wowzer- lots going on

I have soo much to post about!. First- a big thank you for all the well wishes and comments. I am hoping to catch up on my blog reading over the next day or so.

HAPPY FIRST FATHERS DAY ERIC!!!
If this picture does not melt your heart, I don't know what will.


Eric is already such a great dad. I actually have been feeling guilty about breastfeeding. Just this morning he asked me if I could pump so that he could take care of Brooks. I told him to just give it 2-3 weeks and then absolutely. While I was in the hospital, Eric went home a few times for the dog. One time he took the camera, went to Target or somewhere, and made me a photobook of the day of Brooks birth. I came home to a wrapped gift from my son, and just a beautiful, beautiful little album commemerating the day. How sweet is that? He also has already bought Brooks about 10 different outfits (he is responsible for the adorable hat in the other pictures) and a Halloween costume. His excitement and love for this kid slays me- it seriously does.

VISITS
Both families visited this weekend. My parents and sister & brother in law both came down for the afternoon Saturday- it was great. They were super generous bringing Brooks tons of boy clothes (yay for non neutral!) and tons of food so we could have leftovers for a while. Eric's parents & sister came Sunday. They also brought us tons of food- so we are set for a bit.
My SIL was the only annoying visitor. She kept calling Brooks it. Does it cry a lot, Does it sleep, etc. She also looked through the photo album eric made me and her one comment was 'wow- what a workout, you were sweating like a .... (sentence gets cut off here b/c she never finished it, my guess is one of my classic WTF dirty looks fell upon my face without realizing it)

We also had Eric's best friend over. It was really great because this guy and Eric have been friends since they were 4 years old. They were each others best men in their weddings, and Marc had a son 7 weeks to the day before Brooks was born. Hopefully the lifelong friendship continues in this generation.

BROOKS UPDATES AND RANDOM PICS
we had our first pediatrician appt Sunday. Brooks looked great- everything as it should be, and he gained 5 oz since Friday!. He lost 7 oz from birth weight, so at 4 days old was almost right back to it. This made me feel so much better because BF'ing has been hard mentally as well as physically (the is he getting enough question and such).

Sleeping- I don't expect to get sleep at all, but do have one major sleep concern. Brooks won't sleep in the bassinet or PNP. He will sleep on us or in his swing, but when I put him in one of those he wakes up. I don't know how to handle this- b/c doing the on us/swing thing probably isn't a good idea (the ped. said only the first couple of day), but he is too little to cry it out, so I have no clue how to get him down.

I have become a mamrazzi... this poor kid will think the camera is one of my appendages. But I don't care, he is too delicious for me not to. So here are a few pics of him
0-3 months clothing is not going to fit quite yet


The first meeting of hound and baby- it is going well with the dog!





BREASTFEEDING
is HARD. It is going ok, he is eating, and apparently eating well. My concerns are that I don't know what is a concern and what is par for the course in figuring it out.
My nipples hurt- there are about 10-15 seconds of agony when he latches, but then it feels better, but they hurt if rubbed up on. I think this is normal, but who knows.
LATCHING- is our biggest struggle. My breasts are big and I think that my handle on things is difficult- we are getting on there but it takes a bunch of tries each time. And sometimes he latches, then lets go, then latches, then lets go, and keeps it up (which stinks since the pain part is the first 15 seconds of a latch).
Timing- I was neurotically timing how long on each boob. 5 days in I am already in who cares mode and if he is on a solid 10-15 minutes I am ok with it. I also was trying to give him both at each feeding but now have been doing more of an alternation. I really have no clue what I am doing and am going to maybe have a lactation consultant appt next week.

AW'ing a few more pics

WELCOME BABY BOY!!!!

Happy Birthday Brooks Nicholas M. !!!




To say today was crazy was an understatement.
I actually heard my water break around midnight
Started contracting around 2am- but not really, it was just like severe menstrual cramps
Went to the OB at 9 am, was 3 cm and -1 station
Went home, contractions were getting worse but still bearable and like bad bad cramps but i could walk them out. Suddenly at 11ish they suddenly got unbearable and I felt ill. At 11:20 I vomited and told eric that is it, we are going to the hospital

We arrived at the hospital around noon. Got checked in and monitored, at 12:30 they checked me- I was 4 cm dilated. Suddenly I was in screaming agony, I even asked for an epidural. At 1 they checked me again and I was an 8- they rolled me into delivery, checked me again (this is 5 minutes later) and I was a 9.5. Anesthesiologist came in and I said at this point forget it.

Took a a few minutes to get set up- fortunately my dr. was on call so I got to deliver with her- YAY she was AMAZING and calmed me down (i cannot describe how hard and fast things were)
20-25 minutes of pushing and Brooks was here

Today is the DUE DATE!!!

Come on Baby Lester- whenever you are ready.

The countdown clock says 0 and we are ready to get this show on the road. Sadly though, there is no news to share. I have been keeping busy walking like a madwoman. I think I am averaging 3.5 miles a day. I have been meeting eric as he goes to and from work, which is about a mile round trip- but I also have been taking a hefty walk of the day for an additional 2-3 miles. I feel great for it and really enjoy being outdoors. It times out well with him going to and from work because the heat and humidity are not awful at those points. My mom came down this week as well to spend a 'last' day with me. We shopped, had lunch, and the day flew. It was nice :)

Here is the 40 week, I am due to give birth, picture of the week.



I do think I look like I dropped a little from last week... maybe :)




ugly face I am making- but I never take front view pics (eric took it as i was walking towards him, I thought the photo session was done)

Happier Day

so yesterday I was really down. If you read the post about my dr's appt you know I was in pain and just discouraged.

Today- I am determined to make it a happier day. My baby was going nuts last night- like crazy dance party. As I was laying there unable to sleep I started to think about how much I am going to miss feeling him or her. So you know what, why be depressed about lack of progress. I already know I have a max of 10 days left before being induced- I may as well enjoy the parts of pregnancy I will miss.
I am trying to be glass half full right now.

So what will I miss-
1) the baby moving by far will be the biggest thing. It really is the coolest thing I have ever felt or seen (watching it is just as fun as feeling it!).
2) Rock hard abs :) Well maybe it isn't abs, but I kind of enjoy having a rock hard stomach for once in my life. Doesn't matter that it is protruding, to the touch it is hard LOL
3) The attention- I won't lie, it's fun :)
4) The anticipation/excitement- boy or girl? who's eyes, nose, etc? We have a lot of fun conversations about this (and I know we will have plenty of the sort once little one is here, but hey- I am making my positive list!)

so- today will be a good day, and Lester will be here within 10 days- so yeah :)

Backwards Progress

so not fair.

Dr's appt today and here is where I stand

dilation: 1 cm (that is good from 0 cm last week!)
effacement: NOT AT ALL (umm, last week I was 50%)
cervix: Still far back (umm, last week it was soft & forward)
station: baby is "really high up" (umm, last week it was engaging and at -2)

Can progress really go that ass backwards? I get the station b/c the kiddo can move, but effacement and cervical position?
I hate to moan about it- I wouldn't moan if I was equal to last week- but to be less progressed than a week ago makes me want to scream and cry.

So yeah- that is where things are
it sux.

I had my membranes stripped today- that was "fun". She also said she was going to try to 'stretch' me out. I feel like I have been fisted by the hulk and am now deathly afraid of this au natural childbirth I had envisioned for myself. I am spotting pretty heavily now, and am seriously sore inside the lady bits- not sure what went on up there. It hurt, but here's to hoping it helped get things moving.

Dr's appts:
OB- besides the progress update my BP was 120/80 (so good not great). My weight was down 3 from last week. She made me feel like I am going to have a huge baby (which is no fair since I have gained a sum total of 17 lbs this pg and while I have been measuring 3-4 weeks ahead, I have been since 26 weeks so ever think it could be just how I am carrying? Growth u/s's show Lester is straddling that 50%tile sizewise) And she said that I have until the 20th to go into labor on my own, and at my next appt (4o wk 4 day) we will put me on the induction schedule.

Any labor dust/vibes you have that I go on my own would be appreciated- pitocin scares me!

NST- we passed, sort of. The baby was definitely moving around as they were hooking me up, and was not staying on the monitor well. Once they adjusted the monitor the baby was asleep and we saw no accelerations for 30 minutes. But they said the ones that were there before they actually had me strapped in counted to say things were looking good. It made me a little uneasy- but I know thy are the overcautious not undercautious type, so all must have been well.
blood pressure at this appt- 110/60.

and that is all my updates for now. maybe i will sit on the couch and rub my nipples while eating something spicy :)

39 weeks

Not much to update here. I will go to the Dr on Tuesday for another progress check- otherwise things remain the same.
Eric and I met his Dad for dinner tonight- his step mom was out of town and his Dad wanted to take us out since it may very well be our last babyless weekend. What did we do? We had mexican!!! I was hoping maybe the spicy food would help things :) We also have been getting busy (not daily, but probably more in the last week than the last 2 months LOL). And- today I got a mani/pedi/eyebrow wax (as you can see by my beautiful eyebrows in the 'I am bored so let me take a self portrait picture' above)
I also have been nesting a ton- all the drawers in the guest room have been cleaned out as well as all the drawers in our bedroom (which have also been switched and rearranged so that the bassinet will block my drawers instead of Erics). I was really sad about switching the armour for the dresser- but it turns out I actually have more drawer space now so I am happy. As I cleaned out the drawers I sat on a yoga ball (supposed to be good position to help the baby descend).
What else have I done? I put a shamwow under the sheets on my side of the bed. Is that silly? I returned the 60 dollar mattress pad because I had it for a week and had yet to even put it on, so since I am an infomercial whore and had shamwow- and Eric has joked from the beginning that that is what we will use to clean up if my water breaks- I figured that would do as well as anything :)

I really think Ming knows the baby is coming and coming soon. She is extra playful/cuddly/needy around the house. She is acting a little different- I am trying to give her as much attention as possible, but am scared that if I smother her that will make things even harder when baby comes home. The latest thing she did was jump up onto the guest bed, where our hospital bag is laid out (I have not packed it- but I don't want to, it is all in piles with a list and I trade things like yoga pants in and out as I do laundry, so that is where it will be. It will take 2 minutes to throw in a suitcase when the time comes) Anyway- Ming usually sleeps with us, but the other night we could not find her. Lo and behold, she has nosed my neat piles of hospital clothes all around the guest bed, to make herself a nest of sorts, and passed out for the night in there on all my stuff. It was annoying, yet adorable :)

And lastly- 39 week pictures. ONE WEEK TO GO!!!







37 weeks vs 39 weeks- i don't think it looks like much has happened as far as dropping or anything goes- do you?