She's Here!

Mina Catherine made her grand arrival at 1:46am on December 29th after about 21 hours of labor and a forceps delivery. We're doing well, but we're stuck in the hospital for a few more days because Mina had a fever for a couple of her vitals checks. She seems perfectly healthy and we're getting the hang of breastfeeding. I'll post much more when we're home, but here are a couple of pictures to tide you over.

Milo had the winning guess for Mina's arrival so he gets a special present from her sometime soon. Click on the expectnet link if you want to see how you ranked. Notice that Jon and I did horribly. :)

Like Mike

Today is the due date and I don't think baby will come out in a timely fashion. I need to charge her some sort of late fee for every day she delays. Just because I have the stretch limo of a torso doesn't mean she should stay in there until toddlerhood! However, it would be great if she came on the 30th - it would still be December, 2007, family would be in town, and I'd get to celebrate Christmas on the 29th.

Anyway, my body is making some progress. I am so glad that my regular doctor is back from maternity leave. She's so much more approachable and she's all about getting this baby out since she freshly remembers how it feels to be so big and awkward. My blood pressure was slightly high again and I'm still puffy, but I was cleared for pre-e once again. Unfortunately the scale was set on pounds so I had to see my weight. Yikes! My belly measured 36 weeks since baby girl is so low and Dr. M thinks the baby will be somewhere around 6.5 to 7.5 pounds. Baby's heart rate was up to 145 today and Dr. M has the magic touch with the doppler. She always finds the baby immediately. Then we get to the fun stuff....the internal exam. My cervix is soft and dilated to about 1.5-2 cm so I'm making progress. She went ahead and stripped my membranes. Click on this link if you're wondering what that is. Hopefully it will help things progress more because it HURT! I couldn't help but make faces and I think I probably resembled the greatest basketball player of all time - Michael Jordan. I went ahead and made my appointment for next week (time still up in the air) and then we'll see where to go from there. In any case, I'll definitely have the baby by Jan. 10th since that's when I hit 42 weeks. It gets dangerous when you keep a baby in too long.

We'll take a picture this evening. Hopefully it will be my last official belly picture!

Another Missed Deadline

Obviously baby girl missed the memo that said she was supposed to come yesterday. I had some contractions that hurt (still not too bad), were 5 minutes apart, and lasted about a minute each yesterday morning, but that didn't quite pass the 5-1-1 rule (5 minutes apart, lasting a minute each, AND having that go on for an hour before going in to L & D). The contractions spaced out and stopped hurting right after lunch. She got my hopes up for a little bit there. I hurried up and did all the laundry and took a shower so I was ready to go. I even finished my latest project. I bought some Iowa State fleece and blanket stitched the edges to make a stretchy swaddling blanket. At least that distracted me yesterday. I don't know what we're going to do today. For some reason walking in the mall doesn't appeal to me.

I guess you could say I'm getting stressed out. Jon got his call schedule for next month and I'm scared of having a brand new baby and being alone a lot. Unfortunately, Jon has to sleep at the hospital four times in the near future - Dec. 31, Jan. 2 (nothing like practically two nights in a row), Jan. 15, and Jan. 18. I'm okay with the later two dates, but who knows what will be going on for the early dates. I will be alone from about 6am - 6pm the following day when he's on call at the hospital. I hope our baby is really good because 36 hours seems like a long time to take care of baby without a break. Maybe I should just hold the baby in until Jan. 3rd and stay in the call room with him in case I go into labor. He has vacation from Jan. 5-11 so that wouldn't be that bad of timing. The waiting is starting to get to me though. I'm torn between wanting baby to come out so I can see her, hold her, learn to take care of her, etc. and between thinking what have I gotten myself into.

James (our bestman) came to visit us on Friday night and stayed until yesterday late morning. We had a lot of fun catching up. He's the one we were planning to visit in California, but now it sounds like he's moving back to New York so we'll have to see.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sigh...

The natural, noninvasive approach of my doctor is really starting to chap my hide. She didn't do an internal exam so I have no idea if my contractions are helping me dilate or efface at all. In the whole scheme of things it doesn't matter since one can go from 0 to 10cm in a day or two or can stay at 2-3 cm for weeks, but I'm such a number person that I like to know everything I can. My blood pressure was fantastic this week (115/75), but the doctor was slightly concerned by my cankles and paws (previously known as hands) so she checked to make sure I didn't have protein in my urine. I checked out okay with that so there really aren't any health concerns. Baby's heartrate was about 130 and she's been pretty lively today so baby's health isn't a concern either. Next week I'll definitely have an internal exam done if I'm still pregnant on the 27th.

I don't think we're going to make my Thursday goal so the new goal is Sunday. Jon is on call on Saturday, but he has Sunday through Tuesday off so that would be great timing. I'll pencil it in!

Cankles

Yes, I finally have cankles. I wore regular socks yesterday and when I took them off it looked like I had been hogtied with rope. I only have a few pairs of ankle socks so this baby better come out soon. Plus, I hate to wear ankle socks because they never stay up. Last night Jon yelled at the baby and told her to come out and then took me walking outside and in the mall. Who knows what torture he'll have in store for me tonight. Just so he doesn't slip castor oil into my drink! I had some contractions during our walk, but haven't really felt anything much today. Maybe I should stop laying around to get things going.

I hope that my appointment is more interesting this week. Maybe she'll want to do an internal since I've been having some contractions. It's my last appointment with Dr. E before Dr. M gets back from maternity leave. Don't expect news early in the day because my appointment isn't until 3:30 and they sometimes run late with the afternoon appointments.

Single Digits!

Did you notice that we're down to 9 days today? I'm hoping for less since I've had some contractions today that have been somewhat painful. They still aren't too painful, frequent, or regular, but at least they're something. My goal is to have the baby on Thursday. I've accomplished some work today and gotten the house in pretty good shape so she's welcome to come earlier.

I think the labor watch is starting. My dad called today to ask how I'm doing. My mom emailed me to ask how I'm doing and to tell me those cramps are most likely contractions. Don't worry guys - I'll tell you when anything exciting happens like my water breaking or checking into labor and delivery.

Twiddling my Thumbs

I really wish I knew when labor was going to start so I could just deal with whether it would be soon or not for a few weeks. I guess I'm starting to get a little impatient. I've been really tired the last few days and I've even been able to take naps and then sleep at night. I feel kind of crampy off and on like my period is coming (hopefully that means I'm dilating some) and once in a while I notice a nonpainful contraction. Baby doesn't move nearly as much so she must be feeling kind of squished in there. She still passes kick counts when I check. I don't think my doctor will do an internal on Thursday unless I say I'm in pain or have been having lots of contractions. Jon continues to give my belly pep talks, but his daughter is just way too comfy to listen to him. I'm still enjoying my pregnancy and feeling pretty good so I'm not desperate at this point to evict her.

In other news, I feel it's safe to share some other baby announcements. My big sister Emily is expecting a baby on June 13th so she's in the second trimester already (14 1/2 weeks). I'm so proud of myself for keeping that a secret. I figure since Mom put it in the Christmas card, then I might as well spill the beans too. It will be so fun to have cousins that close in age. My friend Kim is also pregnant and found out yesterday. She's due at the end of August after going through IVF. I hope the first trimester scariness flies by for her.

I'm feeling much more myself now that I've passed Dec. 14th and 16th. Those were dates marked in my mind and now that they've come and gone, I can move on and just be excited about baby.

I suppose I should take a shower and do some laundry. I've had a very lazy day today since I didn't even make a to-do list. Yes, I generally have a to-do list every day. It's how I cope with so much free time. I had to get the furnace fixed today so that kept me close to home this morning. There's nothing like needing a $322 part in order to keep your home warm. Oh well.

For What Was Lost

This is such a time of happiness and excitement that I hate to bring people down, but I feel the need to honor my little one that I lost a year ago. This was the day that I had two shots of methotrexate in order to protect my health from the suspected ectopic pregnancy. My doctor determined that there was absolutely no way the pregnancy was viable and was concerned that I might have a tube rupture if the embryo was allowed to grow more. I'll never know what happened and if it was a girl or boy, but I know I would have loved her or him with all my heart. I'll never forget my joy when I found out I was pregnant for the first time. That first baby gave me hope that someday I'd be a mommy and very shortly that dream will come true. My empty arms will be filled, but I'll never forget my little angel that I never got to hold.

3rd Trimester Belly Slideshow

38 Weeks

I had yet another boring OB appointment today. I didn't even look at the scale because I figure ignorance is bliss. My BP was fine, belly measured the same as last week, and the heartrate for baby was in the 140s. The doctor says that I've dropped some since she can now plainly tell where the baby's head is, but I've not dropped all the way since she can still feel a good portion of the head. I didn't have an internal exam so I don't know if I'm dilated or effaced at all yet. At least she's making some progress in the right direction.

I made some delicious goodies today. Here's what you do: Get a box of semi sweet Baker's chocolate (8 squares). Melt it according to the directions and add 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract and mix it around. Dip Ritz crackers into the chocolate and scrape/drip off the excess. Place the crackers on waxed paper and top with crushed candy cane. Refrigerate for about half an hour and voila! A box of Baker's chocolate is enough for one sleeve of crackers. They taste a lot like thin mints from Girl Scouts, but they're more festive in appearance. Yummy!

If you look really closely you'll see why I've decided it's time for baby girl to come out - I finally have stretch marks on my belly.

Christmas Card Story

Hopefully people have received their Christmas cards by now. I'm sure you're wondering how we created our beautiful work of art. I have a craft projector that came in handy. We printed off some clipart and projected an image onto my belly in a dark room. Jon traced the image with eyeliner and then painted the picture with non-toxic paints. He even had to blend colors to create just the right shades of brown. It's a good thing I'm not ticklish! We had fun with it. Jon's vest is a woman's vest from Goodwill that I decorated with iron-ons. Even the back of it is covered with beauty.

Unfortunately, the official card was cropped kind of funny, but you can see here that we can take pictures without chopping off heads. My belly button is part of Rudolph's mouth if you're curious.

No Baby Today

Baby girl isn't allowed to come out today. It's way too icy! I hope our power doesn't go out. I haven't felt a whole lot of contractions so she shouldn't be coming yet. I felt my first semi-painful contraction on Sunday afternoon. I'd give it a 4 on the pain scale and all of the others have been 1's. The only way I can tell I'm having a contraction is if I happen to be touching my stomach at the time and I feel it harden. I'm still feeling pretty good and my back hasn't been hurting as much lately. I woke up this morning and I was sleeping on my stomach once again. Whoever says that it will get to the point where you can't sleep on your tummy hasn't met me. I don't sleep completely flat on my tummy though. Emily says she slept on her belly through her whole pregnancy with Milo and he turned out perfect.

We had to reschedule our Saturday Christmas party for this coming Saturday due to the weather. Jon's parents still came on Saturday and stayed until Sunday midday. We opened presents and had a couple of nice meals. Here's a picture of us with the excited grandmother-to-be.

Pure Holiday Silliness

Check this out! http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1239549502

I think that Jon is the best dancer. :)

Am I Big Enough?

Here are this week's pictures. I'm not sure what's worse - the double chin or the almost shut eyes. Where's my glow?



The Schwans man hasn't arrived yet. I hope he doesn't skip us this week because I preordered a bunch of stuff. I didn't go to my baby wearing meeting because I didn't want to brave the roads...but he should know how important his ice cream is to us.

37 Weeks

I just got back from my OB appointment and it was probably the most boring appointment yet. My blood pressure was good, weight was what I expected, fundal height measured right on this week, heart rate was in the 140s, and they didn't even make me pee in a cup. Yay! That becomes very awkward in later pregnancy if you can imagine. Sorry for the TMI. Also, I don't have Group B Strep so I don't have to have antibiotics when I'm in labor.

It's snowing and beautiful outside right now. Hopefully the roads won't get too bad. I'm planning to go to a meeting tonight about baby wearing (slings, wraps, etc.) and the Schwans man is supposed to come with lots of yummy stuff I ordered. We have three Christmas parties this weekend if the weather permits. Friday night is the hospital party at the Marriott. I'm going to wear my black dress that I wore back in October at a wedding. We'll have to take a picture to see how different it looks on me now. Saturday is the Cedar Rapids party with Jon's side of the family. Sunday is Christmas with Lee and Cathy at our house.

This week I got my Christmas cards sent out. Jon and I spent the afternoon on Sunday getting the cards made. Hopefully most people will receive their cards today. I can't wait to post the pictures on the blog, but I don't want to ruin the surprise. I have all of my Christmas shopping done and everything is wrapped and under the tree. We put the pack n' play together and everything is ready for baby girl. I bought the ingredients for a few casseroles and I made one casserole and froze it yesterday. I'll probably make another today or make a couple tomorrow. I made a brunch casserole and I have pizzaghetti and Italian soup (Jon's family recipe) in the works. Plus, I have the ingredients for tater tot casserole. I probably won't make that ahead of time though since it's so easy and quick to make.

I'll post later once we have a belly picture taken. I should note that last week's picture in an XL shirt was an XL nonmaternity shirt. I still fit into most of my maternity shirts.