Two Weeks and Counting

So this morning I decided I was kind of unprepared for what is coming in less than two weeks.  I've been so caught up in preparing for home school and getting Brady's stuff moved and his new clothes sorted (moving up to size 2T) and other odds and ends done, I've done NOTHING as far as getting out baby clothes, purchasing a new car seat (after three kids we decided the old one has had it), getting a new swing (the old one died), getting the bassinet set up, etc.  Somehow I've always assumed that my babies will be born no sooner than the day my C-sections are scheduled but it occurred to me this morning that babies don't always abide by schedules.  Duh, I know.  I'm a bit of a procrastinator, what can I say.

What precipitated this deep thought was that starting last evening and moving into this morning, I felt like he (yes, still "he" as there is no decision as of yet on a name.  Don't blame me.) wasn't moving as much as usual. I had a similar experience with Brady although at a much earlier stage and I've been very cognizant of it happening again and have been relieved not to have any worries.  Well, up until now.  This one is a mover and a shaker and it didn't seem like that was happening.  Thankfully this morning was my regularly scheduled appointment and also, quite thankfully, I was able to drop the kids off at Ron and Elaine's where Aubree was bursting at the seams to show off her new swimming prowess.

As I drove to my appointment, my imagination started running wild with things like "What if something is wrong and I have to have the baby today?"  That is when I realized how woefully unprepared I am.  It also worried me that if that occurred, I would probably never make it to Walgreen's to get the good deal on toilet paper that I had planned for after my appointment.  And then it worried me that that was a worry.

Getting weighed only increased my trepidation as I gained maybe a 1/2 pound at most, which compounded (hehe) with the pound or so I had gained in the week in a half gap at my previous appointment, made me start thinking that the baby wasn't growing or something.  I had been gaining several pounds a week before that and now it seemed like it was slowing down drastically.  When the doc measured my belly, I was at 36 centimeters whereas I had previously been right on with the week (at 35 weeks, I measured 35 and now at 37 weeks, it was the 36).  Fortunately the heartbeat was good and steady and the doctor was not concerned with things but said we could do an "NST."  Okay, I was all for this NST, whatever that may be.

NST, as is it turns out, stands for Non Stress Test which is incredibly ironic considering that you are stressed that something is up with your baby.  It was the same test I had with Brady where you sit in a quiet room and they hook a monitor up to your belly to keep track of the heartbeat and give you a button to press every time the baby moves.  In the first ten minutes nothing happened other than my yawning a few times in the incredibly comfortable chair as ocean waves crashed in the background from a sound machine.  The nurse came back and said, "Hmm, let's make a noise to scare him."  Which she did and he moved.  She left and another ten minutes went by with no more activity.  The heartbeat was still good, in the high 130's, low 140's so I wasn't really worried.  She came back and gave me some water hoping that would help.  Another five minutes and with nothing happening, I adjusted my sitting position and apparently that woke him up or something because suddenly he started moving like crazy and his heartbeat went up to the 160's.  The nurse came back and said "Great.  Looks good.  The doc just wants you to stay for a few more minutes."

Some time went by and I started looking longingly at the door.  I needed to get to Walgreens and wanted to do another errand.  Finally after 35 minutes (almost an hour now in total of my being in the room), I decided that they must have forgotten about me since it was lunchtime.  I had to use the bathroom too so I figured that would be my excuse.  I took off the monitor and opened the door to find nobody at all in the halls and in fact, some of the lights were dimmed.  After using the restroom, I started walking towards the reception area and did see the nurse on the phone but she didn't see me.  I saw no one else so I walked to the front where fortunately two ladies were sitting at the front desk.  I explained my predicament and they finally got a hold of the nurse who seemed a little peeved (hopefully at herself for forgetting me!) who had the doctor read the tape and declare I was good to go.  So there you have it.  All is well, thankfully, but I am now trying to kick myself into gear to get things ready here.  Incidentally, when the doc checked me she said I was 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  Stay in there kid until I say so!

Going back, we had a nice Sabbath topped off with a little celebration for Elaine's birthday.  The upside of not going to Nova Scotia was that we were with her for her birthday for once.  She and Ron came over for dinner and Ron brought a little cake.

Excited to see Grandma and Grandpa.  Or maybe it was the cake.  

Sunday we had a busy day working around the house.  Duncan did a lot of work on the yard, installed some more cabinets in the laundry room, exchanged our school table at Ikea (the first one was slightly damaged), exchanged his Fuel Band for a new one, got a ceiling fan for Brady's new room, got sand for the sand box, among other things.  We are trying to get things done around the house and this Sunday will be another busy day I'm sure.

Table and chairs done.  

Yesterday Duncan got the ceiling fan installed which meant that Brady could be moved.  I've been delaying as much as possible because I haven't been looking forward to how quiet time would go with him down in the same wing as the girls since their quiet time is decidedly NOT quiet (inevitably, Aubree ends up in tears at least twice).  I've been pressured from a few sources to not wait until the last minute to move him so he has time to adjust but I haven't been worried about that part of it.  I knew he would be fine and he was.  He went to sleep in no time last night and they all slept peacefully through a late evening thunder and lightening storm.  I was curious to see how napping would go though.  We left Ron and Elaine's pretty late this afternoon and I made a stop at Lakeshore Learning to get a few things on the way home so he actually fell asleep in the car.  That was always a problem with the girls as they would never go back to sleep when we would get home and they would wake up in the transition.  Not so for little man.  He woke up but went right back to sleep.  I got the box fan out of the garage and put it on full force and you really can't hear anything with that thing going even with two loud girls playing right outside a half open door.  I guess this will be the plan from here on out.  Oh, one funny thing he said.  Even though he goes back to sleep when you get home, I still make attempts to keep him awake just in case.  I tried to do that again this time as I saw his eyes closing from the rear view mirror.  "No sleeping," I said.  He slowly opened his eyes and said to me "Can I take a break?"  Which he did.

Yesterday we went to Lowe's and Target to get a few things, specifically some shelves for Brady's closet, a shelf for the girls room, and some other household stuff.  I had also set up a time to meet a lady at a nearby Burger King parking lot who was selling some school stuff on Craig's List.  We would stop there on the way home.  The shelves took up so much room that I had to get two carts, one for me to push and one for Calleigh.  Nice that she's big enough to help with that.  It has been incredibly hot here this week (mid 90's and Sunday was reported as the hottest day of the year) so it as great fun unloading everything into the van in the stifling heat.  As I put the last two shelves into the van (I got three identical ones for Brady's closet), I realized they were slightly different from the first one.  Ahhh!  I looked at the time. We had just enough time until we met the lady to go back in and exchange the two wrong ones.  So everybody had to file back out of the van and we headed back into the store even though all I wanted to do was put my face in front of the A/C on full blast.  I could feel the sweat starting to drip down my front.  We found the right ones and finally got settled back into the van and I launched into an explanation of how when you're pregnant you feel hotter than normal and you get out of breathe much faster because of all the extra weight and blood you are carrying around.  When we got home, the girls wanted to go play on the swing set, yes, in 95 degree heat.  I had just read how you should really avoid being outside between noon and six so I said "You know, you should just stay inside.  It's so hot out there and we're about to have lunch."  Calleigh retorts, "It's not hot. You just think it's hot because you're pregnant."  That's my Florida girl, I guess!

As for the lady on Craig's List, she was an older lady retiring from teaching first and second grade and I got some nice bulletin board material and a few other things.  I explained that I was going to be home schooling and she says to me, "I would definitely home school."  She said it so definitively and this coming from a lady who just retired from being a teacher.  I thought that was interesting.

That's about it from here although I will end with a quote from Aubree.  We were listening to some Eric B. Hare stories on CD in the car yesterday and the first one was about this boy in Burma who was called something like "Lovely Flower."  He then disobeyed his parents and thereafter his father said he would be called "Crooked Ears" because apparently that means someone who disobeys in whatever language it is they speak.  So I cleverly said to the girls "Hmm, I think when you disobey, I will call you Crooked Ears from now on."  To which Aubree said in a very reprimanding voice "Mommy, don't you know it's not nice to call people names?"  

Last night in his old room.  Should I be concerned that he sleeps with girl shoes on? His "wobby" also known as his sleep sack, was retired this week since he decided he didn't want to wear it any more.  Clearly, it wasn't conducive to wearing shoes while you sleep, hence it's retirement.

Our next door neighbor with the questionable lawn maintenance regimen tore out his whole front yard and had new sod laid.  One can only hope this will motivate more regular mowing.

Enjoy the rest of your week.