The Nursery: Part 3

Here is an update of the nursery since the Baby Shower and also after a very long shopping trip to Target and Baby "R" Us.  You always hear how children are expensive, well, they weren't joking!  Even though, there was a great discount to our registry items from Baby "R" Us, it was kind of scary approaching the register.

Here are some pictures of the crib.  It finally has a mattress and bedding.  It is so nice to see it "come alive."

The changing table/dresser, now has a changing pad with cover and a cute bag to hold the diapers.

The baby's closet has finally become "the baby's closest."  All of the wonderful clothes and items that were received at the shower have been stored there.  But we still need to pull out that old computer.

It's so nice to see the room coming together.  

Baby Shower Part 1

This past Saturday was the Baby's shower.  It was given by Kimura, Lorena, Anne, Eunice, and Lizeth.  My mom and mother-in-law were "silent financial backers."  It was held at Palm Park's Rec. Room.  The "Baby Shower Ladies" did a great job and I am very appreciative of everything they did for us.  It was such an experience of being the "mom" in a baby shower. It was so different being on the other side of that, but it was a good type of different.  Lorena was the photographer for the event so I don't have pictures of the actual shower yet, but I do have pictures of the "aftermath."

I had asked for the theme to be The Very Hungry Caterpillar and here is the invitation made by Auntie Anne and the center pieces were designed by Eunice.

These were so cute; each table had one of each.  And again, she completely came up with concept herself.

Here's a picture of the presents rounded up at home in the nursery.

Here's the one that I thought had the best presentation.  It was given to the baby by (soon-to-be) Tio Jay and his girlfriend Delia.

The next picture is my favorite card.

The card was given to the baby by (soon-to-be) Uncle David and Auntie Anne.  The picture does not do it justice.

Once again, thanks to all who gave up time to attend the shower.  Mark and I appreciated everyone for being there and all the work that was put towards it from our close friends.

An unexpected hospital trip.

Yesterday I woke up and did not feel the baby.  More specifically, I didn't feel her weight.  I thought maybe she was towards my back and maybe when I started moving around she would "get into gear."  I had my breakfast and went for a walk before work.  I did feel her move, but the movements were subtle and not as frequent.

Throughout the day I felt her move here and there.  Also, I felt reassured because my hunger "needs" had not really changed.  The one thing that concerned me was the immediate change of movement from one day to the next, I was not sure if that was normal.  I did have my regular prenatal appointment later that afternoon so there was some relief to make sure that I would be "checked out."

At the doctor's office, my urine and blood pressure were perfect.  The baby's heart beat was strong and the beats per minute were right on target.  The nurse asked me to make sure to comment the difference in the baby's movement to the doctor.  I explained to Dr. Sanchez what was happening and he said, "I don't like the sound of that.  After you are done here, I want you to go to the hospital.  I'll call to let them know you will be arriving shortly."  He immediately went outside and made the call.  He came back in and I went through my list of questions and I was off to the hospital (it is two minutes away from the office).

The check-in was quick since we had pre-registered last month.  I was escorted in the triage room where Jello and ice water were already set next to my bed; I was the only one in the room (it was meant for 2).  My nurse was ready and waiting for me, she soon strapped into the monitor and all of the routine checks were made.   She explained that they wanted to monitor me for a while and the doctor on-call would be in to check on me.  The nurse came back three times within a 30 minute time span and everything was normal.  So much so, that the doctor was not needed to verify.  She explained that the change in movement(s) could very well be due to her change in weight/space.  There is probably less space for her to move and she needs to adapt to her new environment.  Later that night at home, the "tiny little dancer" was back to her old self again.  Today, everything "feels" back typical.  The movements are a bit different; they are not as fierce, but are constant. Thank God everything checked out and I was able to go home with a baby in my tummy.

Here's a pick of me during my hospital stay.

Look what Daddy is making!

On our trip to Ojai this summer we wondered into an art gallery that had very cute wooden art decor.  Like most are galleries, it was out of our price range, but we really liked them for the baby's room.  Mark turned to me and said, "I could make this."  Works for me, I thought.  For the past couple of weeks Mark was been creating his daughter's wall art.  It is the same concept as what we saw in Ojai, but the "art" if very different.  So here is Mark's first gift to his daughter...

Mark is not done with it, he would like to had more features to it.  Once it is done, he will proudly hang it up in her new room.

Sympathy Pains?

About 2-3 weeks ago my sciatica started making it's presence know.  I've never had an issue with it before; I've heard other people dealing with the pain, but I never had a clue about what it really felt like.  Now I do.  It turns out that Mark's sciatica started up about the same time mine did.  Also, his was on the left side...  Three weeks ago I decided to start with yoga classes to help out with it.  It's a yoga studio that I had gone before the pregnancy.  The day after the class my sciatica, hip and pelvic muscles felt increasingly better.  In the past 3 weeks my sciatic pain and other pelvic soreness has cleared....YaY!  A few days ago I asked Mark if he was feeling any better, miraculously his pain disappeared....hmmm.  I guess there is something to this thing called Sympathy pains.

Third Trimester!!

So finally I'm in my third trimester and I'm feeling it.  This past week my hips and butt have had to adjust to the baby's growing weight.  My bones and muscles around the hip and butt area have been sore and I could feel them stretching.  I do get tired a lot faster and cat-naps are just part of my day.  At night, trying to get comfortable in my bed is somewhat of a hit and miss, but eventually I get there.  This little girl seems to enjoy moving around, especially when I'm (semi) laying down and resting, it's her time to shine.  It is very fascinating to witness my stomach bulge periodically and also, a funny sensation.  

Guess what I'm learning to do?

Yup, learning to sew.  The driving force behind this, is to make Very Hungry Caterpillar characters for the reading area in the baby's room.  I initially was going to paint them in, but after some thought I thought a 3-D effect was what I was after.  Well friends, wish me luck!