Yep, it has already been two weeks since our last appointment and Tuesday’s was uneventful. I’m measuring 31 cms and have gained 3 more pounds (seriously, how big is he going to get?). We talked briefly about labor and going home attire for both of us, as well as Baby Kakes first outfit. (Hmm, what does one wear for the birth of their first child … I’m thinking something loose and green.) Also, about what kind of foods and drinks to bring to eat during and after labor. There was also some discussion about possible needles and such, but I’m choosing to believe that discussion won’t have any relevancy to our birth experience.

I asked why our appointments switched to every two weeks since it seems like overkill at this point (it’s so hard to work full time and make it to all these dr appointments!). She laughed and said “Because we have to”. Then she said the medical reason is that according to doctors, a pregnancy isn’t actually viable until 24 weeks. Once you hit the 28 week mark they want to see you more often because if they detect something early there is a high chance of survival for the baby. Who can argue with that? I guess we’ll stick with the 2 week plan for now until our last month when it switches to weekly. And if he goes over 41 weeks we get to go daily. At least I won’t be working at that point and the BC is only 10 minutes from our house.

We did get “good” news that we don’t have to make our April payment anymore because they rechecked our insurance and we’ve already hit our deductible. We’ll probably even be getting a little refund after Baby Kakes is born. We’ll take it!

I was talking to Baby Kakes Tuesday night while I showered and asking his opinion on a name we are leaning towards (he gave me three kicks so I’m taking that to mean he likes it). As we finished our “conversation”, I told him I loved him and then told him to kick once if he loved me too. And he totally did. It made me laugh. Who says babies in the womb can’t understand us yet ;)

I first saw this book on DoesMommyLoveIt.com and put it on my list to checkout from the library. I love libraries and often checkout a book there before committing to the purchase. As luck would have it, our local Borders was closing in January and my mom picked one up for me at a fraction of its regular price.

And I’m so glad she did. It has been very useful. I have only made it halfway through, but its section on cribs and bedding were so helpful, I even flagged pages I was continually referencing as we shopped. Next up, car seats …

I totally recommend it to anyone looking for tips on the safest products at the best price.

We’ve been looking for a fun bed set and crib for Baby Kakes for awhile, but hadn’t committed to anything because of two reasons really.

1. We didn’t know until 2 weeks ago where we would be living. (It’s hard to plan for something when your life is uncertain.)

2. We are not the best decision makers (mostly me). In fact, I’d say we’re almost so bad at coming to a decision on some things that it could be considered a talent to be this indecisive. Ok, we’re not that bad, but I do have the ability to find a hundred reasons why we might need to look a little bit more. (Which maybe is why everything in our life happens quickly. God knows that if given too much time, we’ll just drag out decisions. i.e. – short engagement, quick closing, only 3 months between closing on our house and Baby Kakes arrival, etc. But now I’ve digressed, that’s another whole can of worms.)

There are not a lot of cute designs for baby boys, everything seems to be brown and blue, or blue and brown. Not sure how those became the only colors manufactures are allowed to use, but we wanted colors! So after searching high and low for the “Perfect” bedding and furniture, last Tuesday, we took the plunge and ordered crib sheets, a blanket, a changing pad cover, a crib, and a dresser.  And yet we still ended up with blues and browns (although more blues and greens). Oh, how we’ve caved to society’s standards :)

The sheets were on backorder until the end of March which wasn’t a big deal since he’s not going to be here before then. I called on Wednesday to find out if they could go ahead and ship the other items now and then the sheets later when they have fabric again. I was told they had received in a small shipment of fabric to help them get through orders until their large shipment comes in at the end of this month and they would see if it had been allocated to anyone else yet. Thursday they called to let me know they had fulfilled my order and I would receive it Friday. Yippy! It arrived on time, it’s very cute, and we already picked out paint colors this weekend.

We had originally been looking for a white crib, but in a last minute change of mind Monday night, we decided to go with Espresso. The crib and dresser also shipped out on Wednesday and UPS Freight called to set up a delivery appointment for Friday. Well the time came and went so I called to track it. Running late. Bummer. Jeremy had to stay home all day waiting for it, but what can you do? Made a new appointment for delivery on Monday. Today (Monday), I get a call to set up an appointment. I tell them I set up an appointment for between 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. today when I called on Friday night. It’s not in the computer. Great. The truck will need a lift gate so now we have to wait until Thursday for it to be delivered because that’s the next time they will have a truck with a lift gate available. I let the lady know I was annoyed that we had now stayed home twice (not that Jeremy really had anywhere to go, but it’s the principal here), and they had broken both of their appointments (something we would have been charged for if it had been our fault). However, I didn’t make it a big deal because the shipping was free to us, and really we don’t even have anywhere to put the crib at the moment so all it’s going to do is sit in a box in the dining room anyway.

The baby room renovations should start this week. The tiles coming out, the ceilings getting depopcorned, the crown molding is getting a face lift, and the room will be measured for carpet. The carpet should be installed in about two weeks and we may or may not have some paint on the walls by then. We’re also going to spruce up the fan and hang some lights. It’s nice to have a plan of action.

I know I say this every time, but I cannot believe I’m already 7 months along. The last few months have just flown by! Little Baby Kakes is going to be here before we know it.

We had our monthly check up today and as it has been in the past, everything is perfect. This was my appointment where they had to check for gestational diabetes. I was instructed to not eat after midnight last night and then eat a special breakfast consisting of 2 scrambled eggs, 2 slices of buttered whole wheat toast, and 6 oz of orange juice in 10 minutes or less. I then had to check the clock and head to the birth center so they could test my glucose at exactly an hour after my last bite. I wasn’t really worried about the results, I felt pretty confident my results would be negative, as always it was the needles that I was worried about. Thankfully, they are well aware of my needle phobia and just did a simple finger prick. I still got sweating palms and had to lay down right away though.

(To quote Buddy from the movie Elf, “My finger has a heartbeat”.)

My results were 87 for the glucose and 11.4 for the hemoglobins, all in the normal range. (For comparison, my Hgb started at 12.8 and has gone down because of the increase in blood volume). Next, they checked my blood pressure and Michelle said, “wow that prick really bothered you”. Haha, my pressure was still normal (118/74), just a little bit higher than I have previously been reading. I know, I’m so ridiculous with the dumb needles!

I’ve gained 3 more pounds (way better than that last huge jump I made!) and my tummy is measuring at 29 cms, which puts me right where I should be (the range is within two cms either way of that). He was head down, feet up, but this time was laying against my right side. His heartbeat was strong, but is gradually getting slower, 130-140 bpms compared with 140-150 last time.

Since our appointments are typically on Tuesdays we haven’t met any of the student midwives yet because none of them come in on that day. Today, we met Misty and she was very nice and gentle. She’s actually the one that did my test and measurements (with the supervision of Michelle). It’s possible she could assist at our birth so they wanted to make sure we had a chance to meet and get comfortable with her before then.

Other than that, we discussed my mid back pain that started this weekend and exercises to help relieve that tension, as well as finding a pediatrician (kind of ran out of time this past month with the whole moving thing). And I’m no longer supposed to recline, supposedly this can promote posterior birth. I also have to start doing fetal movement counts everyday.

We’re now on the two week schedule so we’ll be back at the end of the month for our next check up. Seriously can’t believe we’re already at this stage!