This is NOT a happy pup

More drama for our dear Lucy Lou. She got some dental work done recently (standard/routine teeth cleaning), and apparently when dogs get their teeth cleaned they also get put under anesthesia. She did great, has perfect pearly whites, and responded well to the anesthesia. The problem? She's a licker. As in, as soon as she got home she tore the bandage off of the small shaved portion of her leg where they'd put the IV and started licking her leg--we're guessing because it itched. She promptly developed a little skin infection, which she still couldn't stop licking no matter what we did. After trying various bandages, topical antibiotics, etc., we had to take her back into the vet. She's now on systemic antibiotics along with a prescription bland diet and probiotics to prevent the usual tummy issues that come along with antibiotics for her. And, as is evident from the photos, she got a lovely e-collar.

It's one of those things that's just really sad to watch. It took her a full couple of days to be comfortable enough to actually walk around. Getting her to go to the bathroom outside with the collar (because it makes it harder to sniff the ground) was immensely difficult, and we just generally feel bad for her. After all, with that face, wouldn't you?

Here's hoping a.)she gets it off very soon (she has a vet checkup on Monday), and b.) she gets it off before the kid comes (I can't imagine her having to deal with boarding in a small kennel with that collar).

How Lucky Is Our Kid?!?

Regardless of how lucky he may or may not be thanks to the lot he drew when it came to his parents, he (and his parents) are certainly overflowing in the luck department when it comes to his extended family and family friends.

Check out the incredible handmade mobile hanging above the changing table from our friend Sharon--craft QUEEN. It's all gorgeous ribbons, fun graphic black and white patterns in bird and tree shapes... So awesome, and all 100% made by her.

























I had to resist taking pictures of all of the other incredible loot this kid has amassed thusfar (too much of it and I'm still getting organized). However, I did get a chance to shoot the appx. waist-high pile of wrapping, boxes, hangers, etc. that resulted from our unpacking everything. The photo doesn't do it justice, but here it is anyways:













I'll post some photos of the nursery as a whole a little bit later, once I've actually had a chance to put things away and organize everything. For now, back to our mountain of laundry. Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day! Nothing is quite so romantic as washing, drying, and folding the wardrobe of one's soon-to-be born baby :)

Showers of Babies (or something like that)

It's hard to believe, but I'm just past 35 weeks now--on Monday I'll officially be only 4 weeks away from my due date, and 2 weeks away from being 'full term.' Insanity.

I'm definitely a lot less comfortable now. More heartburn, lots of appetite but not much room to store food, sore back and tummy (that part right at the top of my belly under my chest feels kind of like a bruise). Sleeping has been challenging, what with the frequent pee breaks and difficulty finding a position that doesn't hurt either my back or my belly--even with the help of a maternity pillow. But all in all I've heard of much worse. I should probably count myself as lucky since I don't have much icky nausea, pelvic joint pain, any braxton hicks contractions to speak of, or yucky itchy rashes (all of which I've heard of in several other women).

I'm also feeling particularly lucky these days thanks to the absolutely awesome outpouring of support and love I received during my fabulous TWO baby showers! I had some really wonderful friends from work throw me a small gathering last week, and my family and family friends got together at my dad and stepmom's house last weekend for a really lovely party. The sheer amount of stuff that we received was incredible and really overwhelming (in a good way, of course), and it was so fun to have everyone get together to celebrate. Normally I'm a little nervous at showers due to the weird feeling of being the center of attention, not to mention the opening of gifts one by one in front of an audience is somewhat strange to me. These showers were awesome, though, with a minimum of pressure and lots of fun. Thank you so much to those who hosted and attended--I really had a blast.

34 weeks, oh those hormones

Yes, I'm a slacker. I finally got around to taking new pics and posting again--sorry it took me so long. Here's a shot of me at (almost) 34 weeks. Technically my actual 34 week mark is this Monday (2 days away), but close enough. I actually got the motivation after watching The Invention of Lying on DirecTV. The movie and the motivation are entirely unrelated, but if I look a little red around the eyes in the photo it's because i cried like a baby during a couple of parts in the movie. No, it's not really sad at all, and it's also not very moving--although I did enjoy watching it. I'm blaming all those hormones coursing through my body...can't find any other explanation.

Joey and I also went to another baby class today: Newborn Care 101. While I knew much of what was taught (thanks mostly to my nanny gig years ago + all of my fabulous nephews and nieces), it was a nice class and we definitely learned some new stuff. At the very least I now have a lovely handout with color photos depicting the many different shades and consistencies of baby poo. Great tool for banishing any nagging hunger, although it comes with the minor side effect of nausea. We now only have one class left next week on breastfeeding. Then I have a few weeks to finish up work, by which time I'm sure I'll be screaming to get this pregnancy thing over with--at which point I'll realize that I have AT LEAST 2 weeks left. Fun stuff.

The Billy Idol Poop Face

Joey and I had the pleasure of attending our first ever childbirth preparation class last Saturday at Ann Arbor's Center for the Childbearing Year. What does this have to do with Billy Idol and poop? I'll get there...

We're taking a condensed version of their 7 week childbirth prep class, and so our version takes place on two Saturdays from 9:30am-1pm, with a third session on 'Negotiating the Medical Setting' (think information about interventions, etc.) the week following. I won't go into detail about what we learned (you can see the website for more details about the class), but lets just say that we learned a lot of good stuff. I'm really enjoying the class so far, am super happy we chose to go with this particular center, and love the instructor, Kate Stroud.

While a lot of what she said stuck with me, one of my favorites was the 'billy idol poop face.' This, she said, is the kind of face one should make while in the final pushing stage of labor. You know what she's talking about: the mouth snarl with one side of your lip raised while simultaneously squeezing your eyes shut as you work really hard. Too graphic? I find it hilarious. The point is to get the mom to laugh, thus lightening the mood when they might otherwise panic. Joey has promised to whisper 'billy idol poop face' to me while we're in the hospital--one of the many reasons I love my husband.

Other recent developments: we made it out to Ikea to get some of the final pieces to our nursery (dresser to use as changing table, rocking chair, ottoman), and I found a sweet video monitor on Craigslist for cheap--we'll be able to watch the baby while he's sleeping from downstairs while simultaneously watching TV. Nice.

On Work...

Sitting in on and participating in meetings becomes slightly more difficult when you're being kicked in the ribs repeatedly from the inside. Additionally, the movements of this kid are now visible from the outside (freaky? Actually yes), meaning that whenever he decides to get all active on me I kind of try to hunch over and put my arms somewhere in front of my stomach. I mean, if you were trying to talk to a pregnant lady at work wouldn't you be distracted by what looks vaguely like an alien attempting to escape from her? I would.

Also, my sister and her husband are traveling to Cabo this weekend. A trip that Joey and I had originally spoken about going on with her and Jason prior to the pregnancy. Not that it's totally off-limits, but my lack of comfort on planes, the thought of getting into a bathing suit now, and having to watch what I eat and drink in Mexico doesn't sound ideal. Getting out of this snowy cold winter does, though, so I'm very jealous.

30 weeks (?!?!)

Happy New Year!! It's hard to believe that this is the year that we'll officially become parents. Hope everyone had a relaxing, fun holiday season--too bad it's time to go back to work now...

As far as the pregnancy goes I've actually been feeling pretty good. A little sleepy, and it's getting harder to do normal things like put socks on and pick things up from the floor, but overall things are good. No real nausea or serious pains, only getting up an average of once per night to pee, and heartburn has been manageable. He's been moving tons and poking various body parts out (elbows? knees? who knows...) He also seems to have gotten the hiccups a lot lately. Now to get through the next 10 weeks in similar shape (yeah, right).

Sorry about the delay in getting pics up. I've got a few fun ones taken tonight at 30 wks--enjoy :)