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I know, I've been AWOL. First, the weather became unexpectedly nice this week (72 degrees yesterday!) so I've been playing outside, and secondly, there was a nasty incident where Blogger cruelly and inexplicably ate a post that I had worked hours and hours on, and it takes some time to heal after that kind of crushing technological blow. (And more than a couple inventive references regarding Blogger, Blogger's mother, and the sexual preferences of Blogger's entire family tree). Maybe one day I'll sit down and try to write that post again, but for right now, you get the infinitely easier bloggy cop-out: the bullet point update on Baby Girl. Enjoy!
- We've officially graduated Teddybear U, our baby care class. They gave us a little diploma and everything! And while I admit that it was a little touch and go there with the birthing video, and the "is this color of baby poop healthy" presentation (which probably wouldn't have been so bad had it not been shown the night of the class pizza party), and the c-section video (learned my lesson on that one...for the love of all that's holy, LOOK AWAY!), we actually really enjoyed the class. We spent the last evening on newborn care, and I'm proud to say that Tony diapered and swaddled our baby doll like a pro. (He was totally serious about it too. The concentration on his face while he held the doll's feet up to switch out diapers was epic! You'd think he was performing open heart surgery on the President or something). He wants to take the diploma and hang it up on his bulletin board at work. I told him to go for it...he's earned it.
- In another act of parental maturity, we have a pediatrician now. On the last night of Teddybear U, they told us that we would need to have a pediatrician's name to put down on one of the bazillion forms that you fill out when babies are born. Then they gave us a helpful list of three typed sheets of local pediatricians in the area. I cross-checked the sheet with who took our insurance, where they were located, and if any had online reviews about how good they were. Then I called the office of the closest doctor who met all those criteria and told them Baby Girl would like to be a new patient. Technically, the online message boards say you're supposed to actually meet and interview potential pediatricians before your baby is born, but seeing how this guy had a couple of good online reviews and there were no screaming and chainsaw noises in the background while I was on the phone with the receptionist, I'm going to mark this down as officially taken care of.
- I guess I've started nesting, but instead of taking the form of scrubbing baseboards like I had hoped, it's taking the form of project planning. The other day I caught myself eyeballing the bathroom wall, going, "If I knock out part of this drywall here and here, then I could probably install a laundry chute down to the washer and dryer in the basement!". Yesterday I built and installed my own rolling pull-out shelving in one of the kitchen cabinets so I could store Baby Girl's bottles and sippy cups and whatnot. Today I was looking at those same cabinets, just sure that it was vitally important to sand and re-stain them before the baby arrives. (I'd do it too if I was allowed around the stain fumes. As it is, I may just end up pulling off all the hardware and steam cleaning them instead). Tony keeps telling me to knock it off or I'll overdo it, but I'm not sure if he's concerned about over-exerting Baby Girl or if he just caught a glimpse of the intricate (read: expensive) hardscape plans that I was sketching out for the backyard.
- I go to the doctor twice a week now for fetal monitoring check-ups. Baby Girl has been measuring small, so they do these non-stress tests to make sure that her low growth is just because she's a small baby and not because she's stressed or not getting enough nutrition or anything. I'm not really worried though, because she's always been very active, and she certainly doesn't disappoint whenever they monitor her. (In fact, she makes a special effort to kick at the monitor to let them know that she doesn't appreciate something sitting on "her" tummy space. She's very territorial like that).
I suppose that about covers the 34 week and change update. Everything looks really good with me and Baby Girl (despite her being a featherweight), and we're just clicking right along, counting down the days. The due date they've given me is March 29th, but there's a full moon on March 20th, so I'm shooting for somewhere around there. I guess we'll see!
