Getting Ready!

It's just amazing to me that we'll be 24 weeks pregnant tomorrow! If this pregnancy follows family tradition, we really have only about 12-14 weeks before we welcome Baby Mayer into the world. I think back to when I was 12 weeks pregnant--when we began to tell the world our exciting news--and how I thought I had all the time in the world before we'd actually meet our son or daughter. The gap is closing very fast and while I am trying to really enjoy the present--the pregnancy--I am getting increasingly excited to meet our little one! Of course, I am also getting increasingly nervous--I still cannot completely believe that Doug and I will soon be someone's parents.

Because time is getting short, we set aside last weekend to clean out our second room and prepare it for baby. Doug's mom and bro came over to help us organize, clean, prep and paint the baby's room! It looks like a baby's room now--a pleasant light green. The baby's Aunt Catherine and Uncle Dan gave us the green paint over a year ago--it wasn't quite what they wanted for their own bedroom but, as Aunt Catherine suspected, it is a perfect baby's room color. Thank you, Dan and Catherine!

Room Before

Sharon (Doug's mom) and Chris (Doug's bro) provided incredible help! Since I had to stay away from primer and paint (not to mention the wall-cleaning solution), they helped Doug tremendously and the room looks so good! More than that, it FEELS SO GOOD to have such a major project done! When we walk in the room, we can imagine a crib against the wall and soon, a baby sleeping in that crib in the brightest and cheeriest room in our home. We could not be so ready without their help--thanks SO much, Mom and Bro! We will post photos of the nursery-in-progress soon! Doug received a fantastically fancy camera for his birthday but had to return it. It had some pixel problem. Once we get the replacement, we'll make sure to add photos!

I had my second-to-last monthly appointment with our OB today. All looks good! Dr. B saw the baby move across my abdomen as she was listening for his/her heartbeat--this little one is SOOO active! I am sure he/she is simply getting bigger and stronger, and therefore I feel him/her so much more. Last night, as I was falling asleep, he/she just thumped, thumped, thumped relentlessly--I wonder how much more crazy his/her movements will become as he/she gets bigger! I know that my body is finally feeling the strain of the kid--I have pretty constant lower back pain and have gained a total of about 7-8 lbs--hopefully I am about halfway through the weight gain (I honestly shouldn't gain more than 15-20 lbs total).

And I must share that Dr. B thinks the baby is a girl! She doesn't know and, in fact, no one does! I had her check the chart to see if anything indicated sex. She said no. So, what I thought might have been a slip on our NP's part, wasn't a slip! NP thinks the baby is a boy, and Dr. B thinks girl! For the longest time I was sure it was a boy, then a girl, now--I just don't know. My mom had a girl first, my grandmother had a girl first (well, only a girl), and my great-grandmother had a girl first (out of 4) but I don't think that means much! Sharon was her parents' first child yet she had a boy first. Looks like we are back to honestly not knowing--just where we want to be. Hooray!

School begins next week! I am taking one class and continuing my research work. I am excited about getting back to school--this is my last class and hopefully I can begin writing my thesis next semester and graduate perhaps next fall. We are also taking a childbirth class, beginning in October. I'll hopefully finish both classes (English and childbirth) right before Thanksgiving--just in case the little one (following family tradition) makes an early entrance. We'll see!