Happy baby!

Jeff caught this winning smile on camera the other day & I had to share. :o)

More cute baby noises!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Here are an assortment of pictures of Mia from the last couple of weeks. The fist picture is her first Halloween costume, and she is definitely Mom's little sweet pea! ;o) I figure I only get a couple of year's of input in her costumes, so I decided we had to get her dressed up this year (even if it is only for pictures). The second picture is my top candidate for the page in Mia's baby book entitled "Mad Baby". ;o) Luckily, these faces are usually fixed w/ a quick swaddle! The third picture is Mia on Grandma's shoulder on her six-week "birthday". I can't believe how big she is already! I think she's about 12lbs now, and we've already had to move up another diaper size. The final picture (I know I skipped a couple, but I think they're pretty self-explanatory) is of Mia a few days ago wearing the same outfit she wore in her newborn photos at the hospital. Amazingly, the outfit now fits her... Six weeks ago you'd had to have taken my word for it that she had feet inside those pant legs! ;o) Anyways, hope you all have a happy Halloween!

Five weeks

Mia is now five weeks old. She's hit a couple of milestones this week. A few days ago she smiled her first true smile, and today she lifted her head all the way up for a few seconds while on her stomach. She's getting stronger and feeling steadier everyday.

These pictures are of her dressed up for her second trip to church. For today, this was outfit #2... She defeated outfit #1 after she unleashed her breakfast on it. Last weekend, she defeated our efforts to get to church entirely by unleashing breakfast on two consecutive outfits as we were trying to get out the door. *Sigh*

Mia's a month old!

Here is a short video of Mia at a month old: She is still doing really well. Our biggest challenge is keeping food in the baby... Some days she does great, and on other days she's a walking time bomb. And I'm going to throttle the next person who tells me that spitting up is "just a laundry problem". Uh huh. I get that Mia isn't sick, but I also feel like she might blow at any moment. Who wants to venture out into the real world w/ a kid who might explode at any time?

Mia's First Bath

Since we've been home from the hospital, I've been giving Mia sponge baths b/c we had to wait until her belly button was completely healed before we could give her a real bath. I was not looking forward to trying out the real bath b/c she's screamed bloody murder every time I've given her a sponge bath, and I figured that more water would probably just yield more screaming. And as we started yesterday's bath, I think Mia had the same assumption... Luckily, we were both wrong. You can see from the progression of pictures below that Mia was prepared to hate the bath, then decided it might not be so bad, and finally decided it was pretty enjoyable. In fact, I had timed the bath so that I could feed her immediately afterward b/c that always makes her happy, but she was so mellow after the bath I couldn't even wake her up to eat! :o)

In other news, we had another pediatrician appt yesterday, and Mia is still gaining weight like a champ! She weighed in at 10lbs 8.5oz! And now we have a month before I have to take her in for her first round of shots. :o(

Sleep-Deprived Mommy's Note: This entry has been edited to reflect that Mia gained weight as of her last appt. I'm not even sure where I got the # that typed in the first place... ;o)

Arms Embargo

So how about some updates?? :o) First off, we're all doing well, and Mia is adorable. Here is Exhibit A, in which she makes cute baby noises, looks at the camera, gets the hiccups, and pats her own hair: So here's some info on Mia's progress since birth... We left the hospital on Wednesday 9/20 at around 7pm after her final blood test came back showing that her jaundice was no longer at a troubling range. Our pediatrician's primary concern was that we get nursing off to a good enough start that we keep her post-birth weight-loss to a minimum. Well, that turned out not to be a problem... The following Friday we took Mia in for her first official visit to the pediatrician's office, and she was already back to her birth weight of 8 pounds, 1 ounce. We were pretty impressed w/o ourselves b/c the goal is to get baby back to birth weight by 10 - 14 days of age. (Babies can lose up to 8 - 10% of their birth weight in the first 4 days of life). On our way out of the office, we scheduled our next appt for the following Friday, which meant that we were going to be on our own w/ this little person for the next entire week!! The major challenge she provided us with in the week that followed is that she became a very prolific spitter upper… This translates to much laundry…and much fretting if you are the parents of a baby who is supposed to be eating enough to continue gaining weight. I was sure that she couldn’t possibly be keeping enough down to actually gain weight when I looked at the sheer volume of what came back up. Well, that fear was put to rest the next Friday when she weighed in at a full pound heavier than the week before -- 9 pounds, 1.5 ounces! :o) The funny development in that week was that she began making this weird guttural noise that sounded sort of like she was trying to communicate with pigeons… Jeff was pretty convinced that this was not a normal sound for humans to be making. He polled Mia’s grandparents, and even their reassurance didn’t settle him much until the pediatrician chuckled at Mia’s generous performance of said noise during our visit. She said Mia was just trying to communicate and that it was a perfectly normal sound. I’ll try to post a clip of it if I can catch it on video. And last but not least, you’re probably wondering about the arms embargo, eh? Well, people Mia’s age are entirely too small and immature to bear arms. And I mean the sort that grow out of your shoulders… Mia will wake herself out of a sound sleep by smacking herself in the face with arms she has no control over, and then she starts screaming as she looks around as if wondering, “Who did it??” Then, of course, she continues flailing and hitting herself in the face…all with no clue that she’s the culprit. So we’ve been keeping her in a snug swaddle when she sleeps or when she gets herself worked up, and it’s like turning on a calming switch on the baby. It’s amazing. (I can’t recommend highly enough the $14 paperback The Happiest Baby on the Block, which I read in my last trimester. So far, Mia hasn’t once proved inconsolable, which is worth way more than the cost of the book!!)

Nap time

This is a short video of Mia settling in for a nap. :o) Pretty fun stuff. At some point I plan to post an update on the last two weeks, including my birth story for those of you who haven't heard it yet. But I realized that so much of my 33-hour labor is a blur or fragmented in my recollection that I'm going to need Jeff's help in writing it... And right now we're a couple of sleep-deprived parents!! But we'll catch up. ;o)

Snoozing

This is Mia's favorite sleeping position. After I feed her, I can tell she's going to sleep if her arms fall into a dead hang. And once I put her down, I can tell she'll probably stay down for a while if her arms pop up like this. :o)

Shortly after Mia's first bath

Here's a short video Jeff shot shortly after Mia's first bath at home. :o)

Mia at 3 days old

Here are a couple of shots of Mia at 3 days old. The last picture is of Mia's homecoming w/ her Auntie Heather.

Hospital Newborn Pics are up!

Check 'em out!

We're Home from the Hospital!

Wow, Kristy and Mia were cleared to come home, so we said goodbye to the wonderful people at Arcadia Methodist Hospital and came home. Here's more of the little munchkin and some overjoyed family members...

So you want to see what she looks like?

Hi everyone! This is Jeff here and I wanted to get a couple of the minutes-old pictures of Mia up for you all to see. Many more will be coming, but for now, here are two shots that show her cuteness especially well =). As for the details, Mia was born at 1:29pm on Monday, September 18th, 2006 after 33 1/2 hours of labor by my wonderful wife. Who knew that marathon training had a practical aspect? She delivered naturally (vaginally), save for a shot of painkillers Monday morning, which allowed her to rest and give her strength to finish delivery. Mia is 8 pounds, 1 ounce, was 21 1/2" long, and has beautiful, deep blue eyes and a full head of hair. She is very mellow and has been sleeping a lot, but has been feeding well with Kristy after some initial drowsiness. Today she was much more vocal and seems to have learned that crying = mom and dad will feed her. We think we may be coming home soon, but they are watching to see if baby is doing well since there is a blood-type mismatch between Kristy and Mia, which is a risk factor for jaundice, so while Kristy will be most likely be discharged today, Mia may stay a little longer for observation, but she is very healthy, very strong, and will likely be coming home by the end of the week. Thanks Karen, Heather and Marie for helping us through the delivery and thanks to all of you wonderful friends and family that have been such a super source of love and support for both (wait, all three) of us during the last nine months. Take care everyone and we'll have more pictures up very soon.

Mia Hope Sketeris was born at 1:29pm on Monday 9\18\06. She was 8lbs 1oz and 21.5 inches long. Mom, Dad, and Mia are doing well.

It is just after midnight and we are on our way to the hospital!

And we have labor!

So it seems that I'm actually in labor. I've been having contractions since 4:04 a.m., and I don't think I believed that it wasn't just a false alarm until about an hour ago when I started really having to breathe through the contractions. They're coming at about 5-7 minutes apart, so I think we'll still be home for a while. But it looks like Mia will be here soon! Keeps us in your prayers tonight!! :o)

Still nothing

Just a quick post to let you all know that I'm still here. I tried the castor oil, and while it is an effective "stimulant", it failed to bring on labor. So, we continue to wait. However, it may have been for the best that I didn't go into labor yesterday, but I'll post about that later.

I'm still here

I just got back from another dr's appt...and we still have no progress. I had an ultrasound and another non-stress test, and this is what I know:

• her heart rate is still great
• she's making good breathing movements
• she probably weighs about 7 - 7.5lbs (yay!)
• she's got long legs (from who??)
• there is still plenty of amniotic fluid
• she is still very, very comfortable...

So, my doctor gave me a 2oz bottle of castor oil and said I could try it if I wanted. Or not. And the crazy thing is that I think my first thought was, "Oh my gosh, what if it works??" It seems a little scarier, somehow, that we're actually going to have an actual kid in the next few days. Or tomorrow!! What the heck?? [Breathe...] After I left the office, I called Jeff to see what he thought, and I think he had the same thought I did. Then he suggested I wait until tomorrow so that if it does work, I'd probably go into labor Friday night. I said I wanted to call my mom first b/c I knew that she'd used castor oil w/ either my sister or me. Then I called my mom and got the most unexpected reaction: she laughed...a lot. "He gave it to you? Your doctor just gave you castor oil?" At first I thought my mom had lost faith in my doctor or something, until she explained that my grandmother had gone to the pharmacist to get my mom castor oil when she was overdue w/ my sister, and they felt like they were sneaking around behind the doctor's back. So my mom felt validated to have my doctor just hand it to me 26 years later. :o) So, the plan is that my mom is going to come hang out w/ me tomorrow and I'm going to try it out. Hopefully, I'll go into labor (crazy!!). Otherwise, I'll be posting over the weekend about how sick castor oil makes you. Or maybe I'll be doing both. ;o) At any rate, stay tuned!!

Waiting patiently...

At least one of us is still able!! ;o)

T minus zero...and nothing!

I have three library books due today. They will be on time. Mia, who is also due today, will not be on time... I had yet another OB appt this morning, and we are still making no progress. I spent about an hour and a half at the office today, b/c after the regular routine they moved me to a special room they'd managed to keep secret in the previous 40 weeks of my pregnancy. I sat in a small room w/ a very comfortable recliner in front of a tv while one of the nurses strapped a monitor to my belly. For about 30 min, while I sat with my feet up holding a remote for the tv, the monitor recorded Mia's heart rate and any contractions of my uterus. I was also given a button to push (very similar to the ones they use to buzz in on Jeopardy) every time Mia moved, and the monitor spit out a roll of paper with graphs of all three events taking place. I had one good contraction while I was there (though it was still just a Braxton Hicks contraction), and it was cool to see it on the graph later. My OB warned me that the real ones would be more painful. I had sort of figured as much since I found this one to be "amusing" and not "excruciating". ;o) The important part is that Mia's heart rate & movements are still very good. My BP is still very good. So everything is great...except that Mia still doesn't want to vacate my uterus. So, I'll be going in every few days now to sit w/ the monitor to make sure that she's still doing well. A week from today my OB wants to start talking about "Plan B" in case Mia still doesn't decide to come on her own, though we won't actually start the eviction process until I hit 42 weeks. It makes me tired to think of two more weeks of this. I might go take a nap now...

39 and a half weeks...

I had another OB appt a couple of days ago, and Mia is still making no signs that she wants to come out. I keep trying to tell her that there is more space out here, but she seems intractable. So...we continue waiting. My next appt is on my due date, and I think I'll be going in more than once per week now b/c they want to make sure she's not distressed. But so far we are both doing great: she's still squirming like crazy & my BP is perfect. (But there is still more room out here, Mia!!) Jeff and I did a maternity photo shoot last night, so next week I should be able to post some pretty neat photos of us & the belly at 39w3d. ;o)

Still no baby!

We're starting to get the phone calls now, but alas -- I'm still pregnant. ;o) I'm making no promises whatsoever, but I've figured out how to email updates to the blog from my cell phone. So I'm hoping to at least be able to post a message once Jeff & I leave for the hospital. I assume my spelling will be humorous, but you'll at least know that Mia is likely on her way...or that I'll soon be posting about how embarrassing it is to be sent home from the hospital with false labor...

Great Moments in Pregnancy

Here's a great moment in pregnancy... I was getting dressed for a wedding yesterday that took place about an hour's drive from home. I had picked out the black pants and the only cute top that still covers (most) of my belly, and then I grabbed the only black shoes that still fit when my feet swell. And my feet swell unless I happen to be in bed for 8-12 hours... And they swell especially badly while seated, like in a car for an hour-long drive. So I decided that I would get totally dressed but keep my tennies on (which seems to help with the swelling) while I finished running around the house to get ready, and then I would just change shoes when I got to the wedding site. And normally, the sight of yourself in black dress pants, white socks, and tennis shoes would be a sufficiently tacky reminder to grab your black dress shoes on your way out the door. Problem: At 39 weeks, you haven't seen your feet in a couple of months... So, blissfully unaware of my horrible fashion faux paux, I walked out of the house dressed like a high school English teacher nearing retirement. And it wasn't until I was half way to the wedding site that I realized that I must still be wearing my tennies and that I didn't bring my black shoes along... Luckily for me, I'd left myself an uncharacteristic 30 minutes of buffer time for the drive out. So I ran into a Labor Day sale at a Mervyn's I saw along the freeway and picked out a pair of black slip-ons in record time. And it was only b/c I took the shoes out of the box and left them on top of my purse in the passenger seat that I remembered to change into them when I arrived at the wedding. So, Ari & Erika, you have no idea how close you were to having a nine-months pregnant lady in tennis shoes at your wedding!! :o) Congrats, you guys! It was a beautiful wedding, and Jeff & I wish you all the best.

September

Wow, I can't believe it's September! Sometime this month, we'll be parents. I really can't believe this month is already here. I also can't believe that I've been pregnant for sooo long... I've been pregnant for so long that I am apparently totally used to feeling a little under the weather. In fact, it took me several days before it finally dawned on me yesterday that I'd come down with a cold. I've been more or less congested since my 15th week, and the fatigue comes and goes constantly. But for a few days in a row this week I haven't even felt like getting out of bed in the morning. Then I thought about it, "Coughing, sneezing, exhausted, really congested... Wait! That sounds like a cold!" So I finally gave in to the cold yesterday and drank half a dozen cups of herbal tea to clear out my head and slept a lot, and I feel a lot better today. But, boy, do I miss NyQuil!!

Getting nowhere fast

I had another weekly OB appt today, and I learned that I will likely "shoot right past" my due date... I apparently haven't started dilating or effacing, so it looks like Mia's awfully comfortable and not trying to go anywhere soon. But the reason I was dreading getting to this part of the routine is that I could still go into labor tomorrow. And even if I'd dilated a couple of centimeters, labor could still be weeks away. But I now have something else to fixate on, which is probably the last thing I need! So how about a blog pool (sort of like an office pool, but w/o the office...or the cool cash prize) to guess the correct due date? My mom threw out 9/21 as a date b/c my sister and I were both ten days late. Jeff's new guess is 9/20. I'm gonna throw out 9/15, just to be hopeful. ;o) Any other guesses??

Baby Shower - Aug 27th

The women at my church threw an amazing shower for me over the weekend. We played a fun game where we were all quizzed on the meaning of our names. Luckily, it was a multiple choice quiz! (Kristy means "anointed", Jeff means "gift of peace", and Mia means "mine".) We also played a bingo game where we had to find people in the group who fit various categories like: gave birth in September, is a grandmother, is a little sister, etc. It was a pretty fun game and gave my mom a chance to meet many of the people I go to church with in a short amount of time! :o) The food, drinks, and decorations were amazing. The tables were covered with beautiful roses and green tulle and we drank two special drinks in Mia's honor: "the Mia"

• one part Martinelli's sparkling cider
• one part pink grapefruit juice
• splash of pomegranate juice
• garnish w/ a green grape

"the Momma Mia"

• one part champagne
• one part pink grapefruit juices
• splash of pomegranate juice
• garnish w/ a green grape

Obviously, Mia's mommy stuck to "the Mia". :0) I had a wonderful time, and Jeff and I are still amazed at everyone's generosity. Mia is going to be one of the best-dressed babies in the Pasadena area, and her parents are thrilled to have everything they need to welcome her to her new home! Thank you to everyone who was able to come out and make this such a special day!!

Actually done nesting... :o)

I'm pretty amused w/ myself. One day last week I woke up and decided that all of the comforters, blankets, and pillows in the house needed to be washed...that day. I had already assembled the nursery and re-arranged & re-folded everything in the hall closet & in Mia's closet, so this was the last major task. So, I stuffed my car full of blankets and drove to the laundrymat, where I did several loads of laundry in the super-sized machines. Then I came home and washed the rest of Mia's new clothes and folded everything up and put it all away. Last night I dragged Jeff to Babies "R" Us to grab the last few things I still wanted to get before Mia's arrival, namely the stroller and a diaper pail. And now after two wonderful baby showers, lots of laundry, tons of assembly, and a few hours spent folding, I can't think of anything else that needs to be purchased or washed, so I think I'm finally done nesting...and ready for a nap!! :o)

A Peek at the Nursery

As you can see, I've got most of the nursery put together. The wall border is still on back-order, but everything else is here, at least decor-wise. :o) I love all the animals and the bright colors. It's such a happy room! I'll post a couple more pictures when the border is finally here & put up, but that probably won't be until after Mia's arrived.

We have a pediatrician!

I have prenatal appointment scheduled for next week with Mia's pediatrician. I'm pretty excited about what I know about the office so far, but I'm supposed to come up with a bunch of questions for the appointment to make sure that my parenting philosophy jibes with that of the doctor. How on earth am I supposed to know what kinds of questions I'll have about Mia once she's here?? I already have the answers to most of the things I wanted to know about...

• There is an MD or RN available after hours to answer an emergency questions that come up.
• The office takes walk-ins from 8:30 am - 9:00 am Mon - Sat for sick appointments, so you don't have to call and try to schedule an appt if your kid gets sick overnight.
• The practice is pro-breastfeeding and has a lactation consultant on the staff, & you can chat w/ her during well-baby visits or over the phone.
• There are three different waiting areas: one for sick kids, one for healthy kids coming for well-baby checks (that way they aren't getting sneezed on by sick kids), and a private waiting area for nursing moms.
• The office staff seems super nice & eager to help over the phone.

So as long as I like the doctor when I meet her in person, I think we're good to go. I can't believe we have a pediatrician! A couple of other notes... I had another weekly OB appt this morning, and I still have no news to report. He said he could answer any question except for, "When is she coming?" ;o) But all my vitals are still good, so we're just waiting & she'll come when she's ready. At least we don't have to worry about her being preterm! Also, Jeff and I took a Baby Care Basics class last weekend at our hospital. That was pretty informative. The major emphases were things like what's normal vs. what requires a call to the pediatrician and what a normal newborn really looks like (i.e., not the Gerber baby). Jeff and I were both horrified, however, when in the discussion of "what's normal" the instructor handed out laminated legal-sized posters with 9 different photographs of soiled diapers... The captions said things like, "normal at 1-2 days" or "never normal - call doctor". The funny part is that as the posters were coming around, everyone gasped & groaned in unison. But within a couple of minutes, she'd said something like, "And if you ever see this, call your doctor immediately!" Then every couple in the room was intently bent over the poster to get a better look at the diapers as though it were...normal. *Sigh.* This is how it happens... This is how you go from being a perfectly normal person who doesn't talk about such things to being a parent who can't understand why everyone doesn't want to hear about how many bowel movements her child had yesterday. And Jeff and I got tossed into the deep end of the pool - with pictures and everything!!

T-minus three weeks (or so)

I had my first weekly appt a couple of days ago, and my doctor says that everything still looks boring (i.e., great). As we were wrapping up the appt, he starting making sure that I know to call his office first (before I call the hospital) when I go into labor, and he gave Mia the green light to come whenever she's ready now. And I couldn't help thinking, "Holy crap! This is actually going to happen soon." :o) It's funny b/c every time I go into the doctor's office, there is usually at least one couple there who are just wrapping up their first marathon OB appt & leaving w/ their armful of literature & freebies. When that was Jeff & me, I remember feeling like I'd snuck into the senior prom or something while looking at all the women who were about to pop and thinking I'd never actually get this far. Well, here we are! We have the cradle set up by our bed now, complete w/ mattress pad, sheet, blankie, and a mobile. We've got the labor bag packed, and we even have the diaper bag packed. Packing the diaper bag was hilarious. It's the last item listed on the checklist I received in my Lamaze class of things to bring to the hospital. So after my shower, I was feeling pretty good about now having everything I needed to take to the hospital. Then I realized that I had no idea whatsoever what one puts in a diaper bag, besides the rather obvious diapers. So I found several online checklists of what typically goes in a diaper bag, and now I'm feeling pretty good. ;o) Now all we need is for Mia to decide when she's going to make her debut!

Baby Shower - Aug 12th

Finally, here are some pictures from our baby shower! We had the shower last Saturday at a park near our place, and we had such a blast visiting with all of you who were able to make it out. :o) Thank you all so much for coming out & making our day so much fun! Those in attendance learned many new bits of trivia about Jeff & me...including how Jeff tortured his Aunt Melody's poor, sleeping dog as a child and how I was able to defeat the child safety gate installed on my bedroom door in order to watch early morning cartoons. Hopefully Mia will prove to be less devious than either of us!! All of the men were challenged to nursing down a baby bottle of "beer" as fast as possible. Due to park regulations the beer was actually sparkling cider...and due to the slow-flow nipples, the men were encouraged to begin cheating to speed up the game. (The pictures were still priceless!) Congrats to Pat, who chugged his the fastest! ;o) The food was absolutely amazing... Many thanks to my mom, Pat, & Regina's mom (Linda Ames) for cooking the bratwurst, chicken, hamburgers, and all the salads & side dishes. I've received many compliments on the food since Saturday, including a couple of questions about who catered. And the pregnant lady was thrilled to indulge in brats, potato salad, & 7-layer bean dip!! ;o) A million thanks to Regina & my mom for organizing everything. We loved the games, decorations, food, location, and the opportunity to visit with everyone. And thanks to Melissa Murray for the adorable chocolate favors! (If anyone is interested in ordering chocolate favors for a special event, Melissa can be reached at melissaschocolatecreations@hotmail.com). Let me know if you'd like me to email you copies of any of the pictures above. And if you have pictures I haven't seen yet, I'd love to get the full digital files. I'm adding all of them to Mia's scrapbook. Thanks!

"Nesting"

But not like you think. ;o) I am now so huge and it is so impossible to get comfortable at night that the process now requires four pillows. And I feel like I'm building a little nest around me every time I do it...which I do about a billion times per night. So I've got your basic under-the-head pillow. Then there's the between-the-knees pillow, which takes some small amount of pressure of my aching pelvic bone. Then there's the tucked-behind-the-back pillow, which keeps me from rolling flat on my back and not being able to breathe. And finally, there's the tucked-under-the-belly pillow, which supports the huge belly a bit and reduces the strain on my back. And I have to rebuild my little fortress of pillows every single time I switch sides or get up to pee in the middle of the night. I have no idea how Jeff is getting any sleep...or how there is still room for him in bed with all my pillows! On a side note, I figured out how we're going to keep poor Friday out of Mia's crib. :o) I was reading through the history of this crib tent on the manufacturer's website, and it started out as safety thing to keep babies from jumping out of the crib and on to the floor. Mom, feel free to add your comments below... ;o) But all of these people who had aggressively cuddly cats (like Friday, apparently) started writing in that they were going to be able to keep cats that they'd thought they were going to have to get rid of b/c they couldn't keep them out of the crib. So the company teamed up with the Humane Society and started a "Keep Your Cat" campaign. See, Mom? If I hadn't been jumping out of my crib when I was one, I might not be able to keep Friday today! :o)

Info on the first baby photos

The hospital where I'll be delivering posts 3 or 4 pictures of every newborn, & their website will probably be the fastest way for everyone to get their first peek at Mia when she's born. I've added the link to the right sidebar under "Pregnancy Links", & I intend to make Mia's photos password protected. So when the day finally comes, you can click that link, and the password will be our last name. When you follow that link, click on her name and you can click on the giraffe that says "next" to click through however many shots we get. How exciting!

"Normal-sized"

My doctor told me this morning that Mia is still head-down (yay!). She guessed that Mia probably weighs about 5lbs right now and that I'm on track for a "normal-sized" baby at delivery, which I'm very happy to hear b/c I certainly don't want to give birth to anything super-sized! ;o) I apparently get one more two-week break between appointments, and then I'll be in every week until I deliver. She also told me to get my hospital bag packed and to make sure that the car seat is ready to go. I can't believe I'm close enough that I need to start packing my bag!

34 weeks

I hit 34 weeks yesterday, which means I've got about 6 weeks to go. Mia's squirming all over the place, and I can tell that she's getting stronger everyday. In one of our favorite moments so far, Jeff came home a week or so ago and gave me a big hug. And as soon as he did, Mia kicked him really hard in the stomach as if to say, "Hi, Daddy! I'm here, too!" It was pretty funny. We're both getting really excited and can't wait to meet her. I can hardly believe that she'll be considered full-term in three weeks. I have my next doctor's appointment tomorrow, and then I'll be going every week until I deliver. I can't believe I'm already at this point in my pregnancy!

Walker H. Williams

Mia's great-grandpa passed away very early yesterday morning, and I'm very sad that they won't have the chance to meet. My grandpa was one of the coolest men I've ever met, and I'm very grateful that my family and I have been able to spend so much time with him over the last few months while he struggled with his health. He was so excited about Mia, and every time I saw him over the last couple of months, one of the first questions he eagerly asked me was if she were kicking. (And the answer was usually "yes".) It seems so cruel that they are going to miss meeting by a matter of weeks, but it dawned on me a few days ago that if it weren't for Mia I'd still be working (more than) full-time during these months when my grandpa needed us most. Because I'm neither a full-time employee nor yet a full-time mom, I was able to spend most of the last six weeks helping the rest of my family to take care of my grandpa. And that was a gift for both of us. March 5, 1920 - July 24, 2006

32 weeks

We've got about 8 weeks to go now, and the pregnancy symptoms are definitely intensifying now. The pelvic bone situation is pretty ugly. It mostly feels okay during the day, but it wakes me up about every 30 minutes at night. It's so painful and annoying that I dread going to bed at night b/c I know I'm not going to get much sleep, and I don't even really enjoy laying down. At this point, if Mia lets me sleep 2-3 hours at a shot after she's born, that'll be a marked improvement!! Also more intense are the heartburn and the swollen feet. Both seem to defy logic at this point. I wake up with heartburn and sometimes I still get it from drinking water. And the swollen feet don't even go down completely overnight anymore. But on the upside, Mia is moving around more and more. Since I know that she's upside down, I can tell now where her back is and I can tell the difference between arms and legs squirming. I can't yet tell the difference between feet and knees or hands and elbows, but that probably won't be long. ;o) The picture is of my sister Heather and me in San Diego. We escaped some of the crazy heat today and hung out near a model boat pond in the park.

7 months!

We are 7 months along now, which totally seems unreal to me. :o) Mia is getting big & strong enough that she can keep Jeff & me entertained for 15-20 minutes by squirming around visibly. There really is nothing more alien than watching her squirm under my skin!! She has been lodged up under my right ribs for about 3 weeks now, and she pushes up whenever I lean over too far. Let me tell you, if you ever want to fix someone's posture, try kicking a lower rib. That seems to do the trick! The picture above is from Mia's first (in utero) trip to the beach for my friend Marleisha's birthday. (Happy birthday, Marleisha!!) It was a beautiful day and we got to meet Marleisha's nephew Aiden for the first time. He's 4 1/2 months old, and I can barely believe that we're going to have one of those in 6 months!! Crazy... As you can see from this picture, Friday still thinks the crib is his. It's going to be harder than I thought to introduce him to the baby b/c he's going to have weird displacement issues when she takes over the crib. I started looking into a mesh tent that sets up over the crib to keep "unwanted pets out of the crib". It's starting to look like something like that is going to be necessary, at least until Mia is big enough to fend for herself. ;o)

Last ultrasound

I had my ultrasound today, and everything still looks really good. Mia is head-down, which is good. :o) She's also still a girl, and the doctor showed us what are likely the "girl parts". (Apparently, the odds are still about 20% that she's really a boy whose "boy parts" haven't descended yet.) We got to see a shot from the top of her head and of her very round belly. Unfortunately, we didn't get any print-outs this time, so here instead is a shot of my belly at 29w2d: And here is a shot of Friday inspecting the new crib: Poor kitty has no idea has no idea what he's in for... :o)

Lamaze - Part 4

Today was all about labor positions and the breathing (or lack there of) during pushing. We also did an exercise where our instructor gave us about 20 cards w/ opposing delivery options on either side. We laid out all the cards with our ideal options facing up. So for example, we got to choose between epidural/no epidural, vaginal birth/C-section, multiple support people/one support person, etc. Then when we were finished, we had to imagine that a couple things didn't go the way we wanted and to turn over a couple of cards. Then a couple more. And then a couple more. It was amazing how quickly I ran out of things I was willing to give up easily. That made me realize how odd it is to spend so much time preparing for an event you have so little control over. But in any case, it's better to be informed than not. I mean, I can't imagine learning about forceps delivery for the first time while in the middle of actually delivering a child. We also watched a rather unpleasant video on C-section deliveries. I think that was actually more disturbing than watching the vaginal births. The main thing we learned is that dads should not look over the curtain during surgery! ;o) On a happy note, we have our next ultrasound scheduled in a couple days. If she is upside down, I think this will be our last ultrasound. If not, we may be in for several more between now and delivery until she does flip over. I'm mostly looking forward to figuring out exactly where she is and where she's facing so that I can figure out if she's been punching or kicking the same place on my stomach for the last week. :o) I'll post new baby pictures soon!

Lamaze - Part 3

Our third night of Lamaze was all about pain relief options, and I felt miserable about all of them. Essentially, there are two main categories of pain relievers. Approximately 30% of women go with an injection of some sort of narcotic (like Demerol) to help "take the edge off". It apparently doesn't do a whole lot for the pain itself, but it makes you less aware of the pain. In other words, you're out of it. But the downside is that you're less aware of what is going on in general, which makes some women feel totally out of control. On top of that, the narcotics can make baby drowsy and less able/willing to breastfeed in the short window during which they are alert after birth. Then, of course, there is the ever-popular epidural, which about 65% of women go with. So, lets start with my loathing of needles... And this is the mother of all needles. They actually inject a catheter between two vertebrae in your back so that you get a steady stream of medicine directly to your spine, which blocks pain below the chest. That already terrifies me. And the bonus is that when you get an epidural, you automatically get all of the following prizes:

• bound to bed for the rest of labor b/c you have so little strength in or control over your legs.
• an IV for the rest of labor b/c an extremely common side effect of the epidural is a massive drop in blood pressure (for mom & baby), so they have to keep you very well hydrated.
• an internal fetal monitor for the rest of labor, which is essentially a "screw" attached to the baby's scalp to monitor baby's heart rate and a separate catheter into the uterus to monitor contractions more accurately.
• a urinary catheter for the rest of delivery b/c you can't walk to the bathroom anymore and probably can't tell if you need to go either.

This all sounds miserable to me. Not to say that labor itself doesn't sound miserable, but I think I would go crazy with all those tubes and the fact that I'd have to lay flat on my back for however many hours... Ugh.

Why don't we have better options for this stuff yet??

28 weeks!

We're about twelve weeks to go!! I am officially in the third trimester now, and all of the really fun symptoms are kicking in. My back still feels like it belongs to someone three times my age... I've given up walking as exercise b/c it's just too painful. After 20 minutes, I want to fall over & I feel terrible for at least the rest of the day. So I have been swimming for the last couple of weeks, and that is sooo much better. The only time I don't feel pregnant is when I'm in the pool. And my back almost feels normal when I get out of the pool. There's definitely something to be said about being weightless when you're pregnant!! My ankles are also swollen most days, and it doesn't seem to matter too much what I do during the day. Sitting seems to be worse than standing or reclining. My sister and I joke that that I have one bad ankle and one "control" ankle... The left one swells at will and the right one doesn't seem too bad. The effect is that if someone looks at my left leg and says, "That doesn't look too bad", I can show them the right ankle and get instant sympathy. ;o) Otherwise, I'm still doing pretty well. I'm *really* excited that we got our crib today. (Thanks, Pat!!) It's all set up in what will soon be the nursery. It trips me out every time I walk passed it because, well...because there is a crib in my house!! I can't believe we're actually going to have a baby in three months... I will definitely post pictures once the room is put together. :o)

Lamaze - Part 2

We had our second week of Lamaze, and we started breathing! ;o) The focus was actually on several different labor positions to try during the first phase of labor, which lasts something like 6 -10 hours. This is before you need to get to the hospital, and they want you to do anything besides laying flat on your back, which is great b/c that's the last thing I think I'll want to do. We tried out at least a half dozen labor positions, and I found that really helpful. Our instructor also snuck in another labor & delivery video, and my favorite part was that our task was to watch the woman's husband and to make note of what things he did well and what he did that was just...annoying. We all decided to that it is "annoying" to repeatedly pat a laboring woman on the head, even with a cool washcloth. It is also "annoying" to sing She'll Be Coming around the Mountain when She Comes to a woman in labor. It's apparently also a bad idea to remind a woman in labor of the Philly cheese-steak sandwich she had for dinner the night before. ;o) We also talked about what to pack in the hospital bag. Our instructor always plays relaxing music in the background when we are practicing the breathing exercises or labor positions, and one thing that Jeff and I agree on is that we won't be packing a copy of Elton John's greatest hits to listen to during my labor! I don't care how appropriate "The Circle of Life" is for bringing a new person into the world, I just don't think I could tolerate it! I think I might get out an old pre-race CD to listen to and try to treat this like a marathon. That would at least give me some delusion that I know what I'm doing!

Lamaze - Part 1

Jeff and I went to our first night of Lamaze class this week. Each class session is 2 1/2 hours long, and we meet once per week for six weeks. Jeff was worried that it was going to be 15 hours of nothing but breathing exercises: "hee - hee - whoo". But we actually didn't do any breathing exercises at all on the first night. Instead, we talked about all the stages of labor, what happens in each stage, and how long each stage lasts. I alternated all night between thinking "holy crap..." and "okay, I can do this". I think my favorite part of the video we watched was the real earthy couple who went on a hike when she first went into labor, and her husband said, "We had a really nice day out on our hike while she was in the first stage of labor." And I was wondering if she'd had as nice a day as he had... All I can say is that I'm not going hiking when I go into labor.

 

The rest of the video was actually really good...and, of course, graphic. I was expecting something made in the 1970's, but it was pretty recent and the computer graphics did an excellent job of explaining what happens at each stage. (Maybe, too well...) Next week we start the actual breathing exercises, so I'll let you all know how that goes. ;o)

Save the date!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

We celebrated my mom's 50th birthday yesterday!! This is a picture of the two of us on her patio during the party. (I'm at about 25 weeks.) At least one of us can enjoy a good martini!!

The belly ring stays!

I get to keep my belly ring!! I found a retainer that replaces the jewelry you would normally wear, and instead of a metal bar, it's made out of medical-grade plastic that bends and stretches (up to 2 inches!). I got it in the mail today, and I am so happy. :o)

24 weeks

We are 24 weeks in now, and this update is for women who have never been pregnant: You will read that the second trimester is the golden stage of pregnancy. You're showing, which is exciting, but you still feel really good. This is mostly true... You will also read that that around 20 weeks or so your body starts producing a hormone called "relaxin" (I'm not making this up). Relaxin lives up to its name and starts relaxing the ligaments that hold your joints together so that your hips can start to prepare for delivery. I had braced myself for this inevitable truth of pregnancy: your hips widen. What you won't read (and what all other mom's have apparently forgotten since they delivered their little bundles of joy): this process hurts like hell! For the last couple of weeks I have had what I would describe as excruciating pain in my lower back and in the pelvic bone itself. I can't say that I've ever really been aware of where exactly my leg bones attach to my pelvic bone, or where exactly the center point of my pelvic bone is. Now I am. And consistent with pregnancy's normal 1-2 punch, you can't take anything like ibuprofen to deal with joint pain. You just get to enjoy it. And since this hormone travels throughout your body, it isn't just your hips & lower back that get this pleasure. My wrist ached and felt weak to the point I couldn't support my weight on it for a couple of days. This may not sound like a big deal until your center of gravity changes daily and you find yourself constantly trying to catch your balance on something until you locate your feet. I'm happy to report that this seems to have finally passed in the last couple of days, but I still find that walking for more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time aggravates my lower back now. I didn't realize I would appreciate benches this much before I hit my gold years! ;o)

Hiccups!

I was working on an expense report today (exciting stuff) when Mia got her second bout of hiccups! It's definitely an odd sensation to feel hiccups coming from your abdomen!! ;o)

Kicking Milestones

We hit a couple of milestones yesterday. First, Mia is kicking hard enough now that she actually woke me up from a nap yesterday. I laid there for a second as she continued to kick the same spot with vigor. This lead to the second milestone when I realized that if she kept it up long enough for me to walk downstairs, Jeff might be able to feel her moving. And she did! So she finally said hi to her daddy yesterday. :o)

How to make a pregnant woman's day

I am 22 weeks in this picture. Mia is kicking pretty consistently, and I've felt a couple of her kicks with my hand. I can't wait until Jeff is able to feel her move, and I don't think it'll be too much longer at this point. I've been getting to the gym about 3-5 days per week, which makes me feel really good and seems to help keep my ankles at a normal size... As I was leaving the gym after my workout today, I walked passed a girl who looked at my belly and said, "You're so cute!" I wanted to hug her.

21 Weeks

This picture was taken at a friend's wedding on April 30th, so I am at about 21 weeks here. I love the shirt I'm wearing, which was part of my anniversary present from Jeff.

Eyebrows

Mom, this one's for you: I made eyebrows this week! ;o)

Hello!

I had to add this little update on the kicking. I've been noticing that Mia has been getting stronger and stronger over the last week, but I mentioned to my mom last night that she'd been pretty quiet most of yesterday. Well, I think she was saving up her energy for today's crowning achievement... Jeff and I were at Target, and I had spaced out while the checker was ringing up our stuff. WHAM! She kicked me so hard I actually let an "ow!" escape, and then I just started laughing because she'd caught me so off guard. (The checker must have thought I was crazy.) I actually felt a little tender for a while after the impact, so I can't even image what she'll have in store for me in the coming months when she more than doubles in size!! (Erika - thanks for the heads up on the flashlight idea. I think I'm going to get a mini mag light to carry around with me if she starts targeting the same area with efforts similar to today's!)

Tae-Bo

So here is the first shot of the belly! I'm 20 weeks and 3 days in this photo. (That's 20w3d, for those of you who speak prego.) The exciting news, though, is that Mia officially made her presence known today. I'm pretty sure she set up a DVD player and has been practicing Tae-Bo since about 1pm today. Last time, she said hello once and I didn't heard anything else for about a week and a half. Today was a different story. Several times today I felt her dancing around on and off for about 10 minutes at a time. c-r-a-z-y.

Weighty Matters

I had my monthly OB visit today and was officially welcomed to the 2nd half of my pregnancy by my OB. I can't believe it's been four and a half months already. My doctor said that this is the "fun month" because I'm about to "double in size". My first thought was how rare that circumstance is considered fun. ;o) I remember not enjoying that aspect of my first semester in college so much... Along the same line of conversation, my OB mentioned that my weight gain was "beautiful". (Again, so rare that that is true!) I joked that my grandma has been giving me a really hard time about the weight issue because she gained 12.5 pounds with her first pregnancy, and she thinks the current 25-35 pound recommendation is dreadful. So, for those who may be interested, here's what I think is a very interesting breakdown of the gain associated with the current recommendation:

7.5 pounds - average baby's weight 7.0 pounds - extra stored nutrients like fat, protein, etc. 4.0 pounds - extra blood 4.0 pounds - extra body fluids 2.0 pounds - amniotic fluid surrounding the baby 2.0 pounds - breast enlargement 2.0 pounds - enlargement of uterus 1.5 pounds - placenta

P.S. I neglected to mention it last time, but Jeff and I have actually agreed on a name. Our little one will be Mia Sketeris. [Suggestions for a middle name are welcome!!]

It's a GIRL!!

We had our 20-week ultrasound today, and it looks like we are having a girl! (Or I guess it would be more accurate to say that it doesn't look like we're having a boy...) We have several new pictures posted below. The cutest part of the whole thing was getting to watch her tap her feet. (Mom, it looks like she takes after you!!) We also got to see her chubby little thighs. Sooo cute. And most importanly, all of her anatomy looks good and is in the right place, though Jeff was a little concerned that we didn't see any arms this time. They were there last time though!

Tap...

So...I think I felt my first tiny kick today! I'm not 100% confident, because it was the tiniest little tap. I felt it a couple of times inside of 20 minutes, and then nothing. So, maybe? If it was, I'm sure we'll be playing soccer soon and I'll post an affirmative update. :o)

Oh, the heartburn...

This has got to be my favorite* pregnancy symptom yet: I drank a 20-oz bottle of water a couple of days ago, and I got wicked heartburn about 2 minutes later. Heartburn from water?? This has to be some cruel joke. So I did some reading and found out that if you drink a lot of fluid after having eaten sort of recently, your stomach distends and causes heartburn instantly. So...I'm supposed to drink water like it's going out of style, but have to make sure that I haven't eaten and that I don't plan to eat soon. This is slightly problematic, considering that I get hungry every hour now!! On a happier note, Jeff and I have an appointment for our big ultrasound next Friday. If baby cooperates, we'll know whether we're having a boy or girl & we can stop referring to our offspring as "it". I'll post new pictures as soon as I can. *Please note sarcasm.