Week 28

So this has been a super exciting week...my chair arrived!!!! Okay, so this might not sound too exciting, but I am absolutely thrilled to have this wonderful piece of furniture at long last. Awhile back I began the search for the perfect rocker for the nursery, and quickly determined that I wanted a chair that didn't actually look like a glider or rocker (but instead looked like an actual chair.) This caused a small debate at home since Patrick's idea of the perfect chair looked like a traditional glider, but once he saw and sat in my final selection he was sold too. It took me several trips to many different furniture and baby stores to finally narrow the selection down to two, and then I dragged my mom, sister, Lindsay, and of course Patrick to see the final two (on separate trips, I might add!) before I finally settled on the chair of my dreams. Then, I had to wait until I received a Buy Buy Baby coupon in the mail (because that knocked 20% off the price, and I am never one to pass up the opportunity to save) so the day that the coupon arrived in the mail I rushed to the store to place the order for the chair. I was told that it would take almost 12 weeks to arrive and was not anticipating receiving the chair until early June. Imagine my surprise when they called last week to let me know that the chair had arrived and they were ready to schedule delivery. Buy Buy Baby is most definitely my new favorite store!

This chair is so comfortable - not only does it glide and swivel, it has a hidden latch in the seat cushion so that it can recline as well. (I think this is what sold Patrick - one day when Ethan has outgrown his nursery this can be his recliner upstairs in the "man room.") The fabric we picked turned out to be a little lighter than I had anticipated, but I still absolutely love it and cannot wait to one day hold our little boy and rock him to sleep in this fabulous chair. Patrick said that since I am so in love with this chair he is afraid to sit in it :) I put an old blanket over it for the time being since the cats have determined that they love this chair almost as much as I do. It's pretty cute! I'm sure there will come a day where I won't mind having their fur on the chair, but for the time being I am content to keep it covered so that they can enjoy it without me constantly feeling the need to lint roll it.

Rocky & Holly have claimed this chair as their own (for the time being, that is!)

In other news, we had a doctor's appointment this past Thursday and I had to drink the sticky sweet orange drink and have blood drawn for the glucose test. Cross your fingers that I pass the first time, because going in for a three hour follow up test sounds dreadful. The doctor did tell me that since I have a strong family history of diabetes my risk level is elevated but not to worry if I do have to come back for the follow up test or even if I end up testing positive for gestational diabetes. It can totally be managed, I just don't want to have to go through drinking double the amount of that orange drink (which reminds me of the syrup used to make snow cones, minus the ice) and give four separate blood samples over the course of spending 3 hours at the doctor's office all to determine that I will need to drastically modify my diet. I can think of so many other fun things I would rather do, and giving up sweets is not my idea of a good way to make a hormonal pregnant woman happy!

Since I am now officially in the third trimester (gulp!) I will be going to the doctor every two weeks now. I cannot believe that time is flying by like this. Patrick and I registered for our birth preparation classes this week (oh joy - we'll get to watch videos of live births...ewwww!) and we'll start those towards the end of the month. Hopefully Ethan will stay put until after we finish the classes. Everything checked out right on schedule at the appointment today. His heartbeat is 150 and when they measured my belly (I'm not exactly sure what they are measuring or what the actual purpose is) the doctor said I'm right on track. The official weight gain is 16 pounds so I'm right on track with that too. (Of course, I might blow up one week and get completely off track, but for now everything looks to be on schedule.) Ethan is a little over 2 pounds now, which is crazy because he feels so much bigger when he's kicking me with his ninja moves.

We celebrated our little Caddy's third birthday this week. She's had two very serious health scares (there are some older posts on here that detail all that we've gone through to get her healthy again) and so I am forever grateful for each day that I get to spend with my little girl. We came so very close to losing her, and the fact that she was able to celebrate another year of life is truly a gift. Caddy is the most affectionate of our cats and she has brought so much joy into our lives. Rehabilitating her was truly a labor of love, and Patrick and I both firmly believe that she was brought into our lives specifically because of all the extra time, care, and attention that she has required over the years. I look forward to celebrating many, many more birthdays with our Caddy!!

In nursery news, we are hoping to start the painting process this week. (We'll see if that actually happens though!) I have the elephant curtains, and I am going in search of a double curtain rod and drapes this week. I am also going to find frames for the artwork we bought on ebay to decorate his room. We found 4 elephant pictures that match his nursery theme and another with his name printed so that we'll have something with which to decorate his walls. They sent us two copies of the print with his name, so for now the duplicate is taped up on his bedroom door. Hopefully it will all start to come together soon. For the time being his nursery still resembles a storage unit for all things baby. Ugh!! Cross your fingers that next week I'll actually have some nursery updates!

Ethan's bedroom door


Part of the curtains

Here's the official word on week 28: "By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels. He can blink his eyes, which now sport lashes. With his eyesight developing, he may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. He's also developing billions of neurons in his brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world."