36 weeks, 5 days

I had an ultrasound on Tuesday, and Nathan and my MIL Daphne got to go to see the baby. It was really neat because we could actually see bones and skin and all sorts of things. We sort of got to see his face but not very well since it’s so low in my pelvis and he was turned away. I did see him stick his tongue out, silly boy. Unfortunately since he was moving so much and he was in a bad place the ultrasound tech was unable to get a picture of his face. I did, however, get a picture that confirmed the boyness of it all, and another of lots of hair. Which proves that all the heartburn is not in vain. He is also estimated to weigh 7 lbs. Which means that at an average weight gain of ½ lb per week, by 40 weeks he will weigh around 9 lbs and by 42 weeks he will weigh around 10. Oh joy. I was hoping for a little 6 or 7 lb peanut that would sort of just slide out. Maybe he’ll come a little bit early.

Boy parts

All that blurry white stuff by the writing is hair.

 

I had an internal exam and Dr. H said I am 1 cm dilated and 75% effaced. I’m not getting too excited because it doesn’t mean I’m close really, just that my body is gearing up for the big day. I told Nathan it would be cute if he was born on Mother’s Day, but that is way soon I think. I was just kidding.

And here I am, huge and getting bigger! I’m doing ok. Tired but finding it a little difficult to get comfortable. Piglet is still very active and I really enjoy that. Well, 99 percent of the time anyway. I don’t like being woken up by the breath stealing kick to the ribs, haha!

Nursery Pictures

Nathan and I had a work day this weekend and got a lot of work done around the house. I had a two page list of things I want to get done before the baby comes and many of them were things I would have done myself at one point but no longer can because I can't lift too much and Nathan doesn't want me climbing on a stepstool. I'll talk more about the list later, but one of the big things on my list was to finish the nursery.  My list for the nursery was:

Hot glue ribbon to the baby's name letters
Hang letters (N)
Make a curtain
Hang curtain rod (N)
Put up shelf in closet (N)
Hang quilt (N)
Hang heart shelf (N)
Finish organising and putting things away
Pack hospital bag
Get the rest the stuff I needed at T.arget
Vacuum

And it's all done! Here's a little tour.  We will be going left to right:

This is the wall with the bedroom door. The door is to the left of the dresser.

The window is on the wall across from the door. So if you are standing in the doorway and look to the left this is what you see.  The cradle is a family heirloom, and it will go in our room next to my side of the bed when the baby comes.

The right wall.  The closet is even further to the right. You can see the doorstop for the closet door in the bottom right of this picture.

My favorite organisational tool in the room! A shoe holder from the Armpit of the Earth.

The bouncy seat and the carseat will come out once the baby comes.  The bag sitting on the floor is the hospital bag.  And you can see a bit of the kite I've talked about in the bottom right of the picture.

Here are a few closeups of things:

Books! I asked for books in lieu of cards at the baby showers. I believe it is VERY important to read to your children and Piglet has a nice collection started!

The little snowbaby was a wedding present from my grandma.  Since I took these pictures I got a package from her and she actually sent me four more that spell out B.A.B.Y so they are all up on the shelf instead of the picture frame.

My sister made the blanket you see at the bottom of the picture. It's blue and yellow and super soft.  Piglet actually has several afghans that were made just especially for him, all of which are beautiful!

"Daddy" has been winning things for his baby boy. The red puppy he actually won for me on our honeymoon at six flags. The Piglet is from my mom (who else) and the scooby and the Cowboys bear are what Nathan won especially for Piglet.

And that's pretty much it! I had to cut his name out of the pictures since we aren't posting his name yet  but his letters are hung on the wall with the crib.  I'll show a picture of that after he's born--I have to show them since I spent hours painting them!

I know it's not a "designer" nursery but shoot those are expensive and what does the baby care anyways.  I love the way it looks and I'm proud all the great deals I found and of what I was able to do on our little budget. It's a rental house so we weren't able to paint the nursery but the room is cozy anyways. I like to walk in there and daydream about the little one coming to live there! I'm so glad we got everything finished. I just have one more load of laundry to do--mostly blankets and my M.oby Wrap.  All of his clothes are done!

Nathan is home!

Nathan is home!! Hooray! I’m hoping that we will be able to finish the things on my to-do list because that’s all I need to get done before I am ready for Piglet to come. I feel like I can’t relax until they are done. The big thing for me is getting the car situation worked out. Like, now! Because otherwise it’s going to be tres difficile to get the baby home from the hospital! Everything else is little, but I would like to see it done. And then we’ll be ready!



We got to fly our kite yesterday—it was loads of fun. It’s meant to look like a blue Macaw and at one point it fell on the ground and a little boy ran up pointing and yelling, “Birdy! Birdy!” Then a while later I was innocently standing in the field and the “bird” dive-bombed my head! I was glad we finally got to fly it.


I thought I’d respond to the comments on my last two posts here, rather than in the comment section since I’m not sure that people ever see when I write back to them there.


Hannatu—I love your “puffy” story. I didn’t mow the yard. I considered it, and may have if we had a mower. But I am too lazy, and my husband said to pay someone to do it, and I was glad not to.


Dusty Penguin—Yay for you on the weight loss! You won’t have to sleep on the couch OR the futon. I sold the futon and since the motor in our air mattress is kaput I borrowed Melissa’s air mattress. It’s very comfy. That’s a good idea about spreading the weeks out so I can have help for three weeks, but I think Nathan really wants to be home with us the first week. And he wants to see you too. Yes, I have a regular mop.


Melissa Larabee—It was totally fine that you laughed. It was funny! I laughed too. Later.

I have a Dr. appointment tomorrow, and then we should be scheduling an ultrasound next week so Dr. H. can see how Piglet is doing in there. I'm really excited--I can't wait to see my little man!

35/35

I have been waiting for MONTHS to write a post with that title. If you don’t get it, it means 35 weeks/35 days left to go. HOW COOL IS THAT PEOPLE!!!
How Far Along: 35 weeks
Sleep: Potty one or two times. Roll over very frequently. After second potty break, stay away to think for an hour or so.
Movement: All the time!! Sometimes I think he might pop out. Or pop a rib. Either one.
Food Craving: I can’t have cravings. I have to eat a certain way. Period.
Food aversions: None, although I’m feeling a touch of nausea here and there. Oh, please, don’t come back morning sickness.
Gender: Team Blue!!
Belly Button: Almost flat innie.
Labor Signs: LOTS of Braxton-Hicks.
What I miss: Not having pelvic pain. Being able to put on shoes easily. Painting my toenails.
What I look forward to: Nathan coming home.

Nathan will be gone again this weekend. He was gone last weekend. Um, the last time he was home was the 12th, and this is the 24th, and it looks like he’s going to be gone for at least the next week. I’m trying not to be bummed because it’s really important that he is working! But I sure wish he would have looked for a job that was in town, because it’s tough having him gone so much. Our second anniversary was last weekend, on the 18th. Very thoughtfully he asked Melissa to get my flowers and card for him, and he told her what to write in the card. So I know he remembered, and made an effort, and I greatly appreciate it. Maybe one of these years we’ll actually be able to celebrate our anniversary.

On Wednesday I left work and my car started to overheat so I pulled over in a parking lot to put some water in the radiator. (I usually have to fill the radiator once a week. I just usually remember BEFORE the car is warm.) I figured it wasn’t too big of a deal since I’d only been driving for five minutes or so. I parked in the shade and waited a few minutes, then decided to take the cap off. I am very well aware that you are not supposed to open a radiator cap on a hot car. But, my car was only warm and I know how to do it when the engine is warm because I’ve seen mechanics at the shop do it. Except I couldn’t find a rag to put over it so I just turned the cap and snatched my hand back quickly. As expected, it boiled over. Also as expected the cap went flying. What I didn’t expect, however, was that the cap would ricochet off the hood of the car, bounce on the ground, and…roll into a storm drain!!!! As I heard the clear ping of the cap hitting the bottom of the drain I do believe I said an un-lady like word. Then I snickered, for a second. And then as it sunk in that I was stranded in the middle of nowhere with an auto parts store nowhere nearby I got mad. At myself, for being too impatient to wait. At the car, for overheating all the time and for “letting” the cap bounce off the hood at just the right angle. And at Nathan for procrastinating on fixing the car when he knows it’s been overheating for months. (It’s always the husband’s fault when there is car trouble, you know.) So I called my dad. Because I always do when I have car trouble, and because I expect him to rescue me from a thousand miles away. No, really because I wanted to double, triple check that I couldn’t drive an hour home without a radiator cap. And then after I talked to him I cried for a few minutes. (Hmm. Pretty sure that my other hormone induced crying revolved around car trouble as well. That was on ultrasound day) Then I called Melissa and asked if Thomas would bring me out a new cap. As she laughed at me I told her that it would be funny tomorrow, but at the moment it was not. So she pretended to be serious although I’m reasonably certain she was still laughing inside and sent her husband to my rescue. Thank you Thomas and Melissa. (And like I said, it is funny now.)

Then yesterday my car started overheating AGAIN! I was surprised because I usually only have to fill the radiator once a week or so, and I had just done it the day before. Thankfully, this time I was in the town right before mine and I was only a few blocks away from an AutoZone. I made sure not to park near a storm drain, and waited until the car was stone cold before I opened the cap. In addition to antifreeze I also bought some stop leak that is “guaranteed” to stop any radiator leaks. I am hoping/praying that it works! When Nathan gets back to town we will be meeting a guy who wants to trade us a four door accord for our teggie. I am also praying that happens, because it’s not too much longer until I need to get that baby seat in there!


Oh, and yesterday? A deer jumped through one of the windows at church. True story.

I have another funny story about a package my mom sent me, but I want to try to get a picture first.


Anyone want to come mow my lawn for me? Or mop my floor?

34 weeks and some change

34 weeks. Every once in a while I get to doing math (I know, it’s a stretch for me) and I realize that if Piglet comes at “full-term”, or 37 weeks, he would be here in a very very short 3 weeks. If he wait until he is “due”, or 40 weeks, he would be here in a very short 6 weeks. If he is overdue, the longest it will be before he is here would be 8 weeks. However, since I have G.D., I don’t think Dr. H. is going to let me go past 40 weeks. We’ll see. So I’ve basically got 3-6 weeks until there is a baby in my arms.



Um. THATISNOTVERYLONGATALL!!! Everyone keeps asking me if I am ready. What can I say? Am I ready for my life to be turned topsy turvy? Is anyone ever ready for that? Or do we just accept it and deal with the changes as they come? I’m ready in the sense that I have most of the things I need “stuff” wise. I’m ready in the sense that Piglet has clean clothes, and I have a Dr and a hospital and a plan in case my husband is not at home when I go into labor. I don’t have a hospital bag packed. I don’t have a breast pump. I don’t have the guest room ready for my mom, or the garage organized the way I want, or the car traded for a four door, or our maternity pictures taken, or a waterproof pad for our bed in case my water breaks at night, or a million and one other things that I “have” to do before I have a baby and no free time or free hands. And let me be honest, there are things that I physically CANNOT do right this second, or without my husband’s help. I can’t go organize the garage, because I can’t lift the totes. I can’t get the guest room ready until I sell the futon. I can’t trade the car because I am too nervous to go meet the guy by myself, and I don’t know all that much about cars anyway. I can’t do maternity pictures because my husband is gone. And really, I have to do things a little at a time because I am finally, finally getting that I am not superwoman. At least not right now.

But I am ready, too. I’m ready to see my sweet little baby and inhale all of that baby goodness. I’m ready for my mom to come stay with us and meet her first grandbaby. I’m ready to put my shoes on without huffing and puffing. I’m ready to deal with the changes as they come.


I’m a little nervous. Honestly, the thing that make me the most nervous is the lack of sleep. I love to sleep. I sleep about 10 hours a night right now when I don’t have to go to work the next day. (Well, 10 hours -2 potty runs -turning over every half hour –introspective thought time that I never remember the next morning. So maybe 9 hours) And sometimes I still take an afternoon nap. I don’t do well without enough sleep. I. Love. Sleep. And I know that in 3-6 weeks, I’m not going to be getting much of it. And that? Makes me nervous. I’m nervous that Nathan and I won’t be able to be spontaneous anymore. We are very much the couple that does fun things on the spur of the moment. I’m nervous that we will lose “us” in the “new us”. I’m really nervous is that I’m going to be doing this so much alone. Nathan is planning on taking a week off. My mom will be there for the first two weeks. And then it’s just me. Nathan is going to be out of town most of the summer. I’m scared of being so alone and having to deal with a new baby all by myself, day and night. I’m scared that I’ll resent either Nathan or Piglet or both because of it. Sigh. I guess I’m not ready after all.


But anyway, 34 weeks. At 34 weeks, you don’t feel so much glowy and beautiful anymore. Now you start to get the puff. You know, the puff; your eyes are puffy, your face is puffy, your feet and ankles are puffy, your fingers are puffy, your belly is—well, way beyond puffy—shoot, I think even your hair follicles turn puffy! Is it worth it? Most definitely. Am I still enjoying pregnancy? Yup. Although, believe me, when Piglet is a teen and I need a guilt trip I am SO going to whip out the “Do you realize that I gave up pizza, chips, and SUGAR FOR YOU?!?!?! Straighten up!” Haha. That makes me laugh because I can totally picture it happening.

I had an appointment yesterday. Dr. H did the strep B swab and since he was in there he did an internal. Everything is closed up tight, which is what I want to hear for a little while longer! Piglet’s heartrate is awesome (according to Dr. H., my “indigestion” is taking on a life of its own, wink wink). I will have an ultrasound in about two weeks (36) to have a look at the little oinker in there. I lost weight again. My sugars look good. And Piglet is determined to give Mommy broken ribs before he come out to meet us!

Such a Chore!

Chores are becoming, well, a chore!  I typically do chores once a week, and here's what I mean by chores: Pick up the house, do paperwork/bills, laundry (usually two loads) wash, fold, put up; dust, vaccuum carpet and inside couches, sweep, mop, change sheets, clean bathroom (tub and surround, toilet, sink, mirror, floors), dishes and good cleaning of anything that needs it in the kitchen (microwave, fridge, stove, toaster oven).  This is not a lot of work, just basic housekeeping chores.  Our house is not huge. Before I got pregnant this took just a couple of hours unless I was doing some really deep cleaning.

Usually I wait to do chores until Monday or Tuesday, when N is out of town.  This is just because when he is home we are usually busy doing other stuff, and I want to spend time with him rather than on housework.  But at this point chores are becoming more of an all-day job.  It looks something like this:

Gather laundry and put it in the washer.  Collect trash and put it all out by the road.  Get dirty dishes together and clean out sink. Oops, need to draw blood. Sit down, put feet up, rest back and do blood test.

Tackle stack of paperwork and mail that I haven't feel like looking at in two weeks.  File neatly and discard trash. Do dishes.  Man my back hurts! Sit down, put feet up, rest back, eat snack, watch figure skating on TV.

Move laundry to dryer and start a new load.  Dust. Clean bathroom. Man my back hurts! Sit down, put feet up, rest back, play on Facebook.

Vacuum, sweep. Mopping is too much effort today. Maybe next week. Swiffer spots instead. (Coincidentally, this is what I said last week too.) Man my back hurts! Sit down, put feet up, rest back, eat lunch. Consider a nap.

And so on and so forth. You get the point. Just repeat until all of the chores are done.  Just picture me with a big old belly, sweating, swollen, grunting, panting, and you get the picture! Haha! And I'm supposed to go for a walk later?!? We'll see about that one.  I think I've gotten at least 30 minutes of excercise today.  But the end result, a clean, neat house? It's a good thing. A good thing, people.

Date Day and Dr. Appointment

We were driving home from a friend's house late Friday night when we saw a lady trying to push her Blazer up a hill. Alone.  Nathan quickly flipped a U and ran to help her push.  He managed to get it out of the intersection and then hooked up a tow chain and towed her into a parking lot.  Thank God we were in the truck and not my car!  Then he found out she lived across town and didn't have a ride home so we gave her a lift.  She was very grateful, and we were glad to help.  My honey is such a gentleman. Well, usually!

Since Nathan was able to be home this weekend and the weather is nice we went to the Fine Arts Festival in downtown Fort Worth. It's free!

 

It was PACKED.  We saw a comedian, El Gleno, doing a funny little act as a zebra. 

We didn't stay too long. I would've loved to look around more, but it was just SO crowded that I couldn't stand it. And, to be really honest, we were there walking and standing for about and hour and a half and that is just really pushing my limits at this point. I feel like a wuss because I would normally have spent all day at this kind of thing, but that's just the way it is right now.  And we had fun for as long as we spent there.  

Once we managed to get out of the parking garage, which was an adventure in itself, we went to a big field near where we used to live to fly my old kite.   Apparently Nathan was the kite flying champion in Elementary school but try as he might he couldn't get that kite up.  I guess there's a reason the kite was on sale for five bucks--the little side fins bring it spiraling down as soon as you get it up! So we went to Wal---- to find another kite, but they were sold out. So, we drove up the highway to T.oys R Us and found a kite that he liked. It looks like a Macaw.  We saved it to fly on Sunday though, because we had planned to see a movie that night.

After we bought movie tickets we got supper in the food court and walked around for a couple of hours until the movie started.  We saw How to Train Your Dragon, which was super cute.  I actually liked it enough to buy it. 

On Sunday we didn't go to church, because I was half asleep and didn't set the alarm right.  Oops!  Instead we helped SIL and BIL go get their new couches, and they gave us theirs which are only about a year old.  A little upholstery cleaner and they'll be good as new! We are so grateful to finally have comfortable furniture that looks nice.   

This morning I dropped Nathan off at the warehouse and went to my appointment with Dr. H.  I went last week but my morning sugar numbers were a little high so he gave me a week to get them under control.  Today he said that all of my numbers look good--better than 90% of preggo's who don't have G.D.  So yay!  He also gave me a lovely compliment, saying that he admired my discipline to have quit smoking when I found out I was pregnant and now to be monitoring my blood sugar and trying to eat properly and learn about diabetes without the benefit of  all the classes and the personal nutritionist consult.  It made me feel good.  Piglet is growing well and I have to go back again in a week to get my Strep B test done.  I'm not sure if I'll have to keep going in weekly or if I'll be able to go back to the two week schedule for a while but it doesn't really matter as long as its to keep us both well. I'll also have an ultrasound a bit later on, probably around 36 weeks. That will help Dr. H determine Piglet's size and whether or not I can wait to go into labor naturally (which is my goal). Oh, and I actually lost a pound!