The Weekend

Another busy weekend, although this one wasn't really supposed to be that way.

Friday afternoon I got a call at work from my father-in-law. He and his girlfriend were planning on going to the riverboat in Cincinnati on Friday night and thought they'd come by on Saturday to visit. They haven't been here to visit since we moved into the house 2 1/2 years ago, so I was glad to have them come by. That meant, however, that Friday night I needed to do a little housecleaning. So when I got home from work I cleaned the house, did some laundry, and then started packing my hospital bags.

Saturday, Eric got up to go into work around 8:30 a.m. I decided to get up too and I went shopping at Target. I got most of the baby things we still needed that I could get there, plus alot of stuff for my labor and hospital bags and some baskets and boxes for baby storage. When packing my hospital bags, my main goal is to have as little as possible on the "pack last minute" list. So I made sure to get travel toiletries so we don't have to get anything out of the bathroom (except my makeup, which I am keeping in a bag on the counter, so we just have to grab it). I also didn't want to deplete Eric's wardrobe, so I bought him some new sweats and a couple of t-shirts that I could go ahead and pack. I also needed a robe to wear when walking the halls in my hospital gown, some slippers, and at least one front opening set of PJ's for afterwards when I'm trying to nurse. The Target expedition lasted until about noon and after spending lots of cash, I headed home. We weren't really sure when Gary and Christie would be in (they said afternoon), so after I got some lunch I decided to take an hour nap. When I got up they had just called and were about an hour away.

Gary and Christie got in around 3:30 p.m. We showed them the house which is much different than when we were moving in. They hadn't seen the new TV, Eric's Colt's basement, the painted old computer room, or of course the nursery. I think they were impressed with the quality of our crib as that was the item they had offered to help us with. After taking a look at the house, we left to get them checked into the hotel. They know they are welcome to stay with us, but they prefer a hotel so they can be more comfortable and they are both smokers, so they don't have to go outside to smoke, etc. After they got checked in, we decided to go to Babies R' Us. I still wanted to finish off my list of the last of the items needed before Grace comes. While we were there, Gary and Christie got stuck in the clothes section and when the time came to check out, they spent about as much as we did. We were of course, very appreciative. After shopping, we headed to Champps for dinner. It was very yummy as always. After dinner we just went back to the hotel and hung out until around 11:00 p.m. when Eric and I came home and went to bed.

Sunday morning we met back at the hotel for breakfast around 9:00 a.m. After breakfast we drove up to Powell to go to some antique stores, but most things didn't open until at least noon, so there wasn't much to see. After that, Gary and Christie headed back to Indiana and Eric and I went home. At 1:00 p.m. we went to BW3s to get some lunch and watch the Colts game. They won by a lot, so I didn't think we really needed to stay the whole time, but we did. We got home around 4:30 p.m. Then we left again at just after 6:00 to go to our final Childbirth Education class.

Eric was really nervous about this class because he was supposed to lead me through a "relaxation and visualization" exercise. He thought he had to do it in front of the class, but the teacher just turned the music on, the lights down, and left the room instructing us to "practice." We'd been having some problems with the position we are usually in. Eric sits against the wall, we put my two pillows in front of him, and I sit between his legs and lean back into him. Eric's legs always go to sleep and lately, sitting too much makes my back hurt. This time, we decided to have me lay on my left side with Eric laying behind me and rubbing my lower back. We practiced the breathing too and it seemed like a much better position for me. I could see me using that for part of labor. After the practice session we practiced "pushing." Actually, we just went over the breathing part of it, she didn't want us to actually bear down and break any waters while we were there. The end of class was spent talking a little bit about what to expect from your baby after birth, cord care, and just general questions. Overall a decent class and I think I feel much more comfortable with everything now. I'm getting excited about the upcoming birth. Maybe I should be more scared, but I'm going to go with the flow. I'll try to manage my pain, but I know there are drugs if I need them and no matter what happens, in the end I should get my beautiful baby girl.

Well, that was my weekend. Now it's back to another week of work. I have a doctor's appointment Thursday and now will have one every week.