Toadfrogs and Elephants

It turns out you can do quite a bit while on bed rest. Wade had finished the inside of my spice cabinet so I labeled all of my jars and got them back in the cabinet.

My mom is arriving on the train today and is going to stay to help out for a while.

I haven’t posted any ultrasound pictures – mostly because I am never sure who wants to see these things. But I have to admit to being rather bored. I had an ultrasound today and baby looks great. The best news is he weighs 5 pounds and 1 ounce. That makes me feel much better in case he does come early!

In case you can’t tell, you are seeing a profile. His face is to the right of the picture and his hand is up near his mouth.

Well this has been an interesting day. I couldn’t get comfortable last night and didn’t get to a deep sleep until 6 am. I slept till 9:30 and woke up feeling great. I put a last coat of paint on the spice cabinet, took care of some phone calls, and gathered all my bags and lists for a day of errands.

Instead of running errands I ended up in the hospital. I had called the nurse with a concern and she told me to go on in to the hospital to be checked out. Turns out I was slightly dilated and actually having contractions – which looking back is why I couldn’t sleep last night. They gave me some medicine and said the baby is fine. They also told me I would have to stay overnight. I have never been in a hospital at all and now I am going to spend the night in one.

The good news is the contractions have stopped and the baby is looking good. The doctor told me if this had happened next week they would have let labor progress and I’d have a baby. She also told me that I will be on bed rest for 2.5 weeks and at any point if I go into labor again they won’t stop it. It looks like we’ll have an early baby regardless – the question now is how early. It’s a good thing I got all my painting finished last week!

To sum up: I have felt my first contractions and had my first stay in a hospital, but I have not had my first baby yet!

Sunday Wade and I were back to work on projects. I had attempted to finish up most of my painting while he was in Orlando. I painted the nursery furniture, the dining room ceiling, and then ran into trouble. The previous owners completely renovated the kitchen back in 2003. They did a great job (and I don’t say that lightly – we’ve seen their other work). However, the spice cabinet (which I think was originally a built-in ironing board) was the only thing done cheaply. Someone had mismatched metal rails for shelves on either side, used a variety of screws, and the shelf color didn’t match the cabinet color. I had decided it wasn’t worth trying to do much, but I was going to paint it and put in new rails. I removed the rails and found a random hinge between the side wall and the back wall. I determined this was causing the shelves to be at funny angles and requiring the rails to not be continuous so I tried to remove it. Turns out that one hinge was holding the back wall in place. At this point I left it for Wade (and wish I had a picture). Wade decided the best solution was to rip it all out and build me a new interior. Isn’t my husband great? He spent Sunday building the cabinet (the rails are now going to be recessed – oooh aah) and I put a first coat of paint on it Sunday night.

The plan is to finish it tomorrow and have my kitchen put back together. The crazy thing is I actually have enough spices to fill the cabinet. I have a separate small cabinet for all liquid type items.

On a side note – that is me at 34 weeks and still wearing my normal paint clothes. Those have to be the only non-maternity jeans that are still comfortable. Too bad they can’t be worn in public.

Today’s the big day – Wade turns 30! He opened a few presents when he got up and one of the most appropriate was from his sister, Emily.

Emily had given him money and directions to a local BBQ restaurant. We’d heard a lot about Speed Queen, but never been. We ventured out and decided it was pretty good. It’s in a bad part of town so we were adventurous and even ate in the restaurant instead of getting it to go.

We spent the rest of the afternoon running errands – poor Wade. But we finished strong with a night out to the Monster Truck Jam. Wade loved it and I have to admit I did too.

I knew it was supposed to get cold today, but -8 degrees is just not nice. (Especially when the wind chill is more like -20.) Wade has left me for Orlando – smart move. I think I am going to spend the day inside. There is absolutely no reason to leave the house!

I am now 33 weeks along in this pregnancy. I still haven’t had any problems or complaints, but I am definitely getting bigger. I had a doctor’s appointment and was told everything was “great”. I was also told from this point on I would grow straight out. Wade and I have started our childbirth classes. We had our second one tonight (Wade missed the first one) and Wade learned how to give me a massage. I think practice is good!

The small guest room is really done now. The doors have been painted and put back up. Wade even made new shelves for the closet and I got everything put back in today. I almost have a color coordinated closet – scary! Want to guess my favorite color?