37 weeks today!!

I can’t believe it is getting so close to my due date! I’m excited and I can’t wait. I’ve been very tired lately and am not having the energy to get a lot done during the week after work, so I’m sorta hoping that he will stay put until at least his due date so that I have a little more time to prepare for his arrival.

We had a Wonderful baby shower on August 2nd. I think we ended up with about 30 people! It was wonderful to see everyone and to feel so loved. I got a lot of really great things and felt like I was opening presents forever. The food was really good and the cake turned out SO cute! We played the dirty diaper (w/ chocolate in it) game and did baby food tasting as part of that game. We also did the clothespins game where you cannot say the word baby or someone can take your clothespin. The winner is who ever has the most pins at the end. Our other game was where they guess how big around my belly is using toilet paper, or in our case crepe paper. It was a lot of fun. I think the best game by far is the dirty diaper game because it really gets some funny reactions from people! Some of the larger items that I received were the swing/rocker that I registered for. It is a swing, but then also is kind of a bouncy seat and when they become a toddler they can use it as a rocking chair. I also received a neat floor play mat that has pieces you add as they grow to make it a little tunnel to crawl through. My grandmother crocheted 2 blankets for the baby, one of which has a little hood built into it. They were both very nice and will be treasured. My sister gave me 2 diapers that she had finished making and a really nice BIG diaper bag that she made herself. She is still working on the rest of the diapers, but is making 16 total. I talked to her about the fact that I’m going to need a few more, so she is going to make me some more, but I will pay for the supplies on those. I got a lot of other really nice things, but I’m drawing a blank right now.

We had my work shower on the following Thursday. It was very nice also and I was really impressed by the turn out for it. I think we had around 20 people! I got several nice outfits, a Cuddle U (like a boppy), and a bunch of gift cards! I am very grateful for the gift cards too because I have a few things that I still need to get. They will be helpful in finishing up my shopping.

I feel like I’ve been working on Thank You cards and sorting and washing things ever since the showers. In reality I’ve mostly only been working on it over the weekends because I just don’t have the energy after a full day of work. We bought our crib and changing table/dresser two weekends ago and Tony put the crib together last Saturday. I have been washing all of the clothes we got and trying to sort them into sizes. Did I mention that we got 4 boxes of hand me downs from a friend? Then another friend from Kansas sent us two more boxes of hand me downs! I was so excited because we have more clothes now than I know what to do with! And that suits me great because I am terrible at clothes shopping ;-) I really have no idea what the best way to organize the baby’s things is, so I’m just doing the best I can. I hung up the sleepers (w/ the feet), sleep gowns, one pieces w/ short legs, and some of the shirts. I folded the pants and the onesies (w/ no leg) and put them in the changing table thing. It is basically a dresser w/ 3 drawers and then a door that opens to 2 shelves. I have already filled the top 2 drawers and am still on my 3 month and smaller stuff. I don’t have a whole lot that is bigger than that yet, but my friend is planning to bring me her 3-6 month hand me downs soon. We did get a small 4 drawer chest of drawers yesterday that was my cousins at one time. It is painted kind of funny (white w/ blue scallops and pink dashes – very girly though) but we are planning to put it inside the closet so it shouldn’t matter. I still have to figure out what to do with bed linens, blankets, burp clothes, cloth diapers, baby towels, wash cloths, etc. I have a practically empty linen closet right outside of the baby’s room that I was thinking would be the place for the linens and towels, but I’m not sure. Maybe just towels, and bath stuff go in the closet (closer to the bathroom) and then the sheets, etc should go in the room since that would be where they are used. I don’t know. I also have already put the cloths in the dresser/ changing table, but am now wondering if I should put all the blankets, burp cloths, etc in that because that might be the better staging ground for the cloth diapers. I had planned to get a diaper stacker, but haven’t gotten one yet.. not sure if I will or not. I know that I need all my diapering supplies easily available near my changing station or on it. I think there could be room there on the actual dresser for a caddy of some sort to put a supply of wipes, diapers, and other changing essentials and then I could keep the backup supply nearby. I don’t know though. I can see an advantage to having the clothes in the drawer of the changing table also since I can just reach in and grab something. BUT, some of the clothes are in the closet and some across the room, so I don’t know if that will be annoying. Ugh. I would have never guessed that putting baby’s room in order would be such a difficult thing to do. Oh, well, I’m sure we’ll figure something out and I can always make Tony help me move everything later if I change my mind about the configuration ;-)

I saw my midwife last Thursday and today. Last week we did the Group B Strep test and today she said that it was negative. That is good because it means I won’t need antibiotics and therefore no required IV for the birth. She checked me last week at my request and said that nothing has started yet. She did not check me this week. I don’t think it really matters because I could be 0 cm today and have him tomorrow or 2cm today and have him in 2 weeks. She did recommend that I start taking Evening Primrose Oil capsules to help my cervix to soften. She said that it can be helpful especially for first time moms and for natural childbirth. My blood pressure last week was 140/70 which worried me a little bit, but she said that it was not a big deal because my first bp was 130/70 so it wasn’t too high for me. Today it was back down to 125/75, so I felt a lot better about that. I have been swelling pretty much daily now for at least 2 weeks. It is mostly in my ankles and calves, but sometimes my feet get pretty big. It isn’t too uncomfortable, but it just bothers me to think that I’m actually swelling. Jeri (midwife) says it’s no big deal, just a part of pregnancy and the heat of the summer. I have been drinking lots of water and I prop my feet up when I can so I don’t know that there is too much more I can do about it.

Ok. I’m going to wrap it up for today, but I’ll try to update more often now that we are getting closer. Don’t hold your breath though ;-)

Oh, yeah, Linda. We haven’t seen Julie & Julia yet, but it does sound good. I’ll have to check it out. We did go see Harry Potter though! I like Tristan too… hmm… I’ll have to run that one past Tony. My sister recommended Bastion Atreyu Merlin Peacock, but I’m certain she was kidding ;-) Our dad’s middle name is Merlin though, so the whole family has really been pushing that one.

34 weeks and counting!

Oops, I didn't mean to wait so long to post again. I've been thinking about blogging, but just haven't really been in a mood to sit and write.

I am 34 weeks now! I had a doctor appt on Thursday and everything was fine. I have gained 28 pounds already. I had hoped to keep better control on my weight, but I haven't felt like exercising and I have been just eating whatever. My blood pressure continues to be good. It was 120/60 when I went on Thursday.

Last weekend we had a family reunion in North Georgia. We usually camp for the weekend, but this year I had said that I was NOT camping. Well... Tony ended up not being able to go with me because he had to be on call for work. So my options were to camp w/ my parents or do 7 hours of driving in one day w/ my sister. I ended up doing the camping. My parents do pretty plush camping though so it wasn't too bad. We had electricity, computer w/ internet and movies, inflatable mattresses and bathrooms nearby of course. We also went tubing on Saturday. It was fun, but the water was Really low and we had to push ourselves along for about a third of the 2 hour "float". I enjoyed it though. Our reunion was good as usual. I rode home with my sisters and was able to visit my youngest sister's apartment in Atlanta that I had not been to yet. I was disappointed though because she wouldn't let me see the cloth diapers that she is making for me. ;-) That's ok though cause I get to see them soon.

Anyway, my ankles started swelling Friday night and have had varying degrees of swelling everyday since then. I originally was still holding onto the idea that it was just a food issue because I ate fast food twice on Friday. I even still hoped that for the duration of the weekend because the food was hit or miss and there was a lot of activity + not much sleep. But this whole week it just hasn't really cleared up. Tony says that I still haven't been eating very well this week, but I think it is just this point in the pregnancy coupled with the heat. I am just trying to keep my feet propped up when I am at home and drinking lots of water.

Tomorrow is my first baby shower! I'm SO excited! I can't wait. My sister and mom and I have been working on getting prepared most of the week. The biggest issue we have though is that my sister works from 3pm until 10 or 11 most nights and mom and I work 9 to 5ish jobs. So when we are at work she is home and vice versa. She has to work tonight also. We went over earlier though and got a few things hashed out. We had originally debated whether to have two showers or just one. I didn't think we had enough people to have two though. So, we did the one. Once we started sending out invites though the guest list just kept growing! By the time we were done we had like 46 people including myself. Then a couple of people have called and said "I'm coming and bringing So & So also". The additional guests are people I'm happy to have, but I'm like OH BOY are we gonna have a pile of people at this thing!! My sister's house is set up well for a big crowd though, so I'm hoping it will still go fine. I can't wait to see everyone! I also ordered a special cake that is hopefully going to be Really cool! It is going to be sort of "Ace of Cakes" style. I've requested that it have blocks spelling BOY and be Winnie the Pooh themed. I haven't seen the final sketch/idea, but I've seen enough of her other work that I'm sure I'm gonna be happy with it.

I've been so excited about this weekend! I woke up at 5:30am Friday morning and was not able to go back to sleep!

I'm really glad that the shower is this weekend because I have begun to feel really big and am getting more and more uncomfortable. I feel like I've been 33/34 weeks forever now! I am beginning to be just READY for the due date to be here and I know I have a long way to go before then. I think the shower is a good diversion and then will give me stuff to do afterwards also. We can start actually setting up the room and shopping for other stuff afterward.

I'm having my work shower on Thursday, which I'm looking forward to also! I am just trying to get through the first shower before I think too much about the work one though. ;-) We are having it at Cheddar's at lunch time. That is how we generally do showers at work. I expect a decent turn out at that shower also and it should be fun!

We still have not completely settled on a name for this little boy. I have a pretty good idea of what the first name will be, but we can't decide on a middle name. We are still working on it though.

We took our hospital tour today. I mostly wanted to refresh myself and Tony on where exactly we needed to go to check in. I was pretty pleased with the tour. The lady was really nice and indicated that the hospital is very open to doing most of the things that I want and had put in my birth plan. I am planning to go natural and try not to labor flat on my back if possible. She indicated that it is best if you can be unmedicated because you can move around and get into different positions better. She was also encouraging about breastfeeding immediately and having the baby room in. Our hospital has Really tight security in the Labor and Delivery area because a few years ago a lady stole a baby from there. What I like about the extra security is that they take the persons name (make them a badge) and then call your room to ask if the person can come back. I think that it will be nice to have a heads up that people are coming and be able to head them off if it is a really bad time. The only thing that I wasn't really excited about is that the laboring bed looks REALLY uncomfortable, but I told Tony that is even more incentive for me to try to stay at home as LONG as possible. I don't want to go to the hospital too early and have to be in there with them poking and prodding me any longer than necessary!

On the one hand, I can't believe I only have 6 weeks left and on the other hand, I can't believe I still have to wait 6 more weeks!! I am so ready to meet this little one, but I know that I still have a lot of prep work to get done before he arrives. Now I just have to find the energy to do all of those things ;-)

I'll post all about my showers soon!