Last Minute Things

I have been doing the last minute things before the baby comes like addressing the announcement envelopes and filling out known information into the baby book. I've been keeping a modified journal, similar to this blog, in a Word document and I've decided to include that in the baby book. I think it will be neat to look back in one place to what I have been thinking throughout this pregnancy.

Carpet is being installed on Thursday in the hall and closet upstairs and that puts us one step closer with being done upstairs. It is so close I can almost taste it! Last night as Nathan was working on the baseboards I decided I would do the items listed above upstairs so that I could talk to Nathan. I think I managed to not bother him too much. I was watching Pride and Prejudice (BBC) and Nathan kept giggling at some of the funny lines.

Flattering Photo

We had our annual Chester Golf Outing on Tuesday at the local Country Club. One of my coworkers took a number of pictures of all the participants. I went and ate lunch but didn't golf. I did manage to get into some photos. The photo below is my favorite as it only shows a part of me. I laughed when I saw it.

Big Boy

I had my last ultrasound, as shown above. My placenta is still in the same spot, but the Doctor has officially decided that we are going to proceed with a vaginal delivery and they will watch me for abnormal bleeding. In the case of a c-section they will be ready, so I can't complain too much.

In bigger news...the baby weighs a whopping 6 lbs. 12 oz. (the average is 6 lbs. at this point) and I gained an astronomical 9 lbs. in the last 2 weeks. Luckily I am still with in my allowable weight gain and I can still gain 4 more pounds without going over. He's just a big boy.

I am dilated 1 cm and 50% effaced right now too! My mom told me to prepare for an early delivery, but I keep telling our little guy to hold out a few more weeks. We shall see!

One Month Left!

I have exactly a month until my due date and last night I celebrated the occasion by waking up multiple times with horrible acid reflux.

Nathan thinks it's funny to say offensive things to me about my pregnancy and sometimes I agree. One of things he said that wasn't offensive took place during our birthing class and it was silly. The teacher was describing the role of a doula and how some couples choose to hire one. Nathan's response was..."We don't need a mint julep." That made me laugh.

The hallway to our bathroom is painted! This means that our upstairs drywall and painting is done. All we have left is...painting and installing baseboard, bedroom shelving, installing carpet, installing closet shelving, putting up one more light, and putting up the handrail.

Tyler Lamb

Jeff and Lauren had their little boy, Tyler, Sunday night.

Tyler's Stats:

7 lb. 1 oz.

10:42 pm on Sept. 14th

Nathan and I went to to see Lauren and him in the hospital last night and he is adorable!

Breathe

Nathan and I went to a Birthing Class on Saturday for a 7 hour session of learning. It turned out to be mostly long and boring. We heard about a lot of things that I actually already knew about, but I did learn some new stuff, too. I think the class was worth attending just to get the information on breathing, coping, and positioning techniques to help get me through the delivery. I am planning on getting an epidural, but you never know what will happen and I would hate to have to do it naturally without a bit of breathing techniques.

My favorite technique went as follows:
1. Nathan watches the readout for the contractions and reminds me to start the breathing techniques by saying "Cleansing Breath". (That's just a really deep breath.)
2. He starts squeezing my leg and slowly increases the pressure as the contraction peaks while I am doing slow breathing in and out.
3. The contraction peaks as he says "Peak" and his pressure is at it's maximum on my leg. At that point I take in 2 short breaths through my nose and let 2 short breaths out my mouth until the contraction eases.
4. I take a finishing cleansing breath.

We did this a few times in class and the teacher asked the partners to show how hard they squeezed when it was completed. I really didn't believe how hard Nathan had squeezed my leg. I didn't feel it that much during the exercise, so the technique must work! We'll see how much I can focus during a real contraction!

Nursery is Completed!

Our crib is all set up in the nursery now and I have put on the crib set, minus the bumper. I have actually already taken off the quilt too and stored it into the drawer, because that can't be on the crib either. Barb's quilt is hanging on the rocker and that should keep us warm while the baby is being nursed. She did a fantastic job of matching the nursery colors!

The crib is actually about a foot away from the walls on each side to keep a distance away from the curtains. I have a kit, too, to make all of our blinds' cords kid friendly so that they aren't a hazard.

Pretty Autumn Flowers

Ed, Doreen, Ben, & Allison sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers to celebrate my completion of the ARE! Aren't they pretty. It was a pleasant surprise when they were delivered.

Nathan is putting together our crib in this photo. I will post completed nursery photos some time this week. I really like how everything has turned out!!

Last night Nathan and I went to a breastfeeding class that was geared towards both expectant parents and I was pleasantly surprised. I learned a ton and really liked the lactation consultant that lead the class and also works at the hospital. Her services are free even after you've left the hospital and that was good information to know. I think that going to that class really alleviated some of my concerns.

Well Hand Me a Stamp and Call Me an Architect

Yes, it's true, I have passed all of my licensing exams for architecture!! A state official called me a little while ago and gave me the news. Indiana will be sending me an official letter within the week and then I can order my glorious stamp!!!!

This has been a long and arduous process and I am glad that it's done and not a moment too soon. I was anxious to find out the news before our little boy came and now I can check this off of my to-do list. You might say it's been down to the wire as I'm only 6 weeks away from my due date.

Week 33

No new news at this point. I'm still feeling good and sleeping well. I have added a regular dose of Tums to my daily diet.

Bassinet is Completed!

I have been looking and drooling over fancy bassinets for a while now, but could not justify spending $500 for a piece of furniture that our baby would use for a couple of months. So, I started looking at cheaper options and was not too pleased with what I saw. Cheaper options that weren't too frou-frou for my taste were still $200 and I just wasn't too excited about them. Knowing that Nathan's time is limited, I drew up a design of a bassinet that I ripped off from a modern baby company and asked Nathan to create it for me. He was able to use one sheet of plywood, stained it with two different shades, and completed it in a little over a week. We managed to create a bassinet for about $30 that sells for $500 online (with slight changes).

I'm really happy with the result! Nathan did a great job. Right now it's sitting in the nursery, but will be moved soon. I finally ordered a crib Saturday night, so that should arrive in a couple of weeks.

Sailboat- For the Baby, Of Course

Nathan and I bought a sailboat over the weekend. The baby really wanted one. It's about 25' long and came with the trailer. You can see Nathan and Clyde hanging out in the cabin. As if Nathan didn't have enough to do, now he can obsess over the sailboat! Right now it's parked in our backyard and we shall see if we get a notice from the city about it. It was a steal at $700 and we couldn't pass that opportunity up. Nathan has wanted one for 10 years.