Update and Lorelei's Room!

I made an unplanned visit to the doctor today.  Sydney has been sick for about a week with a cold (although she's almost through with it now).  Friday night, my throat started hurting a little, but it was nothing serious, and it only hurt off and on until last night.  Last night it started to hurt really badly, so I made a last-minute doctor appointment to make sure I didn't have Strep.  Since I HAVE to see an OB for all of my medical care, the doctor asked if I wanted to go ahead and do the exam that they were going to do Thursday.  Um...yes!  So she determined that I am dilated 3 cm.  Hopefully Lorelei will be here by this weekend!

Since I officially feel like I could go into labor at any time, I finally took pictures of her room.  Here are the two "main" shots to get an idea of what the entire room looks like.

The rest of the pictures are taken clockwise, starting immediately to the left after you walk through her door.  This is the bow holder I bought at a base-wide garage sale.  The woman custom makes them, but this was one that someone ordered and never picked up.  It just so happened to be the exact colors of Lorelei's room, and she sold it to me for $20 (much less than what she normally sells them for).  She added the "L" after I paid for it, and even though it's not EXACTLY my style, I think it adds a necessary girly flair to the room, what with the flowers and butterflies.

The closet door is to the right of the bow holder.  Lorelei's closet is ridiculous.  She will never be able to wear all of the clothes in it...but the girl will certainly be a fashionista like her big sister!  The diaper boxes on the shelves are not diapers (although I have plenty of those too!) but more clothes and toys that will take a few months for her to grow into.

The gorgeous hat and blanket were knitted (crocheted?) by Chet's Grandma Lois, who Lorelei will share a middle name with.  Also pictured is the Halloween treat bag with her name on it (like Sydney's, but different).  By the way, Lorelei's room is a perfect example of what I was talking about in my last post regarding things ending up in places you never thought they would end up as you move from house to house.  This, as you can tell, is a hat/coat rack, that we kept by the front door in our last house.  Her curtains used to be the master bedroom curtains.  The bookshelf was in the guest bedroom two houses ago, and at the top of the stairs in the last house.  And her dresser/changing table was the very same one that my mom and dad changed me on when I was a baby!  I can't believe it's still in such great shape...

I "made" the lamp in this picture.  It was one of my projects.  I bought it at Family Dollar for $6 (ha!), but the base was bright pink.  Chet spray painted the base lavender, and I added the ribbon. 

Master Bedroom and Bathroom

This weekend I took pictures of the master bedroom and bathroom.  I finally got around to buying curtains for the windows, and Chet hung them yesterday, so it felt like the right time!  I had also been storing random baby stuff (for Lorelei) in our bedroom until now, so all of that is gone, making the area much more photo-worthy. 

I've probably said it before, but after moving three times in two years, I've learned that things don't end up in the "same" place as you move from house to house.  For example, in this house, the area where we have our couch/TV/recliner does not have room for a coffee table.  (Well, technically there is room, but this area of the house is where we "live" the most, and the coffee table left less room for Sydney to play, and I didn't want to have to constantly clean little fingerprints off of it's glass top.)  Anyway, this house has a really big master bedroom (too big, really), so our coffee table ended up in our bedroom.  Along with the area rug that was in the study in the last house (but that was originally purchased for the master bedroom), and the glider/ottoman (which is probably the best place for it, once Lorelei is born).  So now we have a random, but nice, little sitting area in our bedroom.  The master bathroom and closet (only one closet this time) are both very small, and I would have rather the builder taken some space from the bedroom and made them bigger.  You can also see the "arcade" carpet better in these pictures.  (Please excuse the terrible lighting in these pictures.  I still haven't made time to read up on what camera settings to use to make the pictures look at least halfway decent.)

This is the view immediately to the right once you enter the bedroom.  The rest of the pictures are taken counter-clockwise.

As I said, the master bathroom is very small.  It was really hard to take pictures of it, but I did my best!  I also don't put much effort into "decorating" such a small space, especially a small space that only Chet and I use.  I've decided it's just not worth the money.  :-)  And the bathroom is located immediately to the left once you enter the master bedroom.

View immediately to the right once you enter the bathroom.

The bathtub/shower is on the left, behind the bathroom door.

38 Weeks

Here is my 38-week picture!  I'm not sure it looks all that different from last week's, but I'm certainly starting to feel differently.  My contractions are getting stronger (Braxton-Hicks contractions; I had them with both pregnancies beginning at about the 20-week point), and I feel a lot more pressure lower...so perhaps not much longer!  Also, here is my 38-week picture with Sydney.  It was the last belly picture I took with her, because she was born at 39 weeks.

37 Weeks

38 Weeks

38 Weeks with Syd

Update on last Thursday's appointment: It was semi-uneventful, but certainly not as uneventful or disappointing as the appointment the week before.  I saw the same doctor, and perhaps it was a better visit because I knew what to expect from her.  She did not do an internal exam to see if I was dilated or effaced, but my belly measured smaller this week than last week, and that combined with her feeling my belly from the outside proved that the baby is extremely low.  She thinks I'll deliver around 39 weeks, but I'm really trying not to get my hopes up.  I'm well aware of the possibility that Lorelei's October 22nd due date will come and go with her still as snug as a bug in my belly!  (My next appointment is this coming Thursday.)

Happy October!

Finally, October is here and we've had some cooler weather!  That last two mornings have been less than 60 degrees, which is amazing.  It's also been less humid, which is the best.  I love October, mostly because I love all of the orange decorations.  I dress Sydney in any Halloween clothes or bows she owns the entire month as often as possible, because they're so much fun to wear.  Here she is in her UT Halloween shirt and candy corn bow.

And here she was last Halloween in her Navy Cheerleader costume.  She's going to be a Navy Cheerleader again this year, because she has another outfit in her current size (both outfits were gifts) and because I'm choosing to be lazy.  (By the way, I just ordered a treat bag similar to Sydney's for Lorelei.  It's green with a pumpkin on it, and is also monogrammed.) 

37 Weeks and Doctor Update

Here is my 37-week picture!  Many of you said last week that it looked like the baby had "dropped" quite a bit.  I thought it looked that way too, and although she definitely feels lower, I didn't think she felt THAT much lower.  Well, the camera must have been playing tricks on us, because this week I look more like I did at 35 weeks. 

35 Weeks

36 Weeks

37 Weeks

I had a doctor appointment last Thursday, and it was disappointingly uneventful.  The day of the appointment I was 36 weeks and 5 days along...two days shy of 37 weeks, which is full term.  I thought the doctor might check to see if I was dilated or effaced at all, but when I asked she responded, "Oh, it's WAY too early for that.  We don't check that until 38 1/2 to 39 weeks."  Hmm.  Apparently two days shy of full term is WAY too early to do a quick check, even though I had Sydney at exactly 39 weeks.  Part of me wanted to go into labor right that moment just to show her that it's not necessarily too early or inconvenient to quickly check (oh well, what do I know?).  My next appointment is this coming Thursday, and I'm seeing the same doctor.  I have no idea what she's going to do for me at this appointment.  I might as well just call in and tell them how much I weigh and that, yes, the baby is moving, rather than making a trip to the hospital...