Nursery

Here are the pictures of the furnished nursery:

Thank you Nana and Grandpa for such a beautiful room for baby!

And here's the latest mommy pic:

Bummed Out

I just went and got the infamous Rhogam shot injected, so that saga has ended, thank goodness!

I also got the results from my one-hour gluclose screening. I failed it, which basically means that at this point there is a 50% chance I have gestational diabetes. On Tuesday morning I have to go and take a 3 hour glucose tolerance test to see if I really do have it, and like I said, 50% of people who fail the screening do and 50% don't. I really hope I am a don't! The whole notion has me totally bummed out because who wants diabetes of any kind and if you have it in your first pregnancy there is a greater than 90% chance you will have it in any future pregnancies (although I do have friends who had it with the first and not the second child). Here is a link to the American Diabetes Association and what they have to say about it. I am glad that it doesn't cause disabilities and other weird developmental problems potentially but it can mean I would have a big baby and has been linked to a few other problems.

So keep your fingers crossed that I am one of the 50% who doesn't have gestational diabetes. I could use the good vibes on this one.

Baby Registry

Yesterday we went to Babies 'R' Us and pretty much finished up our registry. I thought it would take longer than it did but we were still there for almost two hours! We did buy some diapers and some clearance outfits for baby too. We registered for tons of stuff and I am sure there are even things we missed or that we are getting as hand-me-downs! There is so much stuff you need to have a baby, isn't there?

We also ran into one of the students I work with who just had a baby last week, so that was fun. I got to see her beautiful baby girl and she was looking good too!

We figure once Baby T is born and we know whether baby is a boy or a girl we will run out and get more clothes. There really is a sad lack of gender neutral clothes out there but I think we found some good stuff. I am hoping the weather is nice when we have baby because April can be unpredictible and we will mostly need spring/summer clothes but may need a few warm things for 'just in case'.

I almost forgot but I went and picked up my Rhogam shot and the co-pay ended up being only 28.50. I had tried to pick it up earlier in the week and they were saying it was 132 and no insurance benefit so I had to go through the whole painful process again. Then I received a message that it was ready for pick-up and the co-pay was under $30 so I ran to the pharmacy before they figured out the mistake (the insurance company told me it would cost $80 out of pocket so I wanted to get it for 30 while I could!).

Daddy Can Feel Baby T!

Daddy can feel baby now--we have enough tough kicking action for him to! Now I can let other people try to feel because I really wanted Max to be the first one (other than me of course) to feel Baby T.

I currently have the stomach flu so am home sick and getting kicked a lot. Baby kicks when hungry and since I wasn't able to keep anything down yesterday and have very little in me today, Baby and mommy are VERY hungry. I think I the really rough part of this is passing but I really managed to catch the bug again this time!

Mission: Painted Nursery & Daycare Scouting

Here is daddy finishing up painting the nursery. He and Nana did a great job and were done in less than 2 hours with almost no touch-ups except for where mommy ripped in a few places when she took the tape off (oops!).



The room looks really awesome and the stripes ended up working out so they get to stay. The furniture will be delivered on 1/28!

Today we both had off work for MLK Jr Day. We went to lunch with our moms and they got to see the finished painted room and we also visited 3 daycare centers. It is amazing how different they all were and the pricing for daycares seems like it is all over the place around here. We have a visit planned to a local Goddard for Thursday (they were closed today), but any of the 3 we visited would be an option which was a relief and nice to know. I think we liked them in this order:

• MERRY MOPPET on Hard Road: the place was spotless and very regimented without being no fun. They have 3 teachers in the infant room which can have up to 12 infants in it. They have a great educational focus even for infants and we got to meet all 3 infant teachers and they seemed good, plus they have degrees. On the other hand, so far this is not our cheapest option, it is not on any path to/from work and is a little out of the way and they have a July opening right now but not an August one so if we decide to go for it we may $$ for some time we don't use. Hopefully an August spot will open up. They also have tap and tumble, computer classes for 3.5-5 year olds, Santa comes in every year and they have clowns teach reading--seems pretty crazy:). They are upgrading security so each person has their own access and they will have surveillance cameras so we can watch our child's day--seems extra high tech to me but I am sure something I might appreciate someday.
• KID'S ACADEMY on N High St: the location is pretty good for getting to/from work. They are working on NYACE (or something like that) accreditation which means they would be going beyond the minimum state standards a lot. The infant teachers seemed really nice--one has been there 2 years and has a MA and the other has been there 13 years! They have 2 teachers for 7 infants or 3 teachers for 9 which is a lower ratio. This is not as expensive but we have to provide more stuff (like diapers AND wipes which the other places just required diapers for example). They have an educational focus as well but the facility is: right along High Street in Worthington, 2 stories and a converted small house so it felt a smidge tight. They also have a really crappy parking lot that is on an angle so would have to see what that is like in yucky weather.
• LEARNING CENTER OF WORTHINGTON: on Worth.-Galena Road and I actually attended there in 4th grade I think. This one is open 6-6 so Max could do drop-offs as needed without having to adjust his work schedule much or at all. Their fees include meals (one type of formula) and the center is pretty open and they had the largest infant room area. They are at 1:5 ratio and none of the teachers have a degree although all have been there 5 years except one person who has been there 3 years, which is usually a decent sign. They also don't have an educational focus and I really feel like if I have my child somewhere I would like them to be learning something (good something and not bad behavior of course!)

Anyway, none of them caused us to have a gut reaction of no. In all 3 the teachers were hugging the babies and I liked how they were interacting with them so that was good. I honestly could be comfortable at any of them for a huge variety of reasons and nothing made me really unhappy about anywhere. I was kind of hoping that one place would stick out as the clear 'winner' but since they all have some worth considering pros and cons it isn't easy at all! We still have Goddard to visit so maybe it will knock our pants off:)

I know this was long--sorry! Anyway, we did 5 updates or something crazy like that over the weekend so make sure you scroll down and at least see Max's most recent post!

January 14 Belly Pic

Max says I look lots bigger in this one (compared to january 8) but I think I hit the 'big is big' mark so what's the real difference:) ?

Baby Mania

So it has been a while since I posted because I am a slacker...or very busy planning for baby! There has been so much to do--Max mentioned pediatricians and DAYCARE (so stressing me right now) and paint. I taped one wall off to do stripes so I am attaching this pictures of the hard work in case the stripes get panned after Max paints tomorrow. We'll see--the blue tape will be white/current wall color and everywhere else is yellow--'Zest" to be exact:)


I had an OBGYN appointment on W and everything is going well. Baby's heartbeatwas 150 (it has gone 150-165-150 if I remember correctly) and I am at teh right amount of weight gain which is good. I have to go back in 2 weeks for my gestational diabetes test AND my rhogam shot. Stupid rh negative blood. The shot caused me great distress because Max found a pharmacy that actually carries the prescription (most don't) and then I dropped it off and was told insurance doesn't cover it. The shot is REALLY important, especially since we plan to have another child someday. Not getting it could really mess up future babies so I was really ticked the insurance didn't cover it and tried to talk to a human being and got passed around most of the day on Friday (until I got a migraine).

It turns out there is a problem with the prescription matrix and rhogham is supposed to be on there and isn't due to an error. So lucky me, the stuff will cost me $80 instead of $136. I also don't understand why I have to pick up the injection and take it the the doctor--I would think they would have it there and just give it to me and bill insurance. Who knows!

Anyway, tomorrow is Carrie's shower and Max paints baby's room (probably with Nana T's help), Monday is daycare extraveganza and then I go to Ada OH for the day for work. Woo hoo!

P.S. I also wish baby would kick so daddy can feel but neither of them is patient enough with the other;)

Planning for Baby

Making plans for Baby T caused a lot of worry this week. Amy started looking into daycare options. We were thinking we were ahead of the game since we're not really going to need somewhere until August, but when she started calling around, it turns out a lot of places have waiting lists not open until November, December, or even next year!! We knew that OSU's daycare had an insane waiting list, and got on it months ago (though still won't likely get in until sometime late 2007), but this kind of caught us off-guard. So we started asking around and looking into things and lined up a number of good options which we'll be checking out over the next week or so. So crisis passed, but still... no fun.

Also looking into finding Baby T a pediatrician. Thanks to friends, co-workers & Amy's doctor, we've got a number of really good recommendations, so that's all on-track now as well.

I'll be painting the nursery very soon... tomorrow most likely, if everything stays on track. Would've been starting today, but Amy got sick yesterday so we weren't able to pick up the paint. Still, the room's mostly taped-up and ready to go, so should be happening soon.

It's mid-January, but we're kicked up into full-on planning & prep mode at this point, so things are getting pretty exciting, and it definitely feels pretty real. Now if only Baby T would quit being so shy and let me feel a kick....

Popped Out Belly

So I went to bed on January 7 and looked much like I did on 12/24 or when you last saw me between Christmas and New Year's and I woke up with HUGE belly!

Holidays are Over

Whew! What a whirlwind this year for the holidays. Baby T seemed to enjoy them except had a little snafu after Christmas dinner, where I got sick unexpectedly. It was really my first middle of the day m/s episode.

Baby T made out like a bandit and the scary thing is Baby T isn't even born yet! I have to admit that I also contributed to the presenting of Baby T with R. Sabuda's Winter's Tale book (insanely intricate pop-up book that is too cool/beautiful). I also bought a 'Make a Wish' Foundation ornament from Things Remembered and had our last name engraved on it. My plan is to get Baby T an ornament every year with baby's name on it so s/he will have a bunch of ornaments when they move out of the house...many moons from now. Kind of a legacy or tradition thing I am excited about trying out.

Nana and grandpa T got Baby T LOADS of stuff--3 leap frog toys, inlcuding the drum, a lap-top type thing and a stroller or car seat toy. Baby T also has a beautiful hand-made stocking Nana made that was filled with goodies like a thermometer, outlet covers, orajel, etc. Additionally, they gave Max and I a really nice camcorder so we can make baby movies from Day One. (I have however stipulated that there shall be no cameras--video or otherwise--during the actual birthing process or until baby has been cleaned up and dressed.)

Grandma V got baby 'Pat the Christmas Bunny' (PTB is my favorite baby book!) and bought our travel system with stroller and car seat for baby. We've already put it together and it is very nice:)

After Christmas I bought this really neat Christmas themed scrapbook and I am going to make the insert pages now so each year we can just add some pictures of baby and a little journaling about what s/he got for Christmas and the hot toys that year, etc. I am really excited about this project too!

So baby made out like a bandit! I can only imagine what next year will be like when there actually is a live and out-of-the-womb baby!