Nursery Work in Progress

We finished buying furniture for the nursery this weekend AND I got Greg to get the rest of his stuff out of the closet. He even installed some closet shelves for all the baby stuff. Phew! I feel a sense of relief now that I have a place to put everything. Here are a few pictures of the room. We just need to add decorations and find a place for the high chair.


I splurged on a few decor items from Etsy that I can't wait to get in the mail, and my mother-in-law is sending us some really nice curtains. And now I am anxious to complete a few crafty projects so we can complete the nursery!

32 Weeks and Shower Recap

I am so excited to be 32 weeks! Of course, I want this little girl to stay inside me for a while longer, but just knowing that she would have a great chance of survival if she were born now makes me so happy. My next goal is 34 weeks because that is the date my OB said they will not stop things if I go into labor. That is so close! Yikes! We still have a ton of stuff to do!

Two weekends ago, my family threw me an awesome baby shower. My first shower, which I never got around to blogging about, was here in Austin and was thrown for both Greg and I and our friends who are due a week after us. It was coed and was more of a social gathering than a baby shower, but it was really fun. We spent the afternoon chatting with lots of friends we hadn’t seen in ages and eating really good food. We got lots of clothes, some books, bottles, a mobile, and a few bedding items.

My shower in Rhode Island was thrown by my family, and they were sooooo excited about it! This was pretty much the first baby shower my mom’s side of the family has gotten to plan, so my mom, her two sisters, and my grandmother went nuts planning for months. The shower was held in a bar/lounge, which was nicer than it may sound – there were lots of plush chairs and leather couches for people to sit on and a fireplace. There were lots of yummy appetizers and we were served turkey, scrod, and chicken parmesan for lunch. And my family decorated the place all girly.
I also spent a few days in Maine and my high school friends also threw me a little shower at one of their homes.

Baby Girl got soooooooo many clothes! Seriously, I haven't bought her a single onesie, and I counted 52 the other day! She also got a bunch of those toys you hang from the carseat, cloth diaper covers, and a kick-ass high chair.

Here is a picture of me with my tiara and ridiculous baby pin:

Now I am obsessing over getting the nursery done and getting everything finalized. I still have one more shower in a few weeks, and I am itching for it to be here so I can complete our registry.

In other news, things are going well. The Braxton Hicks contractions have continued, but I've gotten good at not letting them freak me out. I had my 32 week OB appointment today, and everything looked good!

30w0d High Risk Appointment

I feel much better now. The visit with the high risk OB went well. Our little girl weighs 3lbs 6oz, which puts her in the 53 percentile. I told the doctor about the contractions, and she agreed with everything my regular OB had said. It was nice for the extra reassurance.

After that appointment, I headed downstairs to see my regular OB. She said she was glad I came in after having 14 contractions in two hours this morning. My cervix still look great. And now I am relaxing - I am done writing down the time of every contraction and will just make a note of it if they become more frequent or intense than what is normal for me.

I did freak out a little when I got home because I had a bunch of bleeding and passed a clot. I called my OB's office right away, and they said it was caused by the exam. And, 6 hours later, there is been no further bleeding.

So, tomorrow I am off to New England for my shower! I am so excited!

I Hate This

I'm still having contractions. They are probably just your normal Braxton Hicks, but I wish I wasn't having so many of them. For the past two days, I have had about 20 each day (not counting the ones I may have while sleeping), sometimes as many as four an hour. I saw my OB on Tuesday, (the day after I was in L&D), and she was not super concerned. My cervix still looked great - zero dilation or effacement. My OB said she doesn't think the BV is causing the contractions, but she doesn't know what is causing them. However, the fact that my fetal fibronectin came back negative means there is a less than 1% chance I will deliver in the next two weeks, so she feels good about that.

She said we needed to learn what is "normal" for me as far as frequency of contractions is concerned. But, she still wants me to call if I have more than 6 in an hour for two hours in a row. She also I could keep up w/ my normal activities for now, except for the elliptical.

However, I woke up this morning at 5:30 because the baby was going nuts, and I noticed more contractions. I started keeping track of them, and I've had 14 in the past two hours. I am sooooo glad I happen to have an appointment with the high risk OB this morning.

Here are a few more notes about my OB appointment:

• I also felt a little vindicated about the fact that I did not know they were contractions until I went into L&D on Monday - I didn't think they were because they are so mild and because my entire stomach wasn't getting hard. I had two while at the doctor yesterday, and she felt them and was like, "It's mostly just on one side. That is weird!" So, at least I know I'm not crazy :P
  

• My OB thinks that my high risk doc mostly likely wants to induce if I go past my due date is because the placenta starts breaking down at that point, which means it will transfer oxygen less efficiently, and she probably doesn't feel comfortable with that considering I have a lung disease.

• The doctors at my OB's office rarely perform episiotomies (:::fist pump:::).

• My OB said she usually doesn't stop labor after 34 weeks. She said the risks associated with the drugs used to stop labor outweigh the risk associated with birth at this point. I trust her, but this information has me a little more nervous about the contractions, because I want to carry my baby to full term!

Since I started writing this blog post, I have not had a single contraction - it's been 20 minutes since my last one, so it looks like they are slowing down. Ahhhh...that makes me feel so much better. Still, I am glad I have the OB appointment today, because I need all the reassurance I can get!

My Trip to Labor and Delivery

Today I made my first trip to L&D. It was completely unexpected, but I am soooo glad I went!

I had been having what felt like mild AF cramps on and off for most of my pregnancy, and I always assumed they were caused by my uterus stretching. Usually, they only last for a few minutes and then go away. But, today they were more persistent. I started noticing them after lunch, and spent most of the afternoon hemming and hawing about calling the doctor. I figured it was nothing, but it was still freaking me about enough that I really wanted it to stop. I finally decided just to call for piece of mind when I was leaving work. I felt silly when I was dialing the phone and figured they would say, "Yes, that is normal," and I would head to the gym. Much to my surprise, the nurse actually said, "Um, NO, that is not normal," and she sent me to labor and delivery.

I got to L&D and found out the sensations that I thought, (for over a month), were the baby pushing out against my belly were actually contractions, and I was having them 1-2 minutes apart! That freaked me out!

Luckily, my cervix was closed and I tested negative for some protein that, if present, would have meant I would likely go into labor in the next few weeks. And the contractions slowed down after a few hours. I did, however, test positive for BV, and they said that's what was causing the contractions. So, now I am on Flagyl.

Holy cow, I am glad I decided to call the doctor!