Nursery Progress

Boy, am I ever glad that Doug and I started working on the nursery early!  I am the opposite of a procrastinator.  I like to start projects as soon as they are assigned.  If there is something hanging over my head, I can't relax until I've finished it.  This drives Doug bonkers.  It has taken a lot of compromise on both sides in order for the two of us to adjust to each other's styles of completing tasks.  Sometimes I just have to let things go and spend time sitting on the couch with my hubby when I all I want to do is scrub the toilet.  Sometimes Doug has to kick his butt into gear and help me finish something before he can relax with his book (which b. t. dub is Harry Potter at the moment!  He's finally reading them.  He's on the 4th one right now, my personal favorite!)

When Doug and I first started planning the nursery, I went to the source for all things beautiful.  I started a pinterest board.  The nurseries that I was drawn were vintage style and had an aqua and yellow color scheme with pops of pink like this one:

photo credit

The first decision that we had to make was whether or not to paint the walls.  Since we live in an apartment and would have to repaint before we moved out, we decided to add color to the room by painting the furniture rather than the walls.

Our first project was a baby wardrobe that has been in Doug's family since before he was born.  It even has a little hanging area in it which was essential for us because the closet in the bedroom is completely full with diva Doug's clothing collection.  Ok...and a few select articles of mine in the back...  The inside of this wardrobe is my favorite part of the room, so we'll start there.  And yes.  That is her shoe collection on in the little cubby hole.

Since the wardrobe was, obviously, free, I figured that I could splurge a little bit on the hardware.  If you don't know where the best knobs on the planet are found, you need to go to anthro.  It is a treasure trove of the cutest vintage style hardware ever!

Doug and I went back and forth on whether to purchase a changing table or just get a dresser and put a changing pad on top of it.  I found a changing table that I loved on craigslist for $20 and decided to go for it.  I figure, we can use it for multiple kids, (hah.haha. this might be it for us) and I can probably sell it for the same price when we're finished with it.  

When I picked up the changing table, I discovered that it had been painted sparkly gold by it's previous owner.  I mean, I love gold, but this was not going to work.  Doug spray painted it yellow to add some more color to the room, and my mom and I made a changing pad cover for it.  (P.S. Making a contoured changing pad cover is SUPER HARD.  I tried following a tutorial that I found online, but we ended up just winging it.)

The prints above the changing table were made by me.  My girlfriend, Sarah, gave me a bunch of silver frames that we spray painted pink and yellow.  The pictures were made using scrap book paper.

The room is filled with sweet gifts from friends and family that already love little K Birdy so much.  The  bunting was made by Leigha (aw man, how I love bunting), the cradle by her Grandpa Hulse, and the quilt by my Aunt Beth.  I know that our baby could live in a cardboard box and be perfectly content, but when she grows up and sees pictures of her room, I hope she realizes how excited we were for her!

Oh, in case you were wondering, we don't have a crib.  There is just no room at this point.  Once she outgrows the cradle, one of our friends has a hand-me-down that we can use.

Best Resting Continued

When Doug and I arrived at the hospital, they hooked me up to a couple of machines to check me out.  Baby K was fine, but I was having some contractions.  The nurse asked me if I could feel them, and I really couldn't.  At all.  After being monitored for a few hours, the nurse decided that I could go home and got my discharge papers all ready to go.  The last thing she was going to do was check me out to make sure that I wasn't dilated.  I was.

The next thing I know, I'm getting an IV, an ultrasound, and being told that they're admitting me.  Uh...what?  The scariest part of the day was when they handed me a bunch of paperwork to sign, and I had to sign a paper authorizing an epidural.  Ummm...was I going to have the baby?  Like right now?

I was around 75% effaced, and my cervix was opening up from the inside.  Also, I was having contractions that were 1-2 minutes apart.  They were magical contractions though because I still couldn't feel them.  I firmly believe that all my contractions are going to be invisible and painless.  Trust me.

That night was spent in the hospital on some weird drugs that made me feel bizarre.  My blood was drawn every 6 hours which is rather unpleasant in the middle of the night.  I got steroid shots to strengthen the baby's lungs, antibiotics, and a few different medications to stop the contractions.

At 6 pm the next day, I was free!  Well...free is a relative term.  I was discharged from the hospital to go home to bed rest.  I can get up to go to the bathroom, and I can take a shower every other day.  Tomorrow will be 3 weeks, and I can't believe that it's been that long!

Bed Resting

So, here's the scoop:  It was two weeks ago today.  I was driving to work and talking to my mom and Cliff on the phone on speakerphone.  I was miiiiserable.  Getting to work every day was a huge struggle; I felt terrible, and I was seriously considering quitting my job.  This is what we were talking about.

Truly, I thought that this was normal.  I was 30 weeks pregnant.  Doesn't everyone just feel terrible by this point?  I started to feel extremely light headed, so I pulled over at a gas station.  I got out of the car to see if changing my positions and getting some fresh air would help.  When I stood up, I started seeing spots in my vision, so I put my head between my legs.  Maybe it's because we live in LA and everyone minds their own business, but I remember looking around as things started to go black and wondering if anyone was going to help me.  There was a man walking by who I silently cried out to, but I think I was too out of it by that point to actually verbalize my panic.  I sat down on the ground and the gas station because I knew that I would fall over if I didn't.

When I was able to get up, I got back in the car and called Doug.  He was on his way to get me.  I ordered him to call the doctor to ask if we should go into the office or straight to the hospital.  Honestly, I was hoping that if I made a big deal out of this, the doctor would let me get off work early.  I had no idea  at the time how grateful I would be that we ended up going to the hospital.

To add some drama and because this is getting long, TO BE CONTINUED...

And just for fun, a picture of my belly at 28 weeks...in Hawaii...soo glad this trip happened before our big adventure.