Time Slow Down...

Sorry, I have been such a slacker lately with the blogging. I will try to get better but cannot make any promises.

Time is flying by. I have no idea where my little baby has gone. Every day she seems to get bigger and she discover new things. Eleven weeks! I want time to slow down!

Things that seem to be changing lately:
* She loves to lay on the floor and kick her legs. Sometimes she even cries to be put down to play.
* She rolled over yesterday from her tummy to her back. She use to love tummy time but lately she just screams. Now she's figured out how to get out of it. We will see if she rolls over again today.
* She loves to ooh and aah when you talk to her.
* She has become an awesome night sleeper. We almost always do bath at 9:00 followed by nursing and bedtime. Last night she went into the pack n play at 10pm and slept all the way till almost 6am when Josh's alarm started going off. This is not uncommon. She had been doing 7 to 8 hours in a row for the past few days. Now this does not mean I sleep that whole time too. I'm up once or twice a night to check on her.
* I left her for the first time with the childcare workers at church last night and again this morning. She seems to have done really well. Both times when I came back for her, she seemed content and was not screaming. Today she did not take as long of a nap as she usually does at home. All the things going on in the room were way too interesting for her. This ended up being good for me because she slept during our quick grocery store trip and she is now sleeping in the swing.

Diapers...

G has been in newborn size diapers since the day she was born. At her last doctor's appointment she was one ounce shy of being 8 pounds, which means weight wise she would soon fit in the size 1 diapers. We decided that the next time we ran out of the newborn size diapers we would try the size 1s that we already had on hand. Well that event occurred last night. The size 1 diapers are a little big on her but we figured we give it a shot. That lasted all of about 30 minutes before she had a diaper blow out. Josh quickly changed her and himself before hurrying off to Target to get another box of newborn size diapers.

Maybe next time...

Two Weeks Old?...

Can't believe sweet little Genevieve has been with us for two weeks now. Time sure does fly, which everyone says it would. We had our two week check up. Genevieve is looking great and has pretty much regained her birth weight. She was 4oz shy of meeting it but the nurse practitioner said it was close enough that she is counting it a success. No shots today but she will need a booster when we go back on August 20th. Mommy did get a shot today though (the tdap vaccination). Our pediatricians office has 8 doctors and 8 nurse practitioners. We were really impressed with the nurse practitioner we met with today. We will definitely keep her on the "like" list for the future.

Things Of Note So Far:
* Midnight - Before Genevieve, I never stayed up late. It was rare for me to make it past midnight and when I did it was New Year's Eve or I was having trouble sleeping. Every since Genevieve was born I have seen midnight pretty much every night. I feel like we are new friends.
* She is sort of interested in her pacifier. It is mainly in the mornings and late afternoon. She definitely won't take it at night. She just needs to figure out how to keep it in her mouth as she's falling asleep.
* She does not like the carseat until it is in the car.
* We are exclusively breastfeeding. No routine has been established yet. Feedings usually ranges from every 2 to 3 hours.
* People are crazy generous with bring us food. We are so thankful for all their love and support. If I play my cards right, I may not have to cook till Thanksgiving. Thank you all!
* Her favorite place to sleep is on my chest. We are trying to transfer her to sleeping in her bassinet but we are not 100% successful yet.
* She is in newborn clothes and diapers.
* Everyone says it but it's so true...You don't realize how much you can love someone so little so fast. Even when she is screaming at me at 2am I never wish to go back to life before.
* I love seeing the look on Josh's face when he is looking at her. It has brought out a whole new, wonderful side of him.

Happy Birthday Genevieve

Baby Genevieve Joann (aka Cider) was born on July 19, 2012 at 3:34am in Fairfax, Virginia. She is 6 pounds 7 ounces and 19.25 inches long. She is named after Josh's great-grandmother. Her middle name comes from my mom's side of the family. Although we did change the spelling slightly. She also shares a birthday with my grandfather who passed away almost 3 years ago now. Seems like everything about her has some sort of family meaning.

Note: (1) If you are currently pregnant or have had a difficult delivery, you may not want to continue to read. (2) If you do not wish to learn more details about my delivery, you also may not want to continue to read.

I wanted to write down the details of Genevieve's delivery before I forget them all.

July 18, 2012

7:30pm I felt a sudden little gush of fluid. Was not sure what it was. It was not much so I did not think it could be my water. About five minutes later I felt the same type of thing. We called my on call doctor for advice, both he and my midwife mother-in-law suggested putting on a pad. If it was in fact my water it would be soaked within 30 minutes to an hour.

8:00-8:30pm Not much more fluid so I decided my water must just be leaking or on the verge of breaking. I figured I would end up in the OB's office the following day to have it checked out.

9:30pm Slight cramping (#see note below), nothing major. I would even say that period cramps are way worse. My mother-in-law suggested I go to bed.

10-11:30pm Laying in bed unable to sleep. Cramps are still not bad just enough that I knew there was no way I could sleep through it. Finally I got up and went downstairs to distract myself by watching tv and checking out people's pictures on Facebook.

11:30pm(7/18)-12:30am(7/19) Cramps are finally getting strong so I decided to keep track of how far apart they are and the duration of each on. They were about 7 minutes apart and maximum 30 seconds in duration. We were supposed to call the doctor when they were 5 minutes apart lasting about a minute for an hour. I figured I had a way to go so I decided that sleep might be a good idea.

12:30am Laying in bed pretty uncomfortable.

1:00am Josh starts to keep track of how far apart the cramps are. 

1:30am We decide that with them ranging from 2 to 6 minutes apart and lasting all varying lengths, we should call the doctor. We were told to go to Fairfax hospital. Since everyone says first babies take forever to arrive we took our time getting ready and making sure we had all the gear together. 

2:00am We leave our apartment

2:15am We arrive at the hospital. Josh escorted me to the registration desk and then went to park the car. Now I pre-registered at the hospital but she still had a ton of forms for me to fill out. I honestly have no idea what they were for. I was in extreme pain pretty much the entire time we were standing there. Once Josh came back from parking the car he took over signing the forms for me. The one form I did sign, no one would ever be able to recognize my signature or compare it to anything else I have signed in my entire life.

2:30am We finally sign everything and arrive in the triage area of Labor and Delivery. There they ask some questions and monitor your babies heart beat as well as your contractions. It was very difficult for me to answer her questions at this point in time. By now I knew I was actually in labor but I never would have guessed the extent to which I had progressed. The lady did ask me about an epidural and I said that wanted to keep the option open since I figured I was like maybe 4 centimeters dilated. Keep in mind that a natural delivery was always my plan. Since I did not know if my water had broken they called in a doctor to exam me. She reported that I was at least 9 centimeters and she could see hair. Things moved very quickly from there. 

3:00am We are moved into the Labor and Delivery room. It seemed like at least 6 nurses were in the room getting it set up. In fact the name of the lady who has been in the room before me was still on the dry erase board. They took what seemed like forever getting an IV started. They finally got it the third attempt. At this point my OB arrived to exam me. I was fully dilated and effaced, ready to push.

3:15am The pushing began. I remember looking at the clock and thinking that our childbirth class had said that pushing should last for about 30 minutes with a natural birth. I mentally made note that by 4am I would have that baby in my arms. My doctor left to go take a nap in one of the sleep rooms and I began pushing. Minutes later the nurse was calling my doctor back. After about 4-5 sets of pushes, Genevieve popped into the world. 

She is absolutely beautiful and we are so in love with her. At around 6am that morning Josh and I looked at each other and were like what just happened. We had no idea 12 hours prior that we would be welcoming our daughter into the world. 

I will post more details about our first few days together later. We are still in the hospital and will be going home tomorrow.

#- For the longest time I did not actually think I was having contractions. Everything I had read said that with contractions you would feel it all over your abdomen and into your lower back. The later contractions extended to my back but for the most part I only felt pressure in my abdomen from my belly button up.

We All Start Somewhere

To keep everyone up to date... We had our weekly appointment today. I am 50% effaced and 1 centimeter dilated. Now do not get too excited. We still have a while to go. It could still be weeks. She is still really high. We also discussed that if she is not here by the 30th we will need to discuss scheduling an induction.

Week 38 Day 3

Oh Mr. SandMan

Mr. Sandman bring me a dream...

Reminder to self: Must not take a nap. Must not take a nap. Must not take a zzzzzzz.

Now that we are in the final stretch before Baby Cider makes her appearance, everyone tells me to take it easy and get plenty of rest. The only probably with taking a nap is it appears that I can no longer sleep at night. I accidentally took a two hour nap yesterday afternoon and then I wasn't able to fall asleep until almost 2am. I was only able to sleep for almost 4 hours before my bladder woke me up. I got an additional 45 minutes once Josh got up. But I normally get way more than 5 hours of sleep in a night.

I guess it's God's way of preparing me for midnight feedings but it would be nice to get some sort of sleep. We will see how today goes. I am going to really try not to nap today and keep super busy.

37 Weeks Day 3

I Thought My Water Broke, But...

On Tuesday I was having lunch with one of my former preschoolers, his mom, and one year old little sister. It was a wonderful lunch and I had a great time catching up with them. At the end of lunch I was holding the little sister on my lap, when all of the sudden I felt water dripping down my leg. My heart completely stopped for a minute. I thought my water had broke...... But then I realized based on how I was sitting there was no way that was possible because I was only feeling it from the kneecap down. Turns out the little sister had completely soaked through her diaper. It was not the first time I have been peed on and I am assuming it will not be the last.

False alarm. Still more waiting.

Week 38 Day 1

I'm not a midwife...

Funny thing happened to me yesterday. I was waiting for Josh to come home from work when I heard a knock at the door. I opened it to find the usual window salesman ready to give me his pitch. This is how our conversation went:

Him: Wow! So sorry to make you get up in your condition. Have you and your husband thought about doing something about new windows?
Me: We rent, not own. Sorry.
Him: So sorry to bother you. Please go inside. I'm not a midwife.

Week 37 Day 1

Practice Makes Perfect

Last night Daisy decided that we need practice for getting up in the middle of the night to feed Baby Cider. I got up around 3am for a normal trip to the bathroom when I noticed that Daisy had gotten sick all over the house. Josh and I spend 30 to 45 minutes cleaning up her mess. The entire time Cider was kicking me. It was like she was taunting me. Hopefully diaper changing and feeding will be a tad more glamorous then cleaning up after Daisy. Daisy has a vet appointment later this morning. Hopefully she will be feeling better soon and we will not have a repeat performance tonight.

Week 36 Day 2

Tick Tock

Today we had yet another OB appointment. We now are in the exciting period when we get to see the doctor ever week until we have the baby. The doctor did a check of me and the baby. She is still high and no dilation. Looks like no baby this week which is a good thing since I am planning to pack the hospital bag tomorrow and Josh is going to get the car seat inspected tomorrow as well.

Week 35 Day 3

Hospital Round Two

Today Josh and I toured the INOVA Fair Oaks Hospital. Since we do not know which hospital I will deliver at we had to check them both out. We had already previously toured INOVA Fairfax. I am not quiet sure why but I felt better about the Fair Oaks Hospital. But the decision most likely will not be mine to make.

Yesterday we had an OB appointment. Both Cider and I are doing well. Seems like the clock is quickly ticking down to due day. When we are at home my due date seems so far away - six weeks. But when we are at the doctor it feels like it could happen any moment. Scary!

Week 34 Day 2

Maternity Pictures

Here is the link to view all of our maternity pictures. Thank you Nickerson Studios.

http://nickersonstudios.zenfolio.com/virginia-and-josh-maternity-session

Week 34 Day 1

Hips Don't Lie - Take Two

With the weather being so nice I get jealous of all the people I see out and about running. I have really missed it and cannot wait to get back into it once Cider is born. However, for the past week I would be happy if I could walk without pain. Cider has shifted and is now putting pressure on the nerve that is connected to my left hip. When I walk it pretty much feels like someone stabbed me with a steak knife. Everyone makes note of the fact that I'm starting to waddle. It is not the baby weight, it is the pain.

I am getting so excited for her big arrival. My due date is seven weeks away; however, full term is only four weeks away. So scary to believe that next month we will have a baby at some point. We are slowly getting ready for her arrival. I have my last shower tomorrow. After that we will beginning figuring out what we have and what we still need to buy (and probably what we need to return, sorry guys). As well as setting things up and putting them where they go.

At my shower last week, I received the mirror for the car that allows me to see Cider in her seat while I am driving. It also plays music and lights up for the baby's benefit. I was really excited about it so I put the batteries in and installed it into my car. It has been in there ever since. Last Sunday, Josh thought we should start practicing taking the car seat with us. Imagine the looks people would give us if we showed up with a stuffed animal in an infant car seat. They would probably think we need to be committed. No worries, we did not really take the seat with us. Whenever I am leaving the house, I do tell Daisy that she is in charge of the baby while we are gone. Maybe we can train her to a dog nanny like in Peter Pan.



33 Weeks and 4 Days...

Preschool Moms

I am not sure I have ever mentioned it on this blog, but I have the best set of preschool moms. They have been a great group of women that I have loved getting to know this past school year. Ever since I announced I was pregnant they have been extremely supportive, caring and generous. I do not think a day goes by that everyone of them asks how my pregnancy is going.

Last Wednesday night they got together and through me (and another expecting mom) a baby shower. I had a lovely evening with them - chatting and eating. Three plus hours on a school night just flew by.

To the preschool moms - Thank you for everything you have provided us with this past year. I have been so blessed by all you women. I am so luckily to have had you all as class moms this past school year. I am so thankful for your friendships and all your wisdom. I hope we will get to see each other in the future. Want to grab some coffee at Buzz?

33 Weeks and 1 Day...

So behind...

So sorry for being a slacker about blogging. I keep thinking that not much is going on to blog about but now I realize how much has happened.

1. We have successfully completed childbirth classes. It was a lot of information and I left pretty much every night feeling overwhelmed with it all. But I felt better about it as I let the information sink in. We learned all sorts of stuff - terminology, relaxation/breathing techniques, c-sections, nursing, and baby care. The last night we learned about the c-sections. The entire time I was on the verge of crying. The thought completely terrifies me. I think it is because I have never been hospitalized or have had major surgery before. If we do end up having to have one, I am sure they will give me some nice drugs that will relax me.

2. We toured Fairfax Hospital. It was interesting to see the place where we may deliver but I am not sure it was necessary. Only time will tell. We tour the other hospital in our area, Fair Oaks, on June 13.

3. 31 week OB appointment - Everything is going really well. We had heard a rumor on the hospital tour that c-sections are on the rise, so Josh asked the doctor about it. According to the doctor, that is in fact true. It use to be that the baby had to show signs that there was a problem in order to have a c-section; however, now it is the opposite. The baby needs to prove that everything is alright to not have one. The doctor said that the c-section rate at the hospitals we might deliver at are at or above 40%.

4. We finally purchased Cider's crib and changing table/dresser. Both are set-up in the nursery. We have not finalized their location in the room yet though.





 
Josh putting together the crib. I am so proud to report that my husband does in fact read and follow directions.

Now that we have the dresser, I have started to put all the clothes, socks, hats, etc into the dresser. Now I need some ideas on how to manage arranging all the items. My thought was to keep the current size items and the next size up in the dresser and the rest in clearly labeled containers in the closest.  What has worked best for you? Any suggestions?

More pictures to come once we get things more set up.

5. Last Saturday we had maternity pictures taken. Some are up for preview on Facebook. Just search for Nickerson Studios. I am really excited with the out come. Some of the ones I like the best of our facial expressions, my tummy does not look that pregnant. If you look through the pictures you will see the name that we have decided to go with for sweet Cider once she arrives.

6. We have set up appointments to pick a pediatrician. We do not meet with them until late in June.
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Time is seeming to fly by now. I am still sleeping really well; although, I have increased my usually potty breaks from once a night to twice a night. Luckily I am able to go back to sleep pretty much as soon as my head returns to the pillow. Hopefully Josh will soon be able to do the same. I do feel tired more though. Like I am not getting enough sleep. Cat naps in the afternoon have helped. I also have considered going to bed earlier but I always forget about that until it is too late.

I do think I am getting more emotional. I often feel on the verge of tears which has not been common in the rest of my pregnancy. Usually it only lasts a few minutes and I feel like I return back to normal. For example, here is a conversation between Josh and I:
V: (crying)
J: What's wrong?
V: I am so mad.
J: What are you mad about?
V: I am really mad at you
J: What did I do?
V: No idea. (laughing now about how ridiculous I must sound)


31 week 4 days...

Childbirth Class...

Short post. Tonight was our first childbirth class. My initial reaction from the whole even was - can she just stay in there forever. Needless to say I am a little freaked out. Good thing I have a few more weeks to process all the information. Two more classes left.

29 weeks 3 days

Two down. One left to go.

Monday, April 30 began the start of the third (and final) trimester. Things are still coming along wonderfully. Still no major complaints. I am still super tired but I think that is some what due to jet lag (we just spent nine days in Utah) and my recent blood test showed I was slightly anemic.

We had an OBGYN appointment on Wednesday and everything looks good. The doctor said my weight is good, Cider is measuring well, my blood pressure is normal, and Cider's heart beat is good. They did the glucose intolerance test. I had to drink some nasty orange drink and then wait an hour to have my blood drawn. Josh said I was being a complete drama queen in the waiting room but I could not help it. That orange stuff was disgusting. I kept offering him a taste but he never took me up on my offer to share. Cider seemed to like it though. During the hour wait I thought she was going to pop out my bellybutton with excitement.

For all those curious about a baby bump picture, below is a picture of Josh and I at Thanksgiving Point during our recent trip to Utah.  I was 27 weeks and 1 day when this picture was taken.

28 weeks, 4 days...

Hospital, Oh Hospital

Today was the day that I decided I would sign us up for the childbirth classes as well as the maternity tours of the hospitals. Yes, I did mean hospitals plural. My OB/GYN practice delivers at both INOVA Fairfax and INOVA Fair Oaks. I will not know which hospital I will deliver at until I actually go into labor. If all the other laboring moms are at one hospital, I have to follow them to whichever one they are at. If I am the first one to go into labor, I get to pick.

So I registered for the childbirth class recommended by the OB/GYN practice. No problem. They had plenty of room in for ideal time frame. Next on to the maternity ward tours. Fair Oaks Hospital had a few spots left in the month of June but they were all during the day though. First night time tour is on July 25, the day after my due date. During the day is not ideal but it is something we can work with. So I signed us up for the tour on June 13 at 12:15pm.

Fairfax Hospital was another story. The first date they had available without even taking time of day into consideration is on July 24. Guess that will not work.

I am pretty sure that Murphy's Law is going to come for a visit. I am now taking bets that we will deliver at Fairfax Hospital since we will not get to see it before hand.

25 weeks Day 3

Where does the time go...

I have completely slacked off on updating this blog. Some things that have happened recently...

1. On Wednesday, March 28 (23 weeks 2 days) Josh felt Cider kick for the first time. I was reading in bed and she was kicking like crazy so I thought maybe Josh would be able to feel it. Of course as soon as he put his hand on my belly, she settled down. Josh waiting a bit and she started kicking little kicks. Finally she gave one big kick. Josh was like, what was that. He has felt he kick several times since then. He still says it does not feel like kicking, more like spasming.

2. We had a doctor's appointment last week (24 weeks 2 days). Everything is going really well. Everything is on track. Next appointment I have my glucose test. No sugar cereals for breakfast that day. The nurse did write my weight down wrong, so when the doctor looked at the record it appeared that I had lost over 10 pounds since my last appointment. Surprisingly she did not seem too concerned. I did insist that the weight record was incorrect. The nurse later reweigh me and corrected the error. We are also into the fun times of signing up for childbirth classes and looking for pediatricians.

3. On Monday, April 9 (25 weeks) my co-workers through me a surprise baby shower during our teacher workday. I am so blessed by their friendship, support and generosity. I have never had a surprise party thrown for me. I could tell something fishy was going on. Due to my craving for eggrolls, it was an Asian themed party. There was salad, eggrolls, rice, and crab rangoon. Favors included white chocolate fortune cookies and pink mini-take out boxes. The cake was awesome as well. More picture may follow but here is a picture of all the wonderful gifts Baby Cider and I received. I spread them all out on the couch to show Josh. Josh came home from work and asked why we had a million pacifiers. In the hole pile there are only 4 pacifiers but for some reason that is the only thing he saw.

It is all seeming to become more real. We leave next week for 9 days in Utah followed by 3 days at home in Virginia and then we are off to Indiana for the weekend. Once we are back we will be purchasing the crib and dresser. Then the room can start to take form. I am getting excited to decorate Cider's room. Since it looks like I will be spending lots of time in there, I want it to look super sweet and girly.

25 weeks 2 days - 15 weeks left (starting freaking out now...)