...Still Pregnant...

Which, despite my growing discomfort, is probably a good thing, as we're still waiting on the crib and the dresser, among other things.  But, the following have arrived in the past few days:

• car seat
• stroller
• crib mattress
• mattress pad
• bathtub
• nursing tops for me

I'm starting to get to know the UPS guy pretty well.  He's very nice, and his wife is 38 weeks pregnant!

Notes from Waco

Hello, all!  Well, that was a busy month.  We are landed and somewhat settled in our new digs in Waco, Texas.  We've rented a cute little 2 bedroom/2bath house:

We're generally very happy with it, except for one or two things.  Mostly, there's the fact that there's a problem with the plumbing and sewer connections.  At 9 months pregnant, you really need to be able to rely on having toilets that actually work in your new home.  The problem is being fixed, but I don't love that it was an issue at all, and that it's involved multiple calls to the landlords and the plumber.  We have enough to worry about without that.

Like, for instance, the current state of the Nestling's room:

We purposefully held off on buying any bulky items, like nursery furniture, until now, so we didn't have to move them a thousand miles, but now we're feeling distinctly underprepared if she should decide to arrive a bit early (more on that in a moment!).  So, several large orders to Amazon and Bed, Bath, and Beyond/Buy, Buy Baby later, and we're awaiting delivery of a crib and mattress, car seat, stroller, diaper pail, and all that kind of good stuff.  

Speaking of which, I had my first appointment with my new OB on Thursday, and I really like both her and the office, so that's a huge relief.  But!  We found out I'm already 3-4 cm dilated, and so might not/probably won't make it to my actual due date, September 11.  That's not so bad medically speaking, as I'll be 37 weeks, which is considered full term, tomorrow (Tuesday August 21).  But we're now busily preparing ourselves, mentally and physically, for the possibility that she could be here rather sooner than we'd thought!  We've bought a pack 'n' play from Target with a bassinet feature, in case the crib isn't here in time, and I'm anxiously copy-and-paste-ing the tracking number for the car seat into UPS's website.  If she can just hang in there until Thursday at least, we should be good!

That's about all the news that's fit to print, baby-wise.  We'll go back Wednesday for another appointment, and hope to schedule a tour of the childbirth center sometime this week.  My project for this afternoon: find a pediatrician!  I'll leave you with a few baby bump pictures (I've been getting that "you look like you're ready to pop!" a lot these days).

Here's my perspective:

And here, since we had the mirror sitting on the ground for a while before we hung it, is what I imagine  I look like from the cat's perspective:

And the Nestling Will Be Born In. . .

. . . Waco, Texas.  You know, unless something goes quite, quite wrong and Baylor University decides to be a total jerk or the Nestling decides to come rather early, which we're really hoping won't be the case, obviously.

30 Weeks

The past few weekends, we've been hitting up Craigslist and garage sales for some second-hand baby things.  The highlights:

• the super high-tech Summer Infant Best View Handheld Color Video Monitor for $100
• a glider-style rocking chair for $30 (It has pink faux-velvet cushions, though.  I'm going to try and make slipcovers)
• a new-in-package and ridiculously named but well-reviewed "My Brest Friend" Nursing Pillow for $25
• A changing pad and cover for $15
• a mess of used clothes, mostly onesies

Check-up earlier this week went fine.  My next one in two weeks will probably be the last one in Madison- we'll be talking about finding a new OB wherever we'll be moving, among other things.  It's one of the sadder parts about the job/moving situation, that we won't be able to stay with the same OB and hospital/health care group (Meriter).  She and they have been really great.

Oh, and I caved and bought some more maternity clothes, from the Motherhood Maternity in the mall and everything.  I had hoped to get by on what I had, or to try and find any additional things second-hand, but it was just so damn hot, I needed more tank tops.  Found another pair of shorts and a breezy tank dress, as well.  This one, in fact, but in a red/white stripe.  I wore it for the Fourth with some big ol' star shaped earrings and my blue blue nail polish.  We went and saw The Avengers.

found here

Nestling News this Week

Dateline Tuesday:  I do not have the Gestational Diabetes.  Hooray.  (On the negative but much less important side, that orange-glucose-drink thing messed up my stomach for the rest of the day.  yelch.)

Dateline Saturday: Did a bit of yard sale shopping in the neighborhoods between Regent and Monroe Streets.  Picked up some newborn-12 mos. clothes, and a box full of awesome-looking blocks.

In other news, we're starting to get pretty impatient to know some things, like where we'll be moving in just over a month, where our child is going to be born, little things like that.

But that's our problem.  The Nestling is doing well, lots of kicking and squirming, especially if I roll over onto my other side in the early morning.  28 weeks this week, so month seven and third trimester.  damn.

Complaining

I'm becoming more and more convinced there's not a right amount I can eat late at night.  If I eat too much too soon before bed- 2 AM HEARTBURN.  If I don't eat enough- 2AM QUEASINESS.  bam.

Checking In

Well, after a busy couple of weeks (graduation! family visiting! getting the car's AC fixed!) we're settled back in Madison for the time being.  The Nestling was a good traveler, seeming to sleep for most of the car rides.  Long may it continue.  I can feel kicks, somersaults, hiccups and such pretty regularly now, and we've both felt, and seen, some of the more spectacular ones from the outside.  I also got some great maternity stuff while in Cincinnati; three cheers for Snooty Fox and the Kenwood Gap having a maternity section (mostly the maternity stuff is online only, and I really prefer to be able to try things on).

I've still get a bit of queasiness/morning sickness a few times a week, but it's definitely an improvement over the first several months.  This is week 26, and the pregnancy emails say the Nestling is about 14 inches (crown to rump? or including legs? I don't know) and 2-2.5 pounds.  The two books tend to say varying things, though.  It's sort of fun to compare the different measurements/fruit comparisons.

So I've put in a link on the sidebar to the registry I put together, for the benefit of those who made inquiries.  Please don't feel obliged to, on the one hand, give us anything at all, or, on the other, to give us only things from the registry*; it's just a few suggestions: some basics, some splurge items we wouldn't buy for ourselves, and some books that have been recommended to me.  I'm using the site MyRegistry.com, which I've never used before, so as to be able to list things from different stores.  I'll be interested to hear if it's working properly, is easy to use, etc.  From my end, some of the managing functions are a little wonky, but the ease of the bookmark bar button "Add to MyRegistry" is great.

Thanks for stopping by!

*I guess the exception to this would be the car seat.  My Mom picked up a Graco stroller secondhand from a coworker, so having the car seat be a Graco also would be best.