My feelings as the weeks close in on us

Aaaaannndddd, I just sent my bosses an email confirming when I will take my light duty and maternity leave. It feels weird to send that message. Makes the countdown seem that more.... I don't know.... Looming? Pressing? Those aren't quite the words I'm looking for, but they give just about the right connotation, except they aren't joyful enough at the same time as being inevitable. Imminent, maybe? I don't know.

I'm sure you all get where I'm going with this. I'm overjoyed, thrilled, eager, impatient that the time is drawing so near, yet I'm also anxious, doubtful, unsure, afraid. I'm sure anyone who has been in my shoes knows exactly how I feel. Overjoyed at the new life to love, thrilled to be given this blessing, eager to meet our child, impatient for him to be born. Anxious about my ability to care for him correctly, doubtful over my knowledge of children, unsure how to react, afraid we'll make the wrong choices. I mean, I can change a diaper, or feed him, bathe him. I'm not afraid I'll drop him or break him somehow. I've been around newborns before, and helped care for them. But this is different, this one is mine. We have to care for him at home with no help around the clock. I'm sure we'll manage just fine. It's just been so long since I've helped bathe a newborn, or......

I'm sure every new parent has these feelings. I'm sure we'll be just fine. We'll do what parents have done since the beginning of time. We'll figure it out. And if we run across something we can't figure out, we have family and friends who are parents, and we have the internet, if all else fails. After all, it's too late to turn back now. :) Even if we wanted to. (Of course, we wouldn't dream of it.)

These feelings are just new to me. I didn't have them last time. Of course, I didn't have to worry about bathing her that first week, or what to do if she starts crying and won't stop no matter what I do. So of course I didn't have them last time. I didn't have to worry about it. This time is a whole new ball game. Right now, I feel like I'm riding in the first car of the world's tallest, wildest roller coaster. We're paused at the top, a moment to catch our breath and collect our thoughts. Soon we'll be on our way down, and up, and around the track, travelling faster than we ever imagined!



Time to take a deep breath, hold hands, close our eyes, and just sit back and relax! I'm sure we're in for the most intense, most thrilling, most satisfying ride of our lives! I wouldn't trade it for anything, and it hasn't even really begun yet!

Wanna ride with us? Stick around! I'm sure all the ups and down will be posted right here!

And also......

I feel sooooo much better today, thanks. I woke up still sleepy, due to the 5 or 6 bathroom trips I made last night, not to mention the 10+ times I turned from one side to the other trying to get comfortable. But MUCH less general fatigue. I think taking yesterday off did the trick.

Yesterday, we slept until the tornado sirens woke me up. At that point, once I figured out that the sirens were really sounding, I figured I better turn the TV on to check it out. I had been woken up just a little before by thunder. (In response to the [literally] house-shaking thunder waking me up, I promptly turned over and went right back to sleep. Priorities, you know???) Turning the tv on woke Michael up. Of course. So we got up and watched thelocal forcasters broadcast all warnings around us.

Then we got dresses and went for breakfast. We stopped by Ann and Randy's to visit for a few minutes. Went home. I fetched the paper and mail, and curled up on the couch with a blanket and the pint of Butter Pecan we bought at S&Z. Michael swept and mopped the living room while I lay on the couch watching. (Hey, he forbid me to do work in the house yesterday.) On a trip to the bathroom, I noticed the toilet could REALLY use cleaning. And the floor needed to be swept.

So, I shook out the bath rug and folded it up to lay on the sink. Then I realized that I was "dusted in" the room. I had shook out the rug all over my socks, and in between me and the door. Smart, huh? So I got the broom, and swept up just enough of the dust from the rug to give me a path from the toilet to the door. I moved the trash can, toilet scrubber holder, and book basket.I swept behind the toilet and sink. Scrubbed the toilet, and wiped it down. Threw the scrubber away (thank God for disposable toilet scrubbing pads), and told my dear loving husband that he could finish sweeping the other half of the bathroom. I did end up eventually putting back the toilet scrubber and book basket. He put back the trash can and bath rug.

After that, I didn't do anything the rest of the day. I refused. I stayed on the couch 90% of the rest of the day. If not for the trips to the bathroom, to get something to drink, now I'm hungry, etc., I would have stayed on the couch 100% of the rest of the day.

Anyway, all that to say, I did almost absolutely nothing yesterday but lay around, and today I feel 100% better. Well, maybe not 100%, but more like I felt five or six weeks ago. Like I can manage working until Sunday evening. Since my next day off is Monday. Which will be spent paying bills, buying groceries, and going to the doctor. Yay. (Actually, yay to the doctor's appointment, boo to everything else.)

Update on yesterday

So, yesterday was not a day of rest. We dropped the car off for an oil change and went to St aple's for another filing box so I could work on my kitchen table. Then we went to Lowe's to buy Michael a new skilsaw and saws-all, and me a rug pad for our living room rug (it slides across the hardwood - not too safe).

Then it was off to Jody's Optical to see my seester. She had bought me a present, and she wanted me to come pick it up while we were in town. Guess what she got me.... The book Love You Forever!!! I've been looking for it every time we go to Wal-mart, and haven't been able to find it. Well, she found it and bought it! SQUEEEEE!!!

Then we walked down to Piggly Wiggly for a few items that we had run out of. I just went grocery shopping last Monday, but I've been eating 5 times a day, sometimes 6!!!

Then it was time to go for my checkup at Roberta's. We got there and signed in. I noticed the waiting room was empty except for us, but I thought maybe it was just because Dr. Carlota was out of the office. The receptionist noticed we were there, and told us that Rpberta was out delivering a baby. We could either wait, come back at 2:30 (it was 11:30 right then), or reschedule for next Monday. So we rescheduled. Next Monday it is.

After rescheduling our appointment, we went to see if the car was ready. It was in the garage on the rack when we pulled up, so we waited. After getting our keys from the mechanic, Michael called and ordered us bacon cheeseburgers from S&Z. I followed him until he pulled off there. I went home, got in the mail, and waited on my burger. After eating, he cut grass and cleaned up the yard while I worked on the table.

I got the table half cleaned off before dinner time. I threw away half of the stuff I cleaned off the table. If it wasn't ours, it got thrown away. (We still get junk mail for people who lived there before us, and for Mamaw. It sometimes gets lost on the table.) If it was an old newspaper, it got thrown away, read or not. Junk mail, garbage or shredder. Bills that have been paid, filed. Coupons, stored in coupon organizer or thrown away. All Michael's screwdrivers and stuff he's piled up there, taken back out to the shed with his other tools. Unread magazines, dumped in a shoebox-sized plastic tote for reading or giving away. (Maybe I can use some of them for reading material during my maternity leave and hospital stay?? All I know is, there's no way I'm throwing away Better Homes and Gardens, American Baby, and Michael's Field and Stream magazines without looking through them first.)

I also created temp files in one of my file boxes for crafting ideas, recipes to add to my MasterCook software, paint samples for painting our bedroom (one day, I hope), and stuff like that.

I also cooked dinner last night! Lemon Pepper Chicken, mashed potatoes, shells and cheese, salad, and Texas toast. (Easy cooking with Lawry's Lemon Pepper marinade. I don't marinade - just pour it over th etop of the chicken pieces, add a little water to the bottom of the baking dish, and bake until the chicken is cooked through.)

After eating dinner, I got Aaron to put up the leftovers, I neatly stacked my file boxes and stuff back on the far edge of the kitchen table, out of the way. (Mainly so we could walk through the kitchen around the table this morning!) After stacking everything up there, over half the table was clear! Yay me!

Then I went to bed. I was exhausted. I woke up this morning still tired. I started to cancel my overtime today, but the thought of missing out on duoble overtime made me come to work anyway. I'm going to tell my boss today that I'm canceling tomorrow. It's only regular time-and-a-half overtime, so quite a difference in the amount of money lost by canceling tomorrow instead of today. I may have them cancel one overtime day each week from now on, giving me two days off and five days on. Or I may have them swap me to 40 hour weeks until I take my leave. It depends on how I feel after I work the rest of this week (except tomorrow).

Today is 30 weeks!!! T-minus 70 days and counting!

From BabyGaga, the crappiest of all pregnancy sites (but a good description of this week's activities, and i haven't gotten any better ones in my email yet):

Week 30: Goodbye monkey baby, hello roly poly!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 30:fetus in seventh month

The light is visible at the end of the tunnel! Your oversized self and amazing growing baby have finally reached the single digits (in terms of weeks till birth)! The fine lanugo hair that has been growing all over their little monkey-like body is going to start falling off this week in preparation for the big day. But don’t be shocked if they’re hairier than you’d anticipated, some babies keep their lanugo until after birth. Still, it’s not any cause to be concerned as it will fall off eventually. No surprises here: your little porker is getting even cuter with increasingly pudgy arms and legs this week thanks to the ever-growing layers of subcutaneous fat. In terms of numbers, your baby should be weighing in at around 3 pounds 12 ounces (or more!) and be nearly 16 inches long.


And how's mom doing? On a very serious note: you should make sure to determine both you and your baby’s blood type. It’s extremely important for everyone. In the case that you and your maturing babe’s blood types don’t match there’s a chance you could produce antibodies that could potentially attack and harm a future fetus. It is rare, but with modern medicine, the problem is easily corrected and little cause for concern if dealt with properly.

As for the ongoing joys of being in your third trimester: your not-so-fun symptoms are just intensifying this week, so it might not hurt to slow down a bit and focus on yourself. If you’re feeling extra fatigued, you’ve probably joined the sleeping shouldn’t be this tough when I’m this tired club, especially if you’re experiencing a lot of back pain and general discomfort. If you’ve been pushing the exercise thing, then this is the time perhaps to cut down on the physical activities and focus more on getting proper sleep (if this means buying a pregnancy pillow, then do it!). Oh and all that moodiness? Just go with the flow emotionally. This doesn't mean letting the hormones win and becoming a complete psychotic. Instead, feel the feelings, but know that the drama you’re feeling is largely a result of increased adrenaline thanks indirectly to hormonal swings—not because things really are that dramatic and merit adult temper tantrums. The clincher symptom for this week: it’s highly likely your libido has gone on sabbatical. This, as far as we’re concerned, is perfectly natural in your condition.

And now for my thoughts on the above info:

Glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel. As long as it's not a train. Also glad for single-digit week count until D-Day! WOOT!!!!!

Blood type not an extremely big issue here. I mean, of course I'm concerned over it and I truly hope it doesn't create any problems. But I'm a negative blood type, so my midwife automatically gives me Rhogam, at 28 weeks and right after delivery, to greatly reduce the risk of complications should the baby be born with a positive blood type. I also have no idea what my dear husband's blood type is, much less if it is positive or negative, so this could be a potential concern. I've already had my first shot, which cost me $43.00 to pick up at the pharmacy. I almost choked over the cost. That was WITH INSURANCE!!! But, I guess nothing could ever cost too much when it comes to baby's health, so I paid it, and will file it on my HCSA for reimbursement, anyway, so....

I do feel extra fatigued. When I get off work today, i will have worked 50 hours this week, so no wonder. my boss is threatening to cut me back to 4 10-hour shifts a week until my leave. I hope he waits a few more weeks, at least, so i can try to get in at least some of my overtime for the outage first. The extra money would be nice in savings. :)

Moody? ME???? Surely not. I'm never moody. I don't know what they're talking about.

Libido? What's that? I'm more interested in a full night's sleep at this point.



With all that said, I would like to point out that the pain I was having yesterday continued until I went to sleep last night, off and on. Doctor said not to worry, unless it gets worse or has signs of labor associated or something like that. Then I should call right away and/or go to the ER. The pain has been pretty much abscent today, except for a couple of times, but the baby was moving then and I think he caused it.

I'm hoping for a quiet weekend. Tomorrow I have pre-registration, haircut, grocery shopping, etc. to do in town. Hopefully the rest of the weekend we can relax and chill, just the two of us. Starting Tuesday, unless my boss gets his way, I'll be working 75 hours a week, at least for a few weeks. Mondays will be my only day off. Joy. I may work the extra hours a few weeks and then go to 40-hour weeks. Who knows? It all depends on how I feel each day.

To Do List and general update

Yay! More stuff done!!!! My shower is done. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who came , and for all the wonderful gifts! I am so grateful that so many people love our child and are so excited for us, that they would take time out to come to my shower. I never imagined we would get so many beautiful, nice gifts! Thank you cards are coming soon!!

Now, for my To Do list:

1.) Debbie (bless her) got bored at my house while Aaron was trying to fix Dave's computer one evening, and she scrubbed my microwave!!! Can you believe it? I could have kissed her!
2.) I filed all my 2008 HCSA receipts, and have gotten reimbursed for them. I managed to file enough receipts to use up everything in there from last year. I also went ahead and files some from this year, that I could find. Since I filed them, I have made a manila envelope to hold receipts until they're filed, so I can actually find them when I need them.
3.) Michael had Aaron clean the carpet upstairs. He had to clean his room, since it was his dog that peed and pooped in there, so he cleaned the little 4 foot by 5 foot landing at the top, too.

Really, in all actuality, I only personally completed ONE thing from my list, but I'm still counting it all. Hey, a pregnant gal takes credit for everything she can, right??? ;)

Also, I have discovered Google Documents. Totally awesome! I mean, I've known about it for some time, but never used it. Today, I have begun uploading documents to the site. Now I can access them from any computer with an internet connection. Good thing, since I have docs scattered across the desktops of most of the computers at work. I'm trying to gradually get them all loaded onto Google and sorted into folders and deleted from the hard drives. One small step towards being organized. I'm also doing the same for my email, since I'll frequently make a personal document and email it to myself so I have it at home and work. This will help clean out my inbox. :)

My glider came in that Michael's parents and sis/bil bought for us. We're going to put it in the living room for now. We'll be getting that put together this weekend, if he didn't do it today. Add that to the to-do's. Also, thank you cards for the gifts we've received, ordering my breast pump, grocery shopping, getting a haircut, pre-registering at the hospital, and buying larger bras (again). It never ends.

My breast pump will probably be the Lansinoh double electric pump from BRU. I have a 15% off coupon for any pump, and it looks to be the best-rated for the money that they sell. My coupon isn't good until April 17, so I have to wait until then to order.

Grocery shopping won't be that bad. I'll be working every day except Mondays, beginning next Tuesday (April 21) until I decide that I'm crazy for trying to work the outage while this pregnant, or until my doctor says otherwise, or until my bosses force me off shift due to my advanced prenatal state, or until my leave starts the first of June. Therefore, groceries will consist of stuff like pizza, fries, chili dogs, bagged salad mixes and fresh veggies to make side salads, stuff for me to eat at work, and such. Stuff the guys can cook without oversight by me. Because if I have to come home and oversee dinner prep, I'll eat cereal or a sandwich and go to bed.

Since groceries will probably come from Walmart, getting the bras and thank you cards won't be such a big deal. As long as I remember to buy them.

I'll get my hair cut and pre-register at the hospital Friday before shopping. I say Friday because there's rain in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday. Boo.... It figures it would rain during my last weekend off for a while.

Chris will be staying with us one night this weekend. His visit last weekend got cancelled because Pooh went into the hospital again, so we had to rush to Huntsville.

Monday will bring another doctor's appointment. Can you tell it's getting closer to delivery day? The every-other-week appointments have started. This one should be just a regular check-up.

In other news, Pooh and the twins are hanging in there. So far, so good. They've stayed put a few more days. Her OB believes all would be well if they were to come now, but would still prefer to keep them in as long as possible. The mag seems to have done the trick. At last check, she was back off the mag and on just IV fluids, and her appetite is back. She's been craving baked potatoes. :)

Lori's mom made it fine through her back surgery. They had to completely remove the damaged disk, and "screw" her spine back together. She is home and in some pain, but fine otherwise.

Chris had a baseball game Saturday, that we got to go to. His team lost, but they played really well. Most of their practices last month got rained out. They didn't get to practice as much as they had scheduled, but the kids still did realy well considering this is self-pitch instead of coach-pitch. One boy on the team has never played before this year. He did really well, too. Our pitcher started out throwing his pitched over the batter's head, but he quickly settled down to pitch a good game. He struck several players out. Chris has just enough team mates for the team to play a game (9 players are required). If even one boy misses a game and a sub can't be brought in from the other team at the school, then they have to forfeit the game. Saturday we had one sub player. Chris did well in the game, too. He has really improved over the level he played at two years ago. He didn't play last year, because he lived with his mom and didn't want to play there. It seems to have instilled more confidence in him, which is great. As long as it's confidence and not arrogance. He is quick to point out himself the areas he could improve in. He is also quick to acknowledge his teammates' improvements, good plays, etc. All in all, the boys had fun, and that's what we're all there for.

That's all I can think of for now. Not much, is it??? :) That's what I get for neglecting my blogging like I have the last week or two, I guess. Hopefully I will be able to update more regularly. I had gotten into the habit pretty good, but I let that slip with all we did this past week and weekend.

Quick update - AKA my 17w3d "Almost halfway there" freak-out

I have almost reached the halfway point of this pregnancy. Wow. Halfway there. Five more months. Considering I will work one of those months in "outage mode", then that really only leaves me with 4 productive months to get EVERYTHING done... Oh CRAP! We've bought a few onesies and a couple of cases of diapers and a few other things we KNOW we're gonna need, but that's about it. I've picked out my nursery furniture. Then I checked and half the set is on back order, so I may have to pick out something different just to make sure it gets here on time. We know what theme we want to go with, depending on whether the baby has a penis or a vajayjay. I haven't registered, picked out bedding, painted, cleaned out the nursery, bought baby clothes, or anything like that. There's still carpet to clean, walls to wash, a glider and ottoman to pick out, a house to organize, clutter and "stuff" to go through and trash anything I can, boxes to unpack from when we bought our house eighteen months ago, Chris's scrapbook to work on, the baby scrapbook to start as soon as the gender is revealed to us.... OHMYGOD! Four more months is not enough time. Not with the way I work, days this week, nights next week...... For Pete's sake, I just ordered my first few pieces of actual maternity clothes today. I'll have to buy more ASAP. My scrub tops for work are almost too small in the belly already. I guess sooner or later I'll resort to wearing maternity jeans and t-shirts to work, just so my belly will stay covered.

OK, freak out over. I feel better. I know it'll get done, if I get off my butt on my days off and do it. Lately I have had no motivation to do anything other than eat and sleep. I'll have to change that. I think my work/sleep schedule has a lot to do with it. My poor body doesn't know if I'm coming or going, on top of being invaded by a foreign person with whom it has to share everything. I have to work nights next Tuesday through Thursday night, but then it's 3 weeks of day shift. Hopefully then I'll take on a more regular schedule and I'll feel like actually doing something during the day other than sitting on the couch watching TV and surfing the internet.

The good news is, as of January 6, I've only gained about four pounds the last 17 weeks. I want to gain a little more than the minimum recommended weight, but I want to stay away from the upper end of "recommended", and I definitely DO NOT want to gain over the recommended amount. I think 30 pounds, give or take one or two, would be good. I gained over 35 pounds last time, but I was a teenager, so it was recommended for me to gain a little extra then. Not this time. This time I get 25 to 35 pounds. Period. And I intend to aim for closer to 30 than 35.

Funny, four pounds gained equals a belly so big people at work are starting to notice it under my scrubs. Good grief! I'm going to be a lot bigger than last time, I think..... :)

Messed up schedule...

So, work messed with my schedule. Due to some people going into license training, and others going to a dayshift-only tagging team, I am being moved from Group 1 to Group 3. I worked Friday night, took off Saturday night to go to Chris's two (jamboree) football games Saturday, and worked Sunday night. I will be off Moday. I have to work Tuesday through Thursday, dayshift.

I still have to redo my work schedule calendar that I gave everyone. Momma, do you know if I can share a Google calendar or something like it with people? It would be easier for you, Becki, Granddaddy, and Grandmother to know my schedule if I could. At least, it would be easier for you and Becki. I don't think anyone ever looks at the paper schedules I printed everybody. If I can't share it, I'll just make and print new ones I guess.

Now on to the important topic of football. Bama won big time (ROLL TIDE). Auburn beat Mississippi State 3-2 (better luck next time to the Dawgs).
As for Chris and his team:
1st game, vs. Elkmont - won 12-7
2nd game, vs. East 2 - lost 16-0

Found a new website, www.orgjunkie.com. She does Menu Plan Monday, where a bunch of bloggers post the coming week's menu on her site each Monday, sometimes including recipes and grocery lists. Last week, 351 people posted their menu. Today, 162 people have already posted, since around 3:00 yesterday afternoon. Maybe it will give me ideas. I have run out of new foods that I can actually get Michael and Bobby to both eat, and I'm tired of eating the same stuff over and over. At least they both LOVE Hobo dinner. They request that almost every week.

I'm tired, and I'm glad it's almost time to go home and sleep a few hours.