It's a BOY!

I only have a minute, but I wanted to report with a full heart that my son was FINALLY born on Saturday, January 17th. It was a very difficult labor with many detours along the way, but the end result is all that matters now. A sweet boy was placed on my chest and my whole world changed forever. We were discharged last night from the hospital but are back again tonight to see if they are going to admit him for jaundice. I'm ready to be out of this place and home recovering, but as always I'm not in control. I will share with you our story when I can get to a place where my computer will work-sitting in the waiting room now and took advantage of this one.
Thank you all for you comments and well wishes. I couldn't wait to check in.

I'll be back with pictures and stories later.

This is it

I went in for my NST today and the baby is still having decels-Darn it. They did another ultrasound to check on the little one and found that the cord is wrapped TWICE around the neck. Damn it! Sooooo...they are inducing me tonight. In a few short hours. I lost my mucous plug today so I was very hopeful that there would be some dilation, but nothing. The doc thinks that with my Fort Knox cervix if we induce tonight that we may have a baby by Friday, maybe Saturday. That sounds like quite a marathon now, doesn't it? So, for the record, I'm scared to death. I have planned and prepared for when my body would say it was time-this whole induction thing feels so out of control to me and I just have a feeling that we will end up with a c-section. I could be wrong. I hope I am.
This is it, though, no turning back. I just want to be on the other side safe with a healthy baby. Please think of me and my chipmunk. No one in my real life has this blog address-so you will have to wait for updates from me. Boy, I didn't expect to be so afraid. Wish us luck.
Love,
j

Due date guarantees

Exactly 7 days-one week- until my due date. I know that does not necessarily mean that I will have my baby on the 20th, however, there are a few things that will happen on the 20th that I can look forward to no matter what. The first has me very excited. President-elect Barack Obama will be inaugurated, no matter what, whether I am giving birth or not, whether I am begging for an epidural or sitting right here at my desk. It will happen and that's definitely something to look forward to. Second of all, it is Martin Luther King's birthday-always a reason to celebrate-enough said. And the last thing, our doula had made a suggestion about a month ago, she told S and I to have a back up plan in case the day came and went without us having a baby in our arms. She said the date will always be special to us, and that it can be very depressing for mom-to-be to still be a mom-to-be at the end of that day, so plan something special to do as a couple. S took her advice and has reservations at an undisclosed location for us. So, if the day does come and go, and we haven't met this baby, yet, we will still have a great day, one that won't just involve me tapping my toe.

NST update from yesterday- no major change. Baby still having decels-3 into the 70's and 80's, but good movement and recovery so we march onward...next NST on Wednesday.

Still here

Well, on Friday the contractions kept up for quite a while, but eventually slowed to nothing around 9 pm. Bummer. Believe it or not we still had a few projects to get done, so I guess it was OK. Now, though, there is nothing left to do, so we are completely ready. Hear that, Baby? We are ready. Please come see us. Don't be scared, we'll figure it out together.

I'm going to go in for another NSt today. We'll see what we learn. The little chipmunk has slowed down with movements, but I think that is normal. There just isn't as much room in there.

The full moon came and went yesterday-no baby. There is a big blizzard set to hit in the next 24 hours, maybe that is when it'll all happen. We're down to single digits! 8 days remain....

Ellen-thanks for the advice. I wasn't going to bring any! : ) Now I will!

HMmmmm...

I'm having some pretty regular contractions since the appt. Either my body is just practicing and gearing up-happened last weekend and then stopped-or we really are at the beginning of something. Let's hope they keep up. I'll have some kind of news for you one way or another. Baby or no baby. Either way, we are getting closer.

Have a great weekend, All.

Better news

Today baby's heart rate looked better. They tracked me through a few good long contractions and still s/he managed them well. Doc feels better and so do I. We still will be watchful, but today there was no good reason to rush me off to Labor and Delivery. I wouldn't mind going on my own accord, though! I hope the contractions are doing something and things keep moving forward.

People here at work threw me a little shower this morning, complete with a lovely cake, yummy cookies, and few other goodies. They gave me a generous gift certificate that will allow us to purchase the last 2 things on our list. It was very sweet.

I still feel like I have more energy and my my hips and back are doing well. I can actually walk at a bit of a clip. Now, I'm certainly not going to beak into a run or anything, but to be able to move without holding back tears is MUCH appreciated!

11 more days, people!

Nuts!

I know where all the extra nuts that I've been eating to increase my protein are being stored-in our little babes cheeks! We had another ultrasound today to check amniotic fluid and boy are those cheeks big!!

Our NST revealed more wacky heart rates and those scary decels dropping into the 80s. Now with the amniotic fluid being back up where it should be the doc is unsure what is causing it, which causes concern. She talked about induction today, which I really don't want to have to do, but of course, would do if we need it to happen. She fears that would end in a c-section anyway, so maybe we just cut to the chase-I don't know. She wants me back every other day for monitoring, so I'll go back Friday and hopefully things will look better. I hate to worry. I hate to be hyper sensitive about every movement I feel, or don't. Luckily the jumping bean stays active and does give me constant reassurance. She said if I feel ANY decreased movement to come in ASAP. She doesn't want me hanging out at home too long if labor does start, either. She's worried about whether the baby will have a hard time recovering from the contractions. The ultrasound also reveled the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck, which I know happens and can be just fine, but darn it, it's one more thing to worry about. Well, back to one day at a time. Only 13 of them left until my due date anyway. I can't wait to meet this little one. Baby has dropped and is at -2 station, so at least we are moving in the right direction.

We had a 4 days off from work and really relaxed into a long weekend. Something we haven't done for awhile and know we won't have the luxury to do for a long time coming. I actually napped twice. Dreamy. S has really stepped up and been so much help at home, too. I feel so fortunate and lucky to have his much needed support right now. His love and humor are carrying me through these last weeks. I have felt so much better this week, too. Maybe it was the quiet long nap-filled weekend, but I have much more energy this week, and feel less emotional, well, except when I think about what happened the last few hours 2008...

We had a very nice and relaxing New Year's (with one glitch). S and I went out to dinner and just took it easy. We had wanted to see a movie too, but our dinner lingered, which was very enjoyable, and I became too tired. When we came home after dinner I checked the answering machine and there was a message from S's dad. I tried to rewind and cue it up so that he could listen to it, but in doing so I was pushing the wrong button. I thought I was hitting the skip button, but after hitting the delete button 6 times I realzied what I was doing and what I had just deleted-the last phone messages I had saved from my father, and there was absolutely nothing I could do to get them back. His voice calling to check up on me and telling me he loved me-vanished, gone, forever. I was dumbfounded. Eventually I did break down and cried. Hard. For a really long time. I can't even write this without getting all choked up again. I had wanted to write a long post just about this but everytime I tried to start it, I would lose it. I just couldn't get it out, but I needed to mention it. There have been many times when I've just needed to hear him and I've played those messages, yes, it's gut wrenching to do it, but sometimes I feel like I'm forgetting his voice and I don't want to. EH! It's too hard to talk about. I miss him. I miss him. I miss him. And I can't believe he won't get to meet my baby.



On a more upbeat note, I have a photo of myself from last week. I need to take a new one as I keep growing, but thought it would be fun to share. I still don't believe this is possible.