November 19th - Ikea is cool, and things get complicated (but doable).

Ikea rocks. Seriously. All you furniture-buying people who are moving into dorms, apartments, houses, or like us, just trying to replace the hand-me-down-hideous tables in your life, look no further. We kicked ourselves for having bought an (actually very nice) pine TV amoire at Wal-Mart over a year ago.
We went yesterday to the South Philadelphia Ikea to see if we could replace the dark oak, glass-top, baby-disaster-waiting-to-happen-and-ugly-too coffee & end tables that we got from Bob's grandparents when we moved into this house. Bob's mom came along (ok, brought us along because there was no way those tables were fitting in our car, and we needed their van) to buy two corner cabinets for her dining room. We walked through the whole store, looked, drooled, oohed, and ahhed over everything. I gotta tell ya, the Swedish, they know how to do retail. Everything just makes so much sense there! If you've never been to an Ikea - and I thought everybody had but apparently not! - you walk through the top floor and it's all a showroom, with tons of rooms set up showcasing all their furniture and products, even full furnished apartments, and you just make a note of what products you like. Then you go down to the 'marketplace' and pick up the products you want. The furniture is very sleek and practical, some more modern that I like, but they have tons of stuff that's just gorgeous. If you want any big furniture, you continue into their warehouse, which is huge, clean, and ridiculously well-organized. You can use real people or a touch-screen computer to find your piece of furniture, and you'll find out what row and 'bin' it's stored in. Most of their furniture requires assembly, but nothing very difficult (Bob put together the 5 pieces we bought in less than 2 hours). It was awesome.
We got a new coffee table - higher, all wood, with basket slots underneath. We now have more storage in the coffee table than we need, and it's really cute. We got a cute little pedestal table for the end of the couch ($19.99!) and a 3-table set to put at the top of the stairs. The main table has a cute drawer, and the other two work as a bench and a footstool/child's bench. Love, love, love it. I also saw my dining room table and chairs (next year, perhaps?).
We had lunch at the Ikea's restaurant, which was actually much better than it sounded. I had lured Bob to Ikea with promises of Swedish meatballs, anyway. And I ate a meager salad so I could have APPLE CAKE with vanilla sauce for dessert. Dah-am.
We got home and Bobby assembled all the furniture and we put the old stuff up in storage. And Max shredded all the cardboard all over the living room and ended up getting sick, but he had fun. A good time was had by all. Long live Ikea.
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And here's where it all starts to get complicated:

Mom WAS staying at a hotel. Sis was visiting (hotel) when baby was born. Dad was staying in California, getting a call, a million pictures, and a nice video as soon as possible. Bob's family was getting called to come and meet the kiddo. It was all going to be so simple...

Now, I'm not unhappy about how this is all supposedly going to go down, but it's definitely more complicated now, more stress-inducing, and frankly, do I need that?

Officially (unofficially until that day) getting induced on Friday morning, November 24th. Our hospital report time is 10 AM. That could change depending on the amount of other laboring moms there that morning, plus there's always the 'condition' I'm in. Monday we get out 'internal exam', which I won't go into except to say that it sounds like it makes the dreaded pap smear seem downright impersonal. We'll see how ready we are for labor then, and that might change my report time too; they might need to get me there earlier to get my started.

My mom and sister are now coming for Thanksgiving, which is cool, having them here with Bob's family. They might as well, either way, we'll either have or will be having a baby very near that date. Mom and Cait were originally going to stay at a hotel, to avoid stress on us, but we later asked Mom to stay here so she could take care of Max while we're at the hospital. She and Cait need separate rooms, apparently, so I have to get 2 rooms ready for guests.

And Dad is flying in on Friday morning, which I am unbelievably thrilled about. I feel awful that he'll hardly get to see my kids, I can't believe the good luck of her induction date hitting a school vacation and him being able to get a flight. He'll be here Friday, EARLY, and he'll need a room. Yes, my father is staying here too - my in-laws said he could stay in their guest room, but he said here would be fine, as long as my mom's ok with it. She says it's 'fine'. We'll see. (Parents had a very messy divorce 5 years ago. We'll see how this goes...) So 3 rooms of our house have guests in them this coming weekend. Hello cleaning.
What if I go into labor today and he misses the birth? Well, will he come anyway or not? I have no idea. I HOPE he would, but who knows, he might be able to get his money back on the flight... and I'd feel like I cheated him out of seeing his granddaughter on the day she was born. *sigh*
(I know, stupid, but I would.)

And they all want to go to the hospital with us, right from the get-go. Don't care how long it takes. This didn't stick well with me. Something about my mom, dad, sister, and I guess all of Bob's family waiting and waiting and WAITING for my body to hurry up and do something while they sit uncomfortably in a little waiting room for potentially DAYS...no pressure. Ha. Ha.


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On the other hand, it could all go out the window...getting majorly crampy...OW ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow owow

November 16th - Christmas Shopping, Couch Day, Dr.'s, Dad

Yesterday I finished ALL the Christmas shopping. Yes, in one day. With the exception of a 4 people's gifts that I actually ordered online previously and are being shipped, all the gifts are wrapped, the cards are written, and everything's in a big bag in the laundry room. Hidden, because we put baby's name on the gift tags too.
Bobby also made the baby's birth announcement on the computer. I'm going to go to CVS today to print out a sample one - with baby's name listed at "Gertrude Edith", for security reasons - and pick up the snowman stamps. They BETTER have snowman stamps, damn it, I've got a thing going on with these cards, and I don't need the post office screwing it up.
My ass was dragging by the end of the day, and BOY am I feeling it today, too, but it was worth it. And hey, all that walking had to be good for kick-starting labor, right?

Today is a couch day. I'm under strict orders to relax today, except for the Dr. appointment and post office and CVS trips. And laundry. Must finish laundry. I'm SUCH a domestic goddess, I have to put the microwave kitchen timer on to remind me to get up and change over the loads. Yes, the dryer has a buzzer, but it doesn't repeat itself, so of course that means I'd ignore it and be stuck on load 1 all day. The microwave timer beeps every 5 minutes after it goes off. Keeps me on my toes.

Today we have an non-stress test, a fluid check, and a Dr.'s appointment at which we'll hopefully schedule my induction. I have a million questions for the doctor, and I'd really like them to 'check' me, so I at least know how 'ready' for an induction I really am. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it. Of course there's always the chance that something will be amiss, or concerning, at least. And then we induce sooner. *gulp* I'd rather she stay in there till Tuesday, so we can go get our new tables at Ikea and Bob can get his grades turned in on Monday. And because HOLY CRAP I MIGHT HAVE A KID THIS TIME NEXT WEEK!!!!!!

And then there's Dad. He called last night and was very excited about the possibility of flying out here for her birth, since I'm going to be induced on the 24th for sure (well, almost for sure. We'll see today.) He really wants to be there, it's a once-in-a-lifetime event, his first grandchild, and I'd love him to be there, too. BUT

A) He could book the plane and I could go into labor the next day, early, and then what? He'd still come, or not? I'd feel like I cheated him out of seeing it. (Not that it would be my fault, I know, but we know how my world revolves on a little guilt-fueled treadmill.)

B) Inductions can take days. You go into the hospital, and because your body didn't start things out on its own, it can be quite stubborn. It can take up to 3 days, they say, and after that they'll just C-section you anyway. Well my Dad HAS to fly back Sunday night (what would be day 3) so he can be at work on Monday. Again, I'd feel like he got cheated.

C) Flying across the country on Thanksgiving weekend, short-notice, particularly flying back that Sunday night is going to cost him. Dearly, I think. And he's flying out next month anyway, on the 27th, for a week. Ouch to the wallet.


So we'll see how this appointment goes. I have to go shower and go! I don't even know what tests results I want right now!!!

November 14th - OH so happy, we have an end in sight!

No, not in labor, relax. Not quite THAT close to the end. But it's there, and it's pretty definite now.

I went for one of my bi-weekly non-stress tests and Dr. appointments and everything looks good still. Well, I don't look good. I look like an elephant in stretch pants. But baby looks good. And let's face it - it's all about baby.

The nurse midwife - who I love and would love to be my delivery doc, but who knows - that I saw after the appointment was very clear that they would NOT let me go past my due date with this baby. So on Thursday, after my usual battery of tests, we'll be scheduling my induction for November 24th - my due date! Yes, the day after Thanksgiving.

I am just SO incredibly happy about this. I know, it's still 10 days away, and that's a while to stay pregnant, yadda yadda. Whatever. There's an end in sight. It's there. Although an induction can take a day or two, in rare cases 3, if you REALLY weren't ready for labor - I won't get into the details, believe me, it'd be TMI and you'd never have sex again for fear of it. But I won't leave that hospital after next Friday until I have my baby!

VERY VERY VERY happy about this. At least we know the end date. Now, she could still choose to come early (this Friday night/Saturday morning would be great, sweetie, since Daddy could take off 3 days before Turkey vacation and have a whole week home with us, and an easy week of conferences afterwards. Of course Daddy's grades are due Monday...). But whatever, the end is definitely in sight.

Thrilled.

November 12th - At this point, what do you EXPECT me to talk about???

If I had the money - ha, I start sentences with that phrase waaaaay too often - I'd fund a research study on pregnant women's though patterns. I have a theory that there's some hormone that blocks all non-baby thoughts. Seriously, I annoy myself sometimes with, "is that all I can think about? Didn't I used to contemplate other things at one point?" I think Babies-R-Us would block all my research funding, though.

My ticker says 12 days. 12 days! I remember gazing at those tickers and willing them to advance to 12 weeks pregnant, and now they say "12 days to go!" Amazing.

All tests and scans and procedures and appointments this week looked good. Check the kiddo's blog for more info.

Maternity leave is going very nicely, but that's partially because Bob's been home for a 4-day weekend, and I'm spoiled with his company, and all the stuff he does around here. He's got a full week of school this week, and it's a very busy one for him - so of course that means we'll probably have the baby this week. (I wish!)

I still have Christmas things to do, writing out the cards, buying the gifts, buying the picture frames that will become the extra gifts for family, etc. Everything baby-wise is pretty much done. Right down to the extra tube of Desitin sitting in the changing table attachment to the pack & play downstairs. Damn, I'm good. That daunting list that's been on the fridge for a month has almost everything checked off now, and that feels good. I just have strike a balance between running around town and doing everything that needs done, and getting some R & R. "Put your feet up, sleep, eat well, relax, take some time for yourself" they all say. Yeah, yeah, yeah... I bounce back and forth between that mindset and the "oh my God I have to finish Christmas/Baby Gear/House-related stuff".

SOOOOOO tired of being pregnant. Whatever fru-fru, earth-mother, granola-crunchy freak decided that this is supposed to be some magical, beautiful time in a woman's life was clearly on some kind of herbal remedy-induced high. One night trying to sleep as a 9-months-pregnant woman does would straighten anybody out pretty damn quick. You seriously lie there and contemplate which discomfort you'd rather deal with: your painfully swollen bladder, the charlie horse in your leg, or the sharp achey-weightiness you'll feel if you actually attempt to get out of the bed and do something about either of the first two problems.

I'm good birth control, aren't I?

Nov. 8th - What now?

So here we are, Maternity Leave day 3, and I'm out of ideas.

No, not really, but I kind of hit a speed bump in the whole nesting thing. A speed bump called my COUCH.

I was GOING to go to Wal-Mart and attempt to return the mountain of pink crap I got from my faculty shower. And look for stationary for the Christmas letter, possibly by hitting a few office supply stores if Wal-Mart didn't work. I was then even entertaining thoughts of driving to a craft store and buying the picture frames we're going to give people Baby D.'s picture in for Christmas. But we're going to Wal-Mart the day after tomorrow anyway, to grocery shop. And it's raining. And I have laundry to do. And the only clean pants I can actually fit in aren't exactly go-out-of-the-house pants. They're a tad, uh, baggy. I know, it's Wal-Mart, and going to Wal-Mart is a sure-fire way to make yourself feel both prettier and smarter instantly. But still, I have my pride.

So here I sit. I have to call our Family Practice doctor and get appointments for flu shots for Bob and I. I have to finish reading the Newborn section of "What to Expect the First Year". I have to write the Christmas letter - all except for the baby news, obviously, cause we don't know the end of that story yet. I have to figure out where those receiving blankets are going to go in baby's room - I ran out of room in the drawers. Hmmm...what else? I have to figure out what we're getting everybody for Christmas and make that shopping list so we can start on that this weekend. And I don't feel like doing any of it.

Why should I, I have time, right? Hopefully...see, here's the way it'll work:

I'll get the whole "Get Done Before Baby-Time" list done and THEN some, and I'll end up sitting around for weeks, nothing to do, and deliver a week late.
OR...
I'll relax, put my feet up, and not get it done, and deliver tomorrow.

Well, I'm having little contractions still, nothing painful, who knows.

Bob has off Thursday and Friday for the NJEA teacher's convention - which he's not going to, YAY! - and so we have a nice 4-day weekend together. We have several doctor appointments - you have them frequently at this stage of the game. Thursday we have the usual non-stress test, fluid check, & Dr. appointment at 1:00, and a pediatrician 'interview' appointment at 4:30. Friday we have a growth scan at 11:30. Saturday we have Breastfeeding class at 9:00 and then we're going dryer shopping. (Our dryer sounds like a roomful of over-tired, over-spoiled Kindergarteners who've just been told there's no snacktime or reccess today.) And Sunday is normal, going to Bob's folks at night. All of this of course hinges on us NOT going into labor. But we know that won't happen, since I'd kind of like it to.

I'm really kind of hoping we can go to the movies tonight. We've had this gift certificate for months now, and I'd really like to see "Man of the Year". Love Robin Williams, I don't care that it didn't get great reviews. Screw 'em. And I like movie popcorn. Mmmm popcorn...

So now here I sit, downstairs in the family room on, streched out on the couch, Max curled up on the loveseat, with nothing but laundry to do.
No, I can call and make the flu shot appointments. And write the Christmas letter. And read "What to Expect". There, see, I do have stuff to do. You have to keep busy so you don't go nuts, rigt?

I'm so looking forward to the part of the maternity leave where I actually have a baby to spend the day with. They're much more entertaining.

Nov. 7th - (X-posted) "Have a nice trip, see you next fall..."

I posted this on our Baby's Blog, but I thought I'd update here too.

Here we go:

Ok, we've learned in the past 24 hours to start the story with this phrase:

"Everything's ok, we just wanted you to know..."

Yesterday I was enjoying my first official day of maternity leave. I did some shopping, puttered around the kitchen, etc. Well I apparently puttered a bit to quickly around the slippery kitchen floor in my socks, because I turned the corner into the wood-floor hallway, slipped, and fell forward. You know how, mid-fall, you always have a very vivid thought? Like, "This is going to hurt!", that kind of thing? I thought, "Thank God I'll fall forward and land on my hands & knees!" Well, sort of. My knees hit and just kept right on slipping backward, and I landed flat as a pancake on my face - and my tummy. OW.

Bob was on his way home. I waited a while to see if I felt the baby moving, to make sure everything was ok. And wouldn't you know it, our over-active, wiggly-jiggly kid was completely still. And to make matters more worrysome, she was all bunched up way up high in my tummy (ribs, whatever, she doesn't care) and wasn't responding to anything that usually gets her moving.

I called the doctor's office, to find out what they wanted me to do - I figured I'd have to do a special kick-count or drink a lot of water or something. Nope. The doctor wanted me to go to the hospital and be monitored. They told me to wait until Bob got home because I shouldn't drive myself, and then go right to Virtua.

We went, pretty darn scared, and baby still wasn't moving. We got checked in and we were put in what we found out later was a high-risk labor & delivery room. The doctor explained that they had to do bloodwork to make sure her placenta was still intact, and then monitor baby's heartrate and my contractions for 4 hours and make sure we both were having normal patterns. If we were, we'd be discharged. If not, we'd be induced! ACK!

They hooked me up to the monitors and after a few tense minutes of trying, we found Baby D.'s heartbeat, and she sounded good. Her activity level picked up a little while later, and from then on she looked great on the monitor. She was very responsive, and looked neurologically very good. I was having mild contractions, some I didn't feel at all, and some which were, uh, quite "noticeable". We're getting close now, so that's totally normal. The bloodwork came back fine from the lab, and we were cleared to go home after the 4 hours were up.

We were discharged around 9PM with instructions and an 'everybody's ok'. And strict orders to stay off slippery floors in socks.

So Bob and I got a nice little dress rehearsal for the real deal. Once we knew we were fine, it was actually nice to hear her heartbeat, see all the equipment, and get comfortable with the whole hospital environment.

And that was our eventful evening. All's well, just wanted to update. Today I plan to take it easy and couch it a good bit - still pretty sore.

What's Your Accent?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Boston
The West
The Northeast
The Inland North
North Central
Philadelphia
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

November 5th - quickie

Done done done school. For 5 months. For twice as long as a summer, I'm not going to be teaching at DeMasi. I know. I still haven't wrapped my mind around it.

Lots to do left - Baby shower gift returns, Christmas cards, stationary, letter, gifts, wrapping, flu shots, disability pay, pre-registering for the hospital, figuring things out in general for post-baby time, and then there's the whole nursing bra wonderment that I won't get into to - at least not at the moment - to save any male readers the horror. Let's just say zippers may be involved, and zippers have no place on a bra, to my knowledge.

Ready for baby - but is she ready for us? I'm nervous about the whole labor & delivery thing somewhat, but feeling good about the actual bringing her home thing (except for perhaps having a few too many visitors for comfort), and really good about actually having a baby of our own. But the thing that bothers me most is the whole "unknown" of it all. When will she come? How will it go? Is that a major stretching session or a contraction I'm currently feeling? (This baby likes to stretch a lot. Hey, cramped in there? Come on out!) I'm definitely contracting more this week - I hadn't had any at my previous non-stress tests, and this week the monitor showed I was having them every few minutes, although they were the false-labor kind, and that's definite progress. Happy full-term to us!

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I'd just like to take this moment to say that I really really really love Bob, he's incredible, he takes awesome care of me - and at times lately I need it, bad! Love my husband. The whole pregnant/baby thing is someting he handles beautifully. I'm a lucky one!

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Well, I made it to 10 PM, it's officially a miracle. Bed time.