Childbirth Class #1 & My Cankles

Bill and I thoroughly enjoyed our first childbirth class. Our teacher was really great, and I'm not just saying that because she's my sister-in-law. We had a lot of fun during class, and we learned a few things, too.

We played a game where we had to label various body parts on a diagram of a pregnant woman. We were separated into two teams: men vs. women. Bill was the star of the guy's team because he was the only one who knew where the fundus was located. Yay, Bill!

After class Stacy gave me a tip to try for my swollen ankles: lemon water. Are you kidding me? I love lemon water! We bought lemons last night, and I drank a bit last night. This morning I was actually able to fit my feet into my work shoes.

That's quite an accomplishment when you consider I was desperately trying on shoes yesterday afternoon and found that my erstwhile 6 1/2s are now 8s in width, but still 6 1/2 in length, of course. No way I could squeeze them into anything that wouldn't be too long. I felt like one of Cinderella's ugly step-sisters struggling with the glass slipper. Now I know why they say "barefoot and pregnant" - I had been wearing flipflops to work and that's just wrong.

I hope they stay manageable; I was starting to worry that I was gonna get stretch marks on my ankles. I know elevating them would help, but who has time to sit around with their feet propped up for forty minutes at a time? Not me. :(

Working on the Nursery

Now that there's furniture in Calla's room, we're feeling especially motivated to get it in order. Last night I sewed and sewed, now the curtains are about half-finished. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they look in there. Poppa Bee started working on a painting for the nursery last night, too. I can't wait to see how it turns out! Back before vacation, I folded over a lot of pink origami cranes I hope to use as a mobile for little Calla.

There are a few finishing touches on the little leaning desk left to do. Also Bill plans to start building a bookcase soon, too. The only major things we have left to buy for the nursery are the glider (I can't find one I like!!!), a big soft rug, and the crib bedding. We're really making progress.

We won't have time to work on the nursery tonight because we'll start our weekly childbirth classes at Germantown Methodist (taught by my awesome sister-in-law). And of course, Thursday is Pre-natal Yoga night. I'm sure we'll work on the nursery more over the weekend, though!

29 Weeks

More 29 Weeks photos.

Nursery Furniture Photos! Bill assembled the furniture as soon as he got it home. Talk about brownie points!

Gestational Diabetes - No. Anemia - Yes.

My blood sugar levels are good! However, I'm slightly anemic, which is very common in pregnancy. Still, I felt kind of like I used to feel when I'd get a B in school. I had great levels for EVERYTHING back in November - especially iron. Dr. Roginsky practically gave me a gold star.

Anyway, I'll just make sure I'm getting plenty of iron from now on. No problem!

Quick Update

Tomorrow I'll be 29 weeks. The most recent doctor's appointment went okay. I had to take the glucose challenge. Nothing at all like the Pepsi challenge, trust me. I had to drink some syrupy orange drink then have my blood drawn to see if I have or am at risk for gestational diabetes. I think it's unlikely. My only concern is that they were supposed to draw the blood within an hour, and they didn't get around to it until almost an hour and a half after I had finished the drink. We'll see what the results are like.

That was my last appointment with my Dr. Roginsky who's moving away. I'll really miss her. She set up another appointment for me with a different doctor at her practice for a 3-D ultrasound on August 12. I am counting the days!

Everything is going well. I'm feeling great, but I can definitely tell that I'm in the third trimester. No complaints here, mind you.

Hard to believe it's getting so close! I've begun listening to my Hypnobabies CDs each day. Tomorrow we're picking up the nursery furniture. Today we worked on painting the little desk that goes in the nursery. We also bought and cut the fabric for the nursery curtains. I'll start sewing them later this week (I hope). I'll also do my maternity leave paperwork. I spoke to my co-workers about my plan. If you didn't know, it's to work about a week of half days starting at the end of August, then to use sick and vacation time starting at the beginning of September. After that's used up, my leave will begin. I told them I might not come back, which seemed to surprise them. I felt a little guilty, a little sad, but glad that I let them know.

Coolgram sent photos today of even more baby clothes she's bought for Calla (including little bows for her head). Very cute!

Cheryl sent out email invitations for the baby shower! It will be on August 23 at her NEW HOUSE (exciting!!!). If you live in or around Memphis and didn't get an evite, you will probably be receiving a paper invitation soon. I'm looking forward to celebrating with everyone!

It's getting past bedtime here, so I had better close! Maybe we'll take the belly pic on time tomorrow for a change and get it posted for the next baby blog post!

28 Weeks 3 Days

More 28 Weeks photos.

Nursery Furniture Arrived!

Yay!

Hypnobabies CDs Arrived

Yay!

We Ain't Greedy, We're Just Needy - Registries

People keep asking me if we've registered anywhere, the real question is where have we NOT registered. You can look up our registry at any of the following sites/stores:

1. Babies R Us
2. Amazon
3. Target
4. Land of Nod

Other than the items we've registered for, we really appreciate hand-made items.

We're not actually needy or anything, so no one should feel obligated to buy anything for us. But, as I said, people keep asking where we're registered, so now you know.

We Met the Doula

Today was pretty exciting because we got to meet our doula, Melissa, in person for the first time. We both really liked her. She seems to have a great reputation, too. I keep hearing good things about her. I hear that she and my doctor work really well together as a team, too. Thank goodness.

In baby name news, I've really appreciated all the feedback from everyone. I'll add a few points in defense of Sophia as a middle name that I hadn't mentioned in my previous post:
-Like Calla, it's from the Greek, so the names complement one another.
-Sophia comes from a Greek word that means Wisdom.
-I like the rhythm or meter of the two names together.
-When we decided, some years back, that we would have a baby someday, we would refer to our "imaginary baby" as Sophia/Sophie. This was before the name shot to the top of the baby name popularity charts, though. Once I became pregnant, we decided that her first name would not be Sophia or Sophie (or anything else on the Top Ten Most Popular Baby Names list).
-We both think it's a beautiful name. :)
-My mom REALLY likes it!
-Then there was this:
Middle Name Recommendations from www.babynamegenie.com, recommended by my cousin, Dallas:

Baby Name
1. Calla Perla Hazelton
2. Calla Sophia Hazelton
3. Calla Christina Hazelton

So don't be surprised if she gets named Calla Sophia!

Calla Sophia - What do you think?

For about the last week or so, Papa Bee and I have been calling the baby "Calla" - no doubt, that's going to be her name. Calla means beautiful, I believe it's from a Greek word. Calla lilies happen to be my favorite flowers, too. Bill and I both love the name. So the first name is pretty definite.

We're not as sure about the middle name, however. I like how it sounds with Sophia as a middle name. I've read that it's not a good idea to have the same ending sound for both names, but I think the combination sounds nice to my ears. I guess I feel like Sophia ends with an ee-uh sound and Calla ends with an uh sound, so it doesn't seem exactly the same.

Anyway, what do you think? Any suggestions for a middle name to go along with Calla? Do you agree with me that Calla Sophia sounds nice?

Oh, and a request in advance, please don't be calling her Callie! :D

To Do List - Updates

Now that we're back from D.C., but I'm still not back at work yet, I have been able to cross off a number of tasks on my To Do list.

New OB - I'm happy to announce that I have a new doctor, Dr. Lanetta Anderson Brooks at Women's Physician Group. I won't see her until early September. My next appointment will be with my current OB.

Order Hypnobabies - I finally ordered the CDs. They should arrive soon. I'm really excited.

Pre-Register at Methodist - I've started the process.

Sign Up for Childbirth Classes - I registered for a seven week series of childbirth classes at Methodist, taught by my sister-in-law, which begins on 7/30.

I'm starting to feel a bit less frantic about getting things in order, now. I wish the nursery furniture would hurry and arrive, so I could make some progress on decorating in there.

We Can See the Baby Moving Around Now!

Late on July 11 we noticed that the baby's movements were so strong that we could actually see my tummy moving when she would move. Pretty neat! She's getting really strong in there.

Tips for Folding Baby Clothes?

I started washing baby's clothes yesterday, and I realized that I have no idea how to fold these tiny little things! I made do, and I guess they are okay, but I'd love to hear any tips on folding baby clothes if you have any to share.

My To Do List

Yes, there's a lot of stuff on there! Yes, there are a few things with a deadline of tomorrow, too! I'm sure there are a few things I forgot to put on the list, as well.
However, let's focus on a few of the things that have been completed.

Hire a Doula - Okay, she's not officially hired just yet. I spoke with her on the phone yesterday, discussed it with Bill last night, and as far as we're concerned she is hired. I just have to call her back today and make the final arrangements. I'm contracting Melissa Stallings a doula who is in the midst of becoming a midwife. She served as doula for one of my pre-natal yoga classmates, who spoke very highly of her. Melissa also has a lot of experience, and I liked her right away when I spoke with her on the phone. My first impression was that she was very friendly and down-to-earth. I'm excited about (almost) having a doula!

Organize Study - Recently Bill and I moved the furniture and contents of my study from the future nursery to the former sunroom. The room was very cluttered and disorganized (and giving me little tiny panic attacks) for several days. Yesterday I got it into shape! It's looking pretty good. I like having my study in the sunroom, so far.

Clean Closet - The closet in the nursery had been used for storage. It was full of sewing notions, fabrics, electronics, computer parts, software, shoes, tons of office supplies (I have this thing about office supplies), and so on. I pulled everything out of the closet and I've found new homes for most of the items (The attic is going to get pretty crowded!). Now the closet is ready for baby stuff!

Get a New OB - This isn't marked complete yet, but I'm making some progress. I've been getting recommendations, and yesterday I began making some calls. I hope to have a new OB lined up by the end of the week.

That still leaves a lot of work to do, and I'm only a week shy of entering the third trimester (according to most sources)! I really haven't accomplished as much during the second trimester as I had hoped, but I'm sure I'll get everything finished in time. I'm feeling great physically, and it's not like I'm going to immediately feel yucky as soon as I hit 27 weeks.

26 Weeks

Sorry, but I have no belly pics since 24 weeks; I guess we're getting lazy/distracted/busy. Anyway, from what I've read, it's at this point in her development that Flutterbug (possibly Calla Sophia) has learned to open her eyes. Not sure what's interesting to look at in the darkness of my womb, but I still think it's a milestone worthy of mention.

It certainly seems like October is approaching quickly. I really have to get around to doing some things on my Pregnancy To Do list before we leave for vacation Friday!

Nursery Update

After an exhaustive search of the Internet, and patiently waiting on fabric swatches, I believe I have finally located the perfect crib bedding for the nursery at The Land of Nod.



Cute, right?

Now I just need to locate the perfect glider, the perfect rug, the perfect book case, the perfect shelves, the perfect high chair, and so on.