Fred-n-Sara

Today I had my weekly appointment.  I had yet another nonstress test and biophysical profile done.  Everything looks wonderful, Calvin passed all the tests with flying colors, again.  He’s a busy baby!  The midwife I saw today predicts he will be around 7 lbs at birth, which is just about average, so no more small baby worries.  He looks good to me, chubby cheeks and all

Fred and I are working hard at convincing him life is better on the outside.  We have 10 days until he’s due, but we’re hoping he comes sooner than that!

So I think it’s safe to say that it’s been established that I am completely on the “Green Wagon.”  I haven’t been great about posting all the little things I or we’ve changed in our house to be more eco-friendly, but here’s a short list:

• I take reusable bags to the grocery store instead of getting a million plastic bags.  I also carry a fold up, reusable bag for other, smaller shopping trips.
• I make my own all-purpose cleaner and bathroom/soft scrub cleaner (which both work wonderfully!).
• I make my own laundry detergent(very easy to do and works better than the comercial detergent I was using).
• Instead of fabric softener, which leaves residue in your clothes, I add 1/4 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle; it works the same way and gets all the detergent out of clothes without leaving a vinegar smell.
• We are growing some vegetables (anyone want some cucumbers?  That’s about all we have so far).
• We use CFL light bulbs in most of our lamps/light fixtures.
• We started a compost bin, but we have some work to do still to get it going right.
• I have limited my paper towel consumption by using washable micro-fiber rags.
• We recycle.
• We are starting to buy things in bulk, and as the main shopper (hehe), I am trying to be more aware of the product packaging of things I buy.
• Limiting our driving: we walk to Strickland’s for ice cream! Hehe, really, all summer I think I’ve done pretty well about being more aware of when I drive and if it’s really necessary.

Of course, there are still a lot of things that I want to do, but either don’t have the resources or just haven’t started yet. Like…

• Buying more organic food: it’s so much more expensive!  Plus, the stores around me do not sell much organic.
• Limit our energy consumption; with the 3 computers and other electronic appliances, it’s very difficult to regulate this, though I am trying to keep things we aren’t using all the time unplugged.
• Conserving water; I’d like a low-flow shower head, but I’m meeting resistance on this one.
• I want an outside laundry line, but if you’ve been to our house, you’ve seen our yard…Fred is still working on plans to make this happen.
• Cut back on paper product consumption; I want to get/make some everyday cloth napkins.
• Diapers: I plan to write a post completely dedicated to cloth diapers here very soon, because I know everyone thinks I’m crazy for even considering this, but I purchased a few already and am ready to stock up for Calvin’s little messes .
• Of course, I’d love to buy a more fuel efficient car, but that’s a long way off, especially since both of our cars run well now and won’t be paid off for a while.

So, I still have some things to work on.  However, we are making progress!  A couple weeks ago, Fred and his dad installed a home-made rain barrel!  We have been having drainage problems with the water flowing out of our gutters right onto the driveway (which has enough problems without adding rain water) and seeping into our basement (another place with problems of it’s own!).  So they decided to re-route the gutter from the driveway side of the house to a rain barrel to store water for my plants.

Fred has recently added a spigot to the barrel and attached a soaker hose that he’s run through our vegetable garden.  It is working, but we still have some adjustments to make.  But it’s a good start!

On Wednesday I had my weekly appointment with my doctor.  Again, they did the biophysical profile, checking all Calvin’s reflexes, and the nonstress test, checking his heart rate.  Calvin performed like a champ again, passing both tests with scores of 100%.  During the ultrasound/biophysical we also found out that he’s gained over a pound in 3 weeks; the technician estimated that he weighs 5 lbs, 12 oz.  He is still measuring small, but instead of being rated in the 8%, he’s moved up to the 10%.  All of this information was GREAT news. 

So the doctor is no longer as concerned about Calvin’s small size , meaning that they have put the plans to induce me on hold.  The only way they will schedule an appointment for to induce labor now is if he begins to show signs of distress, like not moving as much or his heart rate drops, OR if I go more than a week past my due date (cross your fingers that Calvin decides sooner is better than later!).  This is a big weight lifted off of us; I was not happy about the idea of being induced.  My goal is to give birth as naturally as I can, with no unnecessary interventions.  Now it looks like I am more than likely going to get my way (even though I know giving birth is unpredictable and anything could happen!). 

Fred and I are ready to meet our little guy.  The nursery is ready, we have just about everything we need to bring him home, and mentally, we’re prepared for the inevitable lack of sleep!  So send good “labor” vibes our way so get Calvin motivated to enter the world!

As you can see, my talented husband changed the top of our website. Yes, that is a picture of Calvin’s crib. The room is pretty much ready. We have some things to hang on the walls still (I am having a hard time deciding where to put things and what pictures to hang!), but for the most part it’s ready. All we need is our baby!

Pictures can be seen here sorry, I’ll get if fixed this weekend!

I’ll give you an update on the little guy too:

I am 36 weeks pregnant, which means that I have just about 4 weeks to the actual due date (Aug. 9). However, Calvin is measuring on the small side for his gestational age, so the doctors are keeping a close eye on him.

I am going to the doctor every week now for a non stress test and biophysical ultrasound. Basically, each week I’m strapped to a monitor for 15 minutes that records Calvin’s heart beat and then I have the pleasure of watching him move around for half an hour during an ultrasound while a technician makes sure he has enough fluid around him, he is moving enough, he is using his diaphragm in breathing-like motions, and that his heart is working properly. Then I meet with the doctor or midwife (the office I go to has both) and they measure the size of my belly and tell me that everything is wonderful.

The doctor is concerned, however, because Calvin is measuring very small, in the 8th percentile for his age to term. This means that 92% of babies at 36 weeks are larger than him. But so far, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to worry about his small size; the non stress test and biophysical ultrasounds have shown that Calvin is doing well. He’s healthy, just little.

So, the doctor explained to Fred and I this week, that they would like to induce me about a week earlier than my due date. This is because even though Calvin appears to be healthy, they are still concerned about his size. Babies can be small for a variety of reasons from hereditary to an faulty placenta. Since they cannot tell exactly what is causing Calvin to be smaller than average, the doctors would rather be safe than sorry and speed up nature’s plan and deliver him early.

So next week we will probably pick an induction date. Still, I have been hoping to have a natural, or as natural as possible birth, so as long as there is no significant change in Calvin’s health by then, I think I’m going to push for the latest possible induction date. If Calvin starts showing signs of distress, then that’s a different story. But we will handle that if it happens.

While everything seems fine now, please keep little Calvin and us in your prayers and I’ll keep you updated!

Sorry about the technical difficulties lately. Our website was transfered to a different server, with less traffic that should pose less connection interruptions. The process was a little rocky, but we’re hoping for less connection problems now. Thanks for sticking around!

I am trying to find a better online photo gallery to upload pictures of the nursery to and switch over all our other photos. I should have it done by Thursday, if not today.

In the meantime though, a couple of my classmates in my current graduate class convinced my professor that we needed to watch this YouTube video yesterday in class (yes, I am actually learning something about education also!):

This guy is a motivational comedian; he goes around giving talks on change and how it’s inevitable.  He does this little bit at the end of each of his talks now.  Supposedly, he’s working on a EOD 2!