The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Whew! What an exciting weekend.

Doug finally got me convinced that not only do we need a bigger car (that's kind of obvious) but that a minivan (bleck!) was the best option. And with ever fluctuating gas prices and the fact that I cringe when I even fill the jeep I had to eventually agree that while the thought of a nice shiny Suburban would be awesome, it's just not the smart choice. So Friday night we headed down to the dealership and left with a 2003 Chrysler Town & Country.

It handles nice and doesn't feel like a giant beast of a car, which I was worried about. The kids absolutely love it. There's what we thought was a DVD player (turned out to be a VCR!) for the kids - we'll get that switched out. They have lots of room to spread out and there's even a plug for Krysty's car charger in the back. So no more fighting with Mom over who gets to plug the phone in.

Saturday we finished our Hypnobirthing class. The techniques we learned have really helped me relax and I know will help make the labor easier. It is nice now that we don't have to be there every Saturday morning at 9! Doug and I are not morning people and it just doesn't do will for us to have to be up and functioning together that early on the weekend. It was nice to spend the time together. There was lot of focus on closeness and it was something that we had to stop and work on together. With our opposing schedules it was nice to just sit close.

On the way home from the class we were in a minor fender-bender. Nothing major, but enough to dent the new bumper! Someone just pulled out to make a left turn. Luckily I was paying attention and the damage was not as bad as it could have been. By the time we collided we were almost stopped. There was a split second that I thought we missed but it wasn't to be. So we exchanged information and called the insurance companies (this is why they make you talk to your insurance company before you leave the dealership!). Then we took Krysty over to Ma and Pa Strange so we could go have me and baby monitored.

Everything was fine. They did blood tests and monitored Fiona's heartbeat for about 4 hours. She was showing off by moving around a bunch and kicking the monitors and even had a bout of the hiccups. Which is funny when you can "hear them" on the monitor. I had a few contractions but nothing that the doctors said we should be concerned about. He checked my cervix manually (damn I was hoping to get through this whole pregnancy without one of those!) and said that everything still seemed fine. My cervix is still high and closed but it is softening. This particular doctor said that since I'm at 30 weeks that I should expect another 6 weeks but not much more than that. We have another doctor's appointment on Friday for a cervical length and will talk with them then about what they think. Our midwife is comfortable delivering at 36 weeks here at home and so are we. Besides, we need to get firmly out of October anyway. I'm hoping to spread the birthdays out at least a little bit!

Sunday was a little more relaxing. We are trying to get the house in order. Doug finished up the touch-ups in the bedroom and he'll finish the ceiling this weekend. We got the crib put together and set up, the room rearranged, the changing table painted and set up and the carpets cleaned. Pa Strange came over too and expertly took on the task of sanding and staining the dresser. That turned into a bigger project than any of us anticipated but I know it will come out so much more beautiful than if I did it. I think he's coming over today to work on it some more. As soon as it's all pulled together I'll post some more pictures. It's really looking great! Of course now all the girls want to know when they get to have their rooms painted! Oh boy. Well, guess we'll have to start working on that.

Well that was our exciting weekend - my new, albeit broken in car, good baby news and slow but sure progress on getting the room ready for an extra occupant. I'm hoping for a much calmer one to come. We've got our midwife appointment next weekend is all and so hopefully we can all get some much needed rest!