January 22; 30 Weeks

The 30 week mark happened to fall on my 31st birthday! We had a birthday dinner at Titus' parents' house, as well as a dinner at Bello's with my dad and Shelly.

Nursery Progress

It has been a busy week in the nursery! Our future nursery is our former office, which looked like this before:

That was right after we moved in, so the shelves are admittedly much fuller now! We moved all of this downstairs to our "extra" room, which is our new office. My dad and Titus took apart the three sections of the desk and moved them down. Yay for lots of help!

The next step was painting the nursery. I chose the color Divine White from Sherwin Williams. My mom painted the room over three days. My dad came over one night to install our closet shelves and a new light fixture.

Yesterday, Titus and his dad put together the crib and installed the curtain rod. I attempted to put together the cube storage unit for the closet, but I got as far as taking all the pieces out before realizing my ambition far outweighed my current energy level. Thankfully, Titus put it together for me tonight so I could start getting baby's stuff into his room. Instead, I washed the clothes we have so far for the baby - it may be the only time I enjoy doing laundry! It is amazing to think that anyone could ever be so little to fit into those clothes.

My mom is making all kinds of things like curtains, a crib skirt, and much more. They will be added soon! Then it will really start looking like the nursery I've imagined in my head (and on Pinterest).

Today we bought a rocking recliner, and it gets delivered Friday - I am excited to get it and hopefully find it very comfortable even at 30 weeks. :)

We still have to get a dresser and bookshelf, but at least our little boy will have a place to sleep when he gets here! Thanks so much to our parents for helping us out with everything. Here are some pictures of the progress!

January 20: (Almost) 30 Weeks!

Sorry for the lack of posting lately - there has been quite a bit going on! Plenty to write about, but I find myself dreading the weekly bump picture (I will probably add one to this post later... probably).

Last time I posted, we just had our 3D ultrasound. The next day I had a good checkup, but the doctor wanted to make sure my back pain wasn't due to kidney stones, so I went back to ultrasound the following day to check. That meant three days straight with visits to the hospital/clinic - not too big of a deal in the long run, but I am also directing the one act play at the moment, so my schedule is a bit tight. Anyway, there were no visible stones, but the ultrasound tech said my kidney was getting squished where my back hurt. Lovely! The only cure: having the baby... so I guess I will put up with it for a while longer. :)

Two days later (Sunday), Titus was playing basketball and someone's elbow landed on his chin and throat. He had to go to the ER for stitches and also had a bruised larynx. He is all better now, but I was a little anxious at the moment!

A few days after that, I wasn't feeling great. Titus went to play more basketball Wednesday night (after making many promises regarding his safety to me), and I told him I'd call if I got worse. I think he thought I was exaggerating! The next day at school I did feel worse, and I was also having many contractions. Finally during 3rd hour I counted them, and I called the nurse at lunch. She told me I needed to come in for observation, so I did.

I was given a shot to stop the contractions, and it worked, but it also had some unpleasant side effects - the worst being my heart rate and the baby's going waaaay up. (They did warn me this would happen!) Both of our heart rates were monitored the whole time, though. After a few check-ins from the doctor and many more from the nurses, I was free to leave that evening. I was even cleared to teach the next day, but lo and behold, we had a snow (actually, freezing rain) day! Usually I'd be upset that my lesson plans were messed up, but boy was I thankful for that day off!

Since then I have been feeling pretty good, and there have been no more scary moments. Well, except for the birthing class we took last Saturday - I'm pretty sure Titus found that scary. It was also his first experience changing a diaper (on a doll, however); he will have to get used to that pretty quickly!

Nursery update - my parents have been very gracious to help get the baby's room ready! My mom just finished painting the nursery yesterday, and my dad installed our closet system and a new light a few days ago. Next up: putting together the crib! I will post pictures soon!

There is the lengthy, delayed update on all things baby. :)

Jan 2: 3D Ultrasound

Our hospital offers complimentary 3D ultrasounds, so we took them up on the offer and had ours today. Personally I think he looks like a mixture of Gollum from Lord of the Rings and Homer Simpson, but hopefully that is just for now. :)

Here is a picture of him sucking his thumb!

January 1; 27 weeks

We have officially made it to the third trimester! Only three months (or less) left before this growing boy joins us. Exciting and scary all at the same time!

Titus and I have enjoyed lots of time with family over Christmas break. Yesterday we ventured to Fargo, where my friend Brianne and I went shopping for nursery fabric. We stepped into Bed, Bath, and Beyond as well, where I got a little overwhelmed with all the things we still need to get for the baby. Trying to remember that it will all come together eventually! Brianne is due two weeks before me, so we got a bump picture in - see below. This was taken after our shopping trip - much shorter than our usual excursions, but of course much more exhausting! :)

We have spent the past few New Year's Eves at home, but this year we were invited to a little gathering at our friends' home in town. Almost everyone there had a baby of their own, so by next New Year's we will fit right in!

Tomorrow we have our 3D ultrasound, and Friday I have a doctor's appointment. Hopefully all goes well!