****************************** Week 38 1/2 ******************************
****************************** Week 37 ******************************
****************************** Week 36 ******************************
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THE COUNTDOWN
We are nine days from the doctor's due date (six from our calculated due date!). I cannot believe the time is here. I think we are ready - the nursery is set up, we have all the must-have items (at least we hope we do), we had a tour of the hospital, and our bags are packed. She is giving me no indication that she plans to come out any time soon; she seems very content to nestle in there as long as possible. My weekly doctors appointments have just been to check my blood pressure and her heartrate and to make sure everything is proceeding normally. They did send me in for bloodwork and a non-stress test since I had a few complaints that might indicate preeclampsia, but the results all came back perfect.
THE NURSERY
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We finished painting (with help from the Imms)
I absolutely love the color!
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THE PLAN
We're hoping the labor begins at home (HA!); otherwise, if i'm at work, plan A is for me to drive home from Philly (and pray the Schuylkill, blue route, and northeast extension stay clear), and plan B is for Mike to come pick me up and drive me home. We'll head over to the hospital at the proper time, then I plan to be like my mom and Chrissy and be finished in 6-8 hours. :D
Directions: pull in the Main Entrance (on the right, passed the emergency entrance) and park either in the lot on the left, or continue straight and park to the side of the hospital. Enter the building through the main lobby, walk straight through the lobby to the elevators and go to the second floor. The maternity wing visiting hours are from 12:00PM-8:00PM. At 8:00PM the main hospital is locked - you have to enter through the ER.
We welcome family to be at the hospital if they choose. I only ask - please don't wander the halls looking for our room - we'll let you know when we are ready for visitors. You may certainly sit in the visitor's lounge in the maternity wing or the the cafeteria. If Elaine arrives in the non-visiting hours, people may have to come back the next day to see us.
Mike will keep immediately family informed via text. You guys may share any information with anyone you think would like to know.
Mom and Dad threw us a beautiful baby shower last Sunday. The house was filled with sunflowers (my favorites!), pumpkins, family, and delicious foods and desserts. We got many wonderful gifts, everyone was extremely generous yet again. I enjoyed playing a few light games and getting to catch up a little with family. It was a great time, we are that much more prepared now for her arrival.
My work threw me a surprise shower and wow did they go all out. I was so touched by everything they did - they decorated the conference room with balloons and streamers and a banner, in colors that I have in the nursery. Everyone contributed to get quite a lot of gifts. The biggest surprise was MY GLIDER! Not only did I not expect anyone to buy it (because it's on the higher end), but it was out of stock everywhere within 50 miles and I was told it couldn't come in until December. But there is was, sitting in the office! One of my bosses ordered it, made phonecalls to find out what was going on with it and where it was, and then sent our field maintenance guy to pick it up from Cherry Hill. I was absolutely blown away. Mike put the chair and ottoman together that night, and it. Is. Perfect.
We celebrated our one year anniversary this month (October 1st). I can't believe it's been a year already...it feels like shorter and longer all at the same time. What a wonderful year it has been. God has been so very good to us, we have so many blessings in our life! That night, Mike took me to a lovely dinner at a french restaurant in Skippack. We made an evening of it, taking our time for each course and reminiscing about the year. We came home to find a large bunch of balloons and a bottle of sparkling grape juice from Mom and Dad (so thoughtful!).
Mike started his new job as a Process Engineer for LifeTek on Monday! What an answer to our prayers this is. He absolutely loves his new job - he has a lot of responsibility (he's the only full-time process engineer and is being trained to take over all the process engineering work) and the job involves a high amount of technical knowledge and creativity. There are around one dozen full-time employees, he is starting off working four day weeks (with no pay reduction), and he was given a bottle of beer at his desk on the last day of their work week. How unfair is that? He truly has earned it all - he put in a lot of time in an unsatisfying job and worked very hard to find a new one.
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In the recent days I have been alternating between wanting to sleep and nest. I am so tired, I cannot seem to get enough sleep. I have been trying to listen to my body and save up my energy, though I exercise every day I can. This weekend we have left open so we can take care of a ton of things we need to do, both baby-related and other. Next week we obviously have made no plans. ;)
Pumpkin pancakes - so delicious! Even if it doesn't sound appealing to you (I admit to having doubts whether it could work), you have to give it a try. If you like pancakes and pumpkin bread, you'll like this. It needs natural maple syrup, though. I also made the changes recommended in the second comment by RobnMandy.
Mint chocolate chip ice-cream - this tastes amazing! To me it taste just like the good store-bought ice-cream. The texture didn't turn out right for me because I didn't let the freezer bowl freeze quite all the way (I thought I could get away with it), but I expect it to work beautifully next time.
