Paul's favorite

This is definitely the maternity outfit he likes best. He calls it the farmer outfit, LOL. It's very appropriate given our home is surrounded by corn fields, pumpkin patches, etc. I've seen more wildlife in our yard than I have in any other home I've lived in. Yesterday and today we've been enjoying watching a doe with her VERY small fawn for example. It's a comfy outfit, but I feel like a butterball in it so I don't wear it that often. I got it on eBay for just a few dollars so I've gotten my money's worth out of it. Plus I can wear non-maternity t-shirts under it which is a plus as I don't have that many maternity tops. When I put it on this afternoon I did discover that I don't have much growing room left in it! So far I have only outgrown one maternity item (that I am aware of anyhow) - my navy blue maternity skirt hasn't fit for awhile.

We finished assembling the toy box yesterday morning. I put it between the two recliners as I thought it could also serve as a place for guests to set their drinks if we had company. There are a few toys in it now, and I am sure there will be many more in it a year from now!

I did go for a walk with Paul on Saturday, but I passed when he asked me today as I have been having a lot of cramping down low and my lower back really hurts. I woke up about 5am in intense pain and wasn't able to get much sleep after that. I am not sure if the doctor will do an internal exam on Tuesday, but if he does I am curious as to where things stand in terms of dilation and such. On Friday I plan to resume exercise as I'll be 37 weeks then and won't mind if the exercise brings on labor at that point! I re-read most of Husband Coached Childbirth today (about the Bradley method) and this time discussed it with Paul so hopefully he'll know what to do to help me as I am not planning to have an epidural (but who knows if I'll stick to that plan!). Yesterday we watched portions of a free DVD we received in the mail which covered various topics such as how to give baby a sponge bath, how to burp baby, etc. Paul learned a few things.

Packing

Well I did start packing yesterday although I am not done yet. I just have one small suitcase plus the boppy. Last night we did a little shopping. Paul needed a new pair of denim shorts, and I decided to get some new pjs as I haven't bought any new pjs in 2 years and none of what I own has buttons down the front. What I usually sleep in during the summer is a Steeler night shirt that's sort of like a large t-shirt that almost reaches my knees. I looked at the nightgowns and pjs at Sears that had buttons down the front, and I narrowed it down to 3 options and had Paul pick one. I ended up buying a lime green "silk" pj set that includes a short sleeved shirt (with buttons down the front) and pants. Last night I tried them on and the top will be fine after I give birth (as it just barely fits now), but I don't think the bottoms will so I'm going to take them back to the store. I'll probably just wear whatever the hospital gives me, but if I feel it's safe to put on something of my own, I'll wear a t-shirt and black pj pants that have fit during pgcy (but are not maternity clothes). I don't own a robe, and I am not going to buy one just for this brief hospital stay. I'll either go without or use what the hospital gives me. A lot of sites suggested snacks for hubby during labor; so I asked Paul what he wanted and plan to buy those and have those packed for him. They also suggested hard candy for mom during labor so I'll buy one bag for me. While we were at Sears I saw two onesies on a clearance rack near the register, and I couldn't resist since they were so cute and only cost $1.74 for the two of them together (original price was $14). I probably don't really NEED two more 0-3 month onesies, but for $1.74 who can resist? Not me! :-)

Since the weather has been so nice and my swelling went away, Paul and I decided to go for a walk yesterday morning. Well we didn't make it as far as usual and had to take lots of breaks. I found it very challenging to walk while having BH contractions (I'm having those VERY frequently these days). Actually even walking around the mall last evening wasn't always easy. The contractions used to be excusively up really high, but now sometimes I get them really low and my back hurts as well. They didn't use to hurt at all, but now some of them are painful. I am sure compared to the REAL deal these aren't very painful, but they are the most painful ones I've experienced thus far. I don't think I'll be going on many more walks until after she's born.

Last night we worked on assembling the toy box that was a bday gift from my parents (April 2007). That year I thought it would be used by the children we'd adopt from Ukraine, but it turns out it's for Nadia.

36 Weeks!

Well starting tomorrow I can say only 3 weeks left to go! I hope the time just flies by until she's in our arms! I made good progress on my to do list yesterday. I cooked and froze a double batch of tuna noodle casserole and a pan of lasagna, finished the thank you notes from the baby shower, graded some papers, etc. The invitations for Paul's party were also sent out this week so I think I've done all I can to prepare for that event ahead of time. Today I want to at least partially pack a suitcase for when it's time for Nadia's arrival. I figure some things like toothpaste and such can't be packed until the actual day arrives. I plan to bring both newborn and 0-3 month sized clothing for Nadia since we don't know which size she'll start out in. If you have any advice on what to pack/not to pack, I'm all ears! :-) I do plan to bring a boppy in case I find that helpful for nursing.

Good News/ Bad News

Well the good news would include that the weather has been MUCH cooler and this has led to my swelling going away. YAHOO! Yesterday was the first day in over a week that my shoes didn't bother me at all, and I stood for most of my class last night without my legs hurting or anything!! I am sure the temps being this low is just temporary, but I will enjoy it while it lasts! Another bit of good news is that now we in the 20's as far as days until Nadia's EDD. WOOHOO!

The bad news isn't really that bad. It's just that my test from Monday came back positive for Group B Strep (GBS) which has nothing to do with "strep throat" but is a bacteria that is benign to women but "may pose serious and potentially life threatening consequences for your baby during birth." The usual treatment is to give the mother penicillin by IV during labor. Penicillin hasn't worked for me for decades for things like say an ear infection. I will mention that in case it would be better to select a different antibiotic. I also was hoping to avoid an IV (negative effect the fluid has on b/feeding plus I was wanting to stay mobile and use the jacuzzi tub if I get a room with one). Well I'll discuss all this with Dr. O on Tuesday. I actually liked the OB I saw this Monday better than him, but she wasn't available next week. So anyhow I am praying that Nadia will not become ill from the GBS.

I got another baby gift yesterday from a friend at work. He got Nadia a toy (ball popper) from the Walmart registry. We don't own many toys for her so I am very grateful for this gift! Thanks, Clark!

ONE month!!

Well I'm hoping Nadia will be born before 7-18, but technically her EDD is exactly one month from today. YAHOO! My hip pain keeps increasing (at night) so that is another reason I can't wait to have Nadia in my arms! I will say I am very glad that our bed is the kind that the mattress is pretty high off the floor; it definitely would be harder for me to get out of bed if the bed were as low as most beds are. Of course it still isn't pleasant to get out of bed. I feel like saying OUCH every time (and I get up to go to the bathroom a million times a night). The 24 hour test showed that I pee more than twice as much during the night as I do during the day.

Hiccups!

Many have asked me if Nadia has hiccups. For most of the pregnancy I would say I didn't know because I wasn't sure how to distinguish between hiccups and other movements. Well I've finally figured it out (I think anyhow, LOL), and YES she does have hiccups. It seems she'll have a hiccup "episode" at least once a day. Today I watched my belly jump with each hiccup. :-)

This morning I had ladies Bible study and then before I met a friend from work for lunch I stopped at a shoe store. I didn't end up buying any shoes. Going up a size didn't help, and there weren't too many options in a wide width. The black sandals I have been wearing (which are a medium width) actually seemed as wide as the shoes labeled as "wide width." Part of the problem is that I have never wanted to wear any shoe that puts something between my toes so that eliminates a lot of summer shoes. Plus my feet just hurt all the time and really it's not much worse wearing shoes, at least this one pair of black sandals. So as long as my feet don't swell up any more I don't think I'll buy any shoes. I should be at home most of the time after my class finishes on 7-25, and I always go barefoot at home.

A lady on a 3rd trimester db said that she received 120 onesies so far from her baby showers. I thought I received a lot, LOL! She doesn't plan to return any; well I definitely would if I received that many! We have about 40 onesies from newborn through 6-9 month (4 different sizes). Onesies must be really common baby gifts, but I think that we have just about the right amount although eventually I think I'll need to get some in larger sizes (9-12 months, etc.).

No Preeclampsia!

I am off to class in a few minutes, but I wanted to give an update from my OB appt today. All my lab results were good (bloodwork, 24 hour urine test, etc.). I don't have preeclampsia; I just have swelling that is normal for the end of a pregnancy, especially in the summer. I am going to buy myself one pair of larger shoes tomorrow though as my shoes really hurt. Actually my feet and hands really hurt, but the end is in sight! I only gained a few ounces since Thursday. Over the last month (from 5-16 to 6-16) I gained exactly 5 lbs (not just to the ounce but even the decimal place after the ounce, LOL) which is about what I'm supposed to be gaining so I was happy about that. I had the strep B test today, and the OB (a different one than I usually see) also did an u/s (my 7th this pregnancy)! It was the first time I had an u/s at that site, and I've been going there for 5 months! She said it was to check to make sure baby was head down which she was (and always has been at every u/s the past 15 weeks). The OB kept commenting on how very active she is; I already know that, LOL! Her little hands were waving all around, etc. The OB said her head is down very low so she's right where she should be. The BH contractions weren't painful before, but now sometimes they hurt. I guess my body is just getting ready for labor!

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day was never any where near as hard for me emotionally as Mother's Day, but I admit it still usually wasn't my favorite day to attend church. Well this year it was a happy day! I gave Paul a card and a Giants hoodie for Nadia. I think he really liked both. He usually buys funny cards rather than "sweet" ones, but I could tell he really liked the card I got him. :-) Since our house was being shown this afternoon, we decided to go to Walmart and BRU after church. Last night and this morning we went through everything we've been given to tweak the shopping list I had created. For example, I had scratched socks and cloth diapers off the list as I received those on Saturday. We then cut the tags off of all the clothing that we were keeping (almost all of it), and I did 2 loads of laundry of just baby stuff (clothes, cloth diapers, receiving blankets, etc.). After church we first went to Walmart and returned a few items (such as some of the bibs) and then with the store credit purchased a boom box, jump up, baby spoons, 3 pairs of tights (one with ruffles on the butt - how cute!), and some things for her hair.

Then we drove to BRU and returned one item (the pink dust ruffle since I had purchased a Gossamer Wing one on eBay) and then shopped with the $100 gift card I had received from my 14 colleagues at work as well as some cash we were given at yesterday's shower. At BRU we purchased a 2nd roll of wallpaper border, a Gossamer Wings tissue box cover and trash can, bags for breastmilk as well as a container to keep them in the freezer, a mat for under the high chair, 2 hooded towels, 2 sheet savers, 2 bath toys, and one other toy (elephant). I also had ordered 4 things on Walmart's website on Saturday night such as a 2nd car seat base (with free shipping to the store). I was trying to only spend an amount equal to the exchanges, cash gifts, and gift cards, and I did pretty well as I stayed under that amount by $41. :-) So all of the items pictured above are really also gifts from others. So again I say THANK YOU!! I think we are pretty well set now for her arrival. I'll need to buy a few more things (such as diapers!!) soon after she's born, but I think I have enough of everything to wait until after we see what size she is at birth before I make any more purchases (with the exception of one dressy dress on eBay).

After shopping at BRU, we shopped at Party City for Paul's graduation party (Aug 2). We have the balloons, paper plates, cups, napkins etc. It's good we didn't wait any longer as it seems the graduation stuff will soon be taken off the shelves! I plan to send out the invitations this week. I'm still trying to get everything crossed off my to do list by the end of the month - this includes school projects as well as home projects such as freezing meals, etc. Of course if I have preeclampsia then I might not have that long! I see the OB tomorrow afternoon.

Baby Shower!

Well yesterday afternoon I had a baby shower. Paul remarked last evening at how I used to dread these events, and that now they are very enjoyable. :-) This was a traditional shower (first for me) in that there were only women present (well except for Paul's great uncle Herby who was there with his wife) and we played games. This shower was thrown by Millie (Paul's sister-in-law) and Paul's mom. For years Millie had said whenever we adopted or had a baby she'd be throwing a big party! :-) They invited LOTS of people; however most weren't able to attend. For example, Paul had given them 47 names/addresses of family and friends of mine and only 7 of those came (my mom, one friend from when I lived in Annapolis, two friends from the school where I was principal from 1996-2003, one professor from where I taught 2003-2004, one professor from where I am now, and one lady from my church).

I'm not sure how many they invited as far as relatives from Paul's side of the family, but there were about 10 women from his side of the family who came (one of Paul's aunts, his grandmother, a cousin's wife, etc.). My mom commented that she's never been to a baby shower where none of the guests were in their 20's or 30's - most of the guests were in their 50's and 60's (and a few in their 70's and 80's). The shower was held at the church where Paul's family attends, which was where we were married 7 years ago. I am so very grateful to Millie & Paul's mom for all the work they put into the shower. Millie always does a great job with catering parties like this. She was shocked when I requested vanilla cake (she had made both and knows I always pick chocolate), but I knew the chocolate cake wouldn't be worth having heartburn for hours!

We played 3 games. The first was to guess how many safety pins were in a little baby food jar. Sharon, a colleague of mine at work, won that one even though she was off by more than 100, LOL. Then they passed around a jar and had people throw some change in it. Paul's mom said the winner would take All. Everyone guessed how much was inside, and the winner was given a bottle of All detergent, LOL. The jar with money was given to me. My mom won the last game which was to complete a little chart saying which feature I was hoping baby would take after Paul vs. me (ex. do I want her to have my nose or Paul's nose). My mom said she never wins games like this but she won a game at my bridal shower and again at my baby shower - she knows me well! :-) The easy ones were legs and hair; I think everyone got those right.

Then after we ate (sandwiches, fruit, veggies, deviled eggs, etc.) I opened presents. Some who couldn't attend had sent gifts so I had a lot to open! The activity gym has already been assembled, and I'm taking that to the office tomorrow. The curtains have already been hung. I'm sure my dad would approve of the Steeler items I received (bottle, bib, socks). :-) Nadia was given lots of bibs, onesies, and footed pajamas. My favorite pjs were the ones with the frog feet. There were 2 handmade gifts. One of Paul's aunts on his father's side (she lives in CA) made a beautiful quilt, and Paul's aunt's (his mother's sister) best friend knitted her a beautiful pink blanket. Last night we went through all the gifts we've been given the last two months to figure out what we still needed and what duplicates we had that needed to be returned (ex. we received two of the same exact CD). The items we received the most of were bibs (42!), onesies, and footed pajamas.

Everyone says you can never have too many bibs, but I think 42 is too many! I thought I might have too many onesies, but as I went through them I found out that I had 7-10 in each size (newborn, 0-3, 3-6, and 6-9 months) so I decided to keep all of them. Same went for the pjs. I did have as many as 5 in one size (0-3 months), but I kept them all even though I'm not sure if she really needs that many pjs. She needs more "regular" clothing (play clothes, clothes for church), but she doesn't need more pjs or onesies! She also has plenty of pink clothing. I plan to stay away from pink in my purchases for her for awhile so that pink isn't the only color she ever wears. I am going to wait on buying any clothing though as I want to see how big she is when she's born and how quickly she seems to grow. The one exception is I do plan to shop on eBay in the near future for one dressy dress for her to wear to church this summer.

The funny thing is that many people told me that I would get LOTS of receiving blankets as baby shower gifts and actually I never received any! I had purchased one pack of 5 back in 2005; I'll wait and see if I need more or not after she's born. I also was told I'd receive a lot of diapers, and I didn't receive any of those either. I had purchased one pack of newborn size in 2005 as well as one pack of th next size up so I think I am covered until I find out which size she's going to start out in after birth. She received 3 rattles yesterday. That is something I need to keep buying more of for her (toys). I have been just buying books, but I know she'll need to have some toys at home and in my office. However, that's not something I need to run out and purchase immediately.

After I opened the presents the cake was served and then after that the ladies started leaving. My mom had traveled the farthest (3 hours), and there were two who came from the Philadelphia area (about 2 hours). I am very, very grateful for Millie & Paul's mom for making this very special event possible. I've waited many years for the day I'd attend a baby shower that was for me! I am also very, very grateful for all the gifts and also for those who took the time and energy to attend!

Good riddance!

Well I was VERY glad to hand off that brown jug at the doctor's office at 7:30 this morning. Things that are supposed to be flushed down the toilet should NEVER be stored in one's refrigerator. It was just SO gross!!! It was also really a pain during the night as usually I just use the upstairs bathroom, but last night I'd have to come down and empty the contents of the "hat" into the jug that was in the refrigerator. I learned that my output is greater at night than it is during the day - didn't really need to know that about myself, LOL. Monday afternoon I will find out the results of the urine specimen and bloodwork from Thursday as well as this 24 hour collection.

Yesterday the realtor called and scheduled a showing of our home for tomorrow afternoon. I am hoping they want to buy our home! We're going to go to BRU and the party store while our house is being shown so that will be fun! This is our 13th showing altogether; the last one was on April 27. Our dinner guests cancelled out on us, and I was feeling badly for having asked Paul to help me with weed whacking, cleaning, etc., but it turns out none of those efforts were in vain as we need everything to look great for Sunday's showing. I froze some of what I had cooked for last night. I made the mistake of eating one brownie before I froze most of them. The horrible heartburn I had last night and still this morning from that brownie was so NOT worth it. When will I get it through my head that I need to avoid ALL chocolate, tomato sauce, cheddar cheese, cereal, etc. until after Nadia is born? I avoid these foods for awhile and then my memory seems to fade, and I think surely it won't be that bad to eat just one brownie. Silly me!!!!