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She's here!

Our baby girl is here! Suzianne Marjorie Newman was born a whopping 8.5 pounds, 20 inches long on March 5, 2012:

Stay in the loop! Her blog is here; and be sure to follow her on Twitter!

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The Porge wishes Baby Girl Newman was here, too. (sigh)

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Beta test. Thanks, Porge. (Taken with instagram)

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Pixel Party! Or, How to Host a Virtual Baby Shower

My girlfriends are amazing and asked if they could host/attend a shower for Baby Girl Newman. But what's a Preggers to do when those girlfriends live all over the country? Well, turn to the Internet, of course. 

Today, we used Google+ Hangouts to get together for a virtual baby shower! It was all kinds of awesome.

All that was required of me was to walk into my living room at 3 p.m. with cupcakes, pink lemonade and an Internet connection:

Oh, and I needed a Google+ account, which I have, but never use. Today, Google+ sort of won me over, but only because of the Hangouts feature. 

Since none of us had ever taken part in a virtual baby shower before--or had ever heard of one, for that matter--we made a practice run of Hangout last week: 

It was then we discovered the only real drawback to using Google+ for a group event: you can only see/hear 10 folks at a time. Well, that and you have to have a Google+ account. Many of our invitees had Gmail accounts, but had not yet signed up for Google+. 

We also tried Skype and Go To Meeting, but Google Hangout proved to be the easier option. 

Having the shower virtually allowed me open all my baby goodies to a chorus of squeals and giggles, give my gals a live tour of the nursery, show them how massive my belly has become and share love and laughs across three cities and two timezones:

If you live far from your besties and want to throw a similar virtual event, I highly recommend it! Here's how we did it:  

Invitations: Paperless Post.

Registry: Amazon.com. Though, I got lots of fabulous gifts from other places, too! 

Instructions: Guests were instructed to have their Google+ profiles set up and their gifts delivered to our house by the day before the shower.

Party! A few minutes before 3 p.m., we sent Hangout invites via Google+ to the folks who had RSVP'd and had sent the host their gmail address. This is key, because you have to invite folks into your Hangout for them to join. It took use about 15 minutes to get everyone signed in. 

And, ta-da! You have yourself a virtual shower! 

Have you ever thrown/been the guest of honor at a Virtual Baby Shower? Share your tips and tricks in the comments!

Thank you Pavis, Becca and Rebecca for hosting such a fun and geeky event! Team Newman feels very loved :)

And if you want to see the iPhone slide show, it's here! 

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VIrtual Baby Shower: the iPhone Slideshow! 

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Cut and color before baby time. I guess this instinct to get all my high maintenance upkeep taken care of falls in the category of "nesting"? Eyebrows and pedicure tomorrow... (Taken with instagram)

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Showered with love...and frosting!

We are blessed to have such thoughtful, fabulous co-workers and friends who have hosted showers for Baby Girl Newman! Now, Dave's got his fancy-pants jogging stroller, and I've got all kinds of goodies from a baby monitor, to fingernail clippers to the Diaper Genie! Her nursery is going to be completely stocked! 

...and our stomachs completely full.

To be sure, these showers have not fallen short in the Yummy Treats Department:

Not that I'm complaining. 

And we're gearing up for our final shower: a virtual one! Since most of "my girls" are in other states--from California, to Texas to Florida and Tennessee--we're giving a pixel party a go! We'll use Google+ to chat, giggle and open adorable baby presents. I'm so excited! 

Have you ever participated in a virtual shower? Did you use Skype, Google+ or some other type of chat-type platform? If you've got tips, let me know! 

And if you've got frosting, send it over. 

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Bump at a check up! (Taken with instagram)

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Not sure we're mature enough to have children

If there is one thing you should never do with my husband, Dave, it is sit next to him in a place where you're supposed to be serious and silent.

I repeat: do not go with this man to the symphony, a Diana Krall concert, church, a wedding, a conference, or a day-long labor and delivery class:

You have been warned.

To be fair, the fact that I nearly peed my pants on three occasions yesterday is not entirely his fault.

When you are 12, much of the stuff covered in a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. labor and delivery class is funny. Not only because the word "vagina" is used repeatedly. Our classmate actually introduced himself with the words, "Hello, my name is Luca." I, of course, completely lost it. It was 9:10 a.m. It was going to be a long day.

Because--I don't know if you know this about us, but--my husband and I are in fact 12 years old. And about to have a baby. Lord help her.

Despite the fact that Dave and I missed lots of helpful instruction because we were suppressing tear-inducing giggle fits, I'm glad we went.

Believe it or not, the laboring positions and Lamaze techniques covered were actually quite helpful. All the images you see of women giving birth involve them laying flat on their backs; this is not the most productive way to labor. Thanks to yesterday's class, I feel much more prepared to help my labor progress naturally, with the help of good old gravity.

And by "naturally," I mean that time between when labor begins and I demand an epidural.

Sure, I could have done without seeing the live birth video--why do they always have to show women screaming?--but I am much more confident now that we have a better understanding of how labor starts, progresses through three phases and how the body heals afterward.

Except, Dave and I will forever cringe every time we see just how WIDE a 10 centimeters dilated cervix is:

Good Lord! No wonder labor hurts.

This diagram also explains how women of every shape and size can birth a baby. As my friend Jessica said to me last week, "a 10 centimeters dilated cervix is one-size fits all."

It was also nice to preview the hospital cafeteria. They have Good Humor bars in there:

Not that it really matters though, because I'll be eating ice chips while Dave chows down on the fried chicken and pizza we scoped out.

But seriously, that class further proved that Dave is going to be a rock star during labor and delivery.

Even when he had tears in his eyes (like when the instructor suggested a labor play list of songs with the word "baby" in them, and all we could think of was "Baby Got Back"), he was taking notes, correctly answering the instructors questions and making sure I was comfortable.

I'm one blessed gal to be married to him, and Baby Girl Newman is even more blessed to call him "daddy."

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Check out my handmade baby blanket!

A few months ago, the urge struck me to commission a quilt for Baby Girl Newman. None of the books, blogs or "What to Expect"-types mention a baby blanket. I just sort of woke up one day and declared "I CANNOT BRING A BABY INTO THIS WORLD WITHOUT A HANDMADE QUILT."

So, I reached out to my crafty, talented, half-marathon-conquering friend, Ashley. I gave her a few colors to consider and told her to surprise me. 

And today, I received this: 

{SQUEAL!} 

So, it's the cutest baby quilt E V E R; handmade by a dear friend for my baby girl! Yes, it is machine-washable. And soooo soft.

My friends are talented. Life is good. 

Thank you, Ashley! 

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Me being a business lady at 35.5 weeks; Aunt Ingrid being very excited about Baby Girl Newman.

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You will be strong and powerful.

My OB, when I told him I was nervous about someone as tiny as I am going through the the labor and delivery process.

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Itty bitty socks

I'll never again complain about losing one of my socks in the dryer. Have you ever lost one newborn sock somewhere in your house? That's a real problem. And losing one of those little hand cover things--also a problem.

But oh, so cute. Just the one; sitting there all by its lonesome: 

Surreal thinking that I will soon birth a human small enough to fit into something that tiny.

FYI: I know I have 5 weeks to go, but I keep having these Braxton Hicks contractions. A lot. And it makes the whole labor thing seem like it really could happen at any minute. I figured I should probably plot out what needs washing now--and what we are bringing Baby Girl Newman home in--just in case she comes early. 

Special thanks to Beth, TT and Dave's-work-spouse-Rachel for stocking the nursery drawers and closet FULL of adorable Newborn to Six Months hand-me-downs. These clothes were a delight to sort through, wash and fold. I'm serious.

Tonight is the only time I can remember actually enjoying doing the laundry :)

35 weeks, FTW*

*Nicole: this means "for the win."

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Large. And jamming to Michael McDonald at work. (34.5 weeks) (Taken with instagram)

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I love how our birthing hospital has a piano in the lobby (Taken with instagram)

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Ladies: if you can't lie to me, zip it.

Many of my Preggers posts have highlighted the ridiculous things dude strangers said to me throughout my second trimester. But, now that I'm well into my third trimester, I'm discovering the tide has turned.

Dude strangers now seem to go to GREAT lengths to act like they don't know I'm pregnant, while lady strangers have started blurting out mindless comments right off the bat.

Like this winner, which a lady stranger recently honored me with at a fancy DC lunch event: 

Lady Stranger: "Oh! You are HUGE! You must be due any day now!"

Me: "Actually, I have six weeks left."

Lady Stranger: "OH MY! Just think how MASSIVE you will be by then!"

Me: {Blink, blink. Southern smile hiding the urge to punch her in the face} "Yeah."

Lady Stranger: "Well! Congrats on the baby! Have a good day!"

This lady shall, of course, remain nameless...only because I HAVE NO CLUE WHO SHE IS.

People, I know I look like I'm smuggling a regulation size basketball under my shirt, but that is an observation ONLY I GET TO MAKE.

Geez-o-Pete, ladies. Take a cue from my fabulous friends and co-workers, who know to say things to Preggers gals like "you're glowing" and "you look great!" Or just smile and nod. Better yet, do something helpful like buy us some Nutella, Gala apples, a McDonald's milkshake or a Ruth's Chris steak.

Here's how this works: if you can't bring yourself to lie to the Preggers, don't say anything at all. 

{Note: To be fair, I did have two lady strangers approach me at a restaurant in New York and--Dave as my witness--shower me with the.sweetest.complements and well-wishes EVER. So, not all lady strangers have this problem...just the ones in D.C.}

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A gentle reminder that I'll soon resemble a deranged squirrel. Sweet. (Taken with instagram)