The Mascara Incident

The last 2 days have been interesting. Monday Roto Rooter was coming to once & for all take care of the slow drain that caused the bathroom remodel. I was pretty jazzed about the prospect of being able brush my teeth & floss @ the same sink again. But then something happened that threatened my jazzed feeling.

As some of you may know I am extremely near sighted in my right eye. Sometimes this causes a problem with perception but for the most part, other than @ nighttime, I can see pretty well. So I was a little alarmed on Monday when I was getting ready, putting on my make-up, & I managed to stab myself in my good eye with the mascara brush. There was a span of about a week a few months ago that I seemed to do this almost everyday. I finally deduced that this kept happening because I had switched to a mascara with a longer brush & my depth perception must be off. I figured I would solve the problem by switching back to my old brand and I appeared to right & avoided any further stabbings until Monday. You might say why don't you just close your eye when you put on mascara? Most people probably do that. However, since I am so nearsighted in my right eye I cannot see if I close my left eye. For some reason running the risk of having uneven mascara outweighs any apparent risks to myself.

The repercussions of the stabbing were that I could not see clearly for the last 2 days. I wasn't too concerned on Monday because normally the mascara blinding only lasts a day & when I wake up the next morning I can see clearly again. However, when I woke up yesterday my eye was almost crusted shut & once I pried it open still couldn't see any better. I was a bit worried since I have only one good eye and had to ask myself some hard hitting questions. What if I permanently marred my vision for vanity? Would I ever be able to clearly see my son? Should I stop wearing mascara all together? Clearly it was the mascara that attracted Mike- could I run the risk of not wearing it around him anymore? I tried to put all these nagging questions behind me & trooped on, blurry eyed, the rest of the day.

The good news is that when I woke up this a.m. I was able to see clearly again. All these hard hitting questions I had are moot and I am relieved to know now that I can brush, floss & irrigate my eye all from the same sink. Best of all my jazzy feeling is still intact.

Where'd these cankles come from?

It's been awhile since I've last posted. A lot has happened since Wednesday & I will try to recap best as possible. Firstly, Friday Mike & I went to the MD. I'm 37 weeks preggers now. That means @ the end of this week I am full term. The MD said the baby has dropped, cervix is thin but I wasn't dilated yet. I think Mike & I were both relieved to hear that I wasn't dilated since the bathroom still wasn't done @ this point and we had the baby shower on Saturday. The MD said I seem to be inline with my due date. (Let's go 5%).

By the time Mike went to work on Friday most of the bathroom was finished. We still had some painting to do, caulking & cleaning but while Mike was @ gone I did some of the touch-up painting. When Mike got home & I was done grocery shopping, we started back to work. At 1am we called it a night & basically the only thing we had to do for Saturday was put the bathroom back together and hang towel rods.

(This brings me to the baby shower, or secondly) Saturday morning we had to get up & get moving. For anyone that knows Mike & I, that is the last thing we like to do in the morning. However, we prevailed & finished the bathroom and cleaned the kitchen by noon. It was imperative the kitchen be cleaned by noon because my sister, Annie, and Brandi were coming over early to cook for the baby shower. I had to get a good base clean in before Brandi fried her food because anyone that knows Brandi knows she's a great cook but not so great on the clean up. (Or so I thought- they actually did a great job). Also, I had to beat Renae, who also came over @ noon for final clean up, to the punch because there just wasn't enough time to get ready, make sure Mike had time to get ready and let Renae clean the kitchen & vacuum. I knew she would have insisted (which I do appreciate) but I didn't do anything I didn't think I was able to do. The baby shower was great, Rooney got a lot of wonderful stuff & I think everyone had a good time. I want to thank everyone again who came and/or sent gifts. Mike & I really appreciate everything everyone has done for us. The unveiling of the finished bathroom also happened @ the baby shower & for everyone that knew of the ongoing saga they seemed pretty impressed. I only have this picture from after the shower. I will probably have a specific post about the shower once I acquire photos.

Thirdly, Mike & I went shopping today. I think we might be basically prepared. We got what was left of what we thought were necessities, if they were available. Babies R Us is a great store. They have a ton of stuff but we had a hard time locating items. If we couldn't find the item, and we really want it, we decided just to order it online. Now the hard part...picking out the outfit Rooney will wear home from the hospital. They are all so cute, how do you pick one?

Lastly, and most horrendously, I woke up this morning only to discover I have...cankles!!! I thought I'd gone through all the body changes I was going to go through with this pregnancy but here I am almost done & I get cankles. I knew I was retaining, especially since I'm all puffy but my ankles were really the least of my worries. Of all the places I used to want to gain a little weight my ankles was it (besides my butt for obvious reasons). I know that sounds a little funny but they always looks disproportionately chicken-y to me. Now I feel like a wet Nerf ball- squeeze me & I'll squish out water. I've attached before & after pictures.

Can I get any bigger????

My Mom has been asking to see a more recent picture of me. Mike captured a good shot I think. You get to see the full effect of the belly...almost. When he took this shot I could only see from my knees to my toes. So I'm sure you understand why the pedicures are so important. (That reminds me I need to squeeze in one more appointment.)

Courage & Rocco are out of the house today. They are spending the day @ the spa getting some R&R and pedicures too! In actuality, they are spending the day @ the vet getting their comprehensive exams, teeth cleanings & toe nail trims. I don't really consider it lying if I told them the prior- they'll be knocked out anyway. So it seems it'll be a quiet day for Mom. I know I should really relish this time but I am already missing Rocco @ my feet and Courage's obsessive fence patrolling. It's almost a little too quiet now. Maybe I should still shout out "Quiet" & "Too Bad" every once in awhile for Rooney's sake (being as I'm pretty sure these will be his 1st words).

The boys will be home around 6pm so I have a lot of time to catch up on Sex and the City uninterrupted and not clean. Renae has forbade me from cleaning (she's coming over w/Nat,Megan & Felix tomorrow to clean for baby shower)- so I'll just do laundry & maybe some vacuuming. I believe that is commonly referred to as "just straightening up".

Saved by a Professional

Sometimes you just have to accept that you can't do everything. You know what...that's OK. When it comes to DIY I'm personally not that into it. I cannot cut a straight line let alone tile my own entry way. When I lived alone there would be 10 nail holes behind any picture I hung. False starts. Let me say this though- Mike has done a ton of DIY on this house. There's been a lot of frustration & maybe some broken tools but he's got stuff done. As you've been reading, this bathroom has been an absolute nightmare. Unfortunately we can't blame anyone. No one screwed up, it's just been circumstances. After everything we made the decision yesterday that we had to call in a ($$) plumber ($$). This was a scary decision but a great one. We definitely paid through the nose for the 1 1/2hrs he was here (possibly dipping into Rooney's future college fund but sorry Rooney, it was worth it. You may have to get a scholarship). He was not only able to fix the pipe through the existing hole and did not have to tear down any wainscoting but he also wore surgical shoe covers as to not dirty our floors. I was absolutely elated. We were even able to make a little additional progress. Had we (& by "we" I mean me supervise & Mike as the muscle) decided to try to fix that pipe, that whole wall probably would have been torn down. Just a day earlier I wanted to take a sledgehammer to it anyway. And not only was the plumber able to fix the pipe but my brother in law, Jim, happened to be in the area & was able to come over & help Mike mount the sink. WE HAVE A SINK!!! So exciting. I did promise before & after plumber pictures but they would have looked the same so I am including the 1st pics I took. We still have a lot of stuff to do in the bathroom this week but the major stuff is done.

After this weekend it will be all about the baby and I think we're getting pretty excited. Let me say I cannot wait to see what Rooney will look like, hold him & finally rock him in his nursery but I also cannot wait to get back into normal clothes, bend over & get out of bed without being pushed.

...Let's hope the bathroom is done...

The last line of my last post was "Let's hope the bathroom is done". I said that trying to be funny and knew as I was typing it that the bathroom would be done. Mike worked really hard Friday & Saturday nights. He got all the wainscoting & baseboards up. He was working on the chair rail when Dana came over on Sunday to help him install the sink. I think everyone pretty much thought Dana would be here for about an hour. I had plans today to do some puttying & touch up painting. Well on Sunday fate stepped in yet again & slapped us in the face. The drainage pipe threads were rusted & broke off when they removed the old pipe. Because it didn't break clean the new pipe they got doesn't seal and now it leaks.

So what does this mean? That's what I asked @ least. This is the list we compiled: 1. call a plumber 2. new wainscoting torn down 3. wall busted open. If there are no further complications (and we all know there will be) than 4.wall will have to be repaired 5. wainscoting replaced. All this has to be done before we even progress anymore with the bathroom.

After a very long emotional breakdown I mulled over the financial ruin this bathroom is causing & had another long emotional breakdown. I took pictures of the bathroom in near completion status & I will post those with the newer pics after the plumber comes. Somehow Mike still thinks this may be done before the baby shower this weekend. I'm not so confident.

Friday Mike & I went to the MD. I'm 36 weeks preggers now. She said the baby is in the head down position. I appear to be retaining and my blood pressure went up a bit. After the last 3 weeks we've had I don't think that came as a real surprise. The MD said to watch my salt intake and we are going back this Friday. Yikes I am on a weekly cycle now! I think that it was supposed to be 2 weeks but since I seemed to be retaining a lot she wants to see me sooner. My sister ended up getting toxemia & had to get induced when my nephew was born. She was in labor 34hrs- I'm really hoping that will not be the case with me. I'm just speculating here & I'll let you know when I know something.

There is a bright spot in this weekend. My wonderful niece Natalie came over and helped with some of the ridiculous weeds we had. I can't really bend over & Mike has been so busy w/the nursery & now the bathroom they got a bit out of control. I really wanted these cleaned up before the baby shower plus they were driving me crazy. She did a great job & I believe she got most of them. Even after getting lost & working in over 80 degree heat she thanked me!!! What a great kid. Good job Dana!

So that's the weekend we had. What else can happen? I shudder to think.

Getting Ready

One month from today is my due date. Only 5% of women actually give birth on their due date. Most give birth from 2 weeks before to 2 weeks after. The thing is I really like my due date. For almost 9 months I have been attached to this date and not only I, but some family members have used this date to plan their schedules. September 17th is a Saturday. Most people are off of work that day. Giving birth is something exciting to do if you don't already have plans for the weekend. For those people taking off of work when I give birth it's nice to know that when Monday rolls around you won't be getting up early.

I'm also attached to this date because if I gave birth in the 2 weeks prior we would run a significant risk of not being fully prepared (I'm going to go into preparedness a little bit more)- such as having diapers, formula, bedding, clothing etc. We're pretty sure we'll have to do some significant shopping after the baby shower. We don't even have a car seat yet. OK I just had to remind myself to breathe. If Rooney is born 2 weeks late he runs the risk of being a larger baby & I'm not really sure I'm OK with that. (Taking large, deep, breaths)

Seems to me it is really a significant draw back to go into childbirth w/preconceived expectations. Some women worry about hemorrhoids, others tearing and of course I would assume many like myself...pain! Let me preface this by saying I do not believe I am any kind of wuss, I am a woman after all, & I've been told I have a pretty high pain tolerance by the DDS (& he should know, right?) but I have the unfortunate knowledge of knowing this pain will be different from any other type of pain I have ever experienced. I have nothing to relate the pain I will feel to & how long will I be in it for. I have elected to have an epidural of course, but there is question of how long will take before I get to 4cm. and I know I can only do so much to speed that up. The scariest part to me is that I cannot fully prepare for the pain or time.

During the process of being pregnant I have realized I may be a bit controlling. Before I get any posts agreeing enthusiastically to this let me clarify. Controlling in the sense that I want to be prepared. And then there is the overnight bag & after birth preparation. Ever since I was a kid I loved to pack. I have always been that person that if you went on a trip with them had hand wipes in their bag...just in case. I have bought so many embarrassing products I hoped I'd never have to buy. Tucks (for jock itch)is used to help with swelling, stretch mark cream, breast shields in case I leak, the big ol' bag of Overnight Always with wings and to top it off yesterday I went to a pharmacy that seems to exclusively sell geriatric supplies (i.e. raised toilet seats, shower chairs, toilet rails etc.) so I could buy a sitz bath. It says quite large on the box that it helps with HEMORRHOIDS and then says in a much smaller print ...and episiotomy. I also want to purchase some kind of waterproof mattress cover just in case my water breaks in bed. (I have to start breathing again) But I am willing to swallow my pride, and youth, to be prepared for this kid. According to the birthing class we should be packed 3 weeks before our due date- just in case. I'm running out of time and my overnight bag is still in the garage!

Let's hope the bathroom is done.

It's a toilet!!!

If you've been reading this blog over the past week or so you are already aware that our bathroom inadvertently started going through a remodel. What started as an innocent backed up sink snowballed into replacing everything except the shower. This weekend was supposed to be the big weekend where most of the work would be done. My brother committed himself to the whole weekend & of course, so did Mike. Sat. morning Dana comes over around 10 a.m. & by 11 a.m. there was already catastrophe. The toilet was off, wh/is a huge deal w/a nearly 9mo. pregnant woman in the house, & it appeared that the original drainage pipe was still in use. Our house is from the 20's so this caused some problems. Now I may be sketchy on some of the details but it seems that toilet was bolted to the floor, not a flange. The flange that was on the toilet was lead (?) & finding replacement parts was very difficult. I went & spent the day w/Renae, Dana's wife, & her toilet & the boys spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what to do & how to fix it. That evening around 7-8 pm they were pretty sure they had come up w/a solution for the next day but we were still w/o a toilet for the night. Mike & I stayed @ the Holiday Inn Select (not a recommended hotel) down the street. The next day Dana & Mike got to work again, I went to my sisters & spent the day w/her & her toilet. Around 6pm I called Mike & found out that the new linoleum was in, the toilet was mounted, it flushed & didn't leak...however it didn't fill either. Seems the water line was too short so Mike went to Home Depot & Lowes to find a longer one. He was short on time, they closed @ 8pm & Mike only left the house @ 7:30pm. We both got home @ the same time, Mike went to throw the new line on real quick & wouldn't you know it... didn't fit!!! We couldn't do anything last night but use a bucket to fill the toilet tank. That worked out well enough for a night & this morning Mike went to the hardware store w/all the tubes & got the one that fit. Turns out they make more than one threading. Anyway I am very pleased to say that we have a toilet!!!

Maybe next weekend will be the big weekend for bathroom unveiling or new catastrophe. Stay tuned.

All About Mike

There was no question that when I married Mike I was marrying a great guy. He treated me well, learned to love my dog like his own, & even had a great family but throughout this pregnancy he has constantly surprised me by just how wonderful he can be. The house projects that have been in the works for 2 years he promised to get done before the baby was born. He did it & for the most part most of those projects are done(see B.D. post "Giving the People What They Want..."). Mike absolutely hates shopping for non-electronic items, and especially hates going to Ikea, but shopped like a trooper when we had to buy baby furniture. He didn't complain once when we spent 4 hours trying to do our baby registry (see Archives for a recount of that horror), got the nursery done in record time, with minimal amounts of frustration, even though I was stressing out about the timeline and had the added project of finishing yet more baseboards & putting the new furniture together. He went to every birthing class, openly participated & when I was wincing @ birthing films he was taking notes!

Now, as I am in the last stages of pregnancy, this bathroom debacle happens & he has been working on it morning & night trying to make sure it is ready before the baby shower & w/only limited time without a toilet (I would also like to thank Dana for committing himself to the effort this weekend). Not only is he doing this but he has taken on daily walks for Courage & Rocco, making dinner a good portion of the time & readily giving up more of the bed to my expanding stomach. Plus, when I'm crying about how big I'm getting, he's there to make me feel better, tells me he thinks I'm beautiful and means it.

There is so much more but I don't want to embarrass him too much. It's not mentioned much in the blog postings but I wanted to let him know how much I appreciate everything he does/is doing and how much I love him.

Love,
Q

Just another day

I should have posted this between 4:15-6 a.m. when I was sitting on the couch twiddling my thumbs. I originally got up to use the facilities (of course) & could not get back to sleep because my left hip hurt. Now this is kind of pregnancy induced but truth be told I think I hurt my hip while I was shaving my legs preparing for the pedicure I got yesterday. My ligaments are like jello in the hip area now & my body is producing so much Relaxin I'm clicking & popping like a menopausal woman with osteoporosis.

It's funny if you watched the episode of Absolutely Fabulous that I watched today.

Anyway the good news is 1. I can still shave my legs & 2. I have pretty toes.

Progress?

Last night was a weird night. Mike pulled down the old bathroom cabinet. This cabinet has been a real issue with me because it is one of those awful tri-fold mirrored cabinets that are about 3" deep. Nothing really fits in there & what's worse is that the previous owners cut out the wall behind the cabinet to recess all 3" of it. We found that out at least a year ago when we were going to replace the cabinet- all of a sudden the non-recessed (supposed to be recessed) light fixture made sense. Anyway...SURPRISE we found out our bathroom walls are made of wood slats!!! I assume this is because the house was built in the 20's but I've never seen that before. Now do we fix the hole w/drywall or wood? Mike and Home Depot can figure that out.

There was another first for me last night. Around 3:30 a.m. I awoke with Braxton-Hicks contractions. I was told these are mild cramps but they are exactly the same as period cramps. I won't be embarassed to tell you that I have never had mild cramps- more like doubled over on the floor, taking handfuls of pills, cramps. These were awful & I couldn't take any pills to get rid of them. Ummm...I'd be OK if I didn't have anymore of these. I am aware it is just a small taste of what I am in for though and I'm phoning in my epidural request now.

34 weeks and More Remodeling

This weekend was supposed to be the weekend Mike and my brother Dana installed our new sink. Before installing the sink we all agreed it was a good idea to put down the new linoleum. We thought it would be easy enough to add a new toilet later (the worst thing being we might have to replace a few of the linoleum tiles). So Dana & Mike remove the old sink & cabinet & then Mike started tearing up the old linoleum. Who is going to be surprised when they read he found a water leak? Turns out there has been a leak from the toilet, presumably around the flange, & it was kept hidden by the linoleum that was over it. The picture of our bathroom is how it looks today. We got a new toilet this weekend & have decided to paint, put up wainscoting, new bathroom cabinet, lighting & of course sink. Oh and new floor! This is all going to be done, not in a 6 week timeline when I'm due, but by 8/27/05 when we're having the baby shower!!! What is really nice is that Dana has already committed himself to help Mike next weekend. Almost thankfully our bathroom is pretty tiny so things shouldn't take that long as far as space is concerned (i.e. flooring, painting etc.). The real unfortunate part is that the bathroom now smells mildewy & we are brushing our teeth/handwashing @ the kitchen sink for a couple more weeks.

In other news, the nursery has been inaugurated! Rooney's cousin Felix took a nap in the crib and used the changing table. It was nice to have a baby in there. According to the books Rooney is basically just fattening up now. Wow I cannot believe he is going to born soon. I guess this is one final declaration that I am an adult. Buying my condo was one, when I turned 30 and getting married another. Now having a child seems to cinch the deal. Wow! Wow! Wow!

Spending Time

The last couple days have been rough. It's been pretty warm, dare I say hot? Yesterday I spent the whole day in my bedroom with A/C. Rocco slept @ my feet the whole day and I kept trying to convince Courage to come in and cool off. Let me tell you there is not much on daytime TV. Fortunately, I was able to catch up on watching Sex and the City (don't ruin it for me I only watched the 1st season). They had an episode called "The Baby Shower". I felt I could relate to this episode a little bit & let me apologize to any of my single/childless friends that are coming to my baby shower & don't really love them. I'm sure it won't be too over the top. On the homefront, in a single bathroom house we are down to 1/2 bathroom. It started so innocently- our bathroom sink has been backing up for quite awhile. We thought cleaning out the P trap might solve the problem (it's that kind of quaint thinking that gets us in trouble all the time). It didn't solve the problem, pipes are leaking now & I am brushing my teeth @ the kitchen sink. Since we think our bathroom could use some sprucing & we're pretty sure the drain pipe is rigged together we decided to get a new pedestal sink (freeing up some valuable space in Tiny House). It is snowballing & speaking of baby shower, I really hope it's done by then.

It's hot again today so I'm off to watch Absolutely Fabulous.

A Few Things I Forgot to Mention

Sometimes there is so much I want to say I forget about little things that have happened on the way. I did want to document things as they happened so I would remember them later...so here are a few. It has been a couple weeks now since I've worn my wedding rings. They fit but they were feeling tight & when I would take them off to wash my hands they'd go shooting. I am now wearing them on a necklace. I have been very nervous about getting them stuck & wondered when/if I would have to stop wearing them. It was around 7 to 7-1/2 months.

There has been a long running joke between my sister & I that I would get a big swollen nose when I got pregnant. My nose is kind of mushable (I believe she called it a "chair balancing" nose) so she always thought for sure it would get big. Well, I believe I noticed that it was a little swollen this weekend. I, of course, called my sister right away to let her know that the big nose has begun. I'm pretty sure after I give birth it will de-swell & then I'll look like I have a "Farrah Fawcett" nose (for anyone wondering what that looks like just pinch your nose together & look in the mirror...voila instant Farrah Fawcett). We should do before & after pictures on the blog. I'll have to get Mike to take pictures.

Lastly, I believe Rooney has now crammed himself into the crawlspace of my ribs. He hasn't really kicked my ribs too much & my breathing isn't that bad but I'm definitely moving to the stage where I'll be able to balance a glass. Maybe a week ago I still had plenty of space between the belly & my chest and I thought I was carrying him so low. The space is almost gone & I think the belly looks fake. I'm still clear of stretch marks though & my belly button is still on the verge of being an outie. The last time it was an outie was probably when I was a baby. It'll be interesting to see my old friend.

That's it for now...

Family Ties and other news

Originally I had this big, long post written with history behind what I am going to say. This is a family of geniuses or near so I am probably using too many words as it is.

I am requesting that all available grandparents, aunt & uncles to Rooney move within close proximity and/or if you already live close than to make sure you are active participants in his life. Good family friends are also welcome to participate.

In other news, as of last writing Rooney was sitting on my right side just testing his walking reflex to no end. Well I woke up Friday morning and there was a bruise where he had been!! He is now going to town on the left side so the good news is I'll have matching bruises.

Mike & I took our "hospital tour" on Saturday evening. That term is used very loosely. The other couple that was there for the "tour" was able to wrangle a nurse & we got to see an empty birthing room. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it was alright. They do have a DVD player in the room so I want to make sure to bring comedies. Maybe laughing will help push the baby out.

Finally, I will not say much about this in case Mike was going to write about it, but the stalemate has been broken and Mike read part of a pregnancy book!!!! I'm 33 weeks now so there isn't much left for him to read but I am happy nonetheless.