TGI tuesday?

About 3 weeks ago, on Thursday, I couldn't believe it wasn't already Friday. About 2 weeks ago, on Wednesday, I couldn't believe it wasn't already Friday. Last week, on Tuesday, I couldn't believe it wasn't already Friday. Yesterday, I actually managed to channel my uber-nesting-energy into work, being extra productive and working from 7:30am-5:30pm, even though I was allowed to leave at 3:30 since I started early. This morning, I slept in until 9 am because I had an 11am doctor's appointment, got to work around noon and immediately had lunch. It's now 3pm, so I've been working for about 2 1/2 hours, and can't believe 1) I still have 2 hours until it's 5 pm 2) Tomorrow isn't Saturday. I even caught myself reading the Pregnancy Calendar post for week 38 (which I usually do on Fridays) in anticipation of my new pregnancy week. I had to remind myself that it's only day 2 of week 37. The moral of this story is that pregnant ladies get tired REALLY fast when they are 9 months pregnant, despite these monster energy bursts.

I had my now weekly doctor's appointment this morning. The waiting room misadventures were at a minimum today, except for one lady campaigning for her daughter to be voted Miss Teen Nevada (she was there for a postpartum visit, she had a baby girl with her named Hermione). My blood pressure went up from 118/80 to 130/90. This explains the slight sausagey appearance of my fingers, and the slight mooniness of my face. As long as my ankles and toes don't swell, I'm OK to stay pregnant (signs of preeclampsia would likely require an induction). My uterus actually didn't grow since last week's measurements, so the Doctor actually withdrew his prediction of a big baby. We'll find out next tuesday, when we do the birthweight ultrasound and my first dialation check. OH, and YES, I still have that darned UTI. I'll be taking Amoxicillin until I deliver.

I had another (slightly more severe) case of Nesting this weekend, where I once again took my energies out on poor Swarley. He was innocently shedding all over the carpet I had just vacuumed, so I took him out on the balcony and brushed him for about 30 minutes. When he kept on shedding, I switched to a comb. When that didn't work, I took him into the bathtub and washed him. I promptly took him back onto the balcony and brushed some more. Then, I decided to grab my blow-dryer, turn it to "cool", and blow out all of his extra hairs (probably all over our downstairs neighbor's balcony...). After this 3 hour process... I've got a lovely smelling, fluffy puppy... who continues to shed. But, I'm telling myself that this was not a useless saturday afternoon, because at least the hair he's shedding is now squeaky clean. Right?

This boy is going to miss doing this when the NEW baby comes!

Nesting Strikes at Work

Even though it is only 5 days into my due-month, I have convinced myself that I will not be going into labor by myself. This isn't 100% irrational (albeit about 90%), my contractions have slowed since my calendar flipped, and my desire for her to be born in May rather than June make believe that she will be born after my May 30th due date.

But, seeing as this could still happen anytime (May 22nd would be lovely, you listening, baby?), I must still diligently prepare for my departure from work. They say not to 100% make plans about your maternity leave until you have actually had your baby, the nature of my position with the company is that I cannot be 100% off for the entire 6-8 weeks. I have immigration petitions that have to go out between May 27th and June 30th, all of which have to have my signature on them. I, of course, do not feel comfortable signing them before I have reviewed them and they are ready to go, so I will have someone deliver the stack to my apartment to review and sign in between feedings. Let's hope this works.

Today, I looked around my office and realized that If I was to to into labor tonight and not be able to return tomorrow, it would be embarassing for the person who is somewhat taking over my responsibilities to sit at my desk and have to sort through my documents. There is an order to the way they are arranged, but that may not be obvious to anyone but me. So... I organized:

About 1/4 of the petitions that need to be reviewed, signed and sent out afer May 27th, now looking nice rather than being arranged in different piles according to what is missing.

The front of my desk, which used to be littered with the above pictured petitions in various stacks and the below pictured books.




My bookcase, whose contents used to also litter the front of my desk. Come to look at this picture now, maybe these books should be arranged my size... perhaps a Friday project.

I've also begun to make a list of the files and books that need to be dropped off at the apartment before my pseudo-replacement leaves on June 12th, for me to begin working at home once she leaves. She's already prepped on the hearings that are already scheduled for the next three weeks, but things get scheduled and rescheduled all the time, but I can only prep someone who hasn't been around for the past year so much. Or, I just have trouble relinquishing control (this seems like the most likely culprit).

I am looking forward to maternity leave, but I know that things will be a bit more stressful for me since I will continue to have my work responsibilities. I'll work from home from mid-June until the end of July, and then transition into working a few days per week in the office, or a few hours per day in the office and finishing everything else I can up from home. Even though I may not give 100% of myself in either my role as a mother, nor in my role as a full-time employee, I think this might be the best solution for us to cut the cost of daycare, and for me to continue spending as much time with the baby as possible. At least on days when Brian is off, I'll be able to a full uninterrupted day at the office. Let's hope she's a good sleeper, otherewise, this is going to be impossible.

Chronic UTIs

At my Doctor's appointment this morning, he confirmed what I had already suspected. This UTI just will not go away. Apparently, we are trying one more round of antibiotics this week, and if I still have a UTI at my next week's appointment, then I will be on antibiotics until I deliver.

Although this may sound more like a nuisance than something to actually be concerned about, it can lead to, or be a sign of kidney infection, which is in fact the most common pregnancy complication. At this point, my Doctor doesn't seem terribly concerned about it, since we are treating it rather than just letting it go. Also, the biggest risks associated with a kidney infection during pregnancy are a low birth weight (not happening according to my ultrasounds) and preterm labor (any labor at this point is no longer considered preterm). If this was happening earlier on in the pregancy, he would be more concerned, but since we're in the home stretch, there's not too much to worry about. This baby's cooked, all she needs is a bit more lung maturity and rolls.

I also had my Group B strep test, which was not as invasive as the pamphlets make it sound, so that was good news. Group B strep is a harmless bateria that a lot of adults have in their "areas", but if passed to the baby can cause an infection. They test you at week 36 to determine whether you will have to be given IV antibiotics at delivery.

From now on, I have weekly Doctor's appointments. I am not sure at what point they start checking whether I am dialated, but they didn't this time. My doctor did end he visit by saying: "If you go into labor at this point, you're having a baby". Sweet!

Due Month!

When I got into work this morning, I realized that it was time to flip my calendar from April to May! It's strange to see "Due Date" on the page that is currently opened on my desk. Strange, exciting, and slightly nerve-racking. My mom is arriving in about 2 weeks, and my ultrasound to determine the baby's approximate birthweight is the scheduled for the same day, and we have our Las Vegas baby shower coming up! Also, next monday, I'll officially be full-term, although some websites/books say that I am full term right now.

This weekend, Brian had both Saturday and Sunday off, which is a rare treat. We initially wanted to do a real overnight getaway somewhere in the area, but we decided against it at the last minute. Instead, we planned an afternoon at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve. It is essentially the site of the now-dried-up Las Vegas springs, which was the pre-Hoover dam water source which attracted the early Las Vegas settlers. The "springs" portion is now a retention pond, but there is still a fair amount of wildlife surrounding it. We did the entire 1.6 mile loop of hiking trails (also known as waddling trails, for some of us), saw a bunch of lizards and what looked like desert chipmunks. There were also some gardens which were advertized as "botanic", but they were a bit disappointing. There is  also a little museum and wildlife show, but these were mostly geared towards children. We are starting to learn that all museums or educational exhibitions in the Las Vegas area are geared towards children, which is disappointing when you come from a city like Chicago and are used to the Field, Science and Industry, etc. Overall, it was very nice and we both agreed that we would buy a family membership next summer, when our little one will be walking!

Sunday, I had another case of 'nesting', feeling the need for have every surface of the apartment cleaned, all laundry done, and making the executive decision of no-more-dogs-with-long-fur. Everytime Swarley moved, he got the evil eye for shedding on my just vacuumed carpet. Poor dog. Of course, I say that now, but if we're at a shelter and another long furred dog decides to sit on my lap, that will be the end of my new rule. Just like last weekend, and the weekend before that, I may have overly extended myself and was exhausted and starving by 3pm. I have a feeling this cleaning will only get worse as the next few weeks pass, but that my exhaustion point will only get earlier.

Eureka!

I had a bit of a revelation yesterday when reading another pregnant lady blog. Maybe this is a sign that I am slow, although I will 100% blame it on the very real effect pregnancy has on your brain, but I finally understand why some pregnancy guides qualify me as 36 weeks and others as 35 weeks. This might also have something to do with the whole week to month ratio in pregnancy being totally off (40 week of pregnancy, but 9 months of pregnancy? That doesn't work, since 40 divided by 4 is 10 and nobody says 10 months of pregnancy). And it also explains why some people say 36 weeks is full term, while others say 37 weeks is full term.

So, I've completed week 35 of pregnancy and am technically in week 36, despite being labelled 35 weeks pregnant. I've completed 35 weeks of pregnancy, and am in my 36th week. Yay! I get to skip ahead one chapter. I am not sure why this makes me so happy, since it doesn't put me any closer to my due date than I was before, which has remained steadily at May 30th. But, it's definitely a mental thing.

This past weekend was Easter, and our 1 year anniversary. It was really fun to think back on those few days of wedding related festivities, and I'm not going to be one of those people that says "I can't believe that was a year ago", because, I can't believe that was ONLY a year ago, since things are completely different than they were last April 24th in ways that I do not have to list. Brian and I had a lovely dinner at a seafood restaurant in Henderson called "King's fishhouse" which was somewhere in between Shaw's Crabhouse and Bob Chin's. The food was equally as good as either of those places, but significantly more affordable. We basically didn't celebrate Easter, except the passing thought of going to Mass, then realizing that I had no idea where the nearest Church even was, and remembering the Christmas mass wearhouse/having to watch the priest on a monitor experience, decided against it. Instead, we went to the dog park, which was not at all crowded but super fun. Swarley is slowly starting to look like less of a lazy apartment dog again, and had an excellent time chasing after a few dogs that looked like larger versions of him.

By the way, his reaction to the swing was totally disappointing. I put it together, and he approached it without fear, barely recoiling as it moved when he sniffed it. Maybe once I get some D batteries and make it swing on its own and play music, there will be something more exciting to describe.

Tonight is Brian's second softball game, and this time, I will actually be in attendance. I'll try to dig up the dino-camera and snap a few shots. By the way, Mom, I was thinking a new camera with a nice video capture feature would make an excellent 28th b-day present :)

One step closer

Yesterday, Brian and I completely rearranged our bedroom to accommodate the bassinet. Although the bassinet is pretty compact, the way our room had been arranged, the bassinet would have to be right next to the dog crate. Although I want to create as little separation between the dogs and the baby as possible, having her sleep directly next to the crate which they spend 8 hours per day in doing who knows what doesn't seem like the best idea. Even if I did clean it everyday, it would still be kinda gross. Brian surprisingly didn't have his usual reaction to my suggestion of him moving a bunch of furniture, so we got everything done all in one afternoon. Since he basically had to move all the furniture himself, I built the bassinet (mostly) which was quite the ordeal. You try putting something together with a watermelon strapped to your abdomen. The bassinet now has a spot directly next to me on the bed, with room directly next to Brian if we ended up doing a combination of formula and breastmilk. The dog crate is in the opposite corner of the room, but not so far that they would feel like castaways. The diaper changing pad is set up on half of Brian's dresser, with some boxes ready for baby diaper changing products, which I have yet to purchase.

Swarley is pretty averse to change, so I feel like the best thing to do to keep him sane once the baby comes in is to make all the furniture rearrangements and additions at least a few weeks before she comes home from the hospital. The goal is for Swarley not to associate the baby's arrival with his crate/bed/food bowl etc being moved. I think the biggest obstacle we are going to have to face as far as baby furniture is the baby swing. He doesn't generally like machines that move or make noise, like the vaccuum, blinds that get blown by the wind, or the washing machine. The baby swing both swings AND plays music. Plus, it has a a mini mobile with little stuffed sheep, which you know he's going to think are toys for him. I am planning on putting up the swing this weekend, and we'll see what the reaction is. I am guessing it will be vaguely reminiscent of his reaction to the Christmas Knitting Granny in a Rocking Chair. I'll be sure to have my iPhone set to video. Chloe, I am guessing, couldn't care less as long as her food comes at the same time everyday.

Lastly, here is the Easter Bunny that I made for Tyler. It turned out much nicer than the Teddy Bear. My newest project: baby leg warmers and a cardigan!

Here it is before its big trip to Chicago

And here it is arrived safely and in the arms of its owner!

Las Vegas is one classy city

Yesterday I had an appointment with my OB. As usual, he found the baby's heartbeat within .5 seconds of putting the little doppler thingy on my belly. Her heart is beating strongly, she's in the right position, everything is good with her.

Me, on the other hand, managed to gain 6 pounds in 3 weeks. Now, my weight gain to date has been encouragingly slow. I haven't gained more than 1 or 2 pounds between doctor's visits, which have been more less than 3 or 4 weeks apart. The "normal" rate is 1 pound per week, for a total of 40 pounds, but that is if you were at an ideal weight before getting pregnant. Since I was not at an ideal weight, it is not recommended for me to gain the full 40 pounds. Up until yesterday, I was at +20 pounds. Ok, so +26 pounds is still good for a pregnancy weight gain, especially at this stage (34 weeks, exactly 2 1/2 weeks until I am full term! 5 1/2 weeks until my due date!). 6 pounds in 3 weeks isn't healthy, even if 2 of those pounds should have gone directly to the baby. I'm going to blame it on the entire bottle of water that I chugged before going in, since I anticipated another urine test. Which I did have to do, confirming the result of a "raging UTI" as my doctor put it. That's 2 UTIs in one month, if anyone was keeping track. In 2 weeks, I get the Group B Strep test, which I am not looking forward to, since the pamphlet explains that it consists of violating my privacy (that's as specific as I am going to get).

By far, the highlight of my time at the doctor and hospital yesterday was the waiting room experiences. My doctor was running late because he had been in a delivery in the morning, so my appointment was delayed by about an hour. I had my Kindle (Water for Elephants), and I am glad that my Doctor makes himself available for deliveries even if he has a bunch of appointments in a row, so I absolutely didn't mind. Plus, I was so conveniently seated next to a wonderful example of the white-trash that lives in Las Vegas. A 28 year old woman was there with her sister, and her sister's two pretty cute children. The sister was loudly talking about going to the Tatoo convention, and yelling at her son about having to shave his head (which he was very upset about) because he had gotten gum in it. It was the woman's first visit to this doctor's office, so she was filing out all the pregnant paperwork. She was not-so-discreetly telling her sister that 1) she couldn't remember when her last period was, so she put down "sometime in February". 2) she didn't know anything about her baby's father's medical history, and couldn't call him and ask because he was in jail. 3) didn't know her insurance information (her sister reminded her that she was on Medicaid). Her sister, in between yelling at her 2 1/2 year old son, also kept interrupting her 4 or 5 year old daughter playing a video game on her phone because she was "doing it wrong". Excellent parenting examples.

After my appointment, my doctor recommended that I head over to the hospital to pre-register for my delivery. In that waiting room, I had another delightful sample of Las Vegas locals. An extremely overweight woman, who turned out to be pregnant, was there with equally overweight mother, her 13 or 14 year old daughter, and her 2 year old daughter. She was talking to her mother about how inconvenient it was for her to get searched by the cops last week because she had two vibrators in her purse. She told her mother about how the cops asked why she was carrying two vibrators in her purse, and she explained that "I'm pregnant, as big as a house, horny, single and nobody will have sex with me". She further explained to them that she needed two because one was for "on the go (you know, like in the car and stuff)", and the other was for "prolonged pleasure". She was also there to preregister because her doctor (also my doctor) was going to schedule her for a c-section because her "uterus was liable to BUST", as she explained to the woman doing to her registration. Also, when asked about her marital status, she said, "well, I got married to the father of my first child, but I haven't seen him in 10 years, so I don't know the answer to that question". Sometimes registration questions are hard. On the way out, the 2 year old spilled the entire contents of a bag of Doritos (which she obviously got yelled at for, because 2 year olds should be in charge of holding their own Doritos) onto the hospital floor right in front of the doors to the infant nursery, so my entire time registering was spent interrupted by people's shoes crunching on the chips (which have always smelled bad to me, which is only intensified by being pregnant).

Yes, I am judgmental. I understand people all have different circumstances and everything, but come on! You don't know if you're married? You don't know when your last period was?? You're yelling at your kid for doing kid things, like getting gum in their hair and spilling Doritos? Now I know why all the nice houses are in gated communities.