Preparing the house for baby

Our whole house is in a state of upheaval. It started out with some books and clothes that needing to be donated to charity and haven't yet made it out of the house. Then it expanded to painting the baby's room which involved packing up my art studio into boxes lining the upstairs hallway. Then we ordered a new sofa with a sofa bed and my partner indulged in a new flatscreen TV so that he would want to hang out downstairs with the baby more when he arrives. That involves relocating a bunch of furniture around the house so right now the entire living room, which is two rooms together, is a wreck. I've got some of our baby things in the diningroom since the guest room is going to hold some more of the furnishings of the baby's room while we get the floor refinished this week. I also have to take down the Christmas tree but everything in the livingroom is in the way.

My partner decided that he needed to finish the trim in my office and then he will get started on building a new bookcase in there and we'll also relocate a cabinet from the livingroom. Everything is up in the air at the moment. I hope that by the end next weekend some of the insanity will be over and we'll have a lot more in order around the house.

33 Week OB Visit

I had an OB appointment this morning. Things are still looking good. I gained 4 pounds since my last visit but his assistant said a growth spurt was expected around now. That brings me up to about 30 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight but I feel like I'm doing okay.

They were pleased as always to hear that the baby was quite active. He's a very wiggly little guy and while it hurts more when he kicks and moves and stretches, its also comforting as he seems really healthy to me and my partner. His heartrate was at 155 for those of you who like stats.

I asked about who I call and what I do if I should go into labor and they said just call the office and let them know I had a myomectomy and I need to have a c-section. The office will call the hospital to let them know I'm on my way. Okay then, that's a plan. We talked more about the delivery date and after some discussion it was clear that he would like it to be a little earlier than February 15th, which is his due date of record based on that silly pregnancy wheel. As per Ovusoft and my own personal experience of a painful ovulation the cycle we conceived, my due date should be the 17th. Still the goal is to avoid labor and to have a safe surgical delivery, and my doctor is so not imposing so we are talking about doing it earlier that week, perhaps on the 12th.

Separately my partner as we were leaving the office expressed concern about my mother coming for the delivery and staying for a couple of weeks. I remember how after my myo how I had to cook for myself most of the time, and this time there will be an new infant to take care of as well. I'm feeling okay about having my mother around, he just wants to make sure he has time to bond with the baby on his own without my mother interfering. I told him I would speak with my mother and let her know that part of the plan with her staying is that she needs to allow us to have space as well. She's always on her computer and she knows people in the area so I don't think it's going to be too hard.

Driving to the office I started feeling a little weepy, I didn't but I just felt a little touched by things. Surgery, healing, the baby, my partner, my mother -- it feels a little overwelming. Plus the house is in a state of disarray as we reorganize to make way for our new roommate.

I often think of our neighbor's golden retriever who was a lovely dog. She whelped a little of puppies when she was young and took off after a few days after the birth and went missing for 4 days. They were frantic. Ultimately we found her but she had obviously just been overwelmed by things. Or my childhood cat who had her kittens in my doll carriage on top of some old baby blankets; I would put her in there but she never liked to stay. It was the perfect place to have her litter though.

I best get back to work.

Belly at 33 weeks

Finally I got my partner to take a photo of my belly again; it's been a few weeks. I'm feeling very full of baby now, I think he had a growth spurt, and when I look in the mirror I'm amazed at the size of my bump.

Did I tell you all that I'm scheduling the c/s for 2/15? We've decided. So unless baby decides to make an early entrance we have a finish line.

I put my name in for the diaper service and we're working on the nursery, trying to finish up the painting. I have an order of things coming from babycenter that should arrive tomorrow, my mother helped me pick out more layette items and sheets while she was here.

I don't have any breast feeding supplies of any kind yet, nor for diapering either. We also have to decide on the baby's crib and get that ordered. More shopping to do still yet.

Still Researching Infant Seats and Strollers

I bought the baby bargains book the other day and I've been comparing it to other reviews for strollers and the like online. Here are a few more places to look:

http://www.babycenter.com/
http://www.strollerqueen.com/
http://www.babychic101.com/
http://www.epinions.com/


We did decide to start with the infant seat, that appears to be the consensus, both online and off. I also just placed my order for a Kangaroo Korner fleece pouch so we can babywear and not just be lugging around an infant carrier.

Our friends got the Peg Perego with the infant seat. I'm still not sure, we need to go check them out in person I think. Weight is going to be a factor for whatever we get, I don't want to be lugging some heavy carrier or stroller if I can help it.

See my prior post about researching infant car seats

Edited to add the new Consumer Reports article about infant car seat safety. We decided to purchase the Graco SnugRide with EPS (whereas before we were leaning towards the Graco SafeSeat, a newer model) and it just arrived yesterday (1/12)