38 weeks - Ups & Downs

Super Huge UP! I had TWO baby showers this week!!

On Tuesday night, my Bunco and neighborhood group got together to play Bunco first (of course) and then had a baby shower afterwards. It was so fun to have the neighbors all so excited for a baby in the neighborhood! I think there were about 15 people there, so it was a great turnout. I (well Peanut) got tons of cute clothes and toys too!

On Friday, some of my work friends (10 of them) hosted an "Open House Potluck" baby shower over the lunchtime hours. It was really fun - lots of men & women both. People were able to drop by, grab a plate of food, chitchat for a bit, and keep going with their day. It meant a lot that so many people stopped in - maybe 40? I haven't counted them all up yet but it was a lot! It was so fun.

Since I started my new job in September over at the TOC, I really miss all my old friends from the past 5 years in the other buildings! It was super nice to talk to folks that I haven't seen for about 6 months.

We did the traditional gift-opening at the end as well, with some super cute AND super useful stuff plus a TON of group gift cards. Those will come in SOOOO handy to buy all of the last minute supplies we are sure to need! 

Down - Jeff found something was leaking on the fish tank on Saturday night. CRAPPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We spent the evening and night disassembling and trying to find the leak, and then trying to determine our next steps.

It was super stressful because if the tank was really unstable, the whole thing could have blown at any time! And, to either tear the whole thing down OR to replace the tank and move everything is at least a 3-5 day project. Turns out, we think some gaskets were leaking (best case scenario).

The fix is still "in process" of being finished but hopefully it will be completed today and we will feel confident of no more leaks by tomorrow. This is literally the fastest and most cost effective thing that could have gone wrong! So, I guess that part is good...

UP - Peanut is not here yet...we have time to finish stuff at work, and at home!

DOWN - Peanut is not here yet...I'm getting anxious for labor & delivery, and am ready to meet him (and stop waddling)!

End of Pregnancy Randomness

My only pair of shoes left that fit are size 10.5 lace up gray tennies. Um, not work appropriate but it's what it's gonna be.

I hate pants. They are all too tight in the lower belly and legs. But I can't wear dresses anymore because of the aforementioned gray tennies (well my flats technically fit but allow my feet to swell up like CRAZY). PS - Maternity yoga pants are ok but not for work!

I never realized that pooping normally was such a luxury.

The nice(?) part about being fat, then losing weight, and then getting pregnant...no new stretch marks...

At this point, is 2 cups of caffeine really that big of a deal? I think not. COFFEE IS MINE.

I'm bummed that soon I will not have an excuse to eat Dairy Queen, which was strictly VERBOTEN pre-pregnancy.

I have hated pineapple FOREVER. It's too acidic and makes my tongue and throat hurt. However this week (week 39) I can seriously not get enough of the little fruit cup with juice plus 4oz 2% cottage cheese, eaten every other bite. Weird, right?

I have never been so impatient in my life. I keep reminding myself not to wish time away. It's hard.

Nesting?

Is it considered "nesting" if I can't wait for my housecleaners to come again?

They cleaned last week on Wednesday, and are coming again this week on Wednesday...and I'm freaking out about every speck of dust they missed last time, and the floor being slightly dirty, and the bathrooms needing to be cleaned again...

Now mind you, I'M not the one who is going to clean - but I can't wait for them to come again!

Other things "hanging over my head" that I am being a bit ridiculous about:

I am doing a zillion tiny loads of laundry because I don't want any dirty clothes in the baskets. Also, I have like 3 pairs of pants and 5 tops that fit (for work). Must wash often.

I have reorganized the clothes drawers in Peanut's room about 4 times. Now things are sorted by size though (newborn vs 0-3 vs 3 months vs beyond).

I drank spoiled milk the other day and didn't realize it until a quarter glass through...my taste buds have been 'off' so I just figured that was it. I made Jeff smell it and he about gagged. Oops. So then we both completely threw stuff out of the fridge (when we lost power during the ice storm things got a bit warm and spoiled faster than expected).

I have made about 12 different lists of stuff to do before I go into labor. One of which included "paint toenails". Also, "pack snacks for hospital bag". (Really?)

I am paying my bills on an every-other-day basis. My usual schedule is once every 2 weeks.

The bird feeders are getting refilled at about 3/4 empty. Usually they go empty for a day or two before I notice.

I purchased almost $300 worth of groceries this weekend so I would "have stuff on hand"...

So...is all of this nesting? Or is it just me being SUPER TYPE A to be as prepared as possible???  WHO KNOWS!

37 weeks - Ups and Downs

We are ready.  As ready as we're going to be, I think anyways!

Got the hospital bag packed, got the nursery done, got teensy little clothes washed and put away...now we are just WAITING!

Up - He finally has moved (down, I think) and OFF MY SCIATIC NERVE on the left side!!!  Huzzah!!!  I still waddle a gimp but a lot faster and with a lot less grimacing than a week ago.

Down - I am not sleeping more than 1-2 hours (average is 1.5 like clockwork).  I can only lay in bed about 3 hours before my hips ache so bad, I can't flip over without assistance, and I have to move to my favorite recliner chair.  I'm afraid I'm gonna bust my chair before this thing is all over!  It's been creaking a LOT this week (so have I actually).

Up - The weather allowed for 2 snow days - which were work from home days - and I'm so grateful that I got to wear comfy pants and work from my aforementioned comfy chair.  (Sensing a theme???)  And then this weekend it was BEAUTIFUL!  I feel lucky to live in a place with such a great climate 90% of the time.

Down - Swelling holy mama.  I have been used to feet and ankles swelling when it's hot, after flying, after a lot of walking, etc...no surprises there.  Swollen feet are not unfamiliar to me.  But I have NEVER had swelling in my feet and ankles like this.  The skin is so tight it hurts!  And none of my dang shoes fit.  My toes literally hit the inside of all of my shoes.  And my hands are perma-swollen.  And I swear, it's either my face being fatter or something but I can see "poufs" under my eyes when I look down that never used to be there (maybe it's the non-sleeping?).  Oh well.  These are inconvenient but not painful, so I can't ask for more.  And, my blood pressure is still really low so I guess this will just be!

Storm Cleanup & Git R Done Sunday

Well, it's 60 and sunny today.  You would have never guessed the crazy winter weather of the past 2 weeks if you just looked at Georgia today.

So, Jeff decided it was time to cleanup from the ice storm this week.  We had lots of branches down - but thankfully no huge trees.

He decided to burn everything from the front yard, plus a bunch of leaves that were still left from the earlier burn day in January, over in the side yard next to our walkout basement.

It is SMOKY!  WHEW!

Meanwhile, I've been sitting inside, getting "stuff" done:

Watering plants
Unloading and reloading the dishwasher and cleaning the kitchen
Refilling bird feeders
Shower and dressed (haha, no small feat for 38 weeks pregnant)
Paying bills
Organizing our year end statements for taxes
TurboTaxing our 2013 taxes (how do we owe AGAIN!????!!!, I gotta recheck a bunch of stuff)
2 loads of laundry washed and drying
Working on Peanut's Baby Book
Making our meal and grocery list for the week
Visiting with friends and Peanut's BFF Caleb

I just have a "feeling" about this week...even next week...if I go into labor, I want all this STUFF done!!

Peanut's Nursery

Without further ado - Peanut's nursery!  Jeff stood in the middle of the room to take the photos and kind of turned in a circle, so you can see everything in there.

The only thing left is to put some curtains over the shades, but other than that - I think we're done!

We have actually been this close to done for a really long time.  We ordered the bedding and furniture ages ago, and Jeff has been a rock star at putting everything together to accommodate my Type A personality.

We have a drawer for footed jammies, a drawer for sleep sacks and onesies, a drawer for outfits, another drawer for bedding, and a drawer for blankies and burp cloths.

We got the diaper genie put together and have one (!) box of diapers.  

We also kept the twin bed in the nursery, for guests and also exhausted parents :)

OK PEANUT - WE'RE READY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  YOU CAN COME OUT ANY DAY!!!!!

 

#SnowJam Part 1...pending Part 2

In honor of our impending #SnowJam Part 2 - here are photos of our place from 2 weeks ago, when Atlanta was shut down.

I was one of the lucky / smart ones for the #SnowJam Part 1, and took off from work about 11:30AM. I had a completely normal commute - snow was 'just starting' to accumulate on the ground, and had not yet frozen, by the time I got off the interstate.

Our streets were REALLY slippery for about a day last time until everything melted off. I expect the ice storm coming this afternoon will be more of the same.

I will definitely be heading home before all the rain turns to ice. It's about 38 degrees right now.

I hate to say it - but it was REALLY NICE to be this pregnant and have 2 work from home days last time! It kills the group productivity but for my personal production - I got a TON of work done! So we will see how the next 2 days go...stay safe out there!

Making it comfortable

Lois came to visit while en route to Florida...just in time to experience our cold and #Atlantasnow 2014!

But before the weather set in, Jeff and Lois decided to improve the comfort of our house by insulating the basement.  

I'm so grateful!  They put up rolls of insulation all through the basement, crawled into the crawl space to do the same, insulated a bunch of vent things (which is also probably how the mice were getting in), and tacked up foam boards all around the concrete areas.

I was skeptical that those changes would make a difference to how the house feels - but it was COLD this week and the house felt a lot more toasty than it normally does.

THANKS for the home improvements!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

35 weeks - Ups and Downs

Ups - 2 SNOW DAYS!  I was NOT caught in the traffic because I left work very early on Tuesday...so got to work from home in my PJ's, in a comfy chair, with the heating pad for 2 days.  My sciatic was so thankful.  Still can't walk worth a darn, but I was grateful for those 2 days.

Downs - Pain, pain, pain, wobble, waddle.  Blegh.

Ups - We picked out Peanut's coming home outfit from Buy Buy Baby!  It's so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Downs - I'm always hungry because I can't eat much, because I can either breathe or have food in my tummy!  And no matter what there's heartburn.

I guess this is why there are 8 months of kind of okayness, and the last month you just want the baby OUT!

34 weeks - ups and downs

I only have downs this week...my sciatic on my LEFT (the other side from before) is killing me.  I can't sleep because I either have to pee, or my back hurts.

I'm gimping around so so bad.  Chiro and massage help but only temporarily.

BOOOOOOOO