Learning the basics of parenting

When you make a little person, he doesn't come with an instruction manual. Therefore, we signed up for some classes at Swedish (the hospital where bean will be born). On Monday, we went to the breastfeeding class and learned a lot of good stuff. The instructor even talked about the recent studies that came out regarding plastic bottles and recommended that everyone buy glass if they plan on using breast & bottle. We are so ahead of the game. Thursday, we went to the Newborn Care class which was also very much worth our time. The last class we are taking is Infant CPR next Monday.

I think it's late enough in the game that I can say this without jinxing myself - this pregnancy has been really easy. I cannot believe how lucky I am. Sure, I get occasional heartburn and a bit of back pain, but I have heard that it is so much worse for many women. I have enjoyed being pregnant. Everyone is convinced that since I've had such an easy pregnancy, that I will have an easy labor. I'm definitely not expecting an easy or quick labor, but I'm also not fearing complications. If there are complications, there will be lots of people around to help out.

I'm feeling really good today - my energy is high and I feel well-rested. This is a good thing because there is a very long list of things I want to do around the house :)

I made the compost bin last weekend but haven't had the chance to check on it all week. I'll be adding more items to it today. The thing I'm really wanting to avoid is flies, so I'm hoping that I'm taking all of the proper steps to do so.

Bean update - 37.5 weeks

Today we found out that I am negative for group B strep and that my cervix opening is 2cm dilated! The doc could feel bean's head! Very exciting stuff. I'm still feeling a-okay and am doing my best to take deep breaths regarding work.

Now I just need to let it go

It has been one of *those* weeks at work. To end a kinda intense week, the power in our office went out today at around 9:30 AM...from the use of space heaters. Yes, I said space heaters. In the middle of summer. Ever since our air conditioner got fixed, it gets really cold in the office when it's cloudy outside. We have no control over our thermostat so people were running space heaters today and it blew one of the fuses in the building. Due to rational that I can't explain, building management didn't bother getting an electrician out to fix it until 1 PM this afternoon. I let our staff go home around noon since we didn't know when the electrician was going to arrive or how long it was going to take to fix. Once the power was restored, Andrew turned the servers back on and went ahead and went home. I stuck around to assist in tracking down a bookkeeping issue. Our office is kinda creepy when you are there by yourself.

It's just become really intense for me because I want to make sure that my staff is as prepared as possible for when I am gone for 2 months. However, I really haven't had the time to focus on making sure everything is in order so it's stressing me out a bit. And, there are other things that are going on that I can't really share on the internet.

Did you come here to read about my complaining? I didn't think so. I'll shut up now.

The Nursery in Progress

My energy is back up - I think it was the anemia kicking my ass. I ran out of iron supplements and went about a week w/o. Now I know better! I took some time last night to finish cleaning the crib and put it in place. Here's what the nursery looks like so far:

This is the west wall.

The crib that we scored off of Freecycle.

The north wall with the hide-a-bed.

This room will still be serving as our guest room for awhile. We'll be cosleeping with bean for at least 6 months and can just roll the crib into our bedroom after that when we have guests. I still need to pick up the footstool and the bookshelf.

New belly video

I tried embedding the video, but it didn't work. Go here to see it.

36 Weeks

We're in the homestretch now! I had planned to get so much done this weekend but it takes very little to exhaust me. I unpacked the crib, but now am too worn out to put it together. It's frustrating, but I'm trying not to let it get to me. My body is busy helping grow a little person and that's its big duty right now. I will take pictures once the crib is set up. We still need to get window treatments and a bookshelf - my goal is to have the window treatments ordered this week.

We have an appointment with Dr. McDermott tomorrow. I think I may ask her to test my thyroid level to make sure it's just the pregnancy that's making me this exhausted and not my thyroid being all wonky.

I bet it was hotter here

We experienced record high temperatures yesterday - mid 90's. It wouldn't be so bad if we had air conditioning in our houses. I also developed a migraine headache and all i could do was lie on our sofa and sweat. I bet you wish you were me.

The nursery is now a very "boy" blue. I will take pictures once Tony moves the rest of the furniture in there. I still need to get window treatments and help Tony find a dresser so we can use his old one for the baby's room. We're making progress! Next: getting the office in shape. It's a wreck right now as is the garage.

We went to see the movie Sicko last week - Michael Moore did a good job on this one. I'd definitely recommend seeing it.

I'm trying to get inspired to write something interesting but it's just not there. Sorry!

Happy July 4th!

We are having a perfect summer day in Seattle so far. There is not a cloud in the sky which is unusual - it's usually cloudy on the 4th. There is a soft breeze blowing and it's currently 74 degrees Fahrenheit. We are going to go to at least 2 barbecues today so we can hang out with multiple groups of friends.

Baby update: Dr. McDermott recommended that I stay away from eating lots of sodium since the likelihood of swelling is bigger now. Lil' bean is now in the upside down position and she's estimating that he's about 4 pounds now and will be around 7 when we welcome him out of the womb. He may seem small for today's standards, but I'm not a big human and I am much more comfortable with the idea of squeezing a 7 lb baby out of me compared to a 9-10 lb baby. I have started purchasing things for the nursery this week. I have been getting as much as I can second-hand, but I also want to like it. I wasn't finding any used rockers/gliders that I liked, so I did buy that new along with wall art. I've also been ordering necessities that we didn't receive as gifts and I haven't been able to find second hand and I have to admit, it's been fun :)

Speaking of baby stuff, I should get moving on clearing out the upstairs room in preparation for painting on Saturday.

This American Life on iTunes

Not just the podcast anymore. We can now purchase the show! I am so freaking excited. We pretty much just watch TV off of iTunes when we do watch TV. When I heard about them making TAL into a TV show, I was so hoping iTunes would pick it up and now they have. Is it wrong for me to be so excited about a show?

From Green Bin to Composting

Awhile back, the city of Seattle started providing Green Bin service for yard waste and food waste. They set up a city composting site. Great idea! When I set up our waste service in our new home, I requested a Green Bin. Thing is, we do not have yard waste to speak of and we produce very little food waste. The Green Bin is taking up lots of space and also attracts many flies. We have come to the conclusion that the city-provided service is just not right for us. It doesn't feel right going back to putting our food waste in the garbage, so I am going to make a compost bin using the instructions on You Grow Girl. I'll be chatting with our neighbors in hopes of them donating grass cuttings since we have no grass. Wish us luck!

Happy July 1st! I can't believe it's already July.

Here are the pictures from my baby shower. I have had an extremely lucky weekend with collecting stuff for the baby. I posted about it over here. I still haven't taken inventory of all of the stuff that we have, but will be tackling that this week. I hope to have the nursery painted next weekend. I almost forgot that Wednesday is a holiday and that means No Work and fireworks. Yay!