Bed Rest

You know it isn't good when your doctor calls you at 4:30pm in the afternoon.  The actual doctor.  Not a nurse  or assistant.  Dr. Hennessey called and said they received my test results back from the outpatient lab and that my platelet count was low and I had protein in my urine.  He asked me to go to labor and delivery so they could run some additional tests to double check everything.

Luckily, I had packed my hospital bag on Tuesday just in case I were to go into labor before the 29th.  I went ahead and put the bags in the car just in case it ended up that I would be staying in the hospital with the possibility of having Brandon.  

Nick and I went to labor and delivery around 5:30pm.  They hooked me up to all the machines to check Brandon' heart rate and my blood pressure.  Interesting enough, my blood pressure has been running high the entire pregnancy but the whole time I was there it was either normal or a little below.  Go figure.  

So my lab work comes back around 7ish and it is pretty much the same as before, low platelet count and protein but my liver function is fine.  I have officially been diagnosed with mild pre-eclampsia and have been put on bed rest.  What does that mean?  Well, I am only allowed to be up for a total of 2 hours a day to include eating, showering and bathroom.  That's it.  Thank goodness I can get on the computer in a reclined position or I would be miserable.  Plus, this still lets me work from home.  :)

I now get the pleasure of doing the 24 hour urine again on Sunday to turn in on Monday morning.  Hopefully nothing has changed for the worse by then.  If it has then I will be having this baby sometime next week.  Either way I am prepared for anything and ready if he does arrive before the 29th.  

On a lighter note, below are some new pics of the nursery with the recliner.  The shelves I purchased ended up not working so the walls are pretty bare (or has stuff hung to cover some holes right now).  I am okay with this since we can always add to it later.  Enjoy :)

Sampson really wanted to get in on the action.  He really likes his photo taken :)

Lullabies and Mudpies Consignment Sale

A few weeks ago I stumbled across an ad for a consignment sale in Pensacola for baby gear.  Now when I say baby gear, I literally mean ALL BABY STUFF (clothes, toys, swings, jumpers, shoes, EVERYTHING).   Now, this one wasn't scheduled until the middle of March but I thought I could somehow pull it off and get my pregnant butt out to the Pensacola State Fairgrounds for this awesome sale, even though I would be only a few weeks away from my due date.

Fast forward about a weeks later and I was on Craigslist looking at baby gear and saw an ad for another sale in Pace for the last week in February called Lullabies and Mudpies.  I thought, what the heck, let me check out there website and Facebook page, which I did. 

 I did some researching and they hold their baby and children consignment sale 2x a year (once in Spring and once in Fall).  They had pictures posted of there last sale along with some YouTube video of the warehouse with all the stuff in it.  I was impressed so I went ahead and signed up to go to the pre-sale event for First Time Mom's.  

Well, the event was last night and needless to say I feel like it was a success for me.  There were some pretty specific items I was on the lookout for that I didn't feel I needed to necessarily purchase brand new.  I had a plan to try and get a pack n play, swing, jumperoo and activity mat. If I was able to get these for a decent price then the hour long drive to Pace would be well worth it.  And it was.  I was able to get all of the above plus a few toys and a Gator onesie (that was my peace offering to Nick for all the Seminole stuff we already have acquired).  

I will say that having a plan going into this probably made all the difference. You definitely need to have some patience with the process of a consignment sale but the amount of money saved was well worth the 2 hour wait to check out.  All together, I purchased all I was looking for and more for a total of $158.00 which is less that half of what I would have spent if I purchased all of that brand new.  

There are going to be some sales coming up in the Ft Walton area the end of April and if I am feeling up to it I may just check those out as well.  Below are some pictures of the Lullabies and Mudpies consignment sale in Pace from last night and the items I purchased.  

Boy's clothes...Lots of Boy's Clothes

There was an entire section dedicated to strollers, pack n plays, swings and more

Toy land

Evenflo Pack n Play purchased for $25.00.  This would normally retail for at least $85-$100.

Another view of the pack n play and Sampson checking it out.

Rain-forest Jumperoo purchased for $35.00.  This is $70.00 right now at Target.

Fisher Price Swing (I took the padding out to wash it) purchased for $60.00.  Usually retail for $130-$160.

Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Puppy for 5 bucks.  Would cost $25 in a store.

Another fun sensory toy for only $5.

Baby Einstein Activity Mat with bar and toys for only $10.

The Gator onesie for $3.50.  

Brandon's Nursery

I am finally able to get some pictures up of the nursery.  It still is not complete but we are getting there.  

I got the letters from Hobby Lobby in Pensacola.  They were actually a high gloss white and I decided I wanted them Navy.  It took 3 coats of paint to cover the white.  I can tell you that hanging these was a definite pain in the ass.  The location of the nail hooks is different on each so trying to line them up was a hassle.  It isn't perfect but it was definitely as close as we were going to get without putting holes all in the wall.  The paintings on each side were made/given to me by Melissa Jarvis at my baby shower.  She did such an amazing job and matched the colors perfectly.  I absolutely love them.  I may also add some wall decals of airplanes under and around his name since this wall is so large.  I found some really cute one's on Etsy that would go great with everything.  

There will be a hanging mobile that I am ordering from Restoration Hardware that will go over the crib in the left corner of the room.  The right side of the wall is where my recliner will go.  I actually just got a phone call this morning that it was in and we could pick it up.  I will update this picture once I get it in the room.  

The crib is from Target and is a 4 in 1 convertible so it will grow with Brandon.  The color is Black Cherry which I absolutely LOVE!!!  It is so rich and compliments the wall color nicely.  

The bedding is from Pottery Barn Kids and is actually no longer available.  I saw this bedding right after I found out we were having a boy and just had to have it.  This bedding is what I based the entire room theme on.  

The cute crochet outfits were done by Nick's grandmother.  I had to add these to the picture because they are so adorable.  I can't wait to take some pictures of Brandon in these once he is here.  

The curtains and curtain rod are from Pottery Barn kids.  These are black out curtains which I have been told are a must; so I splurged and got these.  The pictures on either side were a Christmas gift from Gail Sawyer and go nicely with the theme of the room.  

Eventually, underneath the picture closest to the closet door I would like to put some sort of shelving that will hold Brandon's books.  I have seen some cute ideas on Pinterest that would be easy to do and would look great.

Better picture of the airplane rod.  I love the little airplanes on the end.  

This is the dresser that started out in about a hundred different pieces.  This and the crib are actually a set.  There is also a side table I am leaning towards getting as well if I cannot find anything else I like. 

I am actually going to use the top of the dresser as the changing table as well.  Most of the pictures on the dresser now will be relocated to some shelves once we get those on the wall.  

Hopefully, we will have most of the shelves put up this week sometime and the recliner in the room by the weekend.  The only things left will be the mobile, which is on back order until mid March, the side table and a lamp of some kind.  I am so happy with how everything has turned out so far and can't wait to bring Brandon home to his amazing room.  

Week 33

How Your Baby's Growing:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Stats: 

How far along: 33 weeks

Sleep:  I have been able to sleep pretty good.  I still get up a lot to pee.  The only issues I have are when Brandon is kicking me or I start getting some Braxton Hicks contractions going on.  I usually end up taking a shower and they go away and I can get back to sleep pretty quickly afterwards. 

Maternity Clothes:  Yes!

Food Cravings:  The really cheap Totino's pizzas.  I could eat one every day.   And Homemade Taco Salad's.

Food aversions: Still red meat.  

Symptoms I have: Braxton Hicks every now and then.  I get winded more easily now if I am doing too much.  Also I have some swelling in my hands and feet as the day goes on.  

Doctor's Appointment:  TODAY!!!  I will have an ultrasound so I will post new pics tomorrow.

Movement:  He is a busy body.  Likes to push against my tummy and I swear he is doing somersaults in there.

Belly Button:  Still an innie; but barely.  Thing is holding on for dear life!!!

What else?:  Have a baby shower this Sunday that I am really looking forward too.  

I have decided that we are no longer going to the Birthing Class.  There were only 2 classes left and neither of us felt like we got anything out of the first 4 and I have plenty of other things I can be doing for 2.5 hours on a Wednesday night.  If I had to do it over again, I would not have signed up for the class.  To me it was a total waste.

We Nick is in the process of putting together the dresser for Brandon's room so the room is a TOTAL DISASTER right now.  Hopefully, I will have some nursery pictures for next week.  For now, below is the current state of the room.  

Nursery Update

We finally have a paint color!!!  Nick and I picked it out this past weekend.  He is so much better at picking paint that I am so I just told him what I was looking for an he went from there.  We ended up going with Glidden's Warm Caramel.

Glidden Warm Caramel

Initially I thought this may be too dark but after seeing the room painted I am really happy with it. Nick surprised me Saturday by painting the room while I was at work.  We decided that we wanted the baseboards and trim to all be a high gloss white which contrasts well with the wall color and will look really good with the new carpet with have to get now.

Speaking of new carpet, this was not the original plan.  All of this happened while I was at work so I am telling this story second hand from Nick.

StainMaster Pale Clay

He had about half of the floor covered while painting and was on the ladder  painting closer to the ceiling.  Our dog, Sampson, wondered into the room, and as Nick was stepping down off the ladder Sampson got spooked and went to bolt out the door and in the process knocked the paint can over and spilled about a half a gallon of paint onto the carpet.  Needless to say, you cannot get paint out of carpet so we went to Lowe's on Sunday to pick out new carpet for that bedroom.  We ended up going with StainMaster Pale Clay since they have it in stock and we can get it in fairly quickly.

Also, since I broke the door knob we decided to go ahead and change that out as well as all of the hinges for the door and all outlet covers in the room.  Hopefully we will have all of this done including the carpet and paint by next week.  I am waiting to order the furniture (crib, dresser, mattress) until next Friday to give us enough time in case we experience any hiccups with the carpet getting installed.  It will only take about a week to get the furniture in and I want to make sure I have somewhere to put it once it's here.  I will post some pictures of the room once the carpet is in and hopefully before the furniture gets here.

Tonight we have our 2nd Prepared Birthing Class.  I will be sure to blog tomorrow as I can only imagine what will happen.  Supposedly we will be working on the floor a lot.  I see lots of fake pushing and breathing in the near future.

The Nursery Project

As I am getting pretty close to the end of my 2nd trimester I am really beginning to feel the pressure to start getting everything together and organized in my home.  To put it mildly, I have been slacking in the "getting the home ready department" as Nick and I have pretty much not done a thing yet.  We keep saying that we will do it this week, and then this week rolls around and we get nothing done.  I think part of this has to do with the fact that I cannot for the life of me make up my mind with regards to furniture for the baby's room.  I keep seeing stuff and think, "oh this is cute, maybe I could do this instead," but then I think well maybe there is another option, a better option, and so I hold off and in the process end up not making any decisions.  This is totally unlike me since I am pretty good about making decisions but I feel like this is a REALLY BIG part of my life I am about to step into and just cannot for the life of me get it together!!!


Obviously, first thing first, Nick and I need to rearrange the guest bedrooms.  We are essentially turning the junk/boxes/computer room into Christopher's room, moving the computer and desk to the dining room and then taking the room Christopher is currently in and making it Brandon's room.  We decided this because 1.  I will need the walk-in closet for all the baby stuff  2. it's on the back of the house and 3. it doesn't get direct sunlight all day long like the other room does.  


I think once we have the room status switched I may be able to make a decision at least on the crib because then I will actually have somewhere to put it.  We have been tinkering with the idea of getting a solid wood crib and then painting it navy blue.  I have been leaning more towards this idea as I don't think I want everything so matchy, matchy with the crib, dresser and nightstand.  Also, I am then not so partial to a specific wood color for the dresser and nightstand.  


I have been seeing some pretty nice furniture on craigslist and Nick and I seem to be leaning this route for the dresser/changing table.  My thought is to get a nice double dresser, possibly refinish it and use the top as the changing table so as to not also have to have a changing table which I feel is just a waste of money and space.  The space I am referring to is the fact that I am pretty set on a really nice recliner/rocker for the room as I have a good feeling I will be spending a lot of sleepless nights in there and I want to be as comfortable as possible. 


One decision that I have made, and made a few months ago was the theme for the nursery.  I saw these really cute sheets on Pottery Barn kids and decided right then and there (without Nick's input) that I was ordering them.  I fell in love with the vintage airplane theme and really liked that it wasn't so babyish and could grow with him.  Instead of doing a mobile I am going to get vintage looking wooden airplanes and hang those from the ceiling.  Also, I have heard that black out panels for the windows are a must and have found the cutest curtain rod that has airplanes on the end.  

Sheets and bed skirt from Pottery Barn kids.

Curtain rod with airplane detail on each end

For the wall color I started out thinking I wanted it to be a bluish-grey but I am now leaning towards a light tan color.  Really, the wall color is going to ultimately be determined on what color the actual furniture is so this will probably be one of the last decisions made.  I did order wooden letters to spell out Brandon and will probably either leave them white or paint them navy blue.  


It has been exciting and nerve racking at the same time trying to get all of this figured out but I think in the end it will turn out exactly as I had always planned, but didn't know it at the time.  


Tomorrow is another doctor's appointment.  I don't think I will have an ultrasound but I think I have to do the glucose test which I am not looking forward too (I've heard what you have to drink is pretty gross).  I will update as to mine and Brandon's progress later in the week.