Good Morning!

OK, I know it’s only quarter to ten, but this morning has been great. Nicole slept just as she was supposed to and woke up without much complaining all night for her 3-hour feedings. At 7:30, when she’s supposed to be awake for a longer period before a nap, she took a little more time but at for 20 minutes really well. Such duration gave me confidence that it would be okay to express the rest of her meal for later (hooray for Jim feeding her!).

After breakfast, hers and mine, we cozied up for some good reading time. Lisa and Kendall brought us a whole satchel full of kids books as her welcoming present and I stupidly chose “Guess How Much I Love You” as the first one to read to her. Yeah, that left me crying and vowing to not read that book unless I’m make-up free! We followed it up with Curious George and Olivia (a new one for me). All wrapped up in the blanket Great Grandma Templin wove for her, Nicole fell asleep in my arms and went down without complaint in her crib right on time- 9:15. Ahhhh!

I took a shower (note, I HAVE showered EVERY day since I’ve brought her home which I understand is a miracle for new moms), curled my hair, wrote this, and will get ready for her 10:30 meal before we head to my office for introductions and a 1:20 doctor’s appointment. Hopefully the rest of the day continues like this!

2 weeks old tomorrow!

Yeah, as the only thing in my life is Nicole right now, I imagine my postings will be pretty boring to those who don’t want to read about motherhood. No hurt feelings to those who quit visiting for a while!

Things are starting to come together at this house. Nicole’s cord fell off a week ago (Sunday, 2am) and she’s had a few sponge baths since then. Poor child has dry skin and is peeling between her fingers and on her feet. This is only a problem because she has a mother with a personality trait (flaw?) for enjoying peeling dry skin (love summer sunburns!) and it’s all I can do to not pick at her. Doctor says no lotion until she’s a month old as there’s conflicting research on what lotion does to baby’s new pores. So, a little dry, but cute she remains.

Jim’s boss lent us a book on scheduling called “On Becoming Babywise” which I’m reading during feedings and at night, sometimes out loud to Nicole which I doubt she finds interesting. The premise is that babies need routine and that routine should be a 3-hour cycle of eating/wake time/napping during the day and eating/sleeping at night. The goal is to get them to sleep through the night by 8 weeks. We can extend our nighttime feedings to every 5 hours instead of every 3 once she gets back to her birth weight. We’ll know how soon that’ll be on Thursday’s appointment at the pediatrician.

She’s feeding faster than she did before which means she’s going down for longer naps as her 3-hour period isn’t consumed with an hour of eating. This is great for her and should be for me if I was smart enough to sleep when she does… it’s just very odd for me to take a nap in the middle of the day so I find myself checking email, cleaning, etc.

Yesterday we ventured out for 5 hours – ran errands, lunched with Mom, visited the new house. I felt very confident with my planning on getting her out though I was tired by the end of the day with all the activity and literal heavy lifting of putting her in and out of the car so much. Today we took it easy- had a visit with Ruth H (Jim’s boss’s wife) and are waiting on the arrival of a person who’s coming to see the house.

How it's goin'

Well, we’re about 10 days into parenthood and so far so good. Before becoming a mom there were a lot of things I didn’t understand about motherhood that I’ve now figured out:

1) What do stay at home moms do all day? Answer- feed their newborns. I spend literally 8 hours a day feeding Nicole. While she only eats between 15-35minutes of that time, it’s a process to get her to wake up and then eat continuously. I can’t wait for my electric breast pump which goes on sale Monday (saving us $40) – it’ll be so much more convenient and nice to have Jim be able to help and to save some of the 8 hours mentioned in item #1. While I don’t mind nursing, since it is such a long job the emotional part of it is outweighed by frustration of rousing a deep-sleeping baby into being an active participant in eating.

2) I directly correlate my confidence in being a mother by how well Nicole eats.

3) I always liked attending weddings but I never understood fully how much goes into one until I had my own. Since then I think I’m a better gift giver (go off the registry don’t make decisions for them!!) and more appreciative of the little touches that make the day special. Likewise with motherhood, there are things that have proven to be incredibly helpful and, wouldn’t you know it, they came from experienced parents. Probably most helpful have been the meals that were given/offered as cooking after being up all night and day with a baby is the last thing I feel like doing.

4) Likewise with eating, I know I’m losing weight because I’ll skip meals (really bad, I know) and not realize it for an hour. I am making a concerted effort to drink a full glass of water post nursing each time.

5) Last night Nicole slept in her crib the whole night - hooray for cuddling with my husband after a 10 day hiatus. (NOTE: she was in a sleeping unit in our bed with no chance of us rolling on her or endangering her. Besides, even if we physically could we were so mentally aware of her being there I think we both woke totally up before moving an inch!)

This is a hard job. It's still kinda weird to think that she's here to stay and someone isn't going to come get her like we were just baby-sitting or something. I have no idea how full-time stay-at-home mom's do it. If nothing else, I crave for the time that Jim gets home from work. My hats off to them a million times over.

Sick baby? Thankfully not!

yesterday was an exciting day with Nicole but in the worried mom way...

At this stage in the game where I'm so new to everything I don't want to overreact but I also don't want to get into the "I can handle it all" mindset either and ignore potential problems.

bottom-line - yesterday Nicole was very fussy all night (regular) and finally went to bed around 4am. She didn't want to wake up for her 7:00 feeding, however, so I let her skip it and sleep thinking that she had a rough night early on and might appreciate the extra rest (I did too!). However, when she didn't want to wake up, despite hours of my attempted coaxing, until noon, which meant she hadn't eaten a full meal since 11pm the night before, I got worried and called the pediatrician.

Fortunately they shared my concerns and got me in within a short period of time. The doctor was great and spent about 25 minutes with us checking a variety of things. Ultimately to be safe he sent us to Children's outpatient for blood wok and a urinalysis. Both, thankfully, came back normal last night.

SPECIAL THANKS to my mom who came and brought me lunch and helped calm my nerves during the process!!

She has an appointment this afternoon at 3, but has been doing really well so far today on her 3 hour eat/wake/nap schedule so I'm not expecting any negative feedback.

again, thanks for the concern and the well-wishes - VERY much appreciated!

nicole video repost!

Nicky Pics + Video

Nicole and her Daddy after her bath

This is a video of Nicole last night doing what she does best-hiccup, yawn and pass gas! Turn up the volume to catch all three.

I swear this wasn't posed! This is how she slept with Sarah F last night!

Nicky sleeping in her cradle. This is the same cradle my paternal great grandmother was first rocked in and every generation's children have since after her.

How Nicole Entered the World

The short version: I had a kid.


The full version:
After getting over the shock of a planned hospital visit that evening, Jim and I headed for our “final meal” at Chipotle (they told me to eat a lot!) and headed over to Mercy at 8:00. They had our room already assigned and I was checked in and donning a hospital gown within about 20 minutes.

Dr. Silver checked me out and determined that since I was a full 4cm inducing me wouldn’t be necessary, breaking my membranes (water) would should do the trick. Christy was our assigned nurse for the evening and she took care of hooking up my IV and getting my stream (not drip!) going- I couldn’t get an epidural until I finished 1 full bag which took a very short 12 minutes.

There was a natural, and therefore noisy, childbirth going on down the hall that kept Dr. Silver away until about 11 but Greg, Mom and Dad had come to visit by then and helped pass the time. When they broke my water by snagging the membranes there was a huge gush of fluid, much more than I had expected. It didn’t hurt a bit!

I had 2 level 4 contractions in 10 minutes and my IV went in- 3 rounds of a burning sensation and then a lot of pressure as the tube went in concluding with a round of cold as the medicine was pushed into me. The numbness started immediately, all except for a spot in my lower abdomen which proved to be my downfall. It’s called a “hot spot”- an area that for no apparent reason doesn’t react to the epidural and allows you to feel whatever the rest of you should be feeling- and mine grew from baseball size to eventually spanning a 12”long by 4” high area in my abdomen with full-force, teeth-gritting contractions that wouldn’t allow me to sleep.

We called my parents to come back to the hospital around 5 when I hit 10cm dilation and I started to push around 6:00am. This was very painful due to the 1/2ing of the epidural (since Nicole hadn’t dropped below my pelvic bone they thought that more pain might encourage me to push more), the large hot spot area, and being generally really really hot temperature wise. Jim was fantastic: he fanned me, held my leg as instructed (which allowed him to face away from the action area and the mirror that I had requested to be set up so I could watch the process), and was generally very encouraging.

After a half hour of pushing with no progress (still that pelvic bone issue), Dr. Silver suggested we use forceps. “What’s the difference?” I asked. “Another hour of pushing, or she can be out in 10 minutes.” Yeah, easy decision.

We went from a doctor and a nurse to a doctor and 6 nurses within about 20 minutes, but, true to his prediction, the forceps did the trick! Dr. Silver pulled Nicky through to her midsection and after Jim turned him down on his offer to finish delivering her, I got to do the honors of pulling her all the way out.

She came into the world at 8lbs. 14 oz. at 7:05am on 7/11/07 and immediately everyone commented how much like Jim she looks. She had no marks from the forceps but did have lots of black hair and overgrown fingernails. Her eyes are a slate color and her general disposition was pretty calm! Jim did cut the cord even though it wasn't on his original agenda.

Overall, she’s a keeper!

It's Time! Dum Dum Dum!

Tonight's the night! They're inducing me at 8:00pm! I was SUPER CRAZY freaked out about this but I've calmed down for the most part. Jen in my office gave me the confidence in that the whole process from very start to finish will be overseen by medical professionals so this is a great way to have a kid. :)

Be impressed if you hear from me in the next few days! I'll try to have Jim post up some pictures!

Taking Nature into my own hands

So the longest pregnancy on record was 375 days (280 is normal) according to an article in Time .

I broke down and moved my OB appointment from Thursday to tomorrow at 11:00. I'm going to see a doctor i haven't seen before so I’m not sure if that'll work in my favor or against when it comes to inducement. I feel guilty moving nature along medically but I want this kid to be old enough and stable enough to travel and I want jim to be able to stay at home with me for a few days (this is his busiest time of the year).

I also feel sorta guilty for wanting to be induced because I'm not uncomfortable at all. I still have good energy, I don’t think I'm any bigger, and the air conditioning is keeping me cool. I guess we’ll see tomorrow what they say…

5 days and counting...

At least I'm not offended when people are disappointed to see me. Everyone at work gives me this look of “why are you here!?” Trust me, I'd rather NOT be!! I am really touched though that people are checking in on me to see if I'm okay and if there’s any news, which there never is!

Congrats to Dale for winning the baby pool! I made it to 7/9/07! A painful pinch to Dave who thinks a new baby carrying record needs to be established by me. Uh… NO. : )

If you’re around, entertain me – I wrapped up so many projects at work that I need things to do!

40 Weeks + 4 Days

Even through the ceiling and garage painting yesterday, which was then followed up with a walk around the block delivering flyers about the house, Nicole stayed snug inside.

Special thanks to Jen and Tom for dinner and Trivial Pursuit last night! Jen got [what's hopefully one of the last opportunities] to feel Nicky move, and caught her as she was rolling over.

I slept fantastic and would be delighted to use this energy and good night's sleep to be a little physically challenged today... hint hint!

Still no baby....

Pregnancy clearly suits me. At this point I’m wondering if I’ll be pregnant forever! As no sign of Nicole’s arrival has made itself apparent whatsoever, the real possibility of being induced is sinking in. How she went from a due date of 7-7-07, the luckiest day of the century (aka TODAY) to a probable induction date of 7/13/07, a Friday, the most unlucky day of the year, is crazy. I’m talking to her and attempting to explain all the benefits of coming today, but she doesn’t seem to care. : )

Thing is, I don’t feel bad at all! I want to feel something happening, I watch overly attentively, but nothing is happening that didn’t happen a week, a month, 2 months ago. Mom says her labor started out of nowhere and her water never broke with any of us kids. I’m holding out that maybe that one facet of our pregnancies will be the same.

I’m not impatient yet, but I do have concerns about Nicole’s age when we take her to Myrtle Beach in August… I’d have preferred her to be 6 weeks old and at this rate she might be less than a month. I suppose all things will happen at their own time….

Mom bought a double stroller yesterday with intentions of “pushing her granddaughters around the block while they hold hands.” The thought makes me smile.

Relationship Foundations

Yes, I'm still here....

*****************************

Relationship balances are often a delicate thing. Taking two people who have completely separate lives before meeting and then trying to blend them together fluidly can be difficult. In talking with Jim about this task, he came up with a great analogy about the choices couples have to make when getting together.

Option 1: Each partner occupies their own silo of a life before getting together. Option 1 states that you continue like this, living on the same “farm” but in separate silos. What this ultimately means is that while each partner continues with their own hobbies, interests, etc., they now have a neighbor to share life with. As an example, separate bank accounts might be kept indefinitely, even through marriage, by people who choose option 1.

Option 2: Each partner continues to dwell in the silo they had before becoming a couple. However, upon coupledom, they build a bridge between the two silos. In this option, individuals continue to do their own things some of the time but fully share resources between them. Partners who choose this option most likely make a point of doing activities together (ie co-ed softball) but also continue with their own individual hobbies as well, even if the other person doesn’t join in.

Option 3: Each person had their own silo when they first got together but each chooses to knock it down and build one giant silo together to fulfill all of their needs. These couples enjoy doing nearly everything together, keep very few secrets from one another, and practice full partnership when it comes to decision-making.

Jim and I both fall into Option 2. Fortunately, we both want Option 2 and there was no dissention between us on how to live our daily lives once we got together. He has softball, I come watch. I have teaching, he stays out of it. I enjoy reading, he sits next to me and reads too. Jim has his CMA studies, I could care less. I cook, he cleans. It’s a good balance.

I think it’d be challenging for couples who disagree on what option to run their relationship in.

The New Digs

There’s been some house progress in the last two days. My parents went out on Friday of last week and they had the “ceiling” on the basement in. When we stopped by on Tuesday night this is what we found!!

Front view (garage jutting out on the left, next set of windows are the dining room, then the front door in the middle, and living room on the right corner)

"Welcome Home!"

Standing in the great room, the solid plywood marks the fireplace and on either side and above are windows! Kitchen is the room just visable on the far left side of the picture.

This picture was taken standing in the greatroom and looking up into one of the guest rooms. Underneath this bedroom is the office.

Not that I expected anyone to be critical, but it was nice to hear positive feedback when we took friends over Wednesday afternoon to see the house. I think now that the framing is up it’s easier to visualize what we’ve gotten ourselves into- debt!

In regards to our current house, I put a FSBO sign at the end of our street yesterday morning and we got a call and request for tour from a single guy my parents’ age which we were happy to accommodate. He seemed very interested in the house and asked a lot of structural questions that I was glad Jim was around to answer. He asked us for our bottom-line price (to be determined) and said to give him a call this week. Jim’s skeptical because he seemed so happy with things right away, but I'm not going to look at any enthusiasm at this point as a bad thing.

We’re averaging about 2 hits/week on the Fairfield house so far and I hope it continues. Chuck and Dale both commented that they think $150K is fair for our house and are surprised we’re willing to negotiate anything below that. Very flattering!

40 Weeks - Fully Baked!

How your baby's growing: It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs in at a little over 7 pounds and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.

After months of anticipation, your due date rolls around, and... you're still pregnant. It's a frustrating, but common, situation in which to find yourself. You may not be as late as you think, especially if you're relying solely on a due date calculated from the day of your last period because sometimes women ovulate later than expected. Even with reliable dating, some women have prolonged pregnancies for no apparent reason. You still have a couple of weeks before you'll be considered "post-term." But to be sure your baby is still thriving, your practitioner will schedule you for testing to keep an eye on her if your pregnancy continues.

My Take: Today is “supposed to be” Nicky’s birthday. She’s still snug inside me as of 12:47pm with no signs of wanting to see the world. I’m not frustrated with this fact as I still think the Fourth of July would be a cool birthday and there's 12 hours left in the day. I DO NOT want to go into labor at my parents’ party though. Therefore, I’d be just as happy with 7/5 or the ever cool 7/7/07.

Jim and I built her swing this morning and it’s sitting in the family room waiting for her. Her clothes are waiting, tags on still just in case she’s a Christopher after all, and I think we’re both mentally prepared for her arrival. Hopefully it’ll be any day now!

What's Up

- Happy Birthday, Lindsay!

- The “For Sale By Owner” sign is officially in the yard as of last night. I put it in the ground and actually it made me excited, not sad as I sort of expected it to do. UPDATE: Just got a call about the house- 18hours after the sign went up!! Just general interest makes me happy!
I hear that our new house has a ceiling on the basement now – we’ll make a quick stop over before we head to dinner for Linds tonight.

- Dr. appt. was good but still no baby. I'm sitting at 3cm dilated and still 75% effaced. No painful contractions but a whole lot of eagerness surrounding her arrival (which is incredibly touching). New goal is to be 7/5/07 so I can still go to my parents Fourth of July party without incident.

- I have gotten so much done at work in preparation for being out that I'm now pretty bored. I'm obviously not going to start any new projects, but without any that I can really finish either (to pre-mature in the process to do so) I am dying at work. I’ve also discovered that I have a very hard time entertaining myself without a book, project around the house or TV/movies. The internet just doesn’t interest me and I’d feel too guilty playing online Euchre for half the day (though many of my friends find no fault in sleeping while on the clock, I can’t do that either in good conscious).

Weekend of 6/29/07

I’ve been hoping/expecting Nicole to come early (and technically she still can!) so we have NOTHING planned on our calendars from here until October. This lead to what felt like a long weekend because of so much freedom and a little “wow, what do we do now?” with nothing scheduled.

Friday: Work was BORING. I'm running out of stuff to do as I’ve prepared so well for being gone. When I got home Jim and I hung out and watched The Office which the Erdahls let us borrow. Jim laughs out loud so often and so hard to that show that it makes me enjoy it all the more.

Saturday: I met Lori for brunch at First Watch (delicious omelets and potatoes) and made a quick side trip to Rowe’s Furniture before I met mom for MOTG dress shopping in Kenwood. We discovered that there aren’t many options for formal dresses out there and it’s a darn good thing she picked up the one dress she liked in her size last week. When I got home Jim and I worked on the house more (ok, lots more Jim than me) on the exterior – mulching, edging, cleaning gutters, realigning the front pavement stones, etc. The outside of the house looks great and the reason for our work is obvious to those who know why- the neighbors came to tell us again how sad it is that we’re moving. Awwww!

Sunday: Sunday morning Jim and I had breakfast, relaxed, and then I went with Lindsay and crew to order bridesmaid dresses for her Oct. 20 wedding. She has very good taste and I'm quite happy with what she picked out – it’s flattering on everyone and very reasonable cost wise (<$130). Jim and I did a huge Meijer run stocking up for my expected 3 meals a day at home (hopefully starting soon!).

Sunday evening we got dolled up and met Tom/Meghan, Dave/Rachel & Dale at the Precinct for dinner to celebrate Dale’s promotion. Neither Jim nor I had been there before and the food was fantastic! They put us up in a private room and we dined for almost 3 hours! Dale gave us a really cool book on parenting which both Jim AND I will certainly read (thanks again, Dale), and we got to hear more about D & R’s honeymoon. Great food, great company!

Oh, and a special shout-out from last weekend that I somehow missed! - Thanks to the Boston’s for their visit and lunch with us on Saturday! We only get to see them a few times a year now that they’ve moved to Charlotte so it was great catching up!!