Forty Weeks (Due Today!)

Baby's size this week: I think my app is now completely useless.  It simply says, "It's hard to say for sure how your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds ... and is about 20 inches long."  And all this time, it's been telling me with complete confidence exactly how big she was?!?  Pshh.  Useless!  ;)  

Latest update from the OB:  Wolverina has dropped even lower and can't go any further without actually engaging.  He said that my body is as close to delivery as it can be without actually being in labor, and both baby and I are fine.  She had the hiccups yesterday, so after checking her heartbeat and getting tickled at her hiccups, he pointed out that you could actually observe them by watching my belly jump.  That was fun, and I really appreciate him pointing that out.

Yesterday was a hard day in terms of being pregnant.  I was (and still am, of course) very, very tired.  When Dr. Dixon asked how I was, I was honest.  I told him that I was struggling because I was extremely emotional and really very uncomfortable.  And, to be honest, I was just sort of feeling overwhelmed.  I've tried pretty much every home remedy to get labor started, and none have been successful.  I am not exhibiting any signs of being closer to labor.  Dixon kindly but professionally argued that I am exhibiting more signs and pointed out that I've been having more contractions and that she's dropped as low as she can get.  He said that it's really any minute/day now.

Are you craving anything? Her arrival.

How do you feel?  Tired.  Graceless.  Uncomfortable.  Ready.

What have you crossed off your to-do list this week? Painted the letters for her nursery and everything else I can think of.  I have nothing left to get and nothing left to do except go into labor.

What's left on your to-do list? Have the baby!

How is Ray doing? I believe he might be more ready than I am for her to arrive.  He's taken to talking to her each morning and directing her to head for the South Exit.  This morning in particular, he talked to her about how great it would be if she was part of the 3% (or whatever ridiculously low percentage it is) of babies who arrive on their actual due date.

Thirty-Nine Weeks

Baby's size this week: According to the app, she is a little longer than 20 inches (but I suspect she's longer based on what I can feel of her) and weighs in at a little over 7 pounds.

Latest update from the OB:  According to yesterday's appointment with Dr. Dixon, I am 1 centimeter dilated, 70% effaced, and Wolverina is at -1 station.  (You can read more about stations here, but for quick reference, a baby floating freely is at -5 station, and a baby who is crowning is at +5 station.)  This basically means I could go into labor at any point now.  Ray and I are hoping for now as we are both ready for her to finally be here.

Additionally, because of Wolverina's station and position, Dr. Dixon said he thinks I will transition quickly.  He suggested that I'd go from having irregular contractions to regular, it's-time-to-go-to-the-hospital contractions pretty quickly.  Ray asked him if he could get that guarantee in writing, but Dixon declined.  He said that although my chances of that happening are excellent, they aren't guaranteed.  Even if he won't put it in writing, I'll take it.  That was probably the best news he gave us yesterday.

Are you craving anything? Still her arrival.  I dreamed we were home with her for the Clemson game on Saturday and that we'd dressed her in the FSU onesie that Leah gave us.  I'm hoping it was more of a premonition than a dream...

How do you feel?  Cumbersome.  Tired.  Ready.  Impatient.  Thirsty.  Uncomfortable.

What have you crossed off your to-do list this week? Organized the freezer.

What's left on your to-do list? 

1. Paint the wooden letters to hang on her wall.

How is Ray doing? He's well.  He's ready like I am and informs me each morning that "today is the day!"  On Monday, he got to feel her foot as she was trying to stretch out and make room for herself.  It is so amazing to watch him feel what I've gotten to feel, and I really love watching his reaction to her.  He really is going to be such an awesome dad!

Thirty-Eight Weeks

Baby's size this week: According to the app, she is almost 20 inches long and weighs in at 6.8 pounds.

Latest update from the OB:  Everything looks good.  My blood pressure was lower yesterday than it was at my first appointment, my weight gain is good, and the baby's heartbeat is still at 145 BPM.  At this point, measurements of my fundal height indicate that Wolverina will be weighing in somewhere in the seven pound range.  Given the large size of Handley/Nobles babies, I'm very relieved to hear this news.  Additionally, Dr. Dixon noted that Wolverina has dropped and asked me if I'd noticed a difference.  I have no doubt she's dropped because the spot under my left ribs no longer feels bruised, and it's a little bit easier to breathe.

We had a really good discussion regarding stripping membranes and the use of Pitocin.  Dr. Dixon did an excellent job of explaining what exactly stripping the membranes entailed and why he wasn't inclined to do it. He drew parallels between doing that and starting Pitocin right now.  Essentially, it boils down to this: while I am clearly at the end of my pregnancy, my body isn't ready to go into labor.  Because my body isn't ready, both would result in more discomfort for me because we'd be trying to force labor before it was time.  He went on to explain that there are other doctors in the practice who disagree with him, so he wasn't saying that it shouldn't be done.  It's just his belief that it wouldn't be helpful for me.  This further solidified my belief that Dixon is the right doctor for me.  He's a good blend of science and crunchiness, and he's very willing to explain his position, his philosophy, and the reasons behind it all.  And, he does it all in layman's terms.

Are you craving anything? I'm craving her arrival!

How do you feel?  Like a 9.5-month pregnant woman.  I'm exhausted, unwieldy, and prone to hot flashes.  The nausea is back.  I did some reading over the weekend, though, about exercises I could do to get some relief in my back and hips, and they have been quite helpful.

What have you crossed off your to-do list this week? Ironed Wolverina's coming-home outfit (which made Ray laugh a lot), packed the hospital bag, made the list of last-minute items to add to the bag before we leave the house, taped that list to the front door, and completed the ABCs of infants class.

What's left on your to-do list? 

1. Paint the wooden letters to hang on her wall.

How is Ray doing? He's doing very well.  He got a big laugh out of the baby last night.  We were sitting on the couch, and to be funny, he stuck his cold feet on my stomach.  Wolverina freaked out and kicked him really hard and started trying to squirm away from the ice blocks.  He said, "She's like her daddy!  She hates it when you put your cold feet on her!"  And so he pulled them away, waited a minute until she'd relaxed, and then put his cold feet back on my stomach just to aggravate her.  He repeated this several times, laughing each time she kicked at him.  If I wasn't laughing so hard at him laughing at her, I would have felt sorry for Wolverina.  But it is so neat to watch him interact with her at this point.

ABCs of Babies

Last night, Ray and I crossed the last must-do off of my "Before the Baby Comes" list by taking TMH's ABCs of Babies class to prepare us for basic infant care.  The class took about two hours, and Ray and I agreed that it was two hours very well spent.

There were only two other couples in the class with us.  One couple is expecting a baby boy in October, and Ray and I decided the father is from some sort of very cold Eastern European country.  His accent was fairly thick, and he was very, very concerned about the baby being too cold.  His wife asked lots of questions about how many layers the child actually needed, and he kept insisting that maybe one more layer would be good.  The other couple is expecting their baby next week, and it appears neither of them has any experience with children.  The mom asked at one point, "Do we change her for every wet diaper?"  (Ray and I are hopeful that maybe she meant "change clothes," but given the context of her question, it's doubtful.)  The course covered the basics like how to change a diaper, how to swaddle a baby, how to bathe a baby, how to burp a baby, and a plethora of other things.  Our instructor started us off with a quiz regarding terminology (which, sadly, we failed because we didn't know the medical terms for things like cradle cap), then moved to a discussion about keeping baby safe at home, and then she started a video.

This video was awesome on several levels.

• Awesome Tidbit 1: It is clear that the producers of this video didn't use actors.  They used real people with brand new babies.  These real people looked really tired, especially the moms.  
• Awesome Tidbit 2: One of the topics covered in the video was what to do when a baby won't stop crying.  It stopped short of the "NEVER shake a baby!" PSA, but I swear that I know the dad they showed in that segment.  I cannot figure out where I know him from (Ray suggested that perhaps I was reminded of Ice Cube, but I think maybe he was an assistant coach at Munroe).  
• Awesome Tidbit 3: As we were seeing real people in their homes, I got to see how different people chose to decorate their nurseries.  My personal favorite (and the favorite of the mom who's due in October) was the poster of Tupac on the wall next to the crib.  Ray and I have decided we need to get one for Wolverina's room.  I think I'm leaning towards this one:

However, a friend pointed out that if Wolverina learned gang signs before she learned English, that would be beyond awesome.  So maybe I should reconsider and find one with him throwing a West Coast sign...

After the video, we began the hands-on portion of the class. 

• Ray learned to change a diaper, and I learned that if we ever have a boy, I probably won't diaper him until his circumcision has healed (the instructor told horror stories about the diaper sticking to the healing skin).  I found the stories horrifying and think I'd rather take my changes with elimination communication.
• We also learned how to bathe a baby, and Ray agreed to be in charge of umbilical cord care.  
• We learned techniques for swaddling, and Ray pointed out that when I swaddle an actual child, I probably shouldn't lean on the baby to keep her arms down by her side.  (We were given these dolls whose arms are made to stay up by their heads, and I was practicing the arms-in swaddle.)  I think his point was fair given what I was doing, but at the same time I feel like I've got enough sense not to do that for a real baby.

Other fun facts that we learned/had confirmed for us include:

• Baby powder causes respiratory problems, so we shouldn't use it at all.
• The hospital-grade aspirator will be priceless to us, so we need to make sure we bring it home from the hospital.
• C-section babies tend to gag a lot.
• My insistence that we have no crib quilt and no bumper was the right thing because these things do contribute to SIDS.
• Insisting that people wash their hands before and use a blanket on their shoulder while holding Wolverina is good practice, not us being germ-Nazis.

Although we will probably still frantically google things regarding care of Wolverina, I have to admit that I feel much more prepared about how to keep her safe, clean, and happy after that class.  And, for a guy who's never changed a diaper, Ray was extremely adept at it.  I was very impressed with his skill, and I'm now hoping that he'll take the lead on that! :)

September 11

On my way to work this morning, I listened to a discussion about what FSU's College of Law would be doing today to commemorate 9/11/01.  In the discussion, the host of the show asked the guest (who is a preacher) if he felt it was important to talk to his children, who were not alive in 2001, about this day.

This question led me to think about our child and what I think we should tell her.  Having not discussed this with Ray, I cannot speak for him, but I feel certain that he will agree with me when I say that explaining what happened eleven years before she was born is extremely important.  Of course it's important to teach her history, and the English teacher in me feels compelled to urge her read as much as possible about it.  It was a terrible day for our nation, but it was also a day that we all laid down our differences.  I have the most distinct memory of watching the members of Congress stand together on the steps of the Capitol singing, "God Bless America."  In today's political climate, that's hard to imagine.  But in addition to those reasons, I feel it's important to teach her for a much more personal reason.

The events of September 11, 2001, are the basis for Operating Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and, of course, the all-encompassing Global War on Terror.  As her father is a veteran of both OIF and OEF (and, therefore, GWOT), I think she should know what led to his personal decision to join the military.  And she should know the history of the conflicts in which he fought.  I will leave the discussion of his decision to join up to him as it is much more than just the events of 9/11, but I want to do my best to help her to understand why our country chose to go to war.  Naturally, as she gets older, these discussions will become more involved than just "bad guys killed many innocent Americans," and will need to include the politics of war.  I look forward, too, to her having access to many of Ray's buddies who will be able to offer her their perspectives on all of it.  These men are so alike in so many ways, but their views on the wars, the cultures, the politics, and everything else are so very different.  No pressure, Wolverina, but if you get a school assignment on this, I'm expecting an A+.  :)

Thirty-Seven Weeks

Baby's size this week: According to the app, she is more than 19 inches long and weighs in at 6 and 3/4 pounds.

Latest update from the OB:  My blood pressure is good, and the baby's heartbeat is around 145 beats per minute.

Are you craving anything? Sleep, sleep, and sleep.

How do you feel?  Not so great.  I'm completely exhausted all the time, and I hurt.  My hips hurt, my back hurts, my feel hurt, and I feel bruised on the inside from Wolverina trying to stretch out.  But I also feel very ready for her to arrive, which is pretty great. 

What have you crossed off your to-do list this week? Installed the car seat and extra base, hung curtains and blinds, put on the crib skirt, reorganized the nursery, hung pictures in the nursery, got burp cloths, finalized our birth plan, got a few more nursing tank tops to wear in the hospital, got an iPod docking station for the nursery and made sure it works well, and purchased the letters to hang on the wall opposite her bookshelf.

What's left on your to-do list? 

1. Iron coming-home outfit
2. Pack hospital bag (plan to do this tonight or tomorrow)
3. Take the ABCs of Infants class next Tuesday

How is Ray doing? Bless his heart, he's tired also.  I know I'm making sleep difficult for him with all the tossing and turning I do, not to mention the three-five times a night I get up to go to the bathroom.  He's trying so hard to be supportive of me, but I'm tired and uncomfortable.  I suspect I'm getting more difficult to live with these days, but he's not saying so.  He is a good, good man.

The Nursery

This weekend, we finally put the finishing touches on the nursery.  There are still a couple of minor things to attend to (like replacing the outlets so they're white, not cream), but, at this point, the nursery is completely ready for Wolverina's arrival in terms of set-up and supplies.

Ray hung the blinds we got to ensure that we could sufficiently block the afternoon sun coming in Wolverina's window.  Even though the curtains are lined, we felt like we needed blinds because the sun coming in is very, very bright.

Ninja likes to hang out in the nursery when we're in there.  I think she's a little confused by it all, but she smells all the new stuff when we're in there working.  And then, if we're in there too long to suit her, she'll flop down in the middle of the room and heave a great sigh of disappointment that we're not all outside with a tennis ball.  Her world is about to change so much, but Ray and I are both convinced that she's going to be great with the baby.  She's so sweet and so patient with everyone, including our niece, Holland.

The blinds are up, and the curtain is hung!  This is what it'll look like for nap time.  (Also, note the giant tower of diapers.  We also have diapers hidden under the crib.  I have no doubt we'll need them, but I think we'll probably end up having to exchange some of the sizes.)

 I took all these pictures with my cell phone, so you can't really see the cute detail of the tie-back.  It's got a cute flower made out of the animal pattern Aunt Stacey used for the crib skirt.  And now that I'm posting this blog, I also realize I didn't get a good shot of the crib skirt.  It's got box pleats and a cute horizontal gray stripe (matching the vertical stripe on the right side of the curtains and the tie-backs) that's hidden by the bottom rail of the crib.  However, when we raise her mattress, you should be able to see the stripe with no problem.

Our changing table is attached to the crib and all ready to go with supplies.  You can't see it, but between the changing table and the wall, we've put a laundry hamper and the diaper genie.

My cell phone picture really doesn't do this justice.  Ray did a phenomenal job with the dresser, and it's packed to the brim with clothes, blankets, washcloths, and towels.  The pink basket on top holds all the bath soaps and lotions (and a set of bath time letters from Sarah and Allison that we'll begin using with her the second she's old enough to start learning).  The milk glass belonged to Ray's grandmother, and I plan to eventually put something cute in it.  For now, it holds a pad of paper and a pencil so that I can make lists of things I need to get for the baby.  Next to that are the pink humidifier and a small white lamp (that I should have turned off for pictures).

This is our solution to the closet door opening into the room and really limiting space.  Aunt Stacey and I made this curtain to hang over the entry to the closet.  The box next to the glider is one of those things we still need to take care of.  It's a bunch of pictures we're not sure what to do with, so they've just been stuck in the nursery because it's been our holding room since we moved.  However, with the baby on the way, we need to make a decision and get that box out of there.

Last picture.  This bookshelf was not part of our original nursery plan.  However, when the family baby shower left us with a library of books for her, we made the necessary change.  I think I may rearrange the bottom shelf, but it works for now.  The pink canvas baskets are perfect for holding the toys we've been given that she'll have to grow into.  The kettle bell belongs to a member of our gym, who loaned it to me to use during session because my schedule was such that I couldn't get to the gym.  I should probably return it to her, but it makes such a great door stop.  And it gives Wolverina a chance to learn about kettle bells before we get her doing CrossFit Kids!

I know you can't really tell what the picture on the wall above the bookshelf is, but it's one of my favorite things in the nursery.  Adrianne made it for me (per my request) because she's much better with graphic arts than I am.  It simply says, "I love you a bushel and a peck & a hug around the neck."  Granny Squeaky used to say this to us grandchildren all the time when we were little, so hanging this in the nursery was a way for me to include her.  I gave a matching picture (except that it's navy blue for the University of North Florida) to Rachel to hang in her dorm room.  It feels good to tie us all together.

Not pictured: the wall opposite the bookshelf.  This wall is pretty much  unused because of the way the glider is positioned, but it's a large, blank wall.  I'm going to hang wooden letters similar to this to spell out her first name.  However, because we aren't revealing her name until after she arrives, this will need to be done post-birth.  I have a feeling I'm not going to really feel up to being crafty at that point, so I plan to get the letters painted and ready to go before she comes, and hopefully, some handy helper will volunteer to take care of that... Any volunteers?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?