She's heeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrreeeee!

Nico Mae Patricia McGraw
born 9/17/11 at 3:43p.m.
8 lbs.
20 inches

Named for Great Aunt Dathel Mae, Aunt Nora Mae and Aunt Patty. Nico is very lucky to carry a bit of these women with her. I feel lucky to have carried Nico and am so glad she's here. We are really blessed.

Everyone in this apartment needs to RELAXXXXXXX!

Last night, my friend Mike B. described The Dave Matthews Band as "A saxophone full of mayonnaise." I woke up in the middle of the night laughing about this. Then I couldn't go back to sleep. Thanks a lot Mike!

Decision Zone

I'm still pregnant, so I've decided that this week I need a plan to keep busy. That's the only decision I have settled. Ideas for this week:

A) 12:00 Mass:

I could go downtown daily at noon and attend Mass at my church. The only thing is that I have only been once to this service. I was really nervous about when to stand and stuff and kept messing up. When I went before, it was just me and a construction worker. Maybe a bravery test is a good distraction.

B) Walk to the hardware store and buy spray paint:

Micah made a beautiful cradle for the baby. He painted the base gray, per my suggestion, but I don't like it and think it should be white. I could go buy the white spray paint.

C) Make up my mind about my Wednesday evening plans:

I go to prenatal yoga on Wednesday nights and I really love it. I feel great after--it's the best thing for my brain and mid-week body. Here's the rub: Ministry of Secret Jokes, a great monthly comedy show is Wednesday and Juliet Hope Wayne is performing. I first heard her on The Moth podcast and love, love, love her storytelling. So, should I do yoga? Or should I laugh hard and see friends? Go to my (probably? hopefully?) last prenatal yoga class? Or my last comedy show for a while? It's bothering me.

These are the decisions I am facing. Tough stuff.

Food Journal

Since I'm about to give birth, I thought it would be a great idea to keep a food journal to keep me accountable in maintaining a healthy diet in order to prepare for the big task ahead of me! I'll start with my dinner last night:

I started things off with rice and these tuna things from TJ's:

These are great for a quick meal, especially if your life partner has lost his freaking mind and decided at the last hour to build a cradle for your baby and said he would have it done in a week and is not finished yet. The tuna is fortified with nutrients that make it possible for a mother-to-be to understand that people cope with the unknown in different ways--like putting on old episodes of Love Line while building large pieces of furniture.

After 2 servings of the tuna, I was still hungry and sent Micah to the Fuh Wah to get me a cheese hoagie:

I thought "I will eat half of this and save the other half for lunch." 5-7 minutes later, I looked down and the hoagie was gone! HAHAHA! Just call me Heathcliff Huxtable!!!

Well, after my hoagie, there was still a rumbly in my tumbly, so I capped things off with some candy:

Even though I wasn't quite full, I decided not to ask Micah to go out again to get some popcorn. It was raining pretty hard. I think I'm on the right track with my pre-labor diet! These particular courses, in this order, work like a charm in getting nice and lethargic for when Micah asks you questions like "Shouldn't we pack you a bag for the hospital?" Once your belly is full of spicy tuna; bread; chocolate; and a baby that probably weighs about 25 pounds, you can reply with ease: "Uhhh, I've got a lot going on in my head right now and your frantic energy is bumming me out." Getting ready to give birth is kind of like training for a marathon, nay, a TRIATHLON! Good thing I've got a palate for athlete food!!!!

More toilet humor at my sister's expense

I asked my sister how she was feeling today and she said, "I thought my water broke, but I think I just peed my pants a little bit."