Gloria's 1 Month Letter

Gloria:

I wrote a letter to your sister nearly every month for the first year of her life and want to do the same for you.  That way, one day, when you ask me "what was I like as a baby?" I can pull these letters out and have you read EXACTLY what you were like!

The main thing I can tell you so far is that you are SO very easy as a baby.  Your sister was a good baby, but I must admit, you are MUCH easier going.  You NEVER cry unless you're hungry or aren't finished burping.  It's so nice to be able to take you places without being concerned about your being very fussy.  I know that as long as I've fed you recently, I'm good.  Many times people say newborns just sleep all the time, and while you of course are sleeping like a newborn, you also LOVE to be awake and just look around.

You're so content being awake and focusing on different lights, contrasting colors, etc.  You adore lying on your belly.  I know this is REALLY uncommon for babies, but really and truly it's your favorite thing.  You just lie on your belly, turn your head from side to side, rollover (yep, you rolled over a NINE days!), and then after 45 minutes or so, you just fall asleep.  I can't get over it.  I keep looking over and saying "she's still wide awake!" because normally babies would  be crying by then.

As for sleep, have to admit, sissy has you beat there because she never slept less than 4 hours at a time, but you are getting better!  You were going about 3 hours and 15 minutes for a week, went up to 3 hours and 30 minutes, and now most nights you give us one 5 hours stretch and then another 3 hour stretch.  Last night though, you did three 3 hour stretches ... Mommy's sleepy! : )

You're just like sissy and love the water already.  Your Daddy insists that most babies are scared of water because parents make it that way.  So he's already dumping water on your face without fear and you don't even FLINCH!  You take it like a total trooper.

My favorite thing on earth is seeing Liliana and you together.  Liliana is completely OBSESSED with you!  She gives you kisses CONSTANTLY, hugs you CONSTANTLY, and always wants to help no matter what we're doing.  If you are hungry she tells you "no sissy, don't cry sissy!" and tries to give you a pacifier (which you do take for about 15 minutes, it's glorious!).  Whenever Liliana's going to sleep, she always insists on blowing you a kiss (even if you're in your room asleep).  I can tell you two are going to have so much fun together.  I'm so glad Liliana hasn't developed any jealousy issues yet.  She simply sees you as her friend and that's exactly what you two are: BEST friends! : )

You are truly a gorgeous little girl.  I have had SO much fun being with you these weeks.  I didn't get any maternity leave with sissy so this has been a true opportunity to bond with you and I've really taken advantage of it.  I'm going to CRY when it's time to go back to work, but I know you're going to make amazing friends at school just like your sister has done.

LOVE you Gloria.  You are the perfect addition to our family!

Love,
Mommy

Gloria's Birth Story Part II (SHE'S HERE!)

If you want to get caught up on Gloria's birth story, go here.

When we left off, my OB had told us he didn't think we'd make it to July 5th for my appointment.  When I woke up on July 4th, I thought he was going to be wrong.  I mean, what, had the guy gone to medical school and residency for a billion years or something?  What did he know?

After we put Liliana down for a nap, we went to lie down and fell asleep for a little bit.  I woke up with a contraction but nothing major.  I had another couple, but again, nothing major.  I told Evan I was going to go downstairs and see if they continued.  They did, but were 7 or 8 minutes apart and weren't painful.  Suddenly, I stood up and had a contraction that hurt like the dickens.  Some tears even started running down my face and though it had only been 45 minutes, Evan called his aunt and said "it's time."

We went to the hospital where I had already progressed another centimeter and my water broke.  That's when, for lack of a better phrase, the shit hit the fan.

In a matter of 30 minutes,  I was COMPLETE and baby was READY TO PUSH.  Fortunately, my man is an amazing hubby and I had decided the day before that I wanted an epidural because I had, after all, been laboring since Monday and my body was exhausted.  The nursery informed me there wouldn't be any time for an epidural but Evan just texted his buddy and they were ready for me.  Unfortunately, I was kinda pushing (without wanting to, but Gloria calls the shots at this time) while they were placing it.

I was SCREAMING MY HEAD OFF like a crazy MAD woman.  It hurt like HELL.  I labored, on my lonesome, to a 10 and I'm proud of myself for that, but let me tell you what, pushing AND getting the epidural placed at the same time?  ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE.  They had to do it 3 times (apparently I'm difficult to get because the SAME thing happened with Liliana).

They did something to make it take effect REALLY quickly because my OB was right in there and said "let's start pushing!"  So we did.  I had sensation of everything around me, it hurt some, but I was no longer screaming.  I pushed about 15 times (maybe ... it wasn't long!) and ... BOOM!  There she was! 

At 36 weeks and 6 days, our girl was pretty darn big!  She measured 19.5 inches, 6 lbs and 15 oz, and was PERFECT!!! My labor was RIDICULOUSLY fast, and yes, people heard me down the hall, but I enjoyed every second of seeing the birth and enjoying the fact that we were now a family of four!

Our little firecracker is now a July 4th baby and forever and ever, I will always maintain that fireworks are in her honor! : )

 JUST born.

 Looks quite a lot like her sister!

 Right after delivery!  I was pretty happy the pain was over, haha!  

Side note: DO NOT recommend sitting on a bed at 10 cm dilated.  Turns out it hurts like the dickens to push something out when you're sitting.

 First time I held my baby girl.  I was ECSTATIC!

 She's pretty freaking cute if I may say so myself!

 Like REALLY REALLY cute!

 Daddy stayed with me in the hospital and had to check in for work at 6 am, but when he showed up, his fellow residents told him to head back upstairs and take care of his wife!  LOVED having his help!  He's on call tonight though and we're headed home ... so pray that Gloria and I have a good night, I'm still getting around quite gingerly!

PS Yes, that is urine on Evan's scrubs.  Even on his day off, the Urologist can't escape getting peed on! ; ) 

Gloria's Birth Story Part I

On July 1st, around 3 pm I started getting some contractions.  They weren't STRONG per say, but they were there.  My Doctor told me to come in once I had 6 in an hour.  I guess he was being more cautious because it's my second baby and because I was already progressed.  So I gave it 6 in an hour and then waited ... another hour and a half and they didn't give up!  SO, off we went!

In the mean time, Evan started acting just like he does with these HUGE life changing surgeries that he works on nearly every day: calm and collected. 

NOT!!!

He reorganized the ENTIRE office, put together a bookshelf, vaccummed the upstairs etc.  He was kinda FREAKING out.  He did the SAME thing with Liliana, and it absoultely cracks me up and warms my heart.

When we got to the hospital, I had progressed to a 3/4 already.  They said in order to be considered "laboring" I had to progress.  Within an hour and a half, I was a 5, so we were there to stay!  YAY!

Around midnight, the contractions were STRONG and coming every 2 minutes.  Evan and I started thinking "this is going to happen QUICKLY!!!"

Then, around 1 am ... the contractions STOPPED.

Since I am not 37 weeks yet (today is 36 weeks and 5 days along) they refuse to give me any pitocin or help me labor at all (with Liliana, when I got to a 4 during labor, they gave pitocin.  I guess every hospital has different rules). 

SO, I stayed at the hospital overnight and all day yesterday because my doctor was convinced I would start laboring again.  So I walked all around the hospital MULTIPLE times (they weren't letting me walk before because they didn't want me to labor so early in the pregnancy) trying to induce the labor AGAIN.  BUT, NADA! 

SO, that's why we're at Gloria's birth story Part I.

I am now sitting at home, 5 cm dilated and 75% effaced, waiting for this baby.  I lost a SECOND huge amount of bloody show this morning and thought it was time because I had 4 contractions in 15 minutes, but since 8 am, I've had nothing serious.  Just waiting ... and waiting ...

Doctor said there is an 80% chance the baby will come either today or tomorrow.  He says only a 20% chance he'll see me at our appointment on Thursday morning.

But at this rate, I have NO earthly clue when this will happen!  While I'm so glad she's still in my belly, it's also frustrating since I THOUGHT we were in labor and it just randomly went POOF, done. 

I was EXHAUSTED last night.  I had labored so much already, without any form of medication (they weren't allowing me any medication since I wasn't 37 weeks yet, which is fine b/c I really like going as long as I can without any help with pain).  That being said, I hadn't slept because I had been laboring AND was anxious about it.  So we got home last night and I fell asleep around 7:45 until 8:30.  Then I went downstairs, Evan put Liliana to sleep, and I fell asleep AGAIN.  And finally, we both CRASHED about 20 seconds after Liliana fell asleep.  I slept over 10 hours and am SO glad Gloria gave me the time to do that because I don't know how I would have gotten the energy to labor after that.  NOW, I have the energy, and I'm ready baby girl!

Whenever you want to come, we're ready!!  Whether it's today, whether it's on the day that the fireworks will be JUST for YOU, or even later, we're ready.  But supposedly it's REALLY soon!! : )  Mommy is HALF way there before we start pushing.  Let's get those last 5 QUICKLY and PAINLESSLY shall we? ; )

A Gloria Update!

Today was a BIG appointment day for us!  I FINALLY made it to my GOAL date ... 36 weeks along, June 28th.  You're probably thinking "I thought your original goal was to make it to 37 weeks on July 5th!"  Well you'd be right.  But when you've been on bed rest for 3 weeks and you thought you were about to deliver at 33 weeks, you change your goal.  And I did.  Liliana was born at 36 weeks perfectly healthy and so if I were to deliver Gloria today, she would be a GREAT already over 6 pound baby.

The big issue today was the fact that I haven't gained weight in 6 weeks.  I was about 5 pounds heavier when I got pregnant this go around, so I figured I would gain 5 pounds less.  But I'm going to gain about 10 pounds less.  Truth be told?  I'm REALLY happy about this.  As long as she's healthy, I'll have less to lose after she comes along.  At my ultrasound today, we saw that Gloria had plenty of fluid, is still growing, weighs 6 pounds and 4 oz already, and apparently has "lots of long hair!"  I didn't even know they could see that on ultrasounds!

Last week at my 35 week visit I was 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced, and very high.  But since then, my body has prepared me in quite a few ways that I would have some changes.  I FOR SURE lost my mucus plug, in lots of phases.  It has been DISGUSTING.  I didn't have this with Liliana, but I've had SO much pelvic pressure this go around and so much discharge.  Sorry if that's TMI, but I want to remember these details for myself too.  It's interesting b/c each pregnancy is so different just like each baby, and this last week has been so unlike what I had with Liliana.  I've had all the discharge, tons of pressure, and ALL at night.  During the day I don't worry.  But the second it gets to about 5 pm, I start thinking "is tonight the night?"

My progress as of today?  She's dropped even more, I'm a full 2 cm dilated, and quite thin (more than 75% effaced).  The doctor said there is a 50/50 chance of me making it to my ORIGINAL goal date of July 5th.  He said there's a 0% chance of my making it to 38 weeks, haha.  I'm ok with that though.  The way I see it, every single day now is a blessing. 

As for bed rest, he says he still wants me to take it easy for the next week BUT gave me the go to be able to do a LITTLE bit more in a few days.  He said to just listen to my body and that if it starts feeling like too much, to lay back down for a few hours.  So I'll probably wait until Monday to take it a little more active (as much as I can, because I got a case of the nesting today) but until then I can keep watching bad TV and updating the etsy shop when I feel like it. ; )

As for that nesting ... when I got home, the house drove me crazy out of NOWHERE.  I have since vaccummed, mopped, and dusted the downstairs of the house.  This is more than I've gotten done the last week!  I don't know if this change is because I know she'd be ok, just a little small, if born now or if it's because I'm truly getting the case of the nesting, but either way ... she'll be a coming sometime in the next two weeks!

Evan's prediction?  He thinks the baby will come TOMORROW (June 29th has always been his prediction date)!  My guess?  I think I'll deliver on July 3rd OR July 8th (those two numbers have been in my mind all along).  But only time will tell right?  I plan on writing on my birth plan some tomorrow.  It's going to be a big hodge podge of "I don't know what my plan is!" but hey, that's ok too!

To my dearest Gloria: I CAN'T WAIT to meet you!  To see that "long hair," and "tiny nose."  Thank you for making it to 36 weeks so that now I can just ENJOY the thrill that comes along with "IT'S TIME!!!"  If you would like to make it another week, that would be AWESOME.  If not, then you pick now baby girl.  We love you.

35 Week T-shirt Project

I am SO pleased to have made it to today.  I am 35 weeks and while of course I would love to keep my sweetheart in my belly another couple weeks, the main thing is that the bedrest has WORKED and today at my appointment I officially hadn't progressed!  I am still at 1 cm, 50% effaced, and the baby is engaged (meaning she dropped last week), but I really think I'll be able to make it to 36 weeks like I did with Liliana.  I haven't gained any weight the last 5 weeks so the doctor wants me to get an ultrasound next Thursday.  As long as that ultrasound looks good, he's going to keep me on bed rest for another couple weeks. BOO.  But it means possibly a full term baby?  WOO HOO!

35 Week Survey

• How Far Along: 35 weeks today!
• Total Weight Gain: 26 pounds
• Maternity Clothes: you betcha! I really like jersey skirts and dresses. 
• Stretch Marks: nope!  I'm one lucky lady.
• Sleep: believe it or not, it's been semi-decent this week.  My back is actually feeling better!  I've just learned ways to cope with the back pain by taking tylenol every evening.  I hate doing it, but it keeps contractions away so 2 tylenol is worth that.
• Best Moment this Week: just making it to 35 weeks!  I am SO happy about that.
• Miss Anything: I'm on bedrest. I pretty much miss EVERYTHING: sexy time with the hubs, working out, being active, being able to help ... yeah, excited to get off bedrest for sure!
• Food Cravings: not really!  maybe this is why I haven't gained weight in 5 weeks.  I'm just not that hungry.  I sit on my butt all day, how can I get hungry?
• Labor Signs: I keep having BH contractions everyday, but since I've been on bedrest, I must admit the painful contractions have really subsided.  Let's hope that stays the same for another week minimally.
• What I'm Looking Forward To: that ultrasound next week!  AND, making it to 36 weeks! : )

Now let's see that belly!

Baby Girl's Nursery Reveal!

Hi visitors from Kellys Korner!  I worked really hard on my baby girls nursery and am SUCH a big fan of it!!  I've had a few people ask where the prints on the walls are from.  I actually designed and made them myself, so feel free to go to my etsy shop.  My prints are really affordable and I love designing for people (plus, if you read other posts you'll see I'm on bed rest and desparately want something to do, haha!)

I am so excited to announce that we are DONE with baby girl's nursery! Yes, I am only 32 weeks, but considering that the hubby is about to get REALLY busy with work once again, we thought this long weekend was as good a time as any to finish and I am so glad we did. It is BY FAR my favorite room in the house. Just this morning before I left for work, I went in to the room and had myself a little conversation with Gloria asking if she liked the room.  She did, very much!   Hope you guys do as well!

As you recall, putting this nursery together has been quite an obstacle.  Here are all the parts we went through:

Part I: Starting baby girl's nursery.
Part II: The print that started it all.
Part III: Gloria's bedding.
Part IV: choosing the paint color
Part V: the layout ...
Part VI: that darn corner!
Part VII:The Crib Mobile (DIY Steps)
Part VIII: Now that's progress!
Part IX: A Special Corner for a Special Lady
Part X: DIY no sew valances
Part XI: How to Embroidery Hoop Wall.

Sources of EVERYTHING are at the bottom.  I've already had quite a few emails asking for sources, so let me know if I forget anything! 

 Overview of the room

 Other side of the room

 Pretty bedding

Bedding fabrics are the "Kumari Garden Collection."  I had the bumper and blanket made on etsy.  I just used white crib sheets and bought 2 yard of fabric to make the bedskirt (aka, just laid the fabric down).  When it was all said and done, I spent $115 for the 4 piece set!  GREAT deal.

 DIY Crib Mobile

This project cost less than $15 and took less than an hour to put together.  Definitely recommended!

 More detailed views of room:

The little storage box was $15 from Walmart.  The furniture is ALL Ikea except for the pink table which is from Hobby Lobby. 

My recommendation for building a nursery is to come up with a color scheme and use something as inspiration, whether it be a pillow, fabric, or in our case, a print.  It helps make it cohesive.

 Sources for Baby Girl's Nursery:

Paint Colors: Blue is Robin's Egg Nest from Benjamin Moore.

Rug: JC Penney ($80)

Furniture: bookshelf, crib, dresser, shelves, and chair are Ikea.  Pink Table is Hobby Lobby.

Ottoman/ Pink Storage Box: Walmart ($15)

Bedding: blanket and bumper made on etsy.  Kumari Garden fabric collection.  Bed skirt is just 2 yards of fabric laid down below the mattress.  Crib sheets are just plain white crib sheets from Target.

Hoop Wall: Hobby Lobby letters painted white (gift from Grandma).  Hoop walls from Hobby Lobby (mixed 6", 8" and 10").  Fabrics from Kumari Garden Fabric Collection.

Decorations on pink table: lamp is from Target and humidifier is from Target (Crane humidifier)

Decorations on changing table: diaper caddy is from Target ($10) and sock monkey was a shower gift

Decorations on shelf #1: jewelry stand from Hobby Lobby and book ends (red and pink birds) were purchased with a Pottery Barn giftcard that I've had for 4 years and had never used

Decorations on shelf #2: glass bottles and bird cage from hobby lobby.  Books and bunny were gifts from baby shower.

Elephant on bookshelf: from Pottery Barn.

Prints and frames for "dedication" wall: elaborate one from Hobby Lobby,  plain from Michaels.  All prints made and designed by me (go to etsy shop link at top of page and contact me for any of them!)

Gloria's Baby Shower!

Last week we had our baby shower for sweet Gloria.  My coworkers were kind enough to organize it all and though I was silly enough to think that since it was Baby #2 we wouldn't be getting anything, they showered us with goodies!  They asked me to register for items and nearly every darn thing came off that registry.  We are so lucky to be surrounded by wonderful people here in Little Rock.  It has made the move, the adjustment of Evan's work life, and my pregnancy so much easier.

I wore a dress that Evan bought me weeks ago when I sent him to Target to get some envelopes.  He came back with envelopes and a pretty purple dress.  I'm a lucky gal, what can I say?  He is ALWAYS thoughtful like that.  I'm always the one saying "I don't need any more clothes/ shoes/ etc." and he's always insisting that I need more things.  I truly don't, but he just wants to spoil me.  Never ridicuoulsly of course.  My entire maternity wardrobe comes from Old Navy or Target, but it's the thought that counts and I LOVED my purple dress! : )

The Goodies:

Those cream cheese filled strawberries were OH SO good!  I've been craving fruit this pregnancy, so let's just say I had three ... or four ... or maybe more of them. ; )

What the ladies did was make it a potluck shower!  We had it right after work so letting one person take care of everything was impossible.  This was a GREAT idea because we were able to sample a little bit of everything.  Evan loved this guacamole.

Yummy cake, some pretty flowers, and China.  Just about the perfect definition for a shower!

Some of the loot!  I have some Thank You notes to write this weekend!

They insisted on Liliana attending the shower, and as usual, all eyes were on her!

I put her in her "I'm the big sister" t-shirt! YAY for Gap clearance and coincidental matching with Mommy!

LOVED this basket of useful goodies!  I love it when you get useful gifts at showers.  Give Moms things they'll use!  One gift I got, that I forgot to take a picture of, was a "Mommy/ baby" gift.  It was AWESOME.  It had shower gel and bath salts for Mommy, and lotion for baby.  Maybe that isn't a great gift if it's baby #1, but for ME?  This was AWESOME.  I plan on using those bath salts as I get bigger and bigger and need some ME time!

I was showing Liliana Gloria's "little sister" outfit.  Excuse the boob shot.  Evan had the camera.  That explains it ALL.

Don't flowers just make a space seem so nice?

Shower baby #2 was relaxed, sweet, and so exciting.   If Gloria comes when Liliana did, we have 7 weeks left . Hopefully she'll stay put a little longer.  But in the mean time, we're getting ready for her!

Uphill Battle

Yesterday afternoon I got to the hospital around 5 pm.  I had to wait a little less than an hour before being seen, but considering I was a rather last minute fit in, I suppose that wasn't too bad.

While waiting, I was really uncomfortable.  I was sweating profusely, my back was killing me, and I was ... in general ... not at my best.  I finally told them I knew they would want a urine sample for my culture and couldn't hold it anymore (hello people, I have a UTI which basically means I NEVER think I can hold it).  Giving a sample stinks when you have a UTI because it hurts so darn much to go (and for a couple hours after), but I knew it was something they'd want.

I gave the sample and went in to "triage."  Once in triage, we had a HORRIBLE LVN assisting us.  She was RUDE ("ok, where you put your pee at?")  Ummm ... really?  I left it in the restroom.  Where else would I have put it?  Turns out, they did the urine analysis on it and it came back negative.  You don't say!  REALLY!  I've been on antibiotics for 3 days so OF COURSE it came out negative.  Evan had already joined me by this time and just about lost it.  He told them that with antibiotics in my system, they might as well have rubbed the swab in dirt b/c an analysis isn't what he wanted, but instead a urine culture.  (I joke with him that when I hear him at work in his capacity saying "Dr. Lacefield" it's super sexy, mainly b/c he's doing so much good in others lives, but somehow, when it involved my pee, it became so not sexy)

It gets worse though.  After we realized they wasted time doing the urine analysis, we heard that they THREW IT AWAY instead of doing the culture.  So to get the culture that he wanted, what do you think I had to do?

That's right.  Pee again.  (sorry this post is full of nasty topics.  Deal with it.  I'm going through lots.)

I was so frustrated at this point.  Frustrated that they weren't thinking about their patient.  Frustrated that they just didn't think ... period.  I have no medical training like this nurse did and even I know not to do that!  Like Evan later told me "you never throw away pee until you're positive you're done with it!" haha ... again, sexy Urologist talk.  Funny thing about it is he said it with a very serious face.  Looking back on it, that might be one of the funniest sentences I've ever heard.

This is another blog topic for another day, but quick side note: You can't be shy if you're married to a Urologist.  Fortunately, I am NOT a private person at all.  Some people are turned off about that.  It's just who I am.  With two parents as physicians, I learned that the human body is what it is, and you shouldn't be shy about something that happens to so many women (such as this issue for example).  A few of Evan's family members are really shy (weirded out) about what he does for a living ... the way I see it?  It's all part of your body!  And if you have testicular cancer, or penile cancer, I am SO thankful we have people in this world to help us with that.  I always tell Evan "they'll think it's gross until god forbid, one of them gets prostate cancer etc. and then they'll realize just how darn useful you are!" And something as simple as this UTI/ possible kidney infection ... he made my life from practically unbearable to seemingly normal in the course of one day.  MY HERO!

Part of my problem when I go in to triage or other places is that I stay very stoic throughout.  I seem like nothing is hurting and nothing is affecting me, when in reality, I felt like crap.  The thermometer wouldn't even take my temperature (in my armpit) because it was so sweaty.  I was miserable. When they left the room and the Doctor came in, he apologized for them having thrown it away, told me Gloria looked great on the monitor so that concern was gone, and did a pelvic exam to make sure my cervix was still closed (which it is!).  I'm really fortunate because my OB happened to be the one on call last night so once he knew we were there, he took great care of us! 

When he left, the water works started.  I don't want it to sound like I cry at the drop of a hat.  When I was pregnant with Liliana, I did.  The hormones were INSANE that pregnancy.  This go around?  Not so much.  I can't remember the last time I cried.

This time, I cried out of frustration, out of anger, and because I knew that using the restroom again would hurt like the dickens.  I finally gave them another sample and Evan was VERY adamant to make sure that they labeled it etc.  We decided to switch the medication I was on since this UTI is obviously resistant to the first type of medication I was on.  They won't really know what the best medication is until they've had the culture for 48 hours, but we knew my being in this pain for 48 more hours wasn't an option.

Evan called the medication in while we were leaving the hospital and I already have two pills in my system.  I am glad to report that on that end, I am feeling MUCH better.  My back, however, is still in an excrutiating amount of pain.  I didn't bring the heating pad to work with me, like a big moron.  I think I will be using it constantly until this UTI is officially gone. 

The good news?  Likely not a kidney infection, and likely just a couple more days of yuckiness before I'm back to 100%!  The other good news?  Glee comes back tonight after a really long hiatus!  If that doesn't make me feel better, I don't know what will.

On My Way To the Hospital

I was planning on writing about our Easter weekend b/c Liliana really had a great one.  However, I'm about to head to the hospital and just needed to get my thoughts out there.  For the record, no, I am NOT in pre-term labor. 

Let's back up ...

On Thursday evening, Evan didn't get home until nearly 10 pm.  Around 8, I started feeling really crappy. I can't really describe what was wrong, but I didn't feel well, my stomach was hurting, and I felt like vomiting.  It didn't feel pregnancy related. 

We went to sleep quickly after he got home and since I didn't have work on Friday, I slept in until about 7:30 (by then I had over 8 hours and my body isn't doing well with sleeping longer than that these days).  I felt better on Friday (though not fabulous) and thought I had had a little stomach bug the night before.  On Saturday, we woke up to head to Liliana's easter egg hunt.  I had to pee before we left and the second I went, I knew something was up.

Unfortunately I know these syptoms all too well: urine hurt when it came out, I felt like I had to go the second I had just finished, etc. Diagnosis: I had a UTI.

UTIs (aka urinary tract infections) and I have gotten to know each other VERY well over the last few years.  I have recurrent UTIs and since Evan's a Urologist, I am SO very thankful for him.  I hadn't gotten one in a REALLY long time because he has me on a medication that I take post-intercourse to prevent my getting them.  The last couple of weeks though, I hadn't taken them post-sex.  Don't know why.  It was laziness to be honest.  It's easier to lay together and cuddle rather than go get medication.  BOY that was STUPID. I am VERY mad at myself about that now.

So after I went to the restroom, I immediately told Evan I had a bad UTI and he started me on medications to try and treat the UTI.  UTIs in pregnant women are different than those that aren't pregnant, and some medications that would give me more immediate relief aren't recommended during pregnancy.  I took the medication all day on Saturday and by Sunday, I was feeling pretty miserable and still no relief after using the restroom.

I started feeling warm and it hurt so badly when I used the restroom that Evan called in another medication to help numb the bladder.  While this helped TREMENDOUSLY with the pain when I used the restroom, Evan was growing very concerned that the infection wasn't being treated.  A concern of a UTI is that it can lead to a kidney infection which apparently is VERY bad news for a pregnant lady ... so he has been keeping a CLOSE eye on me this weekend.  According to the internet, kidney infections in pregnant women can lead to premature labor and low birth weights for baby.  Not good.

Whenever I let the "bladder numbing" medication not be in my system, it hurts when I use the restroom which is telling us that the other medication isn't killing the UTI.  This probably means I need to use another medication, but without getting a urine culture, we don't know which one.  Evan had me under very strict orders today that if I still felt miserable and wasn't feeling better, I had to call my OB/GYN because he wanted me checked out.

Unfortunately the news today isn't good.  I called the OB and as Evan thought, they want me to come TODAY right after work b/c they're concerned about a kidney infection as well.  While I highly doubt it is a kidney infection, we still have to check, and I'm not excited about it, not one bit.

So right after work, I'm headed to the hospital. Evan is still at work, but will join me as soon as he can.  In the mean time, I just wanted to get my thoughts out there.  Sorry they're kinda incoherent. I'm kinda worried.  I'm sure all is ok, but in the mean time, I am uncomfortable and really want to solve this.  Evan already called the resident on call and let them know I was coming so fortunately I won't have a long wait.  Most likely this is a simple solution: the strain of medication he put me on doesn't treat the certain bacteria in my UTI and we just need to switch medications. 

But women always assume the worst right?

Oh my lovely  Gloria, you're only 25 weeks in Mommy's  belly but she already adores you.  I know you'll be ok, but we have to make sure and I'm about to go do that right now.

Gloria's Nursery: Now THAT is Progress!

We are finally seeing some progress on Gloria's room!  As I've said a few times, we took full advantage of our week of vacation and tried to get a good deal done.  What kinds of things happened this week?

Well, let's just say we did enough to have renovation update posts on the home all week long!  But for a more detailed analysis, here we go: we planted two new trees; mulched the front and back yard; put frost on a window right by the door; made the collage wall, put up prints, and painted the girls names on the bookcases in the playroom (playroom progress post coming this week); installed a new lantern and flood light in the backyard to give us more light; made a semi-new hot tub cover so that the golden retriever won't keep chewing it; painted the pantry (post coming for that some time this week); AND we made great progress on Gloria's room. 

WHEW ... just typing that all out made me exhausted!

As for the progress on Gloria's room?  Here is it BEFORE Spring Break:

And here it is this morning:

You can't notice TOO many differences, but I promise they're there ...

For starters, I got the fabric for the bed skirt and in this picture, it's just lying in the right spot.  Evan says I should screw the sewing and leave as is.  I don't plan on doing that, but I must admit it's tempting! ; )

We built the paper lantern crib mobile as I posted about yesterday and the next day went out and bought the storage for the bookcase.  We bought others as well but decided the plain ol' khaki was necessary since I have plans for the wall that will brighten the day some.

You'll also notice we finally have a mattress!  Poor Gloria, she got the cheapo Munchkin $50 mattress but really and truly? Do they know the difference when they're tiny?  Along the wall on the right you'll notice a few differences ... a print that says Be Kind, a table, and some yellow shelves along the wall.

I found this print on etsy weeks ago and decided to use it as the main color scheme of the room.  The cheapo in me thought "I could make that!" so instead of paying $15, I just made it myself in less than an hour! SCORE!  I bought the cute little table on sale at Hobby Lobby when I was getting frames for the playroom and those shelves came from Ikea but were painted yellow over spring break. 

Here's a close up of the table.  It's adorable.  The print will NOT be staying right there.  It will be going up on the wall with a WONDERFUL project that I have planned in honor of my Tata (Gloria's namesake).  I'll hopefully get that project finished by the end of the weekend and can't wait to post all about it.

Here's a close up of the print.  I am still just as in love with it as the first day I saw it.

Here are the cute yellow shelves!  I wanted to bring in some pops of color and accomplished that with the table and shelves.  Painting these shelves wasn't easy because the shelves we bought from Ikea were pretty sealed already.  I should have used primer looking back on it, but oh well ... 3 coats did the trick. ha.  I'm still not entirely sure what will go on these shelves, but that's another project for another day.

Here's another view.  That CUTE clock is from Target and was $6!  We'll be putting it up in the corner wall some time ... really, pure laziness that we haven't yet.  Then again, I also have a bag of stuff to return to Target just sitting on my couch right now, so laziness is just kinda the name at this stage in life.

I am SO darn pleased with how this room is coming along so far!  Seriously, it's my favorite room in the house.  That being said, we still have SO SO SO much to do.  To name a few: buy a rug, do a hoop wall with swatches and Gloria's name painted on the wall above bookcase, do the project honoring Tata on wall behind rocking chair, put stuff on shelves, buy a lamp, etc.  I want it DONE by the time I'm 34 weeks since I know I deliver my babies early.  Thank goodness I'm only 23 weeks along! : )

Gloria's Nursery: Paper Lantern Crib Mobile!

This week off gave me quite a good amount of time to handle some more projects in Gloria's nursery! I  had ONE main goal for Spring Break and Gloria's room though ...

THAT DARNED CORNER!

As you recall, I had plenty of ideas but wasn't too set on one of them yet.  One of my favorites involved hanging embroidery hoops upside down from the ceiling.  I thought it was cute and really unique.  Unfortunately for me, the hubby pretty much HATED it. 

I still maintain this is adorable, but since Evan rarely gives his opinion on things, I was kind enough to listen this time. ; )

So, the hunt continued to try and solve my corner dilemma.  What to do ... what to do.

I put in paper lanterns on etsy and discovered some GREAT paper lantern mobiles.  I thought to myself, HEY, I (also known as Evan and I because I need his help) can do that! And, we did!!!

 This project would have cost about $60 had I bought it on etsy.  We spent MUCH less than that, and I LOVE LOVE the results!

Here's a little tutorial to do your own paper lantern crib mobile:

(1) buy 5 paper lanterns.  I got mine off of justartifacts.com and found a 15% off coupon online to make it even affordable.  Including shipping, all 5 cost $10 .. .$2 each isn't bad! 

(2) when buying the lanterns, buy 2 6", 2 8" and 1 10" lantern.

(3) Send hubby to home depot to buy a dowel and then paint the dowel white.

(4) Go to hobby lobby or michael's and buy a thing of white yarn.  Then, show your husband the picture and he'll do the rest!

(5) ok ok ... that was how I did it.  But I did help Evan put it together.  Fortunately he was the master mind behind it.  Tie a knot around the two dowels to help them stick together. Then make a little etching in the end of each dowel so the yarn can rest in there.  The most difficult part of this project is making it all level.  Just use it like a middle school science project and move the lanterns in or out depending on the weight.  Thank goodness I married a science geek that figured this out!  Science was never my strong suit.

(7) marvel at the result!

Here's a close up to get a better idea:

The beautiful thing about this is it doesn't HAVE to go in a corner!  you can place this behind the rocker, above the changing pad, etc.  Heck, it would even look adorable in a playroom.  You can change the colors to whatever you'd like.  I chose five different colors, but I've seen it look adorable ranging anywhere from 2 to 5 colors. 

I am SO darn happy this pesky corner is now under control!  We did quite a few other projects in Gloria's nursery yesterday afternoon and I'll post those later this week.  For now, I'll keep looking at my favorite DIY element in the room!

Gloria's Nursery: That Darn Corner!

As I mentioned yesterday my biggest qualm with putting that crib in the corner was "what the heck do I do above the darn corner now?"  I'm still in that state of absoultely no knowledge as to what I'll do.  Turns out, there are TONS of ideas out there.  Now I just have to pick one of them and stick with it ... easier said than done right? 

Here's the corner in question just to refresh my memory and stress me out more.

I've narrowed it down to FIVE choices.

FIVE.  That's embarassing to type.

I realize I'm over thinking this.  See, I didn't really have TIME to set up Liliana's nursery the way I wanted when pregnant with her.  I was in law school and worked really hard at the law firm.  And considering that this very well (if you asked me the answer would be 99% sure) done having babies after this, I'm taking it seriously.  This is SO fun...setting this up, getting so excited to see Gloria, to hold her and see what she looks like.  OK, back to topic.

Here are my thoughts as of now:

Ceiling art isn't an easy task apparently.  It takes creativity and an eye for design.  Something I feel like I lack!

 Out of the above though, my favorites are the ones above the table (bottom right) (it's a paper lantern with a bunch of tissues glued to it.  Evan already told me he wasn't patient enough for that and he's not being a jerk about it ... he truly isn't.  I think he would explode!  I am patient enough though and I think they're GORGEOUS!). 

I am also a BIG fan of the hoops on the ceiling all the way to the left.  I know it's a little quirky and vintage looking but I've wanted to do a hoop wall in this nursery for SO long and wasn't sure where I would make that work.  Maybe the ceiling is the place?  Who knows!  Would it just look weird and stupid in a little corner.  Yes, probably.  But it's still a contender because it's such a unique thought.  But it's neat because it would kind of double as a mobile for Gloria to look at too!  (and now I'm convincing myself of somehting that would probably end in me doing it and saying "yuck!  That looks BAD!")

So I'll have to decide this dilemma sometime soon because all of the above projects will take time to purchase and to get done! 

And no, I'm not running out of time by any means (I'm only 21 weeks after all) but I am running out of patience!