Zadie's Birth

We ended up having to wait until Tuesday morning, May 21 for an induction to have Miss Zadie, after 6 weeks of engagement, contractions, and constantly thinking "maybe today's the day"!  May 21 was 9 days after my original due date and 5 days after a later due date.  I learned that 41 weeks of pregnancy is a different thing than 36, 37, or even 38 weeks of pregnancy.  At 37 weeks, I'd gained 25 pounds and was happily walking around with nary a stretch mark expecting Zadie to come any day.  By 41, I'd been pregnant for an additional month, packed on 40 pounds, and had stretch marks everywhere.  Now that I have her, it doesn't seem like that month was that long, but I know that it was.

Overall, Zadie's birth was really great.  We checked in around 9, started Pitocin at 9:30, broke my water around 12, and started hard contractions shortly after.  I went in with an open mind about the epidural.  Sort of wanting the experience of giving birth without it, but not ruling it out.  In retrospect, I think that's a dumb idea, I feel like the experience was had, and next time I'll ask for it when I get there. I definitely did not have an appreciation for the amount of pain that labor involved.  Prior to this experience, I'd never been in any real pain so I didn't know how much it could hurt.  My mistake involving the epidural was waiting until long past when I wanted it to actually ask for it and subsequently finding out that I needed TWO liters of fluid to get it and I'd only had one.  So around 3, at 8 cm, my nurse let the fluid run wide open to get that last liter in.  As a consequence of my waiting, the epidural worked very briefly, and only on my right side.  Despite all of my repositioning that the nurse wanted me to try before giving me something else, it wouldn't cross whatever nerve that it needed to cross.  According to my nurse, this was because since Zadie was already so low, her head was blocking my nerve.  The epidural did, however, offer about 20 minutes when I felt like I could catch my breath.

Finally, after trying all of the "nursing interventions" to get my epidural working, she finally called the anesthesiologist back at around 5:00.  He gave me something else that worked like a charm viscerally and allowed me not to feel any of the pushing.  After seeing the aftermath, I'm really glad that I missed out on what that would have felt like.  Hence, I feel like I got the experience and am glad that I didn't get the rest of it.

Zadie arrived at 5:36 weighing in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces, and 21 inches long.  She looked just like Sean and was mad as a hatter.

Full Term

35:  Zadie was engaged at our appointment this week :)

36:  2 cm, 80%, fully engaged.  She weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces on ultrasound and had a 33 cm head. 66th percentile.  I got out of work for a week since she was so ready to show up and we didn't want that to happen before 37 weeks.

37:  2 cm, 80%, 0 station.  This week we packed our hospital bag and Zadie stayed in there through the full moon.

38:  2 cm, 80%, 0-+1 station.  Still waiting...

39:  3 cm, 90%, +1 station.  7 pounds, 5 ounces on ultrasound, 68th percentile.  34 cm head.  They said ultrasound measurements were accurate within 10%.  That makes her between 6 pounds, 9 ounces and 8 pounds even.  Still waiting...

40:  3 cm, 90%, +1 station.  Zadie passed her NST with flying colors.  So still waiting...

41:  We are thinking that Zadie's due date was a couple of days off since our "dates" due date and early ultrasound measurements were off by a few days.  Lots of contractions, still no baby.  We scheduled an induction for Tuesday morning.  I never thought I'd love the idea of a Pitocin IV, but I do.

Baby-Mooning

A few weeks ago, Sean and I went to Charleston for our last getaway before our little girl arrives.  We mostly just had breakfast at the bed and breakfast (which they serve on a silver platter to your actual bed, which is cool), walked around, and ate good food at Charleston's most popular restaurants.  We're big on local cuisine and Charleston is a great place for that!

Our room at The Battery Carriage House Inn.  We found out on our second night that this place is supposedly haunted with several ghosts.

Patriot's Point.  Sean's grandfather was an engineer in the navy and worked on these boats, so it was really neat to go through and see them.  It did require stepping through portholes on the submarine to get from room to room, and at 34 weeks pregnant, that's easier said than done :)  Sean said it probably wasn't designed for pregnant women.

34 weeks on the battery

The Inn- this main house is actually a residence and the rooms used for the bed and breakfast are in the carriage house

The gardens outside of our room

Celebrating Miss Zadie

We have had the opportunity over the past 6 weeks or so to celebrate our baby girl with all of our different groups of friends and family in so many fun and creative ways.  Everyone has been so kind and generous to her, as she's been gifted about everything that a little girl could possibly need, and has had her life prayed over by so many people that we love.

In these last couple of weeks as we prepare for her arrival, we finished her nursery, picked out some outfits for her to have at the hospital, installed her carseat, packed a suitcase, prepped her cloth diaper collection, and become the wiser on sleep habits of babies and children with the help of some of the field's "leading experts".  So I'll dare to say that I really think that we're ready for this little chick to make her appearance.

Baby girl's bows

Where our Christmas decorations used to reside.  Sean said that he is in complete shock over all that's needed for a baby.

This Christening gown has been in my family for over 100 years.  When my great-grandmother (for whom I am named) was studying at Cambridge around 1905-1910, the woman who sewed for the queen of England made this gown for her.  It traveled back to Norway and was used when she had her two children.  It was passed down to my grandmother and used for her 2 children, and then to my dad who used it for the three of us.  Sean and I go to a non-denominational church and so Zadie will not be baptized as an infant, but to keep this family heirloom alive, I think that she will wear it at her dedication.

Thanks to Heather for making this pretty bumper exactly as I had described :)

Dresser/changing table

From the door of her room

The doctor tells me that this much anticipated day will be sooner rather than later.  Last week, at our 36 week appointment, I was 2 cm dilated with a very favorable cervix, and Miss Zadie was at a 0-+1 station leading our doctor's best prediction to be a delivery within the next 2 weeks (but we all know just how (un)reliable delivery predictions can be, so take it with a grain of salt).  As a result, I am having to sit with light activity for the week while I wait to be full term in just a couple of days.  We are so excited!  Sean and I both agreed that we think that we sort of understand the pride that people take in their children.  While the doctor seemed almost alarmed at Zadie's progress at only 36 weeks, worried that she would come before 37, Sean and I both saw it as none other than proof of our child's genius that she would be ahead of other babies her age :)  So now I guess we just wait.

Nursery Projects

During the later part of January and most of February, we have spent the majority of our free time working on nursery projects...

We used spray paint, ribbon, and some crystal dots to transform this rocking llama from Sean's childhood...

into this masterpiece.  More suited for a little girl.

We used wooden blocks, scrapbook paper, mod podge, and scrapbook embellishments to make a nameplate for her bookshelf...

and wooden size dividers for her closet

Painted a canvas for the area above the changing table

Transformed an old wooden side table into this new girly one with some homemade chalk paint and a new knob

Made a place for bows with a picture frame and ribbon

Stained a ceiling medallion

And let Dad hang it up...

Made new lampshades for the chandelier with gray fabric and ribbon embellishments

And last but not least, started washing and organizing tiny clothes

This Great New Baby

Again, I have neglected this blog, but I want to start writing again, especially as Sean and I embark on the newest journey in our lives:  being parents.  Namely to a sweet little girl to be born around Mother's Day.

I started out trying to document this journey with a Tumblr, or in a book, or in a journal with letters to her, or in some other pinterest-inspired way that I could one day share with her, but even with these high aspirations, I'm 24 weeks in and have not done it.  Hopefully when she arrives, I will do better in the way of creating memories with her and documenting her life.  As a side note, and a confession, I also had delusions of eating all organic food, running, continuing a dedicated yoga practice throughout this pregnancy, etc. and have fallen short of those goals as well.  I think that these delusions were fed by a belief that pregnancy entailed mostly sporting a cute soccer ball sized stomach and the joy of feeling the baby move, but I think that most people know that those beliefs were delusions as well.  Just in the past week, I've been able to stop taking an anti-emetic several times a day, and have traded those pills for lower back pain, heart burn, and varicose veins.  But I'll take it :)  And there is a lot to be said for the joy and excitement of feeling her move and watching her tiny body roll over in my stomach.

So to backtrack, mainly so that I can write it down while still fresh in my head, here are some highlights of her life so far.

September:  On the day before Sean and I left on a vacation in Italy and Greece, I found out that I was pregnant after noticing that I looked sort of chubby in the bathing suit that I'd purchased a few weeks before for this trip.  I had to confirm this pregnancy with no less than 4 pregnancy tests.  Sean was on a business trip, and while I had the best of intentions (see my success rate with intentions above) to wait until he got home to share the news with him in a pinterest-inspired way with banners and cupcakes, I ended up succumbing to telling my mom no less than 30 minutes into "waiting".  For full disclosure, I also told my sister-in-law, Lyndsey.  When Sean got home, I had gotten him a "homecoming present" of a book entitled "Dude!  You're Gonna Be a Dad!".  It took him a second to connect the dots on this one, and he asked me if I was pregnant.  In typical Sean style, he was never anything less than completely thrilled and excited, and thus we began our lives as the parents of an Appleseed-sized baby.

Later September:  We came home early from Italy because of horrible morning sickness that settled in a little over a week later.  I have never felt so sick in my life and was sure that I would die.  Zofran helped with that, but I spent the next 4 months of my life revolving everything that I did around when I could take my Zofran.  And later my Phenergan as well.  Zofranigan-again as we call it.  I learned at this point, that everyone has advice for pregnant women.  Eat before you get out of bed is popular, but didn't help.  And all of the other google-friendly solutions that people offered again and again didn't help much either.  I eventually accepted that it would just have to go away on it's own and hopefully that would happen before May.

October:  We shared the news of our baby with Sean's family over Patrick and Stewart's wedding weekend with a video that we'd made on our trip.  We shared the news with my family inadvertently shortly after when my grandfather died suddenly.  While we'd wanted to share it with them obviously in a different way, God's timing was so clear and perfect in offering the joy of new life in the midst of incredible grief.  The baby is due the day before my grandfather's birthday, and I think that it reminded all of us that "for everything there is a season" and that we serve a perfect and loving God who may take, but who also gives, and gives in abundance.

November:  I was eventually admitted to the hospital for dehydration, which helped tremendously.  I also felt the baby kick for the first time around 16 weeks.

December:  We found out that Appleseed, as we'd been calling "him", was a her.  We went in with intentions (intentions again) to have the tech write the baby's sex on a card for us so that we could find out the next day with our families.  In the end, I didn't have the patience for that, and we went ahead and found out in the ultrasound room.  We went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in an effort to teach her not to be a cheap date and talked about what it would be like to have a little girl.  The next day, we had a gender reveal with our families and let our moms cut the cake.

January:  We've been working on the nursery, and picked out a name.  We also started being about to see her move, and feel her much better.  So sitting around watching my stomach, and then subsequently talking about how smart and strong she obviously is, takes up most of our time in the evenings.  Strangers began for the first time acknowledging my stomach (I think that's pretty courageous) and asking when she was due, so I must look fatter.

And now here we are, so maybe I'll keep up with this blog again.