A Few Things For Baby I feel like we're making progress - slowly - in preparing for this baby. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law gave us a bunch of items over the weekend and they are all piled under the dining room table right now. These include: an older EvenFlow carseat that we plan to use as a "2nd seat" as my mother is getting us a SnugRide, a bouncer seat, and a bunch of clothes and little stuffed animals and things. They also have a plastic changing table thing that goes on top of a dresser, a bath tub, a musical swing and a pack and play. My mother also found a used pack and play in great condition at a consignment shop and bought that last week - plus I'm registered for one! If I don't get the new one I'm definitely set now though.
I'm hoping to get a really nice used crib that I found too - I'll know about that tonight. We looked at dressers at IKEA yesterday as well, but are holding off until we get the crib and then plan to look in a few consignment shops before making a decision. In the meantime, the sheetrock is being installed in our attic and should be finished this week. We bought some really cool track lighting to go up there too. Once the sheetrock is done we can set up the guest bedroom up there for my parents and organize all of our storage stuff into the one storage room. Then John can move his computers and other stuff out of the nursery and up into his new office up there. Yay! I don't expect that will get done until after I return from my trip to Oregon to visit my parents (2 weeks until I leave) but we're moving in the right direction.
My hormones started going crazy this weekend. At least I think that's what it is. I've been on edge and have some light menstrual like cramping in my lower belly plus cramps in my back. Nothing painful, but enough to make me feel not right. My energy level is also really low and I have a dull headache. I'm wondering if this is the Braxton-Hicks contractions I've been hearing about? I'm keeping watch on them to make sure they don't get worse, and I'll tell my doctor about it at my appointment next week. John is leaving for a camping trip to Maine tomorrow with his family, so I'm really hoping I don't feel worse. I've been spared hormonal shifts up to now, so I figure I'm probably due for a little turbulence. Other than that though, everything is going pretty well!
2006-08-09 (22 weeks)
New Ultrasound Pic We had another Level II growth ultrasound this morning and the baby looks good and everything is measuring on target. We only got one picture as the baby was waving it's arms and legs over its head and not staying still long enough to get any better pictures! The good news is the baby looks less like an alien now and more like a baby.
Everything is going well with me too. I'm fairly energetic, although I still need to get about 9 hours of sleep at night. The baby is moving regularly although I'm not yet feeling movements outside the tummy. I think that will happen any day now, as the kicks and punches are getting stronger. Baby has taking to hitting me in the bladder over the last few days too - joy!
Our target registry is fairly up to date now. We've discovered my sister-in-law has less newborn items than we thought, so now we're in the market for a crib. We're checking out used ones and went to see one last night, but it wasn't in good condition. We'd like to get a quality solid wood piece. My mother also found a used Pack and Play with bassinet that looks brand new. I've got one on the registry, but if no one buys that I'll use the one my mom got. If someone does get the new one she can keep the used one for her house.
I feel like things are moving along quickly now. Just a few more weeks until my trip to Oregon to visit my parents and I'll enter the third trimester while I'm out there. The home stretch!
2006-08-02 (21 weeks)
A Strong Heartbeat and All is Well I had another fairly uneventful prenatal exam today. All of my previous blood tests are good, and he went over the last ultrasound results. All measurements were on (well, actually 5 days ahead but he said that's fine) and the baby's anatomy was "unremarkable" so that's a good thing! We heard the heartbeat and it was so strong this time, it sounded like a galloping horse!
My fundal height was 23 cm, 2 cm more than it should be. But he said that could be due to the cyst in my uterus and he's not at all concerned at this stage. He did say the cyst is perfectly harmless and is implanted in the uterine wall way over on the left side of my uterus. Which means it's out of the baby's way and won't get in the way during delivery either. Overall, another positive appointment. I'll be going back in 3 weeks since I'll be on visiting my parents in Oregon in 4 weeks. I'm also getting another ultrasound next Wednesday to check on development so hopefully I'll have more pictures to post then.
2006-07-24 (20 weeks)
Halfway There! Another pregnancy milestone. I can't believe I've made it to this point, especially during the last few weeks, which have flown by. Everything is going well as far as I can tell, and I can feel the baby move pretty regularly.
We had a busy weekend of doing remodeling work on the house. I can't believe how far we've come in just 2 years. The bathroom is just about done now, and John got all the electrical work done in the attic. We're now ready to get the sheetrock installed up there, then we can put in new floors and it will be ready for my parents' stay in December. That will also clear the way for us to get the nursery ready! Right now that room is being used as John's office/repository of junk. All that will be moved to a room in the attic and then we'll paint and put in new carpet. And install a door, since right now there's no door to the room!
My next prenatal appointment is next week, and I have an ultrasound the week after that. I suspect August is just going to fly by.
