Due Date Came and Went

Well April 1st was my due date and no baby.  I was really hoping that Baby Spud would make his/ her appearance, but not such luck.

I saw the doctor on Wednesday and she told me I was 2 cm dialted.  She swept my membranes.  That resulted in my mucous plug beginning to come out.  My blood pressure was a bit high the first time it was checked, but it went back down.  I had a follow up check on Saturday scheduled at the Mat ward to see what it was like.  My next appt with the doctor is on Monday morning.

For the last two nights though, I have gotten to make a lovely trip to the Mat Ward.  The first trip was because I thought I was in labour. I was having fairly regular contractions, but they were not doing anything.  I was so hopeful as my mucous plug came out. ( Well some of it anyways, this thing seems to be never ending).  I had to stay on the NST monitor for about an hour because the baby was sleepy. Nurse checked me then and said she thought I was only 1 cm.  Had lots of bloody show through the night though.  So got sent home. Note to self: eat something before going in.  It will make sure the baby is active.

Last nights trip was because my blood pressure spike to 133/102.  This time I called the Mat ward first.  They told me to come in and get it checked.  Thankfully I hadn't eaten dinner too much longer before so the baby was quite active.  Didn't have to stay hooked up to the NST too long.  My blood pressure went down a bit while there.  144/88 which is a bit better of a number. They did find a trace amount of protein in my urine. They sent me home and told me to get some rest.  The nurse said I didn't have to come back in for a BP check today as it was roughly 12 hours before I was supposed to come in.  She said that the Dr would follow up on Monday.

So the goal for tonight is to not go into the Mat ward.  Not only is it at night, but it is an hour away and with the price of gas, the next time I go in, I want it to be the real thing.

Mat leave: two weeks in

I have been on Mat leave for 2 weeks.  My house is fairly clean.

I am starting to feel a bit stir crazy.  The sun shines outside, but it is deceiving.  It is still far too cold ( in the minuses) to sit outside or go for walks that are very long.  I have been stuck in the house for things other than swimming.

I have been trying to keep busy, but I just want the show to get on the road.  I know the baby will totally change our lives and I will crave this time to just sit and do nothing, but it just feels like I am stalling the inevitable.

Other than having some painful contractions last week, nothing is moving.  The baby is quite comfy where it is.

37 weeks

Well the baby is officially full term today.Sometime in the next 5 weeks, Baby Spud will make his or her debut.  I am very anxiously awaiting this.

I am also off work for 10.5 months.  I taught 1 class this morning and then had the afternoon off for my DA apt. I am no on weekly appts.

Overall I have gained 39 lbs..10lbs in the last three weeks.  The doctor did not really seemed concerned about it though.  A friend mentioned it might be water retention so I hope that is what it is.  I will try to stay away from any junk for the next little while.

The baby's heartbeat was 138 this time.  It was a little lower than the last few times of 146.

The plans for the next little while are relax, finish any cleaning/ organizing the house, and just waiting and waiting.

Mat Leave is around the corner

So my due date is 4.5 weeks away.  Mat leave is 2 weeks away.

Here is my latest belly pic.

35 weeks 2 days

The baby's room is totally done.  The clothes are cleaned.  We bought a diaper genie. I was just planning on using the diaper pail I bought, but my husband decided a diaper genie was a good idea.

It wasn't the easiest thing to put together, but here it is.  ( The nursery is looking awfully crowded right now)


The only thing I have left to do is sewing.

I have made (and still have some to sew up) some burp cloths using receiving blankets and towels.  I bought some colourful receiving blankets and cut them in half.  I also bought some towels on sale- two bath towels for $6.98.  I cut the towels in half and then in half again.  I sewed the two right sides together on three sides.  I then flipped them over and sewed the other end.  I wanted something that would be pretty, but still absorbent.
So out of 1 towel, I got 4 pieces of terry cloth.  I used 3 receiving blankets, and some of that duck fabric you see later on in this post.

 I already made some homemade nursing pads using two layers of flannel and one layer of fleece.  They work quite well and stay in place better than the commercial ones a friend bought me.

Here is how I made them.

Step 1: I folded a piece of flannel in half.  I happened to find this piece at a second hand store and I washed it up.  I traced circles on it that were 4.5 inches wide.

I traced the circles using this trusty flower pot and a pen.  Not the best way, but I didn't have a fabric pen.

Here is the pile of circles after I cut them out.  You will need two flannel circles and 1 fleece circle for each nursing pad.  I also cut out circles from fleece.  The flannel is absorbent  and the fleece is water proof.   The fleece I used was from a blanket at the dollar store.

Here is the final product.  I sewed together the two flannel pieces with a fleece piece and trimmed the excess off.  I used polyester thread as it helps to make sure that no liquid is carried via thread to the clothing I am wearing.  I find that these stay in place better than the commercial ones someone bought for me.

I also got my my ring sling and my udder cover in the mail this week.

Here is the ring sling.  It is cute comfy to wear.  Just needs to be washed and ironed as it is very wrinkly.

Here is the ring sling in action.  My cat was a good test subject. Don't mind my tank top... it can't cover my belly any more.

Here is the udder cover.  It seems pretty nice.  I will have to see how it works with the baby.

Another thing I want to share is what a friend of mine gave me today.

A Winnie the Pooh Quilt

It will look quite nice in the baby's crib.  The colours of it are awesome.  It is a cheater quilt, but still pretty cool.

My final news is that I am going to be an Aunt again.  My sister is expecting baby number 5

This is her bump at only 8 weeks.  They are checking for twins at her next ultrasound.

Impromptu Trip to L&D

Yesterday I was getting lots of Braxton Hicks.  Those were not bothering me too much, but several times through out the day I got a terrible stitch on my right side.  A few happened while I was in class with students.  I was able to stretch through it.  The worst one happened after dinner.  It was so bad that I could barely walk and I decided to take a warm bath.  The pain did not subside at all.  I had to holler for the Chief to help me out of the tub.  He helped me to lie down in bed where the pain finally started to go away, but it was not completely gone.

I thought it might be a pulled muscle, but I wanted to be safe than sorry.  So I told my hubby I wanted to go to the hospital.  About 10 minutes later we were on our way to the hospital which took an hour to get to.  I ended up driving half way there as well since the Chief was exhausted and started to drift off.

When we got to the hospital, the pain was still there, but not as bad as it had been in the tub.  They hooked me up to a non stress test machine to check on the baby.  I got to listen to the heartbeat for 20 minutes.  It was quite reassuring.  I was not having any contractions.  The doctor saw me briefly and told me it was probably the ligaments holding my uterus getting stretched out and it was nothing to worry about.  Just rest.

So I stayed home today and pretty much rested.  I did clean the kitchen a bit, but I took two naps in the midst of doing it.

Two good things that came out of this is I finally found what a non stress test was and I got to hear the heartbeat for a while.

Putting Together Baby Furniture Reviews

Due to my husband's impatience with putting together furniture with terrible instructions, I am the one who puts furniture together.  My husband will help me and be there to tighten things as need be, but I am the main one who reads the instructions.

So my review of putting things together for the baby.


The crib-  Storkcraft Libby Crib
 I started to put it together myself.  Ended up calling hubby for help as I could not hold the pieces together and put the screws into it.  Overall the instructions were not too bad, but it was quite time consuming to put together.  I think it took roughly 2 hrs to finish.  It was what I expected.  It is not a 4 in 1 crib, but since we are planning as having more than one baby I didn't want a convertible crib.  It has 3 heights you can adjust the crib to.  It also has a teething rail on the side.  Overall a good solid basic crib.

The change table- Storkcraft Libby Change Table
Was really easy to put together after the crib was done.  I was able to do this myself and the instructions were rather straightforward.  I think it took me about 45 minutes tops to put together.  It is very light weight.  It has a safety strap as well.  It doesn't offer tons of storage, but again I was looking for basics.  My MIL bought me an organizer which I attached to the side so that adds on storage.

Stroller- Graco ALANO Flipit in Hathway ( Travel System)
Was fairly easy to put together.  I did make a mistake, but it was fairly easy to fix.  The instructions were not too bad, but were mostly pictures so it did take a bit of figuring out.  It seems to be a good stroller.  It is pretty cool that the handle flips back and forth.

Bouncy Seat-  Took maybe 20 minutes to put together.  The instructions were very straightforward.  It was all things that snapped together, so it could be taken back apart of storage if need be.

Swing- I put together the swing in about 30 minutes. Same company as the bouncy seat and the instructions were very easy to follow.  The instructions included both pictures and words which for me is a good thing. It mostly snapped together, except for the bars of the sear which were screwed onto the side side arms.   It is very low to the ground though so if you had a large dog it might not be the best.  I am not too worried about the cat bothering the baby in it.  When I was done putting it together, the cat tried to get in it, but since it is a swing the cat couldn't get in.

It is very portable.  It folds up very easily for storage.  The seat folds up and the legs can be brought together.

Baby Shower

I had my baby shower yesterday.  Unfortunately, I have no pictures from the actual baby shower as it was surprise and didn't have my camera, but I will try to get some pics off my MIL.  I have pictures of the gifts though.

This is a book of advice from the ladies who attended :)

Nursing Pillow

Really adorable onesies

Lamby blanky..so cute

Little bear cap.  Hopefully it is cold enough when the baby comes to wear it. 

Some clothes

Basket of goodies

Bibs- one for each of us, lol

More cute onesies

The balloons that were tied to my chair

The change table organizer.  This will really come in handy

I got lots of little things for the baby.  It was a lot of fun.

I will post more pictures later.

Nursery is coming together

The room is painted.
The crib and change table are assembled.
The dresser is moved in.

Some of the wall decorations are up.  I decided to with Winnie the Pooh since I was given the wall plaques and a mobile.  I also have several other things Winnie the Pooh since I have always liked Winnie the Pooh.

 The dresser is in place complete with some decorations.  I also love the lamp on the left side.  It isn't overpowering, and I think will be great when I have to get up in the night.  Plus speaking of Winnie the Pooh, there is a big Eeyore ( which will not sit up.)

 The change table is in place, complete with diapers.

 Got the rocking chair for those midnight feeds.

 The rug on the floor is something that I started to make when I was 13 and finally finished when I was 20.  Nothing like procrastination.  When I started it, I thought I was making a rug for my room.  Guess it will work better in the baby's room.

 Some of the decorations.  Some wooden blocks and some Pooh Bear figurines I got when I was teenager.  There are also books on the shelf.  They are Winnie the Pooh as well.

 Some of the clothes that have been washed up.

 The baby's first Pooh bear.  It is not the easiest to find right now where I live.  I want to get all the characters, but I have feeling I might have to order them online.

The second baby blanket I just completed.  It is a fair size and should last the little one for a while.

I just bought some little pop-up baskets to help organize some the baby's stuff.  One has socks, another has hats, and another one has bibs.

 The car seat for the baby.  It is part of the Graco Alano Flipit Travel System.  My parents bought it for the baby.

 

The stroller part of the system.  It is pretty cool as the handle can flip to the other side so I can walk facing the baby.  I also like the pattern.  It might be hard to see in the picture, but it is a light green and grey pattern.

So that is what I have for the little one so far.  I am feeling a little less stressed now that a lot of these things are up.

30 weeks

So I have a little less than 10 weeks left.  It is crazy.  My belly is getting to be so big.  I gained 6lbs in the last 2 weeks.

Here is this weeks picture

30 weeks 5 days

And for comparison

A picture from 2 weeks ago

28 weeks 5 days

 and 4 weeks ago

27 weeks

The baby is sure growing and so am I.

The Bump is growing

21 weeks

23 weeks

25 Weeks

27 weeks

28weeks5day

My bump from 21 weeks looks downright tiny.  I haven't noticed my belly growing that much ( well other than it is very evident now), but it is hard to see how much I really am growing.  The pictures really help me out.