nice fauxhawk

photos

http://flickr.com/photos/osj/

mom and baby are doing fine this morning. michelle just got out of the shower and serif is getting the ole snip snip downstairs. ouch!

j

meet serif

mom and baby are doing fine. really, really smooth labor and birth (thank you god!).

labor started about 9 this morning, started pushing about 1:40 and baby popped out a little after 2.

everyone is doing fine.

here's the stats:
8lbs 4 oz
22" long
popped at 2:24pm

j m and s

more to come later

9.5 cm

the baby is "op" face up so they are having michelle lay for 30 minutes on one side then 30 on the other to see if it'll flip. nothing too serious other than it's more pushing for michelle.

j

8cm!!!

"you might have that baby right after lunch"

that's what the nurse said when she just checked her. 7cm!

j

waiting

OK, we're here, checked in and waiting.

shortly after this picture, the doc came in and poked michelle with a stick to break her water. yep, they poked her!

she's at 4 cm and 90% efaced and the doc said we would have come in later today any ways, even if we didn't induce.

pitocin and an epidural are on the way.

giddy up!
j

The Last Prenatal Visit - Week 39 1/2

Another good visit. I've gained 2lbs and my belly measurement was the same (39cm). I've dilated to 3cm and am still 80% effaced. Baby's heartbeat was in the 140's again.

Through the visit Jeff and I talked about how much we were wanting an October birthday and were really hoping for the 30th or 31st. Dr. Kyzer (being as cool as she is) says to us, 'Well, do you want me to check and see if there is an opening for induction tomorrow?'. My mouth dropped and eyes bugged and all I could do was stare at Jeff for reaction. I was at a loss for words. As much I've talked about tomorrow I guess the reality of it being a set thing kindof hit a little harder than expected. After taking a few breaths and me asking Jeff what he thought, we said okay check on it for us. It was only a few minutes later that she came back and said there was an opening and she would be happy to deliver tomorrow! So...we're having a baby tomorrow!

We're scheduled to be there at 7am so you should see a new post by tomorrow evening (hopefully). I'm sure we'll be anxious to share the arrival with everyone and I'm sure we'll be able to post a photo as well. So check back in throughout the day tomorrow to find out who this is that I've been carrying around with me this entire year! I've had a really great pregnancy and hopefully I'll enjoy them as much in arms as I have in my belly! :)

breastfeeding class

first this class would have been a lot less awkward if the nurse would have said "boobies" instead of "breast". i can't think of a replacement word for "nipple" though.

here's a photo of our baby for the evening. do you know how many "breasts" those lips have been on? i don't even want to go there.






















next is michelle practicing. no, that's not fear in her eyes, that's excitement (mixed with "what the heck . . .")






















and then there is this baby who left fully satisfied.

The Great Pumpkin - by Katie Vance

From my perspective - 12 days to go!

-m

DINKs...at 38 weeks

This weekend we went out to Cannonsburg with my sister to take some family photos. They turned out really great. Jeff and I decided to get a couple of photos of us as well. As I look back at all of them I realize that this may be our last photo together as 'dinks' (dual income no kids - for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term). So I thought it might be worth posting as a reminder of what life was like 'then'. We have enjoyed our lives together so much that it's weird to think of it any other way. Hopefully this little one will be even more of an enhancement for us and bring that much more joy, humor and laughs to our marriage. I hope he/she 'gets' us.

-m

Ready for Sprout

Finally, just as promised, the room photos. Although it's been a long time coming, it has turned out just as I'd hoped. It feels so good to finally have it all pulling together and everything in it's place. I can finally sit back and relax and think about the arrival of this little one. Every time I walk in this room, I smile. It just makes me happy. I hope Sprout likes the room as much as I do. I couldn't be more thrilled with how it's turned out and what a wonderful room for girl or boy to enjoy! (Gosh - have I been reading too many baby books already?)

The only thing missing from the room at this point is Sprout and the artwork over the changing table. Jeff has something up his sleeve for that space, but we need to know who it is bumping around in my belly first. I have to honestly say that it has been more fun not knowing who this little one is. Everyone keeps asking if I'm nervous about having him/her and I honestly have to say, 'Not so much'. I am more focused on the big question, 'Who is this little person?' Is it the boy I've been thinking it is or is it the girl everyone else thinks it is? The curiosity has been so much fun for us and I'm so glad we've waited. I don't even think I would have liked the room as much had I known what it was. The room is a perfect refection of us and what better room for him/her to have than that?

Another Good Visit (Week 38-1/2)

I’m still feeling well overall. My hips seem to be hurting less and I’m feeling more cramps and sharp pains in the stomach & lower abdomen. All is normal though and is just part of the process. I’m feeling more weight and pressure too but that is to be expected at this point as well.

Here are the stats of today’s visit:

Baby’s heartbeat: 144
My belly measurement: 39cm (was 37cm last week – so a bit of a growth spurt over the past week!)
I’m dilated to 2cm (progress from 1-1/2cm from last week)
Effaced (dropped) to 80% (progress from 70% from last week)
I’ve gained 3lbs (so I guess I made up for the 2-1/2 lost last week - sounds like the baby might be contributing to some of that : )
My blood pressure was excellent and still no swelling!

My next visit is next Wednesday, 10/29. I also have one scheduled for my actual due date 11/3. That visit we’ll also do an ultrasound to make sure the baby’s doing well and also to check his/her size. She did recommend one more thing and that is to go ahead and pick a date and schedule for induction. This doesn’t mean I’m going to have to be induced, but is more of a proactive approach to the ‘what if I go over’ scenario. She said they sometimes book up to 2 weeks in advance and it would be better for me to have it scheduled and ready than to be at 40+ weeks and unable to do anything for another week or two. So…we’ll be scheduling that soon too. She did say I was a good candidate for induction if I had to resort to that, but I really don’t feel like I will go that long. We’ll see!

sales conference jitters

at B&H, we do three sales conferences a year. every four months we get together to present the books for that cycle to the sales team and give them tools to go out and sell. that is really all the sales conferences are. two conferences ago, back in february we had an author, Vicki Courtney, speak to the team about her upcoming book. Vicki's message, not only in this book but in all her materials, is about being a virtuous girl/woman. her audience is tween and teen girls and their moms. while Vicki was presenting i remember watching a co-worker watch her. he has a little girl, probably two and a half years old at the time, and although he doesn't have to worry about his little girl being "virtuous" at two and a half, you could see he was taking a lot of mental notes. he seemed to be fast forwarding to when his daughter would be dating, or when she has friends with different morals, or when she might want to spread her wings a little bit and how he and his wife would deal with it. he was soaking in the advice.

i wasn't really involved in this part of the presentation, but as i watched my co-worker, i got inspired and emotional and emailed michelle a simple message saying, "i want to be a daddy of a little girl." i honestly don't remember her response but i know she saved the email. the rest of the sales conference was uneventful, as they usually are, but when i got home that night michelle met me at the door with one of those little EPT sticks that said "pregnant". my emotions had changed dramatically from earlier in the day watching my co-worker. i wish i could say i was excited, and tearful, and jumping for joy but the reality of it was, i wasn't so sure i was ready to be the daddy of a little anything.

fast forward six months to our current sales conference. it's happening right now and although i don't know what i'm the daddy of, i think i am ready now. or at least as ready as i'm going to be. still nervous and scared, (really scared) but ready. ready to meet this person who rolls and tumbles and punches under michelle's skin, and gets the hiccups, and causes her to get little sleep, but brings us laughs even now. i'm ready to meet him (or her). for the longest time when we would think about or say "we're due november third", that date was a LONG way off. it's not so long now. michelle is going to the doctor every week until sprout comes, the house is ready, pops (my dad) is ready, i guess we're kind of in a holding pattern. three weeks and counting. three weeks.

and at the next sales conference, in february, we'll have a three month old.

j

nightlights for sprout

Raconteur Rock II

i spent most of yesterday worried.

a couple of months back i though it was kinda cute to post about sprout dancing in the womb to the raconteurs song, "carolina drama" and at the time, i guess it was cute. but as they have grown and reality has set in (we're having a kid, this isn't a joke, dream, etc. we're gonna be parents and responsible for this little person), i got scared about going to the show. so much so, i asked michelle to call her doctor to make sure we wouldn't permanently damage the baby (or her) by going. the doc said it'd be fine but that really didn't ease my nerves. i have a tendency to get worked up over tiny things that i have no control over, such as drunk crowds at rock shows. and even though almost every ryman show we have been to has had great crowds you never can tell. i guess more than anything, i was worried for michelle. once we got there, got to our seats, and realized it was going to be fine, the nerves settled down. sprout survived (but was awake and moving around for a LONG time afterwards) michelle got to see jack white, and we all got to see (or hear, in sprouts case) a great show. i'll let michelle tell you more about it.

j