On second thought...

Maybe the milk in my fridge will spoil before Isabella is born.
I went to the doctor today and things did not sound hopeful for me going into labor this weekend. So I guess it's off to work tonight for me. I wonder what kind of crazy comments I will get tonight. Maybe I will keep track. Last week I covered for a friend at work for 2 hours and got a ton of comments that made me really glad I was only there for 2 hours. I know I look ready to pop any day people... there is no need to tell me, if anyone knows it's me.

I didn't want to do this, but because someone (Sarah) asked so nicely, and because I may want to look back and remember some day, here is a photo of my belly as of today at 39 weeks.

What's on my mind.

Eat, Sleep & Play. That is pretty much my routine these days. Wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, play for a couple hours, then nap time. Then we do it all over again starting with lunch, more play, nap time, dinner, play some more and then it's bed time. I must say it's a pretty nice routine we've gotten into. As much as I am ready for little Isabella to be born, I'm not ready to give up my nice little routine. With only 8 more days to go, it is more likely that I will have her before the milk in my fridge spoils, so I guess I better get ready and enjoy the way things are for another 8 days +/-.

If going to Babies R Us and spending a large amount of money is considered nesting... well then I'm nesting. I went to buy a mattress for the crib. That was all I needed, but somehow the cart got really full and I found all kinds of things I felt were very necessary at the time. It wasn't until the checker gave me the grand total that I realized I probably didn't need all that stuff. I charged everything today, and by the time the bill comes, I will be on unpaid maternity leave which means Todd will have to pay it, so even though Todd thinks I bought the mattress, little does he know, he bought the mattress, along with all the other unnecessary essentials I purchased.

Now what about a middle name for our baby girl? We are having some trouble here. Isabella _________ C*******

Go ahead and leave me a comment if you have a middle name suggestion. We are running out of time here so we really need to hurry up and come up with something.
P.S. If you leave a comment anonymously please sign your name.

I still have 3 more shifts to go at work, this Friday and next Tuesday and Wednesday 12 hour night shifts. Surprisingly I actually feel pretty good these days, considering all the problems I had a few weeks ago. My fibroid doesn't hurt anymore, I'm not having contractions, and the heartburn seems to have improved too. Maybe that means she is dropping and relieved some pressure on my stomach. Who knows, but really I think I will be fine working, the hardest part will be staying awake when I'm already so tired all the time. Of course if I go into labor this weekend and miss out on work, I definitely wont be complaining. My doctors appt is tomorrow, so I will get a better idea of how likely it is that she will come early. Keep your fingers crossed, cause I'm really hoping for this weekend.

35, 36, 37 and 15

My lack of blogging is not because I've had the baby, it's because I'm still very pregnant. Every day I get more and more tired, I find myself waking up and counting the hours til nap time. Sometimes I think I need the nap more out of habit than anything else, I don't always feel tired, but I fear if I don't take it when I have the chance, I will regret it later. This is why I have been slacking with the blog lately. But today I am sacrificing my precious nap to give everyone an update on what's going on.

At 35 Weeks I had the fibroid that decided to degenerate and start causing all kinds of pain.
At 36 weeks I had a day of contractions that lasted all day long, making me think I was in labor. I had seen my doctor that day and she said I was 1.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced so with the frequent contractions I was having, she strongly advised us to cancel our weekend getaway plans. I wouldn't have minded canceling the plans had we ended up having a baby that weekend, but the contractions only lasted another 10 hours and then stopped sometime during the night. Luckily I never went in to the hospital, I kept waiting till it was really really bad before I went in, not wanting to be sent home later if it turned out to be false labor.
The 37th week has so far been uneventful for the most part, no contractions, and no more fibroid pain. I still think this pregnancy is harder, or else I just forget how bad it is in the end. My stomach must be smashed by the baby because I can't eat much without really bad heartburn. I guess the good in that is that I lost 4 pounds instead of gaining 4 pounds the past 2 weeks. Which I look at as 4 less pounds to have to lose after the baby is born! So now I am 8 pounds lighter and my stomach is 1 inch smaller than the day I had Anthony. Of course I still have 2 1/2 more weeks to go, so a lot can happen.
I cut a few of my 12 hour shifts at the busier ER down to 8 hour shifts which helps a lot, but I still have to do 12 hour night shifts at the other easier ER. I have 6 more shifts scheduled before the baby is due.
My mom plans to come up right away this time when I have the baby to help out, and it isn't convenient for her until my due date, and my sister Rachael and her family are going to FL for spring break next week and the doctor who is supposed to deliver Isabella will also be out for spring break, so everyone would like this baby to wait until she is due to be born. I must say it was really nice having my sister with me in the hospital room when I had Anthony. Anytime I needed something I got it, I didn't have to wait for the nurse to call the doctor, my sister pretty much gave all the orders. Plus I'm pretty sure it got me a little extra attention from my nurse and the best l&d room and post partum room too. But, if Isabella wants to be born when everyone is gone, I wont complain, cause I am so tired of being pregnant!!

And now for something about my other baby...
Tony had his 15 month check up today, weighing in at 20 pounds 8 ounces (he only gained 10 ounces in the past 3 months) he has fallen to the 5th percentile, but still 50th percentile for height. The doctor isn't worried, says he looks and acts healthy, so I guess I'm not worried either. He got another round of shots today, and I think Tony has finally figured out that going to the doctor is not a fun thing despite the really fun toys in the waiting room.
He is walking a lot more these days, later today I will try to capture it on video and post it. He is still a bit wobbly and it's pretty cute to see. As far as talking, he says 3 words that we can understand, and maybe a few more than we don't. I suppose if we took the pacifier away from him he'd talk more, but really I'm not ready for that.

Okay, I must cut this short cause I'm starting to panic about missing out on my nap. Later today I will put some pictures up of Anthony and a video of him walking.

big belly and a clean baby

I said I wasn't going to do this, but I feel like I might regret it later if I don't. So I had Francie take a picture of my belly to see what 20 weeks looks like the second time around. After she took the pictures, I didn't think think they were too bad, I mean after all I am 5 months pregnant, and I think I am about the same as far as weight gain compared to last time. Then I found my 20 week pictures from my pregnancy with Anthony and WOW what a difference.

So here I am in my first pregnancy at 20 weeks. I'm practically sticking my stomach out to make myself look pregnant.

And here I am this time around. See what I mean?
The front view isn't as bad, so I just have to try to avoid letting people look at me from the side view.

And here are some cute pictures of Tony I took tonight after his bath.

He loves the bath so much, I probably let him stay in a little too long. Look at his little feet, they are all water-logged.

Here he is all clean smelling. Don't you just love the smell of a clean baby?

And here he is all ready for bed. He would probably argue that statement if only he could talk. Our bedtime ritual is getting to be a bit difficult lately. He wants to stay up til 9 every night and I'm sorry but he needs to go to bed earlier or he and I both get grumpy. (cause I need some me time in the evenings)
In case anyone is wondering, my 2 days out of town wasn't a vacation it was work related. But I still managed to get some good sleep and do some shopping and dining without a baby in tow, which was really nice. Tony didn't seem to miss either Todd or me, he really is quite content with his Grandma. In fact he did so well I decided Todd and I should go to Chicago for a couple days for our anniversary coming up soon and leave him home with Grandma and Grandpa.

A little bit of everything

UPDATED PICTURE ADDED AND BASEMENT SITUATION.

I've been slacking with the blog lately. I thought that once I was out of my first trimester I'd have a sudden burst of energy, but so far I haven't gotten it yet. Still feeling the need to take a nap whenever the opportunity presents itself. Which is probably the main reason I haven't been blogging. So other than still feeling tired, the pregnancy thing is going okay. I seem to be gaining weight and getting a belly a lot faster than the last time. I tried to go through my blog archives and find some of the pictures I took of my pregnancy last time around and lets just say, I wont be doing that this time around. The earliest picture I could find was 20 weeks, and at 14 weeks I think I am about there. This Sunday I was caught at a weak moment and got sucked into the Sunday morning infomercial for this, and yes I ordered it. I was amazed at what a total body transformation you can make in just 10 minutes a day, ( because I know they wouldn't lie). Of course the very next day I had buyers remorse, but I had already received my email confirmation that it had been shipped. Oh well, it has a 30 day money back guarantee, so I will try it for a month and see if it really does what it says.

As for Tony, he's good. He will be 10 months old on Oct 7th. He is mind is maturing so much, I think he is starting to understand what I'm saying a little more. If I say "No" he will stop and look at me, and then carry on, but at least he stops for a second. He can shake his head side to side when he doesn't want anymore food. Today I told him to go get the ball and he did. He likes to play chase, if I say "I'm gonna get you" and start crawling after him, he laughs and then turns to crawl away from me so I can't catch him. He can also get very frustrated and mad if something (usually a non-toy something) is taken away from him that he wants, and it's not nearly as easy to distract with real toys as it used to be.

He has 2 little bottom teeth now, they are so cute. Unfortunately, ever since the teeth started coming in, his good sleeping habits have rapidly declined. He now frequently wakes up during the night crying and has to be rocked back to sleep. Sometimes it's only once a night, and sometimes it's every few hours all night long. Sometimes I think it's more habit than teething though because when it's related to teething, I usually can't console him no matter what I do. Other times, he just wants to be held I think, because he lays his little head on my shoulder and wraps his arms around me, and falls right back asleep, and I just can't help but sit and rock him, whatever the reason is.

It's really hard to get a picture of his teeth, Francie got a good one this weekend, but I'm still waiting for her to email it to me. This was the best I could get this morning.
Francie just emailed me the picture she took this weekend, Much cuter don't you think?

The other thing that's different lately with Tony is he suddenly doesn't seem to want to drink his formula.

This is his eating schedule:

8am- cereal (made with 2 ounces formula) and 1 baby food fruit puree

12pm- 4-5 ounces of formula

2pm- 2-4 ounces juice (some days, not all days

5pm- cereal (made with 2 ounces formula) and 1 baby food vegetable puree

7:30- 2-4 ounces of formula

I'm thinking about calling his pediatrician to see just how much they say he should drink in a day. He doesn't seem underweight, he was in the 40th percentile at 9 months, and he doesn't seem hungry, I even offer him bottles more often and he doesn't want them. It's just that when we went to the doctor at 9 months they asked how much he was drinking and I told them 4-5 bottles a day because I wasn't really counting, just guessing. Now I'm counting and it's no where near 4-5 bottles a day.

In other news, the basement is completely dry. Now we just need to get the carpet cleaned, re stretched and reattached to the floor. Then we need to fix the baseboards which either need to be replaced or sanded and repainted. The electrical equipment is all probably a total loss, Todd took the back of the TV off last night and the brains of the TV are on the bottom, so they were completely under water. I doubt it will ever work again, but he seems to think he can reorder all those parts and repair it. The wii, the Sony PlayStation and the Bose stereo system are also still not working after a week of drying out. The insurance company isn't paying for anything, so these things will be replaced very slowly. We also switched insurance companies to one that will cover us should such a problem occur again.

UPDATE: Just spoke with Nintendo customer service and Bose customer service, and they can repair our systems for $85 and $175 (respectively). Much cheaper than buying new, that's for sure, and they both come back to us repaired with a new 1 year warranty.


And what about Wall St, what do you think is going to happen? Last year instead of investing my annual contribution to a mutual fund like I normally do, I decided to buy individual stocks. Up until the past few weeks that had proven to be a very smart move on my part, now I'm not so sure, I've lost everything I'd made and now I'm losing my invested money too. This really sucks, all I can say is, I'm glad I'm not retiring anytime soon. I know this crash had to have hurt a lot of peoples retirement funds. I hope things turn around soon. If I have to hear Todd talk about it much more I think I will go crazy. I have resorted to tuning him out, and I even tell him I'm not listening, but he just keeps talking. It reminds me of this far side cartoon. I hear blah blah blah stagflation blah blah blah blah blah bail out blah blah blah biggest drop ever blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

enough already!

Oh and now I know why Brewster continues to get into the trash time and time again, even though time and time again I tell him to stop!

The silver lining

I hardly ever get sick. In fact I have never used a sick day at work for actually being sick*. Yes, I get colds every now and again and my allergies bother me from time to time, but I never get really sick. Never had the flu, never had strep throat, I don't even remember being sick as a kid except when I got the chicken pox. But now I am sick, but on the road to recovery. It started Thursday night, I felt achy and tired, but attributed it to a hard workout at the gym and went to bed early at 9. (that is early at our house) Friday morning I woke up feeling much worse, Headache, fever, nausea, weakness and body aches. I slept as much as Anthony would allow for, hoping to feel better before work. I only had a 4 hour shift from 3-7p, but I was dreading it. By the time I realized I was probably too sick to go to work, it was too late to call in, so I suffered through it. Lucky for me (not really) it was a day at the ER where all the frequent fliers came in for stupid stuff, and people who have terrible veins for starting IV's. I was so annoyed, I just wanted to go in the room, get my stuff done and get out so I could sit down, but when it takes 3 tries to get an IV it's a little frustrating, for myself and the patient I imagine. It's also annoying when you know you are sicker than they are and all they want is a fix of Demerol or Dilaudid or whatever their drug of choice is.
Anyway, let me get to the silver lining part, today I got on the scale and for the first time in 56 weeks, I finally have reached my prepregnancy weight. It only took me 16 weeks to lose all 37 pounds I had gained in the 40 weeks I was pregnant. It's a lot easier to admit how much I gained now that I have lost it. Actually I lost the first 20 pounds the first week, so it has taken 15 weeks to lose the other 17. I guess I will have to remember how hard it was to lose for the next time around (if and when), and be a bit more careful. Although I am a bit perplexed because I still have jeans that I'm pretty sure don't fit me. I guess they must have been my skinny jeans back in the day. I'm sure I can kiss those goodbye. It was hard enough getting where I am now. And I do realize that as soon as I am feeling better and actually start eating again, I will put those last few pounds back on, but I'll deal with that later.

*I have called in sick to work before on rare occasion, but never because I was sick.

Which would you rather?

5 years ago I got the crazy idea to run a marathon. Actually my sister Rachael was the one who got me started running. We started with a 10K and worked our way up to a marathon. I loved running, and really enjoyed the races. That is until I ran the full 26.2 San Diego marathon. When I finished I vowed I would never ever do that again. Rachael actually enjoyed it and said she would like to do it again, but she is crazy. I felt so terrible during the race and for days after that I was sure and still am sure than marathons are not for me. My feet were achy and puffy and every muscle in my body ached for days. It was an experience of a lifetime, one I am glad I did, but will NEVER, I repeat NEVER do again. Why am I telling you this??? Because I felt the same way during labor, the hard pushing part of labor that is. I told Todd he is lucky he got his boy first, because it was the only child we were ever having. Me saying that must have triggered Rachael's memory of my vow to never run a marathon again. So in the midst of labor (when I thought I was dying it was so awful) she asked me if I'd rather do this or run a marathon. Honestly, I could not answer that question. And I did think about it, but I just didn't know which was worse. And now 2 days later, my whole body aches (some parts worse than others) and my feet are swollen and puffy to the point where I can't even wear my shoes, nor can I see my ankle bones, I'm still fat and look pregnant, but I think I can finally easily answer the question now. After the marathon all I got was a t shirt which I don't even wear, and a metal which I don't even know where it is. But after labor, this is what I got, and he is perfect and worth every bit of the terrible misery it took to get him here.

Today's the day! (hopefully)

There is something kind of nice about scheduling labor. Yesterday I was able to get quit a few things done that needed to be done before the baby comes. The laundry is done, the house is clean, my bag is packed (although I have no idea what to pack, I probably brought all the wrong stuff) and I even managed to take a long nap. I also decided yesterday that I should figure out how to install the car seat in the car, I didn't think that waiting until it was time to take the baby home would be the best time to try and figure it out. Surprisingly it was quite difficult. I have a police officer friend (being an ER nurse you tend to make friends with the local cops, since they're always stopping by the ER for some reason or another) who offered to help me install it. She claims 9 out of 10 people install their car seat incorrectly, but I didn't think I would be one of the 90%, so I gave it a try myself yesterday afternoon. Turns out, it's harder than I thought, and I ended up driving over to meet her at work so she could show me how to do it. Come to find out, the car seat I selected and my car are not compatible. Todd says it's because I have a German car and the car seat was made in Italy. I found his reason funny since he is half German and half Italian. Regardless, I am not willing to part with my car or my car seat, so I must find a way to make it work. The problem is the shoulder strap is supposed to go around the entire car seat and the strap is not long enough to easily reach around. I think I can make it work, but it will have to re-strap the base and seat every time. So much for click and go.

Anyway, today is the day, because I said so. Were heading to the hospital here shortly, hopefully I will have some good news soon, though I'm expecting it to be a very long day. I'm guessing one of my sisters Rachael or Francie will post about the baby before I do, so you may want to check their blogs later tonight for updates and/or pictures.

Okay, so I woke up at 6an this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. I was supposed to call the hospital at 7 to make sure they aren't too busy for me to come in. I wrote this post while killing time with the intention of publishing it just before leaving. I was very calm and fine. Now it's 7am and I just called the hospital and they said to come on in. Okay, now I suddenly have that funny feeling in my stomach I get when I'm nervous or scared! I guess I better sign off and get ready!

Time is up!

Today was supposed to be the day, but seeing as it's getting close to 7pm, I am beginning to doubt that anything will happen tonight. When I went in for my doctors appointment today I decided that if the baby doesn't present himself on his own free will by Friday, then I am going to be induced. I just don't want to wait any longer. I was only planning on taking 6 weeks off work, and seeing as I've already wasted a week of that, I see no point in waiting much longer. Plus Friday is sort of convenient for everyone. My sister Natalie will be in town for the weekend, my sister Rachael is off work, as is my sister Francie, and my sister-in-law Lisa is going to Aruba on Sunday and she would like to see him too before she leaves.
Oh, and I got my push present early. Todd decided I should pick it out myself, so this afternoon we went to the jewelry store and this is what I picked. And no it's not a combo Anniversary present/push present, my anniversary present is that Todd agreed to cut his hair before the baby comes home from the hospital. This may not sound like much of a gift, but it was my idea and trust me there's nothing I want more. And now that it's in print, he can't take it back! (Haha)
Oh, by the way, Todd rarely reads my blog, I think he reads my sisters blogs more than mine, but of all times for him to read it, he read yesterdays post about the push present! I guess it worked out in my favor this time.

One more day

Well tomorrow is the due date! So I can officially start to become impatient. December 5th also happens to be my anniversary! 2 years ago tomorrow Todd and I got married on the beach in Jamaica. We planned a destination wedding because of Todd's work. He only has free time in the winter, and so he wanted a winter wedding. This is also happens to be why we planned the birth of our child to occur in the winter, (I try to accommodate whenever I can). I refused (okay, preferred not) to get married in the cold. So we compromised and had a nice warm wedding in Montego Bay, Jamaica with about 30 family members and friends. Followed by a week in Negril. Such good times and good memories from that trip.
I was hoping to not have to share my anniversary with my baby's birthday, but at this point, I don't care. We can share special days and he can come tomorrow. I keep asking Todd what he is going to get me for our anniversary, and he says he is giving me a baby, but I keep telling him that is my gift to him. I mean clearly I have to do all (okay, 99%) of the work to get him here. Plus my sister Rachael was telling me this weekend about the push present. The push present is the new gift giving trend in which the father buys the mother a gift to commemorates the birth of their baby. I'm so glad she told me about it, I made sure Todd was aware of the push present too. So even if he tries to use the whole baby thing as the anniversary gift, he still has the push present which I am fully expecting to get.

Oh Christmas Tree

Yesterday Todd and I went with my sister Rachael and her whole family to go cut down our own Christmas trees. The only thing was it was raining on and off all day. We waited till the rain had stopped to go, but by the time we all (4 adults and 4 kids) got to the tree farm, it had started raining again, and the ground had turned to mud. But we were determined to get our trees, which we did. Last night I attempted to put the lights on it, but I started with the wrong end of the cord so I couldn't plug them in from the bottom of the tree, and I ran out of lights before I finished. So today I had to take the lights all off and start over. What a drag, since that is my least favorite part of decorating the tree. I think I made the same mistake last year. When will I ever learn?
Anyway, today I finished decorating the tree and the rest of the house, and now it feels more like Christmas. By the way, the tree is not crooked, I think the camera was when I took the picture.

As far as baby news, I think I might go crazy if this baby doesn't come soon. Yes I know, I am getting a bit obsessed about the whole thing, but now that I have been off work for 4 days I am starting to get impatient. I actually called work today to see if they were short staffed. I secretly hoped they weren't but at the same time, I thought it might give me something to do other than sit around and wait. Turned out they didn't need help. I'm still undecided if I'm happy about that or not.
I keep thinking everyday will be the day, and everyday it's not! Whenever I feel a twinge in my stomach I think, oh, is this a sign? but no, it's just the baby kicking me. I guess I should just be a bit more patient, I am still 2 days away from my due date.

Zip, zero, nada!

Just to let everyone know, nothing remotely close to labor has occurred thus far. It's a nasty icy, snow storm outside so I have stayed home all day and lounged around doing a whole lot of nothing. Tonight we're going out to dinner and if I can talk Todd into it, a late movie. I've been wanting to see Dan in real life. I figure this may be my last chance to get out and do something fun before the baby comes.

My maternity leave starts today!

Yeah! I'm all done working! I finally made it through my last 12 hour night I thought would never end. Not because it was so busy, but something about it being my last shift really made it drag. And it was too busy to watch TV, I guess my good luck ran out, but fortunately I heard Grey's was a rerun anyway.
I went in for a second membrane stripping this morning (aren't you glad your getting all the details?). Then I came home and took a good long nap and now I'm awake for the day, even though it's 4pm and the day is almost over. And I just ate a whole pineapple to help the labor thing. Now I fell sick, and I'm pretty sure I never want to eat pineapple again. So I'm doing everything I can, I would sure like to have this baby by the weekends end. Mostly because I'm afraid of how big he's getting, but also because I'm so big and my stomach is so tight and I'm so tired of being pregnant and so uncomfortable, and the list goes on and on. I really wasn't much of a complainer during my whole pregnancy, I think I actually did quite well, but I'm making up for it now.
Okay, consider yourselves updated, I'm going to go to the mall now to walk around and see if that helps. My friend Michelle suggested this to me earlier this week but I told her I thought that might get really expensive. (since my maternity leave is unpaid I have to be a bit more careful) She laughed at me and said I wasn't supposed to shop, its just a place to walk where it's warm. I will try to refrain from shopping and just walk. Wish me luck!

Still waiting...

Yesterday at work my first patient of the night said to me "you look like your going to pop!" later the same patient said, "you look so tired, are you doing a double shift?" NO! I HAVE ONLY BEEN AT WORK FOR 2 HOURS! WHY ARE YOU SO RUDE? is what I wanted to say. So after her 2 not so nice comments she then tried to be nicer and ask a more acceptable question, "what are you having?" In my frustration with her I decided to be a bit sarcastic and said "a baby?" DUH???? Okay the duh part I kept to myself. But I was beginning to wish I wasn't at work and was instead at home sitting on my couch watching TV. Fortunately the rest of my patients that night were old and made no mention of me being pregnant, ready to pop, or tired. Although people at work keep asking me when it's going to happen. I wish I knew! Thankfully tonight is my last night to work! The last 3 Thursdays I have worked have been exceptionally nice and easy, I got to work with Amy (my friend outside of work) and we have been able to watch TV fairly uninterrupted by patients from about 7pm to 10pm. We have to watch TV in separate patient rooms because she prefers CSI and I prefer Grey's Anatomy. Hopefully that will happen again tonight because I really don't want to work that hard, and I'd really like to watch Grey's Anatomy!
So yes this means there is no baby yet! My mom says it's just the baby's way of showing me who's boss? Which is kind of funny that my mom said that, because I clearly remember her telling me many a times "When you get to be the mother you can make the decisions." I guess that must start after he's born because so far he isn't listening!

Just in case your wondering...

I just wanted to let you all know that no news does not mean good news. Still no signs of imminent labor. Not for lack of trying though. Lets see I've tried drinking red raspberry leaf tea, eating fresh pineapple (I bought my 3rd one tonight), eating spicy mexican food for dinner and I even exercised on my elliptical machine for 30 minutes (exercising is so overrated). All that and not one single contraction. I am beginning to think that I'm going to have to go to work tomorrow and Thursday! Bummer, I was really hoping to get out of it.

39 week pregnancy update

Still no baby! The family all went back to New York yesterday disappointed that I didn't have the baby. Today I went to see my doctor and she stripped my membranes, (OUCH) to hopefully speed things up. I was still only dilated to 1.5 cm, but effaced 70-80% which is a big change from last week. Just maybe I wont have to work my last 2 scheduled shifts which are this week Wednesday and Thursday. (sorry Amy if you have to work without me on Thursday) Although I don't know how much stripping membranes really helps, if it's not time, it's not time. Rachael (my ob/gyn sister) told me yesterday that statistically about 50% of people who have their membranes stripped after their due date will go into labor within 48 hours. But that wasn't very reassuring since my due date is still 9 days away, and probably 50% of people past their due date deliver within 48 hours anyway, with or without their membranes stripped. What was encouraging was that my doctor told me that one day she stripped 4 patients membranes, and they all delivered that same night. So who knows, it may not be much longer.
When I got home from the doctors office I realized my house was a mess from having company and being on the go so much in the past few days. I decided I better clean it up just in case. I'd hate to have to go to the hospital to have the baby and come home to a messy house and loads of laundry to do. Luckily I don't have to clean too thoroughly, my housekeeper will be here Thursday for that, but I still had to pick up and put away a lot of stuff, and get the laundry done. As I was cleaning I realized the only bad thing about having my membranes stripped was that I may miss the natural nesting instinct that precedes labor. It was quite a chore to get the whole house cleaned, I had to take a nap first just to get the energy.
So now the house is clean enough, the laundry is almost done, and the nursery is ready, so if today is the day, I guess I'm ready. Well sort of, I still need to pack a bag for the hospital, but that shouldn't take too long.
I'm off to the mall now to buy some new make up, I'm all out of foundation and mascara. I was talking with my friend D'Arcy today and she told me not to worry about it, that I wont have energy to put make up on after the baby's born. That may be true, but call me vain, I can't take that chance. I must go!

I was right, my mom was wrong!

Well I was right about one thing, it did snow on Thanksgiving. Actually I should say the weatherman was right. It started snowing thursday evening, and by Friday morning this was what it looked like outside.

My mom on the other hand was wrong about her cold theory. No signs of labor yet. So I decided to go with a tried and tested but not necessarily proven to be true theory that drinking red raspberry leaf tea can cause labor. I've had about 4 glasses so far tonight, and still nothing. My stomach does make for a nice place to set my cup of tea though.

The nursery is ready!

So they say you start nesting shortly before you go into labor, and get super productive and lots of things done in anticipation for the baby's arrival. I think this is referring to the mother though. But what does it mean if the father all of a sudden gets super productive and gets things done? Last night I had Todd hang a curtain rod and a book rack in the nursery and then he kept going. Next thing I knew he was putting together the baby bouncer and the baby swing. Today he planted the mums that I've been asking him to do for weeks.

I guess I've been pretty productive myself this week, but I tribute that more to the fact that my mom is here than that I am nesting. I have to get these things done while she's here if I want her help. I also have my sister Shannon coming for Thanksgiving, and I wanted the nursery done before she gets here. Last night I finished the nursery, there is nothing left to do, except wait.

Here are the nursery pictures I've been promising to post.

My sister Natalie painted the pictures on the wall. Here is the football field wall, and the toy boxes that are mostly empty now,

but I'm sure it will fill up quickly.

My mom made the curtains for me yesterday, they turned out great. I love them. I still haven't gotten my new chair I ordered, so the rocking chair will suffice for now. I love the little book bin on the wall too, it is full of baby books given to me at my showers.

I took this picture last night when it was dark out,

but you can see the curtains better in it.

The crib corner of the room.

The clothes hanging on the wall rack are the ones I'm trying

to decide between to pack for the hospital.

The crib up close.
A closet full of clothes, all washed and ready to wear.

I'm really glad to have such a big closet.

All those clothes are just for the first 3 months.

I hope he gets to wear all of them before he outgrows them.

More pregnancy talk, (sorry that's all I can think about these days.)

I seem to be coming down with a cold, I have had a sore throat for 2 days and tonight when I was over at my sisters house visiting with my mom and Rachael's kids, I was sneezing nonstop and very congested. I think I am allergic to their dogs and cat, because I normally sneeze a lot when I'm over there, but that wouldn't explain the sore throat so I think I really do have a cold. My mom said that when she was pregnant with all of us kids (all 6 times) she got a cold every single time one week before she went into labor. So she is predicting that I will have the baby by next Friday. This could create a problem since my doctor is out of town next Friday for the Thanksgiving weekend, and my sister Rachael just happens to be the doctor on call. I'm not sure how I feel about having my sister deliver my baby, it's not that I don't think she's a good doctor and all, it just seems a little strange. Apparently she says it's only strange for me, to her it's just a job. Also the hospital has a policy against doctors treating immediate family members. But if there isn't anyone else to do it, they will just have to make an exception I guess.

On the flip side, it would be really great to have this baby because I am so tired of being pregnant! 37 weeks is a long time, and I am ready to be done. Also since mom is in town and my sister from New York is also coming for Thanksgiving it would be nice if I had the baby while they were here so they could all meet the little guy. It also helps that I got the baby room almost ready. Thanks to my mom, we went through all my gifts and organized and put everything away. Just a few finishing touches and the nursery will be all done. I will try to post some pictures soon of the finished room. I even washed all the new baby clothes, sheets and blankets. When the first load of baby clothes came out of the dryer it was actually fun to fold and put away all the cute little outfits, however by the 4th load I was no longer having fun. Also, my car seat and stroller were delivered yesterday via FedEx, so now I think I have just about everything I need. Just need the baby now.

Here is a picture of my new stroller/car seat combo, It's a PegPergo that I thought was going to be a splurge, but then I found it for a great price on the internet and saved $125 off the average asking price, plus free shipping and no tax. I love it when I find a good bargain.
These things are tricky to figure out too. It was rather frustrating trying to figure out how to open and close the stroller, and how to attach the car seat to the stroller.

Here is a picture of my new Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag that I thought I just had to have, spent too much money on, and now that I have it I don't like it. Unfortunately I can't return it, only exchange it for another one, but all of their fabrics are so bright, which is exactly what I don't like about it. Hopefully I can find something a little less loud. What do you think? Is it too loud?

P.S. Rachael if you read this: Can I take Sudafed? The box says to consult a doctor before taking if pregnant, and I really need some.

Pregnancy thoughts

Can you believe I only have 23 more days? I can't! Now everything seems to be going so fast. My whole pregnancy I have been feeling like it's taking forever and wanting to rush things along, and now that it's so close, I think I'm ready for it to slow down. I'm not ready yet. I haven't come to terms with the fact that this is going to hurt, a lot! The baby's room is not anywhere close to ready, my plans for organizing it this weekend didn't exactly work out as planned. The whole nesting phase your supposed to go through where you get a big burst of energy and get super productive... hasn't happened yet. So my long mental list of things to do aren't getting done. My mom is coming into town tomorrow to watch Rachael's kids while she goes to a medical conference in the Bahama's. Lucky her! So hopefully my mom will come to the rescue and help me get stuff done, I already have a few projects in mind for her while she's here.
Oh and for the record, since this blog is the closest thing to a journal I have, last week when I went to my 36 week doctor appt, I was 1cm dilated and 20% effaced! Rachael did some pushing around on my stomach yesterday and predicted with her medical expertise that the baby probably weighs 6 pounds right now, and if I deliver him on time he will probably weigh 7 and a half pounds. So I guess we'll see, but that sounds pretty encouraging.
Only 9 more shifts at work before I take off for my maternity leave!