31 weeks - counting down to baby Lindsey

I have a lot on my mind today (7/16 30w2d) and so I'm starting my 31 week post a little early and will add to it until it's time to actually post! :) I have had a few days of fairly regular Braxton hicks contractions and quite a bit of low pressure - although it still feels like baby girl is up in my lungs. These two things amp up my anxiety level and I wish the contractions would lay off for another 3 weeks or so... I have discovered that after the twins early arrival last delivery, I am on "high alert" this time around. Every twinge or cramp, or something just not feeling "normal" has me asking myself a million questions about what it could mean, what did I do to cause it, is it stopping, have I been drinking enough water... My belly just gets really tight all of a sudden, it's not usually painful - just bothersome and worrisome.

I have been on a E-Bay baby clothes shopping spree and may have had a little bit too much fun finding great deals on lots of tiny, cute things for baby's first 12 months or so. Last night Kenneth and I finished going through everything in the nursery that needed to be "de-tagged" and washed; so all the clothes, socks, bibs, cloths, blankets, booties, mittens, and hats are piled up in the laundry basket and I'm going to run them through the wash tonight. I ordered some Dreft last week to wash baby things in, so I should be all set! I ordered a delicates wash bag too for future baby clothes laundry - someone suggested those for tiny things like socks and booties (which have a tendency to wander off from the dryer it seems), so hopefully that will help us keep track and not lose too many little things! I'm pretty sure there's no way I'm going to fit everything I've bought in addition to what we've been gifted into the closet and dresser, so I'll have to wash everything and then separate out the larger sizes to store until she's ready to wear them.

I ordered some more clothes hangers for the nursery, along with some closet organizers that separate out the different sizes, and 3 organizing baskets which will be a huge help. I need to stop by Home Depot and look for a hanger rod support piece - the armoire we bought has a spot along the top for a dowel to hang for additional hanging space, but only one of the support pieces was there. It looks like it should be a pretty inexpensive piece if I can locate one. I'll probably stop on my way home tonight. Once I have those items I should be able to make good progress in finishing up with clothing and miscellaneous "little things" getting organized and put away. I'm hoping the boys finished attaching the hutch to the base of the dresser / changing table so we can get that pushed up against the wall and I can start getting all of the diapering items loaded into it, along with the stack of baby books I have piled up on the floor which will go in the hutch portion.

Next it'll be time to take down the old curtains, put up the news ones, and take a look at the current wall art pieces I have and figure out the best way to arrange them. The butterfly mobile I ordered should be headed our way in the next couple days too - and I can't wait to see it! Kenneth and I took a look at a few possible cribs, but haven't made up our mind about whether we'll buy a convertible crib and use that for her bed when it's time, or just get a crib that will last a couple years until we can use the bed that came with the other furniture which is what I think makes the most sense. I'm not in a rush to get one, but at the same time I can't wait to put the bedding set out and see the whole room tied together. :)

Miss Lindsey is being VERY wiggly today - it seems she's been wriggling and rolling since about 10:00am this morning, and it's 1:30 now. I'm beginning to wonder how much in-utero activity lends itself to meaning a very active baby. Something I read said it indicates a baby that will be fussy and irritable. Let's hope that's not the case for this punkin!

I am looking forward to getting out of here and heading home - lots of things I'd like to work on this evening!

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It's Thursday (7/18/13) - creeping ever closer to that 31 week roll-over. I have an OB appointment tomorrow and am going to at least mention some of my anxiety about possible pre-term delivery after my early delivery with the twins, and mention the Braxton-hicks and pressure I've been feeling. You'd think I'd never done this before, but I just want some reassurance that it's all normal and ok at this point in the pregnancy. I'm feeling huge, as usual, and am curious how large I'm measuring now and wonder if I'm still measuring 2 weeks ahead. I'd be a little surprised if I'm not.

My co-workers threw me a surprise baby shower yesterday at the office and we were gifted with a very generous gift card (which will most likely be buying the stroller / car seat combo!) along with some fantastic hand-me-downs from one of my co-workers who has two little girls, the youngest is 20 months so they had some smaller baby gear and toys along with bags of clothes and blankets! I sorted through most of that last night and put everything 24 months and larger in one box, and everything smaller in the hamper to be washed. Maybe I'll get a chance to run a load this evening, but it might have to wait until the weekend. I think my favorite gift was a hand-made crocheted blanket with pinks and purples. It's so soft and just gorgeous! It's huge too! For now it will look pretty hanging at the edge of the bassinet until it's time to put it to use.

I keep thinking how different things are this time compared to with Kent. We made do with very little and that was fine by us, our family helped get us most of the essentials second hand and we were appreciative and made good use of what we were given. We had just the basics and nothing more; probably not a large wardrobe for him, and I know we didn't have much furniture in his nursery. I think just his crib and an older changing table for diapers, wipes, rags, etc. I don't even remember what I used to hold his clothes. I don't think we had a dresser in his room initially, but maybe we did. I'm pretty sure we just used regular towels when we bathed him most of the time, and he didn't have sleep sacks or the wearable blankets. We have so much more already this time for Miss Lindsey - I am able to indulge my shopping desires, and we have been given a LOT from friends this time. I didn't have many friends since we'd just gotten back from Africa when we were pregnant with Kent, and we were high school students so the friends we did have certainly weren't going to throw us a baby shower! It's just so different this time, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to buy the little extras if I want to, and grateful for the generosity of our friends and family, and then I feel a little guilty that Kent didn't get the same treatment. I just need to make sure he continues to feel loved and appreciated and make sure he lets us know if he ever feels otherwise.

I have been browsing through my Pinterest boards and was reminded of this incredibly cool gift idea I saw here that I think I am going to duplicate with Ziploc bags, for quick on the go changes. These are perfect to throw in the diaper bag! I think they are such a cool idea and are super sweet gift ideas too. I will put a diaper, small plastic bag for dirty diaper (I saw a recommendation somewhere to use doggie bags for this and think that would work really well!), an individually wrapped hand sanitizer wipe, and a onesie. I'll have a travel pack of wipes in the diaper bag always, along with cream, and a small bottle of powder but think having all those other items in individual bags will be super handy!! I had read somewhere else about keeping 1-2 changes of clothes in Ziploc bags in the diaper bag, because when you need the clean one then you have a place for the dirty clothes - so I am combining the two ideas. The original post also recommends disposal changing pads - we'll see how things go, I may decide I want some of those too - but have received two of the travel changing pads, so think those will work well and can just be wiped down after use with a baby wipe if they get dirty during a change.

I keep finding myself looking things up - like how often to bathe a newborn, what are the diapering station essentials, what do you need in a diaper bag, etc. I feel like I have forgotten pretty much everything! I know in my head we'll figure it out as we go along, and I survived just fine without the internet with Kent and things will work themselves out once baby arrives - I know a lot of what she needs will depend on her specifically, and what works, and what doesn't and there's only so much I can really prepare! Doesn't stop my head from spinning and thinking through all the possibilities though... sigh. Hopefully as the weeks tick by and we get closer to her arrival date I will just take it one day at a time!!

7/19/13 - Today was my almost 31 week OB appointment. I am measuring 32 weeks, all my vitals were good, and I had another very nice OB. We talked about a few impending delivery type things and she was very good - answered all my questions and took plenty of time to make sure we covered everything I wanted to talk about. She offered reassurance that there is no reason to worry about a pre-term delivery just because the twins came early. We touched on VBACing and she checked and couldn't find my delivery records in the files from the c-section with the twins (and they like to be able to review them prior to a VBAC attempt which makes sense to me!), so we requested those again as well. We talked about contraception after delivery, and whether or not we had a car seat for baby... it is so SURREAL to be talking about those things and knowing it's not just to talk about them, but because they will be things that are done or will come into play in the not so distant future! My next appointment will be 2-3 weeks from now, I'm probably going to schedule it for 3 weeks out since I have the ultrasound on the 31st. She said baby is head down based on feeling her, and she said she wouldn't be too worried about her being small or behind on growth, she doesn't feel small. That was nice to hear, though it will be extra reassuring to see actual measurements at the upcoming ultrasound. I got the curtains hung this evening in the nursery - that was fun! They look really good!! My first couple e-bay orders of baby clothes arrived and I washed them and got boxes out to sort them by size. Newborn and 0/3 - 3 months will go in the armoire. Everything else will be boxed up by size and we'll pull them out as we need them - at least that's my plan. :) I am curious to see how long we'll be able to use each different size - I know each child grows differently and a lot of it depends on their length - I know clothes are not all sized the same either, and just because something says "6 months" doesn't mean it won't fit earlier or later than that.

7/21/13 - Today we are officially 31 weeks! I love "roll-over" day! We took Kent to the airport yesterday and he arrived safely and I think he kind of enjoyed his solo flight. Kenneth and I are now kiddo free for about 10 days! We stayed up way too late on Saturday night just hanging out and watching some shows on Netflix and fell asleep on the couch. We slept in on Sunday morning which was wonderful, then after a lazy morning headed out to see a movie and enjoyed a big bucket of popcorn while we were there. We saw Red 2 - it was great! It was a fun and completely laid back. Now we just get to hang out at the house for the evening and then back to work on Monday morning! I'm excited for more of the lots of baby clothes I bought on e-bay to show up this week to be washed and sorted. I'm sure I bought too many things, but we'll use what we need and then pass them on or sell the ones we don't use later.

Only about 8-9 more weeks until we get to meet our little one! This next week will pass quickly, I'm sure. I'm only working for 4 days and then taking Friday off to head to North Carolina with a friend for a Surrogacy Together photo shoot! I am super excited about it and can't wait!!

Here are some nursery in progress pictures:

When we first brought the furniture home and were getting ready to put the pieces together.

Decoration - a hand-painted shelf with the lace bibs and bunny from Robin, a tea cup, and the "guess when baby will arrive" keepsake from the baby shower.

I got the curtains hung! The valances are from the bedding set, and my mother-in-law sewed the sheer curtains to go with them.

The changing station, in progress.

Still messy, but it's starting to come together!

The ribbon had been tied around a handmade crocheted blanket from a co-worker, I thought it was so sweet with Lindsey's initials on it, so I tied it around one of the bins.

The bassinet, and keeper of stuffed animals for the moment.

Starting to sort through the clothes we've been given and bought by size.

The crammed closet - mostly the larger items I'm waiting to open until after the rest of the nursery is put together!

A close up of the "guess when baby will arrive" keepsake from the shower.

Close-up of one of the valances.

7-21-13 31 weeks pregnant with baby Lindsey

 According to Baby Center:

How your baby's growing:
This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3 1/3 pounds (about the size of a coconut) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.