Bump Shot: Week 37

This Bump Shot is a bit late, as I started my 37th week on Sunday and it's now Thursday, but oh well.  I didn't have a chance to post earlier.  Hubs has been obsessed with playing Yahtzee every night so that has made it difficult to blog.  And to be honest, I enjoy spending time with him and would prefer that to our normal routine where I blog and he watches TV.

So, how is pregnancy going in Week 37?

The same as Week 36.  Not too much difference.  But here are my thoughts:

* I am getting a little annoyed with having to drive to the doctor's every week.  Weekly appointments are not fun.  I love hearing the heartbeat and making sure Maple Baby is healthy, but every week seems like a lot.  I feel like we're there all the time.

* My Braxton-Hicks contractions are out of control.  Seriously, my stomach constantly feels like a cement rock.  It is crazy.  Even when it's "soft" it's still super hard.  I don't know what's going on in there, but a rock hard tummy makes it difficult to sit.  If it's true what the midwives say, that it is my uterus building strength and practicing labor, then my uterus will be a body-building machine by the time we're through.  It's too bad that my tummy won't be this "tight" after pregnancy!

* My appetite has drastically reduced.  It's weird.  I expected to be hungry all the time at this point in my pregnancy, but I'm not.  I have a normal appetite at lunchtime but for dinner I have almost no appetite.  I cook a nice dinner for hubs and then I eat five bites and don't want anymore.  And normally when this happens it means I just don't want what I cooked for dinner so I eat a bunch of other stuff (like ice cream sandwiches and chips, etc.).  However, now I just don't want anything.  The doctor told me I lost three pounds in a week.  He said it was completely fine and that a lot of people lose some weight at the end of their pregnancy but that he was going to "keep an eye on it".   So last night I ate a huge bowl of pasta at 9pm after we got back from the docs.  I think it was too big and too late because I then threw up at 3am.  And to gross you out even more, none of the pasta was digested.  Hubs said that I should not have chosen spaghetti with tomato sauce because it's too acidic.  I would have to agree with him.  Tonight I am going out for Indian food with my college friends - I will have to make sure I don't go overboard and I stay away from tomato-y sauces.

* My clothes are getting too small.  My shirts are starting to get a little short.  My pants fit fine but shirts that easily covered my bump now hang a tad bit high.  I know that belly shirts are coming back in style (the horror!) but I don't think that they mean belly shirts on pregnant women.  It's not really very flattering.  I haven't gotten a stretch mark yet (according to my sister, she got all of hers AFTER delivery) but I can assure you that my big, ol' belly is not sexy and no one wants to see it hanging out of the bottom of my shirt.  It's a good thing I only have to go to the office one more week because I'm not sure what I'd wear after that.

* We finally got the nursery done this past weekend.  That was a huge feat.  I feel very relieved that it's set up.  We even put the baby/doggie gate across the door so that the Dolce-meister can't get in.  I am still working on my hospital bag though.  I put stuff in the bag, I just have to purchase some things that need to go in there.  Like juice (we had bought some but then drank it all) and snacks and batteries.  We have been extremely broke this week because we spent all our money on hubs's new glasses (seriously, $400+ for glasses is ridiculous) and my Chemistry books ($200+) so we couldn't buy anything until pay day (that may also be why I lost three pounds...we have no food in the house).  This weekend we should be able to buy a few more things and finish up the hospital bag.

* Hubs is getting more and more excited.  And nervous.  And terrified.  I think he's going to be a raving lunatic when I go into labor.  I mentioned to him that the baby wasn't moving around a lot and he got over the top worried (so I then had a talk with Maple Baby and told him he had to move around all the time, so he's now a moving machine).  So now hubs calls me ALL. THE. TIME. to make sure the baby's moving.  I also made a comment that maybe my water had broken and was leaking a tiny bit (which it wasn't) and he made me call the doctor and find out exactly what amniotic fluid looks like, etc.  Pretty much, I can't tell him anything because he turns into a crazy worry-wort.  I asked him what he worries about the most and he said that he's afraid I might die in childbirth. I guess that's probably more common in Honduras than here and I tried to tell him that there was a very slim chance that I'd die (unless we got in an accident because he's driving to the birthing center like a crazy person).  However, he gets more and more worried every day.  It's a good thing we have the doulas because I think they may have to give him some chill-pills.

So, those are some of my pregnancy thoughts this week.  I am still feeling like the birth is a ways off.

What do you think?  Any predictions on when I might go into labor?

I am officially due on 9/9....

A View of the Nursery

Baby's crib, with Welcome sign my mom made for the shower.

Yes, the title of that post implies that the nursery is done.  I guess it kind of is.  We still have stuff to move around and eventually we will move swings and bouncy chairs and stuff to the living room (sure not going to make the baby bounce in his chair in his room all alone), but for the most part it is pretty organized.

This organization is completely due to my over-the-top, amazing, wonderful friend Sarah.  Everyone needs a friend like her.  Yes, she is the same friend who helped me pack boxes, clean my apartment, move my stuff, etc.  It's crazy how many favors I owe her.  We try to repay her with lots of dinners and a few movies, but it's not really adequate payment for all the help she has given me.

So, after trying to get organized all by myself and failing, I called her to come over on Saturday and whip me into baby-ready shape.  And that she did.  Here is the "before' picture, just in case you forgot!

The "before" nursery

And of course, while we are trying to do this I get more visitors than I've ever had in my life and yest again was a bad worker.  My sister and her family come over to visit Dolce (so I hung out and chat with my sis and made sure the dog didn't eat the kiddos' new toys while Sarah tried to put a big, complicated swing together - with the help of my 3yr old niece), and then about an hour later our golf friends stopped by to pick up hubs for a favor (they needed some boxes moved) and we chatted with them for a while (while Sarah kept working hard). 

We had promised her Honduran enchiladas for dinner as repayment but didn't get them finished until 8:30pm.  I think Sarah had had about enough of us and was really itching to leave, but I forced her to stay for dinner.  That's what a great friend I am!

So, what did we do?  We washed up the last bit of clothes, washed the last bit of diapers, boiled the pre-fold cloth diapers, put the bouncy chair and swing together, organized and washed all the bottles and their accessories, organized baby stuff into categories of first aide, my stuff (like breast pads), toys, things that go in the changing table (swaddle blankets, diapers, cloth wipes, blankets, etc.), put up the co-sleeper, made the crib (i.e. put some sheets on it), etc.  Yup, it was a bit of work.  However, I am SO happy it is done.

Changing table with hanging blanket.

Then, last night hubs and I tried to finish the rest of the stuff - we put a lamp in the baby's room, I put on all the washed pieces (i.e. covers for the bouncy seat and swing and sheets on the co-sleeper, etc.), I put all the diapers and towels into the changing table, we moved the changing table to its permanent spot, hung up some decorations, put stuff away in the closet, arranged stuffed animals, displayed some books, cleared space in the kitchen cupboards and put the bottles away, and I think that's it. 

Baby's dresser and swing (and closet)

I know you are probably thinking that I am "nesting" but I don't think I am.  I sure didn't feel motivated to do any of this - hubs was in his "nesting" mood though and there is no stopping him.  So, unless I wanted stuff hung up crooked, and things put away in weird spots, I had to help out.  I am *hoping* that the "nesting" that comes with almost-about-to-give-birth is a bit more exciting and filled with motivation.  We'll see I guess!

I know most people on the blogosphere (and most people I know) get way into the nursery - they pick a theme, paint walls, buy a ton of things to put on the wall, hang up curtains, etc. - so our nursery probably looks pretty boring and plain to most.  My sister put up a wall mural and so many little decorations and her nursery was so adorable.  We didn't really have money to do this and although I was thinking of a cow/barn/farm theme for the nursery we didn't buy a ton of stuff to do that.  My mom made some things with that theme (the Welcome sign, the blanket hanging on the wall, the pillow in the crib, and some stuffed barn animals), but we didn't go all out.  We had/have so many things to buy that are necessities (diapers, wipes, baby/dog gates, etc.) that I didn't want to spend a ton of money on a nursery the baby would never remember.  So, pretty much our nursery is a mish-mash of things that people gave us. 

And to tell you the truth - that's pretty much what our life is like too! 

I hope you've enjoyed the tour anyway!!

Are we ready for Maple Baby?

So, one question I get a lot is, "So, are you ready for the baby to come?" or "I bet you can't wait for that baby to come out!".

Umm, actually, no we aren't ready and yes, I can wait!!!!

I think I am mentally ready - I'm super excited to meet Maple Baby and hold him and take care of him (although I realize he's much easier to take care of in my belly than out).  I am not tired of being pregnant yet, so it's not like I want him out for that reason.  I'm actually content with him inside of me now and I know I'll miss his little kicks and his twists and turns.

But, really, the reason I want him to stay a tad bit longer in my oven belly is because of this:

Yup, that is Maple Baby's room.  Looks like it's all ready for him to move in!  Yikes!!!

Hubs said he was going to try and work on it today, so we'll see if he does.  It was all nice and neat, but then we had the baby shower so I put all of the baby stuff in there.  And then we got a stroller, so that went in there too.  And then yesterday our golf friends gave us their antique (is it an antique if it's only 20 years old?) dresser and changing table, so that got piled in there too.

The furniture is beautiful though.  I love it!  It's such great quality and will work out so well.  Eventually I'm going to do a post on all the things in my house that were given to me.  It's includes pretty much everything.  I think the only things we actually bought were our sofa and our TV stand.  Everything else was gifted to me/us from friends and family.  And it's worked out so well - we have lovely furniture!  And this new baby furniture is great.

So, no, we are not "ready" for Maple Baby to show up yet.  I mean, I haven't even packed my hospital bag yet!  Or finished reading my birthing books!  Cook for a tad bit longer Baby - I promise we'll get organized soon and your room won't be a safety hazard for too much longer....