The Hotel Henry Ford and Some Midwife Love

Eric and I went on our tour of the hospital last night, and now we are totally ready to have this baby. Well, not TOTALLY ready, but much more so than we were. There's nothing quite like walking through (or being pushed through in a wheelchair, in my case) the rooms in which you will give birth to sort-of shock you into reality that this baby is coming real soon.

We are psyched out of our minds to be delivering at the Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital (fair warning, the rest of this post may read like an advertisement for the hospital). We delivered Owen at Providence Southfield, and while it was a great experience, thanks to my fantastic midwife and the amazing NICU nurses, it pales in comparison with the newly remodeled HFWB. And I thank my midwife, Trish, for the fact that we are now at Henry Ford, as we followed her when she left Providence to work for Henry Ford right after Owen was born.

We originally chose Providence and Trish's practice because of the Alternative Birthing Center (ABC) at the Southfield hospital. I knew I wanted a natural, non-invasive, midwife-attended birth, and very few hospitals in the area were able to offer that the way the ABC did. Sadly, with Owen arriving 6 weeks early, we didn't even get to use the ABC as we were considered "high risk" and delivered in the regular Labor and Delivery unit (although still, thankfully, attended by my midwife, not a random physician).

But the beauty of HFWB is that there's no separate unit for those looking to have a natural birthing experience. It's all one unit, one floor, one team. If you are a midwife patient, you checked-in, triaged, and cared for by the midwife on duty. The "on duty" is the best part - because there is always a midwife on the floor (vs. at Providence where we were cared for by residents until the midwife "on-call" arrived at the hospital, several hours after we arrived). And given that last night at the tour we were able to meet all of the other midwives, I now have faces and names for each of the lovely women who may be present at the birth, which is so comforting. Even more comforting is how nice and friendly and cool they all were. The main theme of our tour (led by a few of the midwives), was that they are fully supportive of any request we may make and of our birthing preferences, so long as they feel it's safe for mom and baby. For me, this means not being hooked up to anything. No IV or port. No fetal monitor strapped around my belly the whole time. The ability to get up and move around uninhibited. Since my trouble-making boy arrived so early, and my water broke so early, I was put on IV antibiotics and saline as soon as I walked in the door. I also had a constant fetal monitor the whole time, meaning I was pretty much chained to the bed, which made me super buhjighetty. We were, of course, totally cool with it, since we were high-risk and things happened so early and it was my midwife who suggested the course of action for mine and Owen's safety. But my hopes for this delivery are to forego all of that and be "unattached" for the majority of the labor and delivery!

When I was pregnant with Owen we actually switched over to a midwife when I was 30 weeks pregnant. I just wasn't feeling the love with the practice I was at - I saw a different doctor at every appointment, none of them knew me by name, and I felt like none of them really cared all that much about my birth preferences (or me, for that matter). So we switched to a practice of midwives. I only had 2 appointments with Trish before I went into labor with Owen, but when she showed up at the hospital that day, I was completely comfortable with her. There is just something different about midwives. Something more personable and approachable and, for me at least, more comforting. I was instantly at-ease with the women we met last night and will be thrilled with whomever attends the birth of this baby (although we are obviously hoping that Trish is the one on duty the day we deliver)!

A few quick notes about the hospital that have me psyched:

• The rooms are pretty. Like, they feel less like hospital rooms and more like hotel rooms with some medical equipment in them. They also all each have private bathrooms with bath tubs and showers.

• The NICU is amazing. Clearly we are hoping to not ever see the inside of the NICU again, but wow - it was so great (and it's IN the L&D unit, right down the hall). Owen was in the NICU for 8 days at Providence. And while they took INCREDIBLY good care of him, the NICU was one big room with about a dozen isolettes all lined up along the walls. At HFWB each baby has their own room. With a couch/bed so that you (or your spouse) can sleep in the room with the baby. Someone can be with the baby at all times, instead of a few visits a day, which was how we had to deal with our first few days with Owen, which was rough, to say the least.

• Each room has a new flat-screen TV. Yes, I am excited about that.

• The couch-beds for the dads in the delivery and recovery rooms convert to lay flat, and roll right over next to mom's bed, and are the same height, meaning that mom and dad can sleep next to each other, basically in the same bed, in the early stages of labor and/or once the baby is born. Eric is thrilled about this, as he basically slept on the floor of my room after we had Owen.

• The food at the hospital is actually really good food. We know this from when I was in for the cerclage and we ordered dinner (it's basically a room-service system, you call up and order what you want, and they bring it to you, up to 4 times a day). We had some pretty delicious veggie reubens that I definitely wouldn't mind having again.

• After delivery they move you down the hall to sort-of a "recovery" wing, where there aren't neighboring rooms with women in active labor, so it's much quieter and calmer. And there is a long couch-bed for dads/kids to stay the night. There's also a kick-ass play room for siblings right down the hall.

• And to top it off, the building is LEED certified.

So yeah, it was pretty great. After the tours there were a few different speakers talking about the hospital amenities, pediatricians, carseat safety, etc. Of course, being saavy parents who have gone through this before, we totally blew-off this part of the night and took the opportunity to go have dinner at a RESTAURANT before going to pick up Owen from my parents house. And while the food wasn't fantastic, it was nice to be out amongst the people for an evening!

Goal for the weekend: Find birthing books!

A trip to daycare and some new-baby nostalgia.

Yesterday I went with Eric up to Owen's "school" to pick him up. It was the first time I'd been up there in about 3 months. I was amazed at how much bigger all of his friends looked to me after that short period - made me realize that in some ways it really has been SO LONG since I've been off work. Everyone seems to be having great summers, and it was nice to catch up with a few of the mom's in Owen's class.

The trip up there also made me appreciate that Eric drops him off and picks him up every day. When I was working it was so convenient, as his daycare is on the county campus with me, less than a mile from my office. But now that I'm off, Eric is making the trek from Clawson to Pontiac twice a day (which is better than Hazel Park to Pontiac, but still). We decided to keep him in school this summer because I can't really be running around after him all day long, and because he loves his school and his friends, and we didn't want to deny him that for the summer. And, obviously, we (Eric) can get a lot more done around here when Owen isn't always trying to "help" him.

And while in some ways it's been a long three months, in other ways it has totally flown by, as I am suddenly freaking out daily about the fact that this baby is coming in a couple short months and 1.) I can't find any of my birthing books, 2.) Her room is nowhere near being completed, 3.) We have NO idea what we want to name her, and 4.) OMG am I ready to do the whole labor/delivery thing AGAIN? I'm not sure which is worse. With baby #1 you have no idea what to expect, so you are totally scared, but also blissfully ignorant. With baby #2 you know exactly what to expect, so there's not that scary element of surprise in terms of pain and process, but, that means, I am well aware of the PAIN and the PROCESS of delivery. Time to start psyching myself up!

You know what helps? These:

I mean. Look at those TOES.

Damn, he was a cute baby. Six weeks early and totally swollen in this pic, but CUTE.

Nothing like a little baby nostalgia to remind you how totally worth it it all is.

30 Weeks!

Words cannot describe how great it feels to hit 30 weeks of this pregnancy. When I had the cerclage done at 18 weeks, I seriously couldn't visualize what it would be like to be sitting here, in my new house, at 30 weeks, on my 12th week of bed rest. And while we still have 10 more weeks to go, 30 weeks feels GOOD. Especially knowing that things are going so well and my doctors are happy with my progress (and that of baby girl). And I'm told that at 30 weeks the risks for some pretty significant premature birth conditions (such as cerebral palsy) diminish significantly, so that's another little (okay BIG) sigh of relief.

And while I've missed out on much of the summer (including my nephew's 5th birthday party today - happy birthday Nathan!), I have my eyes on the prize, as they say, and know there will be many more birthday parties, BBQs, pool parties and camping trips in our future.

In house news, we finally put up some crisp, white curtains in the dining room, which had been curtain-less since we moved in. Our neighbors have one window that faces our dining room windows, but they never have it open, so we weren't too concerned with the lack of privacy from these always-wide-open windows on the side of the house. But man does it look nice now that they're up.

Eric even put the reproduction sash lifts we ordered up on these windows to really pull it all together. I've never been one to get excited about hardware, but these sash lifts are BEAUTIFUL. They really fit with the old wood windows (and bonus, now we can open them without breaking a sweat).

We got beautiful new curtains for the living room, too, but I have a few finishing touches I want to put on that room (rug and pillows, mostly) before I take more photos - right now it's still a little... bare. But I'm going to head in there right now to watch a late-night movie, complete with a plate full of these amazing Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls thanks to (never home)maker. I've never been that pregnant lady who eats ice cream and pickles, or needs fast food in the middle of the night, or munches on raw cookie dough. But when they posted this recipe as a "healthy" and "vegan" alternative to raw cookie dough, I thought "that ought to satisfy most of my late-night-sweets-cravings." True story.

Bean it up, girl!

So for those who may not know, back in the very early stages of this pregnancy, months before this whole bed-rest gig, I had some other, unrelated, rather serious complications. Without going into too much detail, lets just say that the baby wasn't attached to my uterus quite right, and much of the blood that should have been going to her, ended up pooling and clotting and, well, coming out. Which was heinous. And horrifying. And soooo painful. I ended up in the ER 3 times before I even reached 11 weeks, each time thinking we had for sure lost the baby. Luckily she figured out how to really grab on in there, and that problem resolved itself completely around 14 weeks. Phew.

So why am I sharing this now? Because during that time I lost a lot of blood, and my red blood cell and hemoglobin counts were waaaay low. And it would appear that I really haven't recovered from that, as my latest blood tests show that these levels are STILL a little below the "normal" range. Being a lazy vegetarian doesn't help. Nor does not having much of an appetite these days (I'm told this is due to the bed-rest and my body not doing enough to require much food). I'm doing my best to eat 3 good meals a day and some hearty, healthy snacks in between, but I really need to start focusing on my protein and iron intake. I already take my prenatals and an additional iron supplement every day, so there's no more "supplements" I can take. So I am heeding my cousin Lauren's advice, which is to: "Bean it up, girl!"

Tuesday night's hodgepodge dinner ended up being one of the most delicious things we've eaten in a while (we being me and Eric, as there's no way Owen would touch a "salad"). It was a healthified (I use the term, which isn't even a real word, very loosely) version of the McMillan's summer Taco Salad. And it went a little something like this:

Tempeh Taco Salad

Head of iceberg lettuce (I know, but I hate most other kinds of lettuce and iceberg is traditional taco salad lettuce!)

Half package of tempeh, sliced to 1/4 inch pieces

Can of black beans

1 cup cooked corn

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, diced

1 cup shredded cheese (we used pre-shredded nacho/taco cheese)

1/2 cup black olives, sliced

A few generous handfuls of crushed tortilla chips

Catalina dressing

Saute up the tempeh, chipotle pepper, and black beans in some olive oil until the tempeh is nice and browned. Meanwhile shred the head of lettuce into a big bowl (or just the individual serving bowls if you're lazy like us) and cover it with the tortilla chips, black olives and cheese. Once the tempeh was a nice golden brown, add the corn to the pan for a minute just to warm it up. Then add the tempeh/bean/pepper/corn mixture to the top of the salad, add dressing to your liking, mix, and serve. Delish!

Also, a few people have commented lately that they haven't SEEN me in a while - either due to distance or just the fact that I'm not super social right now and haven't been to any parties lately. So here are a few shots from yesterday - we'll call them 29 week belly shots. The second one cracks me up because it shows, without a doubt, this baby's preference for my right side (and yes, those are my blurry feet way down in the distance - I can still see 'em!).

She's definitely cooking in there! About 2 1/2 pounds this week. Time to start getting that nursery put together!

She better be a freaking ANGEL when she comes out.

Seriously. This baby. Let me tell you.

First, in terms of cervical length and the general well-being of the baby and my uterus, everything was looking GREAT this morning at my appointment. So good, in fact, that my doctor said she doesn't need to see me for a month. Basically since I'm close to 30 weeks now, and I've been doing "so great," they don't feel the need to check me in such up-close-and-personal detail every 2 weeks anymore. The cerclage is considered a big success, and I can relax (still on bed rest, still doing very little) until I see her again in a month (all the while still diligently on the lookout for the signs of preterm labor). In the meantime I'll probably start to see Trish my midwife every 2 weeks now, so I'll still have a check-in every 2 weeks, just here at the Troy office with Trish, rather than at the hospital with the specialist. I feel pretty great about all that.

Then comes the bad news. I had such horrendous mid-back pain last night, on my right side, that I was thisclose to driving myself to the emergency room around 11:30 last night (Eric is out of town). I skipped getting ready for bed (save for taking out my contacts) and basically fell onto the bed, laying on my left side, praying that it would subside. After about an hour it let up and I fell asleep. But it woke me back up again this morning around 6 a.m., and has been coming and going ever since. Sometimes it's a dull ache, sometimes it feels like someone twisting a knife in my back. But it is a fun new constant in my life today.

Thank goodness I had my appointment today, otherwise I probably would have gone to the ER this morning. Dr. Murphy thinks it is one of a few things.

1. Just muscular-skeletal pain from the weight of the baby (I think this is NOT the case)

2. A kidney infection or possibly kidney stones

3. Hydronephrosis (what?)

An ultrasound of my back and kidney didn't show any stones, but I did have a CBC and urinalysis done this morning to check for other signs of them. However, the ultrasound did show what they thought might be a mild (?) case of hydronephrosis. This is basically when the baby's weight is blocking urine from getting from the kidney to the bladder. It almost always occurs on the right side, which is where this 2 1/2 pound lump of a baby has (very noticeably) parked herself for the last 2 months. A quick google search tells me that most cases end up being pretty minor, and generally resolve themselves immediately after giving birth. There is also no real treatment during pregnancy, unless it gets so bad that surgery is necessary to open the ureter back up.

So basically I am waiting on the blood and urine lab results (Dr. Murphy said she'd call me as soon as she got them, probably/hopefully over the weekend) to see if it's a kidney infection or kidney stones. Sadly, I'm hoping for an infection. Give me some antibiotics and send me on my way. Because this hydronephrosis gig isn't really treatable, and means I have to deal with this obnoxious and sometimes tear-inducing flank pain for the remainder of the pregnancy.

As we have told her on several occasions now, this baby girl better be the best behaved, sweetest, most wonderful child there ever was when she finally makes her appearance in a couple months. For real.

For now I will suck it up on my couch, laying only on my left side, maybe breaking out the heating pad (dear lord, where IS the heating pad?), and watching some stupid movies/TV to take my mind off things.

I'm also stalking my friend Christy's Facebook page like a crazy person, as she gchatted me yesterday to tell me her water broke! She and her husband live in Dublin, Ireland, which is like a billion miles away, but I was lucky enough to chat with her for a few minutes yesterday (she had gone in to the hospital to be checked and they sent her home until her labor started to progress). Good luck Christy and John! Can't wait to see that sweet little Irish boy!

Puppy love.

So Hudson, our 80 pound chocolate lab/doberman mix, loves the new house. He quickly got over the lack of doggie door (we had one at the old house, and I highly recommend their installation to anyone with a puppy under the age of 3, it was a lifesaver) and seems pretty well-adjusted to life in Clawson. I guess not much has changed for him. He still lays around all day. He still goes for runs with Eric in the evenings. Owen still tortures him by trying to order him around and/or "love" him.

But one thing that has changed for Hudson, which he seems pretty enamored with, is all the SUNLIGHT that pours into the new house. It struck me as so funny to see this giant, black dog basking on the sun all day long, that I started snapping pictures of him right after we moved in. Every morning when I wake up, Hudson can be found here, in the dining room, with its nice east-facing windows:

He's starting to get annoyed with all my photo-taking, I think. Look at that FACE.

As the day moves on, he will move from room to room throughout the house, trying to find the best sun. We think he may be part cat. Or at least he thinks he's a cat.

By mid-morning the sun starts to come through the high windows in the living room:

He also figured out that in the afternoon, the sun shines lazily into Owen's bedroom, a place not often ventured by Hudson unless he's following Eric or I in there. But this dog will go anywhere for those warm rays:

And, because he's a big stupid puppy (we say that in a totally endearing way), he will lay outside, in the 90-degree heat, right next to the garage, on the hot concrete driveway - probably the hottest place in the whole backyard:

And he has the nerve to act all indignant toward me when I call him to come in, panting so hard he can barely move, sweat dripping out of his big dumb mouth all over my floor.

But Hudson has truly been a great bed rest companion. He's made my days here at home seem much less lonely, even if he's not the most entertaining guy, what with all the laying around and doing nothing all day. He always lets me know when the mail has arrived (when anyone has arrived), and he is full of unconditional love and kisses. So that's nice.

He has also grown increasingly protective of me in the last few months. Not in a: "I'll bite anyone who comes near you" kind of way (since I don't think he even understands the concept of biting people) but in a: "I just want to make sure you're okay and guard you at all times" kind of way. He follows me from room to room, happily laying down next to me wherever I settle myself (including outside the bathroom door when I shut it in his sweet puppy face - he doesn't need to follow me everywhere). And today, as I embark on a weekend without my boys (Eric is running the Great Lakes Relay and Owen is spending the weekend split between two sets of grandparents), I am thankful for his big "puppy head" and all the love and laughter he has brought to us in his 5 years. He's a good chicken, indeed.

A parting note of our favorite nicknames for Hudson:

Stinky Chicken

Hudson Hudson Stinky Pants

The Stupid

Puppy Head

Hudson Bear

Photon Absorber

80 Pounds of Fury

Lover Puppy

More soon on tomorrow's 2-week check-in with my maternal/fetal specialist!

28 weeks and getting cocky.

I am 28 weeks along this week. According to BabyCenter that means the baby is the weight of a Chinese cabbage. I've never seen, bought or eaten a Chinese cabbage, so this reference is completely lost on me. However, a Chinese cabbage (and our baby) apparently weighs about 2 1/4 pounds.

28 weeks also means that I've been on bed rest for TEN WEEKS, since I had the cerclage procedure at 18 weeks. Whoa. That's a LONG time.

I'm happy to report that I've been feeling GREAT (knocking on like 17 pieces of wood right now). I still tire very easily, and if I stand for too long the weight of the baby puts a lot of strain on my weak abdominal muscles, forcing me back to a sitting/lying position. But lately this has been a GOOD thing. I am in that stage of pregnancy where one feels somewhat "invincible." Like I want to just get up and DO things - to the point where I forget that I really can't. My friend Kristie hit the nail on the head when she said that my body wanted desperately to "nest," but I'm not really allowed to. Which is rough.

I have been much more active in the last couple of weeks, though ("active" being a very relative term). And once again I'm getting anxious for my appointment on Friday to see if things are still status quo. I really hope they are, because my recent mini-excursions and light work/cooking around the house are totally saving my sanity right now, and I'd hate to be told that I wasn't allowed to leave the couch except to use the bathroom again. The fact that I have been feeling so good has, I'm afraid, made me a little cocky and I have found myself on the brink of over-doing it several times in the last week or so (at which point I immediately stop and lay down). Despite my energy (be it what it is) and my desire to "nest," I'm still mostly on the couch all day. I promise. It's just that my trips off the couch now entail a little bit more than just getting a glass of water or using the bathroom.

For example, last night I sat on a stool in the hallway and cut and placed new contact paper in the built-in linen closet. Not exactly heavy-lifting, but still something I felt I could do to be useful without directly disobeying doctor's orders. And look how pretty!

That's right. I even did the UNDERSIDE of the shelves (okay, just the top one that you could see the bottom of). There were some pretty gnarly wood boards/shelves in there. I know my dad was just itching to tear them out and replace them, but for now, this pretty green contact paper will do the trick.

And this is where rectangle man died:

Actually, this is the area we measured out for the new buffet and hutch that I'm going to order tomorrow. With the kitchen being pretty small, we wanted to have additional space in the dining room both for storing some of our nicer items like teacups and wine glasses, and as an extra serving space for when we have company (okay, a place to set out the pizzas and/or the chips and dip, as that's about all we "serve" these days). Right now the only thing in the whole dining room is the table and chairs, and the space feels a little bare. The hutch will go on that far wall. (Man, I really need to find my tripod. All this indoor flash use is killing me).

It will be nice to get that piece of furniture in place, and start hanging some pictures on the walls in there! All in due time. (So long as "due time" is before the baby arrives).

Also, quick lighting update - my amazing husband (with a quick phone consultation to an electrician friend) figured out how to re-wire the lighting and put everything on dimmers himself! Now we are not blinded by our lovely new fixtures. And, as Eric put it last night, we now have the added bonus of having "mood lighting" in the living room. Unfortunately for Eric, that "mood lighting" isn't really gonna have the effect he'd hoped for right now. Sorry babe. The lights look AWESOME, though.

Motorized scooters and adventures in lighting.

Kristie and I took a much-needed trip to Target today. It included purchases such as more "big-boy" underwear for Owen, a new bathroom rug, a few candles, and an oscillating fan for Owen's room, among other things (I had a list and stuck to it, I swear). Eric and Owen and I went to Target a few weeks ago and discovered that they have wheelchairs available, which was quite the revelation. Well, someone had the nerve to be using the wheelchair today, leaving me to cruise around a busy Target driving... this:

Kristie tried to get some "action shots" of me driving, but the iphone leaves much to be desired in the way of shutter speed, so this was the best photo we could get. Also I was laughing so hard it was probably extra difficult to get a good shot.

But yeah, that's right. It's a motorized scooter with a big ol' basket on the front of it. And it was AWESOME. Once I got over the initial embarrassment of it, it actually turned out to be pretty sweet, and I found myself thinking that this is how one should always shop at Target. Sure, I clipped a few end-caps (okay, I got stuck on on one), and the loud beeping it makes when you back up doesn't exactly make you feel great about yourself (beep! beep! beep! Wide load, backing up!). But I was comfortable, not on my feet, and not carrying anything, so I think in terms of outings, my doctors wouldn't be too upset about this one. Also, it hauls ASS. So you can get through Target much more quickly than on foot, which is an added bonus.

However, today was a good reminder of why I should stay away from Target in general. $140 on... what exactly? Shoot.

When we got home, Eric started to tackle the lighting in the dining room and living room while Owen was napping. We got all the wire fed up through the chain, as per the instructions, and had all the lamp pieces put together and wiring connected. We thought we were in good shape. Then we took a step back and looked at what we had accomplished. Notice anything wrong?

Yeah, the chain is just a BIT long, you think? Again, fits of laughter for Melissa. "Okay, we did it! We wired it up all by ourselves, look at us!" Yes, if we wanted the chandelier to sit on the floor of the dining room. Oops. We managed to cut the chain down to a more reasonable length, and now have the most beautiful chandelier in all the land hanging in our dining room. I'm in love. It's perfect. To quote another blog that I'm very fond of: "IT'S FULL OF WHIMSY."

Eric also got the sconces up tonight, but I don't have any photos of them yet. As much as we are loving the chandelier and sconces, we are realizing very fast that we need them all to be on dimmers. There aren't any shades over the bulbs (which is why I like them so much), but without a dimmer, they are a little harsh on the eyes, especially as it gets darker out. So. That's the next project (you reading this Uncles John or Doug?).

But tonight we are chilling out in the living room, on the new couch. For the first time since we moved in there are no boxes on the floor out here, no cords being dragged from other room, no tools on the floor, and all of the other furniture put in its place. And it's pretty great. We still have a lot to do, but tonight I actually feel comfortable and at home in my living room for the first time, which is a pretty great feeling.

A chicken pox scare and a cozy backyard.

So my poor Aunt Sue has Shingles. Which, if you don't know, is the manifestation of the chicken pox virus in adults who have already had chicken pox. This is important for a few reasons. First, Owen has not been vaccinated against chicken pox and spent all morning hanging out at Sue's house while Eric did some work over there. Second, nobody can seem to remember for SURE if I've had the chicken pox or not (although I am 99% certain I have). Apparently chicken pox is a very BAD thing to get when you're pregnant, so of course I totally freaked out. Before Eric and Owen got home from Sue's I had already talked to my midwife who advised me to go get blood drawn right away to make sure I was, in fact, immune to the virus. Because if I'm NOT, I would need to stay far away from Owen until he either got and recovered from the pox, or until we knew he didn't have it. So I packed an overnight bag and headed to the lab. Luckily before I took off for my parents, Eric called the pediatrician who told us that unless Owen was exposed to Sue (not her couch, but actually HER), today, after her rash appeared, there was no way he was going to get the pox, so I didn't need to worry. PHEW.

Needless to say I still went up to the lab to have my blood drawn so I know for future reference if I'm immune to the virus. But now I'm back home, not quarantined at my parent's house.

Several people are probably going to wonder why I haven't vaccinated Owen for the chicken pox. And there's no response that won't make me sound a bit like a crazy person. I'm not one of those parents who panics about vaccines, although I have been very selective about how and when Owen has received his vaccines (and he has received almost all of them). Back during his first year I read something, somewhere, about a potential link between the chicken pox vaccine and Multiple Sclerosis. Probably in a Dr. Sears book (I know). But given that my mom has MS, that has sort-of stuck with me, and I've been weighing the pros and cons of Owen getting the chicken pox, vs. this unproven and unresearched connection between the vaccine and MS. I bounce back and forth between: it's the chicken pox, we all had it as kids (I think?) and we all survived it just fine; vs. my paranoia about this weird potential connection with a very scary disease. There's also the fact that the minuscule percentage of kids for which chicken pox ends up being fatal, appear to all suffer respiratory complications, which Owen has struggled with his whole life. Needless to say, it's messed with my head a bit. Which is crazy. Cause it's just the chicken pox, right?

In other, more light-hearted updates, here are a few shots of us in our backyard last night. My parents and Eric did an AWESOME job of digging up all the nasty, overgrown ground cover and out-of-control shrubs that were in our little garden. The hydrangeas (my FAVORITE) were, luckily, already there! And we planted a few begonias and geraniums just to add some color for the remainder of the summer. In conjunction with the new patio umbrella and the positioning of the swing, we have a nice, cozy little spot to have dinner/drinks and just hang out as a family. I have big plans for the garden for next year, including some ornamental grasses, some bright coleus, and a bunch more flowers.

Despite my lack of make-up (and sun, yikes), we take a pretty good picture, eh?

Upcoming excitement for the weekend: new couch delivered tomorrow (finally), and a trip to Target with Kristie on Sunday (since we discovered they have wheelchairs I can be pushed around in, Target is a reality for me once again, hooray)!

I can't watch anymore Project Runway.

I never thought I'd say that. I love Project Runway. But man, I am sick of TV. And movies. And Hulu. And Netflix. And reading, even. I am actually sick of reading. Basically I'm sick of everything that you can do when you are laying on a couch. Even online shopping is getting boring (what?).

I blame the new house, and all the things I want to do to help Eric get it in order. And now that we're starting to talk about painting the baby's room next week I'm all: OMG, we're going to have a BABY. So I'm starting to panic about all the things we need to buy and need to get done before she arrives. And I'd love to be spending my days restoring her antique dresser, scouring mom-to-mom sales for a papasan swing and a new Sit 'n' Stand stroller and wandering around Home Goods for some of the finishing touches for multiple rooms in this house. But I'm STILL on this COUCH.

My feelings of guilt have grown much stronger now that Eric is done with school for the summer and is home all day with me, working his ass off while I, very conspicuously, lay on the couch and watch. I know he doesn't expect me to get up and help. But I can't help but feel like I should. At least when I was home alone all day I never felt like anyone was judging me for being a couch potato. NOT that he's judging me. He's not. I just feel so... unhelpful. And guilty.

Okay, rant over. It's all good. It's the best thing for the baby, blah blah blah. I actually have been doing a bit more around the house lately. I try to make dinner most nights while Eric is out picking up Owen. Sometimes I just get it started and then have to collapse back onto the couch and let Eric finish when he gets home, but I think the gesture is appreciated, regardless. Have I mentioned what an amazing husband/father he is lately? Seriously. It's ridiculous.

Here's a shot he took of Owen and I watching some Yo Gabba Gabba yesterday (I could write an entire post on how that show makes me want to rip my hair out, but how I continue to watch it since Owen is newly infatuated with it).

Despite that face he's making for the camera, he does actually love to snuggle with me on the couch.

Also, in house news, our new stove arrived today! We broke it in tonight by making quinoa chili and cornbread (yes, I know it's 85 degrees out. I was craving chili). Everything worked great - I did NOT burn my hand just by touching it. And it's shiny and clean and LOVELY, even if it is a simple, white, no-frills stove.

And I'm actually digging the white appliances. Our old house (with its beautifully renovated kitchen (thanks dad) where I picked out everything from the tile to the counter-tops to the cabinets), had all stainless steel appliances, which looked great. But I like how the white make this new tiny kitchen seem just that much bigger. They also lend themselves nicely to the retro/vintage feel I'm ultimately going for in there (I have a few ideas I'm hoping to implement in the next month or so - mostly involving some cool paint, new knobs for the cabinets, and maybe a new light fixture)...

Ugh, okay, back to my stupid BOOK, I suppose. :)

The signs of preterm labor.

Every time I go in for an appointment, Trish asks me: do you feel like you understand how to recognize the signs of preterm labor? And she give me a short lesson on contractions per hour, certain pains, certain... other things I won't mention here so as to not gross out any men. At my last appointment Trish told me that back pain is obviously normal in pregnancy, but to make sure that back pain wasn't coinciding with contractions, and that it wasn't worsening over time.

So last night I freaked out when I had such a god-awful lower backache that I caught myself staring longingly at my little bottle of Target-brand ibuprofen, wishing I could pop a few to take the edge off (not being able to take ibuprofen is one of the major bummers of pregnancy). And I was having a good amount of contractions on top of it (but not 4/hour, which is the general rule of thumb for when to go to the hospital). And I had some serious round ligament pain on top of it, and was getting up to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes. Needless to say, I was a wreck when I went to bed last night. I kept telling myself that if it persisted so that I couldn't sleep, or if I still felt awful when I woke up, we'd go to the hospital.

Thankfully, crisis averted. I woke up this morning feeling totally rested and ache-free (and contraction-free). Major bed rest lesson learned. My little outing to the little beach at my Nana's house yesterday was a bit too much activity for me. What's sad is that it wasn't all that much activity. Aunt Sue met us there and played in the water with Owen. I spent most of the time on a chaise lounge, somewhat reclined with my feet up. But the fact remains that it was still almost 4 hours out of the house (and off the couch) when all was said and done, and it was too much for my weak back and belly muscles. Despite that, we did have fun while we were out, and it felt so GOOD to get OUT. Here's Owen and Aunt Sue playing in the lake. Despite her best efforts, Sue did NOT catch a fish in a bucket.

Today we are taking it EASY. I have a flat of geraniums in the backyard that Eric is going to help me plant this afternoon (I'll probably place them where I want them and then sit and direct). And we may do a little grilling tonight (first grilling at the new house!), seeing as how it is the 4th of July and all. And that's about it. The rest of the day I plan on not getting off this couch.

Happy 4th of July!

Ultrasounds and new stoves.

My maternal/fetal specialist, Dr. Murphy, is on vacation this week, along with the rest of the world, I feel. But in her absence she wanted me to keep my ultrasound appointment today, so early this morning Eric, Owen and I all took a trip to West Bloomfield to see what the baby is up to.

This was Owen's first visit to a doctors appointment with me. He did pretty good! He didn't understand what was going on on the screen, but when the tech turned on the sound so we could hear the heartbeat - that really got his attention. I think he leaped about 5 feet back from me and the exam table when he heard that sound. But then we had her play it again, and Owen agreed that the baby sounded really good.

I got a cervix measurement of 2.2 (woohoo!), and she said my fluid all looked totally normal. There is still a "large" pocket of fluid, for some reason, but she didn't seem concerned with it at all. Here's a little video of baby girl - she has a big yawn near the end of it - pretty stinkin' cute.

Overall I feel pretty good about the appointment. I do like it better when Dr. Murphy is there to assist the tech and make sure all the measurements are totally accurate. But this girl has been doing my ultrasounds for a while now, and I think she has gotten much better about getting good measurements. Plus she's just, like, the nicest girl. And she thought Owen was adorable. So there's that.

In home improvement news Eric and I made a REAL quick trip into Home Depot yesterday to buy a new stove (thank the LORD), and to pick out a new back door. Our awesome Magic Chef stove that came with the house has got to GO.

That's right, it comes "with UNIBURNERS." And look at that sweet timer!

Not only is it missing half the knobs, but it also kind-of... shoots orange flames out of the burners?

Oh, and last night I burnt my thumb on it just by touching the outside of the stove while I was cooking. It has zero insulation/seal and I won't be using the oven again - major hazard with a toddler in the house. We knew when we bought the house that it needed a new stove. But we thought we could make-do with this one for a few months until we could really afford to buy a new one. Turns out that it being an actual hazard has moved it WAY up on the priority list. Pretty, shiny, safe new stove arrives next Wednesday.

We then came home and ordered online the new chandelier for the dining room and coordinating sconces for the living room. We generally buy most things on the lower end, price-wise. The stove we bought was the cheapest GE white gas stove that Home Depot sells. The door we picked out was a cheap, standard steel door with a window. But these lights, let me tell you. They are FUN. And decidedly NOT cheap. But I think they'll really make the dining room and living room look all pulled together. And I wasn't able to find anything else similar for a cheaper price (believe me, I looked). So the budget takes one for the team with the lights. I think it will totally be worth it.

We have no big 4th of July weekend plans this year, sadly. Much of my family is at my aunt and uncle's place up on Torch Lake. Which looks like this:

That is seriously an unedited photo. It looks like the ocean. But it's the floating dock at Torch. I am SO SAD to not be getting up there this summer. Look out AB and UG, we're coming for a whole WEEK next summer!

But Eric has some BBQs to take Owen to, and I may do a little laying by the pool with my mom tomorrow (Trish the midwife said it would be okay). So all is not lost. Happy long weekend everyone!