Mr. Stubborn

Well, it appears I have one stubborn baby on my hands. Dominic has proudly taken over my body as his bachelor pad and shows no signs of vacating the premises on his own. So, at this rate I'll be due for an induction on Wednesday or Thursday. I should know more after my doctors appointment tomorrow. These last few days have dragged on soooo slowly. Although it hasn't been half as bad as some women make it sound. I'm uncomfortable, sure, and yes, I now walk with a waddle but it hasn't been THAT horrible. More than anything else I'm just impatient. Less than a week, baby, less than a week!

Thanksgiving turned out pretty well. I was able to spend time with my dad and both sides of my extended family, and spent the weekend putting up the Christmas tree. I just love the holidays and the food was even more appealing as a 9 month pregnant woman! This was the first Thanksgiving I had spent with my dad in NY in about 10 years and it was nice to spend the holiday with him and the rest of my family. It was definitely different than what I've become accustomed to though. I can't help but miss the big Thanksgivings with 20+ people at my mom and step dads house. Time for new traditions I suppose. By next year I should have a new place of my own (who knows where?) and maybe I'll start a new tradition for me and Dominic.

The closer I get to holding my little man, the more I miss my best friend, Talese. There hasn't been a day that's gone by over the past year that I haven't thought of her, but she's been consuming my thoughts even more these days. I can't help but think she should be here by my side when I have Dominic. I can only imagine the advice she would have for me. Hopefully she'll at least be there in spirit. I miss her so much.

I think I might be getting myself some interns for both of my businesses at the beginning of next semester. As I was laying in bed trying to sleep the other night I had a stroke of genius (it happens from time to time). There I was stressing about how I need help for the boutique and the marketing firm. Big time. And then it came to me. Interns. Duh! So I contacted two of the universities close to me, Syracuse University and Oswego State, and it turns out both businesses qualify for the internship program. Basically I post positions through the universities, and in exchange for working for me the interns get college credit. Genius! So, I think I'll be posting 3 positions for my marketing firm and 2 for my boutique. If you know of any students who would be interested, please let me know. By all means, the team of contractors I hired have helped a lot with my busy work but I need more specialized/professional employees to help with some of my bigger projects and tasks. I think this will be a great way to do it without spending an arm and a leg, and maybe I'll even end up with permanent employees. It's at least worth a shot! I'm excited for all the ideas and plans I have coming up in the next few months. Hopefully they will be just what I need to give business that extra little push and allow me to have more free time for Dominic. And if not, then it's back to the drawing board and I'll keep trying until I get it right! I have to set a positive example for my little protege, after all :)

"If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. "

My Little Turkey...

Happy early Thanksgiving! Tomorrow is my due date - I can not believe it! I really thought Dominic would be here by now - this entire pregnancy I felt like he would come early, but apparently he's nice and comfy and doesn't want to leave yet. Went to the doctors today and he said I'm only 1 cm dilated. So unless Dominic decides to come on his own they will be inducing me next Wednesday or Thursday. I have another appointment Monday to schedule the induction for one of those two days. Yee-haw! So in a weeks time I will FINALLY have little Dominic in my arms. I'm so excited, nervous, scared, elated and anxious all rolled into one. It will be interesting to see if he decides to make his debut before then or if we will have to force him out. They are already estimating his weight at over 8 lbs so I have a feeling he's going to be a big baby. And every time I go in for an ultrasound the techs laugh because they can see his little hair floating around in there. No bald baby for me! I just can't wait to see what he looks like. Hopefully I'm not forgetting anything in my 3 hospital bags that I packed (hey, wouldn't want to be stuck there without something!) because ready or not, here he comes...


"It was the tiniest thing I ever decided to put my whole life into."

Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are...

I know it's been awhile with no update - I've been crazy busy the last few weeks and it doesn't look like life is about to slow down at all! To answer the big question - yes, Dominic is still hibernating. Today is exactly one week away from my due date. Where the hell have the last 9 months gone? This pregnancy has gone by so fast and easy I can hardly believe it. All those people who bitch and moan about how rough pregnancy is really make me wonder. Maybe I've just been lucky. After all, I never even did buy maternity clothes. The old rubber band around the button of my pants trick worked wonders. I will admit though, the last week or so I've become increasingly anxious. I just want him here. RIGHT MEOW. I'm done being patient.

Am I nervous about my impending due date? Pshhh, never. What's there to be nervous about? Giving birth to a 7 - 9 pound baby? That's a walk in the park. Going through a long labor with (hopefully) no pain medication? Bring it on. Bringing home a tiny little human that I'm going to be solely responsible for? I may or may not be fucking terrified.

For my baby shower one of my friends got me a "belly cast" to make a mold of my pregnant belly. I did it last weekend because who knows how much longer I'll be housing a baby. It's a cool little gift, but I don't know what to do with it now that it's done. I've got this mold of these giant boobs and belly sitting in my room and to be honest it's a bit creepy! I guess I'll put it in storage.

So for now I go back to waiting. I'm no good at this game. Guess I'll just continue life as usual in the meantime - still working everyday, still staying active and still daydreaming about holding the little baby living inside me for the past 9 months. Come on Dominic, I'm ready when you are!


"Q. My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor, but pressure. Is she right?
A. Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current."

You're Evicted!

I've just about decided it's time to evict Dominic. Pregnancy has been lovely, but I'm ready to have my little man in my arms and not my belly. I want my body back. Pretty sure he "dropped" about 3 days ago, because I can feel it in my inner thighs and all over. Getting out of bed and bending over is becoming a chore. And I waddle when I walk. Come on baby, don't make me wait any longer!

Everything is ready for the big arrival. Crib is put together. Car seat, stroller and hospital bag are in the car and ready to go. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I still can't believe how fast these 9 months have flown by. I never did get to do the pre-natal yoga class, but that's ok. I've come to realize that I'm only one person and even I have my limitations. Dominic has everything he needs (and then some!) so that's what really matters. I just can't wait to kiss his beautiful little face!

Still keeping my fingers crossed for a natural delivery. The less down time, the better. I don't think I'm going to take any "official" time off work. Yes, I know I'll have to slow down for a bit but I see no reason why I can't at least get some work done while Dominic is asleep. I guess I'll just play it by ear. I'm also in a big hurry to get back in shape. Not that I'm concerned with the baby weight I put on (19 lbs total) because it's barely crossed my mind at all and all things considered I look pretty good. But I don't want to be one of those people who has a baby and then all the sudden looks sub-par. Having a baby? Awesome! Having a post-baby "mom" body? Not so much!

"A new baby is like the beginning of all things. Hope. A dream of possibilities."

All I Need Is Just A Little Patience...

My apologies to anyone who texted or sent me messages yesterday - I wasn't trying to be rude or ignore anyone, but I was at doctors appointments from 7 AM until after 5 PM. I was less than impressed with the perinatal center. My appointment took about 3 hours longer than it should have, the staff was less than friendly and the place itself looked really shabby. At least the doctor was thorough. After a long, stressful day I was cranky and frustrated. And by the time I got home I was beyond tired and hungry and didn't feel like talking to anyone.

So after a series of ultrasounds, and a biophysical markup on Dominic the perinatal specialist was unable to find any other red flags or problems. His heart looks good, he's moving a lot, taking practice breaths, growing like a weed and all of his other organs look good! So what does that mean? Basically they don't know what's causing the swelling on the brain. They said most often when this is the only problem (as it is in this case) it will resolve itself after birth without any negative effects on the baby. However, there are some things they can't test for until he's born so they will continue to monitor him for the first year or two to make sure the swelling doesn't get worse and there aren't any other issues. So the appointment went as well as it could have - huge sigh of relief there. Still keeping my fingers crossed that he's born safe and healthy, but at least I'm no longer losing sleep over the issue. They see no reason to induce me early at this point, so now I just wait....and NOT very patiently, might I add...for my little man to arrive! I'm full term now so the big day could come anytime now :)

Haven't posted about business in awhile but I've been making some serious progress. As far as the marketing firm goes, everything is in place for business to take off, except two things. I still need salespeople and I need to create a more effective and user-friendly training program. Should be fairly easy to resolve those issues. On top of the changes I made to make our services more custom and personalized, I've been doing a lot of work with start up companies. It creates more work for me, but it would be amazing PR for the company if even one of the start ups takes off and we are credited as their marketing/advertising firm. As far as the boutique goes, we're getting bigger everyday! I've have two models who have modeled and promoted for me. I have new inventory. I've found a few new charities to support. And I've been networking like crazy. I'm glad I didn't launch the "new and improved" boutique in October as I had originally planned. By all means, I still plan on launching it. But I think doing it too soon would be business suicide. The more happy customers I have when I launch, the more my idea will take off. I would love to see my "competition" try and steal or recreate this idea once I launch it. To do so would create an even bigger mockery of their already failing business. It's a pretty pathetic state of affairs for their business when I've had multiple people approach me and ask me if this boutique (which shall not be named) has been stealing my ideas. Yeah, it's that obvious. But I guess that's bound to happen when you have good ideas, drive and leadership ability. I'm starting to find the whole thing flattering. "Integrity is the most valuable quality of leadership. Always keep your word."

I can't wait to see what the next year brings for me and Dominic. I'm starting to see some of my goals come to fruition. And I've come to realize who and what is important in my life. I know WHAT I'm going to be doing, but I still don't know where yet. Boston and San Diego are still topping my list of places that would be great for business and education for Dominic.  But I'm keeping my options open to ALL possibilities at this point. All I need now is my little man and I'll be ready to take over the world...