34 weeks!

We're technically at 35 weeks now (as of yesterday) but I'm a little behind on posts, so this is the 34 week belly! Alden & I are doing well- everything is healthy and progressing like expected. We're in the midst of interviewing pediatricians and daycares and trying to get all of the final touches done in the nursery. 

I started my job this past week, well, both of my new jobs (story to follow...) and have been exhausted all week! The stress of a new job coupled with being 35 weeks pregnant is a combination that definitely doesn't lead to well-rested and dewey-eyed, that I can assure you :) I am really enjoying my new position and am so happy to have ended up where I did. My boss and colleagues are so open and flexible with how I'm going to handle being on leave when the baby comes and they have welcomed me with open arms while allowing me to dive in to my new responsibilities. I think I have a great future with the HIER Center and am excited to see where this path takes me! 

To go back to that second new job statement...I was also recently offered the position of Communications Director for a non-profit organization called Safe Mothers, Safe Babies. It's a position that allows me to be involved in public health work that I am (sometimes insanely) passionate about while still giving me the freedom to have a "normal" job and spend time with my family. I will be responsible for all of the communications work that is done for the organization over the next year (at least) and am really, really, really excited to be involved with such a wonderful organization that does such amazing work for mamas and babies! All of my involvement can be done on my own schedule and from home, thanks to an equally passionate group of fellow Directors that make themselves available to each other through Skype, email and occasional conference calls. I will be writing blog posts, managing the Facebook and Twitter presence of the organization, working on developing the website and pursuing other public outreach and social media outlets for public involvement and education in maternal and child health issues. I fully expect to use my own blog as a platform for this new role and will probably use this forum to help extend the reach of the SAFE message- you have been warned ;) 

p.s. Thank you to my very sweet friend, Sarah Hines, who is the one who originally found and made me aware of the opportunity with SAFE in the first place. Thanks, friend :) 

I'm probably going to go on a little blogging rampage this afternoon since I've been so behind- so more posts to come! Here are the stats...

STATS:

Foods I'm craving:  peanut butter, bananas, and all of the yummy downtown restaurants that we haven't been to in a long time that I can see and smell from my office :)

Foods I can't stand:  still haven't wanted Indian (which is weird for me) and am nauseated at the smell of raw meat (so much so that I have to stand as far away as I can if we're standing at the meat counter in the grocery store)

Symptoms:  insomnia, Braxton Hicks (which have become more painful and much more frequent) and leg cramps/"wormies", our word for the restless leg syndrome-like symptoms that are common in pregnant women

Maternity clothes: yep! 

Weddings rings (on/off): on

Favorite thing this week: Finishing my first week at my new position and welcoming the new year with my favorite person in the whole world, my hubby :) 

much love, L&N