Hardheaded Baby

Took this image of a baby at 32 weeks from BabyCenter.com. Can't believe how much the baby looks like a BABY!

Saw Dr. Norwood this morning. LOVE him, and I know I'm getting great care, but his office has not been on schedule once! This morning I waited for an hour before I saw him. Usually I cut him some slack and assume he was delivering a baby or something, but I don't know. It's just a little frustrating when I have to reschedule conference calls because I'm still sitting in a waiting room an hour after my five-minute appointment was supposed to be.

But enough complaining. There's much to be happy about! As I said, my appointment only took about five minutes, but we were able to hear the baby's strong heartbeat and measure my growth (right on schedule). My blood pressure was good and my weight was on track... I only gained a pound in the last month! What?! I have been eating SO BAD -- burgers, pizza, cake, cupcakes, cookies -- that I thought I was going to get lectured at. The doctor told me I can afford to gain about five to seven more pounds until the baby comes... When I do the math, the baby should gain three to four more pounds, so I have a little wiggle room. Just a little.

There was one very interesting moment during the appointment... The doctor was palpating to feel the baby's position, and he dug his fingers into my lower abdomen and goes, "WOW!" like he was shocked. Not something I really want to hear. When I asked him what was going on, he said, "Your baby has a very hard head! Proves paternity, huh?" Cute joke, but I don't want my baby to have a hard head! His head can suddenly become very hard immediately after birth, but I want it to be soft and sponge-like until he's out of me! You know?

So I haven't googled "unborn baby hard head" yet, but I probably will. Google... frenemy.

The good news is that the baby is head down, yeahhh! I asked Dr. Norwood what the chances of him flipping to head-up are, and he said not high. Apparently our little dude has discovered the most comfortable position, and he's unlikely to want to get out of it until we're ready to meet him. So that's an answer to prayer!

I have had about three Braxton Hicks contractions over the past week and a half. The first two took my breath away because they were so painful, but I have read that they aren't supposed to hurt. So I asked Dr. Norwood, and he said that's baloney -- that in a lot of patients they hurt worse than real contractions because the muscle groups are pulling APART (Braxton Hicks) rather than working together (real contractions).

Now that I'm 32 weeks, I'll start seeing Dr. Norwood every two weeks for the next couple of visits, then every week. Exciting! I can't believe how it's flying by!

Overdue

No, not that kind of overdue... :) I still have about eight or so weeks to go. But I am long overdue for a blog post! I have been writing all kinds of posts in my head -- about Mother's Day, the nursery (almost done!), and more... but I have just been enjoying my FREEDOM (said like William Wallace in Braveheart) since graduating that I haven't sat down to write it all up.

Work has been busy enough, though not as crazy as it was last month and earlier this month. It's kind of nice to feel like it's slowing down a bit after some emotional/chaotic days. I don't plan to take maternity leave (or in my company's case, short term disability) until I go into labor.

We're interviewing a pediatrician this afternoon, then tonight we'll go to IKEA to pick up a few nursery things. We need drawers for baby clothes, a rug, and a couple of RIBBA frames. Once we get those items, all I need is a rocker and/or glider, then bring on the baby! (Okay in all honesty, we probably need a ton more than that, but at least the nursery will LOOK finished at that point.) :)

More soon! Until then, all is well in babyland. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers as we get closer to July!

Since I haven't posted a bump shot in a while, here's an iPhone pic I put on Facebook last week at 30.5 weeks.

Bump, Week 29

This photo marks the moment I realized I am officially going to have to start doing my hair for the bump shots. Scary.

Feeling good! After a couple relatively low-key weeks, baby has started moving even more frequently. Just like old times, only stronger kicks and punches! Supposedly the seventh month is the most active. I can't wait to meet him. Yep, I said it. The nursery isn't close to finished, and we are woefully unprepared on the "gear" front, but I am ready to meet this spunky angel boy. Brad is even more impatient than me. What an awesome, fun time this is!

Nursery Sneak Peek

I just attended my last class as an SMU master's degree candidate last night. What an incredible feeling!

With that chapter coming to a close (I expect to have my grades within the next week, and I'll be graduating May 14), I am, of course, THRILLED to move on to the next chapter: motherhood!

As you know, I've been highly anticipating getting to work on the nursery. It's FAR from finished -- Mom is coming to help me with a few sewing projects not this weekend but next -- but progress has been made!

Brad found himself with a free night last Tuesday and decided to paint the nursery. What a guy. He had not painted a room in about 8 years, but he kept reading articles about how babies and pregnant women are exposed to too many household chemicals, including the VOCs in paint, so he insisted he tackle that project. Almost six hours later, during most of which I was at class, the room was painted.

The crib was delivered the next day, and he assembled that in no time. HOORAY!

Ceiling fans... What can I say about them? NEED them in Texas -- plus babies should have good ventilation in their rooms because of SIDS concerns -- but man, are they ugly. I decided to try to make the ceiling fan in the baby's room disappear as much as possible by spray-painting the fan blades white (don't worry, I used a mask). I took before and after pictures but I can't find them on my camera... Oops! Trust me, it's a subtle improvement.

I also made over a little bookcase that my grandmother had used for cookbooks for years. It's a great size and shape - nice and narrow for small spaces - but it has probably seen better days. I decided to paint it celery green (low odor/low VOC paint) last weekend, then distress it and apply a sort-of aging glaze.

Before:

After:

It looks yellow in this picture, but it really is sort of a bright, spring green.

Right now it has mostly childbirth/child-raising/breastfeeding books on it (ha!), but soon I will get some more baby-appropriate reading material, as well as a cute basket, and stage it nicely.

Finally, we randomly bought a chair on Saturday... I moved the dark brown chair and ottoman from our living room into the baby's room, leaving a giant furniture void in that corner of our most lived-in room. I had a $150 Groupon to a furniture store in North Dallas, so Brad and I headed up there just to see what was available. They had a pretty reasonably priced, neutral arm chair, so we pulled the trigger and bought it. Once we got it home, however, we realized it was GIANT and made our couch look really dinky. So, another switcheroo, and now that chair is in the nursery and the brown chair is back where it was in the first place.

Pillows subject to change. I like both of these pillows, but not necessarily together.

More soon! I can't wait for the sewing to commence. I am putting myself on a spending freeze this month, so it may be a while before there is much more to show. I've got an IKEA shopping list at the ready...