Seven months later...

So, I took an extended hiatus from posting, but now I am finding ways to be off task when I should be working on my oral prelim paper draft, so it seems like the perfect time to post again!

Julian Charles was born on May 10, 2009 (Mother's Day) at 7:34pm. He was 8 lbs, 1 oz, and 19 inches long. I actually woke up with mild contractions at about 8:00 that morning, but they felt more like cramps, and I wasn't sure if it was really labor, so I still went to a Mother's Day brunch at my aunt's house. While there, it became clear that I was actually in labor (I was starting to become really uncomfortable during each contraction), so we went back home and I tried to relax until my contractions were close enough together to go the hospital.

We ended up getting to the hospital around 2:30pm, and he was born 5 hours later! My labor was relatively short, but the actually pushing lasted for about 2 hours. It was definitely the hardest, most uncomfortable thing I have ever done in my entire life, but it seems that the more time that goes by, the more I forget what it was like. I suppose that is a good thing! Adrian and my mom were great helpers, and I was able to make it through drug-free!

Seven months later, it is hard to remember life before Julian. He is so wonderful, and we love him so much! Unfortunately, it seems like time is going by so fast! He just got his first two teeth, which are poking up from the bottom of his mouth. He can sit up by himself and play with toys, and may be crawling soon - he really wants to move when he is on his belly, but hasn't quite figured it out yet, so he usually just ends up rolling over onto his back. This week his new trick is that he has started babbling! He seems to be exploring how to use his tongue to make different sounds, and has been saying "dadadada", "gagagaga", "lalalala", and making clicking noises. He has been eating solid foods for about a month now, and LOVES cereal, applesauce, bananas, and sweet potatoes. Peas and green beans, not so much. He sleeps through the night every night (and has since he was about 4 months old), and usually sleeps on his back with his little blankie pulled over his face. At first this was a bit disconcerting, but now that I am used to it, I think it is pretty cute.
We are in the midst of Julian's first holiday season, and it is so fun to be able to share all of our family traditions with him.!

I just wanted to post a little bit so that I wouldn't forget all the little details. I better get back to my paper!

37 weeks - I am beginning to feel ready!

This past weekend was a busy one! Adrian and I finally had our "preparing for birth" class, and my grad school friends hosted a wonderful baby shower for me. By the end of the weekend I was exhausted, but closer to being ready for the arrival of our baby!

The birth class was a great chance for Adrian and I to spend time together thinking about what it will be like to be new parents, and also gave us useful information about what each of us can do during labor to make the experience more comfortable for me. It is hard to believe that it is just around the corner!

The School Psychology baby shower was a lot of fun, and a great chance to see some of my classmates that I haven't spent time with for a while. The menu included adorable owl cupcakes (I love owls!), and mini-quiches (they know what I like!). I am so appreciative that Zoila, Monica and Jenny took the time to host a shower for me!

Unfortunately, this week also saw the emergence of some new pregnancy related symptoms. Last week, my legs started swelling even more, so my nurse midwife prescribed some thigh-high support hose for me (sexy!). For some reason, my right arm has also had some internal swelling (due to the baby always being on the right side of my belly), so the fingers of my right hand feel like they are asleep most of the time. Then, on Sunday night, I stood up from dinner and my right hip joint hurt so much that I couldn't walk! This is apparently because my joints are loosening up as the baby descends. Luckily the hip problem seems to be improving, but I am finding that I am largely uncomfortable much of the time now (large being the operative word!). Nature is quite smart that way. By the end of pregnancy, it seems that women have become so uncomfortable that labor and delivery are a welcome relief!

It could be any day now...

Great friends = great baby shower!

Yesterday was my first baby shower, and I was so impressed with all of the work that my wonderful friends (Julie, Faith, and Emily) put into it! It was so great to celebrate the upcoming birth of our new baby with good friends. I loved the activity of decorating onesies. Now I not only have a keepsake to remember each person who was at the party, but I have a lot of cute clothes for the little guy to wear!

I feel lucky to have such a wonderful group of friends who are so thoughtful and generous, and who took the time to celebrate with me and my family!

34 weeks - Baby room has finally been painted!

We are really getting down to the wire now! I can't believe that there is only 6 weeks left! Although I am finding myself to be uncomfortable much of the time, I am still enjoying being pregnant, and am definitely not wishing that time would speed up. We still have a lot to do before the baby arrives, and I want to try and enjoy our last few precious weeks when it will be just me and Adrian.

I had really been stressing about getting a room ready for the baby, and it has been really great to have help from friends and family. A couple of weeks ago, my friend Jenny came over and helped me clear all the clutter out of the room that was formerly the computer room. Last weekend my mom and Sheryl came over and helped us paint, and we were actually able to finish the entire room in one afternoon! Although it is not baby-ready yet, I feel so much better. The room looks bright and cheery with its new light yellow color, and I love the cute animal curtains. It is starting to look ready for a baby!

30 weeks - the home stretch

I was just getting ready for bed when I realized that I had been meaning to add a new post to the blog. Adrian was making me laugh while he took the picture, but at least my smile looks more natural that way...

Amazingly enough, I only have 10 weeks left! It seems as though the time has flown by. Luckily, I am not sick of being pregnant yet, although I am starting to get to the point where I am beginning to feel uncomfortable much of the time. I think that the circulation in my legs is not as good as it used to be (my legs puffed up two weeks ago right above the elastic line of my socks!), but as long as I am not standing or sitting in one place for too long it seems to be fine. On and off throughout the day, my belly will suddenly feel really tight, like the baby is pushing on the outside as hard as he can. Most of the time, I like the feeling of him moving around in there, but every once and a while it feels like my belly cannot stretch even a tiny bit more! Sleeping has also become a bit difficult, since I have been finding it hard to get comfortable, but overall I can't really complain. I am actually enjoying being pregnant for the most part.

I look obviously pregnant now, and when I meet new people the first thing they ask me is: "when are you due?". I like the fact that seeing someone who is pregnant seems to bring out some type of friendliness instinct in people. For some reason, being pregnant is one of the few reasons that strangers will be prompted to talk to you. I used to think that this would bother me, but I think that it is fun that people are so interested in babies. Even the football players who I work with at the U of M have been very interested in my pregnancy, and ask me a lot of questions.

In a week Adrian and I will be on spring break, and we have so much to do! It will be our last chance to have a bit of free time before the baby is here. I am hoping to finally get the baby room set up a little bit and start writing my oral prelim paper (I am hoping to have a draft done soon so that I can defend my paper before the baby is due!), and Adrian is hoping to get some work done on the cars, and help me get the house ready. Most of all, it will just be nice to finally spend some time at home together. Adrian has been so busy with school that we haven't seen very much of each other in the past couple of weeks. I am really looking forward to using our week off to get the house ready for a baby together.

25/27 weeks - My due date has officially been moved!

I had my second ultrasound last week because at my first ultrasound, the technician suggested that I might actually be two weeks further along than we had originally thought. (Either that, or the baby was just big...).

This ultrasound was definitely not as overwhelming and exciting as the first, but it was great to see the little guy again. He looked a lot bigger this time, and it was hard to fit his whole body into the screen. It was also more difficult to get a clear shot of his little face, but from what we could see, he still looked pretty adorable. The main difference was that this time my mom brought her camera, so we were able to capture the moment! The first time I think that it would have been too distracting, and we were too emotional to care about taking pictures. This worked out perfectly, because now I have these images to remember the experience.

At my appointment with my nurse practitioner yesterday, she confirmed that we would be changing my due date to May 14th. The second technician and the radiologist both agreed that my due date should be moved up by two weeks. Although this hurt my ego a little bit for some reason, (could I have been wrong about my last period?), I actually like the idea of being able to magically skip ahead two weeks. I also like the fact that now it makes more sense why my belly seems so big, and why I have gained so much weight already (22 pounds - can you believe it?). This appointment was also a nice relief because my nurse midwife was not at all concerned about how much weight I have gained, and said that I am right on track.

Those extra two weeks actually put me right at the beginning of my third trimester. Maybe it is all in my head, but I definitely felt much more tired and sluggish today than I have felt for a while. Sometimes my belly feels like it is weighing me down. Even so, I am still enjoying being pregnant. It is amazing to feel the baby moving inside of me, and now I can actually see my belly move from the outside! It looks a bit like a science fiction movie (but of course much more beautiful...). I hope that the tiredness is temporary. I have a lot to do before the baby comes!

23 weeks - My belly just keeps a-growin'!

Things are definitely starting for feel very real for me (and Adrian) lately, and that is both exciting and scary.

My belly seems to have grown exponentially - now even strangers are noticing that I am pregnant and asking when I am due. I still maintain that I would not ask someone about their belly even if they were obviously pregnant because you just never know, but at the same time I am relieved to know that people can tell that I am pregnant. This growth in my belly is causing some wardrobe problems for me because I keep feeling like I need to buy new clothes to accommodate my changing shape, but at some point I am just going to have to make do with what I have. I do not yet think that I have reached that point.

Along with the changing belly comes the fact that the baby is bigger now, and I can feel him moving quite frequently. It is hard to describe the sensation, because it feels natural and normal, and not foreign and scary; but at the same time I can tell that what I am feeling is not coming from me. I always imagined that it would feel like an alien in my belly (much like that horrifying scene in the the first Alien movie), but it is actually a much more pleasant and natural feeling. The best part about this new movement is that people can actually feel it from the outside now! Adrian was the first to feel the baby move about two weeks ago, and I have since had other family members and friends touch my belly in order to feel the little guy wiggle around in there. It is really quite amazing.

This leads to the scary part. Lately the realization that I will soon have an actual baby has been beginning to dawn on me. I have started receiving some baby items from people (a stroller, and some toys and clothes), and I have been thinking about the fact that there will be a baby using those items soon. Of course, that was the goal of this whole adventure in the first place, but the unknown possibilities of having an actual child are both scary and exciting. I suppose that you can never really be ready. Don't get me wrong, we are both very excited, but I also think that it is natural to wonder: "what kind of parent will I be?". I am curious to find out!