Realization

Yesterday it really occurred to me that the Babybutt is going to come out of there soon. It made me a little sad. I'm going to miss his little rib kicking feet and bladder butting head.

I also just realized that I forgot to mention Jen's shop where she makes those cute onesies, babylegs and other things in my other post.

Good Baby Day

I had my regular 2 week check-up today. The baby is definitely head down! I have really felt the difference in how he's situated the past few days. I even saw some really big migrating movement the night before last. It's so cool to see. I have gained no weight since the last visit, and everything looks good! It's really funny to see things through an OB's eyes, because today he declared, "You've finally popped!" He explained that to him I finally looked pregnant. Maybe I should carry him around with me for the next time a customer insists that I am "...carrying far too large for the stage of pregnancy you're in!"

At the next visit we get to see the little goat again on ultrasound. Yay! After that, we go to weekly visits and the big dilation checks! Craziness!

I also finished ALL my Christmas shopping today except for one little thing. BIG load off my shoulders. I really do not have the stamina or patience for it right now. Now I just have to get everything wrapped and sent. sigh.

And lastly, I had my work baby shower tonight. It was at Mimi's Cafe, and I enjoyed myself immensely both for the food and the company. I have been so incredibly blessed to be on this new team for my pregnancy. My managers and coworkers have just been so amazing. Two of my managers were even there and brought really nice gifts! It feels really good for people to care like that. Wow.

p.s. I had fried pickle slices, and they were AMAZING! I want more right now!

Handmade Lovelies and Hints on Baby Furniture

The adorable wipes Jen made for the Babybutt:

The super cute combo of a blue Bumgenius diaper with adorable baby legs that Jen also made for the Babybutt (She's so talented. :):


AND my attempt at putting together Ikea furniture.

I did a pretty good job though it almost made me cry tears of weariness because many pieces were heavy, and it took 2 days worth of a few hours each to complete. Notice my oops though. That piece is backward. Should you get the Leksvik changing table, please note the position of that piece. It's the only one you can put on backward without realizing. The other hint for this piece of furniture is to leave the drawers OUT until you fasten the changing table top. It's much easier that way. And do not try to follow the additional changing table instructions in the dresser box (they come in different boxes). They are not correct. Just use the changing table box ones. Now I feel better about all my mistakes. ;-)

Bulleted Updates

• Hub got to the doctor after a lot of discomfort and is referred to a specialist thank goodness. Thanks for all your advice. I was very worried.
• 33 weeks. Holy shit.
  
• The babybutt seems to have moved! The past few days I've felt a very different stress on my legs and back. In many ways, there has been some relief from the sciatica and pressure I've been experiencing. Tonight I felt a big flurry of movement and suddenly his butt was no longer poking to the left of my belly button. Now I feel along my belly, and it seems as if his back curves down to the right with his head almost down! My little one is getting ready! ACK! :)
• So You Think You Can Dance is much better this week. I'm in love with Russell. I really like a lot of the dancers. There are 2 I'm really not into. Can you guess?
• Hub said, "Those judges are cute." He said that because he likes how they act like coaches. That's the man I married. That's why I love him.
  
• Looking back on last year at this time, I can't believe where I am. It's so trite to say, but this really does feel like one very long, amazing dream that I can't quite understand. I had grown a lot into my fertility issues by that time and can say I was in a pretty happy place. But thinking about going back there fills me with sadness now. I wish I could change that for lots of others still dealing.
  

Allergy Help

Hub's allergies are generally bad, and sometimes they're horrible. It's awful that I can do nothing to help. We're going to try to get help from the doctor, but speak to me about YOUR experiences. He seems to be allergic mainly to dust, certain animals and plant life. Yeah, so just about everything that's around you all the time. Can they do the blood test for those allergies? Are there shots that help? Anything else that eases things? And when I say they're bad, I mean severe. Thanks. We both pray the babybutt avoids this crap. I have NOTHING, so hopefully he'll get my genes.

Christmas Yearnings

I desperately want to get things like this for about every person in my family yet lack the cash. Is this not one of the most beautiful things you ever did see?

From The Vintage Pearl

Boring, Rambly Day Update Because I Want To***

So the night before last, I had the worst cramping I've ever had in my life. Nope, it wasn't in my uterus, it was in my calf. I never knew about the whole leg cramping thing in pregnancy until it happened to me, and holy SHIT does it hurt. Wow. It made me think an epidural is going to be a really good thing, because if I can't handle that, I don't know that I can handle labor. My leg is still sore.

The point of telling you that is that I spent much of last night waking up suddenly, nervous, trying not to create any conditions under which that kind of cramp could happen again.* Thank goodness Jen and the lovely Elizabeth were coming to show me a good time. When they got here, I got to open my present first. And what gorgeous things they were! When I am feeling less tired, I will probably take photos and post them. But she got me a light blue bumgenius diaper and made some adorable stripey baby legs to go with them! I LOVE IT! I also got the cutest cloth wipes in the whole world (animals of course.) I certainly plan to take photos of the babybutt wearing the diaper combo as soon as it's possible. His face won't be gracing the blog much either, but baby legs and butts are pretty darn cute too.

Then we went for Thai food at one of my favorite places where I was sorely disappointed. The chef today must have thought ignorant Americans expected mild/medium Thai food to be completely devoid of any zest. Seriously. The food there is usually so tasty, but today was so bland I think a 5 year old would have been fine with it. Less SPICY does not mean less FLAVOR people! My pad thai didn't even have much peanut flavor. I felt badly because Jen was so excited to get some Thai food again (You'll remember her roach incident). I ordered some thom ka gai to go and asked for medium instead of mild, and it was MUCH better. It actually had a good flavor. It was still extremely mild though. Hub, who can't stand any sort of spice, gobbled it up just fine. Ah well, it was still fun though E felt that the floor needed much more decoration.

We then decided to stop at Whole Foods and the yummy samples there (along with cupcakes Jen made that we ate later) made up for it. Hub and I just finished one of the sweetest, most juicy, most satisfying oranges we've had in a looong time from there. I should have bought more.

Jen and E stayed a little longer, but then went home and I napped per the usual. Tonight I finally finished putting together our changing table. More on that later. I have some warnings.**

*(Kristin - I am sooo sorry Marty's had to deal with that. If it's anything like what I felt, no wonder the poor kid had so much trouble. :( )

**I still like it, but it was a little bit of an adventure, and if someone else is getting the same model, I have some tips that would have helped me had I known.

***Which is pretty much how I approach the way I write in this blog every time. Even without a blog, I'd still be scribbling on random pieces of paper and in my journals just to please myself. :)