She'll be 9 months old Friday. The next doc appointment isn't until the following Tuesday, and I'm really curious what her numbers will be. She feels huge, has been eating like crazy the last couple of weeks, and I think she has gained enough that I need to increase her Zantac dose again. She's still wearing 12 month clothes, but barely. I think I'll bust out the 18 months tops in a week our two.

Growing, Oh God is she growing. Probably 17 pounds now, turning 5 months old on Tuesday, outgrowing her 6 month clothes already. We've started her on cereal, which she thinks is just the coolest thing because she's like the other kids at daycare. She's going to have huge problems with peer pressure in high school!

We welcomed Adelle Kathleen to the world at 12:45am Friday, January 28th. She has a full head of brown hair, and weighed in at 6 lb 12oz, 19.5 inches long, with a head circumference of 33.5cm.

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She's due Wednesday, January 19th. Yesterday was my last day of working in the office. I'll be telecommuting next week until she makes her grand entrance. I'm betting she'll be late. I've been super geeky and looking up stats and averages, so if she is perfectly average she'll be 8 days late, 7 1/2 pounds, I'll have 15 hours of labor ending with 3 hours of pushing. She's already not average: we had an ultrasound just before Christmas because I was measuring "small for dates" and she was 5 pounds, 14 ounces at 36 weeks 1 day. That puts her at the 31st percentile, not 50th percentile. Really? I'm happy with that, because a 7 pound baby sounds like a way easier delivery than a 7 1/2 pound baby. At most they'll let me go 2 weeks past my due date before inducing. That translates to February 2nd. I'm feeling pretty good these days: minimal swelling, hips are only occasionally achy, and I get tired easily. If things stay like this, I'm more than happy to let her keep cooking at her own pace until she makes the call to come out. On the other hand, I have been losing weight lately - a pound a week across the last 2 weekly appointments. They say that's a sign my body is ready to move her along. Perhaps she'll be here before that average 8 day mark (January 27th)?

Wow, my baby is due in 18 days. Tomorrow we're installing the carseat bases (Scott's and my car). We have the changing table ready, a week worth of diapers, drawers of clean clothes, the crib is set up and her bed has been made. Our bag is packed for the hospital. I think that's everything.

And now we wait.

Woo! Had our first baby shower this weekend. It was great to be back in the D, full of good food, good friends, and time with the family. Friday we hit Buddy's for the Detroit style pizza Scott as been craving. We hung out with Scott's parents and sister, Sean & Stacie and all 3 of their kids. It was our first chance to meet their youngest, Sarah. Saturday a similar group, but we swapped Scott's dad & sister for my parents, and added a couple of Scott's college friends and Dim Sum next to "Tipsy McStaggers Pub". Everyone wanted to be the new foursquare mayor of Tipsy's. Best name ever for a bar!

From there to the Franklin cider mill for donuts and hot cider with my folks, Scott's other sister, and his niece. The place was a zoo, but the band was good, the cider was good, and the Lord of the Gourd was there carving squash. Scott and I went back with my parents to their hotel to change for the shower and check out their nifty glass elevator.

The shower was wonderful, it was great to see everyone, and we got some amazing gifts. I have to admit, I was most psyched about the quilts. Patty made a very cute one with bunnies, and Isabel made FOUR smaller quilts that will be great for tummy time/the stroller/the carseat/etc. Scott and I found it a little exhausting to be the guests of honor and have to meet & greet/be in front of the group/mingle. There were only 32 guests, but that's more than double our wedding so we joked later that this was "penance" for not inviting these same people to our wedding.

Sunday Tom & Rosie hosted brunch, again in our honor, and they celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. Aww! I didn't think anyone else would remember. We were there 4 hours, catching up with everyone. This was our first time seeing Scott's uncle Dan and aunt Wendy in years, it was great to catch up. Afterward we spent another hour with my folks just shooting the breeze, then a couple of hours with Scott's Dad & step-mom doing the same. Sunday night, back at Scott's mo & step-dad's we inventoried the loot from Saturday, packed what we could in our luggage, and managed to fit the rest in a medium box that will arrive on Thursday (a mere $16 in shipping).

Over the weekend we spilled the beans to the grandparents: they're in on the baby's name, but we're not sharing with the rest of the world in case we change our mind when we see her. Revealing the baby's name brought up the flipside: what to call the grandparents? Lois wants to be Mimi, Ken will probably just be Ken (or Grampa Ken), my mom would like to be Nana Kathy and dad Papa Pat, and I forgot to ask Tom & Rosie but I think they'll be Grampa and Gramma Rosie, just like they are to their older granddaughter.

Scott's mom visited a month and a half ago and lent us her med school stethoscope. We've found the baby's heartbeat exactly twice, and the rest of the time she has used it for target practice. She is going to be a kickboxing champion, I swear. Scott's mom said "Tell you what, when you're home I'll show you how to find the baby's back, and we'll listen to hear heart." Friday night she explained the process, found the back, and put on the stethoscope. 5 minutes later she still hadn't heard the heartbeat, just lots of kicking and punching. Seriously, kid knows her favorite target and loves to practice. Today after dropping off our package at the UPS store (Fedex must die) I walked back in the house and realized that WHOA, my belly is firm. I wondered momentarily if this was a Braxton-Hicks contraction, but my belly wasn't "as firm as your forehead" per the OB info packet. Nope, it was the baby, her back there for heartbeat listening. Scott ran for the stethoscope, I layed down, and... she rolled to kick the stethoscope. Laughing, I stood back up... and she rolled back to position. Scott tried listening while I stood up, but that wasn't working so Lois ordered me to the couch, we tried again with an expert's guidance... and miracle of miracles, she found the heartbeat! She got to listen for 30 seconds, then Scott got 15 and so did I. Lois took the earpieces back, but by then the baby had already started to roll, and she was kicking and punching the stethoscope by the time Ken came over.

We had a safe, uneventful trip back. I got a chance to catch up on FaceBook and post the usual inconsequential actions of my day. I've tallied up the baby outfits we have, between my earlier purchases and the generous gifts this weekend. Not quite a full wardrobe, but getting close.

"At Family Dollar, most customers have incomes under $40,000. While Costco shoppers average household income is $74,000 and Pottery Barn & Williams Sonoma shoppers earn $100,000+, and the median household income of Target guests is $55,000."

Boston Gal posted a nice recap of an article about dollar stores muscling in on bigger retailers. The quote above is synthesized from that and some research. Always interesting to see where I land on the spectrum of shoppers. Like me, Boston gal is the opposite of the "aspirational shopper" but we couldn't think of a name for that.

I have been shopping at dollar stores more. Not because I have too much month at the end of my money like the people in the article, but because sometimes it really is a better deal. I also like that the store is small enough to browse around a bit to see what they really have to offer.

3 down, 3 to go in my prenatal yoga class. It's really reassuring to see other pregnant ladies who are all ~ where I am. When we started, I was at 19 weeks, the earliest was at 17 weeks, and the furthest along was at 30. I was way bigger than the 17, but smaller than the 20 and 22, so it felt good to know I'm on track. I don't think Ms. 30 weeks has been back - only about half of the original class is there any given week.

At the beginning of the class the instructor asks if there is anything anyone would like tow work on. I think all yoga instructors do this, but it's illuminating in this context. This week one gal had sciatica, another a varicose vein and inflammation related to it, the third had trouble sleeping. We discussed the big pregnancy pillows, which everyone else has. One said the pillow was too thick, another's boyfriend had claimed it as his own. I have a collection of normal pillows for maximal adjustment, which is working great for me. I was also the only one in the class with no complaints. I can't tell if I should be smug for being healthy, or just wait for my time to come. Probably the latter.

I bought a tube of Lanisoh at Building 19, then realized it was expired when I got home. This week I decided it shouldn't go in the baby's mouth, so I'm using it as anti-stretch-mark cream instead. It's thick and sticky, so I'm not sure I'll stick with it, but it seems like a good moisturizer. Apparently lanolin was the original Oil of Olay, so if nothing else I'll have a young looking belly. Heh.

I really like reading personal finance and frugality blogs. It resets my bar for what is "normal," even though that normal is definitely not the mainstream!

Right now I'm skimming through the Best Of over at Frugal Homemaker Plus, and the "Why not? You can afford it!" is making me feel better about my choices. She buys clothes at Goodwill, drives a 10(?) year old car, she and her husband had a housemate for the longest time, and she shops the discount produce rack at the grocery store, along with collecting oodles of coupons. All this, while she works close to full time and he is an aerospace engineer. I'm not quite that frugal, but I feel like less of a skinflint over my choice to buy used clothes on eBay, "name your own price" at PriceLine for hotels and car rentals, and that we ate free potatoes gleaned from a farmer's field for dinner last night. As I was slicing up the potatoes last night, Scott dropped by and said "you know hon, we can afford to buy potatoes." But where's the fun in that? There's a certain challenge to finding a bargain that I really enjoy. The thrill of the hunt.

Off to eBay for some Fall maternity shirts. I'm trying to get some for under $4/shirt, delivered.