Enter the Mac Man!

It has been just over 24 hours since the MacDaddy and I got to meet the Mac Man. Alexander McKay surprised us at 4:57 a.m. on September 18, 2010.  He measured 20 inches and weighed in at 6 pounds, 4 ounces.

I just don't even have the words right now, so I'll leave you with a few pictures. I promise to post some stories over the coming days.

In the mean time . . .  Enjoy!

Publish Post

We're having a baby!!!

Well, not tonight or tomorrow . . . but we have a likely induction date!

At my doctor's appointment today, my blood pressure was a little higher than it had been, and I had a few potential symptoms of pre-eclampsia -- but no pre-eclampsia right now.  However, because I'm already 37 weeks, which is full term, my doctor thinks we should go ahead and induce next week. As she put it, "There's just no reason to keep you pregnant longer than that, unless you want to be." Do I want to be pregnant? No. I want to have my baby!

I did have to go in for more lab work, just to confirm that I do not have pre-eclampsia (yet). Assuming that comes back clear,* I will go to the hospital to start the induction process next Wednesday, September 22, with a likely delivery date of Thursday, September 23 (and definitely by Friday, September 24)! I let her pick the dates (although she would have let me choose, if there were a particular date that I wanted), and she picked based on her call schedule. She's on call Thursday night, so if Mac comes any time between 6 am Thursday and 5 pm Friday, she'll deliver him.  That's very reassuring to me.

Funny thing is, just this morning, I was telling the MacDaddy that September 23 is a full moon.  He asked if I'm planning on turning into a werewolf, and I reminded him of all the Old Wives' Tales (and Labor and Delivery Nurses' Tales) about full moons inducing labor. Looks like we can plan on having a full moon baby -- and if the tides help to move things along, that's fine with me!

It's all a little overwhelming, but I'm very excited. The Type A planner in me is absolutely thrilled that I get to have a timeline. My mom was able to change her ticket so she'll be here on Tuesday afternoon. The MacDaddy was able to schedule boarding for the Naminals from Wednesday through Sunday (though we can pick them up earlier if we're ready). And I was able to schedule a car seat installation/inspection for Thursday morning. And the MacDaddy and I are planning to pick up the last few things we absolutely must have (newborn diapers, diaper rash cream, wipes, baby medicine cabinet stuff, baby bath products, stroller and an extra car seat base) on Sunday afternoon.  And I can finish packing my bag this weekend, with an idea of exactly what I need to keep out until Wednesday and what I need to pack.

I think the MacDaddy is mainly stressed. I have to share our conversation when I called him after my doctor's appointment:

Me: Are you ready to have a baby?
MD:  Umm...
Me:  Not today. She wants to induce next Wednesday evening.
MD:  Okay...
Me:  Are you okay?
MD:  Yeah. We knew this was going to happen.

Yes, we did know that at some point, after several months of pregnancy, we would end up going to the hospital and leaving with a baby. That is the most likely outcome. I thought that was so adorable of the MacDaddy to say, though.

Considering the stress he must be feeling, the MacDaddy's handling it pretty well. I think he is just thinking in terms of everything that must be done before Mac gets here. Which probably isn't quite as much as he might think.

I have to acknowledge that there is far more excitement for me at the prospect of having Mac sooner. I mean, I'm the one who has been feeling him wiggling around in there for months, and knows that he wakes up in the morning around 7-ish, so I'm probably a little more curious about what he's going to be like on the outside. And, of course, I'm the one who is experiencing all kinds of pain in my hips just getting out of bed to go to the bathroom 7 times a night, so naturally I'm eager to have him on the outside -- where he'll at least be easier to carry, even if I'm still up 7 times a night. 

*If the lab work indicates pre-eclampsia, then we may have an earlier induction date (as in, ASAP). I'm hoping for good results, though, and planning for next Wednesday.

37 Weeks!!!

37 Weeks! You know what that means, don't you? It means that Mac is now a full-term baby!

It also means that my doctor may induce at any time if my blood pressure spikes. And that I could go into labor at any moment, even if she doesn't induce. And, by the way, with the way I've been feeling most days, I wouldn't complain if she did want to induce.

Meanwhile, things have been weird. I've been having more trouble sleeping. Even though I was looking forward to relaxing all weekend, I ended up out and about for most of it. Except when I was up and about, reorganizing the nursery and packing my hospital bag. Mac's bag is pretty much packed. I have a bag packed, and so does the MacDaddy, but a few things are still waiting to be packed in them.

I'm also wondering if the MacDaddy knows something I don't. Our nephew's (Kai) 3rd birthday is October 9 -- just a few days after Mac's due date. Yesterday, the MacDaddy got it into his head that we absolutely, positively HAD to purchase Kai's birthday gift yesterday.  He had several other, more pressing errands to run, but insisted that the gift had to be purchased -- it couldn't even wait until today. Hmm...  In all fairness to the MacDaddy, it probably wouldn't have been purchased today, but why couldn't it have happened on Saturday? There would still be 3 weeks left to mail it.  Oh, well, it's done (mostly -- I still want to add a couple things), so that's good.

I have my next doctor's appointment tomorrow, and if anything interesting happens, I'll post another update.

My New Labor Plan

So if I'm fortunate enough to go into labor naturally (rather than via induction) and without my water breaking (which requires me to go to the hospital ASAP), I have a plan for "early labor." 

For those of you unschooled in the terminology, "early labor" refers to the beginning of labor, where you are actually starting to have contractions, but you don't have to go to the hospital yet. The idea is that you walk around plenty to move it along quickly.  For me, of course, the idea is that I want to move it along quickly to the stage where I can show up at the hospital and request the drugs. (I'll take an epidural for $1000, Alex.)

As for my plan? Target. Tonight, after dinner, the MacDaddy and I did some shopping. Barnes & Noble, then Michael's, then Target. At the first two places, my hips and knees were really killing me. At a couple points, I felt like crying. 

When I got to Target, though, I'm not sure what happened. It's like they pump something into the ventilation system there. It's not that I wasn't in pain, it's just that I felt compelled to shop.  Admittedly, when we got to the baby section, I told the MacDaddy, "My back is really hurting, and I need to stop walking and stand for a minute."  Yeah, stand here and look at the cute baby outfits!

So it occurred to me that if anything can take my mind off the contractions enough and keep me walking, it must be Target. I also figure that when I feel like I would rather be in the hospital than continue roaming around Target, then we know it's definitely time to head to the hospital. And the bonus? We have a last-minute opportunity to pick up any items we've forgotten to pack in the hospital bags!

So tomorrow, the MacDaddy and I will be packing up our hospital bags to put them by the door. And when the time comes, we'll load them into the car and head to Target.

Disclaimer: I reserve all rights to

(a) Respond with an eye roll and/or an expression of "where would you get an idea like that???" to anyone who suggests going to Target when I am actually in labor;

(b) Totally disregard this labor plan; and

(c) Laugh hysterically at this post after Mac gets here and insist that this was always a joke.

The Nursery, Phase 4.9

I know you've been waiting to see the Nursery -- especially after all that drama getting it ready!  I have to give Gigi lots and lots and lots and lots of the credit. I picked the paint color, but she was key in selecting the fabric, and she MADE (yes, "made") the drapes, bedding, diaper stacker, and probably something else I'm forgetting.

There are still a few things to be done, but it's looking pretty good. I'll point out the "to-do" items along the way.  [Secret tip: you can click on any of the photos to see them enlarged. Then just use the back button to return to the post.]

So here it is:

On the far right, you can see my baby shoes!  I actually have Mark's baby shoes to hang to the left of the window, too. How cute is that?!  And yes, Gigi MADE those drapes!

Here's the beautiful crib!

These are cute photos of our relatives on ponies -- some in full cowboy costume!  In the top row, second from the left, is Pappy (my father)!  Top row, second from the right, is Papa (the MacDaddy's father)! Isn't it too cute?

Yes, Gigi made the bumper!  Don't you love how it's monogrammed?

And these are above the closet. How cute! Seriously, I don't know how you can stand it, it's so cute!

Here's the dresser/changing table! As you can see, we still need to add two photos. I need to pick up the extra frames, and there will be one of Gigi as a little girl and one of Nana as a little girl.  And the rest are relatives of ours, too. To the right of the dresser is the diaper stacker that Gigi made!

Eventually, we'll have a rocking chair in the room, but that's not here right now. So you'll just have to satisfy yourself with the current state of cuteness.

36 Weeks!!!

[Or... 36 weeks and 2 days!!!]  And only 26 days to go -- or maybe 33 days for me.

I know you want to see a belly pic. But I'm expecting a really cute pic of me, my belly, and the MacDaddy taken at 36 weeks, and I'll post that one, instead.

As for how I'm feeling? Don't ask. I am amazed at the broad range of discomfort one can feel. Who knew pain could be so creative? Every day, I discover a new form of discomfort. Mainly, these days, I feel like my pelvic bone is broken, which is very uncomfortable for walking around. Not that I walk around that much, but I do have to go to the restroom regularly at least every 30 minutes.

I've now completed the two work-related tasks I felt I absolutely, positively, without a doubt had to complete before Mac arrives. The first is my FMLA leave paperwork. All done and approved. The second is my CLE affidavit. Every year, attorneys have to file an affidavit to show that we have completed 15 hours of classes that are more gut-wrenchingly dull than a high school class on the philosophy of geometric computer programming continuing legal education.  (I shouldn't be so hard on CLE; this year I got to attend a CLE program on animals that assist those with disabilities -- and it included a free lunch!) My CLE affidavit was due on September 15. I had completed the CLE by June 30, and I just needed to pull all the documents together and fill out the form online. I was procrastinating just for the thrill of worrying what would happen if Mac showed up on September 13, and I hadn't completed my affidavit yet. But now that's done, so I get to keep practicing law for another year without punishment, regardless of when Mac decides to show up.

Now, anyone who knows of my tendency to procrastinate (Pappy?) might be wondering why I completed these two tasks with about a month to go before Mac's due date. Well, at our 36 week appointment yesterday, my blood pressure reading was 130/88. Even though the doctor repeatedly said that's not high, it's just borderline, she did say:

1. As of Monday, I'll be 37 weeks, which is full-term. So if I have a "high" blood pressure reading on or after Monday, she may just induce.
2. "When is your mom flying out for the delivery? Is her ticket booked yet?"
3. She wanted to see me on Friday for another BP check. Not only that, she walked me to the front and told the scheduler that she could come in early Friday, if she needed to, because she wanted to be sure she saw me on Friday. Keep in mind, I already had an appointment scheduled for next Tuesday.

So this could just be my doctor being cautious and trying to give me fair warning. But it was just as easy to take care of those two things and not have to worry about how I would take care of them immediately after Mac gets here.

Do I think Mac will be here early, like next week? I think I'm just like any other woman who is 36 weeks and 2 days pregnant, without a scheduled c-section. I think that Mac could be here in a week, or in 4 weeks, and there's no way for me to predict it.  (But you're welcome to try -- check out our Baby Pool here!)

Besides, I firmly believe that if I go to great lengths to prepare for him to arrive early, he'll just camp out inside me for a few more weeks. On the other hand, if I allow myself to procrastinate on all those things, well, I may as well plan to meet him early next week.

So I went to work and took care of the most immediate work stuff. I also booked Gigi's ticket.  It's an award ticket, so now she can change it to whatever date she wants. Hopefully, she'll be over-prepared to fly out early, making it less likely to happen.

Now I just need to pack my hospital bag and pick up a few little necessities for Mac...

35 Weeks...

And 35 days to go!  (Well, 42 days, on my 41-week schedule...) Yep, this coming Saturday is one month before my due date. And I'm starting to feel "ready."

As far as the condo goes, I feel like we could manage if Mac showed up now. We still have a few finishing touches for the nursery, and there are probably a few things we could use baby-wise, but I think we could manage to bring him home and survive until we made it to the store to pick up the last few things. (Stay tuned for another nursery post, in which I rave about how hard Gig and the MacDaddy have worked to put it all together!)

As far as my physical state, I am so ready.  I had a few days of relief from the worst of the sciatic pain over the weekend, but this morning it came back full-force. Back to taking baby steps to get anywhere and leaning over at odd angles. My digestive system has forgotten how to run smoothly, what with the constant heartburn. I'm starting to feel a little queasy a lot of the time, too.

What really surprises me is that I don't notice the heat so much any more.  It's like I have enough other complaints that the heat doesn't really make it on the list.  (And it's not just because it's "cooled off" to a mere 98 degrees today -- I felt this way last week at 109.)  It's probably helping that the MacDaddy has officially taken over all the long walks for the Doggie-wog. Although the Doggie-wog is very patient with me, I don't think he could stand having me walk him at 0.5 mph for 30-40 minutes.

I think I read somewhere that Mac should be about 18 inches long and weigh about 5.25 pounds. And in two weeks, he'll be considered "full term." In so many ways, I can't wait to meet him!

(Don't get me wrong -- I much prefer that he keep growing inside me for at least a few weeks. Best for him and best for all of us!)

34 Weeks!

34 weeks, as of Monday! The photo is from Tuesday. Can you tell I'm exhausted?  It doesn't really help much that I'm developing sciatic nerve pain. My doctor more or less suggested that it's going to get worse from here, until delivery, and there's not much I can do.  So now I'm walking at about a 1/2 mile-per-hour pace. 

The great news is that my blood pressure was 138/88 on Monday, and I had to go back to the doctor today and it was down to 130/88.  Also, my blood work was really good and I don't have pre-eclampsia. I'm continuing to eat chocolate to help prevent it.

I am so glad that Gigi is here this week. She and the MacDaddy have been working really, really hard on the nursery.  I don't know what I would be doing without them!  A couple of weeks ago, I came home and the MacDaddy had put together the crib all by himself! This week, the MacDaddy took Gigi to get the mattress and a few other necessary items, and they also hung the drapes! I have been so relieved, because these things are harder and harder for me to even help with.

Unfortunately, the nursery is currently a big mess, so I can't take any photos to show you.  But I promise that as soon as it's in order, I'll post plenty of photos!

Enter the Baby Pool!

Go to www.bebepool.com/alexandermckay to guess when the Mac Man will get here and what he'll be like!

Another BP Update

So I had my 34-week appointment today. I had pretty decent BP numbers the two times we checked it over the last couple of weeks, so I wasn't expecting anything unusual.

You know it's not going to be good, though, when the NP taking your blood pressure stops pumping, then says, "You know, I'm going to pump a little higher. Sorry if the band gets tight." And it wasn't great. My reading this time was 150/92. To give you a frame of reference, "normal" is 120/80 or below. And the benchmark my doctor gave me last time (i.e., call if it's at or above...) was 130/85. Doctors generally consider blood pressure an issue for a pregnant woman if it's at or above 140/90.

So, now what? Well, first off, my doctor very clearly said that 150/92 does not worry her, and that she'll tell me when it's time to worry. That being said, it's enough of a flag to warrant additional testing and monitoring.  She gave me an order for blood work, and I went right after my appointment (the lab is in the same parking lot), so hopefully she'll get my results over the weekend. Also, I go in for an appointment on Monday for another BP check. Other than that, it's kind of wait-and-see.

My doctor also told me to "take it easy," but that I'm not on bed-rest yet, so I plan to enjoy the weekend! That's fortunate, too, because Gigi and Aunt Coco are coming to town today for my shower tomorrow!

Oh, and the good news: Mac is doing really well. His heart rate is in the 140s-150s. And although those numbers are bad for my BP, they are great for his heart rate!

I'll update again on Monday for my 34-week update, as well as my doctor appointment.

33 Weeks!

Or, 33 weeks and 2 days.  Close enough. I mean, I only have 47 days left, as of today, and I have a lot to do. So I may slip a little here and there.

Not too much new to report. My blood pressure on Sunday night was 124/84, which is just under the benchmark my doctor gave me to call her. So I guess it's not an emergency, but I'll see what she says at the appointment on Friday.  My knees still hurt, too, especially when I'm getting up from a sitting position if I don't have any support to lean on.

Mac has learned a new trick: wedging his little foot up under my right ribcage. His foot doesn't seem so little when it's in that particular spot. It doesn't hurt, but it does give me the urge to reach under my ribcage and take it out -- except that I can't feel my ribs from the outside because there's so much stuff in front of them these days.  I think they call that stuff "a baby."

Can you believe I only have 47 days left? That's like a month and a half!  Of course, on my schedule, I probably have about 54 days left, but either way, less than 2 months to go!

The Nursery, Phase 3

(If you haven't already, please read the three previous posts -- The Nursery Before, The Nursery, Phase 1 and The Nursery, Phase 2.)

So on Friday night, after the carpet installation, we had to make the bed, and then I wanted to check on my wardrobe. It's huge, and it has to be anchored to the wall. Well, when the MacDaddy shook it to see if it was bolted, it was pretty clear it wasn't. In fact, at that point, it was slightly sturdier than a house of cards. It never used to shake before. Then I realized the bottom piece -- which braces the entire wardrobe -- was missing. The MacDaddy pulled it forward and I saw the missing piece. Only now, it was four pieces of particle board. Particle board doesn't break cleanly. When the MacDaddy put the wardrobe back up against the wall, it looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Or, more accurately, the Leaning Tower of Particle Board. Clearly, it was not salvageable.


This might sound infuriating to you. But seriously, I got the wardrobe for super-cheap at Ikea when I moved in to the MacDaddy's condo. I needed the closet space. It was huge, it was about $150, and it was not quite as attractive as dorm furniture. I had always figured that when we sell the condo and move out, we would just leave the wardrobe behind. In fact, we got the new Ikea catalog on Thursday, and I had it with me on the plane on Friday. As I looked at all the nice armoires they had, I wished I hadn't bought that ugly piece of particle board. So really, this was a blessing -- an opportunity to get a new armoire!


That meant, though, that before we could start putting away all the clothes, we would have to purchase a new armoire. Ikea, here we come. We also got new nightstands to match. And if/when we ever move, we can use them in the guest room, if we want to get "real" furniture. But this armoire is very, very nice. It's made of wood, not particle board!


Right after we got back from Ikea, the MacDaddy got a phone call from a realtor. Guess what? He wanted to show our place on Sunday! At 1:30! Of course I couldn't turn that down. No one has seen our place since May 31. This could be our last shot to sell the place -- and we just got new carpet!

Plus, I figured it would be good for us to have a deadline. Otherwise, we might not get the place put back together for a month.The MacDaddy and I are procrastinators like that.


So in the course of 24 hours:

• The MacDaddy set up his bookshelves downstairs, packed as many books as possible, and stacked the rest neatly on the dining table. He also moved all his papers over to the desk.
• The MacDaddy, with the help of his father, picked up all the heavy furniture pieces we purchased at Ikea and moved them upstairs so I could begin construction.
• The MacDaddy and our friends, Case and Nicole, moved the dresser and crib into the nursery -- and helped dispose of the packaging.
• Case and Nicole moved the desk to the office area. They also packed a few items in their car to take with them for temporary storage so we wouldn't have to find places for those things.
  
• The MacDaddy and I treated Case, Nicole and their son Sam to dinner to thank them for all their help.
• I constructed the armoire. That project took me a few hours Saturday night, and continued until Sunday at noon. (It's a really good armoire. Lots of little pieces to put together. Lots of pieces, and lots of screws.)
  
• I moved the baby stuff from the floor of the nursery to the dresser drawers and tried to make the room look a little neater.
• The MacDaddy took me to Ikea when I thought I was missing a few screws. We spent an hour on that, just because we had to wait in line. After we got home and I was able to proceed with armoire construction, I found the missing screws in a bag with other screws. I had misidentified them. 
• The MacDaddy brought all the clothes upstairs and put his in the closet. He also brought up the suitcases of shoes and stuff.
• I loaded up the armoire and stashed the suitcases wherever I could.
• The MacDaddy vacuumed and swiffered the floor downstairs.
• The MacDaddy and I rolled out the new area rug. (It looks great, by the way.)
• The MacDaddy and I put away various other items in closets and under the bed.

Whew! I think we got in a short nap between midnight and 6 am on Saturday night. It was a LOT of work, but the place looked pretty decent. And I was pretty proud of myself for pulling my own weight. I worked my batootie off. I took Tylenol Saturday night, because I wasn't sure I'd be able to move on Sunday morning. And by the way, I love putting together furniture, but do you have any idea what it's like to crawl around on the floor and get up to get that other kind of screw or the hammer or the screwdriver, then come back and sit on the floor -- while you're carrying a baby in your belly? My knees hate me. They're thinking of leaving me.

So finally, our place was back together by Sunday afternoon. The MacDaddy and I were completely exhausted. We decided to hold off on crib assembly until next weekend...

Meanwhile, we got the feedback from the realtor. His clients were looking for something a little bigger. Yeah, so are we -- that's why we want to buy a house. Oh, well. At least I have nice carpet and a nice armoire.

Double-BP Update

BP #1: My blood pressure. My mother-in-law (a retired nurse) took it for me on Tuesday night and it was 128/78.  That is definitely below the 130/85 limit set by my doctor. We'll take it again on Sunday, but I suspect it may be even lower, now that I'm not too worried about it.

BP #2: Belly pic!  Here ya go, as promised:

I don't think it looks like I'm growing much, but my knees will tell you otherwise. And my doctor continues to tell me that I'm growing right on schedule. (So there, Gigi!)

Stay tuned for a post on Phase 3 of the Nursery!

The Nursery, Phase 2

Phase 2, of course, being the carpet. And this is where I get my just desserts, after having called out the MacDaddy for all his books. We had to empty out the storage in the bedrooms (3 closets, under the bed, everything in my wardrobe...) so that they could move the big furniture and put in the carpet.That was Thursday night.

The MacDaddy still had a few things to take care of when I left on Friday morning.  (That's how awesome the MacDaddy is. I fly off to Vegas for the day and he stays home and manages home improvement. I love that man.)  So when I got home on Friday night, this is pretty much what it looked like:

I love the new carpet. The naminals also love the new carpet. They hang out on it all the time.

And here's the photo we're using for our application to appear on an episode of Hoarders:

Yes, those are my clothes all over the table. And those suitcases are basically full of my shoes, and some more of my clothes. The MacDaddy has a few pairs of shoes and some clothes in there, but most of that stuff is mine. (Except for any books.) The worst part is I haven't worn the majority of those clothes in more than a year. I haven't been able to fit in most of them since I got pregnant. I'm living off a small stack of maternity dresses.


But we have new carpet! Now we can proceed with putting together the nursery!  Well, except for...

32 Weeks!

Sorry -- I usually post a photo with the even-numbered weekly updates. I'll have to do that later. I'm already in my pj's, and it's not photo-friendly.  Rest assured, there will be a photo posted this week.

So I'm 32 weeks pregnant. I understand that Mac is about 19 inches and 4 pounds. He may get a little longer, but mostly he'll be adding weight for the next several weeks. He's also been very, very busy, and his kicks are definitely getting stronger. Sometimes, the MacDaddy can see them from the outside -- my belly bumping out in weird directions. It almost looks like an alien's about to burst out of there!

No more than 9 weeks to go!  We'd better get going on the nursery...

Which reminds me: all my hard work* this weekend? No good deed goes unpunished. I had my 32-week appointment this morning and it turned out I had high blood pressure.  122 over 86.  Not through the roof, and in fact the "top" number is fine. It's just the 86 that's a problem.  It should be no higher than 80.

So what does high blood pressure mean? Well, it's virtually the only symptom. I had a headache this weekend, but that may have been related to my flights to and from Vegas on Friday. And I've been swelling, but, hey, I'm pregnant and it's August in Arizona. But if I have some combination of high BP, headaches, swelling, and protein in my urine, then I get diagnosed as having pre-eclampsia. Which would be very dangerous.

Fortunately, I had told my doctor that I was pretty tired and achy from the weekend and my knees were hurting, so she was aware that I had worked pretty hard. She thinks I overdid it and everything will be fine.

So for now, she told me to take it a little easier, get plenty of rest, and take my blood pressure in about a week. As long as it's below 130 over 85, she'll see me at 34 weeks. If it's at or above that, she wants me to call.

So no more major moves or building armoires for me. I'm hoping I can get away with putting together the nightstands and helping the MacDaddy assemble the crib, but it doesn't have to be such a rush.

In the mean time, I'll continue with my high-chocolate diet to help prevent pre-eclampsia.

* I'll describe all my hard work in later posts on Phases 2 and 3 of the nursery set-up. For now, suffice it to say that I worked hard. I worked my bootie off. It may not have seemed like much to someone who has never had to carry around a baby in the belly, but my entire body ached, both Saturday and Sunday nights.

Yumminess, Where Have You Been All My Life?!

Last night while I was cooking dinner, I started to feel weak and I realized I had gone too long without eating.  It was still going to be a bit before dinner was ready, so the MacDaddy offered to make me some graham crackers with peanut butter. I'd never had that before...

YUM! 

Is it a snack? Is it dessert? Is it lunch?  I'm having some for lunch right now, and I feel like I'm eating a candy bar!  I highly recommend it if you haven't tried it.

The Nursery, Phase 1

If you haven't already, please see the previous post to get a baseline for what we had to work with.  Seriously, it's unfair to the MacDaddy if you don't look.

Today, we began Phase 1 of The Nursery Conversion. And by "we," I mean I supervised by phone, from work, while the MacDaddy did all the heavy lifting. Lots of lifting, apparently.

When I texted the MacDaddy that I was heading home from work, he sent a response.  It said, "I'm heading out to get groceries. FYI, the place is in some disarray." [In Literature classes, this is what they call "foreshadowing."]

Here's what I saw when I came home:


Cozy, huh?

Boxes of books.













Books around every corner...










So obviously the MacDaddy had worked very hard, early this morning, to get the books out of the nursery before the painters showed up at 9:30.  Frankly, this is about the amount of disarray I expected to see tonight.

But seriously? We have that many books? Actually, these are all the MacDaddy's. Other than about 8 inches worth of baby reference books, mine are all in storage or on Kindle. Impressive collection, MacDaddy.

So then, I wanted to see the results of the paint job:

Isn't it beee-you-tee-full?  The MacDaddy and I love it!  Okay, truth be told, the MacDaddy loves it, and I'm getting used to it. Pretty ironic -- I'm usually more willing to adapt to change.

After that, it was time to relax.  So I went into the bedroom to get my slippers.  Where I found this:

And this:

Aaaaaaand this:

Needless to say, I was shocked. Shocked. Shocked.  Shocked and awed might not be an overstatement. I mean, two major thoughts at once: (1) "More books? How is that possible?!" and (2) "Where am I going to sleep? How am I going to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night without breaking my neck -- 5 times?!"

Know what the MacDaddy said? He said, and I quote: "You're going to post something on The Mac-Man about how many books I have, aren't you?"  Darn tootin' I am.

So it seems that at some point (namely, around 8:45 am), the MacDaddy realized he didn't have enough time to make all those trips up and down the stairs, and he needed to put it in fast-forward.  So he started piling the books in the bedroom.  Makes sense. 

Currently, while I'm blogging and cooking dinner (shameless -- and slightly misleading -- plug of myself as a domestic), the MacDaddy is shelving books downstairs. Stay tuned to find out whether I haul pillows & blankets and camp out in the bathroom tonight...

The Nursery: Before

I think it's only fair to the MacDaddy and myself to show you what we're starting with when it comes to The Nursery. Otherwise it'll just seem too simple.

Here's the actual room where Mac will sleep:

Now in all fairness to the MacDaddy, there used to be about twice that many shelves -- full of books -- in the study.  But the MacDaddy has been systematically paring down, storing, selling, etc., to cut it down to this manageable amount of books.  Initially, the intent was to make the room look big for buyers, but more recently, the MacDaddy has recognized that his son will want some space around here.

Next, you'll want to see the stuff we have to fill up the nursery:

It looks so compact right now, but I bet it doesn't look that way once we've put everything together!  (By the way, there were some clothes upstairs in a big laundry basket and another suitcase-full at my mother-in-law's house when this photo was taken.)

So as you see the different phases of our nursery conversion, please remember that this is where we started.

31 Weeks!

I know, I know, I'm a day late, and technically I'm 31 weeks and 1 day pregnant today.  But you know what? Pregnancy is exhausting, especially when you add in travel, work and chores.

As for how I'm feeling? As of yesterday: Puffy.  It may be from the long flight from Houston to Phoenix yesterday; it's too early to tell if I'll feel as puffy today. But I just felt puffy all day yesterday. And tired. Other than that, not much different.

Oh, one other thing is a little different: Yesterday I felt Mac kick my ribs -- just a little, not so much that it hurt. It was kinda cute, actually!

As for the trip to Houston, it was short, but sweet! Gigi, Aunt Coco and Granny Sara threw me a lovely shower! Adorable decor (including a diaper cake!), fun games (especially because I didn't have to taste the baby food!) and delicious food (bacon-wrapped apricots, spinach dip, yum!).  My favorite part was getting to see everyone. Not just family, but the next-door neighbors I grew up with, a few old friends...  People I haven't seen since the wedding (or even longer than that).  And of course, I got some wonderful gifts -- and gift cards, which are easier to pack! Hopefully Gigi will send me some photos so I can post them here.

What's coming up this week: Setting up the nursery.  We believe that someone will be here to paint tomorrow (long story), and then we're getting new carpet on Friday.  After that, we can move the dresser upstairs and fill it up -- and start setting up the crib!  In the meantime, this is all very stressful for the MacDaddy and for me -- especially the MacDaddy, who has to pack up his entire study.  He's being a very good sport about it, though.

Hopefully next week, I'll have photos to post of a painted room with crib and dresser...

It's a Bird - It's a Plane -

It's SUPER-MAC!!!





Seriously, who could resist?! I hope it fits him at Halloween -- or at least a week or two before, so I can take some cutie-patootie Halloween photos!