Alexandria Mary

Hi Everyone, This is Kelly's husband Ralph.  I wanted to post a picture of Alexandria for all to see.  Kelly will certainly post plenty more but here is at least one shot of our new little girl.  Kelly is doing well -- just very sore and tired right now -- and will be heading home from the hospital with baby Alex tomorrow.  Her big brother Jake is real excited as well.  When he held her for the first time yesterday, we asked him "What do you think of your new baby sister?"  His response..."She's Beautiful!!". And just a note on the delivery...as much as Kelly said she didn't want the baby born on her birthday, that all changed with a few hours to go on Monday night.  She decided she DID want to have the baby on her birthday.  So it became a very funny scene when she started pushing at 11:56pm with a huge digital clock sitting on the wall directly across the room.  Kelly was doing her best to do the equivalent of "Braxton Hicks Pushes" -- you know, pushes that appear like something, but in fact aren't the real thing -- until midnight when the real pushes began.  Four minutes later our new daughter entered the world and her mom couldn't have been happier, along with the rest of us!

Alexandria Mary has arrived!

Alexandria Mary arrived at 12:04 am on 2/23. 8 lbs, 6 oz, 20.5 inches long.

Alex & Kelly are both enjoying their shared birthday :)

Labor!

I'm emailing from my Blackberry (thank God for technology!) in my labor and delivery room. I find it ironic that just last night I posted that I didn't think I'd go into labor on my own, and I didn't think the baby would be born on my birthday, but here we are.

I'm progressing slowly but surely. Unless I get really bored, this will probably be the last update until baby is born. So the next time you hear from me, I hope to be sharing the happy news! :)

Light at the end of the tunnel

At my doctor's appointment on Friday, we finally talked induction. If baby girl does not evacuate the premises by Thursday, she will be forced out :) Jake's labor was induced, and all went well, so (knock on wood) I am comfortable with the idea. Would I like to go into labor naturally? Sure, but at this rate, I could be waiting until March for her to get out. No thanks.

A lot of people keep telling me they think baby will show up on my birthday (Tuesday, 2/23) but I'm convinced she's stubborn and enjoying her current surroundings too much to leave of her own accord. Selfishly, I don't want baby showing up on my birthday. I don't want to have to share it. I don't want HER to have to share her birthday with her mother either. And I really don't want to spend my own birthday in labor.

So I am fine with being induced on Thursday. It's a light at the end of the tunnel - literally and figuratively! It's a solid date. I like definites, I like solid plans, I like knowing instead of guessing.

Dear Baby, Please Get Out.

Of all of the various due dates I have been given along the way, today is the last one. It was as early as Feb 6th, and as late as Feb 18th. And she's still not here. I had a revelation the other day: babies don't know what the heck a due date is. They have no clue. A due date means absolutely nothing to a baby.

So here I wait. My favorite doc, the one I was hoping to deliver with, is out of the office this week. Jake is off school all week. My chiropractor was away as well. Ugh. I thought it would all fall into place and I would deliver this week, but it's nearly friday and nothing has happened. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. And that's fine. I'm getting a lot of stuff done around the house - laundry, putting the finishing touches on the playroom, shopping for a few needed last-minute things (damn you Babies R Us and your bazillion things I never knew I needed!). It's a very odd sensation I've been experiencing lately: boredom.

Physically, I'm feeling okay overall, I really can't complain. I've been having minor contractions for days, but nothing very strong or consistent. Yesterday I was having some cramps, thinking that might mean progress in dialating, I guess I will find out at my docs appointment tomorrow. Without a doubt though, I am READY for her to vacate. I hate waiting, and even more, I hate NOT knowing. Such is the life of a control freak, in a situation that cannot possibly be controlled. Ugh.

I'll keep you all posted as soon as I know anything....

Jake playing in the snow

I don't always use my fancy camera. Sometimes there isn't enough time, or I just don't feel like lugging it around. So these were taken by me, in my fashionable green rubber rain boots and maternity coat (see pic in previous post), from our front porch, using only my little "point-and-shoot" camera. I will admit to using a tiny bit of Photoshop afterwards (to lighten a few pics that were under-exposed because all that white snow has a tendency to fool the camera's metering; I also sharpened the pics just a bit). Jake also ate more snow than he shoveled, and was ready to come back in after about 10 minutes of eating and playing in the snow.

Snowy Self-Portrait at 9 Months Pregnant

Snow Boop

Jake-a-boops, about to go out and play in the snow with his daddy. More pics to come soon.

Notice my newly painted grey office walls, and newly stained ebony wood floors? Woo-hoo - the home renovation projects are almost done!! :)

39 Weeks, and a Mental To-Do List

Well, we are definitely in the home stretch. I am 39 weeks pregnant this week and baby is, at most, 2 weeks away (I hope). At the last ultrasound, a week and a half ago, baby weighed 7lbs, 7oz. For comparison, Jake was 8 lbs, 9oz when he was born - they induced me three days after his due date (this doctor has no plans to induce). The thought of 2 more weeks carrying this baby is a scary thought actually. I keep saying: "I'm done, I'm ready!", but then I remember when Jake was a newborn and it seemed so much easier when he was still tucked safely inside my belly.

But I am so tired of the constant exhaustion, not being able to breath, the heartburn, the intense sciatic nerve pain in my lower back, the laborious and painful hourly episodes of turning over in bed, and running to the ladies room 15 times a day. Now that baby is moving lower, that seems to be even more frequent. I had two or three contractions over the weekend, but not much progress. I'm not nearly as swollen as I was with Jake at this point. I have stopped wearing my wedding rings, but my feet are hardly swollen at all - they were massive and disgusting with Jake at this point. I weigh at least 10-15 pounds less now than I did when I was 39 weeks pregnant with Jake, but I think that may have been 10 extra pounds of fluid last time.


We are slowly but surely working our way through the extensive mental to-do list that comes with preparing for the baby. The co-sleeper (basinette) is put together and ready to go next to my side of the bed. The FLOR tiles are all installed in the new attic playroom and the toys are put in their storage bins. Tiny diapers and hundreds of baby wipes are in stock. We found the carseat and both bases in storage, and I cursed my former self for putting the carseat into storage without thoroughly washing it first. Dried milk and baby spit-up from three years ago is pretty nasty, but luckily it came out fresh and new after a trip through the laundry. I did two loads of laundry for her, so now all of her clothes are clean and ready to go. It made me laugh because before Jake was born, I had to do at least five loads of laundry for him. Poor neglected recession-born second child :(

I still need to install both car seat bases into our cars. I'm relatively skilled at that normally, but the bowling ball in my abdomen may make it a little more difficult than I remember. I also need to pack my hospital bag. This time I will be smart enough not to pack pre-pregnancy jeans as my coming home pants. Learned that lesson the hard way the first time around - ha! I have two possible coming-home outfits ready for her. We still need to wash out her (blue) bathtub and bring it down from the attic. I need to find the bottles and the sterilizer. I am prepared for Plan A (breast feeding) and Plan B (formula feeding), with supplies at the ready for both scenarios, or a mixture of the two. I need to find a pediatrician to check her out at the hospital before we leave, since Jake's pediatrician doesn't have hospital privileges where we are delivering (ugh). What else? So much to remember...and my memory is shot at this point. No blood flow going to my brain it seems.

I was sick late last week, but luckily no one else in the house caught it. It was not fun, but the worst of it was over in 24 hours. Jake did have his first ear infection and is just now finishing up his twice daily dose of the "pink medicine." We had to practically force him to drink it the first two days, but by day 8 or 9, he slurped it down and asked for more - ha!

I will keep you all posted on the latest news, and the laptop will accompany me to the hospital... once I get that bag packed of course.

Sneak Peek at the attic playroom!

Ralph and I worked hard all weekend while Jake was away at Geedah & Peepah's house. We were able to get a really good start on the attic playroom! It isn't finished, but here is a before and after sneak peek at one corner of the playroom. :)


UPDATE: Our playroom was featured on FLOR.com's blog!