T Minus 15

I know babies don't always come on their due date (in fact most don't) but still, I'm keeping my countdown based on our due date. Because that's the best I've got.

Tomorrow we go in for our 38 week appointment. There's no reason to expect any earth-shaking news but I guess you never know.

...And that about covers it. Over and out.

1 More Room = Done

I told you we were getting our butts in gear on putting the house in order. It hasn't gone quite as we expected but the crib is built, the HOA docs have been submitted for the shed and I've been emailing with the glassblower who is doing the pendant lights. (Tangent: his studio is an hour+ away and I was not into driving up there to have a consultation because hello, I'm very very pregnant. Thankfully in addition to just seeming like a nice guy who wants to provide clients with a good experience, his wife is also pregnant so he totally gets it.)

While it wasn't on the initial list, I'm pleased to report that I think I've finished decorating the downstairs bathroom. And really all that means is I finally hung some pictures. I deviated from my original plan but only by a smidge. Instead of two large photos from Italy, I ended up with a cluster of six.

I definitely wanted several that featured the rust-orange used so much throughout Florence as the handtowels I have in there included that color. I was open to having all three Italian cities we visited included but as it worked out, five photos are from Florence and just one (the little one with the lion carving) is from Venice. Nothing from Rome but considering that our entry way/staircase, which is right outside this bathroom, features a large photo of the Colosseum, I think we're in good balance.

Icing on the cake - because of the cluster arrangement I didn't have to do any measuring. It's also easy to adjust them a bit if I decide the spacing isn't quite right. And because we have a fairly good camera, I have a million other hi-res photos I could trade these out with if I decide my photo selection needs tweaking.

Very Pregnant

37 weeks and 3 days. I am VERY pregnant. Friday's doctor's appointment confirmed it.

Up until now my weight gain has been very low but everything was looking good so I was just chalking it to one of the good cards I drew in the game of life. Well Friday I got on the scale at the doctor and had put on FIVE POUNDS IN EIGHT DAYS. That means 27% of my total pregnancy weight gain occurred in just one week.

I guess this explains mine and Ross' perception that I was looking much bigger by the day.

I'm still in a super healthy, relatively low weight gain range but needless to say, that was quite a surprise. I asked the doc if we should be concerned or what I should change (if anything) and she said no reason to be concerned, just keep up with the normal healthy eating. I take that to mean possibly not eating ice cream seven days per week. Which is really quite sad. I haven't had any ice cream since then but I have every intention of buying frozen yogurt today and enjoying that tonight.

In other very pregnant news, yesterday I was especially cranky. Nothing was comfortable. (And the threat of an ice cream-less existence did not help.) Well last night we figured out at least one contributing factor: I was running a slight fever. We're 95% sure that it was a side effect to the TDAP vaccine I was given Friday (as in fever was among the 6 things you might experience in the days following the vaccine). Thankfully with some Tylenol, my temperature dropped within an hour and when I woke up this morning, 12 hours after crawling into bed, I felt entirely normal.

Here's to hoping today is a more pleasant day in pregnancy, if for no other reason than Ross is at work and the only person I'll have to whine to is myself and I really don't want to hear it from me.

We made it!

We've officially made it to the promised land. Full-term! 37 weeks pregnant and Baby Cade is likely the size of a stalk of Swiss chard. (I don't think that means chard like chardonnay which is really too bad because that sounds delicious.)

BabyCenter.com estimates 6 1/3 pounds but I know the margins of error are pretty big at this point. I mean some babies are big and some are small, they have to start trending that way eventually.

Ross built the glider yesterday and I've finished packing the hospital bag (well at least as much as I'm packing it). We're making progress!

Now it's time to wait.

And wait. And maybe even wait some more.

I'm not pushing (pun intended) for him to come this month but pretty soon we'll start trying out every old wives tale there is to get Baby Cade out of my belly and into the world.

Spicy dinner destinations in North Austin/Round Rock anyone?

Grandma Caro Knows

While Mom was visiting this weekend, she said to me "I realized nearly everything I've given you for the baby is travel related."

That, Grandma Caro, is because you know me. Car seat, stroller (with tight turning radius for navigating shoe store aisles), clutch-like diaper changing thing, car bottle warmer. Yes these are the things that Cade and I will need. This is, after all, the baby who will have seen both US coasts before his first birthday! (Cali in May, Boston in October - yay weddings!)

Also yup - Grandma Caro! Mom's family has traditionally done "Grandma [first name or nickname]" so growing up I had Grandma Betsy, Grammy Dot, and Grammy O. Caro is the nickname her college roommate and BFF gave her after deciding that Carolyn was simply too long of a name.

And finally, I realize I've become one of those women who only blog/talk about their baby. I promise I know there are other things in the world besides Baby Cade. One day, I may even blog about them.

What to pack?

Since I'm off work today for President's Day I decided I'd take the extra time and get our hospital bag packed. Here's the conversation with my hubby about it

Me: Most the stuff will be for me of course but I've got a go-home outfit for him. And I thought I'd pack a change of clothes, toothbrush and contact lens case for you. Anything else you'd like to make sure we have on us so you don't have to go run to the store or home? Deodorant maybe?
Ross: Yeah, deodorant. Gum.

So I picked up and packed not one but two packs of gum. How couples ever had babies before gum, I know not.

Among the other things I've been told to pack (and have packed) are a bathrobe, bendy straws (very good suggestion!), shampoo, face wash, socks and a variety of things too personal to blog about.

If you've been down this road or have helped someone down it, what else do you suggest packing?