38 Weeks

That's where I am now. Yes, pretty much all I think about these days is being pregnant.

I was out for a while in my front yard (very tiny compared to the back) with my kids. I used that time to bust up and remove a lot of the old stems and flowerheads from last year's perennials. I usually do that on a warm day in the winter, but haven't for fear of setting off contractions. Yes, it set of cramping and contractions, so I did it carefully since my mom won't be here until Sunday comes.

It felt so good to be gardening again. It's been so long. As long as I'm still pregnant, I'll be doing more strenuous stuff (but still pretty simple) this coming week. I'd like to get some peas planted and some earth turned over. My mom can watch the kids and drive me to the hospital if labor begins. If not, a week from Monday it will be chemically induced.

Doctor's apppointment

I had another doctor's appointment this morning. We waited a long time to see the doctor and J was very bored and misbehaving.


Unfortunately, my belly is measuring too small so the doctor is having me get an ultrasound in the morning tomorrow. I'm not sure what that will indicate, but she thinks the baby is small.

At this time, I'm still 50 % effaced and am now 2.5 cm dilated.

Wednesday

J is at preschool. She took her favorite teddy bear. Her preschool is having "Teddy Bear Picnic" day today.

Last night I had a tour of the birthing area in the hospital. Unfortunately, all twelve delivery/labor/post labor rooms were full so we couldn't see them. They said that was the first time that had happened on a tour. I'll see one of those rooms soon enough. Unless they are extremely full at that hospital, one is supposed to keep the same room for everything from the labor and delivery until she checks out with the baby. All rooms are private. Also (and this is different from where I gave birth to my first to kids), they don't take the baby away after birth to clean it up. They do it right in the same room in which the baby is born. Ten of the rooms have hide-a-beds for the spouse to use. Two didn't have room and so they just have recliner for the spouse to try to sleep in. All rooms are private. There is a nursery one can send one's baby to (and I will at night), but the hospital encourages people to keep the baby with them in their room (rooming in) at all times. I don't sleep with babies in my bedroom. I only had the misfortune of trying that once, when my son was released from the hospital (he was born early) so we had all his presents stored in his crib. He had to stay in the cradle in our room that night, but I had that crib emptied by his second night home.

At the hospital, four matching tags are made. One goes on the mom, one goes on the baby's wrist, one goes on the baby's foot, and one is for the "partner." My "partner" is my husband. Only non-hospital personnel with the tags are allowed to be alone with the baby while it is at the hospital. So unless one makes "grandma" one's partner and gives her the fourth tag, grandma cannot stay alone with the baby while it is there. They told us when we shower, we need to bring the baby into the bathroom with us. I guess babies get stolen often enough the hospital wants to reduce their liability to zero. Also, the only kids under 12 who can visit the baby are siblings. That won't be an issue for us because all my baby's cousins (they're all under twelve) live about 750 miles away. I'll just have to warn my friend who has a daughter in preschool with mine and a son in kindergarten with my son that she should visit with her kids after we're home, and if she wants to stop by the hospital, to come alone. She's not much of a baby person, though, so I doubt she'll be in a hurry to see a baby.

I need to go pick up my daughter and my friend's daughter from preschool.

None

My purse is finally dry enough to use (from the coffee spill on Sunday). I put everything back in it and put the old purse back up high in my closet.

I had a couple errands to run today. I got a new pair of tennis shoes. Actually, they are running shoes. The only way I'd run is if someone or something were chasing me, though. I just like the foot support and ventilation in running shoes.

I also got some Easter stuff and some origami paper at a craft store. That was sort of fun.

I've been on the phone with our state's tax department because our income tax refund was a couple hundred dollars short of what we were expecting and the check arrived with no explanation. They told me some spousal tax credit thing for $234 had been disallowed. I called our accountant's office to tell them what the state told me, and they were supprised no letter explaining this denial was provided and told me I'd need to get the state to send me one becuase we do qualify for the spousal tax credit thing. I called the state back and they couldn't determine why I didn't get a letter, but said they could view the information but couldn't print it (why I'm not sure) and that a couple numbers didn't add up properly so they disallowed it but that if they were given the right numbers, I'd probably get the spousal tax credit and they would send us another check. Since they couldn't print it, they agreed to call my accountant's office to sort the problem out. I certainly hope that happens. I don't mind paying the tax I owe, but I get irate about paying tax I do not owe. I'm hoping the accountant won't bill us for straightening this out or it might eat up most of the $234.

Yesterday I washed laundry and in the dryer, I guess a crayon stub melted. Apparently my son left three crayon stubs in his pockets. It trashed a load of laundry (that held four brand-new, never-been-worn pairs of socks, my favorite pink pillowcase, and the outfit I was wearing in the picture I posted, among other things). My husband cleaned the dryer drum with WD-40 (what crayola recommends). We put in a cream-colored painting drop cloth for a while, and it didn't get stained. I dried the wet load that had been waiting for the dryer, and nothing else got the purplish stain that I noticed so I think the washer and dryer are safe to use.

I ran out and bought another set of pink pillowcases. I got my pinkish sheet set last summer and I like it so much. I was very sad to think it was no longer so nice. All the while shopping, I realized my reaction was a bit nutso since it was only pillowcases, but what the heck--I'm pregnant. Later in the evening I tried rewashing the stained load. A lot of the crayon came out. My outfit in the picture I posted seems to be in good shape. I'm glad; I am planning to donate my maternity clothing to charity when I'm done with them, and that outfit is in very good shape. Some of my things may be too worn to give away. I still have some stuff I'm using stain stick on in hopes it will come clean with another washing, and it may.

I called my mother to complain about my laundry woes, but she blames me. She says whoever does the laundry needs to check all the pockets. I say whoever takes off his clothing should be emptying his pockets before putting clothing in the hamper (or leaving it on the floor), and no one should EVER put crayons in his pockets.

Sunday

We finally made it to church today. I'm not sure we've all been well enough to go since Lent began. I spilled my coffee getting out of the car after church (and a stop at the doughnut place). Mostly it went all over my purse. My cell phone remained dry, but a lot of other stuff was wet. Fortunately I've been using a nylon purse that converts to a fanny pack when I need both hands free. I started doing this after I had J and often couldn't manage both kids without two free hands. I never use it as a fanny pack any more, but I may need to again after I have the baby. Anyway, being nylon, I assume it is washable. I washed it in a bucket with some Woolite. It's hanging on the fence outdoors in hopes of it drying. Now I'm using the old leather purse I used before J was born. K was very kind and shared half of his coffee with me.

K has gone to the duplex to work on the vacant unit from which we evicted the tenant on Friday. He says the plaster is in very bad shape. That's what he plans to begin working on first. He's going to rip out all the smelly, old carpeting, and he believes there are mostly hardwood floors beneath it, which he will work on making look nice. Anyway, K won't be around much for a while (he thinks it will take three months). He did take his cell phone in case I go into labor and need to reach him. Unfortunately, our rental is at least twenty minutes from our home.

It's K's day for doing laundry, but since he's not here, I'm thinking of running a load anyway. I forgot to wash N's jacket, and he got whipped cream all over it at the IHOP on his birthday. I was going to wash it yesterday, but I forgot.

Ready to burst

belly1
Originally uploaded by greycharleigh.

Here I am at 37 weeks pregnant. I don't imagine I'll get much bigger. My induction is in about two weeks. It was hard talking my husband into taking the picture, but he quickly decided it was easier to just take it than to debate it.

Eviction

That's what's supposed to be happening right now. Assuming the sheriff showed up, my husband and the guys he arranged to have show up at our rental unit are removing everything in our rental unit. This past weekend, he warned the tenant that he was planning the eviction for today so she'd get her stuff out (hopefully) before the eviction actually took place. I thought about dropping by, but there may not be any toilet access (and I pee every few minutes), and I don't want J to be in the way. She has to come with me.

Instead, J and I are thinking of going to N's school to eat lunch with him. I guess a lot of parents do it once-in-a-while. I wanted to before I have the baby and it becomes too much trouble. I need to call the school to find out what time we show up and if we have to bring food, or if we can purchase what the other kids eat. I want my to bring my own food, but J would like some pizza, which they often serve on Fridays.

Whoops, I need to go! I just got a call from my husband's office. Since he went to the eviction instead of the office, everyone's paychecks weren't signed. I need to round up J and go put my signature on the paychecks so his employees can cash them.

N's birthday

It's N' birthday. This morning I heard the kids up running around before I got up. I heard them say something about snow. I looked out the window, and we had about half an inch of snow all over everything. Around here it is unusual to get snow this late in the season. It's melted now. Our temperatures have reached the upper 40s.

After dropping J off at preschool, I picked up N's birthday cake at the supermarket's bakery. It's done and very pretty. He selected it himself. It is a round yellow pound cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate roses. Later in the morning I took N's cupcakes to school so he can share them with his classmates this afternoon. Then I went home and napped for about 45 minutes. I'm getting to where I'm sleepy all the time. After my nap, I picked up J and her friend at preschool.

Now I'm wishing I could take another nap. If J falls asleep, I will, too. N is due home in about an hour and a half. Once his dad gets home, he can either open presents or we can go to dinner at the IHOP. I'm guessing he'll be more interested in presents that food.

If all goes the way the people at the court and the sheriff's office tell K, he will call tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. to set up an eviction of our tenant on Friday. If necessary, I will make an appearance as an adult (he has to have four of them to do the eviction), but I asked my ob/gyn if I can move furniture since I'll be at 37 weeks pregnant Friday and the baby won't be preterm if born then. She told me not a chance. My ligaments and such are all very loose right now and I'm bound to pull something for sure.

Medical appointments

I had to get up a little early to be ready to take the kids to the dentist before school this morning. Both were a few minutes late. I had 8:30 appointments for them. I discovered that the dentist offers appointments as early as 8:00 a.m., so I scheduled their next appointment for that earlier time.

I had to pull J out of preschool a bit early to make sure we got to the ob/gyn appointment on time. We were a little early so I spent time trying to teach her how to find the area where the babies are delivered. I'm hoping she can help her dad and my mom find that area when they come to visit me during my hospital stay. The hospital is very confusing. The area between the medical offices and the hospital proper looks almost the same from all four directions so it is easy to get turned around.

My doctor's appointment was fine. I remain 50% effaced and am now 1 cm dilated. The baby's head is still down (but not engaged), but her body has turned sideways. Her butt is on my left side and her feet are on my right side. The doctor isn't concerned, but I think the baby must be pretty uncomfortable squished up like that. No wonder she kicks so much. She can't get comfortable.

We made cupcakes from a mix and used canned frosting this evening. I wasn't up to the make-it-from-scratch thing, and I really wanted cupcakes for N to have at school for his birthday tomorrow. The cupcakes are from a yellow cake mix. They have milk chocolate frosting, and they have colored sprinkles (which are sort of like having grit on top, but they look more festive). I'll be taking them to N's school tomorrow morning when J is at preschool. I also need to go to the supermarket to pick up the birthday cake we ordered him a couple Saturdays ago.

Looking across Nick's room

Looking across Nick's room
Originally uploaded by greycharleigh.

This is the view from Nick's bed to his door. It shows how low the ceiling is. Yes, the room needs furniture and decorations.

Looking into Nick's room

Looking into Nick's room
Originally uploaded by greycharleigh.

This is what Nick's room looked like a couple minutes ago. He's getting a bulletin board for his birthday that will go up somewhere. His dresser is plastic (what I was able to buy, load, and haul upstairs while pregnant) and his dad got him a second one. His night stand is an old TV cart with a board across the bottom to use as a shelf. The rug on the floor needs to be moved to a better location, but that has to wait, too. The ceiling is low so it's good he's almost six and doesn't need 8' ceilings yet.

Anyway, the room is all his and it's private. He'll be glad to be so far away from the screaming baby once she's born. It's really quite cozy.

It's a work in progress. We'll be adding furniture and decorations in the near future. It's adequate now.

Sunday

K hasn't been feeling well. He thinks the antibiotics he took for his upper resperatory infection messed up his digestive tract for a while. We skipped church again this week. He's feeling better this afternoon, and he's taking the kids and their bikes to the park for a ride. One of the problems our home and yard has is that there is no where to ride a bike. Our road is far too busy, and there are no sidewalks.

I was also glad to sleep in because I was up late (but we had already decided to skip church). I started getting back pain involved in my frequent contractions. Around 11 p.m., I lay down in bed and started to time them. It was the first time this pregnancy they didn't quit when I rested. They were coming about five minutes apart and included back pain (which I now think could have been caused by gas). I only waited until 11:30 to call the doctor on-call to find out if I'd need to come in to figure out if it was labor and then stop it if necessary. While I waited for his call back, the contraction got two minutes apart.

The doctor told me that in the past couple years, they've found it not worth trying to stop labor after 34 weeks. (My son's birth was halted by three days since I was one day short of 36 weeks when labor began, but that was six years ago.) Anyway, with my son, the nurses were quite angry with me that I hadn't called the doctor sooner so that there would have been a better chance of stopping the labor for longer. So, I called the doctor this time earlier than I would otherwise have. The contractions were more painful than other ones this pregnancy (perhaps gas?), but certainly no where as horrid as the two nights before N was actually born. I couldn't get any sleep either night because the pain was so bad.

The doctor told me to go back to sleep if I could, but to call again if the contractions got more painful in the next hour and a half. They didn't and I fell back asleep.

Now I'm not exactly clear what I'm looking for. I'm planning to tune out all the contractions. There is no point in timing them; 5he fake contractions get close enough together to be real labor (although they aren't), they involve my back, and now resting doesn't stop them. I guess what I'm waiting for is for them to get too painful to ignore; then it will be time to start timing them. It could be today; it could be next week; I could hold out for my induction on April 10. I just have no way to tell.

Anyway, I was 36 weeks along Friday so the baby is the same amount done today as N was the day he was born. She should be fine but scrawny. I would like to hold out at least until April 2, when my mother gets here. I see the ob/gyn on Tuesday, and I can find out then if I've effaced or dilated any more. Meanwhile, I've gotten a lot more serious about getting my bag packed for the hospital.

Before they left for the park, K brought down a couple boxes of baby things I had sorted out for the baby. Now that N has cleared his stuff out of the dresser, I need to fill it with her stuff.

Saturday

It's Saturday. K has to work part of the day today. It's already almost 10 a.m., and he's still asleep so I guess he doesn't have to work the entire day. The kids have been very noisy. I don't see how he is able to sleep. I wasn't.

Because J destroyed N's sunglasses on purpose yesterday (no reason given), K began moving N upstairs to his new room. Hopefully that job will be finished today and he can sleep there tonight. We have to get his mattress on the short, wheeled bed frame upstairs, and tear down and store the bedframe he is using down here. It will end up being the baby's bed frame when she's about two. Then K needs to put the crib together in J's room where N's bed had been. I'm pretty much unable to help with any of this. At best I'll put the sheets on N's bed upstairs and the bedding on the crib mattress.

N's sixth birthday is Wednesday, and the weather will be rather cold. N was born on a cold, rainy day.

Tooth and owls

Two nights ago N lost his first tooth. He's been complaining about it being loose for over a month. In the past week, he was complaining it hurt. I asked him if he wanted me to pull it out. He said yes, so I did. He got a Sacagawea dollar coin from the tooth fairy for it.

Our neighbor has a great-horned owl nest in a pine tree in his front yard. We've been over there a bit since yesterday hoping to see the baby owl, but no luck yet. Last night we found the back half of a cottontail rabbit under the tree. It was gone this morning.

Duplex

Duplex
Originally uploaded by greycharleigh.

This picture was taken last fall. Since I've been writing so much about our struggles as landlords, I figured I'd include the picture.

It's an old house from the 1920s. It has a lot of character. In the part my husband has fixed up, there are lovely hardwood floors. I spoke with a neighbor, and about 20 years ago, it was converted to a duplex from a single-family dwelling. It must have been something back then. I've never seen the upstairs unit, but I will when we regain possession. I'm guessing it might have been a five-bedroom home when it was just for one family. The front porch is just awesome to sit on. It's one of the first things my husband painted to make it more charming. He's still working on some painting outdoors. I was looking at the size of the place from the outside, and it is huge compared to our home. Hopefully we'll get the place entirely re-done and rented to people who pay rent in a timely fashion and who will enjoy living there.

Landlording

I had to take my husband back downtown again to go to court about evicting our tenant. Last month the tenant hadn't showed up in time for her eviction hearing, and then one day last week my husband got a summons to go to court because she wanted another chance. I thought this was her other chance. It turns out this was her chance to request another eviction hearing. Had it been granted, K would have had to go to court yet again.

It wasn't granted, mostly because she didn't call the court at the time to tell them she'd be late. K also said the judge didn't think she'd have much chance of avoiding eviction anyway when she was properly given notice in November that we'd not be renewing the lease, and she had to be out January 31. K now has something called a writ of possession, I think, and it can be used in a week but expires a few weeks after that. During that time he makes arrangements with the sheriff's office to have them show up while he (and whomever he can get to help him) puts out on the lawn everything the tenant leaves in the apartment and changes the lock. The sheriff is there to assure no one is violent. I think the tenant gets 24 hours to clear her junk off the lawn, and then it becomes our property (and responsibility to get rid of). Finally, K and I will have possession of our rental unit, and he can begin the process of clearing out things like the nasty, animal urine-soaked carpeting and trying to get the floors, walls, ceilings, in good shape, and whatever else needs to be done to make the place a pleasant home for someone else to rent.

Great weather

The weather is fantastic again today. It's sunny and 71°F right now. I've been outside for a while with my kids this morning.

Right now, even though he doesn't feel great, K has taken N to the feed store to get chicken and/or rabbit food and to pick up some suet cakes for our bird feeder. On the way home, they are supposed to stop at 7-11 to get us all Slurpees.

My soybean and cucumber seed arrived earlier this week. It's far too early to plant them, but it's got me looking forward to summer. Actually, if I weren't so pregnant, I'd be trying to get some of my seeds including zucchini and cucumber to sprout indoors in peat pellets. I need to hold on that a while because when I get little seedlings, they need attention every day for a while to assure they don't dry out or get so soaked they grow mold. I will be in the hospital for two days at some point, and I don't think anyone but me will take proper care of the little seedlings so I really can't start them until either after I have the baby or the weekend before my induction, whichever comes first.

Also, my husband plans to incubate some eggs again this year. He did it for the first time last year. We kept the incubator in our bedroom to help him remember to turn the eggs twice a day, I think. What we discovered at the end was that the chicks can cheep before they hatch. We had to move the incubator to our livingroom once the cheeping started so it wouldn't keep us awake. My mother will be sleeping in our livingroom on the hide-a-bed for a couple weeks around the time we have the baby. We cannot have cheeping chicks around at all during that time, so K will just have to start the chicks late enough that they won't be cheeping until after my mom leaves.

Katie (probably the baby's name) will be born before Easter. The kids were upset when I told them the Easter Bunny wouldn't bring her anything since she'll be too small to eat candy. I'm afraid the Easter Bunny may have to bring her a stuffed animal just so the kids don't think the Easter Bunny forgot her. (Just what we need--one more stuffed animal to leave on the floor.)

I feel like I'm running out of time to get everything done before we have the baby. She should come in two to four weeks (and two days). I don't even have a baby book for her yet. I don't have a keepsake box. I do have some diapers. I got my priorities straight. I think I need to do some shopping very, very soon. I did find a baby book on Amazon.com that looks okay. I might order it. It is very plain. We don't have her crib put together yet, but I have figured out how to set up the bassinet part of the pack-n-play. I washed the fabric covering in her car seat/carrier and put it back together. I know where the strollers are. I got diaper ointment. I got a giant box of diaper wipes at Sam's Club. I got a new baby monitor for my birthday last fall. I know where my earplugs are. Still, I'm starting to panic a bit that things won't be ready. Of course, they weren't ready with my son since he was early, and I sent my husband out for stuff every night for a week until we had enough stuff. Anyway, my son was fine even though he didn't have enough bedding at first, and he was way too small for his diapers.

My ability to focus on one topic at a time was less than perfect before, but I find myself jumping all over the place rapidly now. It's making me nuts. Well, focus is one of those things that I'll start to regain when the baby is around three months old.

None

I have no title. I'm not sure what I'm going to write about.

My husband finally went to the doctor because his cold got so bad. He has to be quite ill to see a doctor. I think he only goes about every three years. Anyway, he has azithromycin (I think that's the spelling--generic Zithromax) just as I did last week. He has an upper respiratory infection. His throat and ears have been very sore, a symptom I didn't have. He's home from work early, and now that he's seen the doctor, he's in bed resting. That also happens very rarely. Sure, he sleeps in as late as he can any Saturday he doesn't have to work, but he does not normally return to bed due to illness.

I've still got a bit of a cough and a lot of snot, but I don't feel all that bad. I'm seldom coughing 'til my belly hurts. I'm definitely doing a lot better.

Anyway, it's a Friday during Lent so I was going to cook a frozen bag of shrimp with linguini, but if K's not going to eat anyway, I'd rather just have a TV dinner. The kids are too small for Lenten dietary restrictions to apply, and I'm not Catholic so it doesn't matter what I eat. I think one can ignore the restrictions anyway when one is ill, so I guess Keith can find something he's able to swallow if he gets hungry later.

I wanted a pair of brand-new pillows to take with me to the hospital for my delivery. It's nice to be able to prop one's self into a more comfortable position with pillows, and I know extra pillows are scarce at the hospital at which I had my first two kids. My Lamaze instructor told us to get a couple pillows for the class and to be sure to bring them to the hospital for the delivery. While I found the whole Lamaze thing worthless (took the class for my first pregnancy), I did find the parts of the class about what happens or can happen during delivery to be very valuable, and I was glad to have the extra pillows.

Anyway, my Discover Card cash back reward had accumulated to over $100. I called last week to have $40 converted to $50 in gift cards at Bed Bath and Beyond. The two $25 gift cards arrived in yesterday's mail. Today J and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond, and I got two of the cheapest pillows there I could find ($10 apiece), two zippered pillow covers, and two yellow pillow cases (of their cheaper selection). Anyway, I spent all but about $3.50 of the $50 gift cards just getting those things. I'm glad I had the cash rewards available to cover such an expensive and unnecessary purchase. I certainly could have rounded up a couple old, nasty pillows to take with me. I did need new cases, though, since my old yellow pillow cases have the fabric wearing away at the seam. I'm washing the new cases and covers, and I'll put the new pillows away until my hospital trip. When it's over, I'll be dumping the old yellow cases.

Rotten day yesterday

I just got back from my ob/gyn appointment. All is well. I've had no changes in my cervix since I saw the doctor last week. That's good. She's going out of town for a week. She told me to "keep my legs crossed" until she gets back. (She was joking and doesn't think I'll be in labor next week.)

Yesterday was miserable. After picking up J from preschool, I thought we'd get something to eat at the restaurant that specializes in bagels. We got our food and went to the car. My car wouldn't start. I figured it was the battery since it is the original battery and is 5 1/2 years old. I took it to Sears in January to get a new Diehard in it, but they didn't have any in stock, and I hadn't found enough ambition to pursue it further. I got my oil changed and my tires rotated yesterday while J was at playgroup, and was considering getting the battery done next week while J was in preschool. I'm trying to get these things done before the baby is born. I called my husband first to see if he was nearby and could give me a jump. He wasn't. I called my roadside service. They connected me with a service provider. I couldn't give them a phone number because I don't know my cell phone's number. I never leave it turned on, and it's mostly for emergencies. In fact, if it rang, I don't know how to answer it, nor do I care.

Anyway the service provider said they'd be there in under 45 minutes. Once nearly 1 1/2 hours had passed while J and I sat in the hot car, I called back the roadside service people and reached the place that was supposed to jump start my car. They said they had been to my car and no one was in it. I said they either got the wrong car or they didn't bother to look inside. Then I had to call the roadside service people back to get a new purchase order # to get the service provider to come back out. They put me on a 3-way call with the service provider. They said someone should be there in 30 minutes or less. Meanwhile, J was having a meltdown from the heat and boredom.

I called a friend of mine to come and get J and to stay with the car so I could use the bathroom at the bagel restaurant. The company who came to jump start my car came while I was in the bathroom, but my friend made sure he stayed. He got my car started just fine. We ended up spending two hours in the parking lot with a dead battery.

We got my car home in time to wait for my son's bus (if we hadn't, my husband would have had to go home to meet the bus). I called around and found a place that both sells and installs batteries quickly while one waits and was open in the evening. My husband had to jump start the car again, and my son and I went there after dinner. We had to wait a little while another person was getting something installed in her car, but then a guy came out and put in the new battery. The car started beautifully and has ever since it got the new battery.

Meanwhile, I've gotten rather dehydrated from sweating in the car and not drinking water due to no access to a toilet yesterday. It's got the contractions going again. I had seven contractions in the examining room before the doctor got to me (about 20 or 25 minutes), but they were rather gentle. So, I'm loading back up on water since I don't have to go anywhere that it is difficult to reach a toilet. I'm at the point where I pee before we go somewhere. I load the kid(s) in the car. I go back and pee again, and as soon as we get where we are going, I need to use the toilet yet again. Then once again before we leave. The baby has dropped some and is pressing more on my bladder.

Today it is about 70°F and sunny. We had lots of daffodils in bloom in the yard until J went outside to play. Now we have lots of daffodils in a vase in the house.

Still running errands

I'm still running around, trying to get stuff done that I want to do alone (especially without bringing a baby). I went to Jiffy Lube this morning after dropping my daughter off at preschool. I got an oil change and tire rotation. It is much better getting that done alone than with children because it is so boring.

I ran by the pharmacy and picked up the pictures made from the film I dropped of yesterday. I see pictures from my daughter's second birthday and my son's fourth birthday. She's four now and he's nearly six. I guess I just got worn out somewhere along the line and quit caring about pictures (plus I began taking a lot more digital pictures). Well, there is a fresh roll of film in my camera to get shots of the new baby.

For some reason, I feel exhausted. I'm hoping to squeeze in a nap or just a rest before I get J back from preschool. I'm trying to decide it I have enough ambition to mop the vinyl flooring in our house first. It's so much easier to mop when no kids are home. I don't even bother if they are home. If I don't do it today, J won't be in preschool again until next week.

Lots of running around

I've been out running errands and vacuuming.

I purchased a new disposable camera last week to take with me to the hospital so we can get pictures of the baby. With the first two, my husband brought a real camera, but this time I may be on my own for delivery.

With N, everything went wrong during delivery (too short an umbilical cord around his neck and he was early) so K just stayed by my head and let the doctor and nurses (at one point seven nurses were needed in the room) do their thing. With J's very smooth and relatively painless induction we were stunned to discover that only one nurse was there to hold my right leg. They expected K to hold my left. They offered him the chance to cut the umbilical cord, but he turned it down. I asked if I could, and they let me. I was amazed how sharp the scissors were.

Anyway, K is not the kind of guy who wants to see a baby delivered, and I know he was unhappy to have to hold my leg. This is number three, and I'm not scared to death as I was before. I prefer they get two nurses in the room if both legs must be held. I've told K that as long as I get to the hospital in a timely fashion, it's okay with me if he doesn't want to be in the room, or even if he wants to go home. Why should both of us be miserable when I'm just not as scared as before? To finally start getting to this post's point, since the hospital can't assure the security of one's valuables, I don't want a "real" camera at the hospital if I'm there alone. I'm hoping a nurse will be willing to take a shot of the baby before it's dressed. K took one picture of each kid shortly after he came out, naked, slimy, and all.

Now to try to get back to my errands, when I was putting a fresh roll of film in my real camera, I found a used-up old roll from a couple years ago was just sitting in it. I also found two disposable cameras from my vacation two summers ago. Anyway, I ran up to the drug store and dropped off the film and cameras this morning.

I did a little bit on the computer with the office person this morning, but my husband has clarified that he doesn't want us to spend any extra time right now trying to get the commission stuff going on the new software. We'll worry about that when business is slower this summer.

While I was on the phone with the office person, the police came. They delivered some sort of court summons for K. His tenant had missed her eviction hearing by a couple minutes so she was able to convince the court to give her another hearing. Now he has to show up for court next week, and if I have to drive, the timing of this interferes with my waiting for N's bus. I either need to take N with us and bring him very late to school or find out if I can drop him off at a friend's house to ride the bus with his friend. I'll need to work out the details.

I stopped by Target because they had the backless booster seats on sale, and I've wanted to get one for J. Also, I picked up a package of Size 1 diapers (I got newborns a couple weeks ago) and a three-pack of bottles. I might just hold off on more bottles until we see how breast feeding goes. I think one or two came with the pump I got. I had lots of bottles after having N and J, but they were starting to get cracked and nasty so I threw all my bottles out when J was done with them about three years ago, figuring I'd replace them if I had another baby.

Finally, I did a very rough job vacuuming the house. It is definitely an improvement. I don't think I felt good enough last week so it has been a couple weeks since I vacuumed.

Lenten Rose

Lenten Rose
Originally uploaded by greycharleigh.

I just went out and took a picture of my lenten rose. I love flowers that bloom when it is still officially winter.

I'm not headed for labor soon!

I got a call from my doctor's office today. They had the results of the pap-like test I had Friday. It was negative, meaning there is a 99 % chance I will be pregnant two weeks from last Friday. That is very good, since I'll be only 36 weeks pregnant on St. Patrick's Day (two weeks from last Friday). I found out what the test is called. It was a fetal fibronectin test. My mom is hoping I'll hold out until April 2 at least, the day her fight arrives.

None

I was supposed to take K to the courthouse downtown today again so he could file more paperwork in order to proceed with the eviction of our tenant. He called and said he won't have time. He was supposed to go this morning while J was at preschool, but one of the guys who works for him has called in sick so he has a lot of extra work to do today.

Unfortunately, K is not feeling well today himself. He's getting worse with this cold we are all passing around. I guess I am slightly better (at least not worse) and am hoping things will continue to improve.

Our weather today is supposed to be cold and damp (40s). By the end of the week, we should be in the 70s. I can't wait.

Everyone had to scrounge around for his own dinner last night. My heels hurt so badly I was unable to cook dinner. Hopefully that will go better this evening. I'm supposed to make pasta carbonara with some turkey bacon.

I've been on the phone for a while this morning with K's office person. To track comissions with the new software, we have to do a lot more work entering invoices. Tomorrow, when J is at preschool, I'll get to spend my morning connected to her computer so she can show me all the extra stuff I (and she) have to do. Then I'll get to implement it on my own tomorrow evening when I do the paperwork.

I haven't been to playgroup in nearly a month, and I'm not sure I'll make it until after the baby is born unless I go next week Thursday. Mostly I miss it because it's the most convenient time for me to schedule ob/gyn appointments. Last week I concluded J and I were too sick to go. There are a couple new babies there who don't need our colds.

I think corned beef is on sale at the supermarket. I make it once a year for St. Patrick's Day. K hates it, but the kids often will eat some. Most of the year, it's quite expensive. I look forward to when it goes on sale for St. Patrick's Day.

This stupid cold

I've had it with this cold. Each time I cough, it hurts the top of my gigantic belly. Considering how long it's been bothering me, it should be almost over. Also, it any element of it is bacterial (the sinus infection), that should be passing in the next day or so since I took my third dose of generic Zithromax.

I may keep J home form preschool tomorrow since she's leaking so much snot and is doing a lot of coughing. We skipped church this morning, but I took N to Sunday School. He is the healthiest of us all.

Nine great years

It's my ninth anniversary. My cough is very bad and my throat is sore. It's not as sore as a couple years ago when I was so ill we got take out from the local grocery store for our anniversary, and I got a steak sandwich, which I could barely even swallow from the pain. I couldn't taste it at all. This is just one more lousy anniversary in a long string of them. I never cook dinner on my anniversary, but almost always things go poorly. Today I'm too ill too even care where we go; I just don't want to have to cook dinner myself. For my first anniversary, I was taking an organic chemistry class in the evening, and I wanted my husband to order a pizza from Dominos, a different place than we usually used, and to have it there around when I got home from class. Anyway, I got home and no pizza was there. I asked him why. He told me he tried, but when he called Domino's, they told him they didn't deliver to our neighborhood after 6 p.m. (yes, it was a bad area). I think we finally got pizza from the place we normally used.

Then next year we lived in the house we currently live in. I wanted to go somewhere nice. My husband refused to do that because his hair was desperately in need of a cut, and he refused to take his hat off. We had to go to IHOP so he could keep his hat on. The year after was the best anniversary dinner I've ever had. I was as pregnant as I am now (due April 17 instead of April 14), and we went to a steak place. I had a lovely salad, steak, and baked potato, and I had a lemonade. We had no kids so all was quiet.

Things have been downhill ever since. The worst one I can remember was a couple years ago when I bought a bottle of red wine (which we still have), and we were going to go to Applebee's carside take out thing. I called ahead and all was supposed be ready for pickup within five minutes of our arrival. After waiting (with complaining kids in car) for about half an hour with their being unable to get the food to the car, we finally left. My husband was so hungry, he said he had to eat right away. I don't know what their problem was and if people commonly have trouble getting the carside-to-go food as we did, but we'll never do it again. We stopped at Burger King on the way home, and I got a whopper. I concluded it didn't go with red zinfandel, so the bottle sits, unopened, until I come up with a reason to have some.

Anyway, I now have very low expectations for my anniversary. I can laugh at the disasters they often turn out to be. Much more important than the typically horrid anniversary dinners are the great nine years I've had married to my husband.

Right now the only one with an opinion of where we should eat for dinner tonight is my son. He wants to go to IHOP. I'd like to go somewhere different, but I can't taste well enough that it really matters, and I know IHOP has vinyl seats. The thing is, N's birthday is March 22, and we could go to IHOP then for his birthday if he wants. In theory, I'd like to go to a Mexican place, but I am the only one who likes Mexican food, and I can't taste very well right now anyway.

The vault is starting to open

I had an unplanned visit to my ob/gyn today. I couldn't make it yesterday because of having to wait for my son's school bus, but I thought I might have a UTI since peeing was feeling funny. Also I was having a lot of contractions (around two or three every fifteen minutes). Anyway, I still felt like I was peeing funny today, although the contractions had slowed.

Fortunately, I don't have a UTI.

Strangely, while I was waiting it the examining room for the doctor, I was reading to my daughter, and I thought my nose was running. I got a Kleenex, and found it wasn't snot but blood. My nose was just leaking fresh, red blood. The only nose bleed I can recall I've had was when I broke my nose in a bicycle accident when I was about 14. I remember some kids used to get them a lot in kindergarten and first grade, but I couldn't remember if you tipped your head backward or forward to stop it. I asked a nurse. Apparently these days you keep your head upright and pinch the upper part of your nose together. It pretty much had stopped by the time the doctor came in. Well, bloody noses are a normal pregnancy thing so that was nothing. I didn't even get any blood on my parka (which has to be dry-cleaned) so that was okay.

The doctor did check for dilation and effacement. My cervix is now 50 percent thinned, and my cervix has dilated enough for one fingertip to fit in. I'm supposed to drink lots and lots of water to stave off the Braxton-Hicks contractions, which I guess brought me this far. I was given the option of going to a hospital room and getting an IV to fill me full of fluids. I'd rather get them through my mouth if that will work. If I go back into great masses of contractions again, I'll probably have to come back and get an IV. The doctor also ran a test that's results probably won't be back until later today. It was done with a swab stuck, well, guess where. It was rather like a pap smear. Anyway, the hope is it will indicate I am 99% likely to remain pregnant for two more weeks. I imagine I'll hear nothing it it comes back that way. The other result is that it looks like I will go in labor in the next two weeks. I'm guessing the doctor's office will contact me if it comes back with that result. I don't know what the test is called.

Anyway, I today I am 34 weeks pregnant. A baby born now would probably have to stay a while in the neo-natal intensive care unit at the hospital, but the chances of it both surviving and being completely okay are very good. Three more weeks, and I'm good to go for a full-term delivery.

While I didn't need antibiotics for a UTI, the doctor wrote me a prescription for what she thinks is a sinus infection. That's probably why the cold is giving me such trouble.

So, now I'm lazing around and drinking lots of water to keep the contractions away. Hopefully I won't need to see the doctor again until next week's regularly scheduled appointment on Thursday.

Good weather here

We got up to about 75 °F here. I sat in a lawn chair in the sun for a while to enjoy how spring feels. Tomorrow we'll be back to highs in the 50s, but today was lovely. J and I picked the first six daffodils that bloomed in our yard, and we have them in a vase right now.

I spent 2/3 of the night sleeping by myself on the hide-a-bed so I could cough in peace. Since it's out in the open in my living room, I returned to my real bed for the rest of the night. J had been getting up a lot and bothering me since I wasn't behind closed doors (she had napped to much and was up, around, and bored in the middle of the night), and I knew the cat would be all over me looking for breakfast once the sun came up. Anyway, around 4 a.m., I returned to bed. After about half an hour of listening to a lot of coughing from me, my husband got up and left the bed to sleep on the hide-a-bed so he could get some sleep. J didn't realized we had changed places, and she went off to chatter at him, thinking it was me. It went over very poorly, but she didn't leave her room again.

If I thought I'd be left alone all night, I'd sleep on the hide-a-bed again. J did try to sleep through dinner again, but I woke her up when I was preparing dinner and found her asleep, and I took her out in the yard to play with her dad while I finished making dinner. She just isn't able to fall asleep at 5 p.m. and not get up in the night to roam. Of course she's bored and no longer tired by 2 a.m.

Perhaps my husband will prefer the hide-a-bed to another night of my coughing. Perhaps my coughing won't be as bad. I'll have to see how it goes once I lay down.