Baby Food and Updates

I tried making some baby food for Erin a week or so ago - nothing fancy, I just put one of those Steamfresh bags in the food processor and poured it into ice cube trays. I also got some no-sugar-added canned peaches and pears and blended those up too. So far, the fruit is a big hit, but the veggies aren't. Maybe I didn't process them smoothly enough. I'm definitely not an "organic" mom, but I am all about saving some money! Making my own fruits and veggies is about half the cost of the baby food, but I think the meats will be a bigger savings. I don't see myself making a whole lot of her food, but I figure I'll do some and save a little bit. She also is eating regular (no-sugar-added) applesauce since that's much cheaper for about the same thing as baby food. She's had real bananas mashed up too, and those are hit-or-miss for her liking them. She's also eaten a couple of Cheerios, but she's not too crazy about them.

Sleeping is going well; we are keeping our fingers crossed! Last night, she only made a couple of noises all night and slept over 11 hours! This weekend, I got her up to eat at 5:30am but she went back to sleep after that. So that's good news!

She has started "talking" more lately...today, she kept saying what sounded like "this". I would tell her what whatever she was holding was, just in case she was asking me what "this" was. She's also getting a lot better at using her core muscles, like controlling her body when she sits and leaning over to grab things and straightening back up. Our baby is growing up!

Not much is new otherwise - after this week, I just have one more week on day shift with my preceptor. I think I feel ready to be on my own, but I'm nervous about night shift. We'll see how it goes! Hopefully I can get mostly 3pm-11pm instead of 7pm-7am. Bob has had some kind of weird illness the past 2 days where he gets a low-grade fever in the late afternoon and evening and has an upset stomach, but feels fine early in the day. Any ideas what that is? My speculation is that he doesn't want to help with dinner and dishes and making lunches, but I could be wrong : )

Nope, nothing

Well, no updates from the doctor this morning. I am the same as last Wednesday, which is a big bummer. Unless anything happens, I will go back on Friday morning for a non-stress test, which is when they hook me up to a fetal monitor for about 20 minutes and see how the baby is doing. He said if all is well with that, they will continue to wait and not talk about an induction until the end of next week. While I am still scared of an induction (the full-blown Pitocin type, that is, after hearing so many stories of those inductions leading to c-sections), it's kind of discouraging to know that we may be waiting a lot longer. He said to do an induction now would be tough because I haven't made much progress.

So...we will keep waiting and hoping, and I will try not to go crazy from boredom! At least Bella is happy to keep her life normal and baby-free for now.

The Big Sister

I have heard that parents should give older siblings presents or do something special for them when a new baby is born. I don't see how this is any different:

My plan was to let her get used to it now, so we could leave her alone with it while we're gone to the hospital. The plan may backfire when she chews the whole thing today. After all, it is coated in peanut buttery delicious-ness. Who can resist that?!?

Finally - (a little) something

Well, I finally got checked at the doctor's (technically midwife) today, but I am only 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Jessica has redeemed herself to me - she only called me "love" once and took some time to talk to us, as well as doing the exam, of course. She said everything is doing what it is supposed to, so I just need to give it some time. Torture! I was happy to hear that at least something is happening. She said she felt the baby's head, which I thought was kind of weird because I thought the amniotic fluid would protect the head, but maybe she didn't directly feel it - I didn't think to ask about that. She said the baby is still in the right position and the heartbeat is good (140's), so that's good. I am measuring good and all else is fine. She also said a couple of times that I have a good pelvis (gynecoid, for the nurses). I said thank you - what a compliment! Her estimate of the weight is 7 lbs. 8 oz...but of course that is just from poking around outside, so she may be way off. I've heard they can easily be a pound off either way. I think that is a good size though, not too big! I was sad not to have more dilation, but I guess it is something and everything is going good. She can't say how much longer it will be, of course. I wish she could!

She did try to sell me on laboring at home...she had a patient this week who she brought into the office at 3 cm, checked the fetal heart rate, and sent her home until she was 6 cm. I am not sure how I feel about all that. We will just have to see how it goes.

I think that's it from this morning. So, I feel a little encouraged that we have something going on, although it's not much. I sneakily (with Bob's approval) made the next appointment for Monday instead of Wednesday to not have to wait a full week. Besides, Tuesday is the due date, so I figure it's all right to see them on Monday, right? Hopefully we won't even have to go back to the doctor's! Really, I feel fine and have no complaints other than boredom. Please keep your fingers crossed for us!

A Non-Update

Still nothing from the doctor this morning...and I had such high hopes for Dr. V! He said they should check me for any progress next week, but I was also told that he would check today and he didn't. So, we shall see. He said they will only induce me if my blood pressure is high (it is nowhere near high right now), or I assume/hope they will also induce if I go past my due date. Otherwise, no weight gain in the past 2 weeks, which I guess is good, I am measuring good, and everything else is good.

So, we continue to wait. I have learned that I am not cut out to be a stay-at-home-wife...even with being home all the time, I am still not making Bob gourmet dinners or cleaning the house every day. Poor Bob! Bella is enjoying all the personal attention though - she is constantly begging for biscuits now and ringing the bell to go out all the time. As long as she is happy, we are happy.

Slumber party?

Who wants to guess how much sleep is going to happen in this room when you add 2 adults and a newborn?

We got nothin'

Well, the Week 37 appointment was kind of disappointing. We probably saw Kim for less than 60 seconds for a quick listen to the heartbeat and measure. That was it! She seemed nice, I guess, just...quick! She did say that Dr. V will probably check for any progress next week. I was disappointed that she didn't poke around (Leopold's maneuvers, for you nurses) and check the baby's position since Lucie did that last week, or speculate on the baby's weight, or anything like that. But they are the professionals, so I'm sure they are doing what needs to be done. My blood pressure, weight, etc. were all fine, so that's good news.

So, right now I am feeling a little sad that I will most likely have to wait another week with nothing to do except whine about my heartburn, and poor Bob has to hear it! But I need to remember how lucky we are to be in this situation, and the baby will be born when he/she is ready. For what it's worth, I am ready!

Birthday poll

Please see the new poll to the right - when the baby will be born. Also note that I helped you eliminate one answer : )

Happy voting! The prize is the opportunity to contribute towards naming the baby.

My latest project

Here is a picture of the first two sets of overalls. The first try was the yellow one, which didn't turn out so great, but the second one was better. I have learned that "Fast and Easy" patterns are not necessarily fast nor easy! The plan is to make one more in green that's one size smaller to go with the smaller onesies, but I may need to take a short break before trying that one. The only things missing are the buttons at the tops, but I haven't quite mustered up the courage to try to make buttonholes! I got super cute white star buttons for the star one and plain white for the yellow and green ones. Hopefully they will fit - the feet seem to be a little small compared to the rest of it, but we'll see.

Class & doctor

Last night was our last baby class, so now we can say we are officially ready for the baby...or as ready as we're going to be! Bob would be happy to report that we got a certificate of completion (he's into awards and degrees, if you haven't noticed). We both agreed that we still are a little nervous about the whole thing, but we are much less scared than we were before. So that's a good thing!

Also yesterday was the 36 week appointment. The midwife, Lucie, didn't check me because she said it doesn't really give any indication of when the baby will be born. I guess I buy that, but it would have been fun to know if anything has changed. She said everything looks good, and we get to go back next week already to finally meet the famous Kim! Lucie poked around and told us where all the baby parts are, which was fun (it's in the LOA position, for all you nurses out there). So, really nothing new to report. She said they'll start talking about ways to help things along if nothing has happened in 2-3 weeks. Bob is anti-induction (thanks to our class instructor who made it sound so bad), but I am open to anything - except a c-section, unless we have no other choice.

I am attempting to make some baby clothes, and the second try is turning out a little better than the first. I'm doing the little overalls that the baby on the front of the pattern is wearing. I'll take pictures when the second one is done. It's been fun, and hopefully they will fit!

Almost Ready!

I guess I won't say we are completely ready until we finish baby class next week. We still don't have many updates to report...less than 5 weeks to go until October 21st! I am feeling good, no big complaints other than boredom - and if that's my only problem, I consider myself lucky!

Since our class last week was canceled, she extended it to have our last class next week. Last night, we talked all about epidurals and other interventions - very important topics! Bob took issue with the instructor citing research without citing where it came from and how credible it is. Luckily he didn't try to argue with her in class. The instructor was talking about how bad inductions are for the baby and how it's not natural, and then 2 girls said they already have inductions scheduled! I thought that was kind of funny.

No doctor's appointment this week, but starting next Wednesday, I get to go every week. Oh boy!

I am just hanging out at home these days, trying to come up with projects to do that don't cost a lot of money. We now have a freezer full of food ready to throw in the oven when we are too busy/tired for anything else after the baby is born, and the house is cleaner than it has been in awhile. I have also become very familiar with the Holly Springs library. Otherwise, not too much is going on. I tried to volunteer at the church/school, but the secretary said they don't have much they need right now. So, if anybody needs any errands run or housework done, let me know!

Looks Good!

Today was yet another doctor's appointment (32 weeks, if you're keeping track) and we saw our buddy Dr. V this time. We do like him an awful lot, even though he is not, shall we say, the perkiest person in the world. I think he is very calm and would keep his cool if anything unexpected happened. Anyway, I got my hemoglobin tested and it was very good, and so was my blood pressure. And we were glucose-free this time, which is also good! Not much else to report there.

I also broke down and got a boy outfit and a girl outfit. I'd love to take them both to the hospital and use whatever we end up with, but then I couldn't wash them beforehand if I wanted to return the "wrong" one. Maybe we'll just take them both anyway. As much as I tell everyone how I would love to have a boy, baby girl clothes are really, really cute. Hopefully the newborn size (up to 8 lbs.) won't be too small...we tend to have big babies in our family.

Tonight is Class 2 for Labor and Delivery, so we are having a baby-filled day!

Now we are baby experts

Well, maybe not quite! But we did go to our "how to take care of your baby" class on Saturday morning at WakeMed. It was good and interesting and they covered a lot of topics. I think we both feel a little better about taking care of the baby, especially at first when it is so small. We practiced bathing and diapering on dolls, as well as some other stuff. They also gave us a book of information about health care, cord care, feeding, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I used my nursing school knowledge and the expert nurse/moms in my family to figure out that a couple of the things they told us were a little outdated, but at least we know better!

In other news, our beloved Taurus is giving us problems. It won't start. I know, such a minor thing. Bob got a new starter and put that in yesterday, but it still wouldn't start all the time, so last night he got a new ignition switch, and so far it seems to be starting up consistently. He was also suspect of the starter relay, but they didn't have one to sell him at Advance Auto Parts. For more details, you will have to talk to him, but that's what I know.

I am down to 3 more days until the NCLEX on Friday morning - good thing since I am about burned out on studying. Then we are off to Boston for the weekend to see Tom and Pam!

Baby class

Last night was our first in the five-week series of labor and birth education classes at the hospital. It went fine - the first class was mostly an overview of anatomy, pain in labor, and talked a little about pregnancy discomforts. Out of 9 couples there, we are the only ones who don't know "what" we're having! I thought that was interesting, and I had assumed that more people would like to be surprised, but I guess not. We got the usual reaction from people who can't imagine not knowing. Surprises are fun and exciting, people!

The class seems to be slanted towards the all-natural approach, which is just fine, but we/I still don't know if we/I can handle (or even want to attempt) that. Even after seeing the videos, as well as several births in person in nursing school, I still don't know what to do. We are definitely not the only ones unsure of all-natural, because a few other people kept asking how things would be different with an epidural. It looks like we get some time in one of the classes where they will talk about medication options and c-sections...hopefully there will be no videos of that!

So, all in all, I think it will be good and interesting. This Saturday morning is our 3-hour class on how to take care of the baby, which will be much more fun and less scary...though I realize we will spend much, MUCH more time on that than the hospital stuff!

Doctor (again)

I have come to respect people who have a lot of doctor's appointments...they sure take up time! Today we met Jessica, an extremely perky (even by my standards) midwife. She was nice, but Bob said if she is on call when the baby is born, he may end up punching her. Oh dear.

Anyway, everything is looking good. She said the baby is very active, which we knew, and she told me again to lay off the sugar and white bread/pasta/rice/etc. Considering that is most of what I eat, this is going to be difficult. So I came home and had ramen noodles and yummy leftover baby shower brownie dessert for lunch. Don't worry - I added vegetables to the noodles to negate everything else.

We have been in super baby-room-preparation mode now that we have all the wonderful stuff from the showers. Monday, I went to Target and got some of the few remaining things off the registry with gift cards that we have received, and we are set to go! Here are some pictures of the room - the pack and play, stroller, bouncy seat, high chair, and infant seat are in the dining room for now. Thanks to Bob's boss Adolfo and his wife Kari for loaning us their bassinet!

We are contemplating getting a video recorder but haven't actually started looking at them yet. And if anyone has experience with finishing wood furniture, we need help figuring out why the dresser is flaking and how to fix it. We are befuddled.

Baby Shower!

The only thing that could have made our beach week even better would be a baby shower...which is what I had yesterday! HERE are pictures from the shower, again, not edited in any way yet. I had such a great time with everyone and the shower was just perfect. So many thanks to everyone who came and helped out with it. Many people had quite a drive to get to Holly Springs and it was so great to have you all there!

It was at Elizabeth and David Williams' house, which was so nice for me to not have to worry about cleaning and cramming all those people into our house. Special guests were Bellamy, Connor, and Oliver (who were all so good the whole time), and Gramma for coming all the way from Concord! Also thanks to Mom for the adorable cake, Liz, Leslie, Melanie, and Whitney, for all the delicious food, and Shannon for the super cute invitations. I could go on and on, but I will stop. Of course, Bob and I (mostly Bob) had everything put together within 2 hours of getting home and we love it all.

Thank you all again - we are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends to share our baby excitement!

Surprise Shower Pictures

Here are the pictures from the surprise shower that the "GNO" girls had for me on July 31st. Thanks again, everyone, for everything!

Surprise Shower!

Last night, the "GNO girls" (Girls Night Out) surprised me with a little shower at our regular monthly dinner! They had decorations, delicious - and very heavy - cupcakes, a card, and a Pack and Play! I was so surprised and I thought it was so thoughtful of them to think of me. Many thanks to Vanessa, Tricia, Christina, Dina, Reagan, Jenny, and Josephine! Poor Bob had to help put it together at 10pm last night because I was so excited. Turns out, the Pack and Play is quite large when it has all the parts attached...it has the playpen part, a bassinet part with a rocking/vibration mechanism, and a diaper changing area with storage compartments that is elevated to adult height. The diaper changing part looks funny because it is so high, but I'm sure we will appreciate having it at our height. It also has music, nature sounds (Bella was not a fan of the nature sounds, but she did like the music), lights, a timer, and a little mobile. Here's a picture of it, and another one of Bella supervising the assembly effort. Both Bob and I wished it didn't have a weight limit because we really wanted to get in and test it out. Thanks, everyone!

Baby update

This morning was the ultrasound to check to see if everything was where it was supposed to be, and it is now - whew! So we are a go for a regular birth, unless something unexpected comes up. The baby weighs about 2 lb. 7 oz., which is the 47th percentile for 28 weeks - very good! The doctor said before they are born, they want them to be around the 50th percentile, not too big and not too small. It's kind of scary to think that it should be triple its current weight in 12 weeks. So we got to see the baby again during the ultrasound, which was fun, and got 2 new pictures of the face, but they are kind of blurry. We stayed strong yet again with not seeing what it is - at least my eyes were closed; hopefully Bob's were too! The first picture is the baby facing the ultrasound thing, and the second is a profile of the head with the baby looking up.

I passed the diabetes test, which is good news too. They are going to keep watching for diabetes since I have had extra glucose in my urine a few times, even though the blood test was good. The baby's heart rate was 129 during the ultrasound and 140 for the doctor, and my blood pressure was really good (low). So, everything looks great, and we continue to wait, which is not easy for me!

I think that's about it from the appointment. I get to start going every 2 weeks from now on, until the end (last month?), when I go every week. We start childbirth classes in 2 weeks, which will be fun and scary all at the same time. Bob was inspired by Josh to hard-wire the swing so that it can be plugged in to the wall instead of going through batteries like water. I have washed all the baby clothes that we have now, so we are ready to go!

Baby sweater!

I just had to share a picture of this sweater that a wife of a patient made for me. She knits them and donates them to needy children, which I think is such a generous gesture. She can make a whole sweater in a day while she's sitting in her husband's room, and they are beautiful. I got one, and my preceptor, who is due in November, also got one. She knows that she's having a girl, so hers is pink. The picture doesn't do it justice because I took it at a strange angle, but it is precious. She and her husband are both such wonderful people and I was so touched that she made it for me!