Bump @ 34 Weeks

Baby Jenks receives a smooch from his #1 babysitter, my baby sister.

Nothing much to report here, just wanted to post a more recent bump photo. This was taken at my little brother Jake's 18th birthday party on Sunday July 7th. 

Okay, two things.

One: When Jake was born, I was in the delivery room. I was 16 and the experience left quite an impression (and is possibly the reason I "maintained my purity" longer than most, ahem). It was far less dramatic than I had imagined. Not sure if this was because he was #5 or they had perfected the epidural by then, but the day was pretty relaxed. All 5 of us were born at Stanford Hospital and it means a lot that Mike and I are continuing the tradition.

Two: Samantha - my sister who is 10 years younger than I - is quite possibly more excited for the arrival of this baby than Mike and I combined. She loves kids and kids love her. Honestly? Whenever I start to get the tiniest bit anxious, just thinking about her with the little one puts my nerves to rest. If I don't know what to do, she will. And, more importantly, she will infuse whatever the moment is with pure joy. Sharing this experience with her, from appreciating tiny socks to choosing nursery drapes, will be something I will always cherish. 

Next post will feature the nursery! XO 

Final Exam

Once again, apologies for letting some time pass between my last post and now. We have had a rough few weeks, here's what's been going on. Oh, I should say that all things pregnancy-related are just fine. Also, forgive the long windedness of this post and the medical details / chronology...putting all of this down is probably more cathartic for me than anything else.

handsome little devil rules the roost

his favorite spot, our bed

For the last six months, our main dude Mookie has had a mysterious medical issue. On February 14th, we brought him to the vet for a gash on his left hind leg. Since it was wide open, he got staples / antibiotics / and (the dreaded) cone. It healed up nicely. On May 22nd, we noticed the wound was back. We brought him to the vet again and I asked if it could possibly be the result of something coming from the inside-out. We took an X-ray that proved inconclusive and the wound healed. On June 29th, I noticed a growth (I have photos for those of you with a dark side) that was causing the skin - in the same spot - to split open. Off to the vet we went, this time culminating in surgery to remove (July 1st) and biopsy (July 5th) the nubbin. 

Not good news. Mookie was diagnosed with fibrosarcoma - an aggressive, malignant soft tissue cancer that can occur at a vaccination site. We were told the growth was the "tip of the iceberg". The following days were trying, as we waited to visit with an oncologist at Sage Emergency Veterinary Center. On July 10th, we brought our much traumatized cat to yet another doctor's office. A series of tests - chest X-rays, abdominal ultrasound, blood work - were run to determine if it had spread. Two pieces of good news - it had not and the location of the growth, in the lower part of his leg, was considered ideal for treatment via surgery (e.g. amputation). On July 12th, Mookie had his left hind leg removed. 

perhaps some more pain med's, please

Surgery went well. Two things to note: 1) during prep (read: shaving), the surgeon found another growth believed to be an unrelated mast cell tumor and 2) that bump and the leg would be further biopsied to determine a chemotherapy recommendation. We already decided to forgo chemotherapy, regardless of the recommendation. There is not enough conclusive research about its merits and, to put bluntly, we just don't want to put him through that.

An update! I just received a call from the surgeon with some good news. Both growths were successfully removed with clean margins (key) and the tumors are classified as low / mixed grade, meaning they would not recommend chemotherapy. SO. FREAKING. GRATEFUL.

This post is called Final Exam because that is the way I choose to look at the past few weeks. We have been asked to make some tough decisions and our ability to communicate with each other and care for a little one under stressful conditions has been truly tested. At 8 months pregnant, sleeping on an air mattress, hand feeding kibble around the clock, and holding Mookie (all 15 lbs.) above his litter box has sucked, I am not going to lie. But, as I take care of Mookie, Mike takes care of me. And there have been laughs along the way to keep us sane. Mike threatened to make me a key chain with Mookie's leg and, as we both held him over his litter box last night and he kept peeing and peeing (not unlike Austin Powers), Mike asserted that Mookie had, once again, gotten into daddy's beer. My boys, my loves.

the nursery: where he...and I...have been quarantined

Big Head, Big Balls

This morning, we had a 3D ultrasound. The purpose was to check for a cleft palate, which runs in Mike's family, but none of the shots were conclusive. However, the nurse was able to look at the nasal cavity and gum lines and all looks good; he indicated we have no reason to worry. 

We learned a whole helluva a lot of other goodness, though. The nurse took a series of measurements (head, upper arm, thigh, abdomen) and plugged them into an equation that estimates weight +/-10%. His head measures as if we were at 38 weeks and everything else measures at 32 weeks, which is indeed where we are. He weighs 5.2 pounds, mostly dome. I happened to be texting with a dear friend at one point during the appointment (I know, I'm that guy) and she said all of her kids have big heads - the single quality all U.S. Presidents have in common, it has something to do with power. The nurse informed us that he also has big balls. I think Baby Jenks would make a fine President with that combo. 

his debut

"Is this the class where everyone shows their boobs?" - Mike

On Saturday, we attended the Breastfeeding class at Day One in Palo Alto - class 3 of 4 of the "WTF Am I Doing / New Parent" series. Pretty informative. Even though women have been doing it for eons, there seems to be new information and tactics. Apparently, it does not come so naturally for the mom. But I am guessing it does for the baby, referred to as a "snapping turtle" on more than one occasion? Such a highly politicized topic, but we still feel pretty grounded on the island of, "We are going to give everything our best shot and are equally aware that everything is out of our control." Okay, nuff said. Here is my champion of a husband who attended, and not just for the snacks.

pretending to read

Bébé Shower

On Sunday June 2nd, the lovely ladies in my life got together for a baby shower brunch. Such a fun party - beautiful room, insanely awesome flowers, delicious food, tasty prosecco, and no games! My kind of baby shower, indeed. Here are the photos - enjoy! XO

the venue

the menu

fruit + bread

the cakes - german chocolate, carrot, and chocolate - vegan and oh so good

the presents

the table decor

vintage blocks for Baby Jenks...marbles, perhaps not

chit chat

mom + bestie

sister + mom 

ladies who brunch

opening gifts

the hostess with the mostest

mom + me + sister 

the flower girls

me + lee

she + me

obligatory baby bump grab

and this guy

Masters in Baby Administration

3.25 years

30 classes

76 units

788 hours spent in the classroom

2,363 hours spent reading / writing papers / studying for exams

16,400 miles driven

dorkus majorkus

On Friday, we attended Santa Clara University's Commencement to celebrate 2013 MBA graduates. For the sake of full disclosure, we went to campus with the intention of attending the ceremony...but instead opted for a nostalgic walk through campus + photos in the rose garden + dinner out. I finished school in December 2012 and with all-things-baby, it was a bit anticlimactic...but a lovely evening nonetheless.

obligatory baby bump grab

Many, many thanks to all for the support during this time!

She's Crafty [not really]

While listening to the Beastie Boys, hence this post's "inspired" title, I started two projects for the nursery.

The first was making the dresser / changing table less fit for an 8th grade science room or mechanic's garage and more fit for a nursery...by lining its drawers. Still not 100% convinced it is going to work. Mostly because when I opened all the drawers for the last pic, the thing almost fell over.

The second was auditing the collection of vintage letters we used as table markers at our wedding. The goal is to have the whole alphabet up on a wall, but some "went missing" at the wedding (family and friends with names that start with A, E, F, L, M - expect a call from us...j/k) and we still need the end of the alphabet. eBay and etsy, here we come.

P.S. Sorry my slipper is in the last pic, but at least I cropped out my belly. It was bare. Naked crafts are the best.

before

midst

after

"What is this crap?"