Recently in Journal Category
Very Accomplished (Aug 27 2010)
In addition to working a half day today, I did a lot of work on this website. It's been a while since I played with Movable Type enough to actually make it work for me, but I figured it out! Links to archives and individual entries work, and you can now post comments. Whew!
Also, we had the changing table delivered yesterday, and Will got it all set up (including a safety wall anchor that will keep it from being tipped over). Now that the last element of the nursery is in place, I thought I'd post some photos.
View of the nursery from the entrance door.
View of the futon, shelving, and window plants.
We received this baby blanket, cross-stitched by my aunt Linda. Thanks Linda - it's beautiful!
Pooh and Rabbit on one of the shelves over the futon, along with children's books.
End table in the corner near the window. Olivia bought us the Golden Gate photo from BlurboMat.
The other corner, with Ikea chair and nursing pillow.
That's catnip growing in the planter on the window sill.
Corner chair with changing table and bear prints from ZukZuk.
Lastly, changing table and crib, with Dana's baby quilt hanging up.
So we're all ready to go - Calapitter's back up to snuff and the nursery's done! Now all we need is the baby.
Posted by Rebecca at 06:37 | Comments (0)
38 Weeks, 6 Days (Aug 26 2010)
The countdown to Dana's due date is now in the single digits - eight days remain. Since I have not been having any serious contractions or even regular Braxton Hicks (false labor contractions), I asked how long the doctor would let me go past due if the baby decides to stay where she is. They will only allow me to go a week over before inducing, so at the latest, Dana will come into the world on September 10, just two weeks from tomorrow. Ready or not, here she comes.
For the most part, we are ready.
- The changing table, after much delay and confusion, will be delivered this evening, which means I'll be able to put away all Dana's little socks and diapers and miscellaneous baby gear (all currently taking up space in her crib).
- The cradle has been outfitted with a fancy new Naturepedic mattress and sheets, paid for using the gift card from my baby shower at work.
- Speaking of work, I finished training my replacements on Monday, and yesterday was my last day of commuting to the office downtown. I'll be working from home through next Thursday, and official maternity leave begins on Friday September 3 (Dana's due date). I plan to take off nine weeks (six with pay, three without), and return to work around November 8.
- Lastly, we had tried several times to get a consultation visit with a pediatrician, and after several rounds of phone tag, still had not managed to get an appointment booked. However, we were invited to the birthday party for the daughter of one of Will's professors, where we had the chance to speak to other parents from the neighborhood, many of them affiliated with the University. One couple from the UK, who had their twins at the same hospital we're using, told us that it's OK not to have a pediatrician lined up ahead of time - the hospital will set you up with one, and if you end up not liking him or her, you can always change. It was a great relief to hear this, since I felt like -- what kind of terrible parent am I, unable to arrange a simple appointment with my baby's doctor? So I'm glad that's settled.
We had our 38-week appointment on Monday. I'm up to 40 lb weight gain. Yes, that's right, 10 lbs in two weeks. I'm hoping the majority of that is water retention due to heat and stress. We have been lucky with the weather: temperatures have stayed in the 80s, with only occasional spikes into the 90s. Stress-wise, the past two or so weeks have been a push to get things wrapped up. Will was busy with his last week of teaching, while I had to put in longer hours at work to make sure the transition to maternity leave would go smoothly. I can definitely tell when I've worked a 10-hour day versus an 8 hour day, because my feet would be twice as swollen and everything kinda hurt when I got home.
Now we're in the home stretch, both working from home, waiting for Dana. Hopefully we can get some good rest in the next few days/weeks. It appears that the weather will be nice, though not particularly conducive to labor: no major storms or drops in barometric pressure to get this baby moving.
Anyway, it will allow us to take some nice walks. Last weekend, we walked about 2.5 miles one day, and a little over 3 another day. Our average walk (out to the Promontory Point at back) is just over 1.2 miles, a really lovely stroll on cool evenings.
Posted by Rebecca at 10:30 | Comments (0)
36 Weeks, 5 Days (Aug 11 2010)
The closer we get to D-Day (D for Dana), the faster time seems to go by. I think this is probably a good thing since I am feeling less than 100% (unwieldy, hot and sweaty, sausage-fingered and swollen-ankled) these days. We are slowly chipping away at the list of things we need to do:
- We still don't have a changing table. Pottery Barn Kids says the chest of drawers is ready but the top part which makes it also a changing table is on back order. We were given August 14 as the magic date, but that's in 3 days.
- Nan mailed us the cradle on Monday and it arrived today. This is the cradle that Bela made (and had published in Fine Woodworking's Design Book Four). It is so beautiful and cheerful -- I could not be happier that Dana gets to use the same cradle, where her father and aunt slept as babies.
- Still working on getting a consultation with a pediatrician, as we continue to play phone tag. This is not encouraging behavior from someone we will want to return our calls right away.
- As for work responsibilities, I have all but made it through my last close before maternity leave. I have one more piece to finish up by Monday. After this, the job will be to transition responsibility to my replacements as smoothly as possible. Except for the new girl, who starts August 23 (2 days before my anticipated last day in office), everyone has been trained.
We have the 37-week doctor's appointment tomorrow. This is the last appointment meeting the other doctors in the practice. Next week we go back to seeing my doctor. So far the OB I like best in the practice is the one we met last week - he was friendly but professional, on time but not rushed. When we were listening to Dana's heartbeat, he looked over my belly and said "Hey, no stretchmarks!".. to which I replied, "Not there, anyway." He got a kick out of that.
As of last week's appointment, I was up to 30 lbs on the weight gain. I'm fairly confident that most of what I'm gaining these days is water weight, since I'm about as bloated and puffy as can be (see "sausage-fingered and swollen-ankled" above).
Last thing: pictures. A couple from when we hung Dana's quilt over her crib, and some of her cute footie PJs and assorted clothing we got at Target a few weeks ago.
Posted by Rebecca at 08:50 | Comments (0)
35 Weeks, 5 Days (Aug 04 2010)
It's hard to believe that there are only 30 days left until Dana's due date, September 3rd. Time seems to be simultaneously creeping by (so excited to meet her!) and flying by (so much left to do!) We are still waiting on the delivery of the Pottery Barn changing table we ordered a MONTH ago; as of yesterday, the "latest possible" shipment date would be August 14. Don't these people know I could have a BABY by then? (Probably not, but it's possible.)
Will's baby cradle is supposed to make its way up from Memphis to Chicago sometime this month. I'll have to order a mattress pad to go inside the cradle, but they sell those on Amazon, so that's no big deal.
We have yet to choose a pediatrician, or even speak to one, except over the phone. I am hoping to get a consultation scheduled with one or two of them for this Friday afternoon, to talk about the practice and and ask questions and get to know them. Of course, I'll have to do some research and put together a big list of questions first.
The main thing I am spending my energy on (besides carrying around this lovely giant baby) is getting things at work ready for my maternity leave. This means training people on my responsibilities, and communicating the transition of responsibility to everyone. Next week is close week (my last before Dana is born), which will be pretty intense. But after that, my replacements will be handle more of my stuff to get some practice before I really leave, so my workload will get lighter and lighter as time goes by. Yay!
I haven't done my little pregnancy check-in list in a while so...
Total Weight Gain: 25 lbs as of my appointment 2 weeks ago. I'm probably past 30 lbs at this point, I'll find out an official number tomorrow when we go back to the doctor. This appointment tomorrow is the first of the weekly appointments - exciting! (Not because I love going to the doctor, but because it means our baby is coming soon-ish and requires closer monitoring.)
Maternity Clothes: My stomach is roughly the size of a beach ball or watermelon, so maternity clothes is all I'm wearing these days. It's so big that some of my maternity tops are getting too short.. I'm going to have to upgrade to some kind of tent. My feet are starting to swell - we're lucky it's not cold out or I would need maternity socks too.
Best Moment This Week: It's been a pretty good week so far, lots of good moments to choose from. Visiting my parents in St Louis last weekend, listening to Great Expectations with Will in the car, gossipping with Olivia and Laura last night.. all lots of fun.
Tonight I'm going to ask Will to take me to the pool - he got me a "spouse of student" membership a few weeks ago, and we're really taking advantage. One trip to the pool can keep me from getting really uncomfortable for several days, it's just a great way to get a (very) little exercise, some great stretching, and a lot of relief from gravity. I think Dana enjoys being in the water too, she likes to do little dances in my belly when we're swimming.
Movements: Any time baby Dana moves, I feel it. There's no extra room in there anymore for her to float around unencumbered. She's head-down at this point, and should stay that way until she's born, so I mainly feel her hiccups and stretches. She typically gets hiccups about 2-5 times a day, around mealtimes like me, though sometimes she wakes me up in the middle of the night with the tiny spasms.
Also, based on what I feel, we're pretty sure she has her legs bent and knees tucked up at her chest, with her feet and heels by her butt. During weeks 32-34, she really had one of her feet dug up in the left side of my ribs, and was causing really painful bruising. However, I think she's found something more comfortable for both of us, since it's not bothering me this week.
The other thing she does is jab with her elbows, or sometimes lightly scrape them along my sides. So far it doesn't really hurt, but it might start to as she continues to pack on the pounds. Speaking of pounds, she's supposed to be somewhere around 6.3 lbs this week. Big baby!
Food Cravings: none
Belly Button: Oddly variable between definite innie, flat, and just barely an outie.
Overall: Feeling excited, impatient, alternately anxious/unprepared and so-totally-ready-let's-get-this-show-on-the-road, physically large and sluggish and slightly swollen. Can you tell I need an evening at the pool? :)
Posted by Rebecca at 12:59 | Comments (0)
Funny Baby (Jul 20 2010)
Yesterday Dana had the three separate episodes of hiccups. I guess we know whose daughter she is. :)
Posted by Rebecca at 10:36 | Comments (0)
32 Weeks, 2 Days (Jul 11 2010)
L&D Tour Episode
Yesterday turned out to be a pretty eventful day. We had signed up for the labor & delivery wing hospital tour, which was supposed to start at 10:00. I hadn't slept well the night before (this is becoming more and more common as time goes by), so I slept late and didn't wake up until almost 9:15. In the rush to get ready and out the door, there was no time for a good breakfast. I grabbed a bottle of cranberry juice and planned to eat after the tour.
Fortunately, we arrived at the hospital on time, and some food was provided: fruit salad, cheese danish, various juices. Tracy, the nurse educator who taught the childcare and breastfeeding classes we attended last month, was also going to lead this tour. I really like her because she is honest, friendly, and experienced. Tracy talked through some general information while we all had a chance to eat:- After 25 weeks, any emergency health situations should be addressed by L&D, not the normal emergency room.
- There is no need to pre-register the stay at the hospital. Just go to L&D and the paperwork will be filled out later.
- No eating or drinking is allowed during labor and delivery, except hard candy and ice chips.
- Generally, the hospital stay will last 48 hours after the baby is born, 72 if it's a c-section.
Then we started the tour in triage (where nurse practitioners or residents examine you to see if you're ready to be admitted), followed by a visit to an actual labor and delivery room. It's a fairly large room with large windows, a bed, a couch and a chair, a TV, a separate bathroom with toilet and shower (yesss), and some medical equipment (computer screens, small baby warming area with set ups for oxygen, etc.) There was lots of wood paneling (I assume it shields the scarier-looking medical supplies), and in the mid-morning light, the room looked quite cozy.
While our tour group stood in this room, Tracy described the labor & delivery process, fetal monitoring and pain medication options, what happens right after the baby is born, etc. We had been standing for perhaps 20 minutes when I started to feel hot and tingly and sick to my stomach. I found a stool and sat down for a minute, but then it was time for the tour to move on to a postpartum room. I stood back up a little shakily and we started down the hall. At this point, I started getting tunnel vision and was sweating, so I turned to Will and told him I wasn't feeling well and thought I might throw up.
He found me a chair and I sat down. After about 5 minutes of resting, I felt somewhat better. Meanwhile, the tour had continued, leaving us behind. We considered trying to meet up with them but decided instead just to go home. Thinking that the episode was caused by a blood sugar surge (fruit, cheese danish, cranberry juice) and subsequent crash, Will made me some eggs. After that I felt much better.
Baby Preparation / Nursery Progress
I decided to spend the afternoon sorting through the baby preparation information/lists I had amassed, and get some major purchases made. I've been having lots of baby anxiety dreams lately -- I'm hoping that I can at least move past the "We don't have any diapers" dreams.
We bought this dresser/changing table from Pottery Barn Kids. We also bought a good amount of stuff from Amazon, including a changing pad and this cover.
I also forgot to mention that last weekend I finished Dana's baby quilt. For the first few weeks/months of her life, she can't have a bunch of stuff in the crib with her, so the quilt will be hung on the wall above the crib. Once she is old enough, we'll take it down and it will be her blankie.
Posted by Rebecca at 10:42 | Comments (0)
32 Weeks (Jul 09 2010)
Two weekends ago, we had the baby shower here at the new apartment. Olivia, Laura, Nan, and Carrie did a great job setting things up. Besides Nan and Carrie, we had a lot of great people in from out of town, including my parents, brother and Daniel, and my friend Renee from Iowa. We also had some locals - the Barkers (Zoe and Renee) and Aunt Diane. It was so wonderful to see people, and everyone loves a baby.
Overall, the flowers were beautiful, the cake delicious, the company pleasant, and the baby gifts abundant. :) Thanks to Carrie and Nan for the photos below (each linked to the original on Flickr).
A few days after the baby shower, I went back to the OB - going every two weeks now. Also, we've started cycling through the other doctors in the practice, and I really liked Dr L. She was running about 45 minutes late, but she apologized for the wait and really spent some quality time with us answering questions. She also commented that the previous ultrasound (around 27 weeks) had shown a somewhat low-lying placenta, which can be a problem if it gets too low.
So she ordered another ultrasound, which I had today. Olivia and my mom accompanied, which was a treat for me, since I got to show off my baby to them. This ultrasound revealed that the placenta was in a good position, far enough up as to not cause any problems with delivery. We also got a couple of good pictures of Dana's face, though she had her arm up, which distorted the focus a bit and makes it a little hard to see. I love the second shot below, because you can clearly see a big old grumpy expression on her face.
In addition to the pictures, we also got an estimate of her weight at this point: 4 lbs, 11 oz. So let's think through this -- babies gain an average of 1/2 a lb a week from now until birth. Since there are around 8 weeks left, she has another 4 lbs to go. That would put her birth weight around 8 lbs, 11 oz. Now that's what I call a baby. :)
Posted by Rebecca at 07:12 | Comments (0)
29 Weeks, 5 Days (Jun 23 2010)
Monday was my last monthly doctor's appointment for this pregnancy. From here on out, the appointments occur in two-week internals until the last month, when they take place weekly. Starting with the next appointment, I will cycle through the other OBs in the University of Chicago practice, just in case someone other than my doc is on call when I go into labor. This gives me a little peace of mind -- I won't have a total stranger catching my baby.
At this appointment, I described the crazy pregnancy symptoms I was experiencing (not really mentioned in the baby books): muscle cramps radiating from my foot up through my calf, and a recurring tingly sensation in my ribs on the left top side of my belly. She has a saying for pregnancy symptoms, "You're going to feel a lot of weird things all throughout your pregnancy, but as long as it doesn't hurt (for long) and you're not bleeding (a lot), you're probably OK." She just suggested I eat more bananas - yay, potassium.
The baby shower is this Saturday at our new apartment. Olivia is hosting, and Laura is baking me a cake (yellow, with cream cheese frosting). I'm really excited, we have lots of people coming in from out of town. I'm finally going to meet Olivia and Will's aunt Carrie, whom I've heard a lot about. My friend Renee from Cedar Rapids is also visiting for the day. It will be so great to see all these people, and of course getting presents for baby Dana won't be bad either. :)
Total Weight Gain: as of Monday (29 weeks, 3 days), I was up 17 lbs. That means I gained 5 lbs in the last 4 weeks -- better than 8, like I did the previous 4 weeks. If I keep gaining at this rate, I will be up between 25 and 30 lbs total, which is absolutely normal and actually pretty good, since I'll probably be having a bigger baby.
Best Moment This Week: I really enjoyed seeing my family in St Louis this weekend. Grocery shopping yesterday was also pretty great, because Will let me buy some chicken nuggets. Mmmm.
Movement: more than ever these days. She'll play and bounce around all morning, take an afternoon nap, and then start back up in the late evening. I think she likes it when Will talks to her. She stops moving around, and I just imagine her listening in there, very thoughtfully, perhaps nodding as she thinks about what he is saying.
Nursery progress: basically the entire nursery is ready to go, except for one very important area - the changing table. I'm having a hard time finding one that I like, which isn't $900. I want something with a medium to light wood finish, and that has both dresser drawers, and open areas for baskets/supplies. Something like this (but not white):
Posted by Rebecca at 02:43 | Comments (0)
27 Weeks (Jun 04 2010)
I've been kind of bad about updating lately. I meant to do it last weekend, since I had Friday and Monday off.. but instead, we worked a lot on her nursery (put together her crib, rocking chair, bought bedding at Land of Nod on the north side) and had my family in town to see the new apartment. All said, I was pretty tired when Monday came around, and just spent the whole Memorial Day off watching episodes of Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel.
In any case, today I am 27 weeks pregnant, which officially puts me in my third trimester. Yay!
Total Weight Gain: around 15 lbs. This came as a bit of a shock, since I was gaining so slowly before the last doctor's appointment, but apparently it's catching up with me.
Best Moment This Week: actually happened yesterday/today, graduating to third trimester. When I announced this on Facebook, Will replied "Happy third trimester, my beautiful ladies." I read it at work and teared up a little bit. Also, it's always gratifying when we do anything to get ready for Dana's arrival. Yesterday we got the carseat/stroller system out of the box (thanks Nan!) and started figuring out how they worked. Tricky stuff!
Movements: she's moving all the time these days and is getting very strong. There are times when she's kicking me in such uncomfortable ways that I have to try and get her to rotate or something. But even when it's uncomfortable, it's great to know that she's strong and healthy.
Overall: big and happy.
Posted by Rebecca at 03:46 | Comments (0)
4/26 Update (Apr 26 2010)
Since my last update:
- I turned 25. Whee!
- Will and I went to Greece. Will has a bunch of pictures posted on his facebook, but I'll put up some here when I get a chance.
- We found out two weeks ago that we're having a little girl. Her name is Dana Violet and she is beautiful.
She was so wiggly during the ultrasound, the tech couldn't get a good luck at her at first. She was curled up in half on my right side. Finally they had me lie on my left side so that she could stretch out. After that, she was very cooperative and they got lots of good pictures of her.
Will and I were both thrilled to see our baby girl.
Posted by Rebecca at 09:42 | Comments (0)