38wks

Everything looked good.

Blood pressure - 110/72
fundal height - 39
urine - neg
heart rate in the 130's
up 2lbs - I think it's a total of 33-34lbs now

2cm dilated STILL but
75% effaced (last week I was only 25%)

He told me that the baby is definitely head down b/c he could feel his skull and he thinks I have a good chance of having Jack sometime this week so he stripped my membranes. I wasn't even sure what that meant so I had to come home and look it up.

Here goes...

37wks

Well, I had my 37wk appt yesterday and here's a quick run down of how it went:

BP - 110/70
Heart rate in the 120's
Urine - negativeGBS - negative
no weight gain
fundal height up from 36 to 40
25% effaced
2cm dilated

A wk ago I was nothing. Also, today I went and pre-registered at the hospital and the nurse told me to pack my bag.

And from the list in my last entry, I'm doing really good. Jack's room is 97% done so things 1-5 on the list are done. I would post a pic but for some reason my computer doesn't recognize the software for my new camera... I don't know what I'm going to do about that. Right now I'm freaking out over it. It recognizes it on my laptop but there's something wrong with the modem on the laptop and I can't dial up.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow so that's one more thing off my list and Austin's bathroom & bedroom are almost done. In the bathroom, Bill just needs to caulk around the bathtub and in the bedroom, Bill just needs to hang the curtain rod. So that'll be 2 more things off my list and 2 that *I* can't do and I'm not really worried about either of them, so that's a load off.

Right now all I need to do is all the Christmas stuff, finishing shopping, wrap and put up the tree - I got the Christmas cards done the other day...whew... AND most importantly, pack my bag for the hospital and get the car seat installed. I'm stressing those two things the most right now so once that gets done, it'll be smooth sailing.

Wish me luck!

36wks and a ton of stuff to do

I went to the doctor yesterday (11/15) and I'm not yet dialated or effaced. However, I am HOT and I'm can tell I'm starting to swell - for the first time I had to take off my wedding and engagement rings today (after first running my hands under cold water and lathering up with dish soap). I felt nekkid not wearing them all day.

I FINALLY got Austin out of Jack's room and into his new room downstairs and we FINALLY got Jack's room painted, however, there is still a ton left to do.

1. We need to put up the chair rail in Jack's room.
2. We still need to put up the border in Jack's room.
3. We still need to put up the blinds and valances in Jack's room.
4. We need to bring in the crib and dresser from the shed and get that put together.
5. I need wash all cloth items - and there's a TON - get them all folded and put away.
6. I need to have Thanksgiving somewhere.
7. I need to get and install a car seat.
8. I need to get fitted for nursing bras.
9. I need to cook some meals so that there's something hot to eat for the 1st week or two after Jack's born.
10. I need to finish Austin's bathroom so he can use finally use it.
11. I need to finish Christmas shopping, wrap gifts and put up the tree.
12. I need to pack my hospital bag.

I could go on and on it seems... all because of the freaking contractor who took 9wks to do a 2wk job. I can't even think about him without getting angry and stressed out. So I'm going to put him out of my mind but I'm sure as I'm still trying to finish up the bathroom downstairs and I'm pushing Bill to do what I can't, I'll be thinking of him the whole time.

Thank goodness I had the mindset to use some of my vacation next week. I took off work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday giving me the whole week off since Thanksgiving is Thursday and they always give us off Friday (instead of another holiday). Hopefully, fingers crossed, I'll be able to get a ton done so I can sit back and relax for the remainder of my pregnancy.

That's about it from me for tonight. I'm sure I'll be on next week while taking a break to let you know my progress.

Another parent/teacher conference

Yesterday we had to go back to the school for another parent/teacher conference. It was a follow-up from the one before where we scheduled the school counselor to go in his classroom and observe his behavior. Well, she observed him in 2 different classes, here is the description of setting and task:

1. Gym Class - Discussion and active practice of focus and attention by teacher (she said that a karate instructor was in that day so it wasn't a normal gym class and it was very organized)

2. English - a) Taking a spelling test and b) Discussion of suffixes and prefixes

Now here is the description of Austin's performance while he was observed:

1. During this entire presentation Austin was focused, attentive, and followed directions.

2. During both the spelling test and English lesson Austin stayed focused, attentive and was on task. During the English lesson he raised his hand several times to answer questions and when called on his answers were correct.

So in conclusion, they noted that Austin does not have problems with his attention span and that he's just laid back and works at his own pace. Well, we could've avoided all of this b/c I could've told them that a LONG time ago. Austin's been laid back since birth, the child doesn't know the word "stress". Anyhow, I was so happy I could burst! Still am! I knew all along he was a great kid and they were making something out of nothing. Not to mention he ended up getting all A's & B's on his report card.

Austin's report card

After a very stressful first semester and an early progress report that showed Austin failing everything, here's how his report card looked:

B - Math
B - Reading
A - Language
B - Science
B - Social Studies
A - Art
A - Music
A - Physical Education

Way to go Austin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of him. I could burst.