Productive week

Well, Jeff had to take the week off, so we made a list and were quite productive. Yesterday (Thursday) he ended up having to work, so that list is still unfinished, but the rest of the week has been quite productive.

Last Friday I went shopping, more to walk around than get much done. I was able to pick up some PJ's, a robe and some other small items that will be useful once Roo arrives.

The weekend was mostly quiet, as many friends were out of town. We made our list of what the week was to entail.

So since Monday here is the list of things accomplished:
The nursery is all finished. We put up decorations and decided where some homeless items will live. The closet finally got the last of the organization I wanted to get done, so it now has room for baby things. Pictures will be taken and posted later today.
I have conquered Mt. Washmore (laundry) and it is nearly gone. I've been able to keep up with our clothes for a bit now, but linens and towels have taken over a bit as they seem to get low priority on the need to be washed list.
Our bedroom has been cleaned and reorganized in order to have room for the bassinet/co-sleeper. The co-sleeper is all set up and ready to be used.
More shopping was had to purchase some snacks for Jeff and our support friends that will be helping us at the hospital, speakers for our computer, groceries and various things to be frozen and easy to prepare when Roo is here and we are exhausted.
The one item on our list that has been ignored is completing some sewing. I have 2 projects I would like to have done before Roo arrives. One is to make some swaddling blankets (fabric is purchased and washed, just needs to be cut, bias tape made, and sewn). The other is to turn the valance that came with our bedding set into pillows. Backing fabric has been purchased and washed, as well as pillow forms being purchased, now thing need to be cut and sewn. There is also other non-baby sewing that we would like to do, but it hasn't been made a priority.

We have finished the prenatal classes we signed up for. This past week was by far the hardest as medications and possible procedures were discussed in great detail in the class. I am happy I have informed myself what occurs during pregnancy, labor, and birth. This has allowed me to choose an OB who will support my wishes during the birth. There were couples in the class that were just learning about some of the procedures and were horrified at the idea of some of them. Jeff and I had already discussed our plans and wishes, not just with each other, but also with the doctor. The instructor did provide us with ideas of items to help us get through the labor, thus the hospital bags have come into the house to have things added to them and such. A "goody" bag still needs to be made to make sure we have the tools that will make it easier to get through the labor.

As far as how things are going with Roo and progression towards labor:
Things continue to look good. We are hoping Roo does not decide to make an appearance this week as our Doctor leaves today for a week in England. I continue to have "warm-up" contractions and on Monday declared that I was done being pregnant. I proceeded to have contractions for about 5 or 6 hours through the evening 50 minutes apart. By the time I finally went to bed (around 2 am) the contractions had stopped. My belly, although still small in comparison to others in our prenatal class, continues to grow and folks have declared me "ready to pop." I am also no longer able to drive the truck as the belly hits the steering wheel.

We plan on sending out a mass email announcing Roo's arrival, so if you feel we don't have your correct email address, feel free to drop me a line so our records can be updated.

Today's plans include taking pictures of the Nursery and my belly to be posted for all who want to see, making a run to goodwill to get rid of more things we don't want or need anymore, going through the books we have in storage and logging them onto library thing and then deciding what books return to storage and get added to storage to possibly create more room in our library of books. I also need to cut up and freeze the lasagna I made the other day as well as the chicken cutlets that were purchased in bulk. Hopefully I will also be able to get some meatballs made and ready to be frozen as well.

One month left (more or less)

First off, the happy news for those who haven't heard: the Writer's strike is over. It should be a month or 2 before things get back to normal for Jeff at work.

I am now at weekly OB visits. All still looks good. We are still looking at a due date of March 11th, no signs as of yet of being early. The doc went to listen to Roo's heart beat and noted (again) how active he is.

We have just one week left of classes. The prep for childbirth class has given us some good tools to work with and we will get more at the last class. It is a good thing we took the other classes first though, since I'm not sure how gung-ho we would be at going to other classes after this one. Just not as good as the "Monday night" group of classes.

Our nursery looks like just that, with the crib and dresser all set up. We have yet to move a few things around in there and finish decorating. Some of our ideas likely won't get done (like painting the shelf the TV is on) but that is really no big deal. We still have a few items to buy before the baby is here and some I'm waiting on until later. Most of the things I would like to have sooner than later have been ordered and should be arriving in the near future.

In other news, I also had an eye doctor appointment today. Luckily my prescription hasn't really changed, so my contacts (I still have a box left) are the same. Since our insurance either covers some of the contacts OR glasses, I decided with Roo showing up soon, glasses were the best choice. I should have the new glasses in about a week and a half.

Not much else. Plan on trying to get more cooking/food shopping done to prepare more stuff for the freezer, although motivation for that has been low. Go walk the mall a bit, maybe get a hair cut, keep working on the baby book I'm making for Roo. Hope everyone is well, until next week (unless something exciting happens)

35 week progress

This week I feel we have made quite a bit of progress in getting ready for Roo. We now have a crib, dresser, 2 car seats, and a number of other needed items. My hospital bag and diaper bag are packed and sitting next to the door. Our diaper service is arranged and we will get a pre-birth delivery on the 28th. I called the pediatrician most highly recommended by my OB office and she spent 15 minutes talking with me on the phone and answering my questions. My gut is that she will be a good match with our family. She is sending me an email with the office website, so that I can check that out. It is a small practice (2 pediatricians) that is just beginning, however Dr Pan has over 20 years experience. She appears to be a doctor that is willing to listen to the family and work with them.

Jeff's work schedule has changed, so we haven't gotten the crib or dresser set up yet (the crib is started). Things feel like they are falling into place. Today I plan on making a lasagna to freeze and finish organizing the bedroom so that the co-sleeper can be set up in there.

We started our Preparation of Childbirth/Lamaze class this week and have learned a little. I definitely miss our last instructor and her way of presenting information, but, I'm sure this will help us with the actual birth.

34 week exam

Well, the exam was pretty routine and low key. We had a quick and dirty ultrasound with the doctor's oldest machine just to check the position of Roo and make sure we are all ready and in the head down position, which Roo is. The one thing that was slightly different was I had to spend a bit of extra time resting/lying down in the office because when I came in my blood pressure was borderline high (151/90) and the doctor wanted to make sure I wasn't developing pregnancy induced hypertension. Luckily, after lying down my blood pressure came down just fine (106/60). I discussed a bit with the doctor about signs of needing to head to the hospital and got several other questions answered.

This week has been a week of several small shopping trips. I have picked up some things we were lacking/still needing. I've got the diaper bag mostly packed for the hospital, all that is needed are diapers to be added. Most of Roo's laundry is done, minus a few new items.

Our parenting class went well and we again got lots of very good and helpful information. Sadly, this was our last class with Susan, the teacher who has been teaching this set of classes. We also met some other parents-to-be and traded emails and phone numbers. Overall a great experience. Next week we begin our Preparation for Childbirth class with a different teacher.

This coming week, I need to finish packing my hospital bag, call and interview pediatricians so we can choose one before our next visit on 2/14, call and set up an account with the diaper service, and probably help Jeff set up the dresser, crib, and co-sleeper.

Basic Baby care and a slight change in plans

Class last night was quite good (as we have come to expect from this instructor). When we arrived, Jeff joked that we were taking this class for him, not for me. Although that was much of why we took the class, I learned a lot of information and got some "hands on" experience with certain things. We were walked through swaddling (something new for me), umbilical stump care, circumcision care, diapering with both cloth and disposable diapers, a variety of options for baby wipes, sponge baths, regular baths and dressing the baby. Apparently the next class, Preparing to be a Parent is much more vital and has lots of important information in it.

One of the topics discussed was diapering and cloth diapers. Susan (the instructor) went over some of the things she would be concerned about with washing your own cloth diapers, including a build up of bacteria in a dry pail. Although I have been able to find nothing to support this, it did get Jeff and I talking again about whether a diaper service is more feasible than washing our own diapers. I came home and began rereading everything I could find about washing cloth diapers and noticed one thing I had somewhat overlooked. Most sites suggest at least a double rinse and a presoak. Seeing as we do not have our own washer and there is no control allowing for either of these things in our apartment laundry room, we have decided that using a diaper service is our best option. In addition to the lack of our own washer, if my Fibromyalgia comes back, having less laundry to haul back and forth from the laundry room is definitely a good option.

So, I have gone through our gift lists and updated them, removing several items we won't need (cloth diapers, large wet bags), leaving ones we will (small wet bags, diaper covers) and adding information about giving a gift certificate for the diaper service we will be using.

2 months left

Wow, time sure goes fast. We have 8 weeks left until our due date. Finished the breastfeeding class. Tomorrow we go and get a new computer monitor and break down Jeff's computer. By the end of the week we hope to have my computer and desk moved into the living room and most of the other extra furniture out of the room so we can really start prepping for Roo to make an arrival. We are hoping to have the room clear and ready for new furniture and such by the baby shower on the 27th. After the shower, we'll start ordering the things we need to have (such as diapers, etc.) so that we will have everything set and ready to go early in case Roo decides to arrive early.

All is continuing to go well. Tiredness and frequent bathroom breaks have become common place. Roo's movements are much stronger and often more like pushing than kicking or punching. At time they make me jump and wince a bit. I will be heading to a couple of nursing stores to look at my options for bras and what not, since I definitely need to get something that helps my back hurt less and that I will be comfortable in for a while. Next Doc appointment is Thursday.

First BF class

The first thing I have to say is I REALLY like the teacher. She will be teaching all classes but Preparation for Childbirthing and I'm looking forward to it. She is a great communicator and teacher. She gets folks in the class involved and is quite funny in ways that will likely help you remember much of the info given.

The first part of last nights class was lots of information on why to breastfeed. Her attitude is you will breastfeed for the first 4 weeks, after that it's a day by day thing. She has been teaching breastfeeding classes and has been a lactation consultant for over 20 years and knows where many of the downfalls occur.

You may be wondering "Why do you need a six hour class on breastfeeding? Just put the baby to the breast and they eat." If that were the case, there would be many less people having a tough time breastfeeding and there would be little need for the class. I am definitely looking forward to next weeks class (part 2 on BF).

**Update on us: Roo and I continue to do well. Kicks are getting stronger and hitting the ribcage at a more frequent rate. My back is a bit sore from time to time and it is difficult to find a comfortable position to sit or lie in. Cleaning on the office which is becoming Roo's room is progressing. All files have been culled. Cabinets are ready to be moved to the hallway closet where they will likely live. SCA garb has been organized and things have been placed in the donate or store piles. My desk that will be moving to the living room is emptied of the craft stuff it has been storing and loaded with office stuff from Jeff's desk (drawers are easily removable for moving to the other room). Sewing basket will be had for misc. sewing notions, scissors, thread, etc. Work for Jeff continues to be quite slow because of the writer's strike. He will be doing a training the end of this week (during the day shift).

Hospital Orientation and most recent OB visit

Last night we went to the maternity ward tour held at the hospital where Roo will be born. Despite our mutual jeering and smart ass comments, we are both very happy with the hospital. The birthing suites are quite cozy and comfortable without an overly hospital feel. The lights are able to be dimmed, there is a TV and DVD player as well as a tub and shower. There are 3 chairs in addition to the bed. You are encouraged to get up and move and walk to help labor progress unless complications require you to remain in bed. Up to 3 people may be there to provide support and assistance at all times, including the actual pushing. The hospital promotes skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth for at least an hour. After that time, baby goes to the nursery for a weighing, bath, and warming as mom is moved to the mother/baby room. Once baby is clean and maintaining body heat (takes about an hour), baby returns to mom's side and remains there unless mom needs to go for a procedure or requests baby return to the nursery. When we went on our tour, there were no babies in the nursery. The hospital is also renowned for it's NICU as well. Many babies are transported there from other hospitals. The rooms are semi-private (only 2 private available on first come first serve basis for extra $$) Usually only one mom is actually in each room. If the unit is busy, they try to place a new mom with a mom about to be discharged as to allow for as much privacy as possible. Security is good. All babies have matching arm band numbers as both Mom and Dad. The Women's Center staff all have badges with a specific colored picture background to assist patients in knowing who is on staff in that department. Lastly, each mom and baby receive continuous care from one nurse, so she can get to know you and your needs.
There were also vendors at the orientation, where I learned of a diaper service in the area. Now we need to decide if this is something we are interested in or if I want to go ahead and buy and wash the diapers. http://www.dy-dee.com/
This is the start of our prenatal classes. They continue one a week with Feb. 19th being our last class. We have breastfeeding classes (2 weeks), becoming a parent, baby care basics, and preparation for childbirth (3 weeks).
Today, I had a prenatal visit. Everything continues to go well. I gained 3 lbs. this month, for a grand total of 19 lbs. gained so far. My belly is the size it should be and Roo appears to have turned and no longer is breech. No ultrasound this month, just the Doppler, which Roo didn't really like as he batted at it the whole time. We have reached the point where our visits will now be every 2 weeks, unless there is a problem.
**TMI alert**
As far as how I'm feeling: I am noticing that I am more tired than I had been, but not too bad. The heart burn continues now and then but isn't continuous. My mid back and occasionally lower back hurts by the end of the day and it is difficult to find a comfortable position, even in bed, but I am sleeping pretty well regardless and waking feeling better than I did the previous night. Roo continues to be very active and at times the kicks, punches and stretches can be painful. His position is definitely putting pressure on my bladder as I need to go more often and I can feel pressure in my pelvis. So far, nothing really major to complain about. We remain healthy and happy.