so much baby stuff

The dresser and the crib were delivered on Tuesday morning and when I got home from work that day I started painting the tree. It is still a work in progress. I plan to add birds and other critters and who knows what else to it. I was inspired by a tree I saw in a PB catalogue a long time ago and through my travels online I found the same tree on a site that sells wall decals. I chose to paint it, though, since it allows me to make it fit exactly where I want it and to customize it. I don't know if it is evident in the photos, but the tree also goes up onto the ceiling.

Having these new additions to the house was just starting to sink in when, a mere four days later, I carried a car load of baby stuff into the house. Mothership threw me a baby shower. It was lovely. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about having a baby shower, but I am glad that we did it. Even though it was a bit overwhelming, it felt so good to be surrounded by so much love. I'm taking my time putting things away and don't really feel ready to start washing things and all that. A part of me thinks that I should just get it all done, though.

We had the shower at one of our Homes, and most of the pictures include at least one of our residents. For privacy reasons, I won't post them (I can crop them out, but don't want to do that right now). Here is one that only has me in it.


And here is a picture of the cake.

thirty-three weeks

Yes, we are at 33 weeks now and these photos were taken yesterday. I haven't kept up with my writing, though, so the following are some "highlights" of the past week:

Tuesday morning Mr. C woke up from a night of poor sleep, since the chest pain he had been experiencing off and on for a few days had plagued him during the night. He'd had his vitals taken both by one of our nurses and Mothership over the weekend and everything looked fine. But still, something was obviously not right. We both suspected that a call to his doctor might force him to go to the E.R. but what neither of us were expecting was that not only would that be the case, but so would admission to the hospital for 18 hours of "routine" observation. Ugh. Hospitals suck. However, he is (thank God) fine and his heart, blood pressure, cardiac enzymes, etc. all passed all of their tests with flying colors. He has a follow-up appointment with his doctor tomorrow. After he got home from the hospital he decided it might be a good idea to remove the memory foam topper from our bed, and reports that he has slept better since then and has no chest pain. Hmmmm...
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My sweet, dear friend flew over from the other side of the state for a visit this weekend. It had been a long time since we'd had a visit, but she is one of those friends who you see after a long time and it feels like you were just together the day before. It was wonderful to spend time with her and I am so thankful for her :)
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We started our childbirth class on Monday and it went well. There are four couples total, as another couple joined the class, so that feels like a good number of people. My impression after the first class is that two of the women are fairly naive about the whole thing. One of them kept talking about the movie "The busine$$ *f being b*rn." The teacher seems to have a very balanced perspective, though, and does a good job of redirecting the conversation as needed. She knows about my history and has encouraged me to share as much as Mr. C and I feel comfortable sharing. My feeling is that I will talk about things if they become relevant. After the class Mr. C did vent a bit to me about how he was feeling in response to some of the things that were said by the two women in class. Overall his sentiment was that the most important thing, the thing that will make this a "successful birthing experience," is to bring home a live/healthy baby. That's it. Sure, we may have to deal with some things that are annoying or a bother--a nurse may say something rude or insensitive (perhaps, but this hasn't been our experience in the past--quite the opposite, actually) or someone might push the epidural pretty hard (and we, gasp, might even say yes) or we may even get to a point where a c-section is advised (and yes, we trust our doctor and our advocates enough that if this is advised then we will trust that it is warranted) but when all is said and done what really matters is that this Little Guy will be on the outside, safe and sound. Maybe something along these lines will be shared at some point in class. Perhaps, but hopefully only if it can be said in a gentle, honest way that will actually be heard. We have our second class tonight.
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Mothership sat next to my OB at one of her doctors/practitioners meetings at the hospital last week and they got a chance to talk. We had planned to discuss the hospital situation with him at my appointment tomorrow, but she brought it up with him then. Turns out that unless I go into labor before 37 weeks I will have to deliver at the hospital that is close to my house, where he delivers all but the preemies (the other hospital, the one I'd prefer, has the NICU). I have no desire to jump ship and find a new OB at this point, so I will deliver here. It will be OK. I'm glad that I have a few weeks to wrap my brain around it, though.
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As I believe is evident in the photo above, the Little Guy is continuing to grow--and I, subsequently, am getting huge. I had to break down yesterday and buy several new maternity tops, since the tops I'd thought would last through the pregnancy just aren't covering the belly anymore. Fortunately, although when I look at my legs and my behind I find it hard to believe, my pants are still fitting me.
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I believe that I may be experiencing what they call nesting. It may just be a response to being on modified activity for so long, and now being able to be more active, but I have been working on projects all over the house. It feels nice.

catching up

This last week the countdown entered single digits, and as of tomorrow we are at the "eight weeks to go" point. It is strange to find myself, after months of being hyper vigilant about PTL, now starting to not only see the probability that we will make it those eight weeks, but perhaps even go beyond. I now find myself worrying about all of the other things that could go wrong. Since there is no evidence of any of those things I am usually able to assuage my fears fairly quickly.

I saw the Peri this week and all looked great. My cervix is still long (3.5 cm) and closed--no funneling. And based on how well things have gone and still appear to be going, he told me that I don't need to come back! So that felt like a huge milestone--knowing that we are at a point where the Little Guy would most likely be able to breathe on his own should things take an unexpected turn.

Yesterday we went shopping and came home with this:

Mothership is throwing me a shower at the end of the month and yesterday we also picked up invitations and other things for the shower, which are all in my car. Last night I found myself feeling really low, when lately I've been feeling really good. While it is exciting to get good news, move into a "safer" part of the pregnancy, buy things for the baby, plan a (gulp) shower...it is also very REAL, very scary.

Oh, and tomorrow we start a series of childbirth preparation classes. I found the teacher when I was looking for Hypnobirthing classes. She doesn't do Hypnobirthing, but teaches from the Birthing from Within philosophy. I've read the book and while I wouldn't place myself too far to that end of the spectrum (in regards to "natural" childbirth vs. "gimme everything you've got") I like the holistic approach to birthing that it espouses. Something that is really attractive to me is that it will give Mr. C and I an opportunity to honor this time leading up to the birth, to acknowledge our feelings and how our lives are changing. The class will be small, just three couples total, and will be held here at our home. Originally I looked into the classes that the hospitals in our area offer, but they just seemed too clinical to me. Besides, hospitals make Mr. C really uncomfortable and that is not what this should be about.

And speaking of Mr. C, he is still holding out on the name decision. Just when I thought we had come to an agreement, he has thrown another option (perhaps two) into the mix. That doesn't mean that we won't go back to the name we had pretty much agreed upon, but it does mean that it is still up in the air for a while. I think he might be doing this just because he finds the whole process to be fun. Whatever the reason, it does keep me honest when I tell people that we don't know. Since it seems that even if we decide "for sure" he may still change his mind, I won't be disclosing the Little Guy's name until after he is born.