Deal?

I've made a deal with Jack-- if he will bake until the end of the week, I promise to have everything done that HAS to be done by next weekend. I think he's agreed. I'm certain that whenever he arrives, there will be things that I didn't get to-- but this is the week to finish up those vital tasks, like getting Liam settled into his new room (he'll move next weekend, after all of the cleaning is done), making sure my mom has a clean bed to sleep in for the first few days we're home from the hospital, freezing a few meals and installing the car seat.

I have been doing things over the past few weeks, but between dealing with the 4th week of Liam's ear infection (and 3rd antibiotic) and my string of illnesses, it hasn't been as much as I would like. I wrote out instructions for Liam's schedule while we're in the hospital. My dad and I installed a new closet system in our front closet. I cleaned out our old bedroom closet (soon to be Liam's) & moved the clothes I want to keep to the new one, while filling a large box with stuff I don't. I packed away all of my summer maternity clothes (which will go in storage for now). I hired a cleaning lady who will come every other week. (I have lots of strengths as an individual-- housekeeping is not one of them.) I picked up the twin mattress and trundle mattress for Liam's new bed. I ordered several of Liam's Christmas gifts & Jack's baby book. I have enough newborn diapers to last us at least 6 weeks.

But, in addition to the tasks above, there's certainly still more to do! I need to wash and stock the drawers with all of our NB clothes. I need to figure out the car seat adapter for our Baby Jogger City Mini Double. I need to pack Liam's bag and my own. I need to track down all of my nursing bras, pump parts, pillows, etc. I need to pick a birth announcement & choose what we'll all wear for our newborn photo shoot.

Then, there are a few things that I really want to do (which I'm sure are the things that won't get done). I want to fill in some of the blanks in Liam's baby book & add some pictures. I want to applique him a Thanksgiving & Christmas shirt. I want to finish my Christmas shopping-- which will likely be 100% online this year. (Although my Amazon Mom Prime Benefits run out next week. BOO.) I'd like to finish & install the upholstered headboard for our bedroom that my awesome (and handy!!) dad has worked so hard on for me. But these are the things that are last on the list... the things that, if Jack is kind enough to stay put until his due date, we just might get finished.

My 37 week appointment was Friday and everything is looking good. I had my weekly NST, (Yes, those are stretchmarks, courtesy of Liam.)

where Jack concerned everyone (as he does each time) with his laziness:

Then woke up to play after being buzzed through my tummy.

When the doc came in to check on us the 2nd time, he said that everything looked beautiful. He also said that he'd prefer that I did not go past my due date (I mentioned that I was induced with Liam a week past my due date). We didn't explore that any further and I hope that we don't have to!!

I'm 1 cm dilated and the doctor's guess was that he'll stay put for a while-- but you never know. (If he attempts to come in the next 7 days, I'll just remind him about our deal.)

Wordless Wednesday: Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday afternoon, we made our trip out to the Pumpkin Patch! Liam wasn't feeling 100%, so we didn't end up taking a hayride out to the field to pick our pumpkin, but he had a great time driving the tractor, riding on the train and running around! Hope we do this every year!

Liam Walking! (Video)

Liam took his first steps a few weeks ago and last week we caught him walking on video. Watching this now, it's amazing how far he's come in a week. He's now zooming from one side of the room to the other & he's much more sure of his steps. I'll definitely take another video soon to show his progress.

Watching him learn to walk has been the most amazing milestone!!

 

Wordless Wednesday: Baby, It's Cold Outside

{leather patches on his elbows? ::dead::}

And one of mama-- 35w2d: 

 

35/35

It's so hard to believe that we're already to the big 35/35-- 35 weeks pregnant, 35 days to go.

I'll say it again. 35 days to go. 

OMG!!!

I've been pretty good about posting belly pics each week on Twitter, but not here-- I usually take them on Tuesdays in the bathroom at work. This one is from last week.

We're totally not ready yet and with all of the sickness in our house, it's been very difficult to get the things done that we need to do. Liam seems to be feeling better. He's on a new antibiotic that seems to be working and although his teeth are still bothering him, they've broken through his gums, so the worst seems to be over. Me? I'm another story.

It's been over 2 weeks and I still can't seem to shake whatever I have. My throat felt better for a while after finishing my antibiotics and the pink eye has disappeared, but I'm congested, I have a horrible cough that keeps me up all night, my throat is hurting again and in the past few days I've developed lots of pressure and pain on my left ear. I think it's sinus related.

When I was at the doc last week, I was given a prescription for Zyrtec-D and Flonase-- it's helped some of my symptoms, but not all, and will not make me well if it is, in fact, another infection that's causing this trouble. He mentioned that if I felt pressure in my face/teeth to give him a call and he'd phone in another round of antibiotics. I think this ear pressure is enough to assume it's sinus, even though I don't have a headache. (Unless it's an ear infection?)

The last (and worst?) of my ailments, I'll just have to wait out until delivery. I am experiencing miserable sciatic nerve pain, to the point that I'm barely able to walk from one side of our house to the other. It seems to be ok in the morning but get worse as the day goes on. Obviously, this is slowing me down a lot. This pain on top of being sick has left me with very little energy to finish the tasks that need to get done! (Closet cleaning, baby laundry, moving Liam into his new room, etc.) I just hope that the baby does not come early-- I need to feel better and I need to get my ducks in a row. I fear how I would emotionally handle going into labor within the next few weeks, yet I know it's entirely possible.

Which brings me to my doctor's appointment last week. I've all but decided to switch doctors at this point-- my doctor canceled her 5th appointment this pregnancy with me last week because she was going to be out of the office. This has happened repeatedly and she was not there for Liam's birth. I figure, what's the point of continuing to make appointments with her if she's not going to be there anyway? I know that whoever delivers my baby will be the person on call, but I'd at least like to be able to count on my doctor to be there for office visits. When my appointment was canceled last week, I asked to see whoever was available.

I really liked the doctor I saw-- he was incredibly thorough, more thorough than my current doctor has ever been. He asked me lots of questions, especially about how sick I've been and what I've been taking. He did not agree with the meds that my doctor's nurse had suggested I take & disagreed with her statement that I couldn't be given any additional antibiotics at this point. (Scored major brownie points with me. I can't stand that nurse and every time I have an issue, I have to deal with her. I called last week and left a message asking if my doc could see me for whatever it is that I have, and her response was that my doctor couldn't see me unless I was pregnant. WTF?! Did she not have my chart right in front of her? I paused and then said, "I'm 34 weeks pregnant." Then she launched into how I should take Robitussin D.)

Anyway, back to the doc-- After talking about how bad I've been feeling, the doc wanted to check on the baby to make sure that he's handling everything ok, so I was sent down the hall to be monitored (NST). Although his heartbeat was steady around 150, the doc did not see many accelerations/decelerations that you should see with an active baby. After about 40 minutes of monitoring, he said that everything was ok, but that he'd feel better if I had an ultrasound to check his growth, my fluid levels and the placenta. Everything  looked great-- but the doc said he'd like me to have a NST each week from now until delivery just to check on the baby and make sure that he's still better off inside and not outside. Here's baby Jack's profile:

When I got up to the desk to make my next appointment, the receptionist informed me that my doc would be out again Friday, so I requested that my appointment be made with the doctor I had just seen-- I may request him from now on. I'll have my Strep B test this week (joy) and I'll have an internal before I get monitored for a while. 

Fingers crossed that baby is still going to bake a bit longer!!

Wordless Wednesday: Fall

 Smocked long-alls and baby turtlenecks? ::drool::

Ok, not totally wordless. 

You know how I keep promising that I'm going to blog more often & then all you hear is silence for a week or two? Yeah, this time the silence is brought to you by a cold (Liam), ear infection (Liam), teething molars (Liam), a sinus infection (me), strep throat (me), pink eye (me) and the aches & pains of a 34 week pregnant sick mommy of a sick one year old (me).

(Rob, miraculously, has escaped all illness so far. Lucky.)