HE'S HERE! [39w6d]

Can you believe this day finally came?!?! I almost can't....besides going through labor....

Please join us in welcoming our little snowpea:


Everett Paschal Hammond

Labor started at 1 am on 11/29/08. Brian and I had just gone to bed and my mom was still awake reading. After realizing that my normal nightly contractions were a lot more painful than usual and not letting up, I tried to wake up Brian...it didn't work well. He couldn't seem to understand why in the world I was telling him to get up. After puking and pooing at the same time, mom and Brian realized just how serious I was. We threw together the last minute stuff, grabbed a puke bowl, called the hospital, and headed off. When we got to the hospital, I was 5cm and the contractions were about a minute and a half apart. CRAZY! I somehow ended up with no pain medication, although I nearly begged at one point. Luckily for my non-medicated self, by 5:44 am, Everett was born! He was 7 pounds, 11.8 oz, and 20.7 inches long (HUGE!). He has beautiful hair and has been very sleepy. I had to get an episiotomy (which sucked) but the dr. said something about multiple tears, so I just went for it. There were several times when I really didn't know if I could finish the whole deal, but we both made it just fine. I've now had breakfast and lots of juice and snowp (errr...Everett) has eaten once. Recovery is going to stink but what can you do? Here are a couple of pictures:

Turkey [39w5d]

Snowp got to eat his Thanksgiving turkey, but he must have taken a nice long nap afterward because he's still not up and ready to move. Maybe he was hoping for some super early Black Friday shopping, but I have already bought all the christmas presents and actually getting the sisters-in-law to wake up in the morning? Yeah....
We might still head out in a while and see if there are any deals left, but meh....
Turkey day was very nice - our apartment was filled to the brim and Brian's mom prepared a lovely feast. I even managed to squeeze in a can of cranberry sauce (which only my mom and I ate)! Brian's got the bones and such cooling overnight to make turkey stock so we should have soup for ages after snowp's around.
Well, time for making breakfast....or something....I think I'm the only person awake right now....unless my mom didn't go to sleep at all last night in order to finish reading Twilight. :)

Happy Thanksgiving Eve [39w3d]

Not sure that's an official holiday, but oh well. Family is coming tonight and Brian has an itemized list of things to do today (in the time that he's not toiling away at the lab). I....am at work. This really should be my last day - really! If I still haven't had snowp by Monday, I might possibly come in for half days, but I don't think my attitude will be able to handle full days. So....yeah. The TiVo is scheduled to record the parade (just in case!), the apartment is getting clean, and the cats are oblivious to anything. Boy is Mabel going to be terrified when all these loud people come crashing into her abode. Heehee.

Nope [39w2d]

I guess I can't say it's NO progress because the NP did say snowp's head has moved down a bit, but we're still stuck at 3cm. Ugh. I'm moving onto acupressure now...

Appt this afternoon [39w2d]

This afternoon is what I hope will be my last scheduled doctor's appointment (the next scheduled one is on my birthday, and that's just mean...). I have been mentally preparing myself to try and NOT cry if there are still no changes....I can't promise anything though....I'm sure they're used to it. :) Since my OB is now out of town for the entire week, I get to see my favorite nurse practitioner again. Maybe if I drink like 10 cups of raspberry leaf tea before the appointment, I'll just have the baby at the doctor's office....or not....
Bri and I returned the steam cleaner last night and then walked over to the health food store (out of tea) and stopped by Pizza Hut on the way back (it smelled kind of irresistible). I actually kind of slept last night and only physically got out of bed once! Amazing! I think I'm really starting to get sleep deprived here, and I thought that wasn't supposed to start until the baby was out and screaming! Well, here we go. I have until 4:30 to convince this kid (and my uterus) that I am quite through with this whole deal and ready to meet Snowp.

No calls required [39w1d]

Baby is still comfortably inside. Despite having contractions waking me up all night and a brief date with Brian at 3 am for warm milk (warm water for me), I am at work this morning and Brian's off to the lab. I will update if anything happens....don't hold your breath.

One week away [39w]

Snowp's official due date is now only one week away. On Wednesday, a whole bunch of family is coming down (and over) to visit for Thanksgiving. No, not all of them will be staying with us! I might harm someone if that many people tried to sleep in our apartment. Brian's family is staying at a hotel just down the street and my mom is staying in the nursery. Now we'll just have to see if Snowp decides he's ready to meet all these crazy people yet, or if he'd rather hold off on the introductions until Christmas. Don't ask me what he's going to do, because I have no stinking idea! :)

Boring lab [38w6d]

Where have we been since 10:45 am? The lab, of course. Because I wanted to go to Kohls to use a coupon today, I tagged along while Brian went to the lab to change his samples and do homework. Well, after watching three episodes of CSI on netflix, I think I'm about to melt out of boredom. Blah.
In baby news, there is none. I'm still having contractions but, as usual, they are not painful or regular. Granted, they are getting more intense than they were before, but I still would not characterize them as painful in any way. Seriously, can I walk around dilated to 3 for three weeks and then start having contractions and just do that for weeks on end? Family is coming on Wednesday and they're all saying that there needs to be a baby to visit by then, but I'm starting to wonder.... I told a coworker that I was going to try my hardest to not be there on Monday, and I guess it's still a possibility, but geesh. Come on baby, let's get a move on here!

Pedi. and contractions [38w5d]

Well, we met the pediatrician! We did have to wait a while, which was quite annoying, but what can you do? He is a very nice man and we feel entirely comfortable with him. He answered our questions and provided information and just seemed like a generally good doctor, so we're happy about that. That, and that he practices two blocks from our house!
After meeting the ped, we went to the monitoring room. Of course, I only had two of my bigger contractions while being monitored, but apparently I was also having quite a few little ones. Because of this, the nurse reported that the dr. would check me to see if there were any changes from the contractions. After waiting AGAIN for the dr., I got checked and get this - NO CHANGES! Absolutely nothing has changed since 8 days ago. Oy. I swear. I was really hoping that today was the day and I was very antsy all morning, so I thought maybe it was a sign of something, but apparently not. *sigh* This boy is seriously starting to wear on my nerves. At least I got out of the office for almost three hours including lunch!
I'm still hoping to go into labor sometime in the next 48 hours, but who knows what will happen.... back to my crankiness, I guess!

Meeting the Ped [38w5d]

I am about to leave work to go meet our pediatrician. Brian decided to drive the car today since it was 19 degrees when we got up this morning, so he's coming to get me so we can go to the clinic together. I don't really see the point of meeting the ped., since I don't really care what his opinions are on anything and I only picked him because he's the only ped at the west side location, but whatever. Maybe Brian will have some questions for him.
Also - I asked that after this appointment, the nurses hook me up to the contraction monitor! I know I've been having contractions, but this whole timing deal....yeah.... Obviously, if they are not painful enough to time, they aren't really labor, but I'm hoping that if I can see the monitor and connect that to what I'm feeling, I might be better able to time them myself. We'll see! Anyways! Time to go!

Awake for no reason [38w4d]

It is 4:26 am and I am awake. Doesn't that just stink? No reason for my lack of sleeping at the moment. I woke up to go to the br, realized I forgot to do two things at work for a meeting this morning, went back to bed, couldn't sleep, so I got up to send myself an email reminder to do these things once I get to work. Now I'm still up. Hmmm...

Cranky much? [38w3d]

It is amazing how simple little things can really throw me over the edge lately. The boss said to summarize the four points in some report....yeah, there aren't four points....there are either two or 19-ish. This, of course, made me cranky (which will last for the entire day) because I can't work on it until he gets back to the office and clarifies. It probably doesn't help that snowp is adamantly refusing to get out! Okay, maybe that's going a bit far, but seriously. I can't sleep at night anymore, I'm exhausted all day, and just sitting gets really uncomfortable after a bit. I'm ready to be done here. Maybe I'll make a starbucks run to elevate my mood...

Shortest appt ever [38w2d]

I was seriously out of there by 5:10 and the appointment was at 4:40. Amazing! I opted out of the internal this time for fear it would depress me. I did somehow gain 3 pounds in 4 days though. Yes, yes, I see your bulging eyes and dropped jaw. I am not surprised by anything anymore. Snowp's still doing good. Head down, heart rate fine, I measured 35 cm this week, so we're up a cm from 4 days ago. He's still kicking and his legs are getting stronger every day...fun for me...
The next appointment isn't for another week, so the only kind of update I could have before then would be of the "holy crap, I'm in labor" variety. Right now, I think I'll go lie down until Brian's back from seminar and weight lifting.

Nope [38w2d]

Nothing's changed. The end.

Aaand I'm at work. [38w1d]

That means I'm not at the hospital. The snowy weather has now arrived with possible flurries today and tomorrow. This means that Brian's going to have to start taking the car to school soon, so snowp had better help me decide that I'm done working. Plus, dr. is off on vacation all next week, so he really only has this week if we're going to get our own dr....

Nada [38w]

I was wondering if he might decide to make his appearance on the 7th anniversary of his parents' first date. Doesn't look like it. Oh well!

A little bit more detail [37w5d]

Since my last update was written in about 2 minutes in Brian's office last night before dinner, I didn't get all the details in there. Still no baby! :) Here's a bit more detail for those of you who care. If you don't care, stop reading my blog! First, I have a mini-story for you.
Brian was super late picking me up because he got distracted with all kinds of stuff at the lab, so I started walking to my dr. appt. (I work a whole maybe 6 blocks from the clinic.) Well, if you've ever seen my clumsiness and weak ankles prior to pregnancy, you can guess what's coming next. Stepping off a curb is always a dangerous job, but with me trying to balance this little bowling ball of a belly here, it's just asking for trouble. I stepped off the curb, my right ankle turned, and boom! There's Beth on the ground (and there was even a van parked ahead of me that saw the whole thing! embarrassing!) . My pride was hurt much more than my hands and knees, so I quickly got up and walked on. (I also nearly fell again trying to walk through the icky fruit residue from another tree!) During our hour long wait for the dr., I commented that my knee was really kind of hurting, so I rolled up my pant leg and sure enough, big ol scrape complete with blood. Nice. 37 1/2 weeks pregnant and I fall down and scrape my knee. Oy. The dr. even noticed it and commiserated with me.
Okay, appointment details. Like I said, not much has changed. My weight did not change in the 9 days since my last weigh in, which is normal for the end of pregnancy. Fundal height (they measure how big your belly is!) is now down to 34cm. For me, I was very much sticking to the cm for every week of pregnancy that it's supposed to be until last week when I was a cm behind, and now I'm 3 behind. This is also normal. It just means that snowp has gotten himself nice and snuggled into my pelvis. A co-worker even commented today that it looked like he had dropped more recently.
After the appointment, I had icky crampy feelings all evening. Through dinner, sitting at home, and trying to fall asleep. I was like one giant cramp and achy all over. Not fun. I actually tried to fall asleep for an hour and a half while Brian took his prospective student out to a social event, but no success! I finally called him near 11 and asked if they were coming home soon. They got home very soon after that and I finally managed to fall asleep soon after Brian was home (co-dependent much?). However, sleep was not fun last night. It's getting worse every night and I'm thinking I'm soon going to be way too tired to have a baby. Hmm.... this weekend? Come on snowp!
Oops - I forgot to add: I had to take off my ring today! (two rings, soldered together=one ring) My finger got too big and it was hurting. I was really hoping that wouldn't happen. *sniffle*

Quick update [37w4d]

Not much of an update. Brian's crabby because we had another hour long wait in the doctor's office before we got seen, but oh well. Here's the medical update - we are now at a full 3 cm (rather than almost 3), 80% effaced, and -1 station. So, a tiny bit of progress in 9 days. At least I didn't have negative progress! Come on full moon! Err....or maybe not because that would be kind of awkward with a guest at the apartment.... Tomorrow afternoon wouldn't be a bad time for my schedule though... :)

Full Moon Tonight [37w4d]

Does a Full Moon really mean anything regarding labor? Probably not, but hey! Dr. appointment isn't until after work today, so we'll see what happens there. I think it would be slightly humorous to go into labor during my hour long wait for the dr. to be ready at the appointment, but also slightly not. We are also supposed to be hosting the kid who's taking over Brian's research project tonight (I say supposed to because if I do, by chance, go into labor, he will be sleeping on the street....or another student's place...). That'll be loads of fun. I already told Brian I am not going to be a pleasant hostess and will probably just hide away in the bedroom the whole time he's here. Hmm....can you sense my lack of patience and abundance of crabiness that has become a daily pattern? Oh well! Will update after the doctor's appointment today.

I got flowers! [37w3d]

Despite this week dragging on and on (is it still really just Wednesday?), I got a lovely surprise yesterday evening. As is usual, I was taking a nap from about 4 until around 6, but I heard the UPS truck pull up at 6 yesterday. I thought, hmm....it's rather late for the UPS truck to be coming around...at least it won't be anything for me and I can stay in bed... Not so, my friends! The doorbell rang! So, I jumped up (hard to do, ya know), blind and with my hair smushed in every direction, to run to the door. Poor UPS man probably nearly had a heart attack at the sight of me... But he still gave me my delivery! After I shut the door, got my glasses on, and nearly fainted from the sight of my hair, I opened the package to find a lovely bouquet of white and yellow flowers! I thought...hmm.. that's odd....does someone think Snowp was born already? But no. The flowers were sent from my lovely college roommate, Bettina, just because she has heard that the last month of pregnancy can be rough. After much awww-ing from me and the cats realizing that their theories about my sanity were very spot on, I put the flowers into their vase and set them on the counter. I knew that overnight there would be some fatalities, but luckily, it appears that only some ferns were knocked out and no flowers were eaten or vases broken (have I mentioned that Olivia is a little devil?). Brian insisted that the flowers would not survive a day in the house alone, so I brought them to work with me and they are now sitting on my desk. I should have taken a picture, but I forgot. So you'll just have to imagine them in your mind.
That's pretty much it for today! Thanks Bettina - you are absolutely the best!

Tuesdays aren't much better [37w2d]

Just me. Sitting here. At work. Eating oatmeal. Because my freaking office area is 66 freaking degrees. No labor. No hospital. Just oatmeal and shivers.

Mondays... [37w1d]

I don't much care for them. Granted, the scary person of our office is out on vacation, so life is a bit easier. After waking up at 5:30 am yesterday with baby moving and some contractions and then managing to stay in bed for another hour, I was up and bouncing off the walls (not like me on a weekend morning). My bouncing (literally, I was bouncing) woke up Brian and he just kind of looked at me as if I should be in a psychiatric ward and somehow made my way into his bedroom. I then proclaimed, "Let's go for a walk!" Since this is not a common occurance, he actually got up and dressed to take me on a walk. (Never mind that it was about 30 degrees at the time...) So we bundled up and walked to McDonald's to pick up a new redbox movie (Get Smart this time - good flick!) and some breakfast. After FoxNews officially ticked me off by mocking reusable grocery bags, we made our way over to the grocery store to get donuts and some herbal tea! Can you tell I was in charge of this walk route? We then walked all the way past my dr. clinic and back to the apartment where I promptly had some of my new tea to warm up. After shuffling around the house for a while, I decided that maybe I should shower and when I got out, Brian asked if I wanted to get dressed and go to church (since the weather was icky and there would be no bike riding). So we did that! After about 15 minutes of sitting on a pew, I realized that waking up at 5:30=not the greatest idea in the world. I could barely keep my eyes open and my head propped up. After we got home and ate some lunch, I crashed for a couple of hours while Brian went and lifted weights. Then we pretty much just ate, watched T.V. and our movie, and played some mancala. Boooring! ...but still nice. I like spending quiet time with Brian and who knows how much longer we'll have quiet time! I kind of slept last night, but it has been getting harder and harder every night. I think I got up 4-5 times last night and when my alarm went off, I was tiiiiired! Hopefully I can stay awake for my 8.5 hours away from home today. Our next dr. appt isn't until Thursday (forever away!), which is also the same day we're supposed to host the new grad student who will be taking over Brian's research project. Hmm.... I'll try to keep updating quasi-daily lest you all think I have run away to the hospital.

Tomorrow=Full Term! [36w5d]

No baby yet. I think I will now start every post that way. :) I decided that since we have no idea when we might be able to have our last date night for a while, we had better do something about it. So last night, Bri and I went out to Applebees. (I wasn't super hungry and didn't really feel like trying somewhere new.) We had a very nice time and took advantage of their 2 for $20 deal - which meant we got spinach artichoke dip AND two meals! Yum! Then we stopped by McDonalds to pick up a redbox movie and watched Leatherheads at home. Good flick, especially if you have an unhealthy fondness for Duluth.

Today we had to do laundry, take out the trash, stop by goodwill to get rid of some things, return some sheets at Target, get a giant bag of craisins from Sam's, stop by the lab (where I watched CSI on netflix while Brian worked!), drop off the movie, and get groceries! Yikes! All done now though. The rest of the evening's plans consist of Brian going for a run in the cold, eating dinner, folding laundry, and relaxing. I'm thinking that I don't like this whole idea of having contractions for weeks and weeks, and I'm hoping this boy decides to make an appearance sooner rather than later. I actually still haven't reached the point of being sick of being pregnant and wanting him out, but the waiting is what kind of irks me. Maybe I'll find myself some raspberry leaf tea.... :)

Anyways! Here's a picture from today:

And one of me at the lab:

Someone had a baby, not me! [36w5d]

My cousin Gilbert became a daddy yesterday! I just had to share because this kid's cheeks are unbelievable! :)
Here is Olivia Victoria, baby girl to Gilbert and Betty.

Does my brain know... [36w4d]

...that my uterus exists? I've been pondering this for the past two days. I know that it is extremely rare that women don't notice contractions, but I think there is some sort of disconnect between my brain and my uterus. I mean, I had no idea whatsoever that I was already somewhat dilated and effaced, no idea! Now that I've been trying to pay attention, I have noticed what I think are contractions, but they don't really hurt, so I've brushed them off as being Braxton Hicks. However, since I must have had some sort of contractions that led to progress, am I still likely to have Braxton Hicks or more likely to have real contractions??? Sometimes I wish I had a medical degree.... oops, guess I fell off that career path already! From what I've read, the location of these contractions (higher and lower, not just in the lower abdomen) seems like they're real. But seriously! If they're real, I should be able to at least notice when they start and end! I think I'm going crazy...

I also wonder if my regular doctor would like to know about my pondering, or if she really doesn't care one way or the other until I am crying in pain at the hospital...(something I hope to avoid anyway....crying? really? I'm a monster!!)

Another thing I've noticed is that snowp's movements = not so fun anymore. I know that this is normal because he's getting bigger, but goodness! I definitely notice him moving around (every time!), but it's only occasionally that I will either feel something or just look down at my belly and go, "hmmm...." and realize that the whole thing is hard as a rock. I still wonder if the rock hard belly is a contraction or if snowp has just balled himself up in an odd spot.... Guess I'll find out sooner or later....

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot. Of course, I'm still freaking out (just a bit) that we don't hit 37 weeks until Sunday. I want fully developed lungs on that boy, darn it!

We voted!

Appointment Update! [36w2d]

Okay, here is the official update and boy is it a doozy!

Since I couldn’t get in to see my regular OB today, I got to see the Nurse Practitioner (who I absolutely adore, so I was happy). She is just so easy to talk to and ask questions. There isn’t anything wrong with my OB at all, I just really love the nurse practitioner. ANYWAY! Now for the synopsis of the appointment. Blood pressure was still fine, but when she measured my belly, she asked if I have normally been measuring small. I said, “no, I’ve been right on the whole time.” She seemed a bit surprised and said that I was measuring a week behind (35cm, whereas I was at 34cm two weeks ago…and it’s supposed to be equal, cm=weeks) and that maybe it was because the baby had dropped some. Well, as you know, I had already determined that he had started his descent because I have some fun and lovely pressure on my bladder from his head, so I was not concerned in the least.

Listened to snowp’s heartbeat and it was perfectly normal still. I had to have the lovely Group B strep test, which wasn’t nearly as bad as my OB made it sound. Then it was time for fun – the Internal Exam. Dun dun dun! (Those were scary and exciting sounding duns, just so you know.) Boys, beware! I hold nothing back. (Oh, and I’m going to try and provide general info as I explain where I’m at for those of you who have not had babies.)

She felt for his head, and as she did so, he protested by kicking me. Thanks snowp. Sure enough, he’s at -1 station. Explanation: There are 7 stations (as seen in this picture). -3 is way up high still and +3 means there’s a baby coming out. So, snowp definitely has his head settled nicely down in my pelvis. I was amazed because I figured that by this point, it would be difficult to walk/waddle, but while I do get tired faster, I have felt pretty normal.

Now, here is the really amazing part (well, to me at least, since I knew he was pretty low already). I am currently at 2.5-3cm dilated and 70% effaced! WOAH! I never ever would have guessed that! I figured she would use some comparison to Fort Knox when explaining my dilation, but apparently I was very wrong. The chart above (for the stations) actually shows a 3cm dilation of the cervix. So now let me try to give explanation again. Dilation: Can be somewhere between “a fingertip” to 10 cm, with the 10cm meaning you are about to drop a baby on its head. :) The way I can make this sound even more impressive is that were I having regular contractions right now, I could have an epidural. No kidding. By the time some women reach 3cm, they are in active labor and dying for their epidurals. Apparently my obsession with sitting cross-legged/half-lotus at all times has done something! Effacement: You go from 0 to 100% effaced. This is the thinning and shortening of the cervix and 100% means that the cervix is open and there’s not much holding baby back. See charts below for illustration of dilation and effacement.

SO! Basically, I could stay this way for a while OR I could start having contractions or have my water break at any time. The NP asked if our hospital bag was packed and I said, “nope! Guess that’s the task for tonight!” and she agreed. She also went through a checklist with us, making sure we had a carseat, asked if I was interested in getting an epidural, went through why they give IVs, etc. It was kind of crazy! Further evidence of how I love talking to this woman – she asked if I had a lot of cramps with my periods. I was surprised by this question but told her that yes, I had miserable cramps and went on the pill because of them. She then told me that women who had harsh menstrual cramps sometimes don’t even notice early labor because they’re used to worse pain. I thought this was fascinating. I have not noticed contractions at all, except for occasional tightening. I don’t think I’ve really had any real contractions yet, but now I’m wondering if I’ll even really notice when they do start. Of course, I’ll know when they get more intense, but seriously – I didn’t have any clue that I would already be dilated at all!

So now, my list of stuff to do this week has a little more pressure on it (at least in my mind!). I need to pack the hospital bag, rearrange our room so the pack n’ play will fit next to the bed, get the carseat base into the car, order my breastpump tubing, wash baby clothes, and get Christmas presents wrapped! I’m getting really excited (seriously, actually not scared/nervous about the whole giving birth thing at all….just the afterward part.). I told a co-worker and my boss as soon as I got back about everything, so at least if I had to one day call in and say I’m a bit busy doing other things, they wouldn’t be horribly shocked. I'm really hoping that I don't just stay at 3cm for the next month and that this actually means we'll have a baby by Thanksgiving, but who knows. So yeah. I guess that’s it for now. Enough of an update for ya? :) If I’m leaving out some important fact that you want to know, just leave a comment or shoot me an email. Here we go!!!

My own update [36w1d]

Here you go mom, two posts in one day (and Christy, who apparently thinks my first post of the day was "boring").
So I may not have a medical update until tomorrow, but Brian finally agrees with me that snowp has now stuck his head into my pelvis. I walked up to him and said, "does my belly look lower to you?" and his response was, "uh oh." Which he translated for me to mean, "yes, it does look lower and that means it's getting closer to time for snowp to be born, for which I do not feel entirely prepared."
So here's the picture (please pay no attention to my messy hair and tired eyes):

Grrr to doctors! [36w1d]

Today was supposed to be the day for my first weekly appointment and the day I get measured, tested, etc. Well, the dr's office leaves a message on my cell phone yesterday saying that they need to reschedule my appointment (mind you, this is an appointment that had already been rescheduled once before!). So now I am forced to use up some of my comp time to go to an appointment that should have used up NO work time. Grrr...
Okay, that is my vent for the day. So, no news on progress today for you! You'll have to wait until tomorrow. Which is also when I get to discuss with my boss my plans for maternity leave.... oooo.....