Friday, December 28, 2007

More on my to-do list

I just thought of 3 more things I need to get done soon: First, contact AFLAC about my short-term disability policy, which is supposed to cover a portion of my maternity leave. Second, firm up my plans for my maternity leave and post-leave work schedule with my employers. Third, research daycare centers--I think we can get by without it through the summer but will most likely need to get a spot reserved for the fall and beyond. See, I knew there was more on my list!

Of course this does not include all the non-baby things on my list, including but not limited to sending out holiday cards (late, of course), organizing/cleaning the basement and linen closet, sending out way-overdue thank you cards, returning phone calls to countless friends and family members, etc...

On a less stressful side note, I got the results from my glucose tolerance test and I passed--no gestational diabetes for me!!

Take care--

-Suzi

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Maybe a teensy bit panicky now...

Well, we made it through Thanksgiving, finals, Christmas, and now just have New Year's left! And since I'm at 27 weeks, that means I'm just entering my 3rd trimester. Holy &*%$. I started assessing what needs to be done in these next 13 weeks (give or take) and I have to admit I'm a little overwhelmed. We still need to buy furniture and necessities and register for everything else, which means researching things like car seats and cribs (I've been working on the crib research this past week), and deciding what store or stores are the best to go to. Babies R Us is the obvious choice, but not easily accessible to many of my family members. Target would be fine if their return policy wasn't so crummy (fyi, ALWAYS include a gift receipt when giving a present from Target in case the recipient gets duplicates--which I've heard is a problem since they don't update registries as often as they should--otherwise said recipient will have a VERY difficult time returning/exchanging gifts). I don't like Walmart, JCPenney has most of their baby stuff online only, and smaller boutique stores are too expensive. I may just have to live with Target and hope for the best--maybe register there for sheets and things that I wouldn't mind having duplicates of, and go to BRU for everything else.

Other things we need to do: 1) Finish the nursery!!! We've fallen a bit behind with all the holiday madness, so Rick is still in the paint-stripping phase. What he's done so far looks fantastic and I have every confidence that our baby will have a lead-paint-free place to sleep, but who knows when we'll get the chance to paint the walls and trim. 2) Find a pediatrician.

Hmm, when I woke up in a panic at 5 am this morning my list was much longer but I've already forgotten what else we need to do . I'm sure I'll remember it tomorrow morning, right around 5 am...

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I'll try to post a couple pictures from our festivities soon.

-Suzi

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Enough with the snow already!

Another snowy day in lovely Lowell, MA...

First things first, here's the latest belly shot, taken earlier today. Tried to make it festive with the Christmas tree in the background. As you can see, I'm all belly these days. I think the rest of me is just beginning to spread out a little too (I can see it in my face, of all places) but mostly it's all about the belly...

I'm playing hooky from work today, though with good cause! I had an OB appointment that included a couple of tests this morning, and by the time I got home it was already noon, we had to unbury my car from the 6-or-so inches of snow that fell on it overnight and during the morning, and with the weather being as crummy as it is I thought I might as well take the rest of the day off! Thankfully I had no major deadlines I needed to meet so I'm not too concerned.

As for the appointment, it seemed to go well! The baby's heart rate is still fine, he's still very active, my OB poked around my belly a little, and I didn't get any warnings about weight gain or anything so I'm assuming I'm doing ok on that front. I had to take a glucose tolerance test, which involved getting my blood drawn, drinking a bunch of really sweet orange stuff, waiting an hour, and getting my blood drawn again. Not sure when I'll get the results back but I'm hoping it'll be after the holidays, just in case it's bad news. If I end up having gestational diabetes, so be it but I would rather not know until after Christmas! Though even if it is bad news all it would mean at this point is that I'd have to go back for the 3-hour test.

I may not have a chance to post again until after Christmas, so I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and Santa treats you well!

Much love,

Suzi

Friday, December 14, 2007

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

At the advice of a few wise readers I have deleted a good chunk of this entry. It was, shall we say, bitter and if it was read by the wrong person it could spell trouble for yours truly. Self-censorship is sometimes necessary in the name of self-preservation.

Seems like my area of the country made a bit of news last night with our snowstorm! It was awfully...awful, really, but it we all made it through just fine and it sure looks lovely today! I'd love to give you some grand story of how it took me five hours to get home last night, but the reason it took that long was because I stopped at my in-laws for a 3-hour break. Who knows it might have taken me that long anyway had I stayed in traffic but that would have required a bladder of steel which as I'm sure you could guess I do not have during this particular time in my life! The stop over did make for a nice visit so I'm glad I had that option.

I hope you all have been getting through your own weather episodes with little incident! Keep warm--

-Suzi

Monday, December 10, 2007

Quick update

Just a quick update today. It's been a busy week with my finals coming up and I haven't had time to do anything but work on my restaurant design project. I worked on it for at least 16 hours this weekend and will be at it for about another 4-5 hours after work tonight (this is in addition to the countless hours I spent on it prior to this weekend). My dreams all take place in SketchUp and Photoshop scenarios now. Thankfully Rick has other people besides me that he can hang out with because I was officially no fun this weekend. But it's almost done (can't wait until Wednesday!) and then I can stop being the neglectful wife and mother-to-be that I've been for the past few weeks.

Baby Webson seems to be doing well. He's been very active lately! I think he's trying to remind me to get more exercise by setting a good example--one yoga class a week isn't cutting it! I think once the holidays are over I'm going to try to find a prenatal pilates class to add to my regiment. If I could find a prenatal belly dancing class that would be even better, but I'm not holding my breath. I may have to settle for a DVD instead.

Hope everyone is doing well! I'll try to post a new picture soon but unfortunately it might not be until next week. Wish me luck on my finals--

-Suzi

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

What not to wear?

I discovered yesterday that Baby Webson has a very distinct fashion sense. I was wearing a newish pair of pants to work and our boy did not like them at all! Of course it could be that the waist band was squishing his head (assuming he's still head-down). I swear when I purchased these pants 2 weeks ago they fit just fine, but by yesterday they were feeling a little binding--there was definitely a bit of pressure on my lower abdomen most of the day. Well the little guy was NOT happy with this at all! He spend the whole day kicking the heck out of me, hard enough that I could see my belly move with each jab. Which in it's own way is kind of cool but really not so comfortable. Thankfully he calmed down after I got home and changed into my yoga pants. Today he's back to a normal level of movement. Whew!

Only a week and a day left of my classes, then I get to take a sabbatical from coursework for a while. Not exactly sure when I'll go back--at the earliest next fall, but it will more likely be at least a year if not more. I am excited to be done for the semester, though I don't know how I'll get everything done for my classes in the next week. I feel like I'm at least a week behind in my computer rendering class and who knows if I'll catch up before I have to hand in my design (a restaurant--you'd think that would be easy for me given the number of years I worked in my parents' restaurants!). Ah well, it'll all get done somehow!