5 weeks old

Ben is officially 5 weeks old today! I can't believe how fast he is growing. He had his 1 month pediatrician's appt Friday. He has done some serious growing since his last appt 2 weeks ago! He is now 22.5" long (73rd percentile) and 9 lbs 15 oz (50th percentile). So I am feeling pretty good about his intake from breast feeding. I did ask the doc about his gooey eye but there was no concern, just a clogged tear duct from being born. I also asked about his fussiness and need to feed at a constant rate some nights w/ spittiness and a gassy belly....she said it could be reflux but she is not concerned right now. If it keeps up then I will have to cut back on my milk intake (cows milk ingested by mom can cause belly aches in nursing babies who lack enzymes to digest cows milk). She also informed me that Ben has some fluid on his right testicle! Ugh! She said that unless it got worse they wouldn't do anything. If it does get worse then he might have to have a minor surgical procedure to close off the area in the abdomen that is 'leaking' into the scrotum. Lovely. I'm already a worry wart! Upon examination when we got home, I could see the edema but its pretty mild. My poor boy! I hope it isn't painful!
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This is a pic of Ben in his crib for the second time ever. He has only napped in there, no over night stays. We are taking it slow on that front. We, and by we I mean "I", just started letting him wake up on his own in the night for feedings vs being woken up at the 3 hr mark. We have done that for the past 2 nights and I am pleased to say that I have had the pleasure of enjoying 4 hrs of sleep at a stretch 1 of those 2 nights! Honestly, I kept waking up to check on him last night and finally got him up just after 3 hrs because I couldn't go back to sleep...he has me well trained!
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I realized that I hadn't ever posted updated pics of the nursery in it's nearly completed state so here they are. We are still lacking a changer/dresser. We got a dresser from a friend but still need to paint it. In the mean time, his crib has been used for changing diapers more than sleeping! :)
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I finally got my nursing chair! I ordered it before Christmas and it arrived on Wednesday. I love it! Thank you Phil and Jane....this is what I bought w/ my Christmas money! ;)

Ok for any of you who are squeamish about breast feeding...skip the next pic...hahaha!

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Ben is a good nurser! We have worked out all the nursing kinks and have the routine down pat. I am also pumping once a day to start my frozen store for my return to work next month. I am not looking forward to pumping at work several times a day. Wish me luck on that front!

Brad, Ben, and I are going to enjoy a uneventful weekend at home together. I think I may take Ben on his first road trip on Monday to pick up his pictures from Brad's friend, Robin, the photographer who came out to our house last month to take some artsy shots. We will stop to visit my mom and then head back probably. I'm a little nervous because it is about an hour and a half to Louisville but we've gotta try it some time! Ok, off to make dinner...I am quite the domestic goddess these days....I have been making dinner EVERY night....big change from our pre-baby routine. I'm sure this will help both the budget and the post-natal waist line. ;)

Paige and Lilly visit....mission furniture accomplished

More excitement in November! On Saturday, Nov. 22nd I got a visit from my older brother, Chad, and my two blondie nieces, Paige (left, 11...just days away from 12) and Lilly (right, newly 5). Chad brought the much awaited crib and bookcase formerly belonging to Lilly. As you can see, the girls and I made chocolate chip cookies while Chad and Brad did the heavy lifting. Below is a pic of Paige looking too cool for school in her skater girl get-up.

Here are the cookies in progress..Lilly ate as much raw cookie dough
as she put on the cookie sheet....she left before any belly-ache onset. LOL!

Lilly sporting my girliest apron, making baking look glamorous like any good 1950's housewife. She is the polar opposite of her older sister in the style department....Paige wouldn't be caught dead in a pink-laden apron w/ rhinestones and a bow!

Below is a pic of the bookcase in the process of being organized. I will likely choose close lidded bins for the bottom shelf to maintain a more polished look....so the bins you see are destined for in closet organization...more on that later.

The crib is here but not assembled. Comments w/ encouragement for Papa Bear, aka Brad, to get on his fatherly construction duties are welcomed! ;) You know...no pressure we're only 2.5 weeks away from my due date.....

Everyone can rest assure that things will be ready for when baby.....should I reveal the likely name choice...Ben arrives in a few weeks. We are going to be homebodies for the rest of the pregnancy so there really is time for further organization. All the baby clothes have been washed, we have a bassinet, I am pre-registered at the hospital...the 'have to' list is complete. The 'it would be nice to' list is a work in progress. Besides I have more pressing things to think about like LABOR AND DELIVERY. :)

History in the making....week 34

Note the exhausted, unkempt look I have. LOL.
And yes I plan to live in this sweater coat for the remainder of my pregnancy.
It hides a multitude of sins......

This has been a history changing week. Even those who loath the policies of the president elect can't deny the significance of his election. I am hopeful about the world my child will be born into, despite the raging wars and crap economy. Plus baby boy got to vote in-utero. Enough about that, God knows everyone deserves some respite from politics.....

Our baby boy now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. You'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine.

Meanwhile back at the uterus, by this week, fatigue has set in again but not with the same coma-like intensity of my first trimester. Given the physical duress my body is under and the restless nights of frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning while trying to get comfortable I guess it is to be expected. Supposedly now is the time to slow down and save up my energy for labor day (and beyond) but full-time employment sort of puts a damper on that theory. Fortunately, I do have a student right now (for whom I will be doing a mid-term review tomorrow) who is my loyal grunt (I mean that fondly....doubly so if you're reading this Whitney) so don't pity me too much because I have been taking it very easy . I did find it humorous to read that if I've been sitting or lying down for a long time I'm not supposed to jump up too quickly because blood can pool in my feet and legs, causing a temporary drop in blood pressure that can make me feel dizzy....I assure you that I am unlikely to do any jumping in the next 6 weeks unless the chair I'm in catches on fire. I am still cruising the halls and stairwells of the hospital and taking the 1/2 mile walk to the parking lot but poor Henry hasn't enjoyed one of our double laps around the 1 mile lake trail in more than a week. My speed walker pace has slowed and I find it difficult to get up and down from our way-too-soft couch.

Lastly, I have lists for my lists by now. I am planning for everything imaginable all at once. I have a list of pre-baby things, a list of pre-Thanksgiving things, and a Christmas shopping list. I dream of sleeping in but when it comes right down to it I know that my general discomfort would prevent any such aspirations. So for now, seeing the impending boy in just 6 short weeks is my big motivator. I plan to take full advantage of Brad's unimpaired mobility and get all those lists checked off. You'll all be happy to know that the impending boy has an immediate place to sleep when he gets home as I borrowed a bassinet from my friend Jenn W (who has a 1 month old baby boy herself...Patrick). Here is a pic of Patrick..... (baby Republican and lamentor of the election results)....

Here are a couple of pics of the bassinet Patrick's mom, Jenn W let me borrow....

In other news, my niece Lilly turned 5.....

Brad and I carved some awesome pumpkins...of course he had to out do me.....

And we attended a Halloween party.....which, btw, that is water on my shirt from bobbing for apples NOT booze.


So that's a week in the life of a very pregnant chick. This weekend we plan to check a few things off the pre- lists and receive a visit from our friends Mike and Jennifer who can hopefully be roped into some baby and/or Christmas shopping and curtain hanging. :) Next Wednesday afternoon is my OB appt which includes a pelvic exam (woohoo...not). In the meantime, the impending boy is kicking me furiously and I am too tired to stay awake so more blogging and sock matching will have to wait for another time. Good night all!

33 weeks

We are chugging along! Holy Cow 33 weeks!!! My head is swirling w/ all there is left to get in place (or those things I think are necessary now that I will inevitably laugh at myself for later). BTW, still no crib or baby room furniture (uh-hmm...Chad and Danielle--bro and SIL-- are supposed to be handing the crib off but as a back up I am headed to Shelbyville on Monday to borrow a bassinet from a friend).

I had an OB appt on Tuesday which was virtually uneventful. I lost 3 lbs thanks to decreasing my sodium and wearing very attractive compression stockings to combat cankles. The doc also reported that Baby Boy is still head down and growing on par. According to my readings, the Impending Boy is supposed to be just over 4 lbs and 17 inches long, about the size of a pineapple. He's supposed to be rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal (ouch). (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance...double ouch!)

Meanwhile back at the uterus, I am now officially waddling unless I make a conscious effort to do otherwise and I have had edema in my hands and feet off and on. I am now sporting a plain silver band instead of my engagement ring and wedding band and, as previously mentioned, I am now the not-so-proud owner of an attractive pair of compression stockings for my lower legs and feet. My BP is still low/normal (at last OB appt it was 110/62) so fortunately the edema is not likely a symptom of pre-eclampsia or toxemia. I have only had 2 or 3 false/BH contractions since last week so everything is on the up and up. I accomplished washing the majority of the baby clothes and linens that we have acquired or been gifted (thanks again everyone!!!) but still have many household "honey do" projects I would like to see done before the baby gets here. We shall see how much will get finished considering my somewhat limited physical abilities as of lately. Poor Brad will have to do the dirty work I suspect. :)

On a completely unrelated note, we had our annual pumpkin carving party w/ some family and friends this past Saturday and here are some resulting pics....

BTW, I am carving a Dracula Mickey Mouse pumpkin...scary!


Brad didn't actually carve a pumpkin but instead acted as seating for
Kaylee (left) and Lilly's (right) viewing of Aladdin.


This is the chaos that was the pumpkin carving portion of the evening.


Henry was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing and tried to lay low to avoid
scoldings for walking through pumpkin guts and licking people in the face.

This week has actually dragged on because of all the special projects I've had going on at work! Thank goodness I have a student who is nearly able to fly solo so that the next month and a half it is still possible for me to manage the physical demands of patient treatment! Next week marks the start of my decreased work schedule and it couldn't start soon enough for me! I will be off on Mondays for the rest of my pregnancy. Hopefully this will allow me to get some much needed extra rest and to accomplish all the crazy last minute things I need to do. I am sure the remaining 7 weeks will be gone in a flash. Fortunately, I will have a wonderful baby boy in my arms at the finish line. I think it's time to start a birthday poll.....

8 months/32 weeks!

Henry checking out the nursery...I bet he keeps wondering
why he's not allowed to hang out in this room.

Brad's handy work! :) He and his dad (future 'Poppy' to the impending boy) finished the chair rail a couple of weekends ago. And Brad put up the blinds this past Sunday.

Wow! My pregnancy is flying by! I can't believe our baby boy is practically here! To celebrate hitting the 8 months pg mark today, I decided to have Braxton Hicks contractions off and on last night! Woo-hoo! No worries though. I called the OB office this morning and they told me to drink 2-3 glasses of water and lie down on my left side for 2 hours and call them back w/ an update. I haven't had any since 8 am and so I am out of bed but still at home. Now I am supposed to drink a glass of water every hour and call the OB's office if the BH contractions come back 4 or more in an hour. So I think this was a little reality check for Brad and I about how little time we have left before baby gets here....and how much there is to do! LOL! At least I accomplished 1 thing today....we picked a pediatrician's group! We are waiting to hear back from them but they did say they are taking new patients so I think we're 'in'.

At 32 weeks, the impending boy is continuing to fatten up and grow 'real' hair and nails. He is also supposed to be taking up lots of room in the 'ol uterus so amniotic fluid volume is decreasing. Meanwhile back at the uterus, I am supposed to be having heartburn and shortness of breath because my uterus is pushing up against my diaphragm as well as sleeplessness related to back pain. I've had some of all that but last night's events took the cake. I had had some one off BH contractions a few times at work but never more than one in one day and especially not 5 or 6 in a night. Fortunately they weren't painful just weird to have my belly turn rock hard every so often. So the excitement is building.....

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities.

Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.

--Gloria Steinem

Nursery in progress.....

Brad and I painted the walls in the nursery today! I did pretty darn well considering my coughing and congestion (and of course swollen belly!). Brad let me shower and nap while he cleaned up and took care of dinner! What a good husband! :)

As you can see, we still need to put up the chair rail (actually we still need to buy it, paint it, and put it up!). And then we will be ready for light blocking shades and curtains (and the CRIB).

We are undecided on the wall decor at this time, however I have my eye on several prints from the http://www.etsy.com/ website! My new favorite site to browse. Great handmade stuff! People should expect Christmas gifts from there this year.....shh!

The only part we did not paint was the closet! My SIL, Natalie, told me not to forget to paint the closet a few months back but honestly all the baby stuff is in there so maybe she can paint it for me on Thanksgiving when she comes to visit! LOL! (Just Kidding!!).

So the nursery is still a work in progress but it is coming along nicely. I will keep you all up to date and post pics when we make changes! :) I can't wait for the impending boy to get here and enjoy his adorable room!