...well, not READY ready, but we sort of have everything we need, at least for the first few days.
we have whatever we need for carrying, bathing, changing, sleeping and nursing you little baby, so you can come whenever you feel like it :)
i'm sure ben will have to drive to target or walgreens to get some last minute things. but my mind is more at ease knowing that we have the essentials. all that's left to do is to install the car seat and put a couple things in the hospital bag.
Passover dinner plan:
* Soup + matza balls
Appetizers:
* Chopped liver
* Charosset
* Hard-boiled eggs
Main course:
* Roast beef
* Potatoes
* salad
Dessert
chocolate mousse?
i think i almost look like i'm wearing a pregnant lady costume.
but let me assure you - i feel very very pregnant. and starting to feel pretty big too. the baby and i are still doing well, i'm still tireder than normal, but that's not surprising - she's supposed to gain at least another Kg or so (~2.4 pounds), going by average fetal growth.
and to show you all (and us...) that i AM gaining weight, we wrote down the measurements from the doctor's office - here's a plot. the error bars represent our uncertainty in the ability of the nurses to actually measure weight with the old-fashion nurse-office scale.
the solid red line is taken from this "Average fetal length and weight chart". i shifted it so that it coincides with my weight at the week 16 appointment.
you would notice that there's no "zeropoint", i.e., i don't have a pre-pregnancy weight measurement... sorry... i just have no idea what my weight was before.
but since it doesn't look like i changed much (besides the watermelon under my shirt), i can only assume that it's balanced by the cumulative weight of placenta, my larger boobs, larger uterus, amniotic fluid, and increased blood volume... well, it's hard ot be super scientific when you lack data-points! 
by the way, look at the orchid in the picture! isn't it nice? it's been doing really well. all 4 flowers are open and blooming :)
just finished the green sweater last night. can't wait to have a model to put in these garments!!
this weekend we moved all our stuff to a 2-bedroom apartment in the same building. poor Ben did most of the heavy lifting (i had to force myself not to work too hard...) with some help from our friend Chris, and by the end of the weekend we were sort of settled in and had most of our stuff organized. we still have to hang pictures and shelves, which we'll probably do at the end of the month after getting some extra furniture from ikea (always wanted to have one of these book cases - now we have room for it!)
the new apartment is on the south-east corner of the building, and the living room faces the lake, which is very nice. i'll still miss the old view though.
moving is hard, especially when you're in the 8th month!!! it seems to have been a lot easier last time we moved. but now we're happy that it's all done and that we're all moved, and can lay back and relax for a little bit.. that is, in these precious moments that the little person inside me decides to give me a break and not kick me around.
i'm so pregnant.
at last!
ben is back from his meetings at Stanford and Berkeley, and this marks the last time anyone is allowed to travel. i'm grounded to a 2-hour radius from chicago (doctor's orders!) and ben, well, i grounded him :D he's not going anywhere!
the scroogim are grounded because they must have done something to deserve being grounded (here's me, practicing mom skills).
it feels good to be home - even though it's only for a few more days, before we move to our new, larger home.
i bet the baby feels the same way. i think she's running out of space in there, and to demonstrate that, she keeps pushing and turning and kicking. especially when i'm sitting in the car (or at a boring seminar).
we gained 2 lbs (about 1kg) over the last month, and the last two doctor visits the baby was standing on her head. the doctors said she will probably stay that way - head down, feet up - until the delivery (i.e., until she moves to a bigger home!).
i sometimes feel sorry for her, because really, who wants to live in such a tight space? no wonder she tries to stretch it out all the time. and it's not like she never knew any better, she did have more space earlier on, and could move around and swim and flip and what not. and gradually her home is shrinking on her. maybe that's why babies decide to come out at some point.
i'm feeling ok, my knee is almost 100% - ben commented today that i'm walking really fast. i'm just so tired all the time... i think a cup of coffee will do me good, but don't want to get all addicted again.
