Storm = No Sonogram

Well, first let's point out that today is Dec. 13th, and I made it through school today; just one more day!

Next, I will let you know that we won't be getting any updates/measurements of Baby Lepori this evening. The ultrasound technician canceled all the appointments for today because she could not make it in to work.

Maybe she lives further west, but I think that is lame. I went to work all day and made it home just fine. It snowed for a while, pretty heavily in fact (my students were completely distracted/excited), then changed to sleet. Anyway, it got cleared from the major roads. People are, thankfully, driving cautiously, so my commute home was just fine.

So, when I called the doctor's office and found out my appointment was canceled, I was asked if I wanted to reschedule. When I said yes, they replied that the soonest appointment was for Wednesday morning at 10:40! Whatevs... but I did take it. By that time I'll have had another check-up (Monday evening) and the due date will have come and gone...

Back to school: My students had a Baby Shower for me this afternoon. It was really cute, and they did a great job of keeping it a secret. They gave me a basket of books-- one (or sometimes more than one) from each child with really cute notes inside them (i.e. "To Mrs. Lepori and Baby Lepori, This was one of my favorite books when I was a baby. I hope you enjoy reading it together." or "To Baby Lepori, I hope you enjoy this book. Your mom is the best.")

I am still a bit freaked out that tomorrow is my last day. I am kind of sad, but on the other hand I am so looking forward to meeting Baby! Also, yesterday my custodian informed me that he's looking forward to winning a bunch o' money if I come to school tomorrow. Funny.

Last thing: I had a great conversation with the teacher who just returned from her maternity leave. She asked if we knew the gender. When I replied no, but that we'd gotten lots of "boy" predictions, she said, "It doesn't matter, because when it's a girl, they'll all say, 'I knew it was a girl all along'." She is so right, because they are all already changing their tune regarding Baby's "immanent" arrival. No more of that silly "Your lips have changed," talk. In fact they're all saying I haven't dropped yet. So funny.

Almost 39 Weeks

I had another doctor's appointment this evening. I've gained about a pound since last week and Baby's heart rate is good (Baby did try to evade the Doppler again!) as is my blood pressure. However, the doctor was mildly concerned about my "tiny belly," so she ordered another sonogram/ultrasound. I go on Thursday evening. I'll be sure to keep you posted, but I'm not too worried. By the way, Baby is moving around right now. I just ate some of the gingerbread cookies that Dan made... Baby likes cookies!

Baby "Brush"

So Dan woke up on Saturday morning all mad at me because of a HILARIOUS dream he had Friday night. In said dream, his mom called him.

Here is their dream conversation:

Mom: Are you upset?
Dan: No, why?
Mom: Because Jen and her sisters decided to name the baby Brush.
Dan: Hell no! We are NOT naming the baby Brush!!

Later in the dream he confronts me saying, "I thought you liked traditional names!" However, for some CRAZY reason, in the dream, I was fond of Brush.

IT CRACKS ME UP in real life.

4th Grade Baby Predictions

Today we created a chart at school. The students' names went down the left and across the top were the headings: gender, date, weight, length, name suggestions. My darling kiddos then got to write in their predictions for Baby. I think only about 5 of the 19 said "girl," and a large number chose 12/21 as the birthdate. Most of the weight was in the 7-8 pound range although there were some great amazing predictions like 13 and 14 pounds (let's hope not!). My personal favorite column is the length because the kids were HI-larious! I think the range is something like 6 inches to 15 inches. Yes, Baby is going to be a heavy short little thing. What?! So funny!

There were some good name choices. I was amazed when one person wrote "Dalton" as that is actually a name in my family! There were lots of Matts, and a few cute names as well. The funniest one was Tomantha which, in case you haven't guessed already, is a combination of Tom and Samantha. You gotta love fourth graders!

Only six more days of school

So, I am in the middle of conferences. Actually, that's not true. I only have four conferences left; I've had 16 already (for those of you thinking, but you only have 19 students, I had to confer with one couple seperately about their son... no biggie). Anyway, it has been lovely to discuss these excellent students with their parents who have had kind things to say about me and my promised return in May. They've also given some Baby advice which has been helpful, amusing and funny (funny because we're supposed to be discussing their fourth grader, not my as-yet-unborn baby).

I am still sad/freaked out about leaving school. I cannot believe that a week from tomorrow is my last day. It will be so odd to be home waiting for Baby while someone else is teaching my class.

Meanwhile, Dan received many nice items today at a shower at his workplace. We now own a combination tummytime mat/shopping cart seat mat; a drum into which you put shapes; and a BEAUTIFUL hand knitted blanket as well as some give certifs. Very nice.

Also, the nursery is looking FABULOUS. I will take pictures tomorrow after we tidy it up from all of Dan's little projects.

My tummy is ENORMOUS. I'll post pictures of it soon as well.

38 Weeks and Going Strong!

Well, all seems to be going well for Baby and Mommy Lepori. I had a checkup on Monday evening at which I impressed the woman doctor (whom I hadn't seen previously-- there are so many in this practice!) with my lack o' stretch marks and report of feeling great. Baby tried to evade the doppler, so it took us a little while to hear the heartbeat. I managed not to freak out because I had felt Baby moving around so much whilst waiting for the doctor to come in to the room, so I knew he/she was fine.

I was rather heavy on the ol' scale, but still not as heavy as two weeks ago. Plus this was a different office and thus a different scale. Baby's HR was 130-something this week.

That's pretty much it for the medical news.

People are giving me less of a hard time about Baby's impending arrival. I do think I've dropped some now, but I also know that can happen weeks (not days or moments) before delivery. I still feel great, and I think I'm walking fairly normally. Even the woman who has been accusing me of waddling for weeks conceded that I'm not. Funny. The overwhelming opinion seems to be that Baby is a boy, but we'll see... they all have a 50% chance of being right!

Meanwhile, Dan is almost finished painting Baby's second dresser (which I believe will be full of blankets-- we have received LOTS in the past week). It is BEAUTIFUL. When he finishes the trim, I promise to post some photos.

Oh, a little while ago Baby pushed out just above my bellybutton and totally made the top part of it stick out. It was so funny.

I repacked our hospital bags last night... I'm getting pretty excited to meet this child!

Possible Nesting Update

OK, I still maintain that Dan is the biggest "nester" ever. This weekend has been no exception. Yesterday we enjoyed a delicious waffle breakfast after sleeping in because Dan has been staying up really late downloading all our CDs into itunes so that I can make my ultimate labor mix for the ipod (his idea-- a good one). Anyway, over waffles we decided on our errands for the day: visiting the Unfinished Furniture store (to look at shelves for Baby), Home Depot, the tree farm (to mark, not cut, our tree), and the baby stores (to exchange/return some items). We also mapped our stops to make for the most logical and direct route in these times of high gas prices.

Anyway, after seeing some lovely but WAY expensive UNFINISHED furniture, we decided to go with Plan B. Or maybe it was Plan A and unfinished furtniture was Plan B. Anyway, Dan bought hardware and lumber and set about putting shelves up on the wall near Baby's dresser/changing table. Also, he decided to re-paint the other extra dresser (that I had used and which was Ernie's as a child).

Today Dan hung the shelving hardware, stained the shelves, and almost finished painting the dresser. It is white with green drawer fronts (that match the curtains) and white handles. The green is done, but the white needs at least one more coat. The shelves are ready to go up once they dry (and they look fabulous). Baby has a handy Daddy!

Now, unlike past weekends, whilst Dan has been busy with these Baby projects, I've actually done something other than just laundry (although I did that as well). I put away all the latest baby stuff from Thursday's school shower, vacuumed the entire house, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the kitchen, dusted the living and dining rooms (with Pledge-- love it), put away most of our framed photos to make room for Christmas stuff, put out some Christmas stuff, and worked on report cards. Impressive, eh?