My first trip to L&D. Or, the Mesh Panty Experiment.

Yesterday, I woke up with a headache and my head was pounding all day. Tylenol, rest, and lots of water were doing nothing, and my feet started to swell a bit, so at about 10pm I called my OB, who wanted me to come to L&D to get checked out in just in case, since my blood pressure was a little high for me at my visit on Wednesday (130/80, when I normally run 110-120/70-80). Everything checked out fine - blood pressure was 115/75, urine and labs were good. Cervix still high and totally closed (grrr!!) Got percocet for the headache, which is gone now except for a little residual from being tired.

Dr. Burstyn had me go into Bellevue, since she had 4 or 5 patients she was delivering there last night, and let me tell you, I do NOT want to deliver at Bellevue. Don't get me wrong, the staff was nice, but the whole place was WAY too "homey" and outdated for my comfort. Some parts of the room looked old and dingy (especially the carpeted areas, the bathroom/shower area, and the edges of the wallpapered walls). I'll take the big, modern, industrial, sparklingly sanitized Albany Med any day of the week.

I figured while I was there, I'd rifle through stuff and see what I could find. There were like 800 nasal aspirators in the bassinet, so I took one. I also decided to check out these famous mesh panties that they give you postpartum. I've heard about them, and have had some concerns about my ass fitting into them, and whether or not I'd look like a bag of suet. Well, they're pretty sweet. When I heard "mesh", I was thinking like, tulle fabric, or one of those bags that oranges come in. These are a really soft, EXTREMELY light... well, mesh. That's the only word I can think of to describe them. Ok, maybe like a really stretchy, soft cheesecloth? Anyhow, they TOTALLY fit my ass and are actually way more comfy for me than regular underwear with a butt (I only wear thongs because regular underwear just ends up in my crack anyway. My hips measurement is 10 inches larger than my waist measurement, so the butt of the underwear is always tight, while the waistband is big. It's just one bunchy, ill-fitting mess. The thought of wearing a pair of briefs, bikinis, or hi-cuts under any kind of pants makes me cringe). So I'm TOTALLY unpacking the Hanes and pads that I have in my hospital bag and will take as many pads and pairs of these mesh panties that the hospital is willing to give me (or that I happen to find) during my stay there. For all you other first-timers, here they are! If you weren't sure they'd fit you, oh, they will... lol

Project Crib: Mission Accomplished!!

Yes, you heard it here, folks! There is a crib in the "nursery"!! I put it together while Mom held the bigger pieces so I didn't have to lift them. I'm very pleased with it, although for some reason the bedding just doesn't appeal to me the way it did when I bought it. I don't know why. Maybe because in the last week I bought 3 different Japanese fabrics and those are what I'm picturing now? I don't know. Or maybe it's the red in the airplane sheet, and the fact that the sheet is mostly white? I'll try putting the blue sheet w/ tan & blue stars on it tomorrow and see if that looks better. I was afraid that would be too much blue. If I don't like that, I'll go get a solid brown or tan sheet and try that. I just don't want to lose Marius on a solid color sheet with a brown hue... lol

Well, anyhow, here it is:


(Yes, you're seeing this right. It's a plush rat. Isn't he cute? He's so fat.)

Super Awesome Ultrasound!!!

I LOVE MY NEW OB'S OFFICE!!!!

The ultrasonographer was happy and perky and talked and joked with me the whole time. She went into 3D and I got to see Marius' facial features for the very first time! He's got chubby lil cheeks and is cute as can be! This morning, mom, hubby and I all took a guess at his weight. I guessed 7lbs 8oz, mom guessed 7lbs, and hubby guessed 6lbs 8oz. Well, she took the measurements, and he was.... 6lbs 8oz! Hubby got it right on the nose. We got to see him yawn and practice his breathing! It was so awesome!

Here are the pics from today:




After the appointment, Mom and I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics to get some things, then to JC Penney to pick up the crib and mattress. While we were there, Mom decided we should go check out the clearance baby clothes. The clearance stuff was 75% off, we spent $54 on 13 outfits, and at the bottom of the receipt said we saved $167!!! Wow!!!! Sweet deals. We then went to Olive Garden for dinner. Yum! Then WalMart. I was out and about from 1:30-8:30 today, which is a loooong time for me. I'm totally exhausted. I feel like my limbs are gonna fall off, and the crib is gonna have to wait until tomorrow to be assembled. But today was a good day :)

Arrrgh! Burnt pasta!!!

I'm having a bad day. I'm just too tired to function properly, I guess. First, I ordered a big photo album to use for Marius' baby book (I mean, this thing is 12x16". It's rather large.) I had been watching this site for months, waiting for a free shipping coupon, and nothing. So on New Years Eve, I sucked it up and ordered it anyway, because I wanted to get started on the pregnancy part of the memory book. I had to pay TWELVE FREAKIN' DOLLARS for shipping on that damn thing. And don't I wake up to an e-mail from the company this morning - this week they're offering free shipping on all orders over $25. What the hell??? And they won't even credit me with the shipping because I "already used a cyber coupon". Yeah. Ok. I managed to find a coupon for 10% off my purchase, because that's all they were offering at the time. I saved $4.50. Big whoop.

So that's that. I'm tired. I'm hungry. We have NOTHING in the house that's ready-to-eat, so I decide to make the pasta portion of Hamburger Helper, because we don't have any hamburger. So I put it on our crappy ass stove, where the burners heat up with a mind of their own. I sit back down on the couch, am looking at baby stuff, then go to get up and stir the pasta. My back starts spasming like crazy, so I have to remain on the couch for a couple minutes til it passes. I make it to the stove, and this shit is at a hard boil, and I can smell some scorch-iness. I tried to stir it, and the pasta was stuck to the bottom of the pot. The noodles that broke loose were a nice dark brown where they were touching the bottom of the pan. NEVER in my 24 years have I EVER burned pasta. I'm Italian. We don't do that. It's like, a sin.

But you know what? I'm eating that crap anyway, because we don't have shit else to eat. And it's actually not half bad. lol

"Nursery" progress, and a belly pic

Wow. The last 2 days I have been nesting like CRAZY. I mean, it's after 11 p.m. and I just finished in the nursery. Usually I'm out of steam bt 8. I did 5 loads of laundry today, which may not seem like a lot, but I have to go up and down the stairs each time I switch over a load. Not bad. Definitely have more work to do, but it's getting there. The "nursery" is starting to look a little like an actual nursery. Here are some pics from today:
(37w1d)



And look who managed to find a comfy place to hide out while I was organizing things into baskets:
She thinks she's so sneaky...

Met my new doctor!

I like her! She's nice, she listens to me, she's relatively young. I feel much better about her delivering my baby than the cranky asses over at the other place.

Went for an NST this morning. Marius was moving like crazy when I was in the waiting room, but of course stopped when I got into the exam room. lol They hooked me up to the monitors, handed me the remote for the TV and a little handheld thing with a button that looks like something a contestant would use to buzz in on Jeopardy, and told me to press the "Jeopardy button" every time I felt him move. Well, he must've "tuckered" himself out for the day (no pun intended), 'cause he didn't feel like moving. Soo... the nurse comes in with a... CHOCOLATE FROSTED DONUT (!!!!!) and a juice box. Talk about luxury, huh? So here I am, reclined with my feet up, donut resting on my belly, juice box in one hand, "Jeopardy button" in the other, watching Discovery Health on a flat-panel TV, thinking, "Ahhh... this is the life." lol (I wasn't limited to Discovery Health. They had full cable. There was just something interesting on. lol)

After the donut and juice, Marius perked up some. I didn't have any contractions again. Cervix is still high and closed. And I get to go back on Wednesday for an ultrasound!

A crib!!

So we got a JCPenney catalog in the mail, and after flipping through it and seeing the cribs, my mom suddenly remembered that she has a JCP charge card and suggested we put a crib on it!!! So this is the one we ordered (please ignore the display bedding):



And it comes with the rail for when we convert it to a toddler bed! Usually you have to buy those separately.

I also managed to use the Target gift cards I had saved up to order the Snap n Go stroller, changing pad, and Moby Wrap infant carrier that were on my registry! Now just a little more work to do in the "nursery" (yes, the quotes are still there. Hopefully I can remove them soon). Perhaps I'll be ready for this baby after all...