The Next Day

I guess Lilli has decided it is time to give a little. Last night she slept for 4-5 hours in the bassinet, where she has currently been napping for the last two hours! This morning Daddy and I both got separate REAL smiles and she would copy us when we stuck our tongues out at her. She also seemed to get really excited about petting the kitty (though this may be delusion on our part - I think it's a little early for this kind of respnonse). So we're feeling better today - I just hope it sticks :p

The First Month

It's been sort of rough. We haven't found our rhythm quite yet. The first two weeks were not great and then I had to go back to the hospital for a D&C as I had retained part of my placenta - I then had to have a blood transfusion partly due to the birth and partly due to the D&C. We had wonderful friends visit while we were back in the hospital and a ton of other wonderful friends make us food so we wouldn't need to cook for a while! The last two weeks have had ups and downs. Lilli does not like the bassinet so our sleeping arrangements have been a bit random. She also doesn't like pacifiers so no help there. The swing has been moderately successful but I think she sees it as entertainment more often then some place to fall asleep. Mostly she falls asleep while eating and I fall asleep while holding her before I can try and get her in the bassinet. Most recently the three of us have had colds to deal with - Dan got it worse than Lilli or I but we're all still a bit congested. We're at the point where Dan and I are desperately waiting for that first really big smile at one of us - maybe with some giggles - we're pretty worn down with crying and staring, at this point and are really praying for some genuine happy interaction. We know it will come but we are essentially in the boot camp of parenthood and just trying to get through every day in one, halfway sane, piece.

Birth Story - Finally

So we went in to my prenatal appointment on the 1st. Of course everything looked fine but I hadn't made any further progress and we were trying to avoid induction with pitocin. So since Doc was getting sort of antsy we decided to go ahead and let her strip my membranes and see if that would get the ball rolling - it did, rather dramatically. My water broke in the office and at that point we were basically on our way. We went home to get our things together and relax for a couple hours then headed in to the birth center around 1pm. At that point we just hung out for a few hours hoping that labor would start on its own but nothing was happening. I think around four or five we all agreed it was time to start the pitocin (I don't have any prior experience to base this off of but it wasn't that bad). After a little bit contractions finally started - and this is where everything gets a bit fuzzy. I'm sure I made it through the first few centimeters just fine - we walked, used the tub, used the birth ball but after a while I started throwing up and this was the point that I sorta just blacked out and rode out the storm. Things cleared up for a little bit when I started feeling the need to push (I got the "you need to wait for the doctor to get here speech" - yeah right :p ). For a while the pushing was great but then the contractions started coming right on top of each other and I'd been at it for several hours and was exhausted. But after 23 hours of unmedicated labor - three of which I was pushing - Lilliara was born at 9:40 on 11/2. She wasn't a screamer and the doc was a little worried but she was "fine". We both had fevers for a short time and I was rather anemic (nearly passed out when they were transferring me to recovery) but after an extra day in the hospital we got to come home. Then 2 weeks later I got to go back and have a D&C as we had trouble getting the placenta out - the doc had to remove it manually and apparently some of it got left behind. Hopefully I'll get a clean bill of health at my appointment tomorrow and I can start feeling human again.

On our way...

So we went in for our check up this morning and I figured we may as well let the doc sweep the membranes - it would either work or not - and it ended up breaking my water. So now we're on the clock - we will have a baby by tomorrow at 10am at the absolute latest - but hopefully sooner ;) I haven't started contracting yet but we will be heading in to the hospital in about an hour so we'll see how things go from here... Dan is excited because if she comes by the end of the day then her 1st birthday will be 11/1/11 :D

4 Days Later

So today was the 40 week appointment - although it was four days after the due date. Dr says I'm now about 3 cm and 80% effaced so I've made a little more progress. Because I'm now technically overdue we had to go in for a Non Stress Test (NST) today. Basically I had to lay in a hospital bed with all the monitoring gear on for an hour or so. Baby looked fine on that and the ultrasound machine (apparently, Dan and I couldn't make out much on the ultrasound). Also I am having some little contractions which is good - sort of a pre show kind of deal. We have to go in on Sunday for another NST if baby doesn't come before then. After that we have the 41 week appointment scheduled for Monday if we make it there. So again we are basically just waiting for things to kick into high gear. Hopefully the next update will be from the hospital ;)

Still Waiting

Doctors appointment was uneventful. I finally stopped gaining weight, I haven't dilated or effaced any further so now she's started mentioning what we might do in the coming weeks to get things moving. She wanted to sweep my membranes right there but Dan was at work and there was no way I was going to take that kind of pain by myself, not to mention we aren't due until Sunday so intervention seems a little premature at this point. Next week we start doing non stress tests along with twice weekly appointments. On that note though I wouldn't mind it if she decided to show up on time but I really don't have any indicators of that happening so :p

For those of you who are on the baby alert system I figured I'd let you know the basics of how it will work. Essentially everyone who got a text last night will get another one once real labor starts, you'll then get one when we head into the hospital (which could be many hours apart so just chill ;), and you'll get a third once baby is here with all the vital stats and what not (which again could be many hours from the previous one) we may throw in a couple in between but for the most part these are the messages you'll get. With that you can respond with texts - which we may not be able to respond to depending on what's going on - but we won't be answering any phone calls so please don't try and call. Eventually we'll probably send out another text letting people know when we'll be willing to start answering the phone, but for most that will likely be after we get out of the hospital.

For those of you who didn't get a text, if you can receive them and would like to, just get your number to us - you can send me a message on facebook if need be. Also I'm sure we will be sporadically updating on facebook but that will be less consistent than the text message system.
So with that business out of the way, here's hoping she decides to make her entrance soon.

Dr's updates

So I don't have GBS - this is awesome because it means I can labor at home for a bit as opposed to going to the hospital right away to be put on antibiotics. Also todays visit puts us at 2 cm and 50% effaced so apparently we are making progress - I can't really feel the contractions that are doing the work so that's pleasant. We started a pool at work so if anyone wants to add their two cents you're welcome to :) One of my co-workers thinks I'll be having the baby Thursday but no one has put me past my due date so I guess we'll see.

The Doc seems to think we're a little bit crazy because we don't want dilation updates while in labor but I'll be dealing with other stuff - I think she also sees my lack of impatience as being rather strange. I just figure she'll get here when she's ready. In the meantime I've been getting some stuff done - We got all the diapers washed, folded and put away - clothes and blankets too. We did some cleaning this weekend including the car and now we just need to get the rest of the house in order. I've also started packing the hospital bag including the outfits for Lili to wear home - apparently this is one of the most important things you can pack ;)

That's really all I've got for now - just waiting :D

It's been a while...

Sorry again for not updating - for the most part things have been very quiet in terms of the pregnancy. No Gestational Diabetes, no pre-eclampsia or any signs of it - we're sort of just waiting now for her to be ready. At the last appointment we did a test for Group B Strep, which I imagine we'll get the results of tomorrow. I was also one centimeter dilated but that doesn't really mean anything so don't get too excited. I may be having the occasional contraction but I don't know - nothing really hurts yet (except my back :P). We had maternity photos done - a few of which I've posted on my FB but I'll post here as well. We also had a fun baby shower with Trevor's family where we all played dress up :D. We got the travel system (car seat and stroller) thanks to some very awesome people and a lot of cute stuff thanks to some other very awesome people. Thank you to the mom's - we've got a good amount of diapers to start and lots of cute outfits. Also, thank you Aunt Janice I know you'll be outfitting us with more diapers :D.

In non baby news - the cat is trying to make us go broke but is apparently feeling better now and Dan has a job with the army core of engineers that will help us pad the accounts while I'm off work. And now I need to go pick him up so we can make it to our baby class on time.

Baby Movements

We're sort of at the point in the pregnancy where there isn't a whole lot going on. We're up to having prenatal appointments every two weeks and we've started attending childbirth classes. But that's the extent of our excitement.

For your viewing pleasure Dan took some video of Lili's acrobatics that I'm posting a link to on here :) Link to Chuck Norris Baby

Also, to Dan's mom - Thank you for the birthday wishes and baby stuff! It took a bit before I noticed your comment on the blog - obviously we don't get a lot of those :) I figured a blog would be the easiest thing to post into to try and help family be more involved even though we're all the way out in Idaho.

Shopping

There's not much to report right now. We toured the hospital birth center a couple weeks ago and are generally pretty happy with it. Dan was impressed but it's been awhile since he's seen a maternity ward and they've changed a lot in that time. The labor rooms have birth balls and a jacuzzi so I'm happy - I plan on using that tub at some point but we'll see. I'm at the point in the pregnancy where I'll be going to the doctor every two weeks as opposed to every month. The next appointment is Tuesday, and Wednesday we finally start our Bradley birth class!

I've been worried about getting things ready - most likely because I want to start nesting - but also just to be ready. Things are trickling in a bit and since our adoptive family has decided they want to have a baby shower we are waiting on that before we make any final major purchases. Although we have seen a few deals that we couldn't pass up, like the crib mattress we found on craigslist for $10. Once we are ready to put her in the crib we are set thanks to Aunt Janice and her awesome crib sheets - they fit perfect! Today we hit some garage sales in the area and lucked into a bassinet for $25 - it was close too, three other people were looking at it right as we got there. So now baby has clothes and a place to sleep. Aunt Janice is doubly awesome since she's making some diapers for the baby and they are great - I wish I were half as talented! I'm making some cloth wipes just because I had the cloth laying around but we'll probably buy the diaper covers. So really the only big thing left that we "need" before Lily gets here is the car seat. So I guess I don't really need to worry but I feel like there's something I should be doing to get ready and I don't know what it is!

Yay!

Had a good day for doctor stuff. I'm really starting to like my doctor - she's calm and willing to work with us on how we'd like the birth to go. We had a ton of questions today after taking the hospital tour last night and she completely agreed to help us have the kind of birth experience we'd like. Also we did the gestational diabetes test today and I cleared that, so yay, no major problems. They did say that I'm mildly anemic though so now I'll be taking an iron pill at night along with my prenatal in the morning. In the end I got stuck three times today - twice for the gestational diabetes test and once for the RH shot - I got a frosty on the way home from work.

Stupid internets...

Apparently according to Dan the poll is being sketchy so if all else fails you can comment on what you like best or even do a write in vote that way. I guess Dan's vote isn't getting properly counted so I don't know who else is having a problem with it but hooray for technology?

Sorry!

I know I said I would try and be consistent with the updates, I suck. So since you last heard from me we've gone in for a couple doctor visits. The ultrasound was good and I've finally started to gain weight. I've put on somewhere between 6 and 8 pounds total which is a bit low but I seem to be gaining more consistently now. Her heartbeat was 145 at the last appointment and my bp is the same as always, about 108/68. The next prenatal appt is on august 4th where we'll be doing the gestational diabetes test and possibly the Rhogam shot. There's been some disagreement as to whether I'm positive or negative, so when they draw blood for the diabetes test they'll be trying to sort that out.

We've also had the fun of dealing with me having a short bout of stomach flu and a UTI but thankfully all that has cleared up and I'm back to being perfectly healthy-ish. Also, since we found out it's a girl we've been throwing around some names. We're mainly looking at derivatives of Lily for a first name so we've sort of taken to calling her that.

So to apologize for my sporadic posting, I'm including all kinds of pictures today. First there's the 20 wk ultrasound which I've been hesitant to put up because she looks like skeletor, it's just kind of creepy. I've also included some pictures of Lily's current haul of baby stuff. We've had some friends get us some really cute things so thank you to: Trish and mom, Lindsay, Dianne, Katherine, Kat, Aubrie and Jimmy, Dan's mom, Aunt Marilyn, Dr. K and the lab (for the crib!), Tom and Laura, Erin, and anyone else who has contributed. You all rock! The pictures are of, her clothes drawer - Dan and I have hit a few garage sales too so as long as she comes out normal newborn size we have plenty of clothes for the first three months, the cute hooded towel Lindsay bought that has a green and orange cow on it, the cute blankets and straight jackets (sleep sacks) we've gotten, and the glider rocker I got for fifty bucks from CL (score!). There's also a pics of me wherein I look like crap because it's too hot and my eyes are really irritated.

I'm hoping to catch some video of her doing kung fu later so I can post that up on here, but we'll see. I knew she was a girl before the u/s because the moment I start paying attention she stops doing stuff so hopefully I'll be able to get some video later.

Other than that we're just generally getting by. We hit the farmer's markets almost every Saturday, I'm working on a new project in the lab, Dan's interviewing for a few different jobs so we figure by the end of next week he'll be starting work. I suppose that's all for now.

Update - Retrospectively the poll should have gone up sooner...

Ignoring that, the results are in, and there seemed to be a distinct absence of any masculine bits. So, sorry mom but the math didn't work out this time - we're having a girl. With that revelation I'd like you all to bear in mind that we would still prefer gender neutral items, we just aren't big on frilly pink things. I'll post up pictures later but she wasn't super cooperative so mostly the pics are kinda creepy as opposed to being cute. I suppose there will be plenty of cute ones to post in a few months though. Another nice bonus, she is right on target for size, so no huge baby yet.

Welcome

So due to financial and career related restraints Dan and I are staying in the Palouse. As a food microbiologist my career and current pregnancy don't really mix and my boss offered to keep me on here so we decided that it was for the best that we don't come back to the west side. I know there are several friends and family who are disappointed, particularly since you won't get to meet the baby right away or be there for all the exciting things that happen so I'm starting this so you can still be a part of the action :).

Dan and I had to make a slight relocation so we now live in Moscow, ID as opposed to Pullman. Being Idaho residents rather than Washington ones has been a bit of a pain but out of the deal we got a very nice place to live. We now have a three bedroom condo with hard wood floors and we are surrounded by farms. With that though we have had to switch our cell phone carrier to ATT - our phone numbers are the same but we are trying to be frugal with our minutes. So if you're not on ATT and would like to talk extensively our nights (after nine) and weekends are free.

As for jobs I'm still working in the food science department at WSU but I've taken on a supervisory role within the lab as well as spearheading several up coming research projects. The nice part is that the job is extremely flexible and they have known about the pregnancy since almost day one so no stress there. Dan is currently interviewing for several arts management position around the palouse and has received an extremely nice offer from the Spokane school district to do some contract work thanks to our friend Trevor's awesome mom.

And I know you all really just want to hear about the baby so here you go. As of today we are 21 weeks along. For those of you who haven't had to listen to me talk about this endlessly for the past five months I'll recap. I think the motto for the pregnancy so far should be, "that's odd". For a variety of reasons I shouldn't have been able to get pregnant when I did although once it had happened I knew it. At three weeks I went to get tested and all signs pointed to no (the blood work should have been positive). So four weeks later I went back to the doctor because I had spent most of that month mildly nauseated - at this point the test was TOO positive (too much hormone for being 2 months in) so we went in for an ultrasound. It was at this point that we found out I had initially been trying to make twins but one of them didn't take and so we had one blob with a heartbeat. Since then it has been pretty quiet - taking vitamins, eating right, regular prenatal visits everything looks good so far. On the other hand I'm a bit larger at this stage then "normal" so I may end up with a pretty big baby (crap). I did start feeling movement around 13 weeks and of course it has been picking up the further along we get. Dan has been able to see my belly move but not to feel the movement yet. Tomorrow we go in for the "20 week" ultrasound and we'll have pictures that look like an actual baby as opposed to a blob. I'll post those up once I've scanned them in but for now you'll just have to take the old ones. This one is the first ultrasound image taken.

So now that we're all caught up, I promise the rest of the posts will be much more brief.