37 Weeks

I intended to post last week after my 36 week appointment, which I felt was one of the best appointments I've had in a while.  Why?  I learned that the baby was already head-down.  That was the most information I've gotten about Thumper in awhile. 

Me at 37 weeks

My appointment yesterday was fine - apparently I was negative for the Group B Strep test they did last week, because they didn't tell me that I was positive.  That's good.  Also, the baby is apparently still very comfortable in the womb and doesn't plan to make an appearance too early.  That's good, too; Clara's new room somehow still has a massive amount of books, workout equipment, and a king-size bed in it.  In other words, it's not ready for her to move out of the nursery.  (I am working on her bedroom now, and will post about it soon.)  Somehow the 8 months of preparation time that we've had so far as not been enough :-) 

Let the Preparations Begin

Last Wednesday, we began work on the nursery. How exciting! Actually, let me clarify. We hired someone to begin work on the nursery. :-D My mother-in-law came up with the idea to transform a small hallway and walk-in-closet into a nursery. While I am VERY sad to lose my walk-in-closet, this idea puts the baby’s room right next to the master bedroom, instead of being at the other end of the house. I know that in the middle of the night, I’ll be glad it’s just a few steps away.
So, this idea involved a small amount of demolition and a small amount of construction. We’ve hired a man whose done a lot of work for friends of ours, and he’s moving right along.

I’ve been waiting to make decisions on colors and patterns until I could see the room and the amount of space we’re talking about. From our floor plan, the room was to be approximately 8’x10’, but I think it is smaller than that in reality. No big deal – less to paint and the less stuff it takes to make the room look ‘finished.’ This weekend, Pat and I bought some touch-up paint for the trim and ceiling, as well as some light fixtures for the room.

I’ve looked at baby cribs online, and I must say, most of them all look the same. I mean, how is one to choose? Honestly! I take that back – I’ve seem some very “hip” ones that are oval-shaped, but I’ve decided that’s not for me. So that brings me back to the rectangular, familiar, baby crib. Yes, there are differences in wood colors, there are probably differences in safety features (I guess), and there are the obvious price differences. One thing that is cool is that a lot of these cribs convert from a crib to a toddler’s bed to a twin-size bed. I suppose that justifies the investment (or that’s the retailers’ logic, anyway).

Oh, let me just state that it is DIFFICULT to go gender-neutral for a nursery. Not in theory, but in practice. It’s not only the color issue, but the pattern issue. So far, I’m leaning toward a chocolate brown, a tan, and a soft green accent for the colors. Now, if I could only find some crib bedding that would match. I’ve seen some, but they always throw a dot of pink in there or a stripe of blue. Come on, Babies-R-Us, Baby Gap, et al. – some people don’t know if their baby’s a boy or a girl! Let us have a surprise!