Jonah

This is Jonah:

Looks innocent enough, right? So cute, so fuzzy. So incredibly EVIL it's not even funny!

He got to go to the vet yesterday. Had to get a rabies shot. What a fiasco. He HATES strangers, so we knew it would be a disaster. We had booked Dr. Conley and my friend Lara the tech, because they are both familiar with him. Lara took the carrier to the back to get him out, in an effort to see if it would help to get him out not in our presence. She actually came back into the room CARRYING him in her arms (she did have one leather glove on), but we thought MAYBE he was going to behave (riiiiight). She got grips on him on the exam table (sans gloves!) and Dr. C got as far as looking in his ears before he freaked. And I mean, FREAKED. Started rolling like a crocodile, tried to eat Lara, jumped off the table and cowered under a chair. When Lara went to get him, he then pooped and peed ALL OVER himself. Eventually he was forced back onto the table (this time WITH gloves on), got his shot, got cleaned up as best they could do, and shoved back in the carrier. What a mess! When we got him home, I had to throw him in the tub and sponge him down (I didn't want to get him totally wet) as best we could to get the stink off. Disaster, I'm telling you. But, he has recovered just fine, and is street-legal, at least.

In other news, things are just peachy. It is pouring down rain (which we desperately need) and quite a miserable, stay-in-the-house kinda day. I need to do some housework, but am trying to work up the motivation. I go back to work on Wed, so I am praying that Gracie decides to make her debut before then, so I don't have to go back!!! I'm NOT looking forward to it.

I am doing SO much better pain-wise since I've been avoiding fat in my diet. It really helps, and I actually feel like a normal person most of the time! (well, a normal person who is carrying around a lead-filled basketball in her belly!) I've been sleeping ok, too! It's kinda hard to find stuff I want to eat still, but it is totally worth it.

35 weeks belly shot

Here is me today- I look a lot bigger in the pics than I feel.

Talk about sway-back! Good lord! I'm really glad that my lower back isn't sore (knock on wood). I don't know how the child fits in there- I guess that explains all the "re-positioning" that she does. Her little feet stay on the right side of my belly, up near my ribs- sometimes she rubs them up and down- like one of those massager chairs with the bars that roll up and down your back, you know? There are times that I can almost get ahold of one of her feet- it is very creepy!

We just got back from dinner. We had sushi from Kanki- we've eaten there a lot lately, because I can eat several things there (salad, soup and a couple of rolls that don't have raw stuff in them) and I enjoy it.

Ok, so... my birthday present. I got an iPhone!!!!! Holy crap! I NEVER expected to get one, and it is the BOMB. I love it. I don't have an iPod, so it was like getting one AND a new phone. I've had so much fun setting it up. It will be great for trips, and for taking pics of the baby. I love the web browsing and email capabilities. Here is a pic:

I am very excited about it. It is so something I don't really *need* at all, but very cool to have, and I will use all of its features regularly. One bad thing is I bought Randy a new phone for Christmas, because he had this cheapy, no features, no signal phone he got to replace his old one when the screen broke. So I got him a slightly more expensive one with some useful stuff, and it turns out he really wanted MY phone that I had been using. So we have an extra phone now. Oh well. I had no way to know what he had in mind. Good thing the one I got him wasn't all that expensive. We'll keep it for emergencies or when one breaks.

I will try to take some pics of the nursery later on- it isn't done, but the crib area is finished (except for the mobile). She really won't be in her room much for a while, so we'll just get it done a bit at a time.

Here's a gratuitous kitty shot, for your viewing pleasure:

30

That's Cam Ward's number. It is also, unfortunately as of today, my age. How did THAT happen? Yeah, ok, I know how it happened, but still... I don't FEEL 30, shouldn't that count for something???
I had an awesome Christmas and my birthday was even better. Randy does SUCH a great job making me feel special on my birthday, since it is a point of issue in my life. He wrapped my gift in BIRTHDAY paper (which is a requirement) and he catered to me all day- I'm not easy to cater to right now, mostly because of my dietary restrictions. He gave me an awesome gift (more about that later) and the sweetest card I've ever received. Even though this year's holiday season has been tough emotionally on me (which I'm trying not to think about), he has made me feel like the luckiest girl on the earth. I am forever grateful for that.
We went and got the nursery stuff from Babies R Us, today, and got it set up- pics later. I'll write some more later, I gotta go find something I want to eat, and CAN eat- good luck there, Sary... =)

Wishing you all a....

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Love,
Sara and Randy

DingDingDing- round 2 and counting...

I had another visit to the Dr.'s office yesterday morning, due to contractions. These were more painful (like bad cramps) than Monday's, and were about 6 minutes apart for a couple hours. So I called and they told me to come in. I'm still not dilated, and the Dr. basically said, yep, you're having contractions, you'll probably have them off and on and at some point they will start you dilating (and I'll know this because I will start wanting to choke the closest person to me from the pain!)... He said since I'm 34 weeks, they won't try to stop them and whenever Gracie wants to arrive, she is free to do so! So anytime now, really. I don' think it will be all that soon, but I don't think I'll make it to the end of January. Maybe it will be before the new year??

Preterm labor- round 1

Well. Got inducted into the "Welcome to Rex Hospital" club last night. It was scary.
I had been laying on the sofa watching TV, waiting for Randy to come home. I decided to go get the mail, and I made it halfway to the mailbox when I was hit with horrible pain in my left lower back. I though, hmm, maybe I got up wrong or something. I made it to the box and back in, and at that point I thought someone was trying to rip my kidney out through my skin- it HURT. I thought, great, my lovely kidney stone is acting up. So I went to the bathroom to see if I had blood in my pee, but no. So I hobbled to the couch and laid down, but that didn't offer a whole lot of relief. I laid there for a bit and finally managed to reach my phone on the coffee table to call Randy, who I told to please come home N.O.W. and I was almost in tears. I called the answering service of the Dr. and Randy got home before the Dr. called me back. Of course, I never got my Rx filled, so I had Randy on a narcotics hunt through the house (all he found was some pills from my LAST kidney stone issue that had expired last year). At this point I was in less pain as long as I was still. The Dr. called and after I explained everything she asked me how my uterus felt, and it was tender to the touch, so she sent me to L&D at the hospital and said she wanted me checked out and she'd see me there. I started drinking water in case it was my kidney stone.
On the way to the hospital, I realized that my back pain was coming and going- to the tune of every 7-8 minutes, and my left side in the front was now hurting. So we get to the hospital and they checked me in pretty quickly, and put me in a gown and bed in triage. They hooked me up to a monitor, made me pee in the cup, put in an IV and drew blood. At this point, I was pretty much a nervous wreck to the possibility that this was IT and I could be meeting my new daughter any time now. Randy was very good to me- poor guy, I know he was as freaked out as I was.
The monitor was showing that I was having contractions every 8 minutes or so, and at first they correlated to my back/side pain, but as I got fluids into me the pain eased off and the contractions were just uncomfortable. Randy had fun watching the monitor for when I would have one, and watching Gracie's heartbeat- he could tell when she was awake and moving around versus sound asleep. The nurse checked my cervix (boy was THAT fun) and I wasn't dilated. She said Dr. Homeister was on her way to check on several patients, but she had noticed my contractions and told the Dr. and they wanted them to stop, so she gave me a shot of Terbutaline, which made me very jittery, but seemed to work almost immediately to stop the contractions.
I finally saw Dr. Homeister (we'd been there for a couple hours- poor Randy was starving, but refused to get something to eat!) and at that point I was just sore in my back. I'd gotten a liter of fluids and my cervix hadn't dilated- but she said it was soft. She thinks I was just dehydrated, which put the kidney stone in action, which caused the contractions to start. So I got to come home with instructions to drink a lot and call if I started having contractions again. I was worn out at this point. Randy and I stopped and got dinner (I won't tell you where, but there weren't many places open at 11:00 at night!) and today I have a long list of stuff to do, after our little reality check last night. BTW, I am feeling better after a good sleep, I still feel some occasional contractions, but not much pain- nothing like that "kidney trying to escape" pain, anyway.
So today: the carseat goes in the car. My bag for the hospital gets packed. Shelby's bag gets packed for boarding (in case we need to board her). Our co-sleeper, (which Randy's folks very generously bought for us this weekend!!) is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow- that's about the last thing we really NEEDED in case we come home with an infant any day now. The nursery isn't done, but it can wait.
Hopefully I won't be making another appearance at Rex until a lot closer to my due date. At least I know what to expect now, huh?

The Verdict

Went to the Dr. today. The doc came in and did the usual poke, prod and listen bit, then asked if I had any concerns. I was like, uh, YEAH! Can I get my ultrasound results?? He had no idea what I was talking about, and I sure hate it when Dr.'s don't bother to review a chart before they see someone they've never seen before. So he had to go track down the report from the u/s place, but he told me all my bloodwork was normal. He finally got the report, and I evidently have multiple polyps in my gall bladder (as well as some insignificant stones in both kidneys). So the offending gall bladder will have to be removed at some point after Gracie is born. Evidently the difference b/t polyps and stones is that polyps are attached and stones are free-floating, but they cause the same problems. So, until I get around to having a lap choly done, I'm supposed to minimize symtoms (read: pain) by avoiding fatty foods. All of my favorite foods are fatty! I can't have MILK (I Love Milk!) among every other good-tasting food out there. Grrrrr. He also Rx'ed me some Lor-tabs for pain.
Other than that, the appt. went fine. I had to have MORE freakin' blood drawn for some state-required test. I had gained 2 pounds and am measuring right on track. I go back in 3 weeks.
Oh, I did get some results (I hope) from Babies R Us regarding the dresser- it should be on their delivery truck tomorrow. The manager had to get on the phone to the warehouse and basically DEMAND that they put one of 140-some dressers they have in the warehouse on the truck. So keep fingers crossed that it makes it here tomorrow!

Some updates

I had my abdominal ultrasound on Monday. It went fine- the girl was really nice and gave us a peek at Gracie at the end (even though she wasn't supposed to), but she was sound asleep- the most exciting thing she did was move her hand a bit! She is definitely a girl, though- we checked!
It was an uncomfortable ultrasound since all my organs are so squished in my ribcage. The tech wouldn't tell me anything she saw, but Randy and I both are pretty sure there are at least 3 stones in my gall bladder! Oh, joy. She also measured something in my left kidney (I couldn't see the screen when she did the right kidney, but there is a known stone in there), but I don't think kidney stones have caused my pain. I have an OB appt. tomorrow so I guess I'll find out what they want to do then.
I've got to go to Babies R Us and give them a hard time today about the dresser/changing table we ordered more than 3 WEEKS ago! It was supposed to be at the store in 7-14 days. I've been calling almost every day, and I want some answers, in person, today.
We've had a busy week- Christmas parties, Dr. appointments and such. We went last night to The Mixing Bowl and made us a BUNCH of dinners to have in the freezer for when Gracie arrives and we can't get out of the house as easily. We did all full sized meals (for 4-6 people) and split them up into Randy and Sara meals when we got home. We have at least 15 meals in the freezer, which is great!

Christmas tagged

OK, I didn't really get tagged, but Erika had this on her blog and I thought it was neat! Here goes:


1. wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, but I will use gift bags for oddly shaped gifts. I keep all bags given to me and re-use the cute ones. I LOVE to wrap, and I have to have several kinds of papers that match.
2. real tree or artificial? real, but I'm not against fake just to avoid having to string the lights!
3. when do you put up the tree? round about the beginning of December. Don't have one this year- we have too much else going on!
4. when do you take the tree down? before the start of the new year, usually
5. do you like eggnog? yeah, it's ok.
6. favorite gift received as a child? I really have no idea!
7. do you have a nativity scene? no
8. hardest person to buy for? Randy
9. easiest person to buy for? Trish
10. worst present you ever received? one year my Pop got me a racetrack thing with those electronic cars that went around the track. It would have been cool if I wasn't about 11 years old, trying to be all grown up and girly for once. There's a picture of me when I opened it, and I couldn't even manage a polite smile...
11. mail or email Christmas cards? mail
12.favorite Christmas movie? Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas
13. when do you start shopping for Christmas? November-ish
14. have you ever recycled a Christmas present? probably
15. favorite thing to eat at Christmas? CANDY CANES!!!! especially spearmint ones, if I can find them!
16. clear lights or colored on the tree? clear
17. favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night, or most stuff by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Manheim Steamroller and the entire Peanuts Christmas CD
18. travel at Christmas or stay home? don't travel too far, usually
19. can you name all of Santa's reindeers? yep!
20. angel on the tree top or a star? Star
21. open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning, but my Nanny always got me a new nightgown and I got to open that on Christmas Eve. Nowadays, Randy and I rarely wait until the big day- we start about a week before and open one present a day. We're horrible about waiting!
22. most annoying thing about this time of year? Crazy shoppers and when the stores/radio stations try to start Christmas way back in October. TOO EARLY!
23. what i love most about Christmas? giving gifts, decorating, time off work!

Hospital Tour

At childbirth class last night we got our tour of the birth center. Not really all we had expected, but we got to see the nursery and a labor/delivery room. The room was nice, but I really wanted to see a postpartum room, too. We then got to go up to the new wing and it is sooooo nice! Everything is bright and shiny. We only got to see the nursery up there, but we witnessed a PRICELESS moment. There was a set of twins (boy/girl) getting changed, dressed and weighed by 2 nurses. The one nurse was tending to the girl and another nurse undressed and undiapered the boy and carried him over to the scale. As soon as she set him down, he let loose with a FOUNTAIN of pee, and he was aimed RIGHT at the other nurse and his sister!!! He had GREAT aim, too- the nurse hollered and jumped to try to get out of the way, but she got wet and the sister got wet- it was HYSTERICAL! We couldn't have planned our visit for a better time.

Went to get checked out...

I went to the Dr. yesterday due to that stupid fairy still hanging around. I wanted to make sure Gracie was ok and to see if they could do anything to scare the SP fairy away. Gracie is fine, growing well. The Dr. thinks I just have a virus, but she did a bunch of bloodwork on me, and I had to do a poo specimen thing (OMG that was so gross!). She also is wondering if I have gall stones, or even kidney stones acting up, so she ordered an ultrasound!!!!!! YAY! A freebie! They are supposed to call me to schedule it soon. In the meantime I am taking Immodium (Commodium as Randy calls it!) and it helped yesterday, but today the dreaded fairy returned. At least I am off work (FINALLY TRACK-OUT!!) so that makes it easier to deal with.
We have our childbirth class tonight and we get the grand tour- that should be fun. Randy is out of town today and we're hoping he makes it back in time.
In other news, our dresser STILL has not come in- I talked to them yesterday and for some reason it is listed as "pending" in the order, and the manager is investigating it- she's supposed to let me know something by tomorrow. I am anxious- I want it to come soon!

Feeling better and new crib!

I am feeling better than I was, despite several visits from the speedy-poo fairy over the past few days. My spot on my ribs/skin is still really hurting- I'm going to try to get checked out next week, to rule out a gall bladder issue.
On a really happy note: our crib came today!!!!!! It was supposed to be delivered yesterday, but the FedEx guy came RIGHT before I got home. So it came today, and Randy got it all put together! No pics, yet- there's no mattress. The black looks GREAT in the room, and the crib itself is fantastic. Not too high for me, which rocks. I can't wait to get all the decor put together in there. Our dresser we ordered should be here any day.
Not much else going on- 2 MORE DAYS til track-out! And Monday is the baby shower at work, which will be fun.