A few shower pics

Some shower pics from Erika!

Jon having a beer before we get going:



Jane assaulting me with toilet paper:



Jon helping me open presents:



Woodsies!



Me and Erika:



Belly pic (35 weeks) (see where my navel was pierced?):

36 week appointment

I had my 36 week appt this morning. I had the Strep B test. I was reading about Malfunction Junction's doctor visit last week and kept thinking about that this morning. That paper sheet thing covers just fine in the front, but you always try to cover your ass with it. And why? He's going to see everything in a few minutes anyway.

I had my doctor this morning and he checked the heartbeat (fine), measured my belly (fine), and we talked about labor a bit. He said to work as long as I am comfortable. I can work right up till I deliver for all he cares. Which is great, but I'm starting to feel more pregnant now. Like waddling if I'm not paying attention and getting more difficult to get up/down from chairs. I asked about the delayed cord cutting. He asked why. I gave my reasons. He said nothing has been proven either way, but he's not in a hurry to clamp or cut the cord, so no worries. He said they'll put him on my chest, clean him off, then clamp/cut.

I go back every week now. He said that if I start to go into labor, they won't stop it. 28 days left...

eta: I officially gained 1 lb according to their scale!

Baby Shower and Woodsie Time!

Friday night - Erika and Melissa came up/over. Melissa brought her pug, Darwin. It was a bit iffy at first. Madison kept growling at him, but by the time they left on Saturday night, they seemed to get along quite well. Of course, Darwin has been around big dogs, and Melissa was keeping an eye on him, which helps tremendously!

Saturday - Shower time! We got there around 11:40 (started at 12), and there were people there already. Everything went well. Jon got to visit with his Aunt Marsha and cousin Meredith. We haven't seen them in a long time.

We got mostly everything we need. We still have to get a Boppy, monitor, diaper pail and a few other misc things. Luckily we got gift cards too. I made Jon open mostly everything. I hate being the center of attention and he got a kick out of it.

Later, Jon and I went to dinner with Melissa, Erika, Sarah and Colleen. We went to Don Pablo's. Now, any other time, they are mostly empty on Saturday nights. Nope... packed. Our 10 minute wait turned into 30. Took well over an hour to get our dinners. Luckily I wasn't too hungry when we got there. I was starving by the time I got mine. Chips and salsa only last so long. We got back home around 10:30 and Melissa and Erika left for Indy. I was worried about them driving back so late, but it ended up being a good thing. We woke up to 2 inches of snow on Sunday and flurries all day.

Sunday - We went through all the gifts and separated everything. I have two laundry baskets full of clothes/blankets to wash. We put away the clothes from Stacey that I've already washed and organized the room a bit.

I need to get another paper trimmer (Erika accidently stole mine!) tonight so I can get started on thank you notes. I needed to go to Michael's anyway to get more runner tape, so it's all good. Either Melissa or Erika (not sure? Melissa?) painted wooden letters making Connor's name for the shower. I had planned on doing something similar to put on his wall, but now I'll just use these. They are chocolate and teal. Unfortunately, our walls are oak, so they don't show up. I'll have to repaint them white and do what I was going to do with the bigger ones.

34 week appointment

My doctor's appointment went well. The nurse practitioner came in just to check the heartbeat. She left, and then Dr came in. He said my 24 hr urine test came back fine, nothing to worry about it. Everything else looks good, still down 1 lb, but he's not worried. He doesn't think I'll have preterm labor for any reason. My next appointment is in 2 weeks and he'll go over labor questions then. I'm going to get a list ready, like can I eat/drink, how do they feel about leaving the cord attached till it stops pulsing, things like that.

He said my wrist will take longer to heal because of muscles etc stretching naturally now. He said to try the brace off today and see how it does. So far so good, still hurts, and a bit swollen, but I'm trying it. Did I mention that here? I don't think I did... I strained/sprained/pulled the muscles/tendons/ligaments on my right hand from my thumb to my wrist fighting with the barn door about 3 weeks ago. I went to urgent care 2 1/2 weeks ago and they gave me a bulky brace. It's somewhat better, but not much.

And now I think I'm getting Jon's cold. He was sick last week. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat and coughing. What fun. Dr checked my throat and didn't see any signs of strep.

Appointment,Tour and Class

1. 32 week appointment on Monday - Saw the nurse practitioner again. I do not like that woman one bit. She's very nice... but yeah. She looked at my chart, whipped out the due date wheel and got it wrong. Again. She said I was 31 weeks 2 days. Oh wait, no, 31 weeks 5 days. Still wrong, but I wasn't going to correct her. She checked for the heartbeat, and that was it. No measurements, no nothing. Then she tells me that my next appointment will be in 3 1/2 weeks when I'm 33 weeks. Now my math is bad, but not that bad... I reminded her that at my last visit they said I'd start every two weeks after this one. She said no, 3 1/2 weeks. Ok, whatever.

Right before I left, she tells me that I had protein in my urine again. The last visit I had to sit there for another hour, drinking tons of water and that retest was fine. She asked if I had been drinking enough (probably not) and ordered a 24 hour urine test. I'm going to do that on Sunday so I don't have to do it at work. What a hassle that is going to be. It's a brown gallon sized jug labelled "Biohazard". I have to collect urine for 24 hours and they want me to keep it in the fridge. Um no. A co-worker said she kept hers in a cooler in the bathroom when she had to do it. Much better idea. If this comes back fine, and my next pee-in-a-cup test comes back high, too damn bad.

When I made my next appointment, the nice woman at the desk looked at my chart and said "Ok, we'll see you in two weeks!" Yes, you will. At least one person there besides my doctor knows what they are doing...

Blood pressure, weight gain (still down 3 lbs from starting on their scale) was fine.

2. Hospital tour on Monday - It's one hallway and a tiny nursery. They encourage rooming-in, so only a few babies in there. The rooms are nice and big. Everything happens in that room unless there's an emergency. The nurses were really sweet.

3. Breastfeeding/Baby Care Class last night - We had our breastfeeding/baby care class last night. It was actually the last class of a six week Lamaze class. No one told us that. The instructor had graduates from the last class there to share their birth stories. So that was unexpected, but nice. One poor girl had a 9lb 5oz baby. She had an episiotimy, but the baby turned at the last minute and she ended up with a 4th degree tear (from front to back), took 1 1/2 hours to stitch her up. Um, ouch.

Not too much on baby care, but the breastfeeding part was nice. We took a 32 question quiz and I only got one wrong. The video was... interesting. It was nice to see what latch on actually looks like as opposed to reading about it/seeing a picture. However... all the women in the video were obese black women. Our class was all white except for one Mexican couple. It was definitely an older video too. At one point, they showed one whipping out her naked breast to feed in a park with a ton of graffiti on the building behind her. I was waiting to see a drug deal happen in the background, it was that kind of video.

Jon enjoyed the class. Of course, other husbands were there, and the instructor was asking the new dads what's changed, how it feels, their points of view. Now he's saying he wishes we had signed up for a Lamaze class. *sigh* The next one starts on the 24th and ends the last week of March. Which is fine, but it's during the week at night. He had a difficult time getting out of work on time last night. Even though they knew in advance, they still threw a fit. He won't be able to do that for 6 weeks.

There were about 8 babies that came. Only one was somewhat fussy. It was funny, every time she cried, Connor would start kicking. The class was supposed to be from 6:30-7:45.... no, it was till 9.

Signed Up

I signed up for a tour of Labor/Delivery, which also includes the nursery. It's Monday in the evening.

We are also signed up for a Breastfeeding/Baby Care class on Tuesday night. It's an hour and fifteen minutes of "education and support for women who want to breast feed and also covers basic baby care for newborns."

My next appointment is Monday morning. I'm curious to see if I've gained any weight yet. My scale at home says 1 lb, but that varies.

:)

"Go to google and write your name and the word ‘needs’, in quotes — as in “Jennifer needs”. notice the first 10 sensical sentences that come up. here’s what i got:

1. Jennifer needs to play by 'The Rules'.
(Awww... that's no fun.)

2. Jennifer needs a smack daddy.
(Smack daddy? Is that like a sugar daddy?)

3. Jennifer needs to give birth in the next week.
(I most certainly do not.)

4. Why Jennifer needs a cane.
(Because my upper right leg keeps falling asleep if I stand too long)

5. Jennifer needs your support.
(When I fall over because my leg's asleep)

6. Jennifer needs a muzzle at The Insider.
(Sorry, I'll keep my mouth shut.)

7. Jennifer needs a shave.
(How'd you know??)

8. Jennifer needs 2 1/2 cups of sugar to make cookies for 15 people.
(Mmm... cookies...)

9. Jennifer needs to hear some good news.
(Good news is always good!)

10. Jennifer needs our prayers.
(Prayers are always good too.)

Hmm... it took me 3 Google pages just to get these. Between the other Jennifers doing the same thing and their blogs coming up and duplicates.