He's Home

Ed Jr. was born April 23, 2008. He weighed in at 8 lbs 4.75 oz and was 22 inches long. His birth was pretty amazing. More on that later.

The sad part was that he wasn't breathing very well after he was born. He was also born with a fever and had to spend 3 days in NCIU. It was the longest three days of our lives. He had to hang out under an oxygen hood, be hooked up to machines and IVs.

The GOOD NEWS is that he made it out of NICU on Saturday afternoon and is now at home doing very very very well. He is lovely and enchanting.

Here are some photos. Keep checking back, we will keep adding them as they come along.

sNOw baby

April 20, 2008
Friday night I had eggplant parmesan. It was amazingly delicious. No baby.

The full moon is here - or it was at 4:25 AM. No baby.

The snow came. No baby.


His grandmother - er - I mean his Nanna came. No baby.

Jenkin's shower was yesterday. No baby.

I am not going to lie and say that this isn't a little frustrating. It is wearing on me and finally is getting to his father. Tomorrow we go in to see the midwife and get the non stress test and the biophysical profile to see if he can hang in there for one more week.

Upcoming events. Earth Day - April 22nd. Uncle Ian's birthday - April 25th.

Earth Baby

We all know Ed Jr. is late. Yesterday Karen suggested that he might be born on Earth Day, April 22nd, which would be so very cool.

Ed Jr. will be raised with a respect for the environment because his parents are tree hugging hippies who very much believe that global warming is real, and do their best to turn off the lights when they are not in the room in an effort not to make Al Gore cry. We recycle and walk as much as possible - oh and try to reuse. We could get better about this, although, I am still anti cutting up Ed's old t-shirts to use as cloth napkins. Lord only knows what those sorry things have been through. I prefer to cut them up to use to clean the dogs and floors.

Bridget

April 16, 2008. Went to see our favorite acupuncturist Bridget. She can use acupuncture to induce labor. It was a lovely session, but still no baby. I guess Ed Jr.'s will is stronger than her needles. Actually for several hours after the session, I experienced "practice" contractions and was super wiped out - with a touch of uncontrollable emotions. I sat around waiting for them to get stronger and regular, but needed to get a movin'. So after dinner we went for a walk, and the practice contractions were gone. I had a hard time falling asleep, but was able to sleep through the night - for the most part.

Normally I would have waited to go see her until closer to the big date, but she is leaving for four months to be an acupuncturist on a Royal Caribbean Cruise ship in the Mediterranean. Can't fault her for that! She told me of all of the places she was going to be, they sound amazing!

Bridget has cured Ed's and my aches and pains over the last few years and we have grown to be quite fond of her. I told her that when she gets back, I would bring Ed Jr. in to meet her.

One of the most valuable things that she gave me during my session yesterday was to remind me that birth is totally natural and that I am strong and healthy and will have no problem pushing this kid out. These are things I know, but hearing them again doesn't hurt. Besides, she said it to me while she was rubbing my oh so swollen legs. I think she could have told me that pigs were flying about in a purple sky and as long as she was rubbing my legs - I would have believed her.

There are so many interesting ways to induce labor out there, I won't get in to it here, but if you are interested, Click Here for one of MILLIONS of articles. There is every suggestion in the universe out there. I obviously have the suggestions I prefer. Although our midwife told us to stay away from Black and Blue Cohosh. She also wants us to wait for Monday to try the Castor Oil. With all of this helpful internet advice - I think the best thing to do is to TRY to be patient and wait this little dude out. I mean, he can't stay in there forever - right?

Also, we shouldn't be shocked that he is overdue. I was born late - very late. My bro was on time - and apparently shot out like a greased pig, but not so much with me.

Oh and if I don't answer my phone as of late it is because it is ringing off the hook and frankly I am tired of talking about it. Sorry. You will just have to wait until he is on his way out, we will send you a message letting you know. All of you are very important to us, but seriously, last night alone I had 7 messages wondering "how I am feeling". I was tired and didn't want to chat on the phone. And no, no baby yet.

Rock Him Out

This has come up a couple of times. I think the theory comes from hostage situations, the cops are poised outside of the bank, they blast terrible music at the criminal trying to break them down. Ed Jr. set us free!

The first time his auntie Jess suggested that I blast the doobie bros at my uterus to get him to freak out and come out. I told her that I was too terrified of accidentally raising a doobie fan that I couldn't dream of doing that.

The second one was a nosey co-worker, suggested that I blast rap to scare him out. I told him that I found country music much more assaulting to the senses, and thanked him for the advice.

The best one came from Fash who suggested that I blast the Grateful Dead at him and if he is anything like his father, he will elbow dance his way out. Fash also suggested jumping jacks. So there is some perspective on that.

I am currently playing him some Modest Mouse (one of his momma's favorites) to sweetly lure him out. Ed Jr.: "What are those rockin tunes? I must find out. Let me out here so I can live in a world with such awesome sounds!"

April 14, 2008

And no baby.

I guess this means his next due date is April 28th, that is when they go in and get him.

The worst part of the due date coming and going was my awful co-workers who would NOT leave me alone. I guess my warning frown was not quite enough to keep them for bugging.

Ed finished the gate on the garden. No more dogs in this corner.

Such a Thoughtful Little Boy

Ed Jr. is such a thoughtful little boy, he decided not to come out today so that his dad could get some more work done on the veggie garden. The extra day allowed his mom to install the clothes line and clean the basement.

Due Date 2 (April 13th) gone and still no baby.

That is okay though, because we had a lovely day in the sun and then an amazing dinner with the Moogs.

April 12, 2008

And no baby yet!

I am trying to enjoy my last few days of baby free time. Today I went shopping with Jenkins - we had a grand old time. Daddy worked in the garden and then went golfing, it was a beautiful spring day in Hell-Town.

Peace.

April 11, 2008

April 11th is Ed Jr.'s first due date. The odds are stacked against him being born on Friday. First of all, the midwife's office is open. Second of all, fewer than 5% of babies are born on their due date. Third, it is a work day, and Ed Jr.' s mom really does not want to work any more.

The midwife is going skiing all weekend. Plus it is going to be REALLY nice this weekend (highs in the 70's). His daddy has all sorts of plans to get started on our first veggie garden and two of Ed Jr.'s aunties will be out of town. . .

If I was an odds maker, I would think that Sunday looks better than Friday for sure!

Montanan

Ed Jr. will be a 4th generation Montanan. This makes me so proud to bring my baby boy into a state that has been so generous and loving to our family.

In my family, three out of four of my grandparents were born in Montana, as were both of my parents, as was I and now my son will be too. Our heritage is very mixed with a little German, Norwegian, Russian, etc . . . but we are all Montanan. It will be my blessing to my son to share with him the state that raised me, his grandparents and great-grandparents.

He will know how it is to live in the world's biggest small town. Or as we like to say it - you can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting someone who is related to us. It will be my honor to share with him this beautiful and amazing state who thankfully lured his daddy here.

Push Present

What is a push present? A trendy way for dad's to say thanks to moms for carrying their spawn for nine months and then push them out? Yes - basically.

For us, it was much different, we wanted something to add my wedding band set to symbolize the third member of our family. We thought about adding a third ring, but couldn't find one either of us loved. So we had a jeweler add a beautiful blue Montana sapphire to my wedding band, it is absolutely gorgeous. He did an amazing job.

I know that Ed Jr.'s birth stone will be a diamond, but we aren't really diamond people and this sapphire is from Montana where Ed Jr. is from.

I am still thinking about having Ed Jr.'s birthday engraved in Ed's band, he doesn't want his own sapphire. Sad, because it is so beautiful.

40 Weeks

So here we are at 40 weeks.



I don't know if he is coming out this week or not. I have had a couple of bad nights, having "practice" contractions. Braxton Hicks contractions is what they call them. Sometimes they are painful, sometimes they just feel like my belly is as hard as a rock with no pain whatsoever.

When the painful contractions hit, it is like he is teasing me. Labor is the ultimate joke. You sit around for nine months taking care of your body, growing this little person, cleaning your house, getting ready for baby time and then you hit 38 weeks and W A I T.

Every time you get the slightest twinge in your stomach, you wonder, could it be time?

I have been trying not to get too anxious by focusing on the due date because I know it is a best guess, but it is SO HARD not to. I really really really want to meet my son.

I have been making all kinds of plans these last two weeks hoping that Murphy's Law will kick out my little renter. I had a massage, a fancy dress up date with Ann, a haircut, a pedicure, and all kinds of work meetings. I think that going to work every day is the hardest part of all of this waiting. I don't want to be there, I want to stay home and nurse my baby. I have a bigger job coming up, sitting at my desk all day pressing buttons is so trivial.

Cute Walls

We bought these to decorate Ed Jr.'s room.

Giraffe

Elephant

Alphabet

Water Water Everywhere

With Ed Jr.'s birthday looming, Daddy is a little on edge.

The other night, I went upstairs to start the dishwasher. I reached under the sink to grab the soap and there was water everywhere. I yelled for Ed to pause the movie and come upstairs because there was "water everywhere"!

He comes RUNNING, more like scrambling upstairs like a crazy man and asks me what happened. I told him - "water everywhere" and pointed to below the sink. He had thought my water broke and was in sheer panic.

It didn't dawn on me that I had scared the crap out of him. Poor daddy.

The photos above are from last year's trip down Cataract Canyon. Ed and I are definately water people, we love to fish/float/whitewater raft/swim and now we are just sitting around waiting for my water to break.

I hope Ed Jr. likes water as much as his parents do.

April Fools

Happy April Fools Day!

It was my April Fools tradition to call my mom early in the morning - every year and tell her I was pregnant. This started when I was about 16, back when I didn't need to call her, just rush into her room, wake her up, scare the crap out of her and then laugh laugh laugh.

Every year she fell for it, for just a moment, told me I wasn't funny and told me what an awful kid I was.

This year, I needed to up the ante. I mean, how much of a shock is it that I call her and tell her that I am pregnant? Not funny. Plus she is in the middle of her huge yearly meeting in Great Falls. Very stressful time, she has been telling Ed Jr. to wait to be born until after the meeting is over since we knew he was in there.

Here is how it all went down.

Me: "Mom! I am having really strong contractions and I can't get Ed on the phone!"

Mom: "Oh no! Hold on. Um. Okay, here is what you do. . ."

Me: "April Fools Day Mom!" Peals of laughter.

Mom: "You are the worst kid ever. I hope you don't have that baby until the end of the month!"

Me: "Ouch!"