Nursery: FINAL!

37 weeks, 5 days

It seems like I'm always saying that things are not complete and this is no exception. I guess that's life, huh? BUT, I'm calling it complete because really it's about as close as it's gonna get.

For a refresher, we have the before & after prior to furniture and decor.




This was the room that we painted, cleaned and moved in first. It was partly because all the pieces were taking up space and completely unusable in our old place but also because I needed to have it done and ready just in case. I would have slept on a mattress on the floor for weeks, but if this kid came and didn't have an organized closet or dresser, the world would have imploded. I admit to the craziness, no question there. I did feel a little bad (just a little), however, when Joe was disassembling all the pieces that I had forced him to assemble a mere weeks prior.

Instead of me rambling more, I'll just get to the pictures.


The glider we ordered wasn't supposed to arrive until the week before my due date but luckily, it arrived the same week that we were moving.


The swing is not staying here (it will go in the family room once he arrives) but for now, it's out of the way.


I decided pretty early on to not get an actual bedding set. Two reasons: 1. Those things are damn expensive and 2. we wouldn't use half the pieces. The comforter could possibly be used with a toddler bed in the future but we all know, I would get sick of it before that time came. Bumpers are a no-no due to the increased risk of SIDS so it just wasn't worth it to get a full set for the sheet and crib skirt.






As you can see, one of my last To-Do's is to sew up the curtains...but you get the idea.


The dresser is already pretty well full. The very last item to purchase for the room is a bin to go next to the changing pad to hold diapers and wipes and things.








Now all that's missing is the little dude. I can't wait to see him in here!

37 weeks

37 weeks, 4 days

I really do have quite a bit to update you on but I've just not felt like writing. Don't get me wrong, I obviously have plenty of time. I admittedly thought I wouldn't have to write this (I thought he would be here by now) so that's making it a little bit harder to complete. Joe has even taken up nagging me to write a post which I think is funny because he obviously knows everything that's going on. I guess I figure most of my readers (or regular commenters anyway) text me daily to check on me so the important people already know most of this. But, I realize I do have other readers (thank you, google analytics!) who want an update...That and this blog is, first and foremost, for me (and Joe and Baby T). I find myself having a hard time even remembering things that happened a few days ago so I need to be better about writing this stuff here because I know I'm going to want to remember it in the future. Now, onto the updates.



I've had 3 more doctor appointments since I wrote last week. Each of them consisted of a sonogram and a meeting with Dr. Bennett. Without giving you the full rundown of each appointment, I'll say that Baby is stable. My fluids have been the big concern and they have continued to fluctuate. They started off at a 6, then moved to a 7.8 as I mentioned in my previous post. Since then I've gotten a 7, a 7.2 and today, the highest of them all, an 8.4! Dr. Bennett is a very non-intervention type person so as long as he's stable and consistent, we're still at the status quo. This is one of my favorite things about her since I'm very low intervention myself but it's still a bit hard on my patience. I know in the end, he should come when he's ready though so it's good thing.

One of the problems we had last week was also that his breathing was not consistent. Each ultrasound since then we've had zero issues with it so that's been a relief. Although, we have noticed that my fluid is almost non-existent on what they consider the right lower and upper quadrants of my uterus. The Babes back and butt are taking up this entire space. Baby T's head is down in my lower left quadrant (which has the most fluid) so he is taking advantage of all that fluid to help him breathe. I'm not sure if you know this but one of the ways that you can see so well in the sono is if there is a bunch of fluid present. Since my entire right hand side has almost no fluid (seriously, it measured at a 0), the entire screen goes blank on that side. It's really weird and it has gradually gotten worse in the last week. It will be interesting to get all the measurements we need on Thursday with this happening. Most 38 weekers don't get sonograms so it is especially hard to get everything to show on screen. Sorry, I'm rambling.

So, fluid is good, breathing is good, heart rate is good too. He's consistently 140s to the mid 150s.

However, movement has been a stressor for me. The docs have made sure that I am doing my kick counts and that he is remaining active. Now, the thing with activity is that as the baby gets bigger, he obviously has less room, which makes it harder for him to move. This becomes an interesting situation. While he is still moving consistently, he has decreased his movement a bit. He does gradual shifts but no real strong punches and kicks. There are certain parts of the day where my entire right side of my stomach is sticking out. I keep saying I'm going to get it on video because I'm completely lopsided. It's not an actual indent of a foot or a hand but it's a huge protrusion coming out of my stomach which is either his entire back pushing out or his butt...or both. So yeah, annoying to say the least. Not the kicking part (he can keep that up as much as he wants), the obsessive worry about the kicking.




Today's appointment, I was scheduled for another NST. It was a "routine" test for me but not necessarily all that common in pregnancy. It's a piece of cake but can be a bit annoying if the baby is not cooperating. Essentially, they lay me down in a big comfy recliner and strap me into two different monitors, both of which are external stomach monitors. The first records the babies heart rate. The second monitor records any contractions or uterine movements. After I am strapped in, they give you a handheld button thing (it's the same device the contestants on Jeopardy use to buzz in for answers...What do you call those things?). I am to push that button any time I feel the baby move. Super simple. I get to lay in a chair and relax, reading a magazine and push a button. No problem..... except when the baby doesn't move for an hour. BUZZKILL.

That happened today, of course. He was sleepy so we had a very simple pattern of consistent heart rates and no contractions along with no movement. The whole point of the test is to make sure that they get the response they want and in order to do that, he has to be moving. Thankfully, it was nearing lunch time and it never fails, that when he gets hungry, he gets irritable. He gradually started to shift and move and with each movement, his heart rate would increase. It was kinda interesting to watch the pattern. The more he moved, the more his heart rate went up....which is exactly what they want to see. It was even cooler to see the rise in contractions start the more he moved. I hadn't realized that I was even contracting until he started to get really irritated in there. At one point, a few of my contractions were going off the scale but thankfully I couldn't feel them. Well, I could kinda tell they were there (it felt like very mild, almost nonexistent cramping). I think though that if I hadn't been watching the monitor and knowing that they were happening, I wouldn't have even paid attention.

(Gah, this is getting long. I really need to update more so these things don't get so wordy!)

Eventually, we got the okay and I was released.

For records sake, my blood pressure is still pretty on par (today it was 114/72), urine is clear, I did gain 1 pound (up to 11 total now.) I had a negative test result with the Group B strep test. (I won't go into that, might be a bit TMI for my readers, so if you want to know the deets, text me or google. You're welcome.) The internals have started and I'm at 1 cm and 50% effaced...Lame. Although, I've decided to decline those in the future since they mean jack crap and either get your hopes up or disappointment them.

Before I end this crazy long rambling session, I have to note that I'm still feeling pretty good, physically anyway. I've been preparing myself that he won't come until I start to get uncomfortable so I'm afraid I'm gonna have to get used to this whole bed rest thing. Pretty much sucks as I'm ready for him to be here but I know to take advantage of this time (trust me, I'm sleeping like mad!) He, unfortunately, does a number on my ribs still so he has some descention to get to, as well. Every time I shift or moan, Joe looks at me like a crazy person. I swear, he's so paranoid I'm having contractions and going to go into labor that he is on edge 24/7. The poor guy is a nervous wreck. I won't even get into him waking at 3am because he has himself so stressed out. It's as if I'm sleeping enough for the both of us.




We've reached our very last fruit, you guys! Exciting stuff going down! Now that we have reached full term, The Bump has informed me that baby is gaining a 1/2 ounce a day and gearing up for his first poop. (I'm serious, that's what it says.) Baby T is also brushing up on his skills for the outside world which include gripping. This makes me squee with glee thinking about the teeny tiny fingers.

My attempt at an art project

36 weeks, 5 days

I've been mildly obsessed with Pinterest for a little while...albeit later than most of the population. This art project has been showing up on my pin boards and I thought it would be a super easy task to add to the new house. Bonus: It only cost 5 bucks for two canvases via Hobby Lobby!

We started out with the basic canvas. I have no clue what size it is. I just bought the size that looked visually large enough but not too large. (Scientific, huh?)


From this point, the project was free and took a total of an hour...tops.

Essentially, you take some painters tape and place it randomly throughout the canvas to create a geometric pattern.


The process is pretty idiot proof!


The accents in our great room (the room where the art is going) is a green so I used some of the leftover master bedroom paint and brushed it on. I made sure to brush the paint away from the tape so as not to push it underneath the strips. I tried to move quickly so that I could remove the tape before the paint dried. It is essential to do while it's wet.


I ended up doing two pieces with the second being very orderly and structured. I'm not ready to show the final locations but here is a sneak peak of the finished pieces.







Once all the final touches are complete, I'll show you the placement of my fool proof art project.

36 weeks

36 weeks, 3 days

(I promise to upload my picture tomorrow. I actually get to leave the house so I will look presentable enough for a picture then.)



This week has been pretty crazy. It started with my regularly scheduled doctor appointment on Thursday for the 36 week growth ultrasound. That day, I went to work like normal, feeling normal. I had one of the later sonograms scheduled so I closed up my office for the day and went to the doc. The tech was a new girl (to me) and was very friendly. She was super talkative at the start, asking all about the pregnancy, life in general and talking about hers. (She looked my age and had a set of boy twins and two singleton girls!) She got to work and from the start, I felt nervous about the whole thing. For some reason, ultrasounds are always nerve wracking for me. I always want to get them over with or at least know that things are a-okay. His heartbeat was easy to find but after that, it was like begging to get the right results. It took him a bit to move but then thankfully she was able to see him wiggle his toes. Then she moved to make sure he was breathing. She focused on his diaphragm for a very long time and she was extremely quiet during it. I could tell that she wasn’t getting what she was wanting. She finally said she would move on to the measurements and get back to his breathing.

She got to the measurements and again, she kept having to re-measure. She asked me what he was measuring at our last sono and I told her he was 2 days ahead. She finally settled on her results and he was measuring 5 days late. Not a huge deal because he’s still growing (estimated at 5 lb, 12 oz) but it would have been nice to hear that he was still on the projected weight. I try to keep telling myself that these measurements are subjective.

At this point, the kid had woken up and was moving like no other. The tech told me that he was the most active kid she had had in a long time. I always thought he was especially active but since this is my first, I didn’t know if that was normal. Apparently, he’s above average in that. Lastly, she moved to measuring the amniotic fluid. I didn’t know this was something they even measured but when she was finished, she mentioned it was on the low side. Again, maybe I’m paranoid, but I could tell that she wasn’t happy with the results. She moved back to the breathing and after 30 full minutes, he failed. I would soon find out that the low amniotic fluid was related to his breathing.

So yeah, needless to say, he pretty much failed every part of that ultrasound. She brought in another tech to measure the amniotic fluid and it was determined that I was measuring at a 6. I would soon find out, my levels two weeks ago were measuring at a 15. Not. good.

By this point, I had been in the ultrasound room almost an hr and 15 minutes, so they sent me straight back to the doctor. It was closing time so I was seen quickly. Brittany took my weight (still holding strong at exactly 10 pounds gained), BP was 117/80 (a bit higher than normal but what do you expect after that shitty ultrasound?) and no sugars or protein in my urine. Basically, everything going on with me physically was good, it was the kid that was having some issues.

I have to mention here that Joe wasn’t with me at this appointment, so I went to the bathroom before heading back to see the doctor and texted him quickly what was going on. I think I started it out with “Please don’t freak out….” His response is “I might be freaking out.” The poor guy was left hanging while I went to the doctor but I didn’t really know much at this point to even tell him.

Anyways, Dr. Bennett came in and started going about our normal routine as if nothing was wrong. She stopped. I could tell she was looking at my sonogram results. She goes on to explain that I measured very low for my amniotic fluid. My levels were at a 6, anything below a 5 means immediate delivery. The reasoning behind the low numbers though is a mystery. She asked if I was on my feet all day for work (I’m not…I sit at a desk in front of a computer), she asked if I had been leaking (I hadn’t) and she also mentioned dehydration (this is pretty unlikely as I only drink water and lots of it, but I guess it could be). I’ve come up with my own conclusion that the moving, cleaning, organizing, nesting, etc. at the new house is at fault. I may or may not have cleaned our hall bathroom for 2 ½ hours on Wednesday night just before my doctor appointment. I, also, may or may not have moved furniture when Joe was gone and couldn’t stop me. I’m taking the blame for it all. It’s been pretty much a month of non-stop and something had to give.

Enough rambling…

Dr. Bennett sent me straight to Labor and Delivery for a NST (non-stress test). I had to answer 173,479,938 questions while being admitted and they hooked me up to essentially a heart rate monitor and a monitor for contractions. I had to lay there for an hour but otherwise it was pretty easy. I passed that with no problem (Thank you) so I was released on strict bed rest and another appointment for the next afternoon. I was told to drink water and drink water and then drink some more water. She said that if I felt over bloated, it meant it was working and I should keep drinking more. So that’s what I did.
The next afternoon, I went back to the doctor for another ultrasound and instead of giving another play by play….Baby T got an A+. He was breathing heavily, moving a ton, and thankfully, my fluids went from a 6 to a 7.8. The increase is not huge but for only 24 hours, the doctor was very happy with the improvement. I’m still on bed rest, of course, but thankful that he staying in there. I was not at all ready for him to come on Friday.

So that’s the gist of this whole week…..doctor appointments and bed rest. I’ve been sitting around for three days so far and it’s been hard. I know most of you are rolling your eyes and thinking she’s insane to be complaining but it’s harder than you think. Before being put in this situation, I thought it would rock to be on bed rest but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I am taking advantage of all the sleep (11 hours for two nights in a row) but otherwise, I hate sitting here. I’ve been really comfortable this whole pregnancy and the last two days have been sucky. I’d much rather be moving around. The more I sit, the worse it gets.





I can’t finish this post without completely flaunting how fantastic Joe has been. It’s not really a secret that I’m a control freak and a neat freak. I had a list of everything that we (I) wanted done before next week (which was my personal cut off weekend) and he has been doing his best to get some of it complete. We, obviously, have to cut back but after tonight I think I can say that I’m okay with what is finished. The garage is still a disaster area but everything is essentially unpacked and organized. He has been taking care of all the laundry and cooking and he took a trip to Babies R Us and the grocery store for all our last minute items. It’s been really hard for me to keep my mouth shut and not ask him to do this, and this, and this but I am trying. He is like Hitler when it comes to me laying down so he is kicking butt to complete all these tasks. And…he even slept in until 6am this morning. (That’s some serious sleeping in for him.) He’s a Rock.Star.

I have an appointment tomorrow morning for another ultrasound and likely another NST. We’ll see how that goes but I’ve been told that baby will be here sooner than later. I’m considered full term on Thursday so…?




This is pretty irrelevant at this point but this week we are finishing our last week as a honeydue melon! Baby should be measuring close to 6 lbs and is 18 ½ inches long. He is shedding the downy hair that has been protecting him while in the amniotic fluid. He should now be head down (he is locked and loaded) and he may be moving around less than normal (nope!) as he starts to descend for birth.