Boobyfeeding class, gasp!

Boo, no work done yesterday! Nothing sucks more than a wasted work day. According to David, he was trying to get the permit yesterday and waiting for the iron. Actually, we were lagging on our list of things-to-do as well. Antz picked me up right away to go to Breastfeeding Basics class. It was super informative but makes me totally nervous. The lacation consultant charges $100 per hour *gasp*!

We thought the breastfeeding class was shorter than it was *it ran over 3 hours* so we didn't have a chance to go to Home Depot to buy more grout and cement, which means no fireplace work. But to be fair, Antz's back really needed a rest. I wanted him to print more maternity photos for our scrapbook but it's not like an urgent project. He also still needs to find a way to adhere the chalkboard to the rubber mat *rubber glue maybe?* I did get our new frames yesterday and they look pretty awesome on the fireplace mantle. I love them! Super cute :)

I wish I could take a sneak peek of what flowers are in season at the flower mart because I have no idea *except sunflowers and peonies* which flowers to get especially on our limited budget. I would love orchids but Antz doesn't think they stand out enough. I wonder if we don't get balloons, we could increase our flower budget. This morning I had one of my weird sleeping patterns and I woke up at 5am before the sun came up. I didn't go back to bed until 7am *when Antz woke up*. I bought the BabyHawk Mei Tei carrier. I can't wait to get it.

*Update*
Sounds like hammering is taking place outside so thank goodness work has started! Also to my surprise I walked into the kitchen to see Antz has glued the chalkboard to the mat so all he has to do now is hammer a post into the dirt and hang the mat, yay!

My husband is my hero!

I can not put into words how amazing my husband is. He is like the Energizer bunny, he never stops. Even beyond all the physical work he does, he is incredibly supportive. He has been breaking his back working on our house to be ready for the shower. He worked all weekend on fixing the cracked crown molding

the popcorn ceiling gives me chills, so yucky

Re-tiling the fireplace hearth and he is exhausted. He then wakes up at 7am this morning to paint. He even said to me that going to work is his *time off*. AWW!! I feel like he is taking on too much but he said he's fine and he wants the house to look awesome. I haven't done anything for the shower because I am impatiently waiting to get the final rsvps so I can place the rentals, catering and cupcake orders. I need to wash the curtains in the kitchen but they are hanging from a wire that Antz has to figure out how to take apart with tools. I could clean here and there but with all the work Antz is doing with the fireplace and the things we are storing from the garage it doesn't make a difference.

You can see our living room is now a warehouse.

He keeps trying to convince me that my biggest job is relaxing and taking care of our baby but I feel like I could do more. I really should have had the shower a month ago, it's so much work for us *mostly Antz* and with only 2 weeks until my due date we need to be as relaxed and rested as we can. Tomorrow is breastfeeding class and I feel really unprepared because we haven't bought a breast pump or any bottles yet. I did register for this Medela set but I doubt anyone will get it for me.

Medula breast pump

On a bummer note, this morning there's no crew working. We are waiting *always waiting* for the iron rods to be delivered today so I hope they will be here by the time I come home from acupuncture. We can't afford to lose a day of work :(

How am I going to make it until June 3rd??

I feel really useless today :(  Antz woke up and he watered the backyard, worked on the crown molding in the living room and now he's removing all the tile from the fireplace hearth to regrout and cement them levelly.

After a long day's work here is the work my lovely has done. It's looking great but he still has another full day to work on it and he's all out of grout :(

I have only done 2 loads of laundry, washed dishes, went to Fresh & Easy and made breakfast. Now that sounds like I am doing a bunch but I haven't done anything for the shower. So much stuff needs to be finished but there is always something holding us up. I want to cut the zebra fabric for the table linens but we won't have the table until the Friday before the party. I want to hose down the front porch and wipe down the bench but the crew is still working on the garage and they will get it dirty so I can't do that until they are done *the Thursday before the shower*. Last night Antz printed more namecard stickers so we only have 6 more people/stickers pending. I sort of wanted him to just go ahead and make them but he won't until we know for sure they are coming. He also printed some maternity pics for our scrapbook and revised the maps to the hospital. Yesterday he painted the foam board for the menu with chalkboard paint but it caused the foam board to curve which means it won't adhere when he glues it to the rubber mat.

We are thinking of solutions for this problem. I would love to write out the menu but because it's chalk I don't want it to fade or get smudged by the time of the shower. I wish I could be more productive earlier than wait until the week of the shower but all I have done today is made a playlist for Olivia's birth and worked our birth plan:

To The Wonderful Labor & Delivery Staff:
Thank you so much for working with us and taking the time to review our birth plan! It is very important to us to keep medical interventions to a minimum. We are so grateful for your support, and we’ll of course be happy to work with you through this process so that we can receive the best care for us and our baby.


My Name: Elizabeth
Our Daughter: Olivia Lily
EED: Wednesday, June 2, 2010
My Doctor: Dr. Francis Teng
My Husband: Anthony
Our Doula: Gilli
Support: Bobbie / Maria (Mother/Mother-in-Law)

Labor:
If at all possible, I would like to:
• Be free to walk, move around, and change positions during labor.
• Avoid an IV and be free to drink and chew ice chips.
• Keep the number of vaginal exams to a minimum.
• Use a birthing ball, birthing tub/shower, and squatting bar.
• Keep my door closed during labor, have the lights dimmed (if available), and play music from my own ipod.
• We would like to photograph the birth of our child as much as possible.
• We would especially like to avoid labor induction with pitocin and to be given time to try alternative methods such as walking, massage, showers, etc.

Pain Relief:
Please only offer pain medications if I ask for them.
• I have prepared for this birth with focus and breathing techniques, and with the assistance of my Doula and husband.
• My Doula is also a licensed acupuncturist and will be applying acupressure, and providing other support, during labor.
• In the event I am unable to continue without pain relief I would like an epidural.
• I would also like my catheter put in after I receive the pain medication, and would like it to be removed as soon as possible.
Second Stage Labor:
• I prefer to begin pushing instinctively and to have no time limits/countdowns during pushing.
• I would prefer not to have an episiotomy; if possible, I would like to use perineal massage with mineral oil to help avoid the need for an episiotomy.
• If an episiotomy is necessary, I prefer a pressure episiotomy.
• If our daughter needs to be transported to the NICU, Anthony will accompany her, and request that he not be asked to leave our daughter unless absolutely necessary.
• I would like to be informed immediately of any updates in our daughter’s condition after she transport to the NICU, and pictures (taken by my husband) if at all possible. Please update my family in the waiting room at this time of any diagnosis.

Cesarean:
I would like to avoid a C-section unless absolutely medically necessary.
• If a C-Section is medically indicated, please give my husband and I time alone to think about it before asking for our written consent.
• I would like my husband present at all times in the event a Cesarean delivery is necessary.
• Ideally, I would like to remain conscious during the procedure and breastfeed as soon as possible afterwards.
• I would like to see our baby as soon as she’s born, and to have contact with her as soon as possible in the delivery room.

After Our Baby is Born:
• Please put our baby skin-to-skin on my abdomen; a warm blanket covering would be great!
• I would like my husband to cut the umbilical cord.
• Please delay all essential routine procedures on our baby until after the bonding and breastfeeding period.
• I would like to use our personal clothing and blankets for our daughter if possible.
• I would like to keep our placenta which will be stored in a cooler with ice to be made into oral pills.
• I would prefer a sponge bath with my husband present.
• With the approval of our pediatrician, I would like to be present for all routine newborn procedures if possible.
• With the approval of our pediatrician, I prefer our baby to be in our room 24 hours a day.
• My husband or I would like to be present for PKU testing in order to comfort our daughter during the procedure.

Feedings:
• We will be breastfeeding exclusively; please do not offer her a pacifier or bottle so as to avoid nipple confusion.
• If available, I would love to see a lactation consultant as soon as possible for further recommendations and guidance on breastfeeding.

*Thank you for your time, care, and assistance!*

I hope we get nice nurses because I have heard horror stories about grumpy, mean nurses who have to do it their way. I am going to already be a nervous wreck so I don't know how I will tolerate anyone being cunty with me.

Saturday, 2 weeks and counting!

I can't believe after 8 long months it is only 2 weekends until our shower. I feel so physically and emotionally unprepared!! I know Antz will go into hyperdrive and complete all the projects on his list but there are so many issues still needing to be dealt with. I called everyone *except Gail because she is currently on vacation in Hawaii* to get their final rsvp. I was really worried because at first I only got voice mails and I didn't want to spend all week playing phone tag with them. Happily almost everyone I called returned my call right away and confirmed they are coming. I still have a couple of maybe responses because one person may have to work and the other would be coming from out of town and doesn't know if he's available yet. So, I feel confident we will have no more than 44 guests and no fewer than 42. Whew!
The crew worked inside the garage today and David came by with the architect and the iron guy to make plans for putting in the iron posts on Monday PROGESS!! Still, need another inspection from the city so I can't get too excited yet.
My Mom stopped by on her way back home and I showed her the maternity photos. she LOVED them. I also gave her a map to the hospital and showed her the car seat. Once she left, we went downtown to buy zebra print fabric for the gift table and caricaturist table linens. I never in a million years thought I would be shopping for anything in an animal print *I despise animal prints* but we had too much black for the other tables and the zebra will coordinate with the zebra print tableware. It's not exactly the size we want but Antz reassured me he'll "Make it work" like Tim Gunn.

It was packed in downtown *due to an immigration reform protest* so it took us awhile to drive all the way to Burbank to go to Lowes. We needed more materials for his big DIY projects. This morning he started repairing our cracked crown molding in the living room and he was waiting for it to dry to paint with semi-gloss.

He also needed grout and cement-board to set the loose tiles on the fireplace hearth.

He's going to work on it tomorrow. While at Lowes we picked up a bunch of mulch for the backyard, found a decent *not totally in love with it* indoor plant to replace our sad dying one in the living room and some wood for the back of the menu mat. Walking around that place leaves me exhausted! When we were packing the truck I saw some swirly topiaries outside of the nursery that I fell in love with for the front porch.

 

Our porch currently has a sad plant that hardly grows flowers and has vines that love to tickle your legs when you walk by.

I would have bought the topiaries today but they look about 5 ft tall and the truck was absolutely packed with mulch. Poor Antz had to bring the mulch up the stairs and made about 6 trips! We both decided he should take the rest of the day off and just work on craft projects to relax his aching back. We bought more foam board and spray glue from Aaron Bros. so he put together the posters and framed them!! LOVING IT!!

It seriously couldn't look better if we had a professional print them. We already had the frame, he painted it black, a friend of ours printed them for us, bought the foam board and spray glue, grand total: $10!! Mega radness. One poster doesn't have a frame but it's going to hang on our front gate with curling ribbon. The other one *with the frame* will hang on the deck railing in the backyard. So now that we have almost all the rsvps, he's going to finish printing the name stickers for the take out boxes and print maternity pics for the Mod frames *which are supposed to arrive this Monday*. I crossed off a bunch of stuff on my list but there still is so much left that the garage repair is holding up *wash curtains, mop/wax hardwood floors, clean/organize kitchen is impossible with so much shower stuff stored in there. It is good that my Mom took home a bunch of stuff of hers that was cluttering our house today. The week of the shower I'm going to change the bedding *our Target red set which we only use for parties*

Antz can't hang the artwork and the stuffed animal holder in the nursery until the Glider is delivered. The Thursday before the shower he's going to Lowes to pick up some sod for the backyard lawn. That's when he wants to buy the topiaries for the front porch because he is sure I will kill them if I buy them any earlier. I am just worried they won't be there by then *there was only 4 of them*. Tomorrow he's going to paint the nursery door threshold and touch up our bathroom sink storage cabinet. I bought a new toilet seat cover today because ours is always loose. Everyone keeps asking me how will we handle 44 guests and one bathroom but we managed to survive our Halloween party which I am certain we had over 50 people here. Next week is surprisingly chill, we have our Breastfeeding Basics class on Tuesday which is only 30 minutes. Next Saturday we need to get as much done as possible because that evening we are going to see my Mom perform at her friend's art show. Tonight I need to write my birth plan and figure out a budget since I really want to have my placenta made into herbal pills for me to take after the birth. *major gross I know but it helps replenish my blood and stops post partum depression*.

Friday is cupcake day!

Today *well yesterday because it's 2am now* I met Aimee and we went to Sprinkles. For the first time ever we went and there was no line outside. I was also shocked that we were able to get a free cupcake because I follow Sprinkles on twitter and they have a secret word of the day for the first 50 customers so by whispering Ceylan Cinnamon we got free Coco Loco cupcakes.

Since I hadn't eaten we went next door for lunch at La Salsa. Bad idea, I knew there was a reason I hardly ever eat there, my lunch was horrible :(
By the time I dropped Aimee off in Venice it was already 4pm, I stopped at the grocery store in Culver City and by the time I even got close to home it was almost 6pm! LA traffic on a Friday is ridiculous. I had to stop at the house to drop off the groceries and Antz came home at 6:20. We somehow rushed to Huntington for the Infant Care class and were only 10 minutes late. We almost flaked on the class because we were both exhausted and didn't think we would make it through the 3 hour class but we hung in there. After class we went to In & Out and didn't get home till 11. I was so tired I fell asleep right after eating. I somehow woke up an hour ago so I had to crank this out. The crew worked inside the garage all day. David is supposed to come by tomorrow with the iron guy to work on the posts. It seems that everything is moving right along but Monday we have an inspection so I'll have to rub a rabbits foot that everything passes. Antz brought home the posters and tomorrow we are going to Aaron Bros to buy foam board and spray glue. Antz has a long list to projects to work on tomorrow but I can't think of anything I could help with because its all physical labor.