numb, even when it's just my mouth at the dentist. I would much rather have the pain. I've heard that your body has it's own "numbing" agents once things really get rolling too! I also like the idea of being mobile during the labor process. I want to be able to move from bed to ball, from ball to chair, and even take a stroll down the hallway if possible. An epidural would stick me in bed the ENTIRE time. But as we learned in class today you always need a plan B. So my plan A is to attempt this all natural. If I get there it hurts like hell, and I realize this was all just crazy talk then bring on the drugs (plan B!)

Nolen news... How do you make a baby dance? You take him to a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert. He liked it so much that he was still dancing 3 hours later at 3am! Poor little guy probably didn't know what was going on out there.

We received both of our January baby shower invites this week!!! I can't believe they're only a month away. I hope our little man knows how much love there already is for him, he's going to be one lucky boy!

love, love, love

Maternity photos sneak peak...

Here's a little sneak peak of our maternity session we had on Monday!!! Can't wait to see the rest!