27 Week Update

Holy smokes, only 13 or so weeks to go? I need to get out of this blase rut I've gotten into recently! (It will all happen when it happens, and if it doesn't, well, then it doesn't. I'm sure that as the weeks tick down, the panic will return more regularly. But for now, whatever.)

Nursery news: The glider was purchased last week and was put together this past weekend. Now all we need to do is track down the matching ottoman since the Babies R Us DH went to didn't have one in stock when he went to get the glider. The paint has been purchased, and I will start taping as I have energy so that will be ready to go whenever DH gets around to painting. Hopefully sooner than later, though he has another project he's hoping to finish this coming weekend that he wants to complete before starting on the interior painting. He's really handy, it just always takes much longer for him to complete a project than estimated. (Those engineers with their crazy needs for perfection!) DH also switched out the ceiling fan switch to one where you don't have to pull the cord to turn on the fan, but he's going to have to do that again with a different model switch as the switch includes a dimmer for the light on the fan which unfortunately makes the light buzz terribly even on full power and that's NOT going to work since that's the only light switch in the room.

I had a thought on why nursery has become a much more popular word here in the States. It's because of blogging - who can figure out whether it's babies room, baby's room, or babys room? Nursery is so much easier to punctuate properly!

Talked to a nurse at the OB's office about the swelling in my left ankle - elevate, hydrate and cut back on the sodium. Pretty standard stuff, which works when I follow it. Of course, now that I'm thinking about what I should/shouldn't eat, all I want is the stuff that's salty. Sunday night I splurged on a bacon cheeseburger with onion rings and my ankle is still showing the effects today despite doing as much as I could properly Monday. Cause and effect.

Next week is the dreaded Glucose Tolerance Test. I'm really hoping I don't fail as all of the artificial sweeteners upset my system in one way or another, and I'm currently going through a lot of sweet tea (decaf, natch). I drank some plain water on a mostly empty stomach Sunday before we went out to pick up the burgers which was a mistake as I started to feel oogie (that would be a technical term, thankyouverymuch) even before we got to the restaurant. I'd had a body-level hate relationship with plain water for a long time which I had only in the past couple of years been able to move into tolerable territory, but those 12 weeks of Morning Sickness caused a rapid reversal of that status, and it apparently still remains back at hate.

This weekend was much more quiet than last - my big accomplishment was clearing out about half of the books which were occupying our remaining guest bedroom closet. There's a medium size bookcase in there which allows me to organize and store fluffy books without their presence sullying DH's office where serious books and classics rule the bookcases. While the bookcase is still full, it only has one layer of books now instead of two on every shelf. The extra books (2 paper grocery bags, 2 fabric grocery bags, and an old dot-matrix printer paper box full) will go home with my parents at their next visit to be donated to the huge annual book sale at their local library (which is where many of the books came from to start with). I also stripped the bed in the nursery in prep for DH taking it down to make room for the rest of the furniture. At some point that comforter and accessories will need to go to the cleaners before they go into storage.

Friday I spoke with a woman about the Birth Classes offered locally. There are three options available: 6-weeks 7-9pm Sunday nights (July/August), 6-weeks 7-9pm Monday nights (June/July), or 1-day 9am-4pm Saturday (June or July). The 6-week classes are $90, the 1-day classes are $100 and cover the same information but in less detail. Strange. Anyway, DH and I discussed this last night and decided that the least of the evils was the Sunday night class. While we hate the thought of giving up any weekend time, the other options just didn't work for us. So that starts on July 11 and finishes up August 15th which doesn't leave much time for my admittedly holey memory to lose too much information before the 25th. (If that is indeed the date on which Little One makes her appearance.)

The woman I spoke with is also a doula. I'd appreciate any input anyone has on that. On one hand it seems like a really good idea, on the other $500? I know hospitals like to get away with as few nurses as possible, so having someone who has gotten a chance to know and talk with me and DH before arriving at the hospital just seems like a really good idea, but I'm not sure how I feel about having another person besides DH/nurses/doctor in the room. I'd appreciate any advice/thoughts/whatever you might have on the subject...She's DONA certified if that makes any difference.

DH and I also talked about the proposed dates for the two showers to be held in his hometown (one friends, one mostly family) and agreed on those - July 24 and 25th. It's going to be a busy weekend! And what am I going to wear? (Yes, clothes, I will definitely wear clothes.)

I've had some fleeting thoughts of being ready for this invasion of my body to be over, mostly in the middle of the night as I'm either hauling my rear out of bed to empty my bladder or rearranging myself in the hopes of finding a comfortable position post-bathroom visit. I'm also thinking it's time to cash in the offer of a massage made by my MIL for my last birthday as my back and neck are starting to hurt from the new postures and awkward sleeping positions. Of course, I want Little One to take all the time she needs to grow fully, etc. I'm just being cranky.

The cranky is not helped by DH bringing home stress from the office. He's in the middle of a GINORMOUSLY HUGE and understaffed project that has been pushing him to the limit every day for months and which will continue to do so well into the fall. He's really trying to keep it separate from home, but there are times when it leaks through, and it's much easier to respond in kind than to respond reasonably which is the smarter option. That's not to say it's a war zone at home, but there are occasional skirmishes provoked by something which would be much less likely to do so without the effects of the work stress. Of course, it's not helping that he's starting to realize that come the end of August life isn't going to be the same, and there's a bit of the stages of mourning going on with that. But we're rubbing along reasonably well, all things considered.

Oh yes, the belly keeps getting bigger (and the belly button shallower). And I did break down and weigh myself last week - thankfully I had overestimated the gain, so instead of 12 pounds over pre-preg. weight I was happy to see only 6-7. Still no new stretch marks (knock on wood!), no size changes or leaking from the boobies, and so on. Pretty boring actually. But boring is good. Boring is very good.