The countdown is ON...

When last we chatted here on the Blog de Salvateenies, my BP was a little high at the non-stress test.  It has continued "a little high" over the weekend - it's nice and low when I take it while lying down, slightly (and I do  mean slightly) elevated if I'm sitting up.  The nurse at the pre-term birth prevention center is not terribly concerned because I'm not having any other pre-term labor symptoms (headaches, nausea, spots before my eyes, etc.) and because I am taking blood pressure medication that can be adjusted.  She's having me take my bp in the morning and evening before I take my medication, and then an hour after the medication, and they'll consult with the doctor and see if I should raise the dosage or frequency (I'm betting they will).  We've got just nine days to go, so if they tell me I need to lie down for the rest of the time until delivery, I think I can handle it without going too stir crazy.

And why, do you ask, would I be more "OK" with having to be bed-resty now?  Well, as you all know this festive long weekend we've just had is designed to honor labor - work performed by laborers.  While I've had no "laborers", per se, in my home, I have been lucky to have some wonderful friends and family come over to help get things ready.

Friday night, my sister-in-law and I sat in the nursery and unwrapped all the tiny diapers that had been rolled up to form my three (count 'em - THREE) diaper cakes at my baby shower back in June.  We separated the diapers by size (preemie, newborn, and "size 1") and put them in assorted diaper stackers and bags.  Then Saturday I did some light organizing until about mid-day when I got a surprise visit from a friend bearing cupcakes and some truly adorable presents for the babies.  Then a visit from three of my friends from work who came over to feed me wonderful foods (tortilla española, veggies and crackers with hummus, and pumpkin pie for dessert) along with some chat and gossip from school.

But Saturday is when the true labor got started (no worries - not the me going into labor type).  Around mid-morning my father came over to survey the baby preparedness situation.  We started in the basement, where we pulled out the car seats and installed the bases into the back seat of my car.  Sorry - can't give anyone a ride or help move your large boxes anymore, but we will be able to bring the babies home from the hospital, so that's good!  Next we moved upstairs and he perused the nursery to see what needed to be done.  Then Nathanael came over with sandwiches.  Time for lunch!  After that, the two of them got working rearranging the furniture.  They moved the babies' chest of drawers into our bedroom so that there was now room to move the cribs around a bit.  Once in the bedroom, they cleared some of my junk out from beside the bed and made room for a glider in there for breastfeeding and soothing babies to sleep.  Then they emptied out more space in the nursery closet and schlepped a few more things up from the basement.  

Just as their energy was starting to wane around 4pm, my friends Chris and Jayanthi (of the aforementioned diaper cakes) and their adorable children came over.  While I got to play and read books with the kids, they set to work.  Chris and Nathanael put up the two remaining blinds in the back - we can now keep it cave-like dark all day long! - and repairing the top drawer of our lovely hand-me-down dresser.  Jayanthi started sorting and separating things in the nursery to get everything organized.  And once she'd done that, she and the kids all pitched in actually SWEEPING THE FLOOR in the nursery (and Nathanael vacuumed in the bedroom).  It was starting to look like a real nursery in there, rather than just a baby gear storage closet.

Monday we all got a slightly later start, though it's because I didn't wake up until 10 (thank you, 'teenies!).  Then Nathanael and my dad showed up to get into some more heavy duty work. We started in the living room, getting rid of recycling, cleaning off table tops, and generally making the room more baby-ready.  As we moved to the next task, Nathanael took my bedroom curtains down to wash -- it's amazing how much dust you can accumulate in just seven and a half years!  It was now time for the big task - my desk!  We cleared off the top, and then cleaned out three of the six drawers.  I found things dating all the way back to sixth grade (though I don't think I bought the desk until after college, which makes it a bit weird…).  We filled three boxes of junk to get rid of, including all my nicely organized bills from 2000-2004!  Who knew they were in that drawer?  The last step was to put up some decorations on the wall.  

Thanks to everybody's hard work, I feel pretty confident that the Salvateenies can actually live here when they get sprung from the hospital - whew!  Happy Labor Day!!!

This is all filled with trash culled from my desk

A greeting to the Salvateenies, courtesy of JoAnna.

Crib #1 (note those boxes beneath? FILLED with blankets!)

Crib #2 and changing table