Very soon

Heading to the hospital pretty soon -- might be last post for a bit.

Andi is here, and things are progressing nicely (by which I mean painfully).

Wish us luck!


Gabe

A bit of progress!

We are home once again after a regularly scheduled visit to the midwife ... which by this afternoon had gained new urgency, as Ash has been experiencing pretty regular prelabor contractions.

The upshot is: all good news. I won't go into the gory details, but let's just say this: there is a process called "ripening," and it is under way. Still not "true" labor yet (could've fooled us), but the midwife says her best guess is full onset of true labor within the next 12-48 hours. Or, it could fizzle out again and it could be days and days. We shall see.

Ash right now is trying to get some rest. Andi is coming in early -- we expect her to arrive this very evening. I'm about to attempt some last-minute tidying up. We will keep you informed.

And one more thing. If you're interested in Blasto's real name, try this on: Pram star. Jeez, size!

Much love and great anticipation,
Gabe

A Little Excitement

I've been having contractions this morning - the midwife says it's "pre-labor" and I have an appointment to see her early this afternoon. Nothing too terrible yet. My mom is probably changing her ticket to fly in earlier - maybe as early as this evening. We'll see if this is a false alarm or the real thing! We'll keep you posted.

Love,
Ashley

Baby Still Snug Inside

Well, dear Blasto still seems to find it pretty cozy inside. We did make an appointment with an acupuncturist for the day after his due date (Aug. 7th) to see if some jabs from long needles might encourage him to come join the world. Anyone got some other tips on how to bring on labor? I heard pineapple can do the trick.

Otherwise, Gabe and I are just trying to continue getting the apartment in shape for the great arrival. All of you who know us well can imagine what an undertaking this is. I'm tackling the kitchen at the moment and am about to go clean up Zoe's hairball - which she always chooses to deposit on the bed!

Hopefully we'll have more substantive news to report soon... I know we'll lose our readership if all we keep posting about is housecleaning and hairballs.

Love,
Ashley

Odds, Ends

Greetings all --

For anyone interested, my folks now have a blog of their own -- all set to chronicle their mischief abroad. You can find it here.

For the record, my mother has gone from a non-typist/emailer to full-on blogger and Macintosh devotee within a year-and-a-half. Godspeed, Ma.

And one other note: a few people have asked us where and how to, um, buy us stuff. The answer is that we are registered at Babies R' Us. Just head to http://www.toysrus.com/registry/index.jsp and search under Ashley Gross or Gabriel Spitzer. Our humblest gratitude to all.

Much love,
Gabe

Life really is sweet

Just a few more details about the Rabbipalooza extravaganza!

Gabe had a star turn in the smash hit musical, Bye Bye Rabbi. Check out this clip of his performance singing "One Last Bris." The show brought the house down and was an impressive display of thoughtfulness and love for Rabbi Spitzer from the congregation. I've never seen Bye Bye Birdie before, so some of the jokes went over my head, but my parents laughed their heads off.

The only other calamity besides the unfortunate running-out-of-gas episode was that someone lobbed a brick through the back window of Gabe's car the first night we got there. But we managed to get it repaired before the trip home, so little baby Mikaela (Mara and Nate Block's daughter) didn't have to ride 7 hours with a shower curtain duct-taped to the back window. All's well that ends well.

I also confess to having developed a really serious taste for Ben Heggy's milk chocolate raspberry delights. The Spitzers indulged my sweet tooth.

Love,
Ashley

Safe Returns!

Team Blasto has successfully completed our road trip with no major mishaps, and with bag of waters in tact. Hallelujah!

It was a fantastic weekend, full of warmth and closeness and tears. The community's outpouring of support for Papa Spitzer (the elder papa, that is) was awe-inspiring. We're humbled and very, very proud. We're especially grateful that Mike and Andi Gross made the trek to join us and get a fuller picture of exactly what insanity they are marrying into.

I'll leave detailed accounts of the weekend for another venue. Suffice to say that, save one minor roadside mishap (nothing a gas can won't cure), all are home again, safe and sound.

Just about 2.5 weeks to go ... or maybe less!

Smooches,
Gabe

Know any good OBs along the Indiana Turnpike?

Tomorrow we depart on a 6-7 hour car ride to Canton for the Rebbe's retirement festivities. The day after, Ash will hit the 37-week mark, which is officially considered "term." We are not without a touch of anxiety embarking on a lengthy road trip when ready to bust at any second ...

OK, perhaps I hyperbolize a tad. Most first-time mothers go late, if anything. But of course lately it seems as if we've heard nothing but early-labor stories. I'm planning to research some hospitals on our driving route just to be prepared.

The beauty is that our excellent friends Mara and Nate Block will be filling out our car ... along with the lovely 4-month-old Mikaela! We intend to grill them on birth and babycare through Indiana and much of Ohio.

In any case, we're looking forward to seeing the fam and showing off Ash's rotundity. I have , however, asked her to ride with her legs crossed the entire way.

Much love,
Gabe

Welcome Aboard! (Or: Holy Crap, It's Month #9)

Welcome to Blasto Lives!

We find ourselves, somehow, with less than a month before the lad's expected arrival. Throughout the pregnancy, we've been struggling to imagine what life will be like when he is finally among us. We're dying of curiosity. Lately, we've been able to start visualizing him a bit better becuase we can actually feel which body part is which as he writhes around in Ash's belly. Ah, a foot! A shoulder! A tushie!

Oh, man ... I cannot WAIT to lay eyes on that tushie.

Anyway, we hope to keep folks apprised of his and our progress on this blog. It will be THE leading source for Spitzer-Gross baby-related news. All those other sites report merely rumors and hearsay. This is the real McCoy.

As for its title: many of you already know that Blasto is the moniker we've given our son-to-be. He will indeed have an actual name at some point ... watch this space for updates on that. We plan to publish an anagram soon before birth. Prizes will be given to the first unscrambler.

Much excitement and Love,
Gabe and Ashley