Thursday, February 25, 2010

Latest

Had our (presumably) last ultrasound this evening.

The latest stats on Baby girl

She is head down, settled right in on top of my bladder (honest, we saw her head and my bladder making contact!) Thankfully I am laying down all day long, so I don't really feel the pressure of it!

According to the calculations that they do she is weighing in at about 7.75lbs!!!! I am a little freaked out by that! she is getting so big already and we still have 3 weeks of growing to go! Besides that, we had an ultrasound right after I was put on bed rest (hang on, let me check... about a month ago) and she was weighing only 5.5lbs. Okay, never mind. Put into perspective like that she hasn't grown that much, but it still seems like a lot!

The ultrasound tech also showed us where her HAIR!!!! was showing up on the scan! yay! this makes me really happy, because my sister and I were baldies (ultra short, ultra blonde) until about 18 months, my brother not as much, but his hair was darker so it showed up better. Kyle had hair when he was born, so it looks like she got that from her daddy!

BP's are still looking good at home. We see the doctor on Monday (she has been out of the country for about 2.5 weeks, she's from India and her mom was having surgery), we have been seeing the midwife that practices with her, but it will be nice to see what the doctor thinks about everything since the midwife always defers to our doctor. I also feel more comfortable having the doctor back in town so that if anything happens during labor she will be the one to come in, even if the midwife is the one on call, and not some random doctor that I haven't ever met and doesn't know me from Eve.

That's all I got for now. PS. Figure skating wasn't on last night (so I got to go to bed early!!!) but it is on tonight, so that's what I will be doing...

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Ramblin' (wo)man

So tired.


These have been messing up my schedule and I haven't been going to bed until 12:30 or later every night... despite the fact that they are in my time zone they insist on delaying everything 3 hours anyway... blah.


The hospital bag is mostly packed, except for the last minute stuff...
This is not our bag, but isn't it cute!? I wish it was our hospital bag!!!


Had bible study last night. Forgot to ask someone to bring snack, so I whipped up a box cake mix really quick, so I wouldn't be on my feet too long. We didn't have any canned frosting, so I searched online and found this super easy and tasty!!!! recipe for chocolate frosting, the cake was Yellow cake, and I ::heart:: yellow cake with thick chocolate frosting!!!!!
Also, we are now at 37 weeks, 3 more to go!! we have an ultrasound tomorrow, I guess to see what position Baby Girl is in, although I am pretty sure she hasn't dropped yet... she is still pretty wiggly in there.

Getting a little stir crazy lately, there is just sooo much to do, and I know I could do it and do it pretty quickly, but I know I shouldn't be up... gah!

I have turned my nesting towards online shopping...not much, but some cute stuff, like a giant flower headband to put on Baby Girl, hopefully for her first portraits, I love the pictures of little baby girls in just a giant flower headband and a diaper, oh the cuteness!!!!!

I have also been entering a lot of giveaways... to my FB friends and Twitter friends, I apologize for the non relevant tweets and updates that are "Required" to enter these things... but there is just sooooo much fun/pretty/shiny stuff to win! and I want to win it! and I really don't have much else to do all day, I hang out on the couch with the laptop open beside me with FB and Twitter open waiting for new updates... a little pathetic... but I do other things besides wait for new updates, I read, I watch the Olympics, I get some visitors! and I think about all the stuff I could be getting done right now... ^_^

Alright, figure skating should be starting soon, so I have to go now...

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Organization

Aren't these the cutest?!?!

I was planning on making something to separate Baby Girl's clothes, most of which is already on the itty bitty hangers and in her closet, all separated by age grouping. But being on bed rest makes that a bit harder, and so I went searching online and found these darling little things at Bed Bath and Beyond! They come with some pre-printed stickers with the age groupings on them already and then a bunch of blank ones so you can label them how you want if you want something different. It is going to make organizing her clothes soooo much easier since we already have so many hand-me-downs from one of my friends (her baby Diane is Baby Girl's best Friend, we have already decided) and a lot of what we are getting is varied in age size, so I am trying to keep it organized now so I can grab the right sizes quickly and easily. $14.99 was a bit pricey for a set of 5, shipping too (bleh, it was an online only item) but I didn't find any others online that I thought was as cute or that looked like what I wanted, so I will suck it up. I am wondering if I should buy another set so that down the road when we have another babe I can sort out both kid's clothes... I think it will be fine though if I get a different set then. Yup. It will.

I really hope they work and look as cute in real life as they look on the computer....

::EDIT:: oops! I just realized I didn't say what they were! They are called "closet dividers" and you hang them between the hangers on the closet rod.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

36 weeks

and as my mother said "so the countdown begins." and it really does!
We now have only a month left until our due date, and Baby Girl should be big and strong enough to come anytime now and not need any special care.

I have really come to a sort of peace about being on Bed Rest, and I suppose that is a really good thing. I have my little daily routine down and have finally got all my pillows in a configuration that keeps me comfy and is easy to arrange when I need to shift. It has been a little bit harder the last week or so, because it has been so GORGEOUS! outside, and all I can really do is look out my window at the gloriously blue sky and the trees gently blowing in the breeze... I try to make sure to open the patio door in the AM before I settle in if I can tell it's going to be nice, so at least I get some fresh air and can appreciate the niceness a little bit.

The Friday Evening shift of nurses in the Labor/Delivery wing at the Hospital are starting to recognize me and Kyle and remember my name (that's a good thing, right?) I am kind of hoping that we go into labor on a Friday evening/afternoon so that they can all meet the girl they have been checking on and monitoring!

Our fridge is PACKED with food! which is a good thing. Kyle hasn't had to cook anything at all this week, which makes coming home a little nicer for him, since he can start to relax pretty much as soon as he gets home. People bring us dinner and there is usually enough for leftovers the next day, and I guess we just don't eat that much or something, because we seem to be forever playing catch up, trying to clear it out before the next meals are coming! It will be good for the weekend though, since we have nothing scheduled to be brought.

We still haven't heard anything about Kyle working from home yet, that is frustrating. We do joke about it though, the latest one is that by the time we finally hear if he can work on stuff from home that Baby Girl will be 3 months old. "oh, really? thanks! that's great, but you know, we really don't need that anymore... no worries." ^_^ We are however looking into if he can still take his Paternity leave retro-actively, which would be awesome and make summer travels much easier! We are going to Oregon in the summer to see Kyle's maternal grandparents and some his aunt and uncle and their kids to introduce Baby Girl to them (Oma and Opa don't travel anymore really, so it is better if we can go to them). Because his Paternity leave doesn't kick in until you have worked at the company for a year we are having to take Vacation and Family Care sick days so he can be home with us for the first couple of weeks after Baby Girl comes, but it is going to deplete all of our saved up vacation days, bummer! But if he can take the Paternity leave retro-actively then we can still have a decently long-ish vacation without having to rush back and use up all the vacation days this summer as soon as we build them up again!

One of my girlfriends was saying that if she were me at 36 weeks right now and on bed rest she would start doing everything she could to get that baby out sooner and get off of bed rest. While I see her point, I told her that I figured we were made to have a 40 week gestation period for a reason, and I am going to try to keep Baby Girl in there for as long as possible! I know she might come early, and that is okay with me (lots of babies come before their due date, it's just a fact of nature!), and I know I might get induced, and that is okay with me too, but if I am healthy and she is healthy then I think we will hang tight. Like I said earlier, I am starting to have a peace about the whole bed rest thing... that doesn't mean I don't push my limits and try to be "up" more, or that I don't take longer than 5 minute showers (seriously! who can take a 5 minute shower?!?! I can barely wash my hair in 5 minutes! and then you have to dry off, and I hate lying on wet hair, so I have to blowdry it too... crazy people...) but I do know my limits and I can tell sometimes when I have been "up" too long and really need to relax back into my little nest on the couch. For the most part I am really a good girl and stay glued to my couch and only get up to eat and pee and refill my water bottle, and I will continue to try to be as healthy as possible so that I don't endanger this precious little girl growing in me.

PS. It sucks not being able to go to church!!!!! I think this will be 4 weeks straight that I haven't gone now! At least we host Bible Study here so I get to see people and get that fellowship and "food"

Friday, February 12, 2010

Hymns

Do any of you know of good recordings of hymns being sung? Just simple, no fancy trills or anything, or super fancy accompaniments... I really want to learn the words to more hymns, and perfect my memory of those I already know, and play them for my kids (well, starting with our daughter) so that they will learn them and love... them too... CD's are preferred most, MP3/4's work too...

Friday, February 5, 2010

1 week down

only 5.5 more weeks to go...

So far bed rest has been going okay so far. Still working on keeping comfortable on the couch, it is a fabulous squishy couch, but you just sink down too far when you are on your side, so my hips have been hurting from all the pressure that is put on them. I have started putting pillows at the areas where my hips are, but if you have to readjust at all you have to move EVERYTHING! yikes. I am trying not to do my bed rest actually IN BED so that way when I go to bed at night it's like a respite, and for sleeping only, and I try to not nap during the day so that I can actually sleep at night, and I have been sleeping really well at night! thank goodness!

A friend brought over a collection of Rogers and Hammerstein movies for me to borrow, those will keep me entertained for the next few afternoons. Watched the King and I yesterday and am watching Oklahoma today! Another friend who has an extensive DVD collection has offered to bring me a bunch of movies to borrow as well, plus I have been getting stuff on Netflix.

Kyle has set up the laptop out here in the living room on some boxes so it is at the right level next to the couch so I don't have to get up to use it.

I just wish that I could be a little more mobile so that I could do productive things while I am stuck here, like cutting out quilt pieces, or knitting (it's hard to knit when you are supposed to stay on your side, even in a reclining position), or working on the crib bumper and skirt, or sanding and painting the nursery furniture. *sigh* it's really hard to stay on bed rest when you are in full blown nesting mode and in your last month and half of pregnancy!

We are still waiting to hear if Kyle can work from home and how that will all work out. My mom has started a meals calendar for us, so there will be a little bit less for him to do when he gets home from work some days, because dinner will be waiting for him! yay! My mom has also been able to come over a couple of afternoons this week and just hang out so I am not completely alone and she has done a little bit of housework for us, which helps Kyle out a bunch too. Poor man, he is getting a whirlwind education in what it's like to be a wife and mother and housekeeper all at once, while still having to be husband and breadwinner.

We had another ultrasound on Monday just to make sure Baby Girl wasn't having any issues from my high BP before. She is looking really really healthy and already 5lbs 6oz! We got to see her full face, it looks like she has the Anderson/Svindal (my mom's side of the family) chin, and she has the cutest chubby looking cheeks! I want to squeeze and kiss them so much! We only have 2.5 more weeks until we are full term and then anything can happen... but if we can go 40 weeks full term that will be good.

Until next time... I will still be here.

Monday, February 1, 2010

the cutest little hangers!

and you could win one on Jeannett's blog! My luck has not been too good lately with these giveaways that I have been entering, but maybe this time I will win something...

Go here

To win one of these


How could you tell me you wouldn't want one of those, even if you don't have a nursery to hang it in, you could put it in your laundry room with your last name on it, or get it for a bride with MRS on it, so cute!!