27.5 weeks- this pointy belly could poke your eye out!

Hello all,

It is now 4:30 in the morning, and I figured now is as good as any time to send this email out! Last night we had a delicious and filling meal of orzo, swiss chard from our neighbors garden with onion, and Korean bbq chicken, deliciously prepared by my adoring and talented husband, Chef Osei. For dessert, we then ate homemade ice cream (vanilla with chocolate chip, toffee, and walnut) that we created in an ice-cream maker we're currently "babysitting" while a dear friend of ours is out of town. Despite all of that, I woke up in the middle of the night absolutely famished and had to get a snack. In fact, given the way my mouth is still watering as I'm thinking about last night's dinner, it might be time for round two of the middle-of-the night snack!

Actually, hunger right now doesn't seem the least bit surprising, because Omee has been growing so much this week that I can actually see the difference in my belly! Plus, all week, I experienced lovely stretching and ligament pain from my belly getting bigger. Indeed it is, and is getting nice and pointy too!

This past weekend Osei and I started construction of our co-sleeper, which is a 3-sided bassinet that will attach to our bed. Right now we just need to put on the legs, make the mattress, adjust the height of the mattress, and attach it to our bed. We'll make the mattress out of felted wool sewn together (which is both water and fire resistant). The co-sleeper is very big, but Osei and I wanted to make it tall enough that the baby could potentially sleep there for as long as we didn't mind the company, without the risk of falling out over the sides! We'll send pictures soon, but probably not until it is finished.

This week starts the 3rd trimester! Things are starting to feel more and more real, but we also feel like we still have a lot to do to get ready for this little baby! This coming weekend Osei and I will be going to Canada, just outside of Montreal, for a romantic 3-day weekend to ourselves. It will be nice to have no agenda to accomplish other than time with each other!
Love and hugs to all,

Amy, Osei, and Omee

26.5 weeks

Hello all,

Here is a picture from last weekend, at 26.5 weeks. Luckily, you can't see the sweat dripping from my face here, but wow, is it hot! (Our big heat wave isn't even supposed to get here until tomorrow- gulp!).

Today we have another prenatal visit, which is our last "monthly" visit before we switch to bi-weekly visits. Time is ticking along though- we start the third trimester next week!

Major accomplishments this week (outside of the 1/3 of a full-size watermelon that I devoured lastnight, though Osei helped some) include getting cloth diapers from two mothers who have either happily reached pottytraining or decided that they are not the crunchy cloth-diaper type and wanted to pass them along. I'm amazed at how far cloth diapers have come since my middle-school babysitting days, of bulky cloth prefolds with gigantic safety pins and plastic covers!

We still have several baby name books on loan from the library, and have actually opened a few of them. The other day I dreamed we had a boy, and I told Osei, "Ok, I think we better start picking out some baby names we like!" Hopefully we'll have our list down well before October!

Much love and hugs to all,

Amy, Osei, and baby Omee (who loves watermelon and won't stay still)

25.5 weeks

Hello all,

Here is a picture from this past weekend, at about 25.5 weeks. It has been quite hot here, and I'm thankful to be working in an air-conditioned office building! Not too much new to report, except that baby Omee is, as usual, moving around nonstop.

Hope all is well!

Love,

Amy, Osei & Omee

Very late pictures- 23.5 & 24.5 weeks

Hello all,

Sorry for the massive delay in sending pictures! I'm now 25.5 weeks, so this is really late! Anyway, here is a picture from 23.5 and 24.5 weeks during our trip to Colorado. Super cute maternity clothes thanks to the lovely Tamara Hopkins, mother to two beautiful daughters.

Osei and I spent 10 wonderful days in Colorado for vacation. The trip was actually way too short, and we unfortunately didn't get to see many wonderful Colorado people we'd hoped to connect with. However, we spent a great day camping up at Rocky Mountain National Park, saw fireworks in Loveland, and hiked Royal Arches at Chataqua. My very talented sister, Suz, of In Harmony Studios (http://www.inharmonystudios.com/) took some professional maternity photos of us, and we had a fun little baby reception.

Now, we're back to reality in Boston... a lovely summer to come, hopefully full of lots of blowing fans and air conditioned places to visit!

Love and hugs to all,

Amy, Osei, and baby Omee.

22.5 weeks

Hello all,

Sorry for the delay in the picture this week! We just got back late last night from an amazing anniversary weekend in NYC! We saw many dear friends, and had a great time celebrating our own first year of marriage at the wedding of a wonderfully beautiful and happy couple, Daniel and Irina. Another fun highlight of the weekend was seeing Osei's brother, Khari, and then going bowling at Brooklyn Bowl. I'd forgotten how slow the ball seems to move down the alley when you use the super light kiddie bowling ball!

Here is a picture of us with Osei's parents just after enjoying a delicious brunch in Williamsburg. I also threw in a full belly-shot. Definitely no mistaking that belly for too many cookies now!

Omee is doing great- moving around all the time these days, which is a really fun experience for all of us!

Hope everyone is having a great week. Lots of love and hugs to all.

Love,

Amy, Osei & Omee

21.5 weeks

Hello all,

We spent a nice and busy weekend working at home in rainy Boston. Osei and I built an upholstered wood-paneled headboard for our bed, which looks awesome. It was a very fun project to work on together, and it is probably the most sturdy headboard ever- I think we used about 110 screws total! Luckily, since it is also massively heavy, we had a friend come over to help move it upstairs to our bedroom, and even help us attach it to the bed frame.

It was especially exciting for us to work on this project together because we wanted to do something crafty and fun before the baby comes, and it gives us a lot of confidence for other projects too- like building a co-sleeper! (A co-sleeper is sort of like a bassinette, but it attaches directly to your bed like a side-car).

Both of us are feeling really great. This picture is kind of late this week (because today I'm actually 22 weeks!). Osei has been able to find the heartbeat pretty easily with the fetoscope, and I've actually gotten to listen as well. It is amazing to hear the heart beating... I can feel Omee kicking and jumping and bouncing all the time, but it is really fun to remember that there is something ALIVE in there!

Hope all are well. This coming weekend Osei and I are going to NYC for the wedding celebration of dear friends of ours, which also happens to be on our one-year anniversary. What an amazing year it has been...

Hugs from all the Mays!

xoxo,

Amy, Osei, and Omee

20.5 weeks

Hello all,

Here is a picture from yesterday, at 20 weeks 5 days. I can't believe we made it to the half-way point!

A few times lately, people (ALWAYS young women) have given up their seat for me on the subway train after realizing I am pregnant. This is usually because I will rub my belly and relax my core so that my belly sticks out as far as it can (though hopefully not too passive-aggressively!). Anyway, yesterday, for the first time, an unrelated stranger asked me if I was expecting! I was so surprised and excited when she asked that when she next asked me how far along I was, I couldn't even remember! My mind was totally blank...

Yesterday was also a big day for us. Over the past year, I have been in Midwifery school, and yesterday I graduated from my course. I still have a long road ahead of me before being ready to officially practice as a midwife, but completing the formal portion of my studies feels like a huge step!

I hope all are well.

Hugs from all three of us!

Amy, Osei, and our fetus, growing-baby Omee

Almost half-way there! 19 weeks & 5 days

Hello all,

This has been an incredibly exciting week for the May family..

Last Thursday Osei and I had our prenatal with our awesome midwives. Baby and mamma are both looking healthy and good. We listened to the heartbeat with the fetoscope (which is a special kind of stethoscope with a flat plate you rest your forehead on in order to hear a baby's heartbeat, which is really quiet). The midwife was able to find it (144 beats per minute), which was surprising to me, because 19.5 weeks is on the early side for the HB to be strong enough to hear with a fetoscope. She said she'd never heard it that early before! Must be all the running! We are thankful for a strong heartbeat. The really exciting part was that even Osei was able to find it and listen. As a midwife-in-training, I know that is not an easy skill- it is hard to know what to listen for, and it is so soft! I'm very impressed with Osei's talent!

Also this week, we had some family in from out of town, and celebrated with henna tattoos! (See second picture)

This morning we celebrated the almost-halfway-point in our pregnancy with a half-marathon, called Boston's Run to Remember. Osei raced, and I took it easy. I drank lots of water, ate food during the race, and started out in the back of the pack. I felt really great the whole way, and about halfway through began feeling really great, and began passing people. Osei doubled back after the finish line and met me at mile 12 to run the last mile with me, which was wonderful to share. I got choked up when I saw him, thinking about how our whole family was running this race... Anyway, my time was 2 hours and 17 minutes (vs. my personal non-pregnant best of 1:37)! I didn't see any other pregnant ladies pass me, so it is possible that I was the fastest one at the race!

The rest of the weekend shall be devoted to relaxing, drinking water, and enjoying good food and sunshine. We had our first cook-out Friday night, and it feels like summer is finally here! I am thinking of everyone running the Bolder Boulder tomorrow! Happy memorial day to all!

Love,

Amy & Osei

18.5 weeks

Hello all,

Here is a picture from 18.5 weeks, just before heading over to Osei's graduation. Yes, Osei graduated! I'm so proud of him. My mom got me this lovely outfit, and I'd just like to point out her excellent taste and sense of style.

I'm feeling great. Getting up is a little harder, and I can definitely feel the changes in my center of gravity. When I'm laying down or sitting in a deep chair, I sort of feel like a bug stuck on my back with my legs and arms just sort of sprawling in the air. I have to roll over and carefully maneuver, and getting up is a little more awkward. I have a feeling that is only going to get worse though!

We have our next prenatal this week with our fabulous midwives, Audra, Tara (and apprentice Catherine, who, last year completed the same midwifery program that I am taking).

Love to all,

Amy

17 weeks 5 days

Hello all,

This has been an exciting week in the May household. Osei is working very hard finishing is final thesis paper (the thesis he already presented a few weeks ago). He will graduate next Saturday, woo hoo!

Not that the days matter very much, but this picture is from today, 17weeks 5 days. The shirt actually says "Smith" and is in honor of Smith College Commencement, which happened this weekend. Unfortunately, I missed my 6 year class reunion, but I was there in spirit. Who knows if we're growing a future Smithie too!

I've been feeling the baby (who we call Omee right now) moving a lot. On Friday, I could feel thumping from the outside, just placing my hand on my belly. It kind of feels like a goldfish you buy at the pet store hitting into the side of the plastic bag. Please promise to never tell our child that we often compare it to a goldfish. :)

I hope all are well. Hugs to all!

Love,

Amy & Osei