Pregnancy - Third Trimester

I have been feeling the baby move a lot more now. In fact, it is constant and continuous and I sometimes wonder if he will ever sleep. He has his moments of high activity and moments of low activity, but everytime I begin to think that he has settled down... there he goes again.

Pregnancy - Third Trimester

Brian completed all of the tear down this weekend.

Brian's parents andDawn came up on Sunday and we went to Menards and bought the two bedroom doors, some 2x4s for the walls and other supplies. After our doctor's appointments on Monday, Brian and his Dad worked on building the wall that closes off the old nursery door as well as taking a look at the electrical.

They decided that the electrical was beyond their capabilities, so they called around for someone to come out and take a look at it. They found someone to do some minimal moving of the electrical for the light switches to accommodate the new floor plan, run a light and switch for the hallway upstairs, and run a light for the new nursery closet. Brian and I had to go back to Mendards last night to pick up a light to have installed in the hallway. The electrician (DeJonge Electrical) will be back out to the house todayat 4pm to do the electrical work discussed.

Pregnancy - Third Trimester

My doctor's appointment today showed that I have been gaining an excessive amount of weight in the last two appointments. My face, arms and legs have become excessively bloated as well. After talking to the doctor for a while, we determined to take a couple courses of action: 1) limit my work hours to 40 hours per week and 2) bed rest while not working. The doctor expressed his concern that this excessive bloating may mean that we will soon see the other signs of preeclampsia (or toxemia). In the doctor's experience, those who have preeclampsia start with 2-10 weeks of severe bloating before developing the tell-tale signs. These tell-tale signs that we are looking for is protein in the urine and high blood pressure.

Brian Back Injury

Brian had his doctor's appointment today with the orthopaedic surgeon and received a clean bill of health. He is cleared to return to work this week (and Brian can't wait). The doctor gave Brian a huge list of exercises that he should be doing 3 times a week for the rest of his life in order to try to prevent further back injuries in this same trauma area. The doctor also recommended that Brian take one baby aspirin a day to help with the arthritis in his spine (glucosamine won't work in this area, as glucosamine targets joint areas).

Pregnancy - Third Trimester

Brad did a lot of poking and prodding upstairs, looked outside at the structure, and in the basement etc. and determined that the wall between the two bedrooms upstairs is not a load-bearing wall. I will attempt to expand upon that, but I am not sure of some of the terminology (or if I am using it correctly). Essentially, the upstairs roof is being supported by the exterior walls (not from the interior). The upstairs floor is providing support to the exterior walls (to keep them from caving in, I guess). Brad pointed out a few things that helped make this determination: 1) the design/shape of the original portion of the house, 2) the type of roof (the type of trusses, not the outside roof), 3) the fact that the wall is not on-center with the roof and a few other things that I can't remember. Also, he suggested bringing back the corner of the current nursery closet to be flush with the back wall of the closet (open the nursery up some more). Brad also confirmed that all other ideas that we had will work and made some suggestions on the electrical. Brian decided to start some of the tear down this weekend. He doesn't want to waste these last few days off. The plaster did eventually thaw out, and Brian said that it is now about the same consistency as it originally was.