29 Days Left!

Here are some pics of the baby's room and my belly.
We have graduated Lamaze, the carseats are installed, and the bags are packed. Now all we have to do is wait for her to make her arrival!

 

 

 

Hopefully Christmas will keep us distracted. I finished most of the major shopping today, just a few last-min things left. We will see Jeremy's family this weekend, and then my family will be here at our house on Chritsmas Day!
I have to work Christmas Eve though, hopefully it won't be too out of control!

Two months from today

Is our due date!!
It has really gone pretty fast, althought if you would have asked me that 2 months in, I would have told you I thought it was going to take forever!!
Shower this weekend at home in IL.
We had our 31 week appointment on Tues. BP was fine, I passed my glucose test, and I am not anemic (yea!). We also had a repeat ultrasound. She weighs 3 lbs, 8oz!! The two echogenic foci were still in her heart, but no one seems concerned (they say as long as it is an isolated finding, everything should be fine). Otherwise, she actually looked pretty cramped. . .I told her she still has a ways to go, she can't be that cramped yet! She was holding her feet in front of her face, it was actually pretty cute, but we could not get a good face pic.
Oh, and she is for sure a girl!
I will be back to add picutres, it may not be until after the weekend and I have pics from the shower and belly pics both. . .

MRSA--really, come on now!!

Ok, so since the MRSA media frenzy, I have had so many families come in and worry that MRSA is going to kill their child.
Valid concern, if your child has been getting MRSA abscesses/boils/pimples, whatever you want to call them, and has a fever, is lethargic, etc.
But when you kid is absolutely fine minus some pus??? Really.
OK vent over and now for some real information.
MRSA is a bacteria from the staph family. NOT a virus. NOT airborne. Able to be killed with 10% household bleach solution. And Lever 2000 Soap, don't ask me what they put in their soap to make it kill MRSA, it just does, lol! MRSA has been a big deal in health care for well over a decade. We do all we can to keep from passing it, yet sometimes it happens.
People who are most at risk include the elderly, immune compromised and those with chronic health conditions (who are in and out of hospitals a lot) for the serious life-threatening MRSA sepsis (blood infection). If you have a major surgical or traumatic wound that gets a MRSA infection, that is bad.
But a surface pimple/boil is not going to kill you. Yes, they are expensive, difficult to treat in children and frankly pretty gross. But as long are your immune system is able to fight it off, you have nothing to worry about.

I wish the media would have done a better job of giving some facts with their reports. All anyone not in the medical field heard was "Killer MRSA". And with all the concern for the bird flu, anthrax, and other really really bad diseases, I understand . But they should have provided information with explanation, not just fear-inducing headlines.
That is all. Any questions, feel free to post a reply or email me.
Jill:)

Less than 80 Days. . .

One more week down!! This week I have felt pretty good. The Bean has settled down some, I think she is getting more crowded as the days go on. We go back to the Dr. tomorrow, just for a routine checkup, probably 3rd Trimester labs and possibly my 1 hr glucose tolerance test.
And then 2 more weeks until another appointment, when we get to have our ultrasound.
Feeling much better at work this week. My sciatic nerve did not act up as badly, I don't know if this is because I made an effort to NOT do as much (sit when possible, etc) or if it was just going to get better. Hopefully it will stay that way.
We went back to IL this weekend for my brother-in-law's birthday and then today my uncle had a Tucker side fish fry. It was really nice to see everyone together! Also, I have decided that figuring out how to travel with a Chihuahua and a new baby is going to be a challenge! And, that we are going to have to find a place for her while we are in the hospital (duh! Why did I not think of this earlier??)
So we will see how it goes. At this point, it is all about a week at a time!

Week 27--almost done!

This week has felt kind of long. I have started to get tired and work is getting a little difficult. Like my left leg/foot went numb about 6-7 hours into my shift on Thrusday. Uhg. That makes it a little hard to get around myself, let alone move patients and things. . .and we had 2 traumas back to back with nowhere to put the 2nd one. Whew! But, I figure I have felt really good the entire time up until now, so I am about due to feel a little bad!!
What did I do today? Went to Goodwill and found wool sweaters to cut up for the Bean some diaper covers! Then I came home and made some guacamole soup (mmmmm) and sewed up some soakers and a couple pairs of longies. I still had enough left from one sweater for another NB size soaker, but I did not have anything left for the trim or leg gathers. So, I will have to find a matching sweater and finish that one soon!
For thoes of you who don't know, wool is a wonderfully waterproof fabric, yet breathable too. Soakers are covers that you put over fitted diapers or pinned prefold diapers to keep the wet in. Longies are the same thing, but as you guessed, they are more like pants. OK enough talk, here

is what I did!
Before: 2 sweaters:
After: 2 soakers (small on left, NB on right) and 2 pairs of longies (both newborn-ish).Yea!

Today is Blog Action Day. . .

And the topic is the environment.
So. . . what do we do (Jeremy and I) to try to help the environment??
Probaby not enough! We are going to cloth diaper our baby. We are excited about this. Disposable diapers make quite the impact on the environment, not to mention our pocketbook! They take up space in landfills, and release chemicals into the environment over the years and years it takes them to degrade. Also, cloth is more comfortable for our baby and she will have less rashes and will potty train quicker!

If you would like more info about cloth diapers, check out www.mtdiaperstore.com and http://www.sunshinediapers.com/cloth-diaper-university/. Cloth dipes of today are nothing like that plastic pants and flat diapers that our mothers used (although they are still popular, there are a BUNCH of other choices out there!).

Greenwood has free curbside recycling. We recycle all our plastic, glass, cans and newspaper. I also take all our cardboard to the library where they have a cardboard recycling dumpster. It probably does not seem like much, but if everyone would give a little bit and do what they can, then it will all add up to somthing big!

What a week!!

It all started on Monday when I had to go to work. I had not been expecting to go to work, I really thought I was OFF!! So that made for a long day.
And, we found out that one of the girls we work with had her baby. The baby is beautiful and healthy, but she has Downs syndrome. They were very surprised. So they have quite the road ahead of them.

Then Tuesday, as I was getting ready for work, I looked at my calender. Lo and behold, it says I am OFF!! I called work to make sure, and the charge RN say, "you are on the schedule". So, in to work I go. Most of the day was OK, pretty steady, but not overwhelming. At 10:55PM, 5 min before the end of my shift, my patient stops breathing and loses his heart rate. We worked on him for over 1.5 hours, and did not get him back. It was awful. And to think now, if I would have just stayed home. . . but things happen for a reason I guess. So I did not get home until almost 3 AM. And then I just fell into bed and passed out.
Oh and Andrea called me. She and Jon have postponed the wedding for now. Things are just not working out like they thought they would.

Wed. I woke up and did not know if I was gong to be able to get out of bed! My body hurt SO bad all over. Muscles I did not even know I had were sore, sore, sore! I am sure the physical and emotional stress of what happened Tuesday was not good for me.
My friend and neighbor Carla told me that they are pregnant again! Yea! She does not know her due date, and she had quite a bit of complications with her daughter who is almost 2, so they will be watching her pretty closely. She brought over our baby gift, it was the only toy we registered for and the breast pad holder for the diaper bag, and a couple of other things. YEA! We went out out to lunch and then to the outlet mall in Edinburgh. It was nice afternoon, got my mind off the night before.

Thursday, I woke up to go to work as usual. Turned on my phone and there was a message from Jeremy. My purse was in his Jeep!! With my car keys. Uhg!! And he had meetings all day, and could not come home. So, Carla and Jeff to the rescue again! I was able to drive Jeff's truck to work and then one of the girls from work brought me home. Thanks Alisha! Now I just need to find out how much it is to get another key made, I figure it will be expensive since they all have chips in them now. . .but I think it will be worth it to have an extra. I am sure this is not the last time this will happen!

And today is Friday!! Dr's appointment this afternoon, along with colposcopy and 1 hour glucose tolerance test. We will see if I pass. . .the way the week has been going it is not looking good. They should schedule our next u/s today, so that will be something to look forward to!
I will let you know how next week turns out. . .it just has to get better!!

More Kate wedding pics!

The Girls!

Wedding Party
The only picutre of me and Jeremy!
Another shot of the wedding party!

Baby Shower!!

Saturday was our Indy baby shower. It was so much fun!! We had a great turnout and got lots of very nice gifts.
It was so nice to see everyone. Jeremy's dad and stepmom came from Ft. Wayne, my Mom and Grandma from IL were here and lots of family and friends from close. Mom has not sent me the pictures yet so I don't have any to post!
Jeremy has already put the Colts mobile up on the crib, but I have not put any of the other gifts away yet. I am pretty tired today, looks like I will be watching football as well, Zoie likes it when we are home hanging out on the couch! I will be interested to see how she adjusts with the new baby. . .it could be interesting!
Thank you all for coming and and I will get pictures up as soon as I get them!

Baby Clothes!

Here is my latest purchase for the Bean, hopefully she will fit into it by spring!!

Baby girl clothes are SO cute, I am so glad I have an excuse to buy them (if not for me, for Katie of course!)

My Indiana shower is next weekend, I can't wait to have everyone in the house!

See you all soon!

Work. . .yea.. . . .

Do I love my job?? Yes. Does it wear me out? Yes. Do I daydream about doing something TOTALLY different? Yes.

On that note, let me tell you that I have very seriously considered changing jobs. Whether that may be home to IL to the ED in the hosptial where I was a baby nurse, or pursuing an education job with more flexible hours and maybe some work from home. . . .I don't know yet.
And maybe it's just becuse I'm pregnant, who knows. I do know that my fuse is A LOT shorter now. . .I just get really frustrated a lot easier. And I want things done NOW. . . .not in an hour, not in fifteen minuets, I want them DONE. . . so part of that is probaby hormones.

My sweet neighbor Carla and I spent the 4 hrs after I got off work in (my) ED with her daughter who had been throwing up all day. . .we gave her some fluids and she felt SO much better! But that made me pretty tired today, and my plan was to shampoo carpets, but Jeremy took the shampooer to work with him in the car(oops!). So I guess I won't to do that today!
Oh well, sitting and resting sounds good. . . .

Baby and Wedding Pictures!

So far these are the only pics we have of the baby. . .and this is the only one I have of Katie's wedding (of all of us). I am 22 weeks in the pic of just me!

Hey Everyone!!

What is up? It is a beautiful Saturday in the Midwest.
I am trying to get this blogging thing going again. Hopefully I will be more successful this time!
My sister and I are both having babies in the spring, me in January and her in February, only 4 weeks apart! It is going to be a wild ride. She has been the sick one where I have felt pretty good.
I am going to start working on the baby's crib bedding this weekend. Hopefully will get all the material cut out and begin to sew it together. Then with whatever I have left, I am going to make some fun stuff. . .like a changing pad cover and burp cloths and other mis baby stuff.
I will post some pics as soon as I get anything done!
Work is starting to get crazy. It has started to be like the winter already (which means really busy with no end in sight). Yesterday all day, we had a full ER and kids in the waiting room. They just kept coming. . .8 hr days are looking pretty good!! We will see how much longer I can go working 12 hour days and not getting to leave the unit for supper! The schedule after the planner that is out now I WILL BE ON MATERNITY LEAVE!! So there is an end in sight, and everyone else (there are 6 of us pregnant people left) is still going strong, so I can just take inspiration from them!