House projects and week 22

While I was on vacation my sweet friends and husband painted two rooms in our house and our garage.  I knew that they were working on the baby's room and the office, but the garage was a something Michael had up his sleeve and didn't let me know.  Painting the walls in the garage was on my list of things to do while not working this summer, but after finding out we were expecting I put that project on hold.  It was nice to come home to everything all freshly painted.  We put together the crib and bookshelf/changing table and we also had a new window installed in the baby's room.  One of the windows had the outside pane busted out since before we moved in so it was nice to finally get that fixed.  It's funny how having a baby can make you get stuff done so quickly! Our little fixer-upper of a house is coming along nicely with only a few projects left (we still need a new roof- next on our list, and we have one more bathroom to redo).

I've been searching high and low for a white glider rocking chair with a cushion in any other color than the green that is available at BabiesRus. Oh sure, there are plenty of cushion colors if you want a dark or light wood finish glider, but apparently the white one only comes with green. I was even willing to buy one on craiglist and then have it reupholstered, but the only things I could find on there were either really old or just plain ugly. I finally found one online from Albeebaby.com that is white with a light pink cushion (not exactly the same color pink that goes with the bedding but it has to be better than the green). Hopefully I'll like it when it gets here since I've never seen it besides on my computer screen.  Why are gliders so expensive?  Sheesh... the one we got was on sale from $350 to $279 but I still feel like that is pretty pricey.

Baby girl must be growing a ton, because my belly is getting huge.  She's been moving like crazy lately... to the point where I can now see my belly move when she kicks me. My belly button is slowly beginning to get more and more shallow and I'm sure it will pop out in a few short weeks. Pregnancy and my body are still getting along pretty nicely.  I never had any major morning sickness (just a few times that I felt a little car sick around week 7) and no other big issues. The only thing I'm not loving is that all these crazy hormones are making my face breakout.  I've been pretty lucky and always had pretty clear skin with just a few pimples here or there before my period each month, but these pregnancy hormones are not getting along too kindly with my face. My mom came over the other day when I was getting ready (before I had on any makeup) and was kind enough to say "Wow, your face looks like your a teenager!".  Thanks mom, that helps with my self esteem!

I signed up for Bradley method birthing classes which start in the middle of August. It was a little more expensive than I was thinking it would be (I guess I thought it would be roughly the same price as the lamaze classes offered through the hospital but apparently I was way off). My midwife had recommended hiring a doula, but I couldn't justify spending $500 on a doula and then another $400 on bradley method classes so I had to choose one or the other.  After talking with a mommy friend, she reassured me that I should be fine with just the bradley method classes. I'm sure Michael is super excited about 12 weeks of birthing classes :)

My next appointment is next week for just a normal monthly check up. I'm hoping that I can get my glucose screening appointment done before I head back to school but I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I'm getting nervous about going back to school, more nervous than normal after finding out we will have a new principal this year.  I keep having dreams that I can't remember my students' names or that I take them to lunch and forget to pick them back up. I'm hoping to work until thanksgiving break which would put me at 38 weeks pregnant, but I guess we'll have to see how things go. This is getting a little lengthy so that's enough for now :)

Week 19

I had an appointment with my midwife on Wednesday to go over the rest of my blood test results and have my monthly check up.  Everything came back normal on my blood tests for which I'm thankful.  She said I was measuring right on track.  I asked her if she had a preference between the Bradley Method and Lamaze classes since I'm trying to decide what childbirth classes I want to take.  She said that she didn't really have a preferred method, but that you can get good things from all of them.  Then she said "What I'd really recommend is hiring a doula that way if I'm unable to be there or if I have to be in and out during your labor, she can help you."  She also recommended hypnobirthing (I told that to Michael and his response was "Oh gosh, they are going to hypnotize you?" lol).  She gave me a few phone numbers for doulas that she recommends and told me to check them out.

On Thursday I went back for my anatomy ultrasound appointment.  Little girl decided to be nice and still for the ultrasound tech, unlike my gender appointment where she was bouncing all over the place! The ultrasound tech confirmed that it is for sure a girl (I was worried that she was going to tell me it was a boy and then I'd have to take back the nursery stuff! Thankfully that didn't happen!).  She measured her arms, legs, abdomen, chambers of the heart, brain, skull, and other things that I don't remember.  She said that baby girl is measuring right where she should be at this point and that she weighs about 10 ounces.

Here's the little one:

I'm still waiting on the correct item to come from Pottery Barn Kids to complete the nursery bedding.  Everyday I was anxiously waiting for the UPS man to bring me a package and he visited both of my neighbors closest to our house, but never brought me anything.  I finally got fed up and called customer service again.  Of course I couldn't get a hold of the guy I had spoken with before, so I had to explain the whole situation to a new lady and walk her through their website to show her how the mistake was made (they have two different sets listed for the same item number in two different locations).  First she was like, "Oh well you just need to send back the quilt and we'll send you the bumper that you were supposed to get".  I had to explain to her that they were supposed to send me the bumper for free and that I get to keep the quilt since it was an error on their part.  After waiting on hold for a few minutes she came back and said that I was correct, that a supervisor had already looked at this order issue, and then told me that the bumper is on back order until August 1st which is why I haven't received it yet. Oh man, that's not good! I need that bumper to pick a paint color so Michael can paint while I'm out of town next week.  The bumper is the only thing with the paisley pattern.  I asked her if they had a fabric swatch or something in that pattern that they could send me.  She said that they didn't, but to try one of the local stores to see if maybe they have a fabric swatch.  I called the local store but of course they don't have it because it is a catalog and internet only item.  So I guess I'm going to just pick a color and hope that it works.  If you know me and know what a perfectionist I am, then you can understand how nervous this makes me.  Michael was sweet about it and said "It's fine... if it doesn't match, I can just repaint the room again." Hopefully he won't have to do that.

I leave for my annual week at the beach with all the girls in the family tomorrow morning.  Things around the house are almost ready for the painting party while I'm gone.  Our sweet friends in our bible study offered to come over on Tuesday night and help paint rather than doing our normal study this week.  The guest room is mostly ready- I've taped off the baseboards, taken down the blinds, taped the windows, and covered the floor.  My goal for today is to finish the office, although I won't be able to do everything since I'm not allowed to move the furniture out I'm just going to have to work around it.  Our poor doggie, Cooper, is probably wondering what in the world is going on in our house lately.

I know that I'm going to face some resistance from my family when I explain that I want to use cloth diapers.  My mom has already told me that I'm crazy and that it will probably last for two weeks before I start using pampers instead.  Yesterday, I bought a cloth diaper like the ones I will be using so that I can show them and explain it to them because when they think of cloth diapers, they think of what was available 30 or more years ago and like everything, things change over time.

Anyway, that's enough for today.  I need to get to work finishing up preparations for painting and I also need to pack for the beach.

Week 18- Nursery and Dancing Baby

We've been trying to get things around the house ready for baby lately, which means cleaning out closets, moving furniture, getting rid of some furniture, buying new furniture, and painting two bedrooms. We currently have our home office in one bedroom and a guest room/storage room in the other bedroom and we are going to be moving the office to the guest room and making what used to be the office the baby's room. I've gone through the closets in the bedrooms and I'm trying to get rid of things and downsize all of the stuff that has been stored in there.  In the process, I packed up all my skinny clothes which made me really sad.  I didn't get rid of them because I want to get back in them someday after baby but it was so sad to pack them all away.  I also found some pretty funny stuff as I was going through the closets like my old planners from high school, boxes of notes written from friends, and my old journals from middle school and high school.  Looking through all of that stuff made me glad that my life is no longer so dramatic! 

I ordered the bedding for the nursery last week from Pottery Barn Kids and was so excited to get it in the mail on Tuesday so I could start picking out paint colors for the bedroom.  Unfortunately, there was an error on their website and they have two different nursery sets listed for the same pattern and so they sent me the wrong combination of items.  The one I ordered included the crib bumber, crib sheet, and crib skirt.  The one I received included the quilt, the sheet, and the crib skirt.  I called their customer service and explained the situation and now they are sending me the bumper (which would've cost $99) for free with rush shipping, so it should arrive today.  I don't even have to send back the quilt (which also runs $99).  Wow! Thank you Pottery Barn for having fantastic customer service.  Here is the set I ordered:

Baby girl has been moving like crazy lately.  I first felt the little flutters a week or so ago, but yesterday I was able to put my hands on my tummy and feel her kicking away.  Michael hasn't been able to feel it yet though.  Every morning after breakfast I feel like she's dancing around in there.  She is really active in the morning. 

I had a doctor's appointment on Monday to finish up my blood work for my NT scan or quad screen (I'm not sure which it was for) but the nurse was really good and was able to draw my blood on the first try.  Usually it takes a couple pokes before they find a good vein. I go back this coming Wednesday to get my results and schedule my anatomy ultrasound.