Day One: Our Baby Girlie Has Arrived!

Born last Thursday, March 26th at 12:37 pm, weighing 8 lbs and 6 ounces, measuring 20 inches long:

Day Two: Look At You Kiddo

Looking different by the day's end...

Day Three: "Lookey at Me"

Most of my third day in the hospital was spent staring, marveling, at this lil' miracle we'd created.

We have LOTS of these kinds of pics from day three...

The designated "Binkie" cup was my honey-man's clever idea...

She reminds me of a lil' pixie or brownie in this pic...By this time, day three, we were purty sure we were gunna keep her...
SHE IS WAY TOO CUTE FOR WORDS.

Postponed

UPDATE: We were called at 9:30 am, asked to arrive between 10 and 10:30am, aiming for surgery by noontime, sooo, I wasn't able to finish the tin whistles bag, nor the binding on the tricot blankey, afterall...

Well, well, the plot thickens: We got a call from the hospital at 8am and they don't have a room for us in order for our c-section to happen as scheduled at 11am...

And my response to this news? - - smiling and laughter! No joke!

They've already spoken with my OB and they'll be calling us around 10am to let us know when they'll be able to have us come in for a c-section in the afternoon. Yup. The waiting game continues! Meanwhile, I still can't eat anything nor drink anything; can't even chew gum. Have I ever written about how I can get in the mornings without breakfast? It's not good --think angry grizzly bear. *Deep intake of breath* Hopefully, my highly elevated mood will last us as long as needed...

But it's all good: We're still gunna have a baby today!!! And I promise right now, if they push us to tomorrow, I'll be a good girl; I will not throw a tantrum; I can wait as long as it takes. But honestly, when they told me we'd been postponed, my first thought was "OH COOL!"...Now I have time to finish the tricot baby blanket's binding (I'd only got a lil' over 1/2 way done with it yesterday), annnd (right after I post this) I can finish the angel boy-O's blasted tin whistle bag!!! And I can spray paint that basket I picked up yesterday at Goodwill for keeping pacifiers, and, and, and... [SOME BACKGROUND INFO: For possibly a year now, I've had the angel boy-O's Irish tin whistles, planning/aiming to make him a handy carry case for them, but I keep modifying the design(s) and changing my mind, and I actually made two different bags, but didn't like either one. He will now get to go home to Burbank with a whistle bag, hell or high water, now that the universe has conspired and decided we gotta wait a lil' longer for the baby sweet potato girl's arrival.]

So yes, I'm not disappointed about the new timing on our hands... Strangely enough, it's just an opportunity to get a lil' bit more done before she gets here! I'm sick, aren't I? ~ hee hee

'B' is for Bassinet

After the first week or so using a co-sleeper, only because of the c-section, our lil' baby sweet potato girl will be sleeping in this beside our bed for the first couple months! Isn't it just too cute for words?

My aunt and uncle gave it to us to use and it's been in his family for over 100 years! They retouched the base stand's paint and bought new bassinet sheets and a new bumper pad for it. It's absolutely darling, indeed.

Once I'm up and able to be out and about again, I plan to pick up something I can weave in and out of the lower portion of the bassinet for a lil' extra decorative touch... my aunt is encouraging me to do so. I think she's just eager to see what I can come up with!

P.S. Yes, I'm having a hard time sleeping! Been having some stronger than usual contractions for the last several hours (although nothing consistent), plus I gots me a VERY ACTIVE baby bouncing around at what I can only imagine must be her full strength! Plus, um, there's the fact that I'll be holding my baby girlie in less than 12 hours from now, and soooo, I'm TOTALLY JAZZED OUTTA MY MIND about that.

Eviction Notice: 24 Hours to Vacate!

From this moment forward, our lil' baby sweet potato girl has only 24 hours to vacate her current accommodations before she's to be abruptly evicted. Mind you, I don't think she seems to be all that concerned - - she's apparently in no rush to make her own arrival.

Yup, 24 hours from now, we'll have ourselves our baby girl!

Words cannot possibly convey the excitement I'm feeling - - nor the overwhelming gratitude I feel. The way things had begun for us and this lil' one-to-be, we weren't ever expecting her to make it this far... In the beginning, we were actually told she wasn't going to make it... and here we are!? Nine months and nearly 8 days later, she's about to make her grand entrance into the world! --into our lives! And no mere 5 or 6 pounds as had been the prediction, but possibly 8 lbs or more?!? Wow. And all that hair on her head that we've seen in the all the sonograms... and such a strong, healthy heart!!! Wow.

*contented sigh* Tomorrow is gunna change my life forever and I couldn't be more eager for it.

Wish us luck! And thank you to everyone for their sincere well wishes and high hopes for us and our baby girl! All the heartfelt support and love has been just tremendous over that last several months!
Thank you again and again ~

A Darling, Most Precious, Priceless Work of Art!

My sister cut and pieced this precious creation together, and then my step-mum had it long-arm quilted and she did the binding by hand, and perfectly so.

Isn't it absolutely priceless?Otis loves it as well.

The long-arm pattern is adorable!

It's so gorgeous, it'll be hard to let her use it! Maybe after her early spit-up phase has phased out...

The Last Project B4 Baby's Arrival: Tricot Blankey or Bust!

By now, Owen believes this tricot baby blanket is his... I aim to finish the binding on it tonight! Yes, waiting until nearly the very last minute...
I had originally planned to stitch the remaining binding while waiting/working through active contractions, pre-transition, before heading to the hospital. I'd thought it'd be relaxing...

Owen LOVES this blanket, seen totally conked out here.

41 Weeks!

I own only 3 short sleeve maternity tops, all of which fit --thank goodness-- this being one of the 3. All the rest of my maternity tops are not only long sleevers, too hot now for our warming weather, but the rest of 'em all rise up in the front now. Yup, I've gotten too big for 'em!

oh and that reminds me: After this morning's shower, I discovered NEW stretch marks along the underside of my belly. Just fabulous!

P.S. You can see here how she's sitting real high again, lil' stinker! She doesn't want to come out!

Read Me My Fortune

This is from this past Sunday...
I'd eaten Chinese food that day: red flake peppered shrimp, szechuan chicken, fire spiced egg plant and hot, spicy asparagus.

We'll 'C' This Thursday

Okay - - so, the latest now is this: Last Friday, I saw my OB at 11:30am and my cervix still hadn't dilated or softened or effaced or anything! Mind you, the baby 'dropped' 5 weeks ago -? My doc then told me that it could be likely my cervix may not 'ripen' as it should, and if that'd be the case, we'd be doing a cesarean later the following week.

I then reminded my OB we have a bit of a timing dilemma on our hands...

Now remember, the week before last, my OB had told me he wouldn't be letting us go beyond the 27th, and that we'd induce on the 27th if we were to go that long. At the time, over a week ago, I really didn't think it'd be an issue, because I truly believed this wee babe would be here well before then (I had told myself months ago that she'd come on the 20th), but she still ain't here.

So, yeah, our timing dilemma: The short of it is this: The angel boy-O is here for his spring break and the 27th is when he goes home to Burbank because he's got something going that weekend for which he has to return home.

So, I told my OB the following: 1) I agree going no longer than the 27th is a fine idea; and 2) I don't want to rush things nor force the matter before then if at all; but 3) I'm really hoping she'll just come on her own over the weekend, but 4) If we're going to find ourselves without a baby come Monday the 23rd, I wouldn't want to wait until Friday the 27th to either induce, nor to have a c-section, as that's the very day my step-son is to leave town. With tears welling up, I nearly full on burst into blubbering tears having to explain to my OB why the latter would be totally unacceptable, and why I'd be willing to forgo waiting things out for a natural birth, than to have him miss the arrival of his little sister. My OB then told me that with such short notice, scheduling a cesarean so soon may not be possible between his schedule and the hospital's. I told him I wouldn't want to do it after Tuesday the 24th, and he gave me a worried look and said he and his office would see what they could do and call me before the day's end... They called back by that afternoon: I'm now scheduled to arrive at the hospital this Thursday at 9am for a c-section at 11am.

Nonetheless, that last Friday ended with me telling myself --more like reassuring myself-- that something could still happen over the weekend, but then the weekend came and went and my heartburn mysteriously returned to what it'd been nearly 5 weeks ago... Well, this morning both my Grams and the angel boy-O went to the perinatal office with me for my last fetal monitoring appointment, and we found out why this is: #1, Her head is still downward, BUHHT her head is no longer in my pelvis = The baby is no longer engaged = She's left the birthing position altogether!?! Yup, hence, the now not-so-mysterious return of chronic heartburn. And #2, my contractions, as I'd suspected over the weekend, have reduced to an average of maybe 2-4 per hour is all, if I'm lucky, compared to the once consistent every 2-3 minutes I was experiencing for several hours at a time each day over the last couple weeks; neither discovery is a sign of anything good in terms of expectations for approaching labor.

SOME POSITIVE FETAL MONITORING NOTES THAT CAN'T NOT BE MENTIONED: My amniotic fluid levels were a 10.5, and the baby's heart rate and fetal movement were great, and the angel boy-O absolutely loved the monitoring, standing over the fetal monitor readout sheet the entire time, and the sonogram tech happily showed off the baby's face (now visible again since her head's out of my pelvis), and the tech also showed off her lil' hands and feetsies for my Grams and the boy-O's viewing delight.

Around 4pm today, I went to the OB's office to sign my consent forms for Thursday's c-section and to acknowledge all the inherent medical risks involved. As I read down though the list of potential risks and the various brief explanations for each, it finally came down upon me that there really is a greater chance we'll be having a cesarean this Thursday rather than a natural birth in the 2 days remaining before then. One of the nurses in my OB's office, Tanya, who's been handling me for the past 8 months, she had heard about the doctor's call for a cesarean and she told me she was sorry, knowing how I'd feel about it. The sympathy she offered and her heartfelt understanding had me shaking in my shoes when I stood to leave the room.

REALITY: I do know right now I'll soon have to refocus my thoughts and energy, and my overall expectations upon our ultimate goal, which is the safe arrival of our baby --no matter how she makes her arrival-- but since this afternoon, I've been riding a massive wave of disappointment.

Maybe I'll write more about it tomorrow, but at this very moment, after having spent the last hour reading the nitty-gritty on cesareans, as ALL my prior preparatory reading has focused foremost upon the how-to for a natural, drug-free vaginal birth, only touching upon the bare minimum basics of emergency c-sections, I'm too sad to go into the reasons why I am so sad and disappointed.

Still no baybee...

Still pregnant...

Beware: Total Baby Bunny Cuteness Coming

When we got home late last night from a FANTASTIC dinner at Hank's with my father in town, we'd received a FedEx from Ogden, UT... and oh my, when I saw all the pink ribbon atop the box inside, I knew to brace myself for total girlie cuteness galore!

I introduce to you, Bunnies by the Bay!

This hat is my favorite of the bunch!
(I'm a sucker for hats, especially BABY hats)
And sitting beside the hat here, two "wrist rattles" - - check those out!? The 'Sweet Pea' pod? and the lil' duckie holding the pink daisy flower? - - disgustingly cute, or what?

And this?! I can see her with it now, clutched in her lil' baby hand and baby drooly soaked, dragging it along the carpet as she struggles to crawl up the stairs...

This one should be illegal

The applique detail...

Our lil' baby girl will be a living, breathing 'Bunnies by the Bay' spokesmodel!
Thank you so much, Brenda! It's all darling! and sooo sweet!

Somethin's in My Spot?!?

For the last couple months, Otis has been a bit perplexed... Where he used to lie down across my lap and take a nappy while I'd type on my laptop, well, there's been this enormous 'bump' in the way. For the last 5 weeks, no longer able to forcefully wedge himself in between my laptop and my growing belly, he'll come right to my side and sit or stand there, staring at me, staring at my belly, staring at my laptop and then he'll look back at me again, like "What is this? Tell me, where am I supposed to go now?"

Here's one of those moments captured earlier this morning:

The best part is whenever he actually tries to climb atop my belly or come at me from behind, from the back of the couch, trying to step and slink down across my chest, to spread himself out atop my belly, like he's laying upon a shelf. There's been a few times I've let him think he's successfully reclaimed his spot, holding him up, cradling him in my arms for a half hour or less, so that he hasn't got all his weight on the baby... it's hysterically cute. He purrs like mad.

"Past Due" or "Baby Haven"

Alrighty ~ Sooo, apparently our baby sweet potato girl apparently doesn't know she was due to join our family YESTERDAY!?

Yeah. Sooo, here I sit taking a break from work while working from home, still preggers... I'm trying to be patient, yes. Luckily, we do have plenty to to keep us prewhile we wait! This morning I couldn't sleep past 6am, so I got up and took pictures! of the baby's room! Check it!

What you can see from the top of our stairs:

The glider chair! Recovered! Like it? I love it!!!

I picked these up in '97 from Deseret Industries in Provo, UT. They've been in storage for over 10 years now, just waiting to don the walls of a baby nursery.

The frames had been a plain brown washed wood.. and I chose to refresh 'em with this variant blue and green mix.

And here's the cubby shelf! All loaded!

The left top-most cubby has this lil' turn table loaded with baby products.

The hot pink cubby is ALL Zero to 3 Month sized ONESIES!!
I am not kidding.

The bookshelf! The rainbow shaped pillow at the top was made by my Grammie Joanie and was once in MY baby room.

Here's her crib...

This framed poster is from 1992 - - I scored it from a read-a-thon library event in Cedar Rapids when I was in high school and I thought it'd be perfect for a child's room. See now? See how long I've been waiting for this lil' bambina to arrive in my life?!?

I'm going to hang this at head of her crib, so she can stare at it all she wants.

This lil' yellow checked seersucker toy sling will be handy...
Already has some cute stuffed animals in it waiting for her!

I have some other art pieces and frames that we haven't yet finished, along with a shelf I painted that will sit above her diaper changing table... Will post those eventually.