11 Days To Go

OMG. 11 Days. As my good friend Rachel Zoe would say, "that is bananas." Ok, I've never actually met her but I do love her show.

Here's a photo from me from Friday night at a little over 37 weeks.

Has anyone else noticed how Molly is in almost every shot. She is ALWAYS under my feet. This is why I have to lock her in the mudroom during the day while I work. She doesn't understand "working from home."

We were just about to head out the door for our infant CPR class so I look super tired. Check out my hot outfit- jeans AND tennis shoes. Yep, besides my one pair of black Reef flip flops, these are the only shoes that fit and they're barely tied. When it gets lower that 40 degrees, I declare it too cold for flip flops (even in my condition) and attempt to put on my tennis shoes.

Saturday morning we woke up and it was FREEZING in the house. The thermostats were set to 64 (yes, I'm cheap) but the thermometers were showing that it was only 52 degrees. Turns to find out we ran out of heating oil. Now, excuse me while I tease Aubrey for a moment here. I asked him to check the oil levels BEFORE he went to Arizona in case I went into labor and we had no heat to bring our baby home to. He got really busy and forgot. At least it didn't go off that week but it sure did this weekend.

He called the oil company who couldn't bring the oil until Monday morning so we braved the frigid temperatures all weekend. Luckily we had one space heater already and Aubrey had one at his office so we just kept them near us and wore extra layers. It wasn't too bad. It was super cold but not too bad. If the baby had been home, we would have had to go to Richmond (to Aubrey's parents) for the weekend, but for the two of us and the dogs, it was kind of like an adventure albeit a cold one.

This fun adventure finally made us go out and buy a fireplace screen and tools and some wood. However, based on our luck with this house, we were nervous the whole place would burn to the ground so we took some preventive measures...

That was us checking that the chimney would appropriately draw the smoke out instead of into the den. Poor paper towels.... I kept lighting them and Aubrey would run out the front door to watch.

And that's Aubrey checking to make sure the chimney is opened enough and there's not a ton of build-up from past tenants.

They came this morning to put some oil in the tank. Their minimum delivery is 1o0 gallons. That set us back $384 and might last us a month. WHAT??????????????????????? Get me out of this house. I am starting to look for a new house with forced heat and city water for us to move into this December. I am so over this.

Anyway, the moving company also sent their appraiser/repair guy over to inspect the damage from the move (broken glass in our wedding invitation frame, missing lamp harps and finials, broken cake plate, oh, and a huge hole in our Pottery Barn wooden sleigh bed).

He was able to fix the bed but didn't tell us that he would be using chemicals and we couldn't sleep on the bed for 24 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even go upstairs right now because it's making me so nauseous. Oh well, at least it's fixed.

Current temperature downstairs: 60 degrees. Hoping to make it to 64 by nighttime.

Random Ramblings

So I finally bought some Bio-Oil. This stuff is super expensive so I hope it works. I paid $19.99 for a tiny bottle. Its website claims "Bio‐Oil is a specialist moisturizing oil that smooths and tones scars, stretch marks and uneven skin tone. It is also effective for aging and dehydrated skin. Bio‐Oil has won 80 skincare awards since its global launch in 2002. It is America’s No.1 selling skincare oil (IRI Total US FDMx for the year ending 4 September 2011)."

We'll see. If you will recall, I don't have stretch marks YET but I am experiencing some weird scarring around my insulin pump infusion sites since they're all on my abdomen and it is quite large now. I'm also rubbing it into my dry, cracked hands before bed. I'd really like to use it more frequently on my hands but it is super expensive and I wash my hands about 300 times a day because I use the bathroom so much. I wonder if I could successfully type with those cotton gloves on? You know, the ones that you're supposed to slather lotion onto your hands and then put the gloves on and it helps the lotion soak in? Only problem would be the every 30-minute bathroom breaks...hmmm.

Next, check out what Aubrey brought me back from Arizona!!

No, it's not the quilted clutch I've been dreaming of, it's a bunch of make-up his company gave to the wives at the spouses' luncheon. They sent a sweet note saying that they usually don't give the gifts to the wives not in attendance but felt that since I was about to be a new mom, I deserved it and much more! Soooooo nice!

The best part is that they purchased the items at Nordstrom's (they provide the neat little return stickers on each item), so I can exchange everything for different colors, brands, or maybe put towards some shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!

Seriously, it's the little things.

37 weeks

We're two weeks out. Do you realize how short two weeks is??? That's like nothing. I am seriously freaking out.

Not as much about the baby but more so about the pain and lack of sleep heading my way. Aubrey was out of town Wednesday through Monday late night and I've been miserable because the dogs are requiring me to get up earlier and I'm only sleeping about 6 or 7 hours a night. I know this seems ridiculous because when the baby comes home I'll be lucky to sleep that long but it honestly has me really nervous because I'm barely coping. I'm a BIG sleeper and normally sleep at least 9 hours a night.

If only they were this "good" more often:

Mom flew up to help me get last minute stuff ready for the baby but because the dogs sleep in my room on the third floor she can't hear them in the basement when they're ready to go out in the morning. Plus, Molly is a bit of a monster and I won't let Mom walk her because she's really bad at pulling. So, it's all up to me. Totally fine for a couple of days or a week when I'm not ready to pop at any point. But, right now, I'm so over it and so exhausted.

Because I'm so tired, Molly isn't getting the exercise she needs which means she's not going to sleep when she needs to or for as long as she should. Vicious cycle.

I took Molly to the dog park last night and threw a tennis ball for her for about 45 minutes. She and I both loved it although I can't take her when it's wet (happens a lot up here). Mom has also researched some doggie day cares to help when the baby arrives. I'm really not sure I'll be able to handle everything once he gets here since I'm at my breaking point right now already....

Mom and I have been going constantly since she got here. We went to childbirthing class, baby care class and she even accompanied me to one of my non-stress tests. She made six different casseroles to freeze for us to eat for dinner when the baby comes while I worked on Thursday and has been busy finishing the baby's laundry and running to Target for me.

This weekend we ventured to Costco and Buy Buy Baby.

Note to all of you- never go to Costco while nine months pregnant and hungry.... hence the popcorn and brownie mix!!! Ridiculous.

We had every intention of watching the Super Bowl (for the commercials, duh!) but got so sidetracked shopping that we didn't make it home until almost halftime. Oh well, at least I saw Madonna.

No pic of me in this post. I'll aim to put one up later this week!

36 Weeks

Here I am at 36 weeks! Yikes. Nine months!! Three weeks to go effective tomorrow (Thursday). Yep. They officially scheduled my c-section for Thursday, February 23 at 8 a.m. IF we make it that long. The doctors are nervous to let me try a natural delivery and feel that the surgical option will be best for me and the baby. So, we're gonna go that route. I'm a little nervous about having my insides cut open but more nervous about something worse happening to the baby or me if I have to labor for 12+ hours.

We had our last growth ultrasound yesterday at the hospital. The baby looks great and is already measuring at approximately 6 pounds 13 ounces. Umm, does anyone else think that is HUGE??????? Keep in mind that the sonograms can vary up to a pound either way. So Baby Swinson is anywhere from 5 pounds 13 ounces to 7 pounds 13 ounces- great. Monster baby either way since I still have potentially three weeks to go.

I think I read somewhere that babies gain an ounce a week the last month and mom gains a pound a week??? That puts him at 7 lbs (plus or minus one pound) at birth IF this were a normal pregnancy. Because of my diabetes, he could gain a lot more. So, needless to say, I'm increasing the length of my morning walks and trying to move as much as possible which is kind of hard with swollen feet and calves.

Oh well, at least he's healthy.

Mom flew in last night to baby-sit me while Aubrey is traveling for work this week. He has to attend a mandatory conference in Arizona at a spa. Where spouses were invited to attend. For free.

Right.

So Mom is here doing honey-dos and running errands for me while I work. SOOOO nice. We even have a huge trip planned to Costco and Buy Buy Baby this weekend. I'm taking Friday off from work so we can run a bunch of errands while she's here. I'm soooo excited!

Check out what she brought me to help with the swelling...Hot, right?? Heck, I'll try anything! I'm nervous about walking around on them all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We have a lot to do and I am already outgrowing my flip flops... they're the only "shoes" that fit right now....

Wish me luck that I can wear shoes tonight to childbirthing class! And, yes, mom is going with me. Hahaha!