The Day Before

September 23, 2010

I took Emma to preschool. I went to HEB and got a huge blueberry muffin and a coffee.

I had an OB appointment at 9:50. Tony met me there. I got a flu shot, and weighed 178 pounds. I was 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced. We scheduled an induction for Oct 1.

I had lunch with an old friend. I had tater tots and a grilled chicken sandwich. It was really good.

I picked Emma up from school. We went to the mall and bought a baby book and calendar for baby brother.

We came home and I dozed on the couch while Emma watched some TV. Tony had a big meeting and dinner with his boss and and a client. I put Emma to bed myself. I read her several stories and sang to her. She fell asleep quickly and I watched her, enjoying some cuddles. I thought it might be the last time in a while I put her to bed.

Tony came home with a steak, courtesy of his boss, for me. We split it and enjoyed talking together. We went to bed about 11pm.

Flowers!

From my mother and father-in-law! They are beautiful, thank you!

Nursery pic #3

Chest of drawers, closet on the left and door and the right.

Nursery pic #2

Glider, cross-stitch by Grandma Smith from 1979, changing table with another quilt to hang up, also made by my Granny Peterson.

Nursery pic #1

Daddy's awesome paint job, and a quilt made by my Granny Peterson.

A closer view

Panda bear is done!

Last night I finished Emma's panda bear. His proportions are not exact, and in this picture he appears to have a giant arm and smaller than normal head. But he's done! It took me about 4 hours to complete the stuffing of the head, attaching the nose and eyes, and then the head and limbs to the body.

I hope that Emma likes him. I plan to give him to her tonight when Tony is home. Maybe we can record it. I sure hope she likes it!

Sneak Peak

The bear is almost done! The last few nights I've worked on the head, muzzle, eyes, nose and ears. All that's left is assembling the head and limbs to the body.

37.5 weeks!

The view from here

Yes, my belly is a great table for my bedtime sandwich. And yogurt for dessert.

Baby Boy Week 37 Update

Today I went to the doctor for my weekly checkup. Technically I'm 36 weeks and 5 days, but we are rounding up! He is still head down, at station -3, which just means his head is down but he has not dropped into my pelvis yet. His heart rate is still in the 140's, so that's good. I'm already 75% effaced and dilated 2-3 cm. But this doesn't mean I'm about to go into labor. I remember with Emma I was dilated to 5cm for almost 3 weeks and she was 3 days past due. So we are still looking at about 3 weeks. I gained another almost 7 pounds in the last 2 weeks! So that puts me at 45 pounds gained and I can tell! My belly is so heavy, it just aches.

We are just about ready for him to arrive around here. We have the car seat in the car, Tony is packed and I'm about 95% packed. We still need to figure out what will happen with Emma when I go into labor. Of course that will depend on when that happens, but we need to write up some plans so we are prepared. We still need to hang things in his room, but we have the bassinet set up in our room so he'll be in with us for a while.

3 weeks

Just about 3 weeks to go until baby boy is due! I'm feeling very uncomfortable! It's like I'm wearing extremely tight pants, and if I could just take them off my belly would feel so much better. Of course it's just because my skin is tight and so stretched that it hurts most of the time. Also I'm having a lot more back pain this time around, which is probably normal, I'm doing a lot more keeping up with Emma and getting ready for the baby.

Tomorrow I will go for my week 37 appointment. I'm sure I will have gained another 5-10 pounds but we shall see. I am certainly ready to no longer be pregnant, but the labor, birth and newborn stage are going to be a challenge so I'm not really ready for that. We have just a few things left around here to do to be ready. We do have the car seat installed, lots of clothes and diapers ready, and the bassinet is set up in our room. We are almost all packed for the hospital, I have a few last minute things to get packed.

Lastly I am trying to finish the panda bear I started for Emma a few months ago. I'm so close, if I would just sit down and do it I could probably finish in an hour or so. But my concentration skills are lacking right now so I haven't done it.

Dueling bellies!

My friend Gina on the left, 36.5 weeks and myself, at 35.5 weeks.

Random Thoughts

I'd really like a new kitchen faucet. The current one is 10 years old and wasn't top quality when it was new.

I don't think the baby's room is going to be done before he is here. I just can't get organized and I'm running out of time.

Emma went to bed tonight at 8pm. I didn't know what to do with myself. She's been staying up so late at night I hardly have any free time.

I still haven't finished Emma's panda bear. Hmm, maybe I should be working on that but I stashed it somewhere and I don't feel like looking for it.

The baby has hiccups right now!

I went to a casting call today for pregnant women for a breastfeeding campaign the Department of State Health Services is doing. I just filled out a short questionnaire and they took a few pictures of me. If I am selected I will participate in a photo shoot next week. I'll receive a CD of all the photos and $300! That would be so awesome but I'm not very confident I'll be selected, they had a huge response to the casting call.

I'm hungry, like all the time. I bought 5 pounds of grapes on Wednesday and I've already eaten half.

My sister is going to Germany in 10 days. So jealous! Wonder if I'll ever make it over the pond.

I don't have any bras that fit currently. And I'm too cheap to go buy any. Well more broke than cheap, but whatever.

I have curbed my candy eating recently but still have a few Dove chocolates everyday.

I miss going out with my friends. I feel like I have hardly seen or talked to some friends in months. And it's not going to change any time soon with another baby on the way.

I'm still hungry, gotta find a snack!

30 weeks!

Hmm cake!

Chocolate cake and icing from scratch!

Where did June go?

Wow I can't believe I missed a whole month of posting! (not really, I'm bad about consistency)

June was a busy month. But it's over so I can't remember what we did. Well, we did take our family vacation to Galveston. That was a great trip. Emma had fun at the beach and the pool and we all enjoying eating out. We also had visits from all the grandparents and Emma enjoyed those immensely!

July is going to be every busier than June. Emma is taking dance lessons starting next week. Today I bought ballet and tap shoes for her. If I had planned ahead I might have been able to get some used, but planning ahead is not always easy for me. We also have more family visiting for a week later this month, then Emma is going to have a weekend with my parents while Tony and I have a stay-cation here at home. It will be my first time away from Emma for more than just a few hours ever. I hope she and I both do ok. I've been talking about it and preparing her so I think it will be ok.

In other news, the kitties are now outside cats. We transitioned them in early May, for a few reasons. Mostly I could not keep up with cleaning up the cat vomit and then Anya started peeing on the couch, and that was really the last straw. Anya is SO happy outside, she rarely wants to come in and I know she's an explorer. Chloe is not so happy and has clawed a good bit of insulation from around the door as she tries to get in throughout the day. One day I'd love to have a cat door installed, but that's way down on the list of many other things that I need or want to be done before the baby arrives.

I will try to be better about posting this month, even if it's a short update. Please check our family website for pictures and more news about Emma and baby boy!

My Pecan Tree

It's grown since last year! It's now just a bit taller than my waist.

Lantana closeup

Backyard.