The Birthday that Wasn't...

I couldn't resist snapping this yesterday while out shopping!

Yesterday was "D-day" or at least that was the plan...  Everyone was up early, getting ready to get going to be at the hospital by 9am, so we could have this baby finally!  That is, until the phone rang at 7:46am...  It was the hospital calling to cancel my surgery!  As it turns out, no news isn't always good news.  The results of the amniocentesis had come back and things weren't looking as good as they should, so little man needs to "cook" for another week.  We are now scheduled to go in at the end of next week and are not redoing the amniocentesis, so I am assuming this one won't get cancelled!

Of course, that didn't stop us from having to make a trip to labor & delivery yesterday either.  Little man was really gearing up over the course of a few days (thanks to lots of activity on my part, I'm sure) and I was having contractions in my back all of Wednesday and yesterday they had progressed around to the front and I timed them for over an hour at 2.5 minutes apart!  We really thought yesterday was going to be it, one way or another!  But, as soon as we got there and hooked up to the machines...they all but stopped.  I was still having contractions, but they slowed to about 10 minutes apart and weren't nearly as painful.  Baby's heart rate was sticking right around 135 (a little slow for him, but good) except when a contraction would hit (even the ones that I couldn't really "feel" but could see on the monitor), it would jump up to 175-180 and then plummet to 112-115!  The nurse didn't seem to worried about it though and they proceeded to send me home with orders to "take it easy" for the next few days and make another appointment with my OB (who I got to see last night since we were there right at the end of office hours) early next week.  I even followed their advice today after a miserable night of no sleep and lots more pain.  No contractions today, but little man seems to be doing a lot of sleeping and recouping of his own today too!

Since I'm not on bed rest, just taking it easy, I have been doing a lot of "sit and work quietly" type stuff today.  First thing I did was got my "main" character on World of Warcraft up to level 90 (new expansion came out on September 26).  I've been slowly plugging away at her since we got the new expansion, I'm happy I was able to get her up there before baby was born...it was a goal I thought I had missed reaching.  I also made up a batch of "Honey Apple Wipes Solution" using Johnson & Johnson's Honey Apple Baby Wash, Coconut Oil, and Distilled Water (I boiled water for a good 10 minutes and used that...the rest is cooling in a glass jar to use to soak the wipes warmer's "stay fresh pad" in).  I filled a travel spray bottle and have the rest in a large jar ready to soak cloth wipes in closer to when the baby is actually here (wipes don't stay fresh forever when they aren't filled with chemicals)!  It smells so good though!

Next, I got the car seats torn apart to wash!  I don't remember if I mentioned getting them, but when we took back the dresser pieces to Baby Depot, someone was there buying new car seats (the next size up) for her twins.  She left the old car seats sitting in a shopping cart and drove off!  So, I packed them into my car and brought them home.  There isn't anything wrong with them (other than being grossly dirty) and she had tried to sell them to people inside who were buying car seats!  Well, I finally got around to pulling the "washable" pieces off today and run through the washer, something I don't believe had ever been done to them from the nastiness that was under the fabric and how crusty the straps were!  After once through the washer (with a double load of laundry soap, yeah for homemade that doesn't foam up!), they look brand new!  I plan on seeing if any of the consignment shops are interested in them (but the shops I like to take my business to are overloaded right now) or maybe just snap a few photos and put them on Craigslist...  They are Safety First brand and come with the bases that have the LATCH system, but no instruction books...the previous "owner" didn't deem those necessary to keep in the storage spot on the back of either car seat.  I may look and see if I can find it online to provide with these because I find it very useful to have (especially the part that tells you how to get all the buckles off and back on properly)!  I actually need to look it up anyway so that I can get part of the straps off, the metal part that holds it on appears to be too big to come out the way it is supposed to for cleaning.  I got all the other straps washed though...it looks really nice!

Then, I sewed a button onto a pair of pants for my Mom...no photo available, I just used the "button" setting in my sewing machine...it was super easy.  After that, lunch.  McDonald's because chicken nuggets were calling my name (along with a free Mocha Frappe that I had a free coupon for)!  After lunch, I made a second wet bag liner for our dry pail.  Doesn't that sound "intriguing", ha!  Basically, it's just a water proof trash bag to make carrying the dirty diapers down to the laundry easier. 

"Action shot" of a wet bag liner in use!

I had made one Wednesday evening, but had "run out of time" before getting a second one made (since these get washed right along with the diapers).  I made my bags based on my dry pail (an 8 gallon trash can with a "pop top" lid), seamed the sides together, keeping the bottom of the bag seamless for "extra" waterproof-ness, made enclosed (french) seams for even more waterproofing, and added fold-over elastic to the top edge that included a loop of "extra" elastic for hanging on a knob or door handle as well as making removal easier!

Next up was a larger wet bag with a zipper for traveling with...I kind of went overboard a little bit in the size department here, but I was using the last piece in a three pack of the "cute" Babyville PUL that was given to me.  I made two smaller bags using the frog print, but they turned out too small for "extended" outings (but will work great for other uses).  This time, my bag ended up measuring 19.5-inches by 22-inches!  The wet bag is bigger than the pail liners (which are roughly 16-inches by 18-inches or so)!

To make this bag, I simply cut a piece of the white PUL to match the size of the duck printed PUL, put in an invisible zipper, stitched the seams, and stitched around the zipper to keep the fabric from pulling over the top of it and being extra difficult!  The stitching is nowhere near "perfect", but it works for me!

So, here is where little man sits today...

We did get his room (mostly) finished Wednesday night too...but I promised not to share those photos until after someone in particular is here to see them.  It's super cute though!

Instead, I'll share this!  My Mom bought us a new sink!  This is our gift instead of one of those plastic baby bathtubs that are really just a big pain in the you know what.  The left side is 9-inches deep and huge and the right side is about half the size of the left and only 8-inches deep (this is the side I think should get the garbage disposal).  It came with the faucet, soap dispenser, a basket for the right and a grate for the left (to keep your dishes from scratching the sink), it even came with the drain parts!  As soon as Garrick and I get a new disposal bought (soon hopefully), and look into putting it in ourselves (the cost to have it installed by Home Depot's guys is more than the sink cost to begin with) versus hiring a handy man (anyone know a good and cheap one in the Spokane area that knows how to install a sink properly?), we'll be able to give little man baths right in the sink, no bending over and killing myself in the bathtub!  We picked it up yesterday while I was spending my "extra time" doing some last minute shopping (I hadn't bought feed for the chickens and they were out).

The up side to the new surgery time is that I got the very first slot in the morning...rather than having to wait half the day away, we should have our family complete before breakfast!