updates

Abby was born last sunday.  We found out yesterday she has a heart defect that will require open heart surgery in 2 months.  I will be posting any updates on my family website: mikeamyandizzy.typepad.com

No change (except in my mental state)

Cervix check this morning revealed no change.  Doc started talking about c-section again.  She wanted to schedule one today, but I opted to wait till next appt.  If no change at next appt, c-section will be quick.  If some change, she will give me till 41 weeks.  I am DE-pressed.

Life’s good.

Things here are going well and calming down. We actually sat down to eat as a family for dinner today. Yay!

I’ve still got a lot of work to do before earth Day, and I still feel like I’m racing the clock, but I’m in the home stretch and it’s like you just have to let it go after a point and let it be… whatever it will be.

You know?

Change in attitude

One week (or so) left and I am trying to change my attitude.  I have been so anxious to get the little bugger out that I haven’t been “enjoying” the last week or so of pregnancy.  Then I realized a couple of days ago that this is likely the last time I will ever be pregnant, the last time I will get to feel the internal motions of a little human being.  We hope we can have another, but with our fertility it isn’t guaranteed.  So I am trying to appreciate the sensations, live in the moment, and wait as patiently as possible.

I started maternity leave on Thursday so I have had 2 days “off” to do stuff around the house and nap.  Napping is highest on my list of things to do, but I did set up the pack and play in our bedroom and go to the bank.  See, I am being productive too.

I went to the doc last wednesday and she didn’t think anything was going to happen this week.  Cervix was completely unchanged.  Trying not to obsess about when/how/IF I will go into labor.  I will try to update before it happens, though.

Lots of contractions, no progress

I am in the home stretch now, we know (well, hope, do we ever really know?) we will have a baby in a carrier in less than 3 weeks.  The only question then is when, people, when?  I have been having contractions on and off since Friday.  They last for several hours and seem to get into a good pattern,  then peter out and die.  Yesterday I had an NST and two contractions were caught on the tape.  I had been contracting since about 11, the NST was at 1. They were 18 minutes apart then.  The rest of the night, the contractions continued, getting to be about 8 minutes apart by 5 pm.  After dinner I went for a walk (hoping to make them stronger and closer) and they went away.  Oh well.  I go in to the doctor tomorrow and get checked again, hopefully the contractions are making changes to my cervix.  (At last check, my cervix was high and “finger tip” dilated and the baby was at -1.  Think Low Cervix! thoughts for me.)

With Iz, I didn’t have any contractions till right at the end so all these “non-real”contractions are playing with my emotions.  Every night I think “Should I finish packing my bag?  Should Iz sleep with mom?  Is tonight the night?” only to be disappointed again.

Speaking of disappointment, I was going to the spa today with my girlfriend to get pedicures, but they were totally booked.  We are going to lunch still, but will have to put off our pedicure date till another day.   Damn, I was hoping to use my perfectly pedicured toes as my focus point.

Eco-activist Diet?

Oh, lord, where does the time fly?

Been working my behind off with event planning. Did you know I’m an eco-activist? yes? No? But surely you know Earth Day is around the corner?

One of my “babies” is turning 1 on Earth Day — a full year of providing “Organic Children’s Gardening” classes for youngsters in the downtown area.

So we are celebrating the planet and our first year as a self-sustained little program running on donations alone. Big deal to me.

And I’m secretly hoping we will have another reason to celebrate — winning a grand in supplies with a garden grant!

And I found out we might get listed on an index of local earth Day events elsewhere and be given more publicity through that. And a friend hooked me up with a magazine who might cover us.

So it’s like we’re coming out of the closet and I feel sick to my stomach with stress.

And I’m supposed to be helping with my daughters school dance thing.

And I have a 5K race event to plant trees at a local teen rehab shelter and in haiti.

And I’m doing a girl power thing as well for mother’s day in honor of planet earth and women everywhere.

Run, run, run, call, mail, email, meet, plan, stress, fret, e-mail, call… That is the eco-activist diet. I can’t sleep well. My husband says I talk in my sleep. I’ve lost 8 lbs.

I don’t recc. losing weight this way but pleeeeeeeaaase cross your fingers my Earth Day things and Girl power things come together ok!

Say what?

Everything went great!  The u/s showed us an average sized baby with a very low head (my bladder could have told them that).  The estimated weight was 7 lbs which sounds like a lot to me, but apparently is normal.  I went in with Mike ready to fight the doctor about the vbac, but she seemed completely ok with the vbac!  I don’t know what happened, but she was just as nice as she could be about it.  She said that she had 3 other clients that were all due around my time and were all trying for vbac.  Nothing to argue about.

I feel like this huge pressure has been lifted off my shoulders and I can start really thinking about labor and delivery.  I want it to happen early (7 lbs already?  How big will be be at birth???), but not too early (mom isn’t here next week and I plan on spending the week hanging out with Iz).  Wow, I am so excited!

Pre-U/S post

I am nervously sitting here waiting for my u/s this afternoon.  It is all I can think about.  The babe is kicking away so I am hopeful everything will be ok.  I will be leaving in 1 hour to meet Mike for lunch, then off to the doctors.  I will post again when I return.

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Taxes complete!

<>I was so excited to finish my taxes last night (I am such a nerd that way).  I had done a quick calculation on the federal taxes when most of the paperwork arrived in early February and found we owed around $1200.  (BLAH!)  Last night I got the exact number, slightly higher than my previous estimate.  The good news is that we get back about the same amount from the state taxes so, on the whole, we break even.  Of course I will be mailing the state taxes tonight (after I get some more paper to make copies) and won’t mail the feds till much closer to the due date.Mark one more thing off my “things to do before the baby arrives” list.

I had a realization yesterday that next week (March 10-14) might be my last week of work before maternity leave.  The following week is spring break and I may not come back after spring break.  I don’t know if I should work the last week of March or not.  Would it make the time go faster to be working?  Or would I feel better staying at home and finishing last minute preparations?  The best conclusion is that the baby would come a little early so my decision will be made for me.  I will definitely start maternity leave by the following week (March 31) so I either have 1 or 2 weeks of real work left.  Yippee!

Waiting too

When I read the title of your last post, Cat, I could totally relate.  I feel like waiting is what I am primarily doing these days too.  5 more weeks worth.

I had another doctor’s appt. yesterday and it went well.  My iron levels are up so even though the iron supplement is making me want to puke for an hour after taking it, I promised to soldier on and take it till delivery.  She was happier with my glucose numbers so I am off the insulin hook for now.  I am scheduled to have an u/s next week so we can measure the size of the baby and then “discuss our options”.  I have been doing a lot of reading on vbac and have a stockpile of data ready so I can go in and make my case for wanting to continue with the vbac plan.  Mike will go with me to back me up.  I have only gained about 23 lbs, about half what I gained with Iz and I am measuring right on track so I feel like this baby is going to be of normal size.

We went on the tour of the hospital yesterday and it made me want a vbac even more.  For c-sections, the moms are in labor and delivery for just a moment, then taken to the operating room.  After they remove the baby, they take it upstairs to the post partum ward while the mom has the rest of the surgery and is then in recovery alone for another 1.5 hours.   So with a c-section, the mom and baby are separated for the first ~2 hours of life.  I REALLY don’t want that.   With Iz, we were serparated, but she had to go to NICU and there was nothing we could do about it.   I don’t want to volunteer for the separation.  Yet another reason to try for vbac.

<>When we were introducing ourselves for the tour, I mentioned we would be trying for a vbac.  Another couple came up to me and asked who my doctor was.  They want to try for a vbac too, but their doctor wouldn’t let them.  I told them my doc’s name, but warned that mine didn’t want to do a vbac either and it would be a fight.

<>Another couple of weeks till spring break.  The week of spring break, I will be taking care of Iz full time and I am excited to spend some time alone with her before the baby comes.  I have some fun activities planned, I hope the weather (and my health) holds out and we can make them all happen.