July 23rd, 2010 §
Today was almost a kid free Friday (we still had Charlie). I took Brae and Hannah to their mother’s for the weekend, and Kaity spent the night with a friend. Kris and Charlie and I enjoyed the evening by going out to eat at Encore. It’s one of our favorite places in Lawrence. After dinner, we went for a walk on campus. It was hot but breezy, so it didn’t seem too bad.
On Charlie’s birthday, she received a card from Poppy and Callista which contained some cryptic statement about hoping she “enjoys her new ride.” Well, her new ride arrived by mail, finally. It’s pretty cool.
Charlie's new ride
July 21st, 2010 §
Recently, Charlie has started playing peek-a-boo with me when I walk in the door from work. Usually she is waiting for me with a big smile on her face. She’s so much fun. I love her to pieces.
March 17th, 2010 §
Kaity and the crew saw the Eiffel Tower today. They went all the way to the top, which freaked Kaity out a little. But she did it.
The Eiffel Tower
They also went to the Louvre, where Kaity got to see the Mona Lisa in person. She’s behind 3 inch bullet proof glass, so the pictures were fuzzy. But she got some other cool shots.
This one is Mommy's favorite.
I was busy working on sitting up unassisted.
I think I got it.
July 17th, 2009 §
40 weeks 6 days
Yesterday was the final day of pregnancy. We checked into the hospital at 7pm, after a celebratory dinner at Olive Garden, and got settled in for a night of little sleep and lots of baby monitoring.
Preparation
This morning, the induction started at 7am, and the contractions I’d had overnight quickly became productive (and painful).
They started getting serious around 9am, and I asked for an epidural at 10. After that, things went very quickly. The midwife broke my water around 10:30 and the epidural was administered. By 11am, I had dilated from a 3 to a 7, and by noon was ready to push. The baby arrived at 12:35pm, with roughly 15 minutes of actual pushing. She’s a doll, and we’re all completely smitten.
Our baby girl
July 10th, 2009 §
Campus at night
We’ve officially hit the due date, even though Poohpah had convinced himself the baby was due on Tuesday. Not much happening. I woke up with contractions Wednesday, but they went away after an hour or so. We went for a long walk on campus last night, and I woke up with contractions again, but still nothing.
Insert watermelon smuggling joke here
Statistics say 85% of babies don’t come on their due date, but if I haven’t gone into labor by Tuesday, they’re planning an induction. I’d like to avoid that if possible, having done it once before. Any suggestions (besides castor oil)? I refuse to ingest anything that’s going to make me sick. Labor is difficult enough.
July 5th, 2009 §
7…6…5. Almost there, which is good, because I’m starting to get tired and slow. It’s still a little hard for me to believe that we’ve already gone from this:
6 weeks
to this:
39 Weeks
But, the bag is (nearly) packed, Callista will be here on Tuesday, and we’re all done but the waiting.
(Almost) ready to go
June 28th, 2009 §
T-minus 2 weeks…. The baby has dropped, judging by the shape of my belly and the fact that it is now easier to breathe, but less comfortable to sit.
38 weeks
It feels like I could balance a stack of books on top of it and not have to worry about them falling off. Not much going on otherwise though. The midwife says I have some time left, which is good. Brandon has a big project at work that they’re rolling out over the holiday weekend (and how did July 4th get here already?!?), so I “have to make it to the due date.” Tell that to the baby.
June 21st, 2009 §
37 Weeks
T-minus 3 weeks…. Zero to 40 has a nice summary of what being 37 weeks pregnant is like (which my husband should read, so he doesn’t ask silly questions like why he’s driving).
We had a bit of scare a little over a week ago. I woke up in the middle of the night to contractions and back spasms. A quick trip to the OB the next morning determined that the baby had flipped breech – she’s been head down since the midwife started checking. It must have been a somersault – it was very quick, and painful. And the OB was not reassuring, asking if we wanted to try to flip the baby into the correct position, using external cephalic version (which is also painful and might lead to an emergency C-section), or plan on having a C-section anyway. My choice was none of the above. I asked the doc if there was anything I could do to help the baby turn on her own, and his response was, “Not really.”
Jen, whose last baby was breech for a while, had other ideas, and recommended spinningbabies.com. Turns out inversion is a useful technique for helping a breech baby flip. I tried it twice a day for a couple of days, and by last weekend I thought she might be transverse (sideways), still breech, but not head up. By the doctor’s appointment last Wednesday, she had gently turned herself head down again. I didn’t feel her turn, but am relieved that she’s in the proper position, especially since we’re running out of time.
***
Brandon and Hannah playing dots
For Father’s Day we took Brandon out to dinner at Zio’s, an Italian place in Olathe. It’s decent, and there’s plenty of leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Plus, the kids like it because they get to draw on the tablecloths. This time next year, there’ll be another little one at the table.
June 13th, 2009 §
T minus 4 weeks and counting. Brandon is feeling the need to get a little creative with the belly pictures, as evidenced by this week’s entry.
Revenge of the Belly Monster!
This pic is for Nana – name that outfit!
So, I’m officially 9 months pregnant, and still have 4 weeks to go. Stupid pregnancy math. The baby is the size of a honeydew, and over the next few weeks will just be putting on a little extra padding, so she’ll be plump and squeezable on the big day.
June 10th, 2009 §
Kaity was laughing at me this morning, as I grimaced getting out of a chair. My hips are sore from sleeping on my sides.
“Remind me to never get pregnant,” she said.
“Why?”
“Because the baby kicks your ribs out of place, your hips hurt from lying down, if they flip over it hurts….”
“It’s worth it, though,” I said.
“Yeah, in the end you get a screamy poopy thing with cute shoes.”
