Project

I thought I would share a little project I completed the other day. Just one of the many little cases of nesting that has occured during my last trimester!

I wanted to make something to separate Harrison's hanging clothes by size so it would be easy to keep track of what I had and to make sure that Harrison gets to wear everything before he outgrows it. My solution was homemade little hanging tags. I found a cute background on the computer and printed it out on cardstock. I made four different tags with different size ranges. After printing them out, I covered them with lamination and tied ribbons to them so I could hang them in the closet. Here are some pictures of the final product:

The House is Finally Back to Normal

After a really busy weekend, the house is finally back to normal. Our new floors look incredible! I am so happy that we replaced the carpet with hardwood. Even though it was a little hectic having to move everything out and stay in a hotel for a few days, the end results make it well worth it!

Lilly (our dog) is the only one who misses the carpet. She isn’t use to slipping and sliding around. This little rectangle of carpet is the only remaining piece of the den carpet (it was a sample that we held on to for some reason). Lilly seems to find comfort in it and spends most of her time here.

I know she will be happy once we get a rug in there. Until then, we have come up with a few solutions to make her a little more comfortable / protect the floors.

We decided to take a pair of Harrison’s baby socks and see if she would let us put them on her. I really think she kind of liked them. I had to chase her down to take them off. After the successful trial of baby socks, we went online and ordered a pair of doggie boots. These are made for dogs and have a little Velcro to hold them up as well as anti-skid on the bottom. The website said that they were designed to protect the dog’s feet from hot and cold temperature but that they can also be used to protect hardwood floors. I can't wait for them to come in. If anything, they will provide a little comic relief!

36 Week Doctor's Appointment

Here's an update from my appointment today:

Got the results of the strep test back and it was negative (that is a good result). It wouldn’t have been an issue either way but it is nice to know that I don’t have to worry about getting antibiotics administered during labor. My blood pressure was good – this is a relief since I had a little bit of an issue with this last week. Glad to see that the spike I experience last week was just a temporary thing. (Note: I had an emergency doctor’s visit on Wednesday since I was feeling dizzy and my blood pressure had been really high when the nurse at work took it. By the time I got in to see the doctor my blood pressure had gone back down to normal.)


We did another internal this week and there has been some progress (1-2 cm dilated, 30% effaced). The doctor seemed pleased and said that we would definitely have an August baby. I don’t think that is much of a prediction since I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to have a baby this week. I guess I could have a September baby if I go a week late. I wasn’t sure if he was ruling that out but I can be hopeful that he will come on time.


Not much more to report. My weight seems to have leveled off. So far I have gained just about 25 lbs this pregnancy which I am pretty happy with. I am hopeful that my weight will stay about the same for the rest of the time.

My next appointment is scheduled for Monday. I am seeing a different doctor since my doctor will be out of town for the week. I don’t really mind seeing another doctor in the practice. There is a good chance that my doctor will not be available to deliver on the day I go in so this is a good opportunity to meet another doctor who will potentially be performing the delivery. There are a total of 10 doctors in my practice; I have met 6 of the doctors so far. The few that I haven't met, I have heard really good things about. While I would love it if my doctor could be there for the delivery, I feel pretty confident that I will be happy with any of the doctors that happen to be on call.

The Flood

This post is not really about pregnancy but it gives you a perfect glimpse into our lives…

Sam and I decided that we wanted to get hardwood floors put into our den. Currently our entire house has wood floors with the exception of our foyer, den, bathrooms and kitchen. Yesterday (Monday) we got a call from our friend that is doing the work telling us that they were going to start early and that the guys would be there on Tuesday to start. Not a big deal, we just needed to get the furniture out of our den so the guys could come in on Tuesday to pull up the carpet (installed over a brick-like surface) and start laying the wood down. I decided to come home from work a little early so I could clear some spaces and organize everything so it could be moved in an orderly fashion.

When I walked in the front door, I was greeted by our dog. I thought it was a little odd because normally she does not greet us at the door. Then I heard what sounded like water running. As I walked through the den into the kitchen I quickly discovered the source of the noise. Water was pouring out from under the refrigerator and was flooding the dinning room, kitchen and den! I panicked and immediately called Sam – I had no idea how to stop the water. After a few minutes of frantic yelling, I finally located the pipe to the refrigerator and turned off the water. I took all of our doggie towels and laid them in the dinning room to stop the flow of water into that room since it was the only room with hardwood. The entire time Lilly dog was splashing through the puddles. I think she thought this was a real treat!

Sam made it home fairly quickly and we started sucking up the water in the kitchen with a shop vacuum. We called our neighbor and friend (and huge lifesaver) Don over to help move the furniture. Since the carpet was coming out anyway, we decided it was easier to pull the carpet out now and just vacuum up the remaining water. Thank heavens we had a shop vacuum and a friend we could call. There was no way we would have been able to handle this problem without them!

Five hours later the den was cleared, the house was dry (totally in chaos but dry), and Sam and I could sit down and laugh at the series of events that had occurred!

It appears that the leak was caused by the refrigerator water filter that filters the water before going to the ice maker and water dispenser. We had not changed the filter in a while (ironically we had purchased a new filter the day before but hadn’t gotten around to changing it out) and it appears to have busted. I guess the refrigerator was the only fatality of the day since the filter broke in half still attached and far too deep to be removed. We have a service person coming out to try to remove the other half of the filter. Luckily, the fridge is still under warranty.

While we wanted to scream, we are terribly thankful that the events happened like they did. If this had occurred a few days later our brand new floors would have been ruined. I am also thankful that my body didn’t decide to go into labor (something we joked about the entire time we were cleaning up the mess!). Hopefully I can make it another week until the house can be put back to normal!!!

33 Week Doctor's Appointment

Here is another installment of the doctor updates. Had another good visit with very little to report.

Here is a summary of our visit:

Greet office staff and ask about everyone's July 4th holiday (realize I am becoming a regular)
Get blood pressure taken (perfect)
Go to the bathroom and pee in a cup (results good)
Get on scale (we won't talk about the weight gain this week)
Sit on exam table while nurse listens for Harrison's heartbeat (very fast and strong)
Wait for doctor (very short wait)
Doctor comes in, reads file, and asks how long it has been since we saw each other last (two weeks)
Doctor pulls out a tape measure and measures my belly (don't know how I measured this week but I guess it was good)
Doctor asks about Harrison's movement (lots!)
Doctor checks my feet and hands for swelling (very little swelling so far)
Doctor feels my belly to check Harrison's position (we are pretty sure he is head down now)
Doctor asks if there are any problems or questions (I tell him about the contractions I have been having and a few other aches and pains - he says it is normal and tells me what to look for when they aren't normal)
Doctor schedules next appointment (one more TWO week appointment and then I start going every week)

We will do the Group B Strep test at our next appointment. The test is similar to the annual Pap test. Group B Strep isn't the same thing as strep throat (hey, don't laugh...that is what I thought the first time I heard it!). About 30% of all pregnant women have group B strep. If it is left untreated, it can be passed onto the infant during delivery and can cause serious complications. If the tests come back positive, antibiotics are given during delivery to protect the baby from contracting the infection at birth.

We will also start checking my progress. While I am not particularly looking forward to these new appointments, it will be nice to know how I am progressing and should give us a much better indication when the big day will be here. Plus it means we are that much closer to the due date!

How are you feeling?

I have discovered that there are a few questions that I get asked over and over.

1. When are you due?
2. Do you know what you are having?
3. Is it hot enough for you? (or some variation of a heat related comment)
4. How are you feeling?

I have heard some people complain about the repetitiveness of these questions but I can honestly say they don't bother me. I really enjoy being pregnant, talking about being pregnant and dreaming about the little man that will be joining our family in just about 6 weeks (eeek!)

The last question always puzzles me though. I am sure most of the time it is meant as a casual remark similar to "How are you?". The kind of question people ask to be polite and with the secret hope that you will just simply respond with "fine."

Most of the time I say things like "great," "really well," "a little hot, but good," etc. Often (at least during the second trimester) that was really how I felt. Now that we are getting to the end of the road however, I am halfway tempted to let a few real complaints slip out.

In an effort to prevent overloading the general public with my laundry list of pregnancy issues and for those of you really interested in how I am REALLY feeling, I will share my honest answer to that question as if someone asked me "How are you feeling?" today.

(disclaimer: if you would prefer a "fine" answer stop reading now)

I feel hot. I am sure the office is 68 degrees just like every other summer. I can see that other people are practically bundled up in winter coats so I know it is just hormones but I am sweating! I am wearing a sleeveless top, light weight pants and sandals but if I could think of a way to wear less clothing in the office and still be considered professional I would. My hands and feet are burning up like they are in front of a fire and the only relief I get is when I wash my hands with the cold water in the bathroom.

I am getting a little tired of being kicked. Sweet Harrison turned this weekend. While his new head down position is definitely worth celebrating, it isn't quite as comfortable as the breech position use to be. My ribs are starting to sting and he has only been kicking them for a couple of days...I have 46 days +/- to go.

I am tired of getting up to go to the bathroom. It really is fun getting up every hour to 45 minutes to go to the bathroom. I love that I see the same people all the time and I love the looks they give me when I am walking back and forth to the bathroom. I especially love when men make comments about my bathroom frequency. It really makes a girl feel proud. We won't even go into how much fun the nighttime bathroom ritual is :-)

Generally, I am just plain tired. I miss the second trimester. It was nice to come into work awake and alert. Now I feel like a giant vacuum is sucking the energy right out of me. A small cup of coffee (or a nap) midday is just about the only way to be productive all day. Once I get home, you can just about forget it! I am mustering up all my strength to cook dinner and do something other than sleep (thankfully Sam is VERY helpful).

That is my laundry list of complaints for the day.

In all seriousness, I know I have been really lucky that these are my only complaints and overall they aren't all that bad. Harrison and I are both healthy and that is a blessing! I know all the little pains and complaints will all be worth it in the end!

Thanks for listening!

Awesome Shower Update

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I have been recovering from a fun filled weekend. It seems like it takes me a few days to recover from my weekends. I guess the energy level just isn't what is use to be. Last night I had to FORCE myself not to fall asleep before 9pm. I don't think I have been that tired in a really long time. I am feeling much better now though!

Back to my weekend...

On Saturday my really sweet Memphis girlfriends hosted a baby shower in my honor. Let's get a picture of the beautiful shower hostesses:

The shower was so much fun and the girls really went all out to make it a special event. The theme of the shower was baby feet. I am such a sucker for baby feet so this made my day! The shower invitations had baby footprints on them. The cake was decorated with blue and green footprints and the house was decorated with framed pictures of adorable baby feet! It was such a cute idea. The food was really good and Sam and I are still enjoying the leftover cake (almond buttercream - my absolute favorite!).

It was such a wonderful day surrounded by really special ladies. It is so nice to know that even though we don't have family here in Memphis, we have an incredibly supportive group of friends! Thank you all for your kind words, sweet gifts, and above all else your friendship.

Here is a link to all of the pictures from the shower:
Shower pictures