May 27, 2004

Well, here we go... My water "broke" this morning around 6:30am (not the dramatic way you hear about - more of a trickle than the "gush" in the stories - but it's undeniable at this point). We went to the hospital and the baby's heartbeat is looking good, contractions are very mild and about three minutes apart, and no dilation yet. So, it could be a bit of a long journey, but they say we're on our way. Some way, somehow, we will have a baby in the next 48 hours, they tell us.

Wish us luck! We'll be back with photos as soon as we can!

May 25, 2004

I had an awesome birthday today. I went to this nice quiet cafe near our new condo and had a yummy decaf mocha and a bagel with cream cheese and tomatoes and wrote in my journal for about an hour. Then, I went to Shevlin Park, which is this gorgeous, really rustic park nearby (where we had our wedding picnic) and hung out at the river and wrote the baby a letter. It's really cool to contemplate my own birth and life stuff at a time so close to when I will soon be sharing such an important day with our baby.

We had an awesome birthday dinner at The Blacksmith. The food was gorgeous (don't you just LOVE pretty food?!) and it was probably the yummiest meal I've had in Bend. Plus, it turns out we know the Maitre'd (I have no idea how you spell that) and he gave us some extra treats. He also told us the labor and birth story of his recently born son in great detail. I loved that, as I always LOVE a good birth story. Jim made it clear that, while it was interesting, he doesn't imagine he will be sitting down with others after our birth to tell the intimate details.

Then we had cheesecake (that Jim decorated himself!) back at home with Norma. YUM!

For all of you in Ohio wondering, Norma arrived safe and sound (though very tired after some flight delays) yesterday. Hooray!

May 24, 2004

Moved into the condo today. It's lovely - and much smaller now that we've brought three carloads of stuff to fill it. Still, it feels nice to be somewhere where there are no "projects" to do right now. Best part, the bathroom is in the bedroom and the bed is not on the floor!! Heaven.

Our home phone is being forwarded to the phone there at the condo, so you can still use that number and it will ring there.

May 23, 2004

At Maya's baby shower today we did this thing where you take a necklace or bracelet or something and run it along the edge of a person's hand then have it hang over their hand and see what motion it makes. If it makes a circle, you are having a boy baby and if it goes back and forth in a straight line, you are having a girl. It went in a circle over my hand. It went back and forth over Maya's hand (and we already know she's having a girl, according to the ultrasound.) We did it with everyone else at the party and it was accurate for everyone who already had kids. Wierd. It also tells you how many kids you are having. According to the bracelet, I am having one child only. Hm.

May 21, 2003

I got my 38 week Babycenter update and they say you can get a hint at whether you are having a girl or a boy by the size of the baby in utero. With a guess of high 7's at 40 weeks, though, I'm afraid we're just right in the middle of the range. So, that's not all that helpful.. And I still have no idea. Well, I suppose every once in a while I have this teeny sense that it's a boy... but I don't know if that's just because I've seen so many more boy babies lately. While some say that a "sense" translates into a "preference", I can honestly tell you that I literally have no preference in either direction at this point. I can think of special reasons it would be wonderful to have either.

Another interesting thing I saw on Babycenter was that an awful lot of people have had their babies at 38 weeks. They even did quite a large poll on how many babies are born early, late and on their due date. If you're interested in the results, look here.

Today was a faculty lunch meeting for our department at a Szechuan restaurant. I was listening to one of the professors in our department talk about the importance of the subconscious in memory, or something like that, and I started having these kind of long-lasting cramp feelings. While I have taught at the college for three terms now, I don't really know everyone all that well. We all just kind of teach our classes and go on our way... anyway, I thought, "Oh wow - I am going to start labor right here, with these people. What am I going to say?" While they are nice people, they aren't really the type that are totally into pregnancy and labor talk and stuff. The cramps hung out a bit, but I made it through. They dissipated when I got up from lunch. Then I had an almond Hershey bar, figuring I'd need some good sugar energy in case these were early labor pains. While they didn't turn out to be early labor pains, I still think that was good, solid planning on my part.

We picked out bath tile, flooring, and some carpet samples for the house addition today. I must say, we were exceptionally decisive and agreed on things beautifully. I still kind of can't believe we'll have not only a second bathroom, but one inside our bedroom and with a bathtub!

May 20, 2004

Thirty-eight weeks

We are packing up for our "move" to the condo on Monday. As usual, I underestimated the amount of work it would be to get ready for this remodel. I suppose that's not so bad. If we were more realistic, I bet we wouldn't do half the things we do.

I've had a few contractions lately that have just a bit of accompanying cramping. I guess this is really going to happen in the next few weeks. Hmmm.

May 19, 2004

All looked good at our weekly midwife appointment today. My fundus (fundus, fundus, fundus) is 37cm, which is two centimeters bigger than last week. That's some relatively quick growth in a week. Mickie bets, this time with 90% confidence, the baby's weight will be in the high 7's. Sounds good and healthy, without being ridiculously huge (especially important after that video last night!), to me.

We chatted about the "tone" I'd like in the birth room during labor. I said mostly I just don't want anyone yelling at me - you know, like you see on the birth shows sometimes: "Okay - NOW, lift your head, hold your breath, and PUSH PUSH PUSH 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10!!!!! Okay, AGAIN 1-2-3...!!!!!" Aaahk! Talk about freaking the kid way back into the womb.

I just want quiet and any suggestions for how to make it happen at a healthy, natural pace. And, of course, the freedom to change my mind about anything at any time. Mickie said that sounds just fine. Apparently, women often surprise themselves anyway - some who think they'll be quiet end up screaming and some who think they'll scream end up being quiet. She said some don't even want massage. That part's hard for me to imagine.

May 18, 2004

Scout had to have toenail surgery today because her toenail split completely in half. We were pathetically worried about her (another "oh my gohd, how are we going to handle parenting?!" experience) all night until we got to take her to the vet this morning. They put a beautiful purple bandage on her, which she carefully and meticulously chewed off while we were in birth class tonight. So, now she's wearing one of Jim's socks (though, I imagine not for long):

It was our last birth class tonight and it was a DOOZY! We watched another birth video and this one was a series of five, very close-up videos of just the actual birth part. Now, I have seen a LOT of birth on film. I watch every birthing show there is, anytime I can. And, while I was aware that there was a whole lot they weren't showing in these shows, I thought I had some sense of what birth might look like. Well, even I wasn't prepared for the intensity of this video! Unbelievable what the female human body can do... I think I won't spend a lot of time thinking that this is what MY body will need to do. That's my strategy. Denial.

On a lighter note, Heather and Brandon, the first to have their baby in our class, brought their baby, Elijah, to class and we got to hold him and she gave us a bunch of tips. She also told us some funny and unexpected post-partum stories. I'll save the specific details, but for those of you who may have some insight, here are some hints: bathroom sink, warm shower and milk let down. Sounds like Brandon is a fun sport about things.

We have a photographer for our local paper in our class so he took some group photos, which should be fun. I just wish I had known we were going to do pictures. I just know my lipstick was too dark.

May 17, 2004

We have our hospital bag and baby bag packed and I'm feeling ready to go! Whenever you're ready, Butterfly...

May 15, 2004

My friend, Heather, sent me this book called The Mother Dance as a surprise Mother's Day/Shower gift. I'm loving it. While some rings true for me and other parts just don't, it's totally making me think about this whole upcoming mothering thing I'll be doing. Wow.

Speaking of unexpected gifts, we also got a really fun package from Aaron, Jenn and Miles last week, which included the cutest little baby outfit, some fun kid music CD's, pregnancy tea, lots of amazing Miles pictures and favorite treats for Scout. I always love to get personal mail of any kind - and this is the especially fun kind!

We had breakfast with Maya and Brian this morning (they're the friends who are about a week behind us in pregnancy) and Maya and I went to hug goodbye and bumped bellies about four feet before we got to our hug. It was really funny.

May 14, 2004

I took Scout on a 55 minute walk today, for which I'm feeling quite proud. Of course, now I have to sit with my feet up for three hours to recover - but I made it!

I am officially waddling now. I've been fighting it; trying so hard not to do the pregnancy waddle. But, I waddle.

They start excavation for our house addition/remodel on Tuesday. They've marked out the lines where the new addition walls will go. Want to see?

Here's from the front, where our master closet will be.

Here's a laundry closet (forefront and to the left) and the master bedroom extension into the backyard.

And, lastly, here's the view along the length of the master bedroom, bath, and out through the gate is where the closet will be.

We move out May 24th and the first projected completion date is end of August. I'm thinking that's very optimistic.

May 13, 2004

Thirty-seven weeks - officially "Full Term"

This whole full term thing can feel misleading. It seems like you could have the baby any day (and it's certainly starting to feel like it!) but statistics indicate that 70% of first births comes after the due date. So, our chances are relatively small we will have the baby three weeks from now, much less any day now. Nonetheless, something changed today, in my psyche.

That reminds me, because Scott and Dee had their baby 10 days early (see, every time you hear a statistic, there's a story otherwise!), that we have confirmation of his beautiful name: Tristan Jade.

We decided Jim should travel to Alabama and buy the truck. He bought a ticket. The guy called and said, "sorry" the truck was sold. Then the guy called back and said it wasn't sold. Jim decided not to go - too much stress and funky circumstances. Here's how Jim feels, having decided to stay home:

And, just for kicks, because we had the camera out, here's how much my belly is sticking out now - and check out Scout's air!

May 12, 2004

We had our midwife appointment today. The baby is 50% engaged, so he or she is making his her way down into position (yeeks!) and all else is looking good and on track.

We aren't usually inclined to have an exam to check for dilation in our appointment as we figure the kid'll come when he or she is ready, however we're up against an annoying decision for which the exam could help us. Tell you about that in a minute... anyway, the exam indicated that no dilation or effacement has occured so far. So, Mickie's best guess (which is always qualified by a story with the exact opposite event happening) is that it "won't happen this week."

The decision is - should Jim travel to Alabama - yep, Alabama - tomorrow to purchase a new sweeper truck? His trucks have been breaking every other day and now there's one he really likes. As you can imagine, a good sweeper truck doesn't come on the market every day and you gotta go where they are to get 'em. However, arriving at TERM for baby tomorrow, makes this a hard decision. If he goes, it will mean 12 hours of travel time each way. So, if I were to (very unexpectedly and statistically unlikely) go into labor, he could miss much or even possibly all of the event. We're still deciding.

May 11, 2004

Turns out the couple in birth class that we thought might be in early labor last week didn't have their baby that time. However - they had the baby about a week later! He's a little boy, Elijah Tanner (coincidentally, Elijah is one of our favority boy names as well.) He was 6 lbs, 12 oz. Her labor went fine (about 14 hours or so) and everyone is healthy and happy.

Her subject line in the email said, "Bradley Method Pays Off" (that's the method of birth we are learning in our class.) She was able to deliver completely naturally. Oh, cross your fingers for us! See, it's not that I want to be a hero with the whole natural childbirth thing. It's that, as many of you may know, I am absolutely petrified of drugs - pretty much all drugs. Of course, there's all the other evidence that birthing drugs can lead to slowed labor and the cycle of further intervention, ultimately resulting in a higher chance of C-section, which is also a big motivator for me. Anyway, point is, I am really hoping to be able to do this thing without drugs so it's nice to hear a story of someone else making it through that way.

We did "practice labor" (stop laughing, those of you who've been through it - I'm sure this must seem like a crazy idea!) in class tonight. In this exercise, we're supposed to try to do something that makes pain more unbearable and have our partner figure out what it is and call our attention to it (e.g. hold our breath, clench our toes.) Jim gets it immediately every time! So far, he's a textbook excellent labor support person. Plus, he rubs my feet and/or back every night.

May 10, 2004

Two students in my classes today commented on a change in my belly. One said, "You've dropped" (to which Jim says, "Were you on the floor?") and another said, "looks like it's about time for your belly wheel." Apparently, when his wife was pregnant, he used to tease her that he was going to get her a wheel on a pole to hold up her belly in front of her because it was getting so big. Maybe there's an invention! I'm telling you - this pregnancy, baby, kid industry is a big, wide open opportunity.

I did measure today and I'm 43.5 inches around. I was trying to find other things that are 43.5 inches to make a clever illustrative comparison, but all the things I measured were actually much smaller (e.g. a door opening, Jim's belly) Well, maybe that in itself illustrates it well enough.

May 9, 2004

Happy Mother's Day!

Ooh, Scott and Dee had their baby yesterday! Dee's the one that is in the shower picture with me back in April. She was two weeks ahead of us in pregnancy. Anyway, they had a little boy, 6 lbs, 13 oz. Word is that everyone is well and happy. Congratulations to Scott and Dee and Baby (I didn't get a name confirmation yet)!

We had wonderful conversations with our moms today. We are really aware of and grateful for how lucky we are to have our specific moms.

Scout got me a watch and a beautiful card for Mother's Day, then she and Jim took me for coffee and a treat at my favorite coffee place.

At the coffee shop, we ran into a woman from my prenatal yoga class who had her baby a few months ago. She told me that a bunch of the yoga moms meet on Tuesdays with their babies at this coffee shop and insisted that I join them. She said, "Believe me, you are going to need the support. Sooner or later, you'll be crying and need to call SOMEONE." She gave me her phone number, in case the "sooner or later" came sooner than my visit to the Moms' Group. Aside from that comment, she seemed very happy and enjoying motherhood.

I can't wait to feel what the other side of Mother's Day (with human babies) feels like.

May 7, 2004

In Bend Pet Express today, I was discussing the possibility of a new collar for Scout because her current collar seems to be causing some friction on her neck. Okay, SHE causes friction because she pulls when we walk when she gets excited. So, I explain the situation to the guy who works there and he says, "I'm glad you're dealing with this now because it can get really tricky to deal with a dog that pulls once the baby arrives." I think to myself, "How does he know we're going to have a baby?! I didn't even mention that!" I am literally just about to ask him this when I look down at Scout and, noticing that my view to Scout is partially blocked by my giant belly, I remember that it's quite obvious that I'm going to have a baby! Wild - as big as I have gotten and with the minor aches and pains I experience, I still often forget I'm pregnant. It's got to be the crazy pregnancy hormones that make you forget where your keys are or what you were about to say...

May 6, 2004

Thirty-six weeks

I was a prenatal massage example for the massage school at the college today. I had a massage with one of the instructors a few weeks ago and she asked me to be her "demo" person for her class on "special needs clients" (which apparently includes pregnant women, as much as it sounds more like a learning disability term to me.) I got about 1.5 hours of surprisingly quite good massage - many times with three people working on me at once. It was funny to notice the variety in the ways the students responded to massaging a pregnant woman. Some were really into it, asking if they could feel my belly and talking all about babies and pregnancy. They were particularly awe-struck when I showed them with their hands how to feel where the baby's butt is right now (it's the most obvious part you can feel through my belly.) Then there were others that just didn't want to touch me, insisting it made them too nervous that they would do something that would end up hurting the baby. It's fascinating how powerful the effect of pregnancy is on such a variety of aspects of life, both personally and interpersonally.

May 5, 2004

Saw Mickie today. The baby is still head down and all seems to be in good shape. She guesses the baby is high 5 pounds to low six pounds right now, so she projects a high 7 to low 8 pounder for delivery. Sounds good to me! Let's just keep that as our maximum.

The other good news: I only gained one pound since the last weigh in! I knew the last one was artificially inflated because we literally just ate a big, yummy Indian food lunch.

Jim had his hand on my belly last night and for the first time got to experience the baby running his or her knee across and out through my belly. He nearly catapulted through the ceiling. It really is a wild, unexpected, weird-cool thing, these baby moves.

I had a dream last night that I went into labor. When I woke up, and was in that still foggy between dream and awake state, I thought I was in labor and just maybe between contractions. It was one of those dreams that just felt really real. Then I woke up more and realized it was a dream. I guess you don't have to be a dream analysis expert to interpret that as my unconscious processing upcoming events. Kind of anticlimactic and not very creative on my unconscious' part, frankly.

Yoga is getting less and less fun now.

May 4, 2004

In birth class tonight we watched another birth video. So much for the beautiful Guatamalan water birth fantasy of the last video. This one was down home, head-hanging in delirious pain kind of birth video. Apparently, when the birthing woman says "Get it out!", it's a time for celebration - even if it sounds like a desparate plea for freedom from torture. They say not to feel like a terrible mom if you have that moment. It just means the baby's about to be born. It's true that in most births I've seen (could be in the 100's now, thanks to Baby Story and Birth Day), there is this incredible change immediately upon the birth of the baby. It's as though the last however many hours didn't even happen. I'm counting on that.

We heard that one of our classmates was in early labor. She's the first in the class. So exciting! There is one other couple due before us. It's wild to realize it's coming soon now - only four weeks or so (give or take two weeks) to go!

May 2, 2004

Thirty-five weeks and three days

What a glorious, magnificent day! This has been one of those rare days that feel like there's nothing else in the world you need to be doing except enjoying the outside and hanging out together. We packed a picnic and spent about three hours at Drake Park just hanging out reading, chatting, relaxing, playing in the river, taking a few prego pics (check out this Buddha belly):

Then we walked downtown and Jim got a slice of pizza and I got an oreo cookie ice cream cone (we have very different ideas of what "treat" means.) Scout snacked on goose poop at the park when we weren't looking. Gross, I know - she loves it.

Oh, speaking of treats - and Buddha belly - I forgot to tell you the latest pregnancy gargantua story. The other night, Jim and I were hanging out on the couch before bed. Picture this: I'm laying on my side on the couch, with my legs elevated on about four pillows (for proper ankle elevation and resultant swelling reduction) and my belly laying languidly and heavily beside me (as it just does now.) Jim is sitting upright on the couch and my legs are across his lap and on the pillows. I swing my legs down but remain laying on my side, preparing for the next stage of hoisting myself off the couch. So Jim says, "You just lay there. I'll get you." He leans over and grabs my shoulders and, with all his man-strength, pulls on my shoulders to lift me. Instead of my body turning upright, his legs swing sideways from the floor and he falls over on me! My body didn't even budge! I thought I would literally pee my pants laughing! He tried again, this time anchoring his feet to the floor with great intention - and nothing! Oh my Gohd, tears are streaming down my face, I'm laughing so hard! Finally, with strength and power beyond human, he does actually get me up (I may have helped a little.) I can still cry laughing when I think about it.

Maya gave us their tickets for last night to a show with Bill Keale at our local recently renovated Tower Theatre. It was called May Day, Lei Day. I didn't get a lei because they were $10 and frankly, the only reason I had feelings of wanting one was because most other women had them. I realized when I walked over to get mine that I really, actually, didn't even want one. Especially not for $10 - and I was just going to go home after the show and then what would I do with it? Anyway, it was a good time overall, even though they opened with a comedian who just wasn't very funny (bless his soul! Right, Ohio family? Californian translation - "poor sorry guy") After much ado about finding us seats from which I'd be allowed to leave mid-show to use the bathroom (a guarantee in a 1.5 hour show at this point), we enjoyed some really soul-inspiring and touching Hawaiian music.

May 1, 2004

Happy May Day!

We had a lovely BBQ at our house with our friends Terry and Harold today. Harold ran a 10K here this morning and took fifth overall and second in the Master's - not trivial in Bend where athletes are in extraordinary quantity and quality. They both say I've (they clarified that they mean my belly specifically) suddenly gotten "much bigger" recently.

I know I've mentioned this before, but I am just so amazed by the whole underground Pregnant People club! There's this interesting kinship you feel, and others who are going through it or have been through it relatively recently seem to feel, with pregnant women. Just the other day at Costco, Jim and I had a fifteen minute conversation with two women - one pregnant, the other recently had her baby - about baby names, doctors, being pregnant... that's longer than I talk to people I already know when I run into them in Costco!

Speaking of names, I had no idea what an immense, all-encompassing decision the naming thing would be! After all, this is the kid's NAME! FOREVER! (Well, unless s/he changes it because 1)they are famous and need a better name for marketing, or 2) they are an adult and hate their name and go to Social Security and make the change. I'd really feel bad if #2 were the case.) We have a running list and my strong suspicion is that we won't decide until after the baby is born. So, for those of you who may be uncomfortable with that, it's a good idea to just start getting used to it now. I think they give you a two day after birth deadline or something because of the birth certificate, so it won't go on forever.

Last night at the Central Oregon Home Show (a bunch of vendors for remodeling and building supplies as well as landscaping), a random vendor guy stated with great confidence that I was carrying a girl. I said, "How do you know?" and he said, "Because of the way you are carrying the baby." He sells candy coated corn puff treats.

I've been doing baby laundry, getting everything clean and ready to adorn our sweet little baby's body. I am just astounded and overwhelmed by the amount (and cuteness!) of baby clothes we have! Here's just a portion of the laundry I've done: