The Hits Just Keep On Coming

It seems like an entire year has passed since I last updated this blog.  SO much has happened and unfortunately the main part of it has to be filed in the "unbloggable" category.  I used to HATE it when people did that shit when I read blogs so I sincerely apologize for that, but I will tell you as much as I can and if you want more details, feel free to email me and I will give you all the info.  But since most of the people who read my blog know me in real life, they probably already know what I am referring to.  For those who don't, someone close to me and my life made the ultimate in bad decisions and did something life altering and earth shattering that could have very easily resulted in death.  That is all the information I am going to give on this very public forum, but needless to say it shook me to the core.  And for someone who is supposed to be avoiding stress at all costs, this put more stress on me than I have lived through in a very long time.

So here I am failing at the whole avoiding stress thing.

Since I can't publicly bitch about the unbloggable I will publicly bitch about finances.  I have mentioned on here before about how I was counting on a pretty significant bonus from one of my clients to get me through my maternity leave.  After over a month from working from home to make sure I lived up to my end of the arrangement I was given the go ahead to cut the check today.  Sounds great, right?  Well the shitty part is that they told me to cut the check for HALF the amount the I was expecting.  Half.  Holy shit.  Unbe-freaking-lievable.  So let me recap.  I was expecting to get a $10,000 bonus check and also expecting approximately a $5,000 tax refund.  That would give me enough money to live for about 3 months (yes, I know...I live in the Bay Area of California which is arguably one of the most expensive places to live in the entire US).  Even getting all of that money I would have been pretty screwed considering I have already been off work for a month and a half and the baby isn't even here yet.  My plan originally was to use that money for the three months I was going to take off after the baby arrived.  So you can see how my plan has already been thwarted...

And now...my bonus that was supposed to be for $10,000 only came in at $5,000.  And I am indeed getting back approximately $5,000 as a tax refund, BUT it turns out I made too much money last year and therefore between what I owe at the end of the year combined with my estimates that are also due on the 15th, I owe the tax man $2,500.  (How can I get money back and also owe money you ask?  The Ex and I do our taxes together and make it so that she gets a fat refund that we then split.  Being self employed I pay estimates and usually end up breaking even or even getting some money back which usually goes toward the estimate that is due on April 15th so I usually don't owe anything out of pocket on the 15th and just get to pocket half of The Ex's refund).  Oh, and on top of that it apparently cost us $1,250 to get our taxes done this year, so that has to be paid as well.

So final tally:  Amount expected to receive:  $15,000.  Amount actually received?  $6,800.

The hits, they just keep on coming...

A final note for today...my update on my doctors appointment.  The Girl was all over the place during her NST so I was totally convinced that she had passed with flying colors.  She did indeed pass, but apparently it was still just "by the skin of her teeth."  Or maybe they just like to fuck with me and tell me that every time.  I don't know.  I told my favorite nurse about the stress that had come down over the weekend and she was absolutely floored at what I had been through and ran out the door to look at what my blood pressure had been.  I know this is going to be shocking but guess what?  It was up.  I know, I know, total shock.  So they took it again after I had been laying down for the NST and the top number was still crap, but the bottom number went back down to 78 so that was good.  (I think "normal" is 120 over 80 and mine was 145 over 78 at the end).  My doctor heard this and made mention of "squeaking out just a little more time" and thankfully they sent me home.  They took pity on my sad, tired, pitiful little ass and blissfully sent me home.

I am 35 weeks today and my next appointment is this Friday.  My best guess is that if my blood pressure either goes down (by some miracle) or stays the same I will be good to go through the weekend.  But if it is at all elevated I think I am being checked in and my guess is that this baby will make her arrival sometime over the weekend.  So all of you internets out there...please think low blood pressure thoughts for me on Friday.  I need it.  Oh, and send some cash.  :)

Second Verse Same As the First

So I am home from my morning doctors appointment...BUT.  You knew there had to be a but, right?  Right.  The little shit (sorry, I'm tired...) failed her test...AGAIN.  Although my poor nurse feels sorry for me so isn't sending me straight over to the hospital.  I am to come home and eat lunch and then go back to the doctors office to get hooked up again and try to get her to pass.  If she doesn't?  Hospital.  Again.

Now although I am very happy that this child is still residing inside my belly and that according to my nurse she doesn't seem at all discontented...I am getting extremely tired of being hooked up to machines for all hours without being able to move or read (have to lay on my side and can't comfortably hold ANYTHING) or really do anything but sit and listen to a heart beat is not my idea of a good time.  Obviously the most important thing in my world right now is getting this baby here as healthy as possible, but really, I would SO MUCH rather be enjoying this 75 degree day with my son outside having lunch together.  And instead I am shoving food into my mouth and heading back to the doctors office to try this whole thing again.  And if she doesn't pass then we go to the hospital for another fun-filled afternoon of MORE monitoring...  In case you're keeping track, I am 34 weeks and 3 days today...

I will update this post WHEN (not if, damnit) I get home later this evening to let you all know we are home and good to go for the weekend...

Edited to add:  Okay we got sprung.  And we didn't even have to go to the hospital.  She passed at the doctors office after lunch.  Maybe I need to start making all of my appointments for after lunch.  I am pretty sure my next appointment on Tuesday is at 12:30 so hopefully we can avoid all this early-morning monitoring next time...

My nurse did reiterate that my doctor doesn't think I am going to make it much past the 36 week mark.  She said my doctor is very nervous about me and is probably going to err on the side of caution and get this baby out.  So we talked a little bit about what to expect if that's the case in terms of steroid shots to mature lungs, projected size of the baby, and what will happen after my c-section (they will take the baby away for evaluation and I most likely won't get to see her for a few hours--like what happened with The Boy and like what I didn't want to happen this time).  But the ultimate outcome needs to just be a healthy baby and Mommy so I am trying to focus on that.

As of now I am going to try and salvage a beautiful afternoon with my son and shake away some of this apprehension and nerves that I seem to be carrying around.  Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Insurance Woes...

I just read this post by Amalah and it made me weep.  Not just for her precious son Noah, but because it could so very easily be my son.  I realized that I am somewhat of a rookie in terms of what insurance companies make us go through to provide services that are so necessary for our kids.  As Moms it is our job to fight for them.  And of course after reading Amalah's post I am writing-shy because I will never be able to express the frustrations or annoyances in the amazing manner that she can.  But I am going to give it a shot because this is an issue that needs to be talked about.

I wrote back when The Boy turned three about how he graduated from SARC and now I was on my own paying for his individual speech therapy.  He did actually qualify for half an hour of speech therapy through his school district, which he is getting.  But I didn't want to pull him from his private therapy so I have been paying out of pocket for that and submitting the claims to the insurance company for reimbursement.  This is what we had done before we applied, and were accepted, to SARC and the insurance company had reimbursed us for like 80% of the amount.  The Boy's insurance is through The Ex, and fortunately she has great insurance, so I figured it would be a no brainer to do it again.  They had covered it before, so no reason to assume they wouldn't cover it now.  

I started submitting the claims in January right after his birthday and right when I started paying out of pocket.  I have been asking The Ex since then if we have received any checks (since it is her insurance, all checks are made out to her and sent to her) and she just kept telling me that she hadn't gotten anything.  I knew that we had a $250 deductible to meet so I figured the first month's payments were probably going toward his deductible (I pay $67 a week for his therapy so that first month alone would have taken us to our deductible).  So that would have accounted for January.  And you know, sometimes it takes them a while to process and get payments out, so I kept asking The Ex but kept "ignoring it" when she said she hadn't received anything.  Finally around the middle of March I realized something was going on.  I got the information from The Ex to access the website myself (needed her user name and password to gain access to it) and saw the dreaded phrase, "Need more information."  When I clicked through it said the claims were on hold because they needed "proof from a doctor that services are a medical necessity."  That statement was issued in the middle of January.  Everything has literally been on hold since then.  They haven't even been putting my claims toward his deductible.  It is all just stopped.  Pissed that I had let things sit this long and irritated that The Ex had not bothered to look into it at all, I started making phone calls.

I called the insurance company first and asked what specifically they needed.  The Boy has like 8 doctors.  I understood they wanted proof, but from where?  His pediatrician?  His gastro (who diagnosed his failure to thrive)?  His speech therapist?  "I will get you whatever proof you need, I just need to know what the hell that actually is," I told the insurance dude.  As usual, he was totally useless and just kept repeating to me that whatever doctor ordered the services needed to prove to them it was medically necessary.  And even if they could, there is still a chance that they will deny coverage.  Great.  So helpful.  I don't know who actually orders his services.  He has been in therapy since he was 12 months old.  He is three.  He gets assessed all the time, which is what shows that he needs continued services, but that has either been by his speech therapists, or by SARC, or most recently, by the state.  His pediatrician has been involved in the process in that he checks with him at his yearly appointment and agrees that he definitely does need services and that we are continuing to get them for him.  But that's it.  So where the hell do I start?

I called the office where he gets his speech therapy.  They are lovely.  There's a reason I continue to take him there.  I explained the situation to the receptionist who told me that sometimes it is as simple as having the pediatrician write out a prescription on his prescription pad saying that this is a medical necessity that he receives a half hour a week of speech therapy.  Or that sometimes the insurance companies will take a letter from the therapist themselves even though they are technically not a "doctor."  She says she will talk to his therapist, plus the head lady at the place and will come up with a plan, but in the meantime it can't hurt to call his pediatrician and see if they can write him a "prescription" for services.  I thank her profusely and hang up and call his pediatrician.  

They are also lovely (I told you we have great insurance) and told me they would leave the doctor a note and have him take care of it or call me with any questions.  They literally called me back like half an hour later and said it was done and that I could come by and pick it up right away.  They rule.  So I went and picked it up the next day and took it with me to The Boy's weekly speech therapy appointment.  I explained the situation to his therapist and showed her the note from his pediatrician.  It was very brief and just said his name and that he needed half hour a week of speech therapy and it was being provided by [speech therapist's name] and that it was a medical necessity.  His therapist didn't think that would be sufficient given her experience dealing with insurance companies.  She told me she thought we would need a more comprehensive letter talking about his oral difficulties directly affecting his lack of eating which leads to the failure to thrive diagnosis.  That made sense to me, so I held onto the letter from his pediatrician and waited for her to write up a letter putting all that other stuff together.

Friday of last week I got a message from her telling me she needed to get the information about what exactly his weight is and has been, and his current diagnosis etc. in order to put the letter together.  Makes sense, of course she does.  I have written down what he weighs when we take him in, but other than that I don't have the information at my fingertips.  So I needed to call his gastro doctor to get that info to pass along to his speech therapist.  This week has been crazy (eg: cousin in town and working all day Monday, spent all day yesterday at the hospital...) so today was the first chance that I got to call and request a copy of his records.  His gastro doctor cut me off before I could even finish asking the question and told me that I would have to go to their website and put in a request for medical records and then that would go to the medical review board and after everything had been approved, I would be able to access his records.

I just need his weight to tell his speech therapist, I thought to myself.  And that sounds like an awfully long process...  So I cut HER off and explained to her what I needed and why.  She then told me that I had probably filled out a release form when I enrolled The Boy in speech therapy and if they had that on file, then they could just directly fax a request over to the gastro and they would get the records the same day.  Yes, that was definitely the shorter of the two options and probably the easiest.  Great.  Okay, no problem.

So I called back his speech therapy office AGAIN and asked if he had a release form on file.  She said she thought we probably did, and she would pull his records to find out.  And if for some reason we didn't have one on file, she would leave it for me when I come to his regular appointment tomorrow and I could just fill it out.  Once they have that, they can directly request his records, get them to his speech therapist, who can start to put together the letter needed to send to his insurance company.  Jesus Christ, I am exhausted.

So let's recap.  I started paying $67 a WEEK on January 6th of 2009.  It is now March 25th of 2009 and I have been paying out of pocket for his speech therapy that entire time.  I first realized that the claims were being denied at the beginning of March (thanks, Ex) and we are still not even ready to send to his insurance the information they need.  And once we send it over, we have to A) hope that it is sufficient to show medical necessity and B) even if it is, hope that this is something they will cover.  Oh and add to that the minor little fact that I am about to have a baby ANY FRIGGIN' DAY NOW and that will undoubtedly delay the process even further and we are probably looking at sometime in June that we might, possibly be able to receive a reimbursement check.

In the meantime, I am shelling out over $250 a month of money that I DO NOT HAVE (hence the bed rest and no working thing) for him to get his therapy.  I consider canceling it all together because he IS getting some therapy paid for by the state (although I don't think it's as good as his current therapist and situation) and because, dear God, what good will his great speech do if we are living under a bridge?  But then I read the last line in that post by Amalah and I picture someone, anyone, possibly making fun of my precious boy because of the way he pronounces something and I swear that I will NEVER allow that to happen even if I have to sell my house and live in a van...down by the RIVER!!  Sigh...

We Like To Keep Things Interesting...

This is just a quick update.  I had my non stress test this morning and remember last time when they said she passed "by the skin of her teeth?"  Well this time she "failed by the skin of her teeth."  I guess during a non stress test they establish a base line heart rate (hers was 150, which I guess is good and strong) and then in a period of 20 minutes she is supposed to have 3 accelerations where her heart rate goes up by at least 15 points.  Well hers would go up to like 162 and then back down.  So she was literally like 3 points away from passing.  But...we didn't pass.  They made me drink some cold water and watched me for over an hour but no luck.  

So I have been sent home to eat lunch (and hope that makes her more active) and then I am supposed to go over to labor and delivery and check in at 1:00pm today.  They will do another non stress test there at the hospital and hopefully with their more sensitive machines she will pass like the good girl she is (cough).  Once I pass I get to go home.  I asked the doctor if I needed to bring my hospital bag and her answer was that it wouldn't be a bad idea, and that if I brought it, it would ensure that I didn't need it.  But that yeah, I should probably be packing that thing sooner rather than later.  Great.  So comforting.  But they all said her heart rate was strong and good and that she wasn't in fetal distress.  So those are all good signs.  Now I am off to eat some lunch and then head over to the hospital with the positive thinking that I will be back home in time to have dinner with my little boy.  Here's hoping!  :)

(Edited to add:  I am home from the hospital, thank God.  I was hooked up and monitored for about an hour when the nurse came in and told me to drink some cold water and flip to my other side because the baby wasn't doing her thing.  Then she looked at my print out and realized that she had "passed" right when we had arrived.  She was just looking at the last half an hour or so of the print out and when she looked at the whole printout she realized we were free.  So I was only there a little over an hour and now I am home again and able to enjoy dinner with The Boy.  Phew!  I am free until Friday when we start the whole process over again...)

The Friday Baby Update

As usual I had my Friday doctors appointment today.  Overall the news was pretty good.  It wasn't fabulous, but it wasn't horrendous either.  When I got there they took my blood pressure and it was good.  I believe it was 129 over 80.  So the medication continues to keep that in check.  Good news.

Then I went into the exam room and was hooked up to the monitors for an NST (non stress test).  For those who don't know, what that means is they monitor the baby's heart beat and I believe they are looking for 3 accelerations in a 20 minute period of time.  I am not positive, but I believe that is what is needed for a "pass."  I am apparently visibly exhausted right now because after the nurse hooked me up to the monitors she asked if I would like the lights turned down so I could rest during the test.  Fabulous idea!  I am literally not sleeping more than 1 hour at a time right now at night and just the physicality of living is making me feel more tired than I have ever felt in my life.  I know that is just normal end of pregnancy stuff, but man, I am pooped.  So I was thrilled to have the lights turned down and be able to just lay down with the rhythmic sound of my little girl's heart beat in the back ground.  It sounds exactly like horses galloping to me.  So I relaxed and listened to the "horses" and waited.

My favorite nurse came in to chat with me a couple of times (I was seeing the doctor today) and the doctor stopped by a couple of times to see if we had "passed" yet, which we hadn't.  After almost 40 minutes she found enough stuff on the little sheet of paper to pass us, but she declared that she had barely passed, "by the skin of her teeth."  If the baby doesn't pass, by the way, they send me off to the hospital to be monitored there.  I guess the machines are much better at the hospital and they are able to pick up the accelerations better than the ones at my OB's office.  So then we chatted about the physical stuff (head aches, visual changes, extreme exhaustion, little swelling etc...) and she measured me.  I am still measuring a little bit big, which is good.  I think I measured at almost 35 weeks and I will be 34 weeks on Tuesday.  She told me that going forward she wanted to see me on both Tuesdays and Fridays for NST's from now on.  

She thought I was joking when I told her that Tuesdays weren't really a good day because I was busy...I guess since I am supposed to be on bed rest and completely off of work means that I shouldn't be working on Tuesdays.  Whoops.  I only have two days a week where my cousin is here to train and learn how to take over for me when I am out.  Those days are Mondays and Tuesdays.  So I usually do MUCH more than I am supposed to on those days but then take it easy on Wednesdays and Thursdays to try and make up for it.  So having to go to the doctors on Tuesdays puts a damper on that.  I will try and be better...I swear...

The not-so-great news came as I was getting ready to leave.  I told my doctor that I had scheduled my c-section for the 20th of April and she said, "Yes, I saw that.  I'm glad you did that."

I then said with a smile, "I'm going to make it to 38 weeks, right?"

And as she was walking out the door she answered, "Nope.  Not even close.  But we'll give you a couple more weeks..." and then she shut the door.

Now I have to admit that I have wondered how in the hell I am going to make it another 5 weeks to get to 38 weeks.  Not because I want this baby to come early.  Quite the contrary actually.  But within the last week or so I can physically feel myself slowing down and getting more and more tired and in more and more pain, and the "side effects" getting worse and worse.  I have expected to be put on full, strict bed rest within the next couple of weeks prior to delivery.  That's why I have been going probably more than I should be to try and get everything caught up before that happens.  But I don't think that "step" is going to happen.  I think my doctor is under the impression that I am pretty much on full bed rest (as in there is NO work going on at all, which really isn't the case) and the only next step would be to check me into the hospital.  She knows I am a single mom at home with a 3 year old son and knows that it is unrealistic to tell me I can't take care of my son at all.  And I really think that's all she thinks I am doing right now.  And it is my bad for "breaking" those rules.

So this is what I think is going to happen.  I think my doctor wants me to get to 36 weeks.  I think I will be monitored twice a week between now and then and if the baby "fails" any stress test, it is off to the hospital for me.  Once I get to the hospital, if the baby can "pass," then they will send me home.  If the baby doesn't "pass" in the hospital, I think I am staying there.  If it is between now and 36 weeks I think she will keep me in the hospital with 24 hour monitoring on the baby and obviously if something bad happens to the baby, she comes out.  But if not, I will stay until I hit at least 36 weeks.  And if she "fails" a stress test anytime after 36 weeks I think she is just going to want to deliver the baby.  Her comment today of "No, but we'll give you another couple of weeks" gives me the impression that she doesn't think my body is going to support taking care of this baby much past 36 weeks.

I have so many emotions about what is going on, but I will have to save that for another post.  I am too tired to think right now and all I know is that this baby wants me to go lie down and get off the computer.  It goes without saying that I am worried and scared and frustrated at my body and all of those wonderful emotions.  I think any mom would be.  You obviously want to provide the vessel for your child to get here, full term and completely healthy.  It makes me SO angry that my body doesn't seem to be able to do that.  And I am scared about what an early baby means and if we are going to be dealing with the NICU and how that will all affect her health and the ability to breast feed and...so...many...other...things...

But for tonight, she is in there, she is healthy and doing well, and I am off to bed.  Good night!

A Letter To My Mother On Her Birthday

Today is my mom's birthday. Anyone who reads my blog knows what an amazing person my mother really is. Since I have been on bed rest she has literally put her life on hold to help me and take care of my life. I have spent the past couple of weeks trying to come up with something to do for her for her birthday to thank her for all she has done recently and show her how much I love her. What I ended up doing was really quite simple. I went to Costco and bought her her favorite cake. I bought her a huge bouquet of flowers. I also went to her favorite store and got her an $100 gift card so she can buy herself something nice. But what I really wanted to do was to thank her. None of those things really do that. So I decided to go "old school" and sit down and write her out a letter. I think it gets my point across better than anything I could have spent money on. I thought you all might enjoy reading it:

Dear Mom,

I have been trying to think of a way to say "thank you" that can somehow convey how I truly feel about you virtually putting your life on hold for me. The words don't do it justice. I could tell you how much I love you and what an amazing mother you are to me, but that seems like it has been said before. I could try and explain what it means to me to have a mother who is my best friend and confidant in life but it feels like a bad Hallmark card. The words feel too empty because it is not through words that you show me love and teach me how to be a better person. It is through your actions. The way that you love me and my children makes us better people by the mere fact that we get to be around you to experience it.

Maybe it is because I am fully immersed in this parenthood thing, or maybe it is because I am currently pregnant with my second child, but for some reason I find myself at a point where I look back on ALL of that actions and decisions you have made over the course of being my mother and I marvel at how you have done it all with such grace and dignity. You would say that you have made mistakes. And you have. We all have and we all will. In fact it is through THOSE times that have shown the true grace and dignity of who you are. You make it all seem so easy. And perhaps before I was trying to trudge through it myself, I thought it WAS easy. But being a parent isn't easy, and doing right by your children is a life-long, full time job. And here I am, 34 years after it all began and I need you now as my mother perhaps more than ever. And you are still here. Still parenting me, and stepping up to help parent my own children.

"Thank you" will never be sufficient. What I hope WILL be is the promise that I am taking in all that you are and all that you do, and I am tucking it away inside of me to pull on when I need it. If I can be HALF the mother to my own children that you have been to me, and if when they reach adulthood they can feel HALF the love and acceptance and guidance that I have, then and only then will I feel as though I have "thanked you" properly. I cannot tell you how lucky we are to have you in our lives. [The Boy], [The Girl] and I are all going to be better people because of you. You mean more to us than I could ever tell you. We all love you with all of our hearts and souls and wish you the best birthday in the world!

I love you Mom!! Happy Birthday!!

I Believe They Call This "Nesting"

Even though I am supposed to be resting, I believe what I am actually doing could be considered "nesting."  Close enough?  But really, when one actually books their c-section for 5 short weeks away...it becomes apparent that a baby will be arriving soon whether one is ready or not.  And prior to this last week I would have definitely been in the "not ready" category.  I believe I am better now.  After my doctors appointment last Friday I headed over to BRU.  I bought some much needed essentials: a couple of packages of diapers, a few binky's, some changing mats (those things that go on top of the changing table cover to keep nasty poo away from pink cuteness...), a package of starter bottles (plan is to breast feed but who knows what will happen), a nice clean bulb syringe (because re-using those = gross!), that kind of stuff.  Nothing overly fun or exciting, but just stuff you need to have on hand when the baby comes.

I should note that thanks to the excellent physical condition I am in (insert sarcasm here) I made it through approximately 3/4 of the store before I started getting light headed and started seeing spots and basically felt like I might pass out in the bedding isle.  Fortunately they have those lovely rockers there where I just took a little break.  The Boy very helpfully pointed out to every single customer that walked by, "My mommy hava a baby in der.  She hava rest now.  We go on in da minute..."  I'm sure they all cared SO much...  :)

A couple of weeks ago my mother helped me to completely get all The Boy's stuff out of the closet in the nursery and move it to his big boy room.  So now at least the closet in the nursery belongs to The Girl exclusively.  I decided that it was high time to wash some of the clothes that I have for her and get them ready as well.  So everything that was newborn sized got washed.  So did some blankets and some wash clothes and some burp rags.  Here is a shot of her closet as it stands right now...  

All the clothes on the bottom rung have been washed and all the stuff on the top has not.  But all the stuff in the little hanger-thingie (yes, that's a technical term) on the side is ready to go as well.  It seems like I don't have nearly enough things for her, but we SO overbought when The Boy was little that I am trying to not repeat my mistakes.  I have a friend who is having twin boys (Hi C!) and she is the lucky recipient of ALL of The Boy's old clothes.  And seriously, even though she is having twins, she might not have to buy anything.  Ever.  Again.  The Boy has more clothes than any one little boy should.  It is almost embarrassing.  So I am trying not to do that this time with The Girl.  But still it feels a little sparse...although we still have 5 weeks.

The other thing that is needed pretty much as soon as you get home from the hospital is a bouncy seat.  The one we used for The Boy is quite sad and the metal framing doesn't even allow it to sit up straight anymore.  So it needed to be replaced.  There are very few things that I am buying for this second child.  The only stuff she is getting is stuff that I either A) didn't have the first time around, or B) is in such a sad state that I wouldn't allow my cats to sit in it.  The bouncy seat fit category B.  So here is the newly purchased seat:
Notice how I couldn't bring myself to get the pink one.  I just couldn't do it.  It was just SO pink...it sorta made me nauseous.  You can't really tell in this picture, but some of the little circles on the pattern part of this are feminine looking.  Good enough!  My little girl can be butch if she wants to!  :)

When we brought The Boy home from the hospital The Ex was adamant that he was NOT going to sleep in our bed, or in our room for that matter.  Our room was supposed to be reserved for our "romantic life" and wasn't to be tarnished by a baby being allowed in there.  (You can see how well THAT worked out given that she left me and moved out when The Boy was 6 months old...but I won't go into that here...)  But because of that we didn't buy any sort of co-sleeper or bassinet.  We used our pack n play and set it up out in the living room for when he was out there and other than that he was in his crib.  This time around, given that it is just me (blissfully), I have every intention of having this little girl in my room, or in my living room, or wherever the hell I want her to be.  The pack n play is lovely, but it is far too large to be moving around all over the place.  So basically the only other "thing" I bought for the new baby was a bassinet.  My super star step dad put it together last weekend and I think it is too cute.  I love it.  I can't wait to see her sleeping away in it...
So as you can see, this last weekend was definitely one of "nesting."  I think I am pretty much ready for her.  Of course there are lots of little things that still need to be done.  Her bedding has been ordered but has not arrived yet, and there are still little touches that need to be done to the nursery to de-boy it and make it ready for his sister.  But overall I am feeling much more calm about the arrival of this baby.  One of the things that was still hanging out in the nursery was The Boy's name in letters on the wall.  This weekend I took them down and told him that it was time to put them into his big boy room.  They were painted a light green color in the nursery, but that won't work in his new room.  So I took him to the craft store and told him he could pick out any color he wanted to paint his letters for his new room.  He chose red.  And when we got home we both (lord help me) painted his letters from baby green color to big boy red color.  Here is a shot of him in action:
He was so proud of himself for doing it.  And his room is really taking shape.  We also bought The Girl's letters and a lovely lavender paint for those (The Boy picked that color as well).  They were out of one of the main letters we need for her name so it isn't quite ready yet, but we are getting close.  

And if you made it all the way through this ridiculously long post I will reward you with my monthly belly shot.  It is a week late as I have been doing the other ones at 12, 16, 20, 24...weeks.  So this one should have been my 32 week shot but it was taken today, St. Patrick's Day (hence the color), the day that I hit 33 weeks.  Less than 5 more weeks to go...