Most Popular Question #3: Is the nursery ready yet?

I get asked a lot of the same questions lately.

#1 - Q: How are you feeling? A: Pregnant, very pregnant.
#2 - Q: Do you have a name picked out yet? A: We have three, which we're not narrowing down until he's born. You'll just have to wait.
#3 - Q: Do you have the nursery ready yet? A: Almost.

This past weekend we finally got the crib set up and a few more things in place in the nursery. Nathan worked on the crib like any proud expectant father does.

We were so proud of ourselves when it was done.
I have also had fun decorating a little... (this blank wall is where the changing table will go)

As you can see, we're getting there. The glider/rocker needs to be moved from the master bedroom to the nursery, and the shelving needs to be installed in the closet so things can be put away. The changing table had to be re-ordered due to it being the wrong color and damaged upon arrival. But at least now Tater Tot has a place to sleep. And don't worry mommies, all the bumper pads, quilt, and stuffed animals will be removed from the crib until he's much older.

Testing...Testing...1,2,3...Are You Ready?

4:44 am Monday 8/24: Chrystal wakes up...thinks, "wow, that is one hefty contraction..."
4:54 am: "Another one? Ugh. I am not going to get any sleep."
5:06 am: "Seriously? This is miserable! Guess I'll go take a bath so these will stop and I can go to back to sleep. It's way too early for this."
Bath..."hmmmm...these are not stopping."
5:46 am: "Wow, still going strong. Maybe I'll try sitting up in bed and trying to sleep."
...Nope. Nice try mommy.
5:51 am: Nathan hears me tossing & turning. "Are you ok?" Chrystal: "Yep, just contracting. Go back to sleep. I'll wake you later."
.....7:24 am: Nathan wakes up. Chrystal is still sitting in bed, breathing deeply every 5-7 minutes.
9:02 am: Chrystal calls doctor's office. Nurse says to go to the hospital...and that was the beginning of a VERY long, frustrating day that ended in being sent home from the hospital. TOO EARLY TO HAVE BABY--35 weeks and 6 days.

I had a feeling the contractions I was having, although pretty consistent in time and intensity, were not going to produce a baby, but following nurse's advice, we went to the hospital...eventually.

After I called the doctor, I told Nathan I wanted a big breakfast because heck if I was going to
the hospital with cold cereal being the last thing I was going to possibly eat for 10-24 hours. No way! So Nate made me a nice big breakfast of pancakes and bacon. (He insisted on the bacon even though I just wanted pancakes. No matter the fat, he wanted me to have PROTIEN in my system for some energy, not just carbs. I thought that was hilarious, but ate the bacon anyway.)

After breakfast, I sent out emails to people at work to delegate my workload. Of course I had a huge deadline that day! Oh well. Mommy duties first, work later. By then it was almost 10 am.

But wait! I'm not going into labor without taking a shower! Who knows when the next time I'll get to shower will be--2 days? So yep, I took a shower. Makeup and hair were...well, not exactly a huge priority. Those were a rush job.

I had previously gathered some of what I needed for the hospital, but my bags were by no means ready. So we gathered the things we thought we would need, following the list from the childbirth class. I distinctly recall putting things into the bag for myself, for the baby coming home, and a change of clothes and things for Nathan in case he couldn't come home for a day or two. As he zipped up the bag I said, "That's everything for the three of us." We both looked at each other and realized with an excited panic that coming home there may be 3 instead of 2. That was a stark reality.

By then it was about 11 am. We loaded Lola into the car so we could drop her off at a pet place to board her for a few days. Thank goodness Nathan had taken Brody to the trainer's the Saturday before. He'll be there for a few months, so now all we have to worry about is one little dog.

By then it was about 11:30 am. The drive to the hospital was a half hour. As we got closer, I suggested making one more stop (contractions were the same) at Target to get a back massager to save Nathan's hands, and to get a DVD so I could watch something in between contractions for the first few hours. Yeah--bad idea. The stop, I mean, not the DVD.

So we get in the store, Nathan goes in search of a massager, and I head to the movie section, which is thankfully just inside the store. I'm standing there and WHOA!!! Holy moly--this one is BIG! I had to stop, breathe, and focus. I was trying to decide on a DVD when Nathan walked up and another one hit. WHOA--hold the phone! I turned to him and said, "We need to go." Walking back to the car was a real challenge. Contractions at this point were 4 minutes apart and VERY strong.

So we get in the car, and I start crying. I don't know why I'm crying, I'm just crying. Nathan asks, "Are you ok? Are you in pain? What can I do, Honey?" I look at him and scream, "I'm not in PAIN! I'm just crying, OK?!" He gets that look on his face like, "I'm really scared of you at this moment," and starts the car.

So now it's lunch rush hour and we're stuck in a big business area with lots of lunch traffic, and of course, road construction. I'm still crying, and Nathan, being the concerned husband he is, says, "Honey, I know you need to get to the hospital, but are you hungry? It's lunch time and you are going to get nothing but ice chips once we get to the hospital. Do you want something?" I'm still crying and say, "I guess so, but we need to HURRY." So he drives to the nearest fast food place--McDonalds. Yuck. I choke down a cheeseburger on the way to the hospital. This is turning out to be a nutritious day (sarcasm).

We're stuck in traffic for another 20 minutes. I recall saying rather loudly and meanly, "Can you step on it? Go faster!" Nathan was like, "Babe, there's traffic. I'm going as fast as I can." And I was like, "You could have made that light if you had stepped on it." Yeah, not my finest moments.

We get to the hospital and I'm contracting just as terribly while the labor/delivery admissions seem to take F.O.R.E.V.E.R. I mean, c'mon--I already did the preadmission stuff! What takes so long?!?

We finally get back to the room, and I get changed, get into bed, and sigh a huge sigh of relief that we're finally here. They hook me up to the monitors and such, and then...no contraction...no contraction...it's like 15 minutes before I have another one...and it's not as bad. Oh, great, just great.

The midwife comes in about a half hour later to check on me and see what's going on. She looks at the lines on the paper the monitor has been spitting out for the last half hour. Hmmmmm...she looks at it again. I can tell what's happening. She's thinking, "Why in the world are you here?"

So they check my other "labor stats." We'll spare the men the details. Things are not "progressing" even though I'm having pretty good, even contractions, or WAS. So we talk about our options: 1. Have the baby pre-term, or 2. Slow down/stop the contractions and keep him baking in the oven as long as possible. We all opt for #2.

After 2 hours of IV fluids, my contractions, which did eventually show back up, slow down from 4-8 minutes apart to 15-25 minutes apart, and the intensity drops like a stone. PHEW! or not. I had such mixed emotions. I mean, I know it was best for Tater Tot to keep baking, but I am SO over this false labor stuff. After nearly 3 weeks of it, my patience is wearing thin.

At just shy of 5 pm that night we walk (I waddle) back out of the hospital, sans baby in arms because he's still in utero. *sigh*

Now I'm on bed rest for however long I want to keep the baby baking. If I get up AT ALL, even just to make a pit stop, which happens frequently when you're trying to stay hydrated to keep the contractions at bay, I get contractions. Most of the day today if I got up at all, they were exactly 8 minutes apart. Fun, fun! (sarcasm)

The good thing in all of this is that we got a trial run. Next time when it's REALLY time, we'll know what to do or not to do. How long it takes to get out the door, etc. Now we have the bags packed, the paperwork done, etc., etc. We did stop at the store and buy a few more things. And the biggest blessing of all is that Nathan is now also feeling the emminent birth of our son and is on board for getting things done. Now that I can't do those million little things mom's want to do to nest, I'm relying on him. And he's proving to be the wonderful husband I know he is. Yesterday he vacuumed the whole house (Hallelujah! That was driving me CRAZY!), did the dishes, did laundry, ran several errands including the grocery store, and still managed to work. Today he even did the rest of the baby laundry and made a really great dinner. I am one lucky woman.

Thanks, Tater Tot, for giving your mommy and daddy a trial run, a learning experience, and the notice that, ready or not, here you come...

34 weeks - 2 days

I have had so many complaints about not blogging and keeping everyone up to date on our lives over the last few months. Since I'm low on time to blog...here is a run-through of this crazy summer...

June - moved into home (renting); took a trip to Utah to have a vacation, to see family and have an awesome baby shower with family and friends (thank you Camyll and Mom!!!); Nathan started his new job at Bank of American on June 29th. Fill in the rest of the time with unpacking, working, researching baby stuff (gear, doctors, daycare, etc., etc.), oh and sleep. Hitting the 3rd trimester of pregnancy brought on lots of sleepiness again.

July- had a nice quiet 4th of July with just us and our dogs (slept most of the day); shopping for baby stuff; week-long vacation to Cape Cod, MA to enjoy time off work, our last vacation before the baby, another awesome baby shower (thank you Eileen and the rest of Nathan's family!!!!), and lots of fun with Nathan's family whom we hadn't seen in 2 years; getting house ready for guests when baby arrives; more baby shopping; house/yard repairs (Nathan doing honey-do's); working, working, working to get ready for maternity leave; Nathan going out of town twice for work, leaving me home with 2 very active dogs; and finally...trying to rest and get sleep.

Aug- baby prep, baby prep, baby prep. Are we ready yet?; work; try to sleep; nesting, nesting, nesting.

Ok. There you have it. That catches you up to the most recent stuff.

Many of you have been asking for a new belly picture. Here you have it--34 weeks less 2 days.

Do you think I have dropped? The other day the contour of my belly completely changed, and I could breathe again. The baby was already low, but I think he's working his way down, which is normal about this time of pregnancy. By the time he's born I'll be waddling even worse than I am now, at least if he keeps it up at this pace!

So here's a funny story. I had NO idea how huge my belly looked until I saw this picture today. Holy cow! That is one pregnant woman! No wonder I get stares followed by whispers from strangers everywhere I go. Seriously. But that's not the funny story...getting side-tracked.

Yesterday we took a childbirth class. With no family in town, and deciding to save money by not hiring a doula as a birth coach, that leaves my dear husband as the one and only labor/delivery coach/support. As such, I insisted that we take a childbirth class. There were 4 other women in the class yesterday. When we broke for lunch, I asked Nathan, "Honey, would you say my belly is about the same size as those women? (note: their due dates ranged from Sept 1st to late October). Nathan: "No." Chrystal: "Huh. So is it smaller?" Nathan: pensive thinking....pause... "Um. No, not really. You're more out, they're more round." Chrystal: "Hmmmm....So what you're saying is I'm bigger than them?" Nathan: pensive thinking....pause...pause..."Well, not really bigger, just a different shape." Poor Nathan, trying to be kind to his pregnant wife. So today I see the picture we took and I declare, "Holy cow! My belly is HUGE!!! I mean, HUGE!!!!" Nathan: "Um, yeah. That's why I was confused by your question yesterday."

Seriously, I didn't realize just how much things have changed in the size department over the last 2 months, but it's pretty significant. Signs that should have been a dead giveaway to me...

1. Touching my toes for any reason has become a real challenge. The only way to get to them is to sit and pull them up to my side, knees bent, or to prop them up on something like the edge of the tub and grunt and pull with a towel or something to reach them, well, and then there's the belly-squishing attempt when I put on my socks, which is REALLY uncomfortable, leaves me out of breath, and makes the baby kick back in protest.

2. I can no longer see my own body past my belly when standing, and can't suck anything in any more.

3. My LARGE size maternity pants are getting tight around the base of my belly and I often have to unbutton them or be uncomfortable--even the stretchy ones--or I have to wear them REALLY low under my belly.

Ok. That's enough--you get the point.

This weekend we also went and did a tour of the women's center at the hospital where this little guy will be delivered. Nathan has been a really good sport all weekend doing all this mommy prep. His eyes were really opened, and so were mine. I wasn't nervous until this weekend. Now I'm still feeling ready to get this kid out, but not so excited about how it has to happen. Seeing the labor and delivery room brought it all home. It's a very nice, comfortable room. Couldn't ask for better. But the next time I'm in there I'm going to be having a baby. OMG!!!! I'm freaking out! I mean, FREAKING OUT! Wow, this is really going to be something.

So now on top of all the mommy to do's I have listed on my white board, I am starting to add to it all the things I learned this weekend. And I realized...ready or not...he's coming within the next 6 weeks. **FREAKING OUT!!!***

Tater Tot is as active as he's ever been. I enjoy sitting and watching him kick my belly. When he's moving, my entire belly looks like it's alive. Of course, the minute I tell Nathan to look, he stops. He doesn't like to be poked with a finger or heel of the hand (or baby monitor from the dr). He always kicks back. He quiets down when I sing or when I rock back and forth. His favorite place to "kick" me is in the bladder. This a very mean trick. He also responds to my rubbing/patting his bottom through my belly. He's been head down the entire pregnancy, so his bottom is always at the top of my belly. He's settled recently to the right side, head down, and kicks me mostly on the left, but elbows me occasionally on the right. He's a strong little beast, and so active that I swear sometimes he sends me into Braxton Hicks contractions from his movements. Every doctor or nurse that sees his movements tell me we're in for it as parents and not to plan on going out any time soon after he's born. He's going to be just as active outside the womb as he is now inside. Wonderful! (um, not?)

To keep my mind a little sane this weekend---we had a family visitor!!!!! Hooray!!!! At the last minute Friday, my little brother called to say he could take time off from his medical rotation/interview in Charlottle, NC, and drive down here to ATL for a 24-hour visit. I was estatic. He is only the 2nd family member who has ever visited us in the last 2 years on our own turf. Me being so pregnant and today being Sunday, we didn't do much, but it was fun to get to see him and chat. We miss hanging out with my sibs and their spouses so much! Having Bryt here was a huge reminder of that. *sigh*

This afternoon Bryt was a good sport and went with us to the Chattahoochee River to let the dogs run and get some of their energy out. I have wanted to take pictures of this place, and finally had a reason besides just us. This picture is me and Bryt standing in the water, camera looking upstream. The pictures don't do it justice. This is our favorite place to take the dogs. It's a beautiful part of the river with sandy shores, and a nice flat area in the water to wade in, which is a nice respite from the hot weather.
As you can see, Lola and Brody have a lot of fun splashing, chasing, and fetching in the water with eachother and their dog friends.

I'd go on, but this post is getting very long, and my eyelids are getting very droopy. Time to relinquish the weekend and go to bed for the work day tomorrow. If it's awhile before I blog again, know that we are thinking of all of you, missing you, and...you guessed it...getting ready for Tater Tot to join us in a very short amount of time.