Friday, March 28, 2008

Playing Trains



Owen is doing great so far! He is a really happy and content baby. He has been sleeping well at night - just waking up to eat and passing right out again. He is starting to have some fun alert periods during the day. He is taking us all in; I think he likes us! Grandma Nancy got here on Thursday, and she is helping us get caught up around the house and snuggling with her favorite boys. Her voice is going hoarse from reading Max so many books! In other exciting news Owen's umbilical cord came off yesterday and he is getting over his mild jaundice!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Settling in

Finally a picture with his eyes open! As far as we can tell he looks almost exactly like Max when Max was a newborn. He's got brown hair and blue eyes, big hands, and very long and strong legs. He is strong in general - he is already holding his head up and positioning himself to nurse. He is *very* hungry. As can be expected, he is a professional at eating, sleeping and pooping!


Max is very excited about his big brother responsibilities and wants to hold and play with Owen constantly. Unfortunately, Max has a cold complete with the proverbial snotty nose. Learning to be a laid back parent the second time around comes rather quickly! We are basically settling into being parents x2. The 3-year-old is definitely our biggest challenge at this point. It is so hard to contain his energy and excitement! It is so hard for him to be "gentle." I have a feeling that Owen is going to be one tough guy! Fortunately, Max will be off at school for the next three days so he will get somewhat back on a schedule and give his poor parents some time to "rest."

I will try to post with labor details soon. Suffice it to say that it was very fast and intense. Hard labor started around 8:00 pm, my water broke completely at 10 pm, I pushed for a half and hour and that big chunker was out! Our doula was there from 8 on, the midwife apprentice was there from 7:30-8:30 and 10 on and our actual midwife only got there 10 minutes before he arrived! It felt very out of control, but I was so glad that it was quick. It was about as opposite from Max's birth as could be. As soon as it was over, my first thought was "Thank God I wasn't at the hospital." My first thoughts the next morning were, "I just got 4 hours of sleep. Thank God I am not still in labor!"

Saturday, March 22, 2008

My water broke!

It is just a trickle so far, and no real contractions to speak of. I gave the guys haircuts and we are just going to do some tidying up and resting.

False Alarm

I had contractions throughout the night, but things are pretty calm this morning.

Carry on...maybe tonight, maybe next week.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Possibly Something

Mild Contractions. Going to bed.

Happy Due Date to Me

There is not much action yet. I had some twinges and cramps last night, but it was hardly worth mentioning. Yesterday was the equinox and today is a full moon, Good Friday and a snow storm so I was hoping some forces would converge to encourage this guy to come out, but I guess not! Check out the large belly. If this guy stays in much longer I think he is going to be a 10-pounder!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Skateboarding

Nada

Well, I was really tired this morning, and I did take a big nap only two hours after having gotten up. So, if something should happen tonight, I'm prepared! For all of you sending me labor vibes, imagine this.

Open, cervix, open!

I'm off to clean the carpet!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Max's Rules

Max wasn't happy about something I said or did in his room last night (his "special place") so he decided to make some rules of his own, as follows.

  • Jumping
  • Dancing
  • Singing
  • Playing
  • Sleeping
  • Snuggling
So just in case you want to visit Max in his room, be sure to follow the rules. :)

Nothing so far

Same old, same old here. I've had some Braxton-Hicks but nothing spectacular. If I use my imagination really hard, there might possibly be some twinges here and there. It could be a while, folks.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Big News!

(Disclaimer: it is not about the baby!)

Adam got the Assistant Professor of Chemistry job at SDSU! It is specifically a Biophysics post and he'll be teaching a Biophysics class along with getting his research program up and running. There are still a lot of details left to be worked out, but things are looking up!

In other exciting news, little brother has a new friend! Alasdair James was born on March 13. Congratulations to his proud parents Katy and Will!

We have also made some fair progress on nesting. This weekend we cleaned our entire bedroom out, painted and got new furniture. It is almost totally assembled and we should be able to have everything put away by tomorrow. (I imagine myself like a wolf pacing in the woods and scratching up pine needles into my den to make a suitable birthing place. Only with Ikea furniture and low VOC paint.)

There have been no more signs of impending labor. That is good because I am looking forward to getting a lot of stuff done while Max is in school this Tues-Thurs, but I also wouldn't mind a few signs that little brother is thinking of making his way out soon! My sense in the last few days is that he is getting quite large!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Friday, March 14, 2008

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

A little action

I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for ages, but last night they crossed the threshold with a little added crampiness thrown in. So I guess we know that something is going on in there! My midwife had previously told me that it is not uncommon to have a lot of prodromal labor the second time around so I guess this is expected. At any rate, it was a good wake up call that there really is a baby in there and it really is coming out! Between the contractions and thinking about the fact that we haven't even unpacked the baby clothes I had a hard time sleeping last night! I will start washing them today and hopefully we can move the dressers around tonight. (Max is *very* sad about giving his dresser with the changing pad on top to the baby.) Fortunately, in the light of the day at least I have given up my 5am-contrived plan of painting the bedroom(s) before the baby comes!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Updates

Adam is back from Minnesota safe and sound. Since no baby was born while he was away, we are all glad that he went. Max and I survived in his absence, but it wasn't necessarily pretty! I guess it was mostly just normal 3-year-old drama (slightly compounded by the fact that this was the 3rd time in two weeks that Daddy went away and before that his Mommy was a nervous wreck.) Off the top of my head there was the bottle of lotion squirted all over the carpet, he overflowed the kitchen sink, and had multiple 10-minute crying sessions about how he must have the pink fork, etc. The best story is how after his (poor pregnant) mother bodily forced his outdoor clothes on, we went outside to have a great time playing in the park. When I announced that it was time to go in, he took off sprinting in the opposite direction with the dog on her expander leash. The three block sprint did not do my body any good. I guess I'm getting to that stage of pregnancy where basically every movement hurts and that compounded everything by about 10. Needless to say, we played in the (fenced in) backyard yesterday! Today, Max is at school and Adam is at work so I'm thinking about finally getting around to some nesting, but the aforementioned sore bod is a slight deterrent!

As for my defense. I passed. I guess that is the big news which everybody already figured out. Unfortunately, I had a cold so my usually hoarse voice was worse than ever. I had a microphone and got through it, but it was no fun. I guess it was a good distraction from my hugely pregnant state! It took me a few days to get over the cold virus, but I'm thankfully back to normal now.

I'm having weekly midwife appointments now. Everything is going along swimmingly though I seem to be losing weight. I'm back down to +18 pounds now. I'm not sure if that is a stress thing or just how this pregnancy is supposed to go. It is a little disconcerting though. I guess, just because it is unexpected. I feel no sense of impending labor and, in fact, the idea of a second child is a little more abstract at this point in time than I would have hoped. (You'd think the hourly jabs in the ribs would make it more "real.")

I put some new pictures up on Flickr - you can get to them by clicking on the widget where it says "more pictures." There are some of my defense party, Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Peter's visit, and Christmas (its been a while!).

PS: We are really no closer to picking out a name than we were a few months ago, but we have decided to just wait and see the little bugger and hopefully something will come to us!!

Thursday, March 06, 2008

We'll miss you Grandpa Hop.pe



Adam's grandpa died yesterday. We are still trying to figure out if he should go home for the funeral which is on Monday. I don't feel like I am going to go into labor anytime soon, but still it is a little bit scary to think of Adam being 1000 miles away when I'm so close to the end. I started labor with Max at 39w3d and on Monday I'll be 38w3d. Please keep us all in your prayers!

Monday, March 03, 2008

Dr. Thiex

Dr. Thie.x