Posts
Smile!
One of his first "real" smiles, as of today. He is 6 weeks old today, and has already grown an inch and a half and gained at least 3-4 lbs. He fit comfortably in 3 month sizes for all of 2 weeks, lol. He's my big, healthy baby boy.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Whew!
Sorry it's been so long. I have been very busy taking care of my little man. He is a great kid, but quite a handful since it is just me in the house. With Beowulf deployed, I don't have anyone to pass him off to on a day-to-day basis. The little one has not been too difficult, really; he's not really colicky or anything, but he does like to be held all the time. Between holding him and keeping myself and the house relatively clean, I haven't made any time to post, as you can tell. I've even lost all the baby weight without even trying, just due to breastfeeding and not having time to overeat. But yesterday, I finally went out and bought a baby swing after trying one out at a friend's house. It is truly a sanity saver.
Busy, busy, though...
Hope you all are doing well.
Friday, September 18, 2009
He's here!
Our little man was born at 3:05 am on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 after 26 hours of labor and a rather difficult delivery. He is strong and healthy, though, at 9 lbs 11 oz and 21.5 inches long. Mommy is sore and tired, but very happy. I'll post more when I am more alive and settled in at home.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Patience
is a virtue, or so they say. I'm trying to remind myself of that daily. And of the fact that the longer he stays in before his "official" due date, the healthier he'll be. Even if he's a giant.
Went in to L&D last night 'cause he hadn't been moving much yesterday. Really he's probably just running out of room. Everything's fine; good strong heartbeat, a few decent contractions while I was there, and I finally got checked. Unfortunately I'm only 1cm dilated and still only 50% effaced. Which doesn't mean a whole lot (some women start labor at 0), but it was still a little disappointing when I was hoping for a little more progress than that. So now I'm telling myself that it's gonna be another week. He's gonna stay in there through my scheduled appointment on Thursday, and he might even make it to his "official" due date of the 16th. Not what I was hoping for, but oh, well.
I'm really looking forward to meeting this kid. He is turning out to be as stubborn as his mom & dad put together. :)
Monday, August 31, 2009
Still waiting
Our little one is still not here yet. I've been having contractions off and on all week, and I am so sick of it. I really just want labor to start for real so that I can stop stressing and so that I can meet our little boy. The doc said this morning that it sounds like it could happen any day now, considering all the contractions, etc. Gosh I hope so. Despite Beowulf being out of contact the next couple of weeks, I am worn out and so ready to get this show on the road. Here's hoping this is the week.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Hangin' In There
The kiddo is still hanging in there so far. Had my baby shower yesterday, got a lot of great stuff that I needed or wanted and that will come in very handy. Had a great time with the ladies that came. Our chaplain's wife even brought something that I'd never have thought of; a little plaster cast thingy that I can put the baby's hand & foot prints in and send to Beowulf. That was such a great idea. I now have plenty of clothes to last the first 3-6 months, enough towels and wash cloths that I doubt I'll ever run out, plenty of sheets and receiving blankets, etc, etc,...and everyone was so nice and seemed to have a good time. I hope they enjoyed the shower as much as I did.
My mom has been such a big help these last few weeks. I know I mentioned that in my last post, but really, I am so incredibly grateful for her, and for the fact that we still live near enough that I can draw from her experience and share this with her. Between the two of us, we have cleaned pretty much the entire house (minus the office, which isn't really a necessity at this point anyway), have gotten through every single bit of laundry, painted the living room, and planned and put together a great shower. She really has been a lifesaver these last couple weeks, both in motivating me to get things cleaned and ready, and in helping with the things I do not have the energy or ability to do now at 9 months preggo. So I just have to thank her publicly again. She has just been awesome, and I am sooo incredibly grateful for her.
So the doc said on Friday that he's not going to officially change the due date (from Sept 16), no matter how wrong I think he is. He felt my belly and said that yes, this kid is a big baby, as we knew from the ultrasound and his measurements, but, well, his son was 10lbs 13oz and just fine, so he's not going to worry about it. Makes me a little nervous. I will continue counting down to Sept 7, my original due date, while being ready for the little guy to make his appearance any time now, as I really don't think he will make it to his due date. The doc acknowledged that the baby has already "dropped" and is in place and ready to go, but declined to check me for dilation, etc., because according to the "official" due date, I was not yet 37 weeks, and they don't check dilation before that...*sigh*.
So I have another appointment scheduled for this Friday. At least at this next one (provided baby stays put all week), I will be 37+ weeks even according to the "official" due date, so I will at least get checked for progress. We will see how things go.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Still Learning
Ok, so...I'm still learning some of this stuff, and I guess I was wrong in my post the other day. The ultrasound tech had told me that my cervical length was 2 cm, and that she is supposed to tell the doc if it is anything under 2.5 cm, so I made the assumption that that meant I was 20% effaced. I was wrong. Apparently a 2 cm cervical length is actually 50% effaced. Thus the reason for passing along such info to the doc.
Granted, just because that's where I was on Thursday, doesn't mean that's where I am now, or where I'll be a few days or a week from now. I have had a few random braxton-hicks contractions over the last week or so. Nothing regular, nothing worth going in for. The babe is moving like normal, and was having a grand old time this morning tickling my right ribs with his toes. But with him so big, I am wondering just how long I really do have left. You may have noticed that I removed my ticker; I figured since my due date seems to now be up in the air (at least until my appt on Friday), it wasn't worth looking at. But you are welcome to take a guess at this baby's birth date and stats; I will even allow guesses to be changed up until I actually go into labor or schedule an induction (if that ends up being necessary, which I am kind of doubting at this point). The link for guesses is right there where my ticker was in the upper right sidebar column. At this point, I am just hoping I make it through my shower on Saturday without going into labor.
So, with all of this excitement, I am trying to get things done with two deadlines in mind; one being the shower on Saturday, which I need to clean house for (Mom is hosting, but at my house), and two being labor and the arrival of my little boy, which could come at any time. So with that in mind, I tried to get one set of errands taken care of today - while still recovering from the cold I picked up last week. I went shopping for things I knew I would need, so that if I do go into labor in the next 2 weeks, I won't have to go get shampoo or contact solution with a 2-day-old infant in tow. Two stores, maybe 3 hours, but by the time I was done, and done putting groceries away, it felt like I had run a marathon or climbed a mountain. The third trimester (and especially the last month) really sucks the energy right out of you. Once my shower is over and I've gotten the doc's input on that last ultrasound, I think I am really ready to be done. I want to meet this kid face to face instead of carrying him around in my belly 24/7. I never expected to say this, but I think I am even looking forward to labor.
I think I'm going to go take a nap now or veg out in front of the TV for a little while. Later, all.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Some Interesting Developments
So...we have had some interesting developments this week. Sunday I went in to L&D thinking that my water might be leaking. Turned out I was wrong, but that started off my week of reality check that this baby is actually going to be here, and soon. Possibly even sooner than expected.
My original due date, according to LMP, was September 7. At the ultrasound (which I had thought was scheduled for 19.5 weeks), they told me that he was measuring small (18 weeks), and revised our due date accordingly, for September 16. Well, recently (as evidenced by the picture in the previous post), I have been feeling HUGE, and people, especially friends and family, have been telling me that they don't think I'm going to make it to September. Granted, they're not professionals, but neither are they strangers that have been saying this. Strangers just ask if I'm due "tomorrow", and say things like, "You look like you're about to pop."
Monday I went in for my regular OB appointment, and after listening to the heartbeat and answering questions, double-checking the results of all my previous testing, etc. (I had a new doc this time, a resident, since my regular doc's wife is ill), the doc measured me to see where I'm at. Well, he said that I was measuring large (by more than the acceptable 2 cm), and so he went to get a second opinion from one of the docs on staff, who came back and measured me, and agreed with him. So...they set me up with a "growth scan", i.e., ultrasound, for this morning to see what's going on.
So this morning I go in for the ultrasound, and the tech is pointing out various organs, showing me that yes, he is still very clearly a boy, and taking pictures and measurements to be sent on to the doc. She gets the babe to do some breathing motions to see/show how his lungs are working so far, and pokes around and measures some more, and then shows us the chart...
The kid is measuring 38.5 weeks, roughly 7lbs 7oz. That's 2 weeks ahead of my original due date, and roughly 3.5 weeks ahead of my "revised" due date. And huge. I mean, 7lbs 7oz is normal for a full-term birth weight. If he waits even another couple of weeks, he easily has the potential to be a 9lb baby. If he decides to go all the way to September...yikes. And I am only 20% effaced and not at all dialated. Which means probably at least another week or two.
He is not going to fit into any of the newborn clothes we have. Maybe diapers either. He's going to go straight to the 0-3 month size.
So, this week Mom came down to do the labor class, the breastfeeding class, and the ultrasound with me, and has been a big help in terms of getting some things done around the house, and motivating me to keep going. She painted 2 walls of my living room (they had been kind of an ugly mustard color and are now a nice soft, neutral mushroom-y color), and she helped me get the laundry under control, as well as helping me get some heavy stuff out to the garage that Beowulf had not gotten to before he deployed. I am soooo grateful for all of her help. My parents rock.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
34 week pic
Mom & I went down to visit the state legislative building yesterday; kind of a field trip for a class she's doing. While we were there, she took this picture of me, and we both laughed - it really looks like I'm trying to hide a basketball under my shirt. :) So I figured I should share:
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
In transition
So Beowulf is now gone. And amidst all of the going-away craziness, he and Daisy played a little too rough, and I realized the morning he left that she was not at all acting herself. Thinking that she might just be stressed out from all of the excitement, I took her up with me to visit my parents for the day, but she was still acting timid and careful, so Mom & I decided to take her into the vet. Apparently, while she and Beowulf were playing the night before he left, she must have landed wrong and hurt her back. The vet gave us some pain pills, and the poor pup has been mostly sleeping since. If she's still not feeling better by tomorrow, I will probably take her back in to get x-rayed and re-examined to make sure there's nothing else that needs to be done. My poor sweet puppy dog.
Mom also came with me to my birth plan class and tour of L&D last night. It was good to get some questions answered and to familiarize my mom with the hospital, since she will be the one there with me, and she had never been to that part of base before. I am exceptionally grateful to have my parents close by for this deployment, especially with our little guy on the way in about 8 weeks. It was also nice for me to see the delivery rooms - they are way nicer than I was expecting, and the OB nurse that gave the class gave us some very reassuring info about how common certain procedures (like episiotomies) are, and how accommodating they are with birth plan choices. I am confident that I will be well taken care of when this kid decides to make his way out into the world.
I feel a little bit like I'm in limbo for the next 8 weeks. Plans are to spend the time taking occasional day trips with my mom, who is taking a history class this summer where she has to visit a number of historical sites within driving distance, to have the baby shower this next month, and to finish prepping anything else that needs to be done before baby comes. Oh, and I need to teach myself how to use our video editing software so that I can clean up the recordings we made of Beowulf reading aloud so that I can play them for the baby after he is born, and for myself as well. From the sound of it, Beowulf will not be able to be in regular contact for the first month or so at least. I am hoping that communication will be better than he expects, but we will see. This is my first deployment, and his first to Afghanistan, so the whole thing will be a learning experience for both of us, logistics-wise and communications-wise. We've done well when he's had to be away in the past for schools and things, so I am optimistic that we will find a comfortable balance that works for us, based on how often he finds himself able to communicate.
I am also looking forward to hearing from a good friend of ours who is supposed to be coming back from Iraq any time now. It has been more than a year since I have seen her, and I am excited that she will likely be home in time for my shower.
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