Two Weeks Left

Well, the appointment with my NP yesterday went better than I expected. Aside from the waiting. For the most part it was pretty routine...weight, blood pressure, monitoring (AKA Non-Stress Tests), Ultrasound to accompany the NST. I also had blood drawn for a CBC (Complete Blood Count) and RPR (to check for syphilis...yay), as well as an office visit with my NP to go over questions, have my Group B Strep test (not the most pleasant swab in the world), and check my cervix.

Everything up until waiting for the NP was pretty standard wait times. Then we got put in the exam room and waited for an HOUR for her to come in...that's not normal. Usually I'm waiting 20 minutes, tops. Ben and I spent our time determining if we had been forgotten, debating on whether ultrasound gel or hand sanitizing foam would squirt farther from it's bottle, then determining which would cling to the wall longer (AKA which is sticker...ultrasound gel won that debate), how we would escape if we were locked in, and trying to take naps to make the time pass faster, since we all know that the second you fall asleep the person you're waiting on will show up.

She did come in, and told us that because it was me (and my appointments usually don't take very long) she bumped me ahead of another patient who usually takes longer. Good for me. Did all the testing, and then we came to the discussion about Monkey's weight and what that means. After talking to my RE last week, I thought for sure they would want to deliver next week, at 36 weeks. The good news is that they're giving me a whole extra week to grow him myself! The bad news is that I still have to have an amnio. Yep, that's right folks...I avoided doing the amnio in the second trimester because a) I hate needles, and if I can avoid one I will and b) they can cause you to go into labor. At this point, though, the amnio will determine if I can induce or if we need to hold off to give his lungs more time to develop. So, that's scheduled for the 26th, which is 1.5 weeks away, and if all is OK on that, then we're inducing on Jan 28th, 2011, and Monkey will *probably* be born on Jan 29th, 2011, at 37w3d gestation.

Looks like we'll be meeting our little man sooner than February, but still within the accepted time frame that is considered "full term," so he won't technically be considered premature. Plus, we've set it up so that the Dr. I like will be the one delivering the baby, which is AWESOME!!! Now if the baby furniture would just get here so we can get it set up before his arrival, that would be perfect.

Still an example of the perfect human specimen...

That is what  Ben is calling himself these days. Great...now I have that ego to live with. Here is how that lovely quote came to be:

My fertility specialist has been insisting since we found out that I have the MTHFR homozygous mutation that Ben get tested as well. Needless to say, my endlessly procrastinating husband did not manage to get tested before he deployed, and now that he's been home almost 3 months and we just now got him tested (well, 2 weeks ago, but still). Today we got the results, which were: NEGATIVE!!! He does not have any form of the mutation. The last time we got him tested for something (sperm count/motility/etc.) everything came back at perfect or more...or as he likes to call it, "Super Sperm."

That's great, right? Yeah, except now I feel like even more of a fertility screw up. Every problem we have had with getting pregnant and during the pregnancy is because of my body. And now he's going around thinking he's got the perfect human form because he never has anything wrong, and his test results are pretty much always better than perfect. Then my mom brought up a great point: I have an amazing ability to choose right. Think about it. I could have ended up with someone who has just as many or more fertility/genetic issues as I do, but I managed to marry a man who has NO issues, thus making it as easy as possible for us to have a biological family with all of the issues that I do have. YAY!

On top of that, since all of my issues are genetic, I can blame my parents! And we now have sufficient reason for my sister to get tested for the MTHFR when she starts wanting a family, so she's actually ahead of the game...she will get to know of at least one issue before she even starts trying, so she'll be able to treat it (if she has it) from day one and have that much less to worry about. It still means she'll get to deal with blood thinners (if she does test positive) but that's part of the deal. Then she'll get to enjoy the belly pokes and bruises that I am dealing with on a daily basis.

Next appointment is on Friday...and we will probably have a conversation at that appointment about when Monkey will make his appearance, since based on my last growth scan he's still small. That means that he will quite probably make his debut before the end of the month!

Back on the Project Train.

Well, I feel great to be back on my creative roll! Baby quilt is well under way, but it's a slow process and I felt the need to just pump something out. So, when one of the lovely ladies on a website I'm on posted a link to a tutorial on how to make your own car seat cover of course I had to try it out! I was planning on simply throwing a blanket over the seat to keep him covered when necessary, but this way he doesn't get hit in the face with a blanked and the handle is kept out, so it's a win-win!

I also have to give myself props on the color selection. Somehow I managed to match the red in the car seat almost exactly, which I love. Just a couple of things about this tutorial:


1) To give yourself an easier time with the seams, etc. I suggest using 1/2 inch seam allowances rather than the 1/4 inch suggested.

2) Remember that most of the measurements in the tutorial are for the FINISHED project, so in order to have seam allowances as stated you have to add that length to each cut piece of fabric.

3) On the straps: I just made them about 8" long AFTER they were sewn and both ends closed. This meant that in order to place them correctly on the car seat cover, you just fold each in half, mark the halfway point with a crease or fabric pencil, and then sew it in 2 places: 1/2" to either side of the middle crease.

4) Also, when placing the straps, I think that were I to make this one again I would place them closer to the center. They are placed 11 1/2" from the outer edges (sides, not top & bottom) of the cover. I personally would put them closer to 13" in. They slip just slightly down the sides of the car seat handle when sewn 11 1/2" in, and I think just a little closer to center would be better.



5) The directions for placing the straps are a little vague: I marked the distance in and down on the main body of the car seat cover, then placed the straps by finding the exact middle of the strap and matching that point to my mark, then sewing on my pre-drawn lines.

6) If you are piecing the main body of the cover (like I did and as shown in the tutorial) I made the bottom accent (the red) a total of 4" tall. I personally like that amount, but I wanted to give anyone making this an idea of how big that panel is. So, the red on the bottom is 4" and the patterned piece is 38" for a total of 42" in height.

7) The curved corners are a matter of eyeballing it. I think I made mine so that at the deepest point (aka, the point of the square corner to the center of the curve) about 3", and it worked well. I might consider doing about 4" next time to avoid the corners dragging on the ground, but it's pretty even.


I had to include a picture of the cover flipped up, if only because I'm so proud of that color match (OK, almost match, but still). I also love the monkey strap pads that my mom got us. Granted, our car seat came with cushions on the straps already, but these were too darn cute not to use!!!!

I have my house back!

Don't get me wrong. I love the holiday season. I love getting the tree and setting it up, along with the household decorations. I even LOVE doing extravagant lights on the outside of the house (even though we have YET to do them to our house...I told  Ben that come hell or high water we're going to start going all out next year. We're talking mechanical penguins, deer, the whole shebang).

I also love it when it all comes down and I get my "normal" house back. After a while I start feeling like all of the holiday joviality is liable to swarm in and suffocate me. It's amazing how much more spacious my living room feels just by getting rid of a medium-sized piece of dead vegetation. Not to mention the needles that go with it!

So, now the house is pretty much back to normal. With the exception of aforementioned dead tree sitting out by the side of the house, waiting to be picked up/delivered to it's final resting place.

On another note...I finally ordered the bulk of majorly needed baby items. I say the bulk of it because I'm being cheap and waiting for my discounts to be effective for the last couple of places I'm ordering from. Especially because I ended up ordering the pack & play, even though I wasn't planning on doing so until we actually needed it. The reason I had to order it? Well...apparently the furniture we ordered for the nursery was out of stock, which they failed to mention when we ordered it. It isn't due to even SHIP until the end of March. Pardon?!?!?! My baby is due in mid-February, and will probably end up coming before then. I kind of need somewhere for my child to sleep!!! SO...hello pack & play!!! I guess I don't get that perfectly ready nursery that I had envisioned. Oh well...adaptation is a wonderful thing. Disappointment, not so much.

I'll admit it, I also changed my due date on the sites where I "registered" (I registered for the exact same things at 3 places so that I could get the completion discounts, and then buy from wherever ended up being cheapest. I only told people about one of them, however, so as to avoid getting multiples of things). I changed my due date to a full month and a half earlier than it actually is, because they don't give you the discount until after your due date. Hello? Common sense? Can you kick in for these registry places? I need the discount earlier than that, because I need to have the stuff before the baby arrives so I can be fully prepared. DUH!!!

I had SO hoped that this would be more pleasant.

Pregnancy, that is. In my mind I wanted to continue working out (as in cardio, not just walking) at least 3 times a week. I wanted good skin, and hopefully the exercise would help me maintain energy levels. I would be able to find adorable, stylish, CHEAP maternity clothes, and would be able to continue eating healthy the entire way through pregnancy without feeling sick if I did so. I would have cravings for fruits and vegetables, and my hair would grow fast and become thick and luxurious. I would gain an optimal amount of weight and feel beautiful the entire time.

HAH! Unfortunately, like countless women before me, I do not particularly enjoy pregnancy. At least not this one. From day one it has been a slew of Dr's appointments and "don't do" lists. Including any form of exercise (oh, except for about a month in the middle there, where I was allowed to do light, slow walking. Yeah, not exactly what I meant by exercise). My skin exploded from the beginning (one of the things that led me to test for pregnancy) and only got worse with the barrage of hormones and medications I had to be put on in order to maintain the pregnancy and optimal blood flow to the baby. While energy has been OK, starting at about 30.5 weeks I'm falling asleep randomly after doing NOTHING all day...yay for pregnancy-induced narcolepsy.

The maternity clothes that I have found are OK, but the majority of them still make me look as wide as a house, so I'm stuffing myself into pre-pregnancy (stretchy) clothes since they STILL look better. Not to mention the cost of maternity clothes. We'll just say that I'm wearing my pre-pregnancy coat that I love (I'm not able to button it) because I refuse to pay almost $100 for a maternity coat that looks like a circus tent. As for food, well...the things that don't make me feel sick to my stomach are all either fried, fatty, salty, or just plain bad for you. I throw fruits and veggies in because I need to, but they almost certainly make me feel like I'm going to throw up.

Cravings are: salt. Fried. Fatty...the things that don't make me feel ill. They also are the things that pack on the pounds like nobody's business. And, while I'm not gaining 80lbs by any means, I still have already gained a bit more than I would like, and the Dr. says not to worry about it because Monkey is in the 5th percentile and needs to gain, so that means I need to gain. Oh boy...all I see there is "more to lose later." Yeah...more to lose when I'm even more exhausted and less inclined to eat healthy because, let's face it, eating healthy takes more time and effort. As for feeling beautiful, that's just a joke at this point. I feel fat, tired, sick, zitty, and all around crappy. Yeah, beautiful isn't happening in our house this Christmas.

And we're into single digits!

That's right...8 weeks and 6 days until Monkey's due! Of course, I may not make it that far, but it's really starting to sink in. That and the fact that we barely have anything for this kiddo. I already told the moms (my mom and  Ben's mom) that after January 1 we will be purchasing things that are left on the registry. That way there is time for shipping delays etc. There was some objection to that, because "people need time to get you gifts." I, for one, think that's great if they want to, but it is our responsibility to provide for this baby, and I can't wait because people might want to buy something for him...especially when it probably won't even be something we really need! That and the fact that a LOT of times people say they want to do something, but never do. No...better safe than sorry for us. We will be doing some major purchasing after the new year.

As for Monkey, he's still looking good. Moving great. As of yesterday, he's still in the 5th percentile for growth (3lbs 1oz at 31 weeks) but since it's a steady weight gain and he's not slowing down, everyone is confident that he'll probably just be a small baby and that there is, in all likelihood, nothing wrong. Of course there are no guarantees, but it's nice to know that there are no other indicators of an actual problem. I did have about 3 contractions during monitoring yesterday, but my nurse practitioner said that with my uterus and where I am in the pregnancy, that's to be expected. I actually didn't even feel the contractions enough to label them as such...it really just felt like Monkey was pushing against my stomach...but they were Braxton Hicks contractions. Nice to know.

I talked to the nurse about my fainting (ish) episodes as well, since I had another one on my way to the Dr's yesterday. I was sent for blood tests to check iron, blood volume, and a couple of other things that I didn't recognize on the lab sheet. Then I was sent home with instructions to take it easy and drink even MORE fluids. Hopefully I will have the results of those tests tomorrow. In the meantime,  Ben and I have decided that I should not drive further than our town (very small town) for safety reasons. If I have to go anywhere further, he will take me since he starts holiday leave tomorrow.

Joy. No exercise, protein shakes, no driving. I really do feel like I'm becoming an invalid.

Sock Monkey Hat and Other Randomness!

Well, after finishing my initial sock monkey hat (as seen modeled by my puggle, Cloe) I was almost immediately asked to make another. I've got to watch it, though, because I have a quilt that is VERY time-consuming to finish before this baby gets here, and I'm procrastinating on it. I really think it's just the sheer magnitude of it that makes me so unwilling to work on it, but once I get started it will go right along!

We managed to get our Christmas Tree this weekend...and, despite a rather unnerving episode (see below) I was able to get all the decorations out, set up, and working. Now I begin the countdown until I can take it all down. It's weird...I love having them out, I love seeing seasons change through the house decor (part of why I love fall and winter), but I also love it when I "get my house back" and no longer have all the decorations taking up space on my surfaces. I also love not having Christmas Tree needles all over the ground.  Ben insisted that I wrap empty boxes so that it at least looks like we have presents under the tree. He's already got his gift (Ipad) and we're getting mine in the next week or so (blue tooth installed in my car...the stereo has the button but it's "not equipped").

I also got our Christmas Card picture taken. No, I'm not in it. I'm really not feeling up to tackling that monster...between  Ben, 2 dogs, and myself, it would be virtually impossible to get a shot where everyone looks good and is doing what they are supposed to. Especially when you throw in the fact that the dogs have "uniforms" that they HATE. Can't you see how happy they look? This took about an hour, a half a bag of dog treats, and a ton of "wardrobe adjustments" to get. If I had to add  Ben in, with his tendency to look like he's in pain when he smiles for pictures, plus myself (and my apparent inability to take pictures without a double chin and look halfway decent other than in my belly pictures) it just would not have worked. Can you say disaster?

OK, on to my "episode." I went to the pharmacy on Sunday to pick up a prescription refill. No biggie, right? Yeah, that's what I thought too. As I'm pulling into the parking lot, I start feeling...off. Then too hot, and then the distinctive feeling that I'm going to throw up. Wait, wait, no, that's not all. Then tunnel vision. Mind you I'm still driving. Then I realize that I KNOW this feeling. I'm about to pass out. All I could think was "Park the car, park the car, PARK THE G-D*&N CAR NOW!!!". I did manage to park the car. So far it's all happened in about 20 seconds. In the next 10 seconds my hearing gets VERY muffled, then the tunnel vision is compounded by my vision appearing pixelated and orange. Suddenly, I just KNOW that I'm going to throw up. I throw open the car door (car is in park, e-brake on, and key off) and proceed to dry heave. I sat in the car for probably 5 minutes before I could think of anything other than how awful I feel. And then I realize that I do not have my cell phone on me...I have to get home. Here's the weird thing. At that point Monkey started moving, and as soon as he did ALL of my symptoms went away. I felt fine. Oh...my prescription wasn't in yet. Oh joy.

I managed to get home...yay me. I called the nurse on Monday and she said it sounds like Vena Cava syndrome, where Monkey was resting on the main blood vessel that carries blood back to the heart...either that or he was on the vegus nerve. And if it happens again, it's off to a workup complete with EKG for me. Wonderful.

Up next week: another growth scan to see if Monkey is growing better, plus a standard office visit and 20 more minutes hooked up to a fetal monitor (I do this once a week, but after next week it will be twice weekly). Stay tuned.