31-36 weeks... and basement waterproofing

Hello!

Time for an update! This could be one of our last posts before the big day. As of tomorrow, I am full-term -- 37 weeks. We can hardly believe it! I am hoping to make it to 40 weeks so we can get some loose ends at home and work tied up before the little guy arrives.

Here's what's up:

Maternity photo shoot:

We were lucky enough to schedule a photo session with Amy Tripple Photography at the last minute right around 34 weeks. I had been thinking about doing this, but when Adam said "We should probably capture this moment" (aww) that pushed me to make the appointment. Here are some of my favorite shots from the day:

Bump progress:

And here are our weekly bump shots...

As you can see, I think I have "dropped". I haven't noticed much of a change. But then I saw these pictures. I think it looks like I am carrying lower.

I feel great, except for the nightly swollen feet and calves -- but this is par for the course, I am told. I am now seeing the doctor weekly, every Tuesday morning.

As of this past week, at 36 weeks:

• The boy is in "ready" position, head down
• Heartbeat was strong
• I am not dilated at all

So, everything is going great. I have been really lucky to have a smooth pregnancy so I feel really fortunate. We are getting really excited to welcome our baby boy into the world.

And for those of you wondering, I still have an "innie" -- but barely. It is kind of flat, neither in or out. And, though I didn't think I had it, I guess I kind of have the linea nigra (line going down my tummy).

We hope to post one more time before baby comes... hopefully next weekend... to show pictures of the nursery. It is not quite ready yet, but hubby and I hope to work on it during the next week. Stay tuned.

Basement waterproofing:

As I mentioned in the last post, as part of our eventual total basement rehab, we decided to have the basement waterproofed this year. This required tearing up the basement, moving all of our belongings to the center of the space and covering them in plastic before Perma Seal came out to do their part. This grueling work was all done by Adam and his dad. It was a ton of work and they did a GREAT job.

Here is the basement before cleaning and packing:

And here is the cleaning/tear-out process:

Me, acting like I am doing something (I helped a little).

Adam did all of the hard work. As you can from these pics, it was very dirty and dusty.

Basement stairs sealed off because three stairs need to be removed for the process. A big thanks to Adam's dad for all of his help with this as well! He did a fair amount of the tear out, along with moving our washer, dryer and hot water tank.

Here are all of our basement belongings, moved to the center and covered in plastic (Dexter, anyone?):

Bottom basement stairs removed:

Everything is ready:

More plastic covered stuff:

And then, the big day:

• Perma Seal arrives, digs a trench around the inside perimeter of the basement
• Installs an interior drain tile and sump pump system
• Backfills trench with gravel and covers it with concrete
• Installs a whole basement dehumidifier

Some pics:

Broken concrete being hauled out. Against the garage, you can see all the debris from the basement tear out.

The sump:

Jackhammering the trench:

Drainage system going in:

We also had a couple of cracks repaired:

As you can see, a very dusty process:

Trench in:

Going around the fireplace:

Back filling the trench with gravel:

Crack outside repaired:

Spot where the sump pump drains out to the backyard:

An interior trench drain to collect water that seeps in the back door and direct it to the sump:

The finished sump pump system and giant dehumidifier:

Finished work, trench covered in new concrete:

So, after all of this work... and dust... you can imagine how happy we were when we discovered this after a big rain...

Water seeping in and going around the interior trench drain, and across our basement floor, into the center drain.

Um yeah. We were not happy about this. The good thing is Perma Seal is a very reputable company, and they will be correcting this problem. The bad thing: they are coming on July 2nd to do it (three days before my due date). And they will have to bust up some of the concrete again to fix it. Ugh. We are not too happy about the timing, so I will give them a buzz tomorrow to see if they can squeeze us in a little earlier.

All in all, while it was a tough project, it will be good in the long run. The system has a lifetime guarantee that stays with the house. If any water passes by the system, Perma Seal will fix it it. Plus, with the new dehumidifier, the basement is very dry.

Over the next year, we hope to finish this project little by little. We' like to keep the floor plan open for the most part, but maybe add a small room for Adam's comics, as well as a small bathroom. My hope is that, by the time the little guy is toddling around, the basement will be put back together so we can let him run wild downstairs. But for now and foreseeable future, the basement will basically stay the way it is -- a pile of stuff covered in plastic -- and we'll only go downstairs for laundry.

I think that's it for now. I hope to update next weekend with some nursery pics. Then, after that, we'll go "offline" until the bambino arrives!

Ta ta!

C + A

Bump Update

Hello everyone!

A short and sweet blog update for you. Today, we are 25 weeks pregnant. Everything is going great. The baby is moving all the time, and sometimes, we can even see him moving through my clothes. It is pretty neat-o.

This past week, I had my 24 week appointment. Here are a few highlights:

• Baby boy's heart was beating nice and strong. He was wigglin' away so the physician's assistant had a hard time keeping track of it.
• I did the glucose challenge test. This is when you drink an orange drink, much like the orange Hi-C at McDonald's. Then, they screen you for gestational diabetes. I *think* I passed because I haven't heard anything. But not for sure yet. I am hoping the cupcake, milkshake, cake and ice cream I had the night before didn't cause me to flunk.
  
• I had record weight gain over the last four weeks. *glup* Probably because the last two weeks, I have had a piece of cake almost every night. Time to watch my sweets!
• I made all of my appointments until the end of the pregnancy. If that's not a reality check, I don't know what is.

I also found out that there will be no more ultrasounds at the doctor's office. That being said, I've convinced myself, and Adam, to do an elective 3D ultrasound. It is scheduled for Saturday, April 10. At that time, I'll be almost 29 weeks.

At first, I didn't really want to get one because I have seen a few that are a little freaky. However, since waiting until 40 weeks to see the baby seems like forever, I decided I'd like one more peek. We're going here for the ultrasound. If you look at the pictures of the 29 weekers, that is probably about what we'll see.

And now, for the bump chronicle:






What else is going on?

Well, on March 10, Baby Daddy turned the big 3-3. Happy birthday Adam!

Baby's room:
Haven't made a whole lot of progress here yet.

We did pick out a crib:


Since, we're short on space -- literally, with the slanty ceilings upstairs -- we'll probably pair it with a three drawer Malm dresser from Ikea, which will also serve as a changing space.

Either in white:

Or medium brown, depending on what the crib looks like once we get it:


We also picked up a used glider off of Craigslist. It looks like this, except for the frame is white. The cushions are navy blue, but they'll be recovered in a new fabric, TBD.



We're not really planning a theme. I am going for a mash-up of sorts -- all different colors and fabrics. Here are a few prints I bought from Etsy.com, along with a quilt from Ikea and a random crib sheet. I don't know what I'm doing :D. Basically trying to have something fun and child-like, but not too "baby". We'll see how it goes...



Last but not least, my belly button is getting flatter and flatter everyday. I am kind of afraid it is going to pop out and that it will hurt. Adam says it is a like a doorbell -- and when baby is ready to come out, he'll press it -- like "Ding dong! I'm here!!".


Baby's name:
We're still talking about first names. As you might know, baby's name will be:
_____ Masse Nemec

We have a currently have a front runner and Adam is testing it out by referring to my belly with it.

Here is the dilemma:
Said name comes in a short version and long version.

For instance:
Short name = Reggie, long name = Reginald.

Or:
Short name: Joey, long name = Joseph

I am of the mind set that, if you are going to call the kid Reggie, name him Reggie. Adam, however, believes that the baby should have a formal name, and would like to name baby the long version of the name, even though he thinks we'll call him the short version 80% of the time.

Are you still with me? What do you think? Vote in the poll at the top of the page and let us know. And no, Reggie/Reginald is not the name we're considering. :D

That's all folks. We'll be back around April 11 with pics from the 3D ultrasound.
C+A

PS: Since this is supposed to be a blog about our house, here is the new spring bedding I got this weekend from Target. I think it is lovely and kind of vintage feeling.