labor story

From Tobo Arrives ...

i've finally had a chance to sit down and write up my labor/birth story. Due to the nature of it, I'm not going to post it here, but if you'd like to receive a copy of it, please respond in the comments and I'll email it to you. It was amazing and hard, and mine was a non-complicated birth.

Anyway, let me know!

you lose.

I guess we'll be having a march baby, not an April baby.

About 3:44am this morning my water broke, which means we are now in for it. Today or tomorrow we'll be having Tobo. We're at the hospital now, and since I'm typing this, our contractions are 5 minutes apart and about a minute long, so expect it to be some time before we update.

More later as it develops.

baby news

As a friend pointed out: "Remember how you were so reluctant to talk medical stuff before... now you've just blogged the state of your cervix to all of us. :)" I'll try to be a bit more circumspect going forward. So yes, I'm going to talk about my pregnancy, so if you don't want to know the details, the answer is everything is fine and my due date is still April 1st.

I'm trying hard not to get too ahead of myself, but it's kind of hard. Paul is already kind of running around doing last minute things. (like at 11pm at night) I think we've got about 4 bags of stuff to take with us to the hospital so far. Yes, one of them is a bag of books. Including epic poetry. :) I'm personally going back and forth between thinking about the labor and thinking about what happens after the labor. I'm a bit more panicky that I'll have the baby, they will hand him to me, and I'll say something like, "now what?!" Frankly, all you moms I know out there make it look easy. :) I'm planning on tapering off my workload (such that it is) at ACME in the next week, so I have more time to read and get my head around the whole thing. Not to mention the apartment. The baby's room is no where ready for Tobo to come home. We have about 10% too much stuff. The good news is part of the changing table and poop containment system from Amy and Doug arrived yesterday. Also, the box from wmw arrived as well (though i'm letting paul pick that up). Thank you all for the stuff!

I went for a walk yesterday over to our potential pediatrician. His office is about as close as our mailbox, especially if you cut across parking lots. He is part of a group practice, all peds, with in house lab technicians and 24 hour on call nurses. He return calls at the end of the day and if you call in with a sick kiddo before 4:30p they will try to get you in. They also have sat hours. On the down side, they do tend to be a bit old school (circa 1995), and are not really a paperless office. He seemed personable, but Paul was not bowled over. I am kind of leaning towards him, more for the specialized attention than him personally. We're meeting with our general practitioner on friday (in the same medical complex) to see if we have any strong feelings about her. Unlike the ped, she's charging us $15 for the privilege of the conversation, since according to her office manager, no one does meet's and greets anymore. [insert suspicious eye squinting here]

So, any suggestions for what to look for in a baby doctor?

[ALERT: biological info ahead]














So for those of you who are still reading this, here are the details:

So we are still having a baby. Tobo in fact dropped yesterday evening (after a short walk) and is now pressing right up against my cervix. The doc said that it's actually even bulging a bit, so he's right on in there. I'm also a centimeter dilated and at 75% effaced. Doc was quick to point out that this state can last for up to a month, but still it's nice to see progress. For all of you playing at home, those need to be 10 centimeters and 100% effaced before I can have the baby. I can actually get a full breath now, Paul said my breathing has changed at night, so I'm no longer making little wheezy noises anymore. All my usual set of tests looked good, so we're still on track for a normal birth.

We're a wee bit excited!!!

we're still having a boy, part 2

So, my son, the picture of modesty, flashed us again on the sonogram today. :) Barring the unexpected, we are still having a boy. Happily he is pointed the right way (head down) and is even facing the right way (his nose is pointing to my spine) so, everything is looking good. My doc said there is only a 5% chance that he'd flip at this point. I've put on 6 more lbs in a week and a half, so it will be interesting to see what I am weighing next week. Blood pressure was normal, though my feet and hands are still puffy at times. What is also exciting is that I'm apparently 70% effaced. Doc gives me a few more weeks, but thought we should definitely get the bag packed just in case. So I guess you could say things are progressing as expected. I'm apparently measuring 'big' but the doc thinks that is uterine wall more than baby. I say it's my organs being pressed up into my diaphragm. So next week we will be seeing the doc wednesday, and then ever week until the baby is here.

So, since we are in the home stretch, I've added a poll (to the right): when will our baby be born? Poll closes March 23rd. Again, you are playing for the privilege of saying I told you so. :)

just keeps getting bigger...

...tobo that is. I think I've expanded again in the last 24 hours. Went to bed one size, woke up bigger. He's kicking a lot harder now, though still following his usually pattern of rest when ever I'm up and about. I think he's almost ripe. :)

I didn't sleep too good last night, ran out of things to eat around 5am. Ok, things that I *wanted* to eat. I have to really be careful to eat enough at night so I can sleep as long as possible before getting hungry again. Today I made sure to get a new set of groceries at lunch time. I'm much happier now. Though sleepy. *yawn*

We just finished the hospital tour (or women and newborns is what the department is called) and I'm having a little freak out moment. This is why I wanted to go in ahead of time when I'm not in labor. This way I can have my little "show her the implements" moment without contractions and get it over with. I just finished the bradley book, so I was kind calabrated to look for problems. The book itself is good but is about 20 years out of date, which is a huge amount of change in this particular medical field. I'm looking forward to moving on to the Sears book next to counter any bad vibes left over from the other.

The labor wing was a nice quiet place. Even with a pretty full ward, it was quiet and calm. There is a jacuzzi on the floor (though not a private one). The birthing rooms are great. And apparently we will pretty much monopolize one nurse for the whole labor. It was very private. I guess I wasn't overly surprised at this, but it was nice that their brochure matched reality. It sounds like you stay in that room until about an hour after delivery, then they move you to the postpartum wing, which is similar but without a jacuzzi. Pretty much you stay here for 2 days for a vaginal birth, 3 to 4 days for a c-section. Then you go home. With a baby.

Craziest moment - filling out the birth certificate ahead of time. You basically get all your information in now so you don't have to do it later. You don't sign it and you don't fill in the baby's portion. I was filling out my information and for a second I thought they needed my mother's name. Then Paul looks at me and says, "No, that's you." (hee!)

Tonight is lamaze class. We get to see a movie so um we will see how that goes. Guess what it's about? ;D

EDIT: I total forgot - one of the ACME staff members actually had Dr. Bradley as her doctor. He's from here. She said he did tend to be a bit arrogant and talk down to you.

an endless row of saturdays

I almost set my alarm yesterday because it felt like the end of the weekend. I know it's really Thursday. But I can't shake the feeling that I'm just on temporary hiatus from the regular work week. Yesterday I spent time running errands in the morning then came home to work on some in house projects before my drs apt. (see below) Very saturday activity. I am glad to get a chance to put the house in order (read:filing and taxes) before the baby is here, but I also feel kind of like a quitter for not toughing it out to the bitter end at work. Work guilt I guess. I mean I have a freelance project to do, but it so different than what I was doing before. ACME has offered me sitting space at the office, but in some ways I kind of like doing it in my own time. It's not like I don't have other projects to work on of my own creation.

Doctor's apt went as routine yesterday which is good. Boring is good! I'm retaining more water now which caused me to be up by 6lbs in 2 weeks. My feet are feeling a little puffy too as well as my hands. They don't look too bad, but they just feel kind of swollen. Of course, this often happens during the last few months so, no one was worried... but they will check it again in 2 weeks when I'm back in for my next appointment. I'm glad to confirm that I'm feeling more awkward and it wasn't just my imagination.

In light of that, I've picked up a dvd for simple pregnancy yoga, which I hope none of the neighbors can see me practicing. Though it's silly to watch, it does make me feel more balanced and have less aches and pains. It also doesn't take very long (breathing and relaxation take up the bulk of it.) and it's easy to do in the house. Nothing is more fun than having two brits lecture me on my breathing.

I'm a bit nervous because tonight we start lamaze classes. (bring two pillows and leave your pride at home) I'm hoping that I wont' need too much help to get off the floor. :/ the instructor sounds very positive and above all *social*. I've read the first few chapters of the Bradley way for natural childbirth. I'm looking forward to hearing what our instructor says vs what I've read, since it sounds like Lamaze and Bradley followers get along as well as the jets and the sharks.

Honestly, I'll do what will work at the time of delivery. Never say never is about the only motto I have right now.

I got fed up talking with our gas company (they had the wrong address for 2 months, all better now) and broken down and watched Batman Begins this afternoon. It was a good movie. I really enjoyed it. It made me realize, I need to stop watching crappy movies. Given the limited time left before tobo is in the world and consequently eating up every waking hour (and some of the non-waking ones too) I better get hopping. What movie should I watch before I never see a new movie again for the next 16 years? I like dramas and fiction more than comedies and romances, and ideally it would be something that has been made after 2000. (though good old classics might also be worth looking at) Any thoughts?

tobo report

Happy New Year! We are back from the trip of holiday goodness and just about well from our head colds, which we passed out like presents to all our near and dearest.

My third trimester starts tomorrow (as exact as things are) which means I'm about to start really looking like a blimp, not just feeling like one. I'm still feeling pretty good except for the occasional fatigue and pelvic bone stretching. Didn't realize how much fun that would be. I also have a tendency to stare off into space for entire evenings so hardly anything seems to be getting done. I've stated my last day of work at cp, (2/15) so now I just have to get through the next 3 pay checks and I'm home free. I'll be talking with ACME soon to set up the part time work, probably in March.

I went to my Jan prenatal apt yesterday and everything is going well with Tobo. I'm suppose to start monitoring fetal kick counts every day or so to make sure he's still doing what he's suppose to be doing. I've not been too worried about it because he is acting exactly the same way he has through the whole pregnancy. (2 days quiet, 1 day loud) Everything still looks good, including my weight, my iron and everything else they test. My blood pressure was up a bit, but not by much. We should be getting the results back for the glucose test this week too. I'm slightly expecting this to come back as high, but we'll see.

I did find out that this doctor's group will induce a week after your due date unless you plead your case for staying pregnant longer. They won't force it, but that all depends on how mom and baby are doing. So the good news I will not be pregnant after my 41st week, and the baby will be here no later than 4/15/08. I don't know if that helps with anyone's travel plans, but at least we have a cut off date. I'm so looking forward to meeting this little guy outside of my body. :)

I'm also getting a lot of requests for baby showers, so I have a question about etiquette. I had thought to combine the showers since most of the same people would get invited to both, but now there is a third one so...

1. How big is too big for a baby shower?
2. Would any of the planners be insulted if I asked if we could combine one or more showers?
3. I shouldn't invite the same people to all the showers, right?

Paul is already being a chicken and bailing on a men and women together shower. He is not manly enough to face the diaper game or the "what does this smell like?" game. :) I still have to get registered for stuff and put in an order for furniture. Hopefully this weekend I can fit it into my busy schedule of wool-gathering.

Answer: Butterball

Question: What is cat's bump?

I just realized that Thanksgiving is near. I ran into all the saline-injected birds at the grocery store this evening and the other shoe dropped. That is what I've been forgetting! I'm not so sure we will get a bird cooked this year. We actually hope to be packing and moving over the next few weekends, so posts may be few and far between. Can't wait to get the keys to the new apartment sat. so we can do laundry without coinage. Paul was seriously considering manhandling our old mattress into the new place sunday and make the move sans boxes to the new place so we can plan (and stop living here) We'll see if that comes about. There are still a lot to do around here and I'm not really doing much that I consider useful.

I've got my next prenatal tomorrow, though I don't expect it to be any thing shocking. (same old routine) Paul has voted that I no longer have a bump, but have a curve now, and I'm beginning to really look pregnant, not just wearing baggy clothing.

Work has hired 2 new designers, both of which are nice and competent. We've been doing a lot of training this week. By the look of things I might be able to be part time in the new year. :)

A few notable mentions:

1. Paul is at WOW in Indiana for the rest of the week. He will be manning the table there and actively recruiting candidates for information technology ministry. Please keep him in mind, not just for safe travel, but that it is a positive visit, with many new faces becoming interested in Asia.
2. I've started a new email group called pray-it which will eventually become urgent prayer requests and testimonies, both for us personally and for the fellowship at large. If you'd be interested in being kept in the loop, please visit the link above and I'd be happy to send you an invite to the group.
3. We are looking for new partners to join us in our new roles. If you are interested or would like to know more just contact us.
4. I have been *struggling* with hoemke.com, trying to get it cleaned up and ready for posts on the blog, but I've hit some technical difficulties. Soon and very soon, this sucker will be up and all this type of update will move over there.

Ladies and gentleman ... welcome to the second trimester. (applause)

I just thought I'd throw that out there.

Also: these are hilarious: (from MomShops):
gas mask
turn it to 11!

bump

So, I have a bump. It was the strangest thing. Wednesday, it's like my jeans just quit working. Tuesday morning fine. Wednesday afternoon, too small. Wednesday was a bad day, but I got to find out exactly how manic tired and hungry I can become if I don't eat lunch. On top of this, I think I ate some cheese that was past its prime, so Thursday because "recovery day". I had to bail on a 'finish moving and dinner' thing a friend was giving at her new apt so I could curl in a ball on the couch and eat rice. I felt so much better on Friday that I cut off more of my hair.

I learned a lot about pregnantlady (TM) clothing. I learned what a roll panel is, how the sizing works, and that most maternity shops and consignment shops do not carry plus sizes. I was pleased to find JCP lets you order sizes online, though they don't care the plus sizes in the stores. There was also places like Lane Bryant, and a couple of web stores, but most of them were much more expensive. I did find this great faq on plus-pregnancy clothing. Very helpful. And I saved time not having to wander the denver metro area looking at clothing that didn't fit. You have to understand, clothing and me have never really gotten along. I have exactly 1 pair of pants that I can wear in public, though I placed some emergency orders at JCP, which will hopefully be here before the weekend. We are off to a baptism in Pittsburgh at the end of the week, and i'd prefer not to have to walk around in capri's the whole time. :P We are of course jazzed about being back in the old town, even if it is just for a few days. I hope that I will be able to eat some of that great food.

While looking around on the web, I found this mom-shops blog which has a bunch of cool kids stuff. While some of it is kind of trendy, some of it is really gosh-darn cute, like this rolly bug she posted:


Cute, no?