Update

I had an OB appointment again yesterday.

The good news is that my blood pressure, although still borderline high, was lower than last month.

Pregnancy is no longer working as a weight loss method, I've caught up to where I should be, so I guess that's a good thing.

They are doing some extra tests because there's a little concern about my kidneys, but I meet with my nephrologist again on Dec 20, and then see the OB again Dec 28, so hopefully, if my kidneys are acting up again, we can catch it early.

Originally, I really wanted to have the baby in High River, but now, we're planning to have the baby in Calgary. My OB talked to another OB in her practice that also works in High River, and the High River OB is really reluctant to send me to High River. At the end of the day I just want what's best for me and the baby, and if that's Calgary, then that's what we'll do.

Other than that, not much has changed. I'm eating like crazy, my pants don't fit (which means I get to go shopping this weekend!). The energy that came back is starting to disappear again, but I'm still feeling good.

The most exciting thing this week has to do with reading. I'm a bit of a commitment-holic. If I start a book or a series, I feel compelled to finish it, to see it through to the end, no matter how terrible. I can only think of one series that I've started and not finished, other than that, I ALWAYS finish. I started a new series "A Song of Ice and Fire" about a year and a half ago. The first book was amazing, the second book was alright, after the first 300 painful pages. The third book was mediocore. This week, I finished the fourth book. It took me almost a year to get through, because it was that bad. But, now it's done, until he comes out with book 5, it was supposed to be out in the summer, however, as of the last update on his website, he's not even done writing it yet. Thank goodness, that means I can actually read something I enjoy!! Any suggestions?

Sorry this is so boring, but really, there's nothing going on...and I figured I should at least post something, unlike some people!! (Love you honey!!)

Rider Good Luck Charm?!

Any of you who know me, know that I'm a Saskatchewan Roughriders fan. Also, those that follow CFL fan will realize that being a Rider fan isn't so much a choice, as it is a calling requiring dedication and loyalty for years and years.

Well, our dedication and loyalty has finally paid off. My theory is that our baby is a good luck charm, the beginning of a new dynasty!!

The First Purchases

When I first got pregnant, I didn't want to buy anything baby-related, because I was paranoid that buying anything too early would jinx things. Well, now that we're past the halfway mark, it's time to start shopping. Of course, it's not that easy, first you have to survive the "hormone-induced-freak-out". I woke up Saturday morning in an absolute panic - Do you realize if we had this baby today, we'd have to bring the baby home naked and it would have to sleep on the bare floor?!?! Now, in an admittedly much more sane state of mind, I realize if we had this baby today, we'd have bigger things to think about than baby clothes!!

So, Saturday, Steffan was a really trooper and we shopped all over Calgary. We looked at flooring, furniture, mouldings, drapes, etc. So, what was our first purchase, considering we still need all the supplies to redo the entire room from the floor up? Well, what empty room is complete without a lovely set of drapes??Originally we were going to find fabric and I was going to sew the drapes myself. (Those of you who know me can stop laughing now...I have sewn window coverings before...in fact, some of my work is still displayed in select locations!) But,$25 for a pattern that we loved, (not too boy-ish, not too girl-ish, yet doesn't scream gender-neutral) is cheap compared to the cost, time, and frustration that my creations would entail.

The astute readers among you will have noticed that the title of this post was "The First PurchaseS" and I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat waiting for the rest of our shopping extravaganza to be revealed to you! Well, our baby may still come home naked, as we have yet to purchase any clothes, but at least the baby will be wrapped in a snuggly soft blanket that matches the drapes.

We've decided what to put on the floors, but we're waiting til January to rip out the carpet and lay down the laminate. We've also decided to paint the bottom half of the walls green, put up chair rail moulding, and do cream on top. We'll also paint the dresser and nightstand in fun colors to match the drapes. So, slowly, but surely it's coming together...good thing we still have 123 days to go!!

131 Days to Go...(But Who's Counting??)

So, we survived the weekend, drove to Saskatoon and back, helped demolish a kitchen and had people over for the Western semi-final (Go Riders Go!!!). So, it's no wonder that yesterday I locked the doors and mostly stayed in my jammies! I still managed to get the laundry done and practice piano. Whew, I need another long weekend just to recover!!

I'm feeling the baby move more and more, it's really neat, Steffan was even able to feel the baby on Saturday morning.

We need to sign up for childbirth classes this week. I'm a bit of a control freak, and going into this, I feel like I need all the info. I can get, I think the classes will be good for me, but I'm a little worried that they'll scare Steffan!!

I'm still feeling pretty good, but it's almost impossible to find a comfortable position to sleep in. It doesn't help that the cat sees all the extra pillows I have propped around me as her personal bed!

Now that the nursery-to-be is completely empty, we've started making plans for the great transformation, at first it was going to be a coat of paint, new blinds, and the baby furniture. But, as our projects usually do, it's expanded a wee bit (not unlike my belly!) Now, we've decided to tear out the carpet. I think we're going to go with a cork floor. The rest of the flooring is laminate, but I feel like that's too cold for a baby's room, so we're looking at cork. It's a little more expensive, but it's warmer, does block some sound, and there's some give to it (good for mommy & daddy's knees while pacing around at night, and good for baby's knees too!) We're also going to replace the baseboards and casings. Before we got pregnant, the plan was to redo the mouldings in the whole house, but now that projects been postponed a little bit. It seems silly to do all this work on the room and then redo the mouldings a year from now, so we'll do them now. Luckily, we have a few months and a lot of help.

Our work Christmas party is next Friday, which seems waaay too early. I wasn't sure what to wear, but tonight I tried on a dress that I bought shortly after moving back from university. For the first time ever, I'm grateful for the "freshman fifteen" (or in my case closer to 30) becuse the dress still fits!! I really didn't want to spend money on something to wear for one night.

(One thing I've realized by blogging, is that I use (parenthesis) waaaay too much!!!)

We're Halfway There...Living on a Prayer

We had our 20 week ultrasound today. It's hard to believe the pregnancy is half over. Just like the first time, the baby moved all over the place while the tech. was trying to do her measurements, and then settled down as soon as daddy came in the room. The baby looks healthy, we saw 10 fingers, 10 toes and a good, strong heart beat. We didn't find out the gender, because it doesn't matter. We're just so excited that we're having a baby!!!

As we were driving away from the lab, I was gushing about how neat it is to see the baby, etc., etc. Steffan, however was really distracted. What could possibly be more exciting than seeing our first child? Well, the new Subaru Imprezza of course! How can an amazingly perfect, tiny little baby (now, with taste buds!) compare with that amazing combination of artistry & engineering?

Living on a Prayer...I found out last night that my great-uncle died. My great aunt and uncle were the only family in town when we lived in Saskatoon, and since they had no children of their own, we became surrogate grand children to them. They have always made such an effort to stay involved in our lives, and so, his passing is a sad one.

It's amazing to me the impact this unborn child is already having on my life. This morning, I was quite sad, but just looking at this amazing baby, even on a computer screen, has totally cheered me up.