The Midriff at Midway

Me at week 22 1/2.

1/4 of the new Science Bathroom

Adam and I had been convinced for a while that the bathtub and shower in the house needed to be replaced. We wanted first, to make sure that we didn't have water damage anywhere in the bathroom flooring, and second, to get rid of the very ugly tile and shower walls that were there.

Step One: Get the old tub out. As you can see, that necessitated cutting a cast iron tub in half. While Adam and Dad worked on that, I took a shower at Heidi and Garry's house and went to the Ivey Awards.


Step Two: Tear out the old tile, plaster and lathe to make sure that there isn't water damage to the studs or flooring. That process was mainly just messy and time consuming. Everything turned out to be sound, although old and not exactly standard. Here's a view of what the inside of the walls in our house look like:

Steps 3 - 468: The damn plumbing. We discovered that whoever put in the last tub ran the plumbing for it over the floor, instead of under it. So, in order to put the new tub in at floor level, we had someone come out and re-route the tub water supply lines and the drain line. The good part is, we're now up to code. Well, okay, that depends on which code you're looking at. We had to get a variance so that the wall for the shower plumbing could go in the same spot as it was previously, which was not far enough away from the toilet to be up to building code. Here's a look at the lovely new plumbing. Please note that these steps took over a week, during which time we were bathing in our basement. Such fun.

Steps 469 - 234897: Install new tub, and make sure it's level. Install new surround walls. Caulk. Sheetrock. Plaster. Sand. Clean. Paint. Plaster. Sand. Clean. Paint. Hang shower curtain rod and shower curtain. We still need to patch up the floor in front of the new tub and then wash the whole room to get the last of the plaster dust out. We also need to put the access paneling on the shower plumbing wall, and then we can start having some fun finding just the right accountrements. Here's Adam and Dad leveling the new tub:

Soon to be a famous B-horror flick actor

We're definintely in week 19, in case you were really wondering. Here's our little boy, very helpfully snuggled up to my bladder. (Thanks, kid.) This was the Level II ultrasound which took the place of our regularly scheduled Level I ultrasound, so that we could check on his heart development. He's got a clean bill of health from this one, and holy crap, I can't tell you how nice it is to walk out of the perinatal clinic knowing your kid is healthy and not wondering what the phone call will say later. Both the ultrasound tech and the perinatal doc were very pleased with how all of his organs look, so we're feeling good about that.

We're also feeling good about his chances to star in the next Chucky movie.

Yikes, dude. Good thing you've got another four months to go. Try to grow a cute face before March, okay?

What track where?

I've lost track of what week we're on today. I think it's 18 because our (third and hopefully final) ultrasound is next Thursday, and I'm pretty sure we scheduled it then because we'd be in week 19. So, hey! Week 18! Whatever.

The bathroom is slowly coming back together. My parents had driven up to help us, and we had taken the week off from work. On Monday, we took our the tub and those awful plastic shower walls and discovered that not only was the plumbing not up to code, but the wall for the shower plumbing would actually not be up to code either. So, we got a permit from the city to have our shower wall closer to the toilet than is actually code, and we had a plumber come in to move the plumbing around and make sure it's up to code. $1200 later, we were finally ready to put the new tub/shower into place.

Of course, by then it was already Friday, and it was time for Adam and I to go to St Louis, MO, for his cousin's wedding. It was a very long drive, but hey, look! This hotel has a bathroom with a whole, functioning shower! Plus, our neice is way cuter than any other baby on earth. You know, for now, until ours gets here. The wedding was nice, too. It was at the Historic Hawken House, which meant that we got to tour the house while the reception was being set up. Very cool Victorian furnishings, and some fun stories about the nine Hawken children.

We drove back up on Sunday, and on Monday the plumbing inspector came out to check up on the plumber's work. He gave the thumbs up, so we proceeded to put the tub in place and level it all out. As of last night, the shower surround is in place as well, all leveled out and waiting to be attached to the wall studs. My parents have been kind enough to do chores and more bathroom work while Adam and I are at work--we couldn't have done this project without them.

I have photos sitting on the camera at home. You'll have to check back for them later. But it feels really good to at least see the tub/shower in place. It makes me think I actually might get to stop bathing in the basement one of these days!

Oh, PS, I forgot to say that all of our tests from the last post came back completely normal. Yay!