Big Girl Now!
July 07, 2003 - 7:38 a.m.
I guess I am a little behind on the updating. I'm in major nesting period here - and I am ready for baby! We start our prenatal classes on Tuesday. I am excited!! I realize the first few classes will be so boring, but there's something ritualistic about it that makes it so cool.
We ripped apart the baby's closet last night. Got rid of all the rickety shelving and oddly places 2x4's. Now I just have to get to the store and get an organizer! We have had bad luck with this organizer. I know exactly which one I want, and what stores have it. Unfortunately the price is what gets me - it's horrendously overpriced and the price changes week to week at both stores. It doesn't make much sense at all. I feel the need to organize and reorganize all of this baby stuff and I need the closet together so I can do that! Right now all baby stuff is in our closet and in Rubbermaid tubs. Not fun at all.
My 2nd baby shower is coming up next weekend. I'm excited about the shower, but kind of mad because it doesn't look like we're going to get anything off our registries for it. My mom was telling me who had RSVP'd to my shower next weekend (surprisingly enough, my MIL has NOT). Anyway I asked her if anyone asked where I was registered or if she had told them. My mom said she didn't tell anyone where I was registered because people from "around here" like to buy you what they want to. Meaning, we'll end up with a million more bibs and tiny pink outfits with matching socks. That's nice and I appreciate it, but there is stuff I NEED! I don't NEED two tons of little pink outfits. As a matter of fact I have so much pink it makes me cry when I see the poor kid's clothes collection. OK, maybe my hormones are running away from me - but I am really upset about this!
There are still quite a few things that we *need* that we haven't gotten.I still need a monitor, safety gates, heck I don't even have a thermometer!!! How about a swing, pacifiers, booster seat or high chair, spoons, diaper creams and lotions, a playard? We haven't gotten any toys or even onsies. I think I have ONE newborn onsie...and when I go to the store to buy them I balk at the price and end up leaving the store in a huff.
I'm sorry, I just found it inconsiderate for her to just assume that because she is from a small town that she could just leave it up to chance and not even suggest to people what I need. Of course I am grateful for any gift, but the fact of the matter is, we are lower on money than we have been ever before and can't just go out and buy all this stuff on our own. Of course I like to get people cute stuff too, but I ALWAYS get something off the registry and then something practical and then something cute. It's just the way I believe things to be done. I spent a lot of time researching the products on that registry and I expected at least some of the gifts to come from there. Absolutely nothing has been purchased from one and only a few items came from the other.
On top of this stress - I've been loosely diagnosed with gestational diabetes and have been monitoring my blood sugar 5 times a day for 2 days now. My nurse called on Monday and told me to come in and pick up a prescription for a glucose meter and accessories. Then I took the handwritten prescript to my pharmacy (here's a hint, the walls aren't green, but they should be). The pharmacist told me 20 minutes, so Tim and I went to eat and then came back. The prescrip still wasn't ready, so I went back to the drop-off window and asked what the hold-up was. The pharmacist then told me that she "tried to call me" while I was gone because she couldn't figure out what meter was covered by my insurance. Well the ONLY phone I have and the ONLY phone on file there is my cell phone which never rang while I was gone. Once I pointed that out she said she had tried to call my doctor's office too, but that they were closed. At the time of this exact conversation it was 5:15. My doctor's office doesn't close until 5:30. So by this time she lied to me twice and then told me that I would have to come back the next day and get the meter then.
Well considering that I live 45 minutes out of town and I was scheduled to start doing readings on an empty stomach AND had an appt with the intuitionalist the next morning....I wouldn't accept this and she sold me the meter outright with a promise to call me back the next morning and reimburse what insurance would cover. The next morning I took the unopened meter in to the nutr. appt and she was appalled. She pulled out a brand new meter from her closet and it was even a better model! Gave it to me for free and told me to take the other one back to the pharmacy.
We got all set up and pricked my finger and the first reading was 74. That's pretty damn low. That's typical for me, I have run on the borer of hypoglocemic since middle school. My goal is to stay within 90 and 120. The entire day my readings were 74, 101, 95 and 91. And I ate whatever I wanted. Including an entire box of Caramel Corn. Today my readings were 74, 84 and 126. I still have two more readings to go but I think I am doing really well. They average how many are below target (3) and how many are within (3) and how many are above (1) for the week. I have a meeting with the nutritionist again on Monday and we'll go over my food journal and my readings and see what the plan will be from then.
In other news, I'm having a grand time with the belly. Sure I am uncomfortable and very crabby, but any time I lay my hands on the bump I can feel a random body part and it is so amazing to me. One of those random body parts managed to wrap around my side, which was painful. I think she's all out of room in there. I have been so afraid that the ultrasound was wrong about the sex. I have also been increasingly more anxious to find out if she has Down's Syndrome or not. This whole time I have been assuming not, but I could be wrong! I just don't know anything until she is born.
I've decided the labor bag needs to move into the trunk, just in case. I will be 29 weeks tomorrow and this could happen at any time. I really am not clear on what my chances are for preterm labor. I know that the blood clot that was the major concern has been absorbed, but that the tear is still there. Of course if it is towards the top it should be fine. I've been having these menstrual-like cramps every night and sometimes during the day. They don't really hurt or feel like something I should be concerned with, but they definitely make me feel like something is happening. I get all excited at the thought of it, even though I don't want my baby to be born prematurely, I just want things to start progressing. I have the end of this to look forward to!
I have my proposal next week for maternity leave plans and hours when returning back to work. So far this is what I have settled on:
Maternity Leave Plans
My due date is: September 20, 2003
I will be taking 6 weeks of Short Term Disability and 3 weeks of paid vacation for a total of 9 weeks.
I plan to return to work December 1st, 3 days a week through December with the exception of the 22nd-26th and 29th-31st
(I'll be working these days in December: 1,3,5,8,10,12,15,17,19,22,23,29,30).
I'll return to work 5 days a week (M-F) January 5th.
Monday 7:30 2:30
Tuesday 7:30 2:30
Wednesday 8:00 3:00
Thursday 7:30 2:30
Friday 8:00 3:00
I think it works for me. That's 7 hours every day for a total of 35. Not too bad at all. It will be quite a shock for me as I work 50 hours a week right now. As I said before, daycare is only 2 dollars and hour, so for 40 hours a week it will come to $320 a month. Not bad, not bad at all.
I've been overcome with fatigue again in the past few weeks and guess what else has made a reappearance? Morning sickness. Night sickness mostly. I've been barfing again which is the least fun one can have. It's so strange. It's like clockwork, any time I lay down I start to get sick and within a half hour I am in the bathroom. I've learned to stop eating and drinking past 7pm to control the reflux and heartburn, but that doesn't help when you need to puke something up and bile's all you got.
Ug, this conversation is making me tired and nauseous.
http://starfish17.brockmanj.net/28w3dbelly.jpg.JPG
http://starfish17.brockmanj.net/28w3d.jpg.JPG
I'm a big, big girl.
On and On and On
June 30, 2003 - 9:35 a.m.
"How your life is changing: Moms, you may notice that the baby is gradually dropping. This is called lightening, and it can feel like anything from increased pressure low in your abdomen to a sensation that the baby's going to fall out. Don't worry � he won't. On the physical health front, breathing and eating may be easier for you now, but walking may be uncomfortable, and you probably feel like you have to pee all the time. Oh, the joys of pregnancy!"
I sure am glad I went ahead and read the calendar for next week. Just yesterday I asked TIm if it seemed like the baby was "lower". It just seems I haven't had any rib pain in a while and there's more space in between the belly and my boobs. I was kind of alarmed at first, thinking that was something that was supposed to happen just before birth but apparently it can start happening now. So good for that.
Now when I was walking through the shop, a guy that always gives me grief about my size commented that I hadn't gotten any bigger in the last few weeks. Strange thing to note but I think he's right. I really think it might have something to do with the fact that I am watching my sodium like a hawk and drinking tons of water and eating watermelon - so I am not retaining water in any way. I am bigger than I was at 24 weeks, but not really any bigger than I was at 26 weeks. So who knows. Just another thing to worry about, if it's not getting to big then it's not getting big enough.
Thanks everyone for your advice on the nursing bras. It's probably best to wait...I just didn't want to waste the money on a "regular" bra that's only going to fir for 3 (?) months. The only thing is, I will need a nursing bra for the hospital and I don't think the one I have now will cut it, unless I get an extender for the back. Which should be easy enough. On that subject though, I started leaking a tiny bit last night. My nipples have been acting really strange lately, always hard and hurting and sore. So I started with the Lansinoh cream last night to try and condition them. If they hurt now, is that just a sign of what's to come? I just don't get why they are so sore right now. Shouldn't there be a reason?
At this point I am exhausted, rather large, and uncomfortable. I've been doing really well patience-wise until now. Meaning time was going pretty fast until we hit 28 weeks here and now it's like facing the next 12 weeks will be an eternity. There's still so many hurdles and so many questions, so little reassurance.
We went to a wedding this weekend with a bunch of our friends and by the end of the night, everyone was busy playing with my belly and belly button. It's strange to see how fascinated people are with pregnancy and when they lose their inhibitions (read: get wasted) they really let it show. Some of the more guyish guys let it slip to Tim that they think I'm still foxy as hell and will make a good mom. Sure, a ton of people have said that but coming from these guys, who get nothing out of saying that, well, you know they really mean it. And that about made my pregnant life right there. I ended up having the best time I have ever had sober in a long time!
I've been noticing the BH contractions a little more frequently. They don't hurt anymore, but it's more of a crampy, bound up feeling and it doesn't last long.
OMG I am so hot. This is the first time I have worn socks in ages, and now I remember why. Wearing socks, for some reason, makes me overheat. Fast and uncontrollably. This could make for an interesting day as I am already feeling like I am trying to run through a bowl of jello. *sigh* Make this part go faster.
This week I am DETERMINED to finish the closet in the nursery. I have a shower at home the following weekend, so I will enlist the help of my grandma to make the curtains. My list is slowly winding down. This is what I have left:
* Rip shelves out of closet, buy closet organizer, set up closet according to design. (This week!)
* Measure the window, Make the curtains (July 12th)
* Attach ottoman, find three screws. (anytime)
* Preregister at the hospital! (Eeek, I guess I should get on that, though I can't find the paperwork)
* Get car seat inspection for both vehicles (I'll wait a bit on these, but I did print out a list of places who do the inspections)
* Get directions to hospital for parents (I'm waiting until they are done with construction in that area)
* Make call list (I have everyone's numbers, just need to organize them)
* Finish packing (I'm practically finished - but see list below)
* Maternity leave and hours when returning (I have this figured out already, I just have to present my proposal at a meeting July 8th)
Not bad of a to-do list, right? I'm glad that most of the major stuff is done. If the baby was to come today, we have enough to get us through the first few weeks. We have formula (in case nursing doesn't work), diapers, wipes and lots of cushy sleepers.
Now, for packing for the hospital, I have a list about a mile long of stuff that I wanted to bring with or at least make sure it was in the car and accessible in case we needed it. We live an hour from the hospital, so it's not like Tim could run home once labor started or once the baby is born. So if it looks like my list is a little over done, that's because it is. I always liked when people put their lists in their diaries because then I had something to start from! So this list is a compilation of a lot of labor bags in one.
For Myself (In Big SuitCase)
* Nursing bra (buy)
* Nursing shirts/button down (Pack)
* Going home outfit (Pack later)
* Squirt bottle and lidocaine spray (Buy later)
******Packed already******
Pajama pants
Bath stuff
Sleep Mask
The nightgowns
Heavy duty undies
Breast pads
Super Maxi pads
4 pairs socks
Slippers
Robe
T-Shirt
lip stuff, lotion, ponyholders, toothbrush
Pump set
Swim Suit
For Tim (In Big SuitCase)
Zip off Shorts (Pack last minute)
Swim shorts (Pack last minute)
Razor, Shave Gel (Buy New)
******Packed Already******
Socks, Undies
T-shirt
PJ pants
Sweatshirt
Toothbrush / toothpaste
Brush, deoderant
For Baby (Diaper Bag)
Going home outfit (Wait for showers to see what we get)
2 onsies (Showers)
Sleep sack (Showers)
2 Receiving blankets (Packed one, one from showers)
Pacifier (Showers)
******Packed Already******
Diapers
2 sleepers
Baby hat, shoes, infant socks, bib
General
Makeup (Grab last minute)
Pillows (Grab last minute)
journal to record the details of the birth
$5 in change for munchies from the machines
cash for the cafeteria and parking fees
Snacks- crackers, chips, granola, yogurt
Magazines/books
Water bottles/juice
CD's
Cameras/Disks/Charger
Pen/Paper
Cellphone
Call List/Palm Pilot
Car seat
******Packed Already******
Blanket (In Car)
Massage Tools, Oils
Wash Cloth, Hand Towel
See that's a pretty extensive list. But aside from the general stuff, most of it is packed or will need to be packed last minute. And it all fits in one big suitcase right now. All the baby's stuff fits in her diaper bag, so it's not like we'll be dragging in too many bags and things that can get lost.
Oh I have blathered on enough.