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Countdown

Today was my 35/36 week checkup. It looks like things are progressing, possibly a little faster than expected. I’m 60-70% effaced and my doctor thinks I may deliver in 3 weeks or so (at 38 weeks). Also, the baby has grown a bit since last time, my doctor thought she’d be over 7 lbs if I delivered in  three weeks or so, where at my ultrasound they though she’d be under 7 lbs. I’m getting big, I’m gaining a bit of weight now (though it’s probably mostly baby and water from swelling) but damn is my belly big.

This is all exciting, and also a little scary. I certainly am on board with being a couple of weeks early, if she’s ready to go.  But damn, that’s soon! Still, I’m less and less mobile every day. I have to adapt stuff more in yoga class, and I sleep a lot during the day (but not as much as I want to at night, I’m usually up by 4am). The blood flow issues seem to come and go – some days are really hard, others are almost normal. Generally my feet and ankles are really swollen, and the fingers in my right hand are numb a lot. I’m having trouble gripping with my right hand too. She’s kicking and moving a lot, and since she seems to have dropped a bit it can be way uncomfortable. All of this is well within the norm, but it’s not a lot of fun. Still, I seem to have gotten an extra dose of mellowing pregnancy hormones so I’m not stressing out too much.

The weather in Austin is turning coldish again, not my favorite, but it will probably help a bit with the swelling.

David and I are taking our childcare class on Saturday. Not a moment too soon. Our childbirth class isn’t for a couple weeks, hopefully it won’t be too late!

Nursery!

The nursery is as close to finished as it’s going to get for the next few weeks. We’re still waiting on the awesome glider the grandmas got us, a floor lamp, and some stuff for the dress/changing table. Oh yeah, and a baby. But I think it’s ready for the early debut. The Design Guru will probably add some additional style magic when she photographs it for her porfolio, so I’ll be sure to share those pics.

These are from a quick grab of photos, and my flash was acting up so stay tuned for the really pretty pictures in a few weeks.

Left side of the room: painted book case, Indian wall hanging, some photos, and a placeholder for the glider.

Here's the crib (IKEA) and some decorations.

Check this puppy out: It's a toddler-sized duvet that was decorated with iron on images from David's and my photo portfolio. Brilliant!

The right side of the room: a hand me down dresser painted and then decorated for use as a changing table and storage. More iron on art above!

Decorative detail on the dresser, done by moi.

Baby Shower

I had an awesome shower yesterday. Grandmas Anna and Nancy hosted, and besides all their hard work, some of my very talented friends pitched in to make it a really wonderful time. Special thanks to Robin, Tracy, Emily, and Kyla for their contributions. It was just spectacular. Also thanks to my parents for traveling from California during the storms, and my cousins Mary Lou, Teri and Tracy who came from Houston and Lake Charles.

Stunning chai spice cake by Kyla. How cute is that!

Elephant! I have a thing for elephants...

Awesome henna by Izzy. I told you my hands were swollen...

Gloria, Kyla, Tracy, and Genevive enjoying chai cake

Julie and Phoebe enjoying cake

Belly dance ladies! Tiffany, Chris, Lori, and Helene

Grampa and Gradma Oster with the Pregnant Chick

Suzanne gets her henna did

David, Connie and Candi

Present Madness! Grampa Dave, Grandma Nancy, Me, Phoebe, Emily, Suzanne, Tracy

Grandma Anna Marie

Belly henna!

Coma with dogs

Sneak Preview

This is the beginning of the decoration on the dresser we painted. I used to do mehndi (henna) style painting on stuff and sell it, so this is a fun project for me. Painting furniture is a huge pain in the ass, it turns out. And there is many ways to eff it up. This puppy took 4 coats, and probably could have used another. Also, when you’re painting in a dusty garage, stuff gets stuck in the paint. Which makes decorative painting all the more useful! Now it just has character. We’re putting the mostly finishing touches on the room next Weds, and hopefully I’ll have some pictures that day. Unfortunately, my glider won’t be arriving till mid February so it won’t really be finished until then. I just hope the glider gets here before the kid does!

33 Weeks

Last week’s ultrasound was followed by my regular prenatal visit this week. Everything was fine except my blood pressure, which was a little higher than normal. So I didn’t stress. NOT. Preeclampsia is some ugly shit, and I Do Not Want. And you know what’s good for high blood pressure? Stressing out! Also who likes to get weighed after lunch? Me me! My weight was up a bit, but today it’s the same as last week. But I guess my doctor would have been worried if it hadn’t gone up some. My OB told me to take my blood pressure every two days and keep track of it if it got to 140/90 or higher. So this morning David took it and it was 128/70. Seems I’m back in the normal range. Phew. I think maybe I was just more stressed out than usual. I had my doula with me at the appointment instead of David, and David is kind of a human form of Xanax for me. He’s so coming with next time. (He’s also hiding the blood pressure cuff so I don’t take it obsessively every 2 hours.)

TMQ has been seriously wiggly the last few days. Not sure what is going on in there, but she’s really rocking out. I’m still dealing with some swelling in my hands and feet, but it varies. The biggest pain about it is some carpal tunnel in my right hand. If I sleep with wrist braces on it’s way better, but man are they ugly. The lower back gets more tired more easily, but as long as I’m dragging myself to yoga everything seems to be manageable. That support rig thingy I got is good for walking around, but as usual Miss Q doesn’t like any compression and kicks the crap out of me if I wear it for very long. I have serious doubts that this kid is going to take to swaddling.

So here’s my 33 week girth:

Miss Persephone looks on. Sorry for the blurry.

I remember when this shirt hung to my knees.

32 Weeks

Tiny Miss Quimby at 32 Weeks - that's a profile!

Today Tiny Miss Quimby is 32 weeks and 1 day old (though we reset the counter when she decides to come out). We went for our final ultrasound yesterday and everything seems to be good. She’s on the smaller side of average, which makes her mama very happy. The Quimbys make big babies, and luckily it looks like she’s taking after Oster babies which are smaller. Her heartbeat and all other indicators were good. It was fun to see her wiggling around, though it’s pretty hard not to notice her presence these days – she’s very active.

I’m continuing to be a yoga junkie. I go to at least 4 classes a week. It’s nice to be with other pregnant ladies and share some of the discomforts and fears that it seems like everyday people don’t want to know about. Or want to exaggerate, depending.

Remember when I blogged about a terrible song one of my favorite yoga teachers played during final meditation? So she’s back from maternity leave and I’ve been going to her classes. But she still plays that godawful thing at the end of class. And now that I’m in my 3rd trimester, as predicted, it makes me want to cry. Except I still hate it so I end up fighting back the tears while thinking evil thoughts about the artist and her lack of musical and verbal talent. It’s interesting to be me.

While I’m getting more of some of the annoying 3rd trimester symptoms (swollen hands and feet, occasional heartburn, difficulty sleeping) I actually feel better than I have in a while. The round ligament pain gave me hell last week, but seems to be lessening this week. I think I have some pubic symphesis pain (look it up, it’s fun!) but it’s not that bad right now. I ordered yet another belly support apparatus and when the weather stops being truly horrible I should be able to take some walks.

Work on the baby’s room is progressing well. I’m going to wait until it’s doneish to post more pictures. I still have to do a bunch of decorative work on that dresser that took me forever to paint, but it’s going to look really cool when it’s finished. The only bummer is the glider that the grandmas ordered probably won’t get here till mid February, which kind of blows. Apparently Dutalier shuts down operations for half of December. Oh, to be an employee in France. I want my chair!