Nesting

We had a very busy weekend. We went to Ikea and bought some new things for the house, like shelves and stuff like that, and spent a great part of the weekend doing all sort of things around the house to get it all cleaned up and ready for the baby. We also went through the rest of R’s old clothes (we had started it last Monday) and separated what we can use for M and what will go back in the boxes. We set up the bassinet in our room and took out the bottles, breast pump, sterilizer, etc.
It’s an amazing thing, this “nesting instinct” or whatever they call it. I’m tired, I have terrible back pain and my feet are swollen but I still have this irresistible urge to do things around the house and have everything ready. I guess in a way I’m trying to make up for the time we spent away from home.

I’m 31 weeks and 3 days today and I’m still feeling pretty well, apart from the back pain. The swelling seems to be more or less under control and limited to my feet. I’m still wearing my wedding ring, which I had to stop wearing at 27 weeks with R, and I’m still wearing my regular shoes. This pregnancy is being much less hard on me than the other one was and I’m so thankful for it.

On the work front (yes, people, I do still remember to come to work and actually do some work once in a while) things are getting complicated. We have a major project entering a decisive phase and I need to give it my full attention. Tomorrow I will be flying (once again, for the 9th time this summer) to Oporto, where I will stay at least until Wednesday. I know at some point I will have to tell my boss I can no longer fly or be more than 3 hours away from my city and my hospital.

Anyway, there will be no update for a few days.

Pregnancy Babble

I had an ultrasound yesterday, at 30 weeks and 6 days. Everything is looking great and the baby is measuring just slightly below the 50th percentile, which is a little bigger than what he’s sister measured in all the ultrasounds. He moved a lot and we got some really nice pictures, and we confirmed once again that he is definitely a boy.

My sister had an ultrasound yesterday too, at 29 weeks and 5 days, and it went great as well. I met her there as she was leaving and I was coming in and she looked great. Her baby is already as big as mine, even though she is one week behind, which places him in the 50/75th percentile. She told me I’m starving my baby with my obsession not to gain too much weight, but she’s just jealous because she’s gained more than I did.

Tomorrow I have my first session with the osteopath for the back pain. I have good days and bad days and sometimes I’m lying on the couch or on the bed and I can’t even get up. Yesterday I even cried when I tried to get up from the couch and I know it’s going to get worse if I don’t do something about it. My OB recommended this osteopath who is used to working with pregnant women. Lets hope she is as good as my doctor says she is.

Home at last

We came back yesterday from our two week vacation and we were finally able to move back into our house after 7 long weeks away. I guess I never realized how important having a routine is for our family until now. We are back home, R is back to school and we’re both back to work, things are exactly the way they should be and it feels so good.

The trip to Azores was great. It was actually much better than I expected and I’m so glad that the doctor let me go. The island (we only visited S. Miguel, one of Azores’ nine islands) is absolutely stunning, the weather was beautiful, the food was delicious and the company was great. I will be going back to Azores for sure.

On the pregnancy front things are also good. I’ve managed not to gain too much weight during our trip and am now up a total of 15.5 lbs, which sounds quite reasonable. This is helping a lot with making this pregnancy more manageable than the first one, and I’m still feeling pretty well, at almost 31 weeks. We’ve decided to start unpacking R’s baby stuff this weekend to try and have everything ready before the surgery.

Speaking of which, there is still no definite date for the surgery and we were pretty successful in our determination not to stress about it during our vacation. We’ll start thinking about it once the doctor comes back from his own vacation and decides to set a date.

That’s all. Here is a belly picture, as requested.

See you in two weeks

We are going on vacation today, for two weeks. For the first week we will be staying at the beach house, where there is no internet connection. I will try to check on everyone and post an update if we come to Lisbon for some reason.
On Monday I will have my OB appointment (will have to come to Lisbon for it) and I’ll try to post an update then. I will ask the doctor if she will let me fly to Azores, where we are planning on spending the second week. If she says no, we will spend the week at home, probably unpacking R’s old clothes and getting things ready for the baby.

So that’s it. Have a great summer everyone, and I’ll be back in two weeks.

Too hot

It is too damn hot. The thermometer just outside my office says it’s 38 C (100 F). We decided to go home at lunch time (we didn’t drive, we walked) and check on the house. Not a clever move when you’re 28 weeks pregnant and its 38 degrees outside. When I got back to the office my feet were swollen and I could barely breathe.

Tomorrow we are going on vacation for 2 weeks. We will be at the beach house until the 15th, which is really good because the weather is so much cooler there, even though it’s a mere 45 minutes away. Then on the second week we will either go to Azores (if my doctor lets me fly) or we’ll stay home and start getting things ready for the baby.
I am secretly hoping my doctor will not let me fly, but Zé Maria is so excited about this trip I couldn’t possibly tell him that. He wants to enjoy the time we have left, just the three of us, before the surgery and the baby. And I guess he’s right. My appointment is on Monday and we’ll see what she says.

As for the house, the cleaning people did start working today and it seems we will be able to move back home once we get back from the beach house. There will be a couple of things missing, namely mirrors and cabinets, which can only be done in September because everything seems to close in August in this stupid country. Will post pictures later.

In which you find out what nutcase I really am.

I’m tired. I desperately want to go back to my own house, my own bed. It’s been a month now, and I’m seriously fed up.

The house is not ready and I honestly don’t believe it will be ready tomorrow, as they are saying. The cleaning company will, however, start cleaning tomorrow, whether or not the men are still there.
This morning we went there before coming to work and this brazilian guy was finishing tiling the bathroom. Some of the tiles were not exactly aligned (mind you, these are not big tiles, these are those tiny, 4cm tiles so their bound not to be perfectly aligned) and Zé Maria decided to call the architect and tell him he was unpleased about it. I went nuts, my blood started to boil and I nearly killed him. I couldn’t believe he was actually going to risk the architect (who is almost as anal as he is) having all the tiling removed and re-done just because a few of the fucking tiles are not perfectly aligned. The architect is there now, assessing the damage, and I am praying that he thinks it’s nothing (as I do, honestly) and can convince Zé Maria that it will not be noticeable in the overall picture (which it will not, I’m sure).
In 4 years of marriage, I don’t think I have ever been so angry at him. I guess that shows just how desperate I am hun?

I see his point really. We are staying at the beach house until the 15th and since we weren’t able to move back into the house when we came back from Brazil, it doesn’t really make a difference now, as long as it’s ready by the 15th. But somehow, that just doesn’t make me feel any better. I want the house to be ready now. The cleaning people are coming in tomorrow and if the tiling is re-done the house will be all dirty again after they leave and then I’ll have to clean it myself. And even if I’m not staying there, I want my house back.

It may be the hormones, or the back pain, or nesting instinct unsatisfied, but I feel I’m constantly on the verge of tears and I am seriously convinced that if my house is not ready by the time we come back from the beach house, I will be risking a depression. I know this sounds petty and ridiculous to everyone else but I’m seriously crying right now.

Not home yet

The house is not ready yet. They say it will be ready tomorrow but the way things are going I’m just not sure I believe them. We are planning on having the cleaning company come in by the end of the week so I’m just praying that the house is ready by then.
Meanwhile, we are staying at the beach house since yesterday, which means we have a one hour commute to work every day this week. R stays at the beach with one of my SILs and next week we’ll be on vacation again.
I am so used to walking to work everyday it’s killing me to have to wake up an hour earlier and drive to work. I had forgotten how much I hate traffic, particularly in the morning.

My mom is giving me a hard time because I haven’t started preparing for the baby yet, I haven’t bought anything and I haven’t even opened the boxes with R’s clothes to see what is usable. I know I’m only 27 weeks along and have plenty of time and I know I’m not even home so there is no way I could do these things even if I wanted to. And I told her all that.
But the fact is that I can’t help feeling a little guilty. When I was 27 weeks along with R I had almost everything ready, her room was all done and I had tons of clothes all washed up and folded in her drawer. This time, I feel almost like I’m neglecting this baby, and it’is preventing me from bonding with him like I should be doing.
Maybe it was all a big mistake to have the bathrooms remodelled now and to go on vacation instead of staying home preparing for the baby. But at the same time I don’t think it would be fair to R not to fully enjoy my last summer alone with her.
Anyway, what is done is done. Now let’s just hope the house is ready and clean by the time we come back from the beach house so we can finally settle in and start nesting.