Appointment day.

I started my day with a 9:45 doctor appointment. My pulse was in the 100s. It's felt a bit high the last week, I should monitor that. Everything else is still looking normal and low risk. They did by group B strep test today. They said they'd tell me the results next week. I was told that at week 38 they'd like to check my cervix. When I asked how important that was she said not very and agreed that if things are going fine we can skip checking me. Hurray! I got told the signs of labor and danger and what to call for and was done.
I had a chiropractor appointment for 11:45. She put my rib back again whiich was really out of place again. I had asked about prone maternity massage for a friend and they do have it. After adjusting and readjusting and feeling my muscles where they pinch even after the adjustment she said I ought to get a massage for that right shoulder and back soon to help the adjustment stick. It turned out they could fit me in right then and I got a 30 minute deep tissue massage. It felt so good to get to lay on my stomach. I kept joking with the therapist about the pillow. I asked if it was available for the next 30 minutes for a nap and if it was available for rent at night for the next month. She thought it was funny and was rather surprised that I fit in it at 9 months pregnant. She really dug into the muscles on the right and told me to ice and drink lots of water for the next few days.
So I had three medical appointments all in one day. I feel very cared for. Oh, and one of the greatest parts is we are billing the insurance for the massage and the adjustments.
I meet Bryan for sushi for lunch. It tasted amazing. I am so glad that I am not following that pregnancy rule. I went home and iced and ended up falling asleep in the rocking chair. When I woke up my right side was still sore, so I took it easy and started the baby book, well the easy fill in one. At 6 I tidied up the house a bit and got dinner ready. Lori and Chris came over for steak and baked potatoes. It was delicious. I am also glad I am not eating my steak well done. It just wouldn't taste as good. It was really good to see Lori and Chris. We just kept talking till it was pretty late. I did succeed in narrowing down the safari pictures to 5 and to specific sizes for printing. I am really excited to see how it'll look. To end all the talking we just planed to do it again Tuesday so Lori and I can nail down who is doing what for Lora's shower.
Good day.

Home day

My lack of energy came back with a vengeance today. I got up to keep the fire going but ended up taking a nap on the couch till about noon. I did get some reading done. I finished the Husband Coached Child Birth book. Some of the things the husbands said made me all teary eyed. Now that I think about it, I got all teary eyed writing thank you cards too. Maybe I am starting to be a bit emotional because of pregnancy.
I also spent some time updating amazon. I probably need to update babies r us too. I'd better get the password figured out. I looked up baby apps for the phone and downloaded a really cool white noise app and a very good video monitor app. It works on my old deactivated phone and new phone together. One records video the other can view it and talk to the other phone.
I got my act together around 2pm. I ate a good lunch and started working on Melissa's birthday gift. I decided that I want to use my serger to do the gathering, but it is a 4 thread stitch. I tested it out and it'll kinda do it with 3 but not really all that well, so I called the montivilla sewing center and they said they cary the screw there. I however remember them telling me when I bought my needles never to loose the screw because they are hard to get. Oh well, they had it. I planned to get there 15 minutes before closing at 6 so I could stop by target and home depot as well for some baby room items before meeting Laura and Lori for coffee and discussion of what Laura wants for a baby shower.
Lori had a cute idea for a milk themed shower, I think we can do that really well and Laura will love it.
When I got home Bryan helped me put together the lamp, the trash can, the picture frames and change the outlets in the baby's room to safety ones. I am getting closer. I still want a cheep mirror or two, a towel rack for a standing bar, some wall decal stickers, some color coordinated storage bins, maybe a few more picture frames, a stuffed animal net and probably a few more things that I am forgetting. I think I can make the closet work for me with very little modification just for saving money. I realized that he may come early and if I plan too hard on him being late then I'll end up not being ready.

Perspective

I kinda look at my day like this right now...
2am potty then back to sleep
5:40am potty again and get ready for work
6:20 eat
6:39 remembered my vitamin
7:50 potty again
8:45 eat again
10:30 potty again
12:00 eat again and take an iron pill
2:30 try to hold it and not potty and experience contractions that actually hurt.
3:30 give in and potty again
3:35 eat again, a cookie this time, resistance is fading. Grab a calcium so even if I fail at eating healthy I can say I took all my vitamins.
5:30 tried holding it again with more painful contractions
5:35 give up and potty again
5:40 eat salad and soup to feel healthy.
7 potty again so I can make it through report and the drive home contraction free
8:15 potty again
9:00 snack
10:00 potty again

Crazy! In the past I probably would have said I got up at 5:40, got ready, wemt to work at 6:15, arrived at 7, precepted a new hire but experienced nurse. Was filled with pride as she called her first RRT and managed it appropriately without my help, went to lunch, had a slow afternoon till we got a unit transfer at 2pm. Helped out on the floor a lot cuz my orientee didn't need my help much and got home on time for once.

Baby shower by Monday night group.

Kisha and Nike put the shower together. It was more formal in dress but less formal in structure and activity. We just hung out and chatted. There were a few things out for people to predict baby stats at birth and a pole where Bryan had to answer questions ahead of time about how certain things would be handled with parenting and others got to guess how he would handle them. People were a little frustrated about how Bryan doesn't give a simple answer and was rather long winded about it. There was fruit and marshmallows to dip in chocolate fondu and cheese &7 crackers. Eric and Josh mixed tasty virgin beverages for us pregnant lady's and kept the men happy and relaxed with some more potent stuff. Kisha set up a picture taking area for fun dressy pictures. I have generous and crafty friends who gave me wonderful gifts. There were many more hand made items than you usually see at showers. Kisha even came up with photo mat for people to write baby blessings on and use for framing a newborn picture after he's born.

Baby Shower for family and BNC friends

Laura and Terry hosted a baby shower for me today at The Higley's home. It was wonderful. Terry made a wonderful salad spread and pasta figole soup. They made safari cookies and cheese cake bites for dessert. Very cute! Many more people came than I thought would come. I am feeling very blessed by their generosity and words of encouragement. I heard many other women's birth stories and had a wonderfully good time. There were so many more gifts than I thought, and each was so thoughtful!

Mandatory Overtime

So far I have worked 45 hours this week and I have 4 more tomorrow. I must be spoiled by my usual 36 hours because this 50 hour week feels like it's killing me. It might be because I had a 14 hour day followed by a 15 hour day. My body is tired and so is my brain. I am getting all the training on the new computer system all in one week. Bryan got me a 60 minute massage as a Christmas gift. I chose to schedule it this week so I would have motivation to keep going. I had my massage today before my class. It was very nice! Class wasn't too bad today. I actually got out 30 minutes early.
I have noticed significantly more and stronger symptoms since last week. The movements are smaller due to the baby's size and small living space. His position results in kicks being directed toward my back. It's more painful back there, but not what I'd imagined from watching others. I have significant urinary urgency for very small amounts of urine. I was getting up once a night to pee, it's increased to 3x. The acid reflux is worse. I find myself swallowing over and over if I try to lay down and sooner than 2 hours after eating. My upper back pain was not resolved by the chiropractor, or the massage. I get swelling in my ankles, but still very small amounts. I waddle when I walk. It takes 15 minutes or more to get dressed. Contractions are a part of my every day life. I am glad that I know that this won't last any longer than 7 more weeks. With a due date less than 5 weeks away I feel like an end is coming! It's really more like a beginning, but it's hard to not see it as an end when my body is so uncomfortable.

Back pain.

I've been told that pregnancy causes a lot of lower back pain. Thankfully that has not been a problem for me. I have chronic issues with pelvic alignment which resulted in a bulging disc between L5&S1 this summer. So I am glad that so far the belly weight is not exacerbating the area. Instead, I have been struggling with upper back pain between my shoulder blades on the right side. Sitting is especially painful and I generally avoid it.
Today I decided to go see my chiropractor to see if I had something out. She adjusted 2 ribs and all my vertebrae in the area as well as most of the rest of me. I felt better right away but now it hurts again. :( I am hoping that it's just the muscles and that when they calm down I'll feel better, but it feels like maybe the adjustment didn't stick. I have a massage scheduled for Friday so hopefully that will help. Maybe I'll need to go back to the chiropractor after the muscles are all loosened up so that things stick. I really would like this to get better before I go into labor. I don't need unrelated pain at that point.
Here's some pictures I took when Bryan went out to cut firewood. The ice was so pretty!

Pregnancy Brain

I used to think it was a myth. Somewhere between being understaffed so frequently at work and all the kicking and strange aches and pains I lose brain function. I can't keep people's names straight. I can't spell anything right. I can't keep room numbers straight. Today was a big blur of me trying to fix and prevent my own screw-ups. All small stuff but it scares me.

Sharing past pain from infertility

I got to talk to a coworker today who is trying to conceive. It's been about 8 months, and she is getting quite discouraged. I was able to share with her that I had convinced myself 8 months into trying to conceive that something was severely wrong with me, and that I couldn't have children of my own. I didn't exactly share that there were days that I did nothing but drown my misery in television and try to absorb myself in the fake lives of those on the shows since I didn't want much to do with my own life. I struggled and mostly failed to find meaning in life when I was thinking I couldn't have children. Maybe I should have told her. I am not sure it's quite that bad for her. I will get to talk to her more soon. She does have a few patients on my floor right now. If I feel God wants me to share those dark months to help her, I will.
I don't understand why we hurting individuals keep their pain so private and quiet. It didn't help me at all when I would hold it in and not tell people how much it hurt when I thought that for some reason God wasn't going to allow me the chance to raise a child. When I shared with this coworker about what fertility treatments were like and where I was treated, I mentioned others who were treated there and she was surprised to hear multiple names of people she knew to be pregnant or recently gave birth who had needed fertility assistance. I think the best thing I did for her tonight was to let her know that she is not alone. That was one of the things that helped me once I stopped myself from hiding my emotional pain I went through while thinking I may never have children.

The slightly interesting parts of my day.

My life at work would be a lot easier if it were possible to have all stairs go down. It makes no logical sense, but it's just so much easier to go down stairs.
I used my "eat 2 grapes every hour" method at work today and I never got ravenously hungry, and was able to eat my 5 small meals today. I like having first and second breakfast, as well as first and second dinner.
I survived my whole shift without changing my shoes; I've been needing to change half way through. I thought it would be harder since I ran yesterday.
One of my coworkers said not to tell her the sex of the baby until she guessed but she wanted to wait until I was further along so she could see how I was carrying. Today, I asked if she was ready to give it a try. She got all excited, said it was hard to tell, turned me round, and round, and guessed that it was a boy. It was a fun pause in my day.
I must look pretty pregnant because 4 times today when I dropped something somebody else picked it up for me. Two of those times it was a patient.
Tomorrow, I am going to try being in charge, as scheduled. Maybe I'll be testing out all kinds of ways to not sit at the desk.

34 week doctor visit

So far everything checks out good. They say my weight gain is perfect, even though I didn't gain any weight in the last two weeks. She said the baby seems to be growing just right based on feeling him and my fundis height being 34 cm. Baby's heart rate is still good, although he kicked somewhat violently in the direction of the wand and the sound. It made me giggle, which made my belly move, and she had to reposition the Doppler. She felt around and is pretty sure baby is head down. She said, if unsure at my next visit, she may want an ultrasound to check. My blood pressure is still hanging out at about 90/70. My heart rate is still in the 80's. There is still no protein or sugar in my urine.
My doctor seems very on board with an unmediated, non-intervention birth. That's more than I expected, considering she is a surgeon (OB/GYN). The only thing she insists on is I have to have an IV site once I go to the hospital. I can handle that. She recommends staying home as long as possible. When I asked what if my water breaks, she said it is the practice of her clinical group to have women come in right away at that point to get checked. So she said not to call to tell them it broke if it happens at 4 am and I want to go back to sleep. She said, in that case, to call at a more reasonable hour of the morning and come in then. :) I like that she will bend rules for me. She also said never to tell whoever I call that she said it was ok to wait. :) I found out it is routine for her practice to do oils and hot towels and massage to try to prevent tearing, and she can't remember the last time any of them did an episiotomy. All this was very reassuring. She talked about when she would want to do some interventions, but was receptive to me when I said I will be asking about their alternatives and desire to stay as far from them as possible.
When I  got home, I cleaned out the trunk of my car, started a Goodwill pile, and put away Christmas decorations. I mailed a check for newborn photography and Elijah's weekly package.
In the afternoon, I went on a 3.2 mile run with my mom and my dog to the bank. It feels good to run when it's cold and sunny. I love it! I think I was having painless contractions every 5 minutes or so while running. I rested afterword and they went away.

Rest day

I want to say I didn't do anything today. It sure feels like I didn't. Well, I didn't leave the house. I did't do anything active in the house. I didn't finish putting away Christmas ornaments. I did't exercise. I didn't make any crafts.
What did I do? Sleep in till 9, read blogs, talk to the providence maternity nurse who calls every month or two, organize my iTunes music into play lists and update my old phone into a baby tool. The phone now has a baby friendly playlists, children's books and baby game apps loaded and ready for use. It took all day. I wish electronics did't take so much set up time to be useful! But, it's done and I can cross it off my list. I guess I got a rest day before some busy days, since the tasks of the day didn't feel very demanding.

Work annoyances/amusements

The hospital I work at has been added onto many times and now consists of several buildings joined together. I work on a unit in one of the original buildings. I am not sure exactly how old that makes it, but it does mean that our patient's rooms are small. I have gotten around that, so far, by being small and agile; getting around the rooms, and the things in them, in spite of their size limitations. Today, not so much; it wasn't working for me. In all four of my rooms, and for different reasons, my belly would knock things off of patient's tray tables. I was trying not to. I thought I was clear, and then something: fry sauce, med cup, urinal (empty thankfully) hits the floor. Frustrating, but funny at the same time. People are really forgiving when they think it's the baby's fault.
I was asked by a coworker to help out by getting a set of vital signs on his patient. When it came to taking his pulse, I learned that it's hard to accurately count a heart rate, especially an irregular one, with rhythmic baby movements going on in my belly. I must have held onto that man's wrist for a minute and a half trying to count just his pulse and not the baby's movements. He didn't seem to notice that it was taking me an extraordinarily long time, so I just laughed to myself about my troubles after walking out of his room.
I wonder.... what next? So far it's a conversation starter with patients and families. With dementia patients, my belly guarantees the same conversation every time I enter their room. My belly makes random people I have never met grin at me in the halls. My belly makes patients use their call light rather than their bed alarm to get me to help them out of bed for whatever reason. Somehow they take pity on me when I waddle into their room at top speed and demand to assist them wherever they are going. They figure out that I won't be out of breath if they push the call button and ask for help first.
After work, I did, somehow, work up the motivation to vacuum and fold laundry. I rewarded myself with a tasty treat from the box below.
What next? Well I have another month and a half of work left. We'll see.

Sewing and Prayer day

I got to spend my day sewing and praying. The service I went to Sunday was a challenging service on prayer. The church is doing a "week of prayer" and it was the big kick off. Tonight's house church was from chapter 6 of A.W. Tozer's book "The Pursuit of God", which was all about prayer. Bryan and I were moderators so I went over the chapter 6 times to be sure I knew it well.
The parts that stood out most to me were about how God's word was a spoken word that some men wrote down. His spoken word is living and active. It still speaks today. Also, he mentioned that God created with the spoken word; a very creative one. He mentioned that many people refer to creative arts as works of genius, but Tozer believes that "every good and beautiful thing which man has produced in the world has been the result of his faulty and sin-blocked response the the creative Voice sounding over the earth". Even those works of people who do not serve God are in response to God. I found it interesting that I was being creative while studying and praying about tonight and this chapter. I see God well through his creation and now that I think about it, I feel I express him in my own feeble creations.
Today's creations were 7 decorated prefolds/burp cloths, and 3 flannel covered stay dry pads for the changing table. I also added pictures of the fuzzy blanket I am so proud of. God's creation today was snow! It won't let me post my video, so here's my best picture attempt. The last one is rusty in his favorite place on a cold day.

Cold weather means adventure, sunsets and fires

After church we stopped at a nature park so I could get some fun pictures of the organically flocked, as Bryan calls it, trees and plants. It was serene but cold, 27 degrees, to walk around and get the pictures.
We went out to the state forest to get fire wood (with the proper permit) today. We are running a bit low and we use wood to heat our home. We find it renewable, and most of the time free. I think it is $15 to go cut the down trees in the forest like we did today. They slow you to get a certain amount (about 3-4 full truck loads for us) over 3 weeks for that price. We hall it home chop it, stack it, burn it, and chip the chopping remains for ground cover. I don't think out furnace has kicked on at all this year. We have it set at something crazy low (55 or something). I love the feel of a wood fire in the stove. It feels like true warmth.
I wasn't much use today being 8 months pregnant. I scouted for good things to cut. Found a turn around spot for the truck on a walk and maybe loaded 10 of the smaller rounds. Really I got to walk in the woods with the pretty frost and snow, work on my knitted blanket while listening to bible podcasts and a book, and take cool sunset pictures. I enjoyed the adventure. I imagine it will continue to be this way in the future. I'll entertain the kids in the woods on a nature walk and with other outdoor activities while Bryan cuts fire wood and we all drink cocoa and head home.

Birth Class

We went to a one day birth class today. I might have preferred a class on the bradley method but when I decided that it was already too late to enroll in one, and I probably couldn't figure out how to work it into my work schedule. The class covered what to expect going into labor, positions to use in labor and pushing, what the various medical interventions are, and techniques to use to help with pain. It was a good class. I liked the floor work instruction trying out different breathing, relaxation techniques, labor positions. They only had us try one pushing position because statistics state that 80% will get an epidural and be limited in that choice. Practicing it was motivation to work hard every day till labor to prepaid myself and my body for unmediated labor. It was ineffective for sure, worse even than sitting on a western toilet and didn't even compare at all to how it feels using a squatty potty.

A squatty potty in the rural part of Japan

I also learned that music is a significant help to the Bradley relaxation technique, and that I like the deep breathing of the Bradley method much better than the Lamaze method. I may use the shorter breaths if I have to to get me back to deep ones, but they did not feel like they would help much with coping with pain.
I gained a lot of confidence in Bryan as my labor coach and in the ability to make decisions right for us if I am so busy coping that I don't want to participate. He was diligent, went the extra mile and did a great job coaching me into the correct position if I wasn't quite there. With careful preparation this will go very well for us.
We went to the fabric store on the way home because I needed a new blade for my rotary cutter. While there I saw that they now cary PUL in cute baby prints and bright colors. I am pretty excited to get some and try some projects with it. I heals back though so I can finish some of the projects I've already got.

I got some sewing time when we got home. I was able to finish the blanket I have been working on. It looks really good. My stitches aren't exactly straight on the satan edging, but they are good enough to not be noticed unless they are scrutinized. It feels really good to finish another sewing project.

I like how the giraffe appliqué shows on the print side too.

This and that

Today I did some work sorting out the wish list and making sure I explained what I wanted. It sure took a while. Hopefully it will save me time later, not having to return things. I also worked on my blog, making myself a profile and making it look more customized. I think I like the result. It sure took up more time than I thought it would. When I finished I only had a few hours left to work on making a baby blanket.
I the squaring of fabric and the cutting it and lining it up with the next one takes the longest. Sewing tutorials always make things look so fast probably because everything is already measured and cut. I did get the two pieces surged together. Next I need the trim and to appliqué a cute animal to the plain yellow side.
While watching movies I worked on putting a blanket stitch all the way around a small flannel blanket. In 2 hours in only made it 1/3 of the way.
I feel like everything eats up my time. At least these are things I like to do. I wonder though how much of them I will get to do when the little one comes. All about balancing it all. Hopefully some day I will learn how.

Movement

I had the NP at my OB's office show me how to tell what position the baby is in. He was head down and back toward my belly at the time. She kinda thought he'd stay that way. As far as I can tell he is still moving every which way and is still transverse across my abdomen at times. I feel everything from feet and hands or elbows and knees moving across my belly to heavy pressure that feels like he is trying to stretch his little abode a bit bigger. It's all rather distracting. I don't dislike it all that much anymore. I guess I am starting to get used to it. I am still not sure I'll ever say I miss it. I was rather disturbed by it as soon as it progressed past the bubbly feeling to the escaping alien feeling. Now rather than trying to stop it or being disturbed I am just distracted a bit and go on.

Odd exercises

Bryan and I've been reading this book called Husband Coached child birth, the Bradley method. It is to help us work together as a team to try for an un-medicated birth. It has me doing interesting exercises every day and all day. Kegals, which I expected. I actually have been remembering to do them regularly too, which I have never done before no mater how much I was told how good they are for this and that. Sitting cross legged on the floor whenever not socially unacceptable. Squatting instead of bending. Sleeping on my side with top leg up and over. Something called pelvic rock. And some resistance exercise where from sitting I have to pull my legs app dry. So far I am doing them at least once a day at night. Sometimes more especially on non work days. I sure hope they help! I really want an unmediated non interventional birth.

Christmas Felt short

We took the Christmas tree down tonight. It had become a dried up fire hazard and it was rather close to the wood stove. It feels like we just put it up. We did get a rather late start on our celebrating this year. Maybe that contributes to my feeling like christmas was really short this year. It doesn't change my gratitude for Christ taking on the form of a man, dwelling with us and eventually paying the penalty for our sin. Even when it feels short I still remember, and that is why we celebrate.

Deal Hunting

I like to never pay full price for things. Free is my favorite price. Homemade is my favorite style. It's not that I don't have the ability to pay full price, I just like to stretch my resources as far as possible to get more out of what I already have. I was given a bin full of newborn cloths for free, that I love and am great full for. I was given another tub full of 0-9 months cloths that were also free but rather stained. But for the price of a tub of oxyclean, some elbow grease and a day's work washing and folding I have probably 60 articles of baby clothing. I was given a baby swing that is super nice. I was given all kinds of bedding and bathing things car seats and strollers. I have a lot of stuff for not having had an official shower and it was mostly given to me. I have purchased a used rocking chair, a used breast pump, a book case, an ottoman and a baby mattress.
Today I was at a department store looking for a gift for a friend and wondered past the baby department. I saw 80% off clearance winter baby clothes so I bought some. I picked 9 month sizes since my zone will be that age in the winter around Christmas. I bought 10 things ( 3 long sleeve onesies, 3 sweatshirts, 2 fleece hoodies, and 2 pair fleece pants) all for $20. I feel pretty good about that!

Tired

It could have been a bad day at work, but by God's blessing it turned out to be a food day. Still my feet ate aching, my body is tired and my brain is fried. So instead of making a good decision to go to bed I stayed up watching shows. I think it must help the brain feeling dead part. I hope I can still sleep, the kicking is getting more painful today.

Pregnancy effecting work.

I have started to notice work getting harder due to pregnancy. Sitting in a chair at the desk to be in charge hurts my back. Today after 12#2 my feet are tired even with the support stockings. What I feel the most is slow. Everything takes me longer than it used to. I even had a moment when I felt clumsy. I tried to climb up on a heater register to see the top shelf above the med fridge in he med room and I felt unsteady getting to my feet on it and again stepping off it. People are super nice to me though. The take the harder jobs when we double team something. They walk things to lab for me so I don't have to take all those extra steps. They are sympathetic and tell me I am normal. They tell me I look cute and how good I am doing. So in-spite of my feeling slow, working till the end is still going well. Maybe I can do this. Well, I'd probably do I ether way, maybe I mean maybe it won't be so bad.

Self control when it comes to anger.

Sometimes people will take their anger out on whoever is available. Today I got blamed for a pressure ulcer. Sure pressure ulcers are inexcusably the cause of bad nursing care, but not one nurse. Sometimes I think I take my irritation at anything, maybe even my own laziness out on the dog. I get mad at him when he's hyper and doing something overly dog that I hate like licking me or sniffing my butt or crotch. Sometimes instead of push or toss him away it's more like a kick or a rather hard swat. I need to control myself more. I fear it could one day come out on my child as if my dog is not bad enough. I witnessed some very calm very controlled parenting while in California. I don't think I am that way at all when a child misbehaves. It resulted in a much more positive response by the child than I have ever gotten or usually see. It was like the parent's ability to control moved aided the child's ability to control. I think I'll need a lot of humility and dependence on God to overcome this one in myself.

Working on productivity.

Bryan made this wonderful fire for me before he left for work this morning.
Today I'd like to do all my mending, at least walk the dogs if not run, clean out the fridge (I still have thanksgiving leftovers in there), and tidy the house a little.
I did a walk/jog with my mom and the dogs. I was glad she asked, or i might not have gone. Today was the first day that running hurt. I had left aided belly pain for the first mile, then it went away. I've been fine ever since. I feel less tired than when I run on my own and push myself to a faster pace. Maybe my productivity still stands a chance.
I succeeded in 2 repeat washes of the organic cotton diapers. I cleaned the fridge! I bought easy to prepaid food. I got a jeans patch and jean thread, so now my mending is done. I even mailed Elijah's first Christmas letter, and returned some library books. I cleaned the kitchen and swept up the tree needles. It feels good to have exercised and to get things done all in one day!

Lazy day

No matter how motivated I am, some days I just can't make myself accomplish a list. I want to do what I want first. Like sleep till 10am, and play on the Internet reading blogs till one. I did accomplish going to Babies'R US and starting a gift registry.
I also went to check out a cloth diaper store in Hillsboro. It's called my precious child. It's not the greatest, not as good at cotton babies or Eco baby, but it's tons closer. I bought some things just cuz I love supporting small business. Too bad there isn't a good enough baby one close enough that I could register at instead of Babies'R US.
On my way home I checked out Tea Thyme and Lavender's closing sale. I found some birthday gifts for Melissa and antique library cardex perfect for sewing room organization. I'm sad it's closing. Like all my favorite places, I guess I should have supported it more.
I took some pictures of what I have for the nursery so far. Here's to a start. The Montessori bed and book shelf, the rocker and ottoman, the diaper stash and the baby swing Athena gave us.

How do I blog about a work day?

I didn't really want to get up today. That's usually how I feel about a work day. I was awake by the time I got to the car. The roads were clear which was a blessing. Daily audio bible started over at the beginning. I think that was my 3rd time through!
Work turned out good. I had a good patient group. They were hard enough to keep moving but not so hard that I got behind. One patient even told me how nice I was and that I was good at my job!
After work we went to the Higley's to hang out. They were having a marathon of a TV show I don't really watch because I find it crass. I got to talk to Terry about her Mediterranean cruse. She also spoke highly of Greece. Some day, I think I want to go there. Laura and Terry worked out baby shower details and guest list. I am so thankful Laura is planning a shower for my mom and BNC folk separate from the shower that Kisha is hosting. It was good to be with them. I need to talk to and hang out with them more. I realized today that I almost never instigate getting together with them. I should.
I find myself thinking about the best and worst of 2012.
Worst: depression over thinking I could not get pregnant, back injury that prevented my running Epic relay and general sloppiness with the house and the bills, slipping friendship with Mel, Bryan's crazy rash from job switch to being a chimney sweep, all my friends going through seriously painful crap all at once!
Best: trip to havasupi, getting pregnant with just one round of fertility treatment and IUI, baby is a boy, running during pregnancy is working, trail 600 trip around Mt. Hood with a 20 lb or less pack fully loaded with food, getting to know Katie and Ethan, Laura and Nike are pregnant at the same time as me!
Some pictures of the best and worst in. 2012.