Doctor Visit and GBS

I had my weekly doctor's appointment today.  The first thing I asked the doctor was if he could take her out today.  He said no.  Jerk.


It was a bit of an emotional visit after that, however, because he told me I was positive for Group B Strep, the bacteria they tested me for last week.  I started sobbing, so it turned into a little therapy session.  


Group B Strep, which is not related to Strep like Strep throat, is a bacteria that 10-35% of the pregnant female population hosts in their vaginal and/or rectal regions.  It is completely harmless to adults, but there is a chance of it being transmitted to the baby during delivery.  If the baby were to transmit the Strep, she could develop serious infections or pneumonia soon after birth.


What it means for me is that I will be on IV antibiotics during labor and delivery to reduce the chance of passing it along.  However, since I am allergic to penicillin, they will have to do some testing on me to see which antibiotic I will be able to tolerate.  I did not ask whether we will be able to do that ahead of time or it will be done when I get to the hospital since I was too busy freaking out and crying, but when I am calm tomorrow I will call and ask more questions.


The doctors say the chance of the baby having any complications is VERY slim since we will be prepared with antibiotics, but I can't help but freak out and feel so guilty.  This THING I have inside me could seriously hurt my baby, and that is my fault.  Okay, so I had no control over being one of the population to have this bacteria (it is not contracted or developed due to something I did), but it is still in ME and I am now exposing my baby to another complication on a day that could be full of complications.


Plus, I don't know as much about this as the doctors, so it is hard to just think, Oh, okay, they will hook me up to an IV.  No problem.  I keep thinking of the what-ifs:  What if I am at work and it takes me a long time to get to the hospital?  What if she is exposed to the bacteria before they have a chance to get the IV up and running? What if my sensitivity to most drugs causes problems and the antibiotics are not delivered on time or efficiently?  I never claimed to be someone who doesn't overreact or over-think things.


After that whole big bombshell he dropped on me, he checked the heartbeat, and it was loud and strong, and then told me it was good that I was having a few sporadic contractions.  After that, I was all prepared for him to check and see if I was dilated, but he says they don't do that until the 39th week unless there is a very good reason. He said many doctors don't do that preemptively anymore because it is very painful, and contractions or water breaking is a much more accurate sign of progress.  He said I could request one at any time, but at their practice they will not ever induce me unless there is an excellent reason, so if I was dilated and not contracting, they would just tell me to hang in there.


So, I asked him if I could request him breaking my water.  He said no. Again.  Even after I offered to bake him a cake.  Jerk.


After calling Jeremy and my mom sobbing, I went to Joann Fabric and finally bought some fabric for sheets for the cradle (I am going to keep her in our room for a while in the cradle my dad made for me when I was a baby).  I also finally bought a canvas, paints, and brushes to get started on a painting I want to make to hang in her nursery above the crib.  I hope it turns out!!!


Then I moped around the rest of the night, because crying exhausts me!  I know this Group B Strep is not the hugest thing in the world, but I am so frustrated and feel so out of control.  I have been trying so hard to do everything right, and now there is nothing I can do to minimize this risk for her.  I guess this is just practice for the rest of her life, right? :)  

Hey! We finally did some stuff! And then I got a massage!

We have been slowly (very slowly) working on the nursery, and now that we had the shower and have wonderful things like a crib and a glider, we finally got cracking.

(Slight backtrack -- yes, I know I still have not written about the shower, and I plan to, but a little side note: Jeremy's mom and grandma bought us a crib and crib mattress and then his mom and dad were nice enough to bring both, along with a dresser I had at my parents' house that I wanted to refinish, all the way to our house last night and then stayed for dinner.  We are lucky to have people like them in our lives!)

SOO, since we had some new big things to assemble, today we did THIS!

(Reminder:  We are still renting, so the paint and carpet is out of our control, but I think we got pretty lucky that it looks like a nursery anyway and doesn't have Big Bird yellow paint on the walls like the office does)

Here is the wall the crib is on

Close-up of the awesome crib, the quilt Jeremy's mom made for the baby (!!) and coordinating sheets

This is the window that faces the foot of the crib.  I can't wait to fill the bookshelf with more books, and Jeremy can't wait to play music for the baby!

The glider!  SOOO comfortable!  (Jeremy put this together immediately for me when we got home from the shower!)  Decorated with the beautiful afghan my mom made for the baby.  Bobby hiding out behind the glider.  Baby's First Year calendar hanging on the wall.  This is on the wall opposite the crib, and to the right of the door when you walk in.

To the left of the doorway.  The wall the dresser/changing table will be on when we finish stripping it and refinishing it to match the crib.

We also had to take a big step today ... we had to move MoJo's scratching post out of this room and into the office.  When we first moved in, we really had no use for this room since we didn't have a bed for a guest room and we already had an office, so we put MoJo's scratching post under the window so he could watch birds in the tree right outside the window and just started calling it MoJo's bedroom.  

In the past year, he would really only go in there sporadically.  He would sharpen his claws, make noises at the birds for a half an hour, and then he was on to other places.  However, in the past two months, (after we started moving some baby things in) he has been in this room literally 23 hours a day.  He has made it very clear that he wants to remind us that it is HIS room.  But today was the day to move out.

This is the window that MoJo's scratching post used to be under

Now, his little perch is under this window in the office (notice the Big Bird yellow walls -- they're worse in real life; trust me), which is one of only TWO places in the house where sun actually shines in and animals can lay in sunbeams.  After we took him over to show him his new place, he stayed there for six straight hours! :)  I think MoJo will be okay after all!

After we put stuff together and hauled stuff out and stuffed things in the "closet" (which is really the stairs leading to the attic) that we will later put in the dresser, my sister Tracy came over and gave me a truly blissful massage (she is the BEST!) while Jeremy and her husband and kids went bowling and picked up pizza for dinner.  Then we had a nice evening of watching the kids climb the trees on our backyard while we sat around and talked.  It was an amazing day!

More Stuff For the Baby and More Gender Woes

I did not set out for Monday to be a big baby day, but it turned into one.

First, I went to visit my dear friend Melissa at her new house, and she gave me a gift for the baby!!  And look how perfect it is!!

Isn't that wonderful?  I think I am going to put some headphones on my belly and start playing it for the baby tonight.  I have such wonderful friends!!

After I spent some time with Melissa, I met my mom and dad for dinner.  After a delicious meal, we headed to Target to return some maternity clothes my mom had generously bought me ... but didn't fit. Sooo frustrating, since I had other shirts in the same size by the same designer, but these were like 15 sizes too big.  Grrr.  And then there really wasn't much there.  It really seems like when I was wishing I were pregnant, I saw awesome and inexpensive maternity clothes in my size everywhere, and now that I need them, there is like one rack at Target.  Oh well.  I got one really cute shirt, anyway.  

That same night we also went to Joann Fabrics to do some looking around.  I found some fabric on sale that would be perfect for receiving blankets.  

One was a cute neutral:

This picture isn't amazing, but if you look hard, you can see pink, blue, and yellow.

And one was the prettiest little girl print in the whole wide world:

I figured I should make a few and then if I don't have a girl, I can save them for a little girl who might come in the future or give them to the next friend who has a girl. Either way, it was too cute to pass up.

Finally, I found a good pattern for baby bedding, since I have been LESS than impressed with the bedding I have found thus far.  Nothing is really THAT great, and everything costs WAY too much money, so I figured I could make my own:

Now, here comes the real problem:  Fabric.  If I am going to lovingly make all this bedding, I want it to be for that baby, and not just some neutral boring something.  I found the perfect fabric for a little girl's princess bedroom, and I have visions of a baseball bedroom for a little boy, BUT Jeremy is still being stubborn and wants to keep the sex a surprise.  Everyone knows there is no WAY I will make bedding AFTER the baby is born -- even though Jeremy still maintains we could do all the decorating after the baby is born so I could have a gender-specific bedroom and he can have his surprise.  I mean, come on.  He is clearly grossly underestimating the amount of exhaustion that will be happening around here when that newborn shows up.

I started looking for neutral stuff, and there is nothing I like ENOUGH to design a whole nursery around it.  I am just very disappointed.  I want to celebrate our little boy or little girl, and, in my mind, that includes a fun nursery and clothes that aren't ALL green or yellow.  How can I find a way to make both me and Jeremy happy???  (No, seriously, I need guidance!)