Random thoughts...

1. Progress! With the glider, that is... we recovered the ottoman last night and it turned out great. Of course I didn't think to take a picture, but eventually I'll post some of the whole nursery. The chair itself actually doesn't look bad in the old fabric, so we'll just see how motivated I get in the next couple of weeks, but if it doesn't get recovered, I actually don't mind.
   
   
2. Next time... I won't work up until the day I go into labor. I definitely wouldn't recommend it. I've survived... and for a while it was definitely no problem. But this last month has definitely taken it's toll on me and I find myself wishing I'd planned to stop working a little earlier. Fortunately, my job, which used to be extremely stressful and busy, has been fairly slow recently, so it's more just the physical toll of being stuck in an office and not resting. The end is near and I'll make it, but for anyone considering it, I'd strongly recommend finding another way...
   
   
3. Not in my Control: I've known since about 18 weeks that I tested positive for GBS (Group B Strep bacteria). It's fairly common in pregnant women... we're just "colonized" not infected, and the risk is that it will be transferred to the baby during delivery. Since they now routinely test for it, they are able to give IV antibiotics to the mom during labor and so long as I have that IV for at least 4 hours before giving birth, the risk to baby is significantly reduced. If I should deliver faster, they will treat the baby himself with antibiotics. So while it can be a serious issue if the baby were infected, the odds are so rare now that I've been reassured it's nothing to lose sleep over. We will probably be kept at the hospital for an extra day so the baby can be closely monitored.
   
   Well, then I get a call this morning from my doctor's office letting me know that there is a fairly high-level of GBS in my urine and that now they want me to take an antibiotic for the next 7 days... in addition to getting the IV at the hospital. I talked to the doctor and he still reassured me that I don't have reason to worry. There is no greater risk for the baby. If anything, it just means I have a slightly higher chance of getting an infection after birth, but it's much easier to treat me than the baby anyway. So now I'm just trying to put it out of my mind and not worry about it. I can't worry about the fact that apparently women in my family have fast labors (will I be able to get the IV for the full 4 hours?) I'm not going to request an elective C-Section just to avoid the risk of passing it to the baby (although the thought has certainly crossed my mind!) I just have to wait and trust that everything will be fine. Easier said than done.

1 Month to Go!

It's so hard to believe that today is June 15th... exactly 1 month before BabyW. is due to arrive! This weekend, I had my 4th and final baby shower with some ladies from church, and I am finally feeling like we have almost everything we need to welcome our little boy home! We have been extremely blessed and it is such a relief to not feel like there are a hundred things we need to go out and buy!

The carseat is now installed in the back seat of my car (thanks Mike!) and that's definitely kinda surreal to drive around with. My friend Senneca is going to come over this week and help me finish putting everything away in the nursery and maybe we'll even tackle the glider! I still need to pack my bag for the hospital but we're almost as prepared as we can be!

I'm still hoping he'll wait a couple more weeks, but we're definitely getting close! He's an active little boy, and watching him move around in my belly has been really fun the last couple of days... I might actually miss that part of being pregnant. He's definitely crammed in there, but when he moves, you can see it from across the room. Yes, it looks a bit alien. :)

Some of you have asked if I plan to keep this updated once he arrives, and the answer is definitely YES. I may not be as frequent, but I do hope to keep it up! I just need someone to come clean up my laptop at home... it runs soooo slowly!

DIY or not?

At heart, I am a "Do-It-Yourself" girl. There are so many things out there that I think, "why spend all the $, when I really could just make it myself?" But then in reality... I never have time. As much as I'd enjoy some of these projects, there just seems to be too much else to do. So I'm trying to learn the balance... like I'd really love to just make my own nursing cover... it's really quite simple, or create these cute letters with BabyW's name for over the crib, but I still haven't even started recovering the glider. And my schedule over the next couple weeks is nuts. So I guess I'll just suck it up, spend somd $ and order them.

Let's be honest....

Well, I guess if I could post my good weight gain at my last appointment, I should be honest and post how it all evens out eventually... So this time I managed to gain 5 lbs since my last visit. That's crazy! Now how sweet is my husband? When I told him... he said, "that's okay, you had only gained 2 lbs in the other 4 weeks, so that just makes 7 lbs in 6 weeks... and that's just over a pound a week...that's still really good!" That definitely made me feel better :)

Anyway.. it's all for good reason. I am now going to the doctor weekly, and everything is looking great. The swelling in my ankle from this weekend even went down and the doc told me I had darn good looking ankles for 35 weeks pregnant! :) It's still kinda surreal that at my visits now, the important things they tell me are about knowing when to go to the hospital, and making sure I know how to get there! I guess we really are almost done!

We had our last class at the hospital last night, so I guess we're supposed to be all trained and ready... ha! I fully expect to not know what to expect. I am still really relaxed about the whole birth process. I figure there's no point getting myself all worked up about it or having too many expectations of how I want it to go, because you just never know. We've read and gone to classes and talked to friends, and I'm just trusting that we'll remember what we really need to when it's happening. Now, I just need a few free days to get my to-do list done. Still no bag packed, no carseat in the car and no recovered glider! :) I have a feeling that's going to be the story of my life for the next few years...

Counting Down...

Have you ever seen Design Remix on HGTV? It's where they basically redecorate a room in the house using items they already had from other rooms. Well... that concept is working quite well for our nursery! This weekend, Mike switched the brown curtains from the guest room with the bamboo panels we had in the nursery and it made such a huge difference! Now it's softer and browner... and they will help block the sunlight since the nursery gets full-sun all day long. Hopefully that'll help keep it cooler and darker so BabyW. can sleep! We are also using the bookshelf from the office and a funky blue light from the kitchen! Nothing like FREE decorating! Even so, another weekend has passed... and I still haven't reupholstered that glider!!! Just 6 weeks left! Yikes!

We did have a great weekend though... Saturday night we had our "End of an Era" party with a bunch of couples from church. Since our kid-free days are almost over, we wanted to have one last "adult" party at our place. Everyone brought over one of their favorite meals to share and we had some Margaritas, Daqueris, Pina Coladas (all baby-safe versions of course!) and had a great time. Then yesterday, Mike and I had a date-day together. We ate lunch at Watermans (where we had our Rehearsal Dinner), watched the airshow at the beach and then spent the afternoon at the Aquarium. We even had time to come home and relax a little (which for me meant a nap, and for Mike meant watching the Stanley Cup Finals!) It was a really fun way to spend the weekend, especially as the next two weeks are full of baby-stuff, and then we'll be halfway through June and BabyW. could arrive anytime! :)

Happy Mother's Day (a day late!)

Well, I never got around to reupholstering the glider this weekend... but maybe it'll happen this week. No complaints though, it was a fun weekend. We enjoyed a perfect day with family at my parents' house yesterday for Mother's Day. The weather was beautiful and I think all 31 of us (10 moms!) had a great time. I'll try to post pictures soon.

We got to show the condo again, so now we have two potential buyers...I'm just hoping they'll move quickly if they are genuinely interested. I would imagine it'll be roughly a 45 day process from negotiations to closing, and we're only 50 days away from July now! Cutting it close!

DIY: Nursery Furniture

1. This is the changing table that we found at a consignment shop last weekend. It's actually an old style from IKEA that is solid wood. I've already started my transformation on this, but there's still a little work left to do... so I'll post pictures when it's done. GOAL: goodbye country - hello modern.











2. And this is essentially what we have as far as a cheap glider & ottoman, which is also on my agenda for the weekend. Mike already painted the frame... so it's halfway done. Here's a sneak preview of what's to come.

Welcome Home Aunt Stiney

...or Justine, as most of you would know her :) My sister, Justine, made the cross-country drive from Denver to here last week and got home Saturday night! She'll be here at least through September, which is great since Baby W. will definitely be making his arrival sometime between now and the end of July... hopefully on the later end of that range! We wish Justine could stay longer, but oh what a pity...we'll just have to go to Hawaii to visit her! She will likely be joining a team of staff to start a new YWAM base on the island of Kauai later this year.

We were loving the beautiful weather this weekend ~ we've had the windows open for over a week now! It's been so refreshing! We got up early on Saturday, and Mike's mom joined us to stand in line for a local Baby Consignment Sale... that was lots of fun! I might have to get there even earlier for the next one to really get the good stuff...I'm all about bargain shopping! Mike also painted our thrift-store-find glider on Saturday and now I just have to find fabric to recover it. There are a few things we splurge on, but for the most part, we have no problem with hand-me-downs and bargain finds for this little boy.