Bed Resting (& Shopping)

I write to you from Bed.  My big, comfy bed.  Yes, yes, I almost always write from my bed.  I gave up computing from my desk about the same time I switched to a laptop. ; )

But.  The reason I'm in bed this sunny (cold) Saturday is some bedrest. : (  I  had some horrible pain (ripping/stabbing about two inches below my belly button) strike me this week, and again Thursday night.  By Friday morning after some (bad) Google-time, I called my doctor's office.  They told me to come right in.  I waited around for Ches to get home from Mass (in Rogers), but it was taking soooo long, so I left.

They checked my abdominal muscles for hernia (no), cervix (closed), my fetal fibronectin (tells if you will go into labor in the next 7 days, negative), my blood (just trace bacteria they are culturing now), temperature (normal), urine (normal), and an ultrasound.  It was also "normal".  Carter is moving, good heart rate, he's up to 2 lbs. 4 oz, and his placenta does not seem to have pulled away from my uterus (the concern).  It's hard to determine for sure, but there is no pooling liquid (blood) behind it, so it's most likely fine.  When I told the ultrasound tech where the pain was, she checked, and there are his knees, all bunched up against my tummy, right below my belly button.  Umm..I'm telling you-the pain was nowhere near kicking/pushing pain-it felt like something was ripping.  So..

The doctor asked if I worked (paid job?  No.  Work really hard at home?  Yes.), and said then she couldn't tell me to quit.  She just said to go home and rest, and to come back Monday for a recheck.  Hopefully no more big pain (none yet), and lots of Downtime. (i.e. internet maternity/baby shopping, Kindle shopping/reading, visiting your blogs, Girl Scout cookie tallies, movie rentals, getting stuff ready to turn in for taxes..)  I know it's only been a day, but I think I could do it.  Even if it's lifted, I think I'll take it easy for the next few weeks.  All in the name of Healthy Baby. : )

So..shopping..I have now found a Beaba baby food maker that I must have (plus its accoutrements and recipe books).  I made all Clay's baby food (purees), and some of Mary Claire's.  Poor Ethan got boxed rice cereal and jar food.  I feel bad, so this baby shall get homemade food. (and Clay is such an amazing eater now!)  I just have to have all the cutesy stuff (I know, I did it with no tools last time..but the Beaba blends, steams, purees, defrosts all in one little unit.)  Magical. ; )

And I found the cutest little paci thing last week, a Wubbanub, and had to order it.  It was smaller than I thought it'd be-about the size of a small beanie baby (remember those?):

Ok, and please reassure me it is not a girl paci.  Ches promised it didn't look girly.

The pacifiers are the ones given out in the hospital, made by Avent (my fave), and now, they have these adorable little creatures sewn onto them, to help baby hold on to them!  We picked the lamb, so it wouldn't interfere so much with his clothes. ; )  The giraffe was cute, but so busy visually!  All the pictures on Amazon.com are of the babies cuddling the animal, holding on to it.  I don't think we'll try it right away to avoid nipple confusion, but by a couple months, we'll try it out.  I do love a paci at church. ; )  The only weird thing about these Soothie pacifiers..is you can see into baby's mouth when they are sucking since the nipple is hollow/uncovered.  Weird.  I also bought some orthodontic Avent pacis just in case he is not loving the lamb on his chest. ; )

I also found a baby bathtub and a swing that we'll need.  We can find the stretchy insert for Ethan's baby tub, but can't find the actual tub it fits into!  And..our swing (and our other baby gear for that matter!) had been loaned out so many times, it has really taken a beating.  Not to mention, that most of it is 11.5 years old.  (No, we won't discuss the fact that I'll have kids at Hunt Elementary for 17 years..we'll all be best friends!)  Anyway, the pack-n-play is still going strong, and our good baby furniture was a great investment.  And all those tiny onesies and baby Keds?  Still white and pretty perfect. ; )

Ok, obviously I have time on my side today..I'd better finish up all the linking (heehee, sorry!), and maybe finish one of my new books?