Oy vey!

Yesterday and last night was a little rough! Went to the doctor's appointment and had a tiny stroke when I didn't see our doctor's name on the window. I was so afraid she'd gone into labor before me, but turns out they had been too busy to switch out the signs for the day, phew! Well, we didn't make much progress last week, I'm *almost* 4 cm and still about 80% effaced. But Dr. Redden seems very happy with it all and says that we're just waiting to the contractions to get into a regular rhythm. She also said at next week's appointment (if I make it) we'll do an ultrasound and make sure everything's okay and we can talk about inducing if I want. I was hesitant at first, but I feel my spirit weakening with every passing day. I can handle a lot of things, but it's the days when I'm juggling 5 or 6 symptoms at once I feel defeated. Last night after the nausea, the back pain, the painful contractions, lack of sleep, allergies, swelling and now I'm seeing stretchmarks in unappealing places, once my foot arch started hurting I just hung my head and cried. At least Ben was there for the breakdown, he's been wonderful through the painful/uncomfortable times!

Okay, okay, enough of that! I need to stay positive and think good thoughts, right? I was ecstatic to get a call from my grandma yesterday out of the blue. She was just checking up on me and I was thrilled to hear she is doing well for the most part. She has restless leg issues and said her feet have been hurting lately as well, so I told her she really didn't need to have sympathy pains for me. I'm thrilled my sister just found out she's pregnant too! Which means four out of the five of us first cousins will have babies all within a year of each other, so hopefully they'll be great friends. I'm relieved Ben's work has worked out their issues so there will be no problems when I go into labor. (I may have threatened to waddle into his store and demand my husband loudly if they didn't let him leave when I need him and I might bring the 6:00 news with me.) And even better, Ben found out he's got 5 and a half WEEKS of paid time off left this year. So there will be plenty of paternity time plus a week here and there to visit our family members who can't make the drive to us.

Finally took pictures of the finished nursery, just need to dig through them and post them! Soon...

Behold...

My seriously swollen feet! One of the doctors laughed when I referred to them as plump franks. Oy!

Dropping trou visit...

Oy, I haven't updated in a while! But then again when it hits 107 degrees, life just kind of slows to a crawl. Reminds me of the old joke about that's where our Southern drawls come from: it's too hot to speak quickly!

Since I've been stuck in our air conditioned house the past couple of weeks I've been working on getting the nursery finished. And I swear if I ever see another plastic tie-thingy (those things that hold tags onto clothes) it will be too soon. Why in the hell does a hooded towel need 12 of them?! 12! 

Today was the beginning of our weekly OB visits and that means getting my cervix checked weekly...yay? Really it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be since the doc and I got to talking about the show Pregnant in Heels. Which, by the way, if you haven't seen is pretty darn funny. And has just enough drama to make me feel better about Ben and I's relationship and parenting ideas. Today's favorite quotes from our OB were:

"Yeah, swelling sucks!"

"This is another reason why we should be glad men don't have babies." (talking about the strep B swab)

"No woman has to be a martyr." (talking about when to get an epidural)

I think I'm in love with our OB, hospital, and L&D staff. There's just enough new-age talk that they're not going to judge you if you want to try something different (except they aren't set up to do water births yet), but dammit if you want to go in dilated at 1cm and get an epidural they won't turn you away. It fits right in with our philosophies. Ben and I both are open to new things and are very "wait and see" with this pregnancy, but if something has to be done, then let's do it and not cry about "it's not what we had imagined".   And if I need someone to tell me to stop whimping out, I think these chicks are willing to tell me that. 

Ugh, cramping again! Think I'll go lie down a bit and catch up some more on Mad Men.

Stay cool, Mamacita

It has been absolutely miserable here lately. This past week has been 90+ degree weather and sunny, and let me tell you if we could have planned the timing better, we would have! It's been so hot the air conditioner can't really keep up and gets up to about 80 inside. And normally that would be perfectly comfortable for me, but with thirty-something extra pounds... OH and the air conditioner threatened to give up last night and I nearly had a conniption! Thank goodness it's still working and I guess last night was just a fluke?

Anyhoo, I thought I would share a couple of things I've been doing to stay cool and to combat this insane swelling I've suddenly had the pleasure of enduring.

1. TAKE IT EASY! Everyone keeps telling me this, but being an type A personality, I don't relax very easily. But after only a half hour of weeding/pruning in the yard made me sick enough to lose my breakfast Monday, I've learned. I have to promise myself every day I won't overdo it.

2. Take breaks often. Actually, I have to take them before I think I need them. I don't know what it is, but I won't know that I've gone on too long until I stop. That's when I feel awful. Again referencing the near heat exhaustion from Monday. I felt fine until I came inside, then I noticed my heart was fluttering, then the nausea, then the vomiting. (And can I tell you how pissed I get when I throw up? It's like the last three hours of good nutrition down the drain, literally!)

3. Drink water. Lots of it. Not that I've had much of a choice. My throat has been sooooooo dry, I'm up to about seven bottles of water a day!

4. Ice. Or frozen peas, or frozen wet washcloths. I started just putting these on my ankles and feet for the swelling, but when it gets crazy hot (or nauseous) I've added them to my chest, head, belly, hands and thighs. And boy does it feel great!

5. Get your A/C maintenanced! This means in your house and car. If you've put it off because of the cost, or you're trying to not run the a/c as much because of the bill, get over it and do it. It will be money well spent! I had to learn to forgive myself for running the air all day when I realized the alternative is just not pleasant.

6. Stay inside during the hottest parts of the day. From 1-5pm I stay inside and work on the chores or projects I can do in the house. Preferably sitting down with my feet propped up and iced!

This past weekend I went home to Meridian, Mississippi to visit with the family and had baby shower #3. It was a-freaking-dorable! Of course I forgot my camera, but my sister and mom took photos and I'm just waiting to get a hold of them. Oh, and I'm thisclose to finishing the dresser for the nursery. I'm hoping tomorrow will be the day, we'll see...