Nursery is Done!!

Well, the nursery is now complete! Dave and I love the way it turned out and it's now our favorite room in the house. That's probably a good thing because I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time in there!

We've also attended our childbirth class and I've attended my infant/child CPR class and my breastfeeding class..... we've purchased and assembled JD's swing and his pack-n-play and the only thing we have left to do is install the car seat bases and have them inspected. Oh... and pack our hospital bag. We still have plenty of time for that stuff, though!
Here are some pictures of the nursery...

Looking in through the door.....

The crib.... the swing will eventually go in the living room, we're just storing it here until JD arrives

The changing table/dresser

These shelves are on the wall above the recliner. All of the stuffed dogs were given to us as shower gifts and they match the room perfectly... the photo frame was signed by shower guests and will hold a picture of JD when he arrives.

This angel was given to us by some very close friends when we lost Ashlyn. We liked the idea of placing it in the nursery to symbolize JD's very own guardian angel....

A view of his closet. All of his dresser drawers are full but I think the little guy needs more clothes!... Guess I'll just have to head to the Carter's outlet!!

30 Weeks, 1 Day

Holy cow! Only 10 weeks to go!!

My doctor's appointment yesterday went well. I was supposed to see Dr. Markley but she was being pulled in about 30 different directions so I saw Nora, the Nurse Practitioner, instead. We had a good conversation about the contractions that I was having. She said if they continue like they were (which they have not) they will give me a prescription to take when I have more than 5 an hour to make them stop.

We also had a long discussion about birth plans and Ashlyn. I told her that I'm pretty flexible about things that may happen in the delivery room... there's just no way to plan for that... but the one thing I'm adamant about is seeing Ashlyn before they take her away. She, again, warned me that Ashlyn probably won't look much like a baby but I told her that was okay, I didn't care. She assured me that Dave and I would be given all the time we need with our little girl before they take her away.

Other than that, all is good. My blood pressure is good (although she didn't like how swollen my poor feet are), my weight gain is good, etc. All is on track.

My next appointment is scheduled for May 1, 2008. I'll have another ultrasound that day too to see how big JD is getting!

28 weeks, 3 days... Ultrasound

My mom and I went to the doctor's office this morning for an ultrasound. It was quick and only for the purpose of measuring JD's growth. He is still head down (let's pray he stays that way) and getting BIG! He now weighs 2 pounds, 15 ounces and is measuring 29 weeks (size-wise)... that's 4 days ahead and the ultrasound tech said that was good.

We also got a peek at Ashlyn. Just as the doctors have told me, she is getting "compressed" as JD grows. Her little head isn't round anymore... it's more oval. We also saw her spine and she's curled up in a little ball just like she was the first time we saw her at 19 weeks and found out she was a girl.

Busy Monday!

I took my first trip to labor and delivery at the hospital yesterday. Over the weekend I had quite a few braxton hicks contractions so I called my doctor on Monday morning just to let them know. They called back and asked me to come in to the office to get checked. Honestly, I was just expecting them to call me back and tell me it was normal (because it is normal) and to let them know if it got worse. Well, when I got to my doctor's office one of the nurses told me they were sending me across the street to the hospital for a non-stress test (NST).

So I drive across the street, find the labor and delivery ward and hand them the slip I was given at the doctor's office. The L&D nurse gives me a gown, hooks me up to a couple of monitors and I spend the next 2 hours laying in bed, watching TV while the monitors measure my contractions. I only had about 4 or 5 during the entire 2 hours I was there so they turned me loose and told me to come back if I had 6 or more during any given hour. The L&D nurse also checked my cervix and determined that it was closed so the contractions didn't have any effect in that department, which is good.

When I got back to the office from the hospital I spoke with my boss and let him know that I wasn't planning to return to the firm after the baby was born. He completely understood. Later that day he called me in to his office and asked if I would consider cutting my hours. With the real estate market in such a slump, we've been slow for quite a while, which means the income of the firm has been decreased for some time. Not only did he ask me to go part time, he also had to let another employee go. I told him not to worry about it. In all honesty, with the new development of the braxton hicks contractions, it's probably time for me to start slowing down anyway. I can use the extra time to take care of household things and finalize everything necessary for JD's arrival... I think it will work out just fine.

So that was my Monday. I woke up thinking it would be a typical day and it turned into anything but!