Sure, honey, you can call them racing stripes

I feel such a sense of accomplishment!

Now before and of you yell at me for "overdoing it," know that this tape job has taken days, and that I paced myself, so Sprout was perfectly safe and happy during this stage of his nursery construction. =) And just to clarify for those of you who know the nursery is going to be blue: yes, that is painters tape, not blue stripes. I'm painting white accent stripes (in lieu of a chair rail).

We (and by "we" I mean Jim) are all ready to get some color onto these walls! I can't wait to post the "after" pics of Sprout's room. I'm hoping that all the painting can be completed in the next week or two, so that Jim can get the rest of the furniture assembled (and out of ours and John/Linda's living room(s), where they are currently stationed) and into place. Once the crib and changing table are situated, the real fun of decorating begins.

The next projects after painting and furniture placement will be curtain making (Grandma, I'm coming to Bellevue for this one) and upholstering the dresser drawers (Heidi, that's you and me, girl!). I can't tell you all how excited I am to see it all coming together and to know that in just a couple months, there is going to be a little person living in this room!!! Hopefully, he'll have a name by the time he moves in. =)

Finally, a bump

So many of our loved ones are so far away that they will not see me much (if at all) during this pregnancy, so this is just to let them all see that I am indeed starting to look pregnant. Jim took these pictures at 22w. It's only our second "belly picture." (The other one was taken at 15w, and isn't all that impressive.) More to come as I grow!

By the way, I'm open to suggestions from other moms; I've decided to grow my hair back out, (1) for a change of pace, and (2) because I have the idea that it'll be easier once the baby comes, to be able to pull it back (not to mention that when my hair is longer, it actually looks not-half-bad fresh out of bed, whereas a shorter cut almost always needs at least some effort to look presentable). My last cut was late May, and it's taking forever!! Anyone think keeping it short is a better idea?

God bless my mother-in-law!

A special tribute tonight to my mother-in-law, who gave me a foot rub with this incredible "bedtime" baby lotion (I hope Sprout didn't mind sharing -- it felt sooooo good).

Even though the calendar says I'm 5 months pregnant, I feel like I haven't earned the right to complain about swollen feet and an aching back, because, well, I sit on the couch all day. But you know what, things are still streching and swelling and growing, regardless of how much effort I put forth. So anyway, Momma G, I love you (and my poor, swollen, in-need-of-a-pedicure feet love you, too!

To get everybody up to speed...

Just a heads up -- this one will be long (which I hope is not the norm, but no promises!)

I realize that quite a bit of activity has gone on in the Gregory household since the initial e-mail went out to fill everyone in on how my pregnancy was progressing. In order to get everyone on the same page, here is an abbreviated play by play of the last month.

After we found out that I had a partial placental abruption, I was put on "modified" bed rest -- which basically meant "take it easy" and was put on progesterone supplements to help ease the pain from the mild contractions I was having, as well as to aid in keeping my incompetent cervix as long (thick) as possible. However, this ended up not being enough to keep my blood pressure stable or me comfortable enough to work, so I was ordered off work until post-delivery.

In early August, my primary obstetrician, Terry Gibbs, informed me that the abruption would most likely resolve (yea!) or rupture (boo!) in the next 2 or 3 weeks. I wanted to live in a bubble for fear that something I would do would cause the clot to grow or that I'd somehow jeopardize the safety of our son. Just days after this starling appointment, I awoke to excruciating cramps and nausea. Jim started timing the waves of pain, and after 2 hours of waiting it out (an a failed does of Vicodin), we decided it was time to go to the ER. They immediately sent us to labor and delivery, and after assuring us that the baby's heartrate was strong and stable, we began a barage of test and ultrasounds. I was admitted to the hospital on Monday, August 6 for observation and hydration and to monitor my kidney function. It was determined that all was functioning properly, but that the baby's position is forcing pressure back up into my kidneys (so move already, kiddo!). I am now under the care of a urologist in addition to my obgyn and my maternal fetal specialist. The best thing to come out of the hospital stay was the phenomonal news that the blood clot was gone, and it appeared that the abruption had resolved.

One other complication was noted during the ultrasound, which has to do with the blood flow between the uterus and placenta. Mine is irregular, which Dr. Gibbs said not to worry about, but that it's something we'll keep an eye on. If this condition stays as it is currently, my chances for pre-term labor and/or preeclampsia increase, but, as this is something was came to terms with when we were informed of the abruption, we feel somewhat prepared for that possibility.

So, there is all the technical jargon you'll hear us spout off about in the coming weeks. My next appointments are Friday, August 31 with the urologist and Dr. Gibbs, and we have our next ultrasound on Wednesday, September 5. I'll have more pictures of Sprout then (hopefully better than the ones we got at 19 weeks), but until then, I'll leave you with the adorable shot taken at just over 16w (16 weeks).

Because I don't always answer the phone...

I've been toying around with the idea of creating a blog for ease of communication with all of the wonderful people who are interested in keeping tabs on my pregnancy and the well-being of our little boy.

I love the attention and concern that comes with each "how are you? how is the baby? how was your last appointment?" call, but my poor cell phone can't always handle the frequency, and until we get a land line....this seemed like a good way to both keep you all up-to-speed and to give me something to do while I endure the next few months of bed rest.

So, welcome to our blog. =) I look forward to learning how to do this -- catching up with technology, I guess -- and keeping in touch with all of you.