BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PARENTS-TO-BE

Jay and I read quite a few books over the past 9 months, some that were excellent, and some that weren't so great. Here are the titles we particularly liked:

The Mother of All Pregnancy Books: The Ultimate Guide to Conception, Birth, and Everything In Between

The Mother of All Pregnancy Organizers

Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy

Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads

My Boys Can Swim!: The Official Guy's Guide to Pregnancy

Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth

Heading Home with Your Newborn: From Birth to Reality

The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer

Breastfeeding Made Simple: Seven Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers

The Mother of All Baby Books: The Ultimate Guide to Your Baby's First Year

Baby Laughs: The Naked Truth About the First Year of Mommyhood

Teach Your Baby to Sign: An Illustrated Guide to Simple Sign Language for Babies

10 MORE DAYS?

Today we had our 38 week appointment (at 38 weeks 4 days). We had the growth assessment ultrasound and they measured Baby James to be 7 lbs 1 oz, give or take a pound - it's difficult to get an accurate measurement at this point because it's hard to get clear shots of the different body parts that need to be measured, since they're all squeezed into such a tight space. Honestly, Jay and I were asking the whole time, "What is that?", although Jay could point out the femur when Baby James was getting his soccer legs measured! He's in the 42nd percentile this time around and the doctor said that's right where she wants him to be. His current estimated size does not necessitate an induction, although the doctor did give us the option. We're holding off though - the amniotic fluid levels are still good, and Baby James' heartrate was good and strong, in the 120's, so we can't justify an "elective induction" (i.e. no real medical reason). However, I have progressed again! I'm up to 2 cm dilated and am now 50% effaced, so the doctor decided to strip my membranes a little. This is a natural method of labor induction, but it will only work if Baby James and I are both ready anyway. Most patients who have the procedure done at their 38 week prenatal are simply less likely to go past their due dates. And no, it doesn't cause the waters to break. We'll just have to wait and see what the weekend brings, or doesn't bring... We really prefer Baby James to make his entrance on his own schedule. Lucky for us, our doctor is on call this weekend, should we need her!

Also, we did get a new photo of Baby James today, though I wish you luck in interpreting it! If you look closely, you can see his closed eyes and his nose, with his left index finger held underneath as if he's trying to stifle a sneeze:

DINNER WITH JOSH

We had a surprise visitor tonight! Well, it was planned, but not until this afternoon, so it was still somewhat a surprise. Josh is in town (Jackson, anyway) for a workshop and decided to make the trip over to Vicksburg for a quick visit. Of course, we went to Rusty's, the best restaurant in town. Tonight's special was shrimp and crab au gratin, and it was delicious! Thanks for stopping by Josh - we love visitors!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TARYN!

Happy Birthday little mama! We hope you have a great one, Love Denise and Jay

FINAL TOUCHES

We are SO ready (read: anxious) for our little man to make his grand entrance! We spent the weekend cleaning house and completing our final preparations for his arrival... I washed all the baby bedding again to freshen it up (even though Mouton promptly snuggled right back into the Pack-N-Play... I guess we'll be washing those sheets again when James actually comes home), Jay bathed the cats so that they would be also be freshened up (nobody likes a "smelly cat"), I pre-addressed the birth announcement envelopes, and Jay put the finishing touches on his bookshelf and the map frame, then hung them up along with the camera for the baby monitor that Daryl and Margie sent us (and it works great by the way). The map really brightens up this side of the nursery (thanks again David and Taryn):

Here is a close-up of the rowboat bookshelf Jay built, complete with hand rails and rope cleat:

And the first "person" to use the new bathtub was Jude, and she loved it (yeah, right):

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

Today was our one and only local Mardi Gras parade... They don't do things in Vicksburg quite like they do in NOLA (or anywhere else in LA), but it's still a good time. This year's parade had fewer floats, and the weather was cold and rainy, but we had a great assortment of cajun/creole dishes at Sandy's apartment (always our gracious host) and good company. We started off the afternoon by throwing beads to the kids below, while we all waited for the parade to start:

This was the King's float:

Technically, Baby James attended his first Mardi Gras parade today. Here we are at 38 weeks!

FULL TERM STATUS!

Although pregnancies typically last for 40 weeks, the baby is technically considered to be full term at 37 weeks. We reached that milestone over the holiday weekend, and had our 37 week appointment today. Things are still progressing - I'm now at 1.5 cm and Baby James is low enough for the doctor to touch his head (that's interesting, eh?) My blood pressure was good, and everything else with me checked out OK. I didn't get a measurement for Baby James' heartrate, but it was loud and strong, and sounded as wonderful as it always does. We're really in the home stretch now... There's no belly photo for this post (it's only been a week, after all) and no new baby photo (and we probably won't get one next week when they do the growth assessment ultrasound, since he's in such tight quarters), but we do have some fun nursery photos to share. We're still working on the finishing touches for Jay's bookshelf and the islands map, but we hung the sign that Taryn made, and it's awesome:

You can see it as soon as you reach the top of the stairs and face the nursery. Here's a close-up:Isn't it adorable? The monkey is even holding a banana! Thank you SO much Taryn, we absolutely LOVE it!! And thanks to Kendall for G.I. Joe-ing it to get it here in one piece! And one last photo, of a cool painting of a ship's wheel inscribed with S.S. James:We have no idea who sent this to us (there was no information whatsoever in the box), so if it was you, please let us know! It looks great up in the nursery and we really appreciate it!

SUCCESSFULLY REMODELED

Jay has completely finished the downstairs bathroom remodel!! We've been waiting on the medicine cabinet and shelf we ordered a while back, and when it arrived today, Jay jumped at the opportunity to put his biggest project in this house to rest! It was a complete remodel, where the only "old" thing we kept was the light fixture above the sink! He recruited assistance for the tiling (thanks Jerry, the floor really does look amazing), but did everything else himself (including the plumbing)! When we bought the house, the downstairs bathroom was a pink monstrosity (pink shower/tub, pink toilet, pink sink, pink-flowered linoleum - and as we learned later, walls that were pink before they were blue):

After nearly two years, we finally got around to getting rid of the pink! It was a satisfying demo:And the finished product is better than I could ever have imagined!For anyone who's curious, it's the Kohler Archer series that we went with.

IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN...

You know you're getting close to your delivery date when the doctor starts making you come in EVERY WEEK for prenatal check-ups! Today was the 36 week check-up and it was busy! First, I found out the results of my Group B Strep test, and they were negative (which is good news, for anyone not in the know). Then, I found out I am 1 cm dilated (also good news - my doctor says that most first-time-moms don't dilate early). I've been having Braxton-Hicks contractions more and more often over the past few days. Then came the bad news... high blood pressure (and they took 3 readings over the course of 2 hours just to be sure) and trace amounts of protein in my urine (sorry if that's too much information for some of you, but that's how they check my health at these appointments). These are early signs of developing pre-eclampsia... so, they ran some bloodwork, and it all came back perfect (they had actually ordered my results "stat" and had them within half an hour). While we were waiting on the bloodwork, they sent me over to sonogram to have a BPP (that's a Biophysical Profile - the second one I've had now, with the first one being back at the very end of December). Baby James' heartrate was strong at 161 bpm, the amniotic fluid levels were good, and we saw lots of breathing movements, so he scored an 8 out of 8! We didn't get any new photos of the little guy though because he is in some seriously tight quarters! His little feet and knees are wedged up against my ribs on my right side (just like I've suspected) and his head is still down low and in position - it's very unlikely that he'd flip at this point, and that's good news, because there's a good chance I'll be induced next week... I'm home this afternoon on bedrest and am doing a 12-hour urine collection test, then I go back to the doctor with it tomorrow morning. Depending on the numbers, if they determine that I am developing pre-eclampsia, I will be on bedrest through the rest of this week and be induced sometime early next week (when I hit the 37 week mark, which is technically considered "full-term"). On the other hand, if everything looks OK tomorrow, then I'll probably be allowed to go back to work and just "take it easy" as much as possible until Baby James shows up on his own. Either way, I highly doubt we're going full-term (as in 40 weeks) with this little guy! I believe our little lucky charm is going to be a February baby instead...

As for this week's belly photo, I'm sharing the one that Jay took for me on Sunday, at 36 weeks exactly, as my pregnancy keepsake. I'm lucky to have a photographer for a husband...

My belly button looks really tiny on that big belly, doesn't it?

We received an awesome gift over the weekend too, a Valentine's Day present from my Aunt Margie and Uncle Daryl - a handheld color video monitor and the Mei Tei baby carrier. Of course, we had to try out the baby carrier right away, and who better to play the baby than Jude? Hopefully Baby James will like it better than she did!

We also added some more decoration to the nursery over the weekend. Jay finished one of the bookshelves he's been builing, so I stocked that with the baby books we've accumulated thus far and some of the cute toys Baby James has received. And, although they don't have any of our photos in them yet, we hung up the hand-painted picture frames we received from Nicole at our work baby shower (they're the striped ones in the second photo).

And just for memory's sake, here's a shot of Baby James' closet, fully stocked and ready to go (good thing, eh?) Between all the new clothes we've received as gifts (and purchased ourselves), and the awesome variety of hand-me-downs (from our coworkers' kids and little Jagger James), we can only fit the basics in the dresser (0-6 months onesies, sleepers, pants, socks, and bibs). Everything else has been hung up (the rompers, t-shirts, overalls, and jackets). All the 6 months and older clothes have been stored in plastic bins at the bottom left of the closet. We're using the shelf to store blankets (receiving and otherwise), swaddlers, burp cloths, towels, wash cloths, the baby carriers (we have a Hotsling too), nursing cover-up, and the diaper bag. And yes, we have lots of diapers (size N-2) and booty wipes. So, for all those folks who keep asking if we're ready for this baby, we can honestly say that we are, at least as far as his "stuff" is concerned (although we're feeling pretty mentally prepared also)!

One other bit of preparation we did this weekend was to sterilize all the breastpump accessories (thanks again Nicole, for saving us from having to buy the pump!) and a set of 4 oz bottles (just in case we need them):

We'll have one last nursery photo update later this month when we hang the other bookshelf Jay is making and the pirate sign that Taryn made (wait until you see the creativity and talent some members of our family have - of course, they're the ones that married into the family!), and the pirate-themed Caribbean Islands map that David and Taryn sent us. Other than that, this nursery is ready for baby (again, good thing, eh?)

So, anyone who hasn't posted their guess for Baby James' birth date, time, weight, and length on Expectnet.com yet should do so very soon - you may have only one week left! Just click on the ExpectNet.com box in the upper right-hand corner of the blog (under our profile photo and the Upcoming Events) and it will take you directly to our game. Good luck, and may the best guesser win!

NEXT DAY UPDATE

I'm back at work today! Apparently, it takes 24 hours to get the results from the 12-hour urine test I did last night, so I won't know until tomorrow whether my protein levels are OK or not. However, my blood pressure was back in the normal range this morning and they didn't tell me NOT to come back to work, so here I am (and yes, I'll be taking it easy, just writing manuscripts from the comfort of my computer chair instead of my bed). We'll see what the doctor has to say tomorrow, but my best guess at this time is that we will NOT be induced next week, since they scheduled my next prenatal check-up for next Wednesday. Maybe Baby James will get to pick his own birth date after all?

GOOD NEWS!

They rushed the results for my test and found NO proteins, so NO pre-eclampsia!!

I'm OK to be back at work, and I plan to continue on until Baby James makes his appearance!

POOR GENERAL MOUTON...

He's had a rough end to his week! We took him to the vet on Thursday morning because we woke up to find a cat nail shed with dired blood on it on the stairs, and upon inspection, we determined that it was Mouton (and not Jude) who had the issue - he wouldn't really let us touch/look at his right paw, but we could tell the fur was matted and he was walking on it as if it were very sensitive. We also wanted to get his teeth looked at again (he has bad genes, and has lost almost all of his incisors) because one was looking yucky, even though Jay has been brushing them (yes, we love our cats that much). Well, Mouton wouldn't let the vet look at his paw either, and they couldn't do a teeth cleaning (which they needed to do to assess any underlying damage) because he'd already had breakfast, so we had to bring him home unhealed. We took his food and water away at midnight, which meant he (and Jude) were pretty fussy and wild. We dropped him off at 7:30am Friday morning, hoping all would go well and we could pick him up at the end of the day. No such luck though. His tooth was OK (the vet said the brushing is helping tremendously) and didn't need to be pulled, but they had to remove the damaged claw. Due to the anethesia, Mouton was too groggy to be released home and had to stay overnight. So, we spent a night in a one-cat house (unless you count Maxine, our stray kitty who lives in the sunroom - who also went to the vet Thursday for a checkup). Jude thought it was strange, we could tell, but I think she liked the extra attention. We picked Mouton up from the vet first thing Saturday morning and he cried all the way home, even though his voice was hoarse from all the crying he must have done at the vet's office: