By the Numbers...

As we pass wee Roddie's actual due date, I thought it might be useful to take a quantitative look at how we are doing :

• First, since I know you REALLY want to know how Roddie is doing... we went to see the pediatrician yesterday and he's up to 8lb 11oz, or about 9oz over his birth weight. He's eating like a champ (oh, how much he's eating!!) and overall doing well - if he'd only start taking his long snoozes at night instead of during the day, we'd be all set!
  
• As for me, I'm doing well also and at the 10 day point, or just about at his original due date, I have managed to drop not only the 8lbs of baby, but an additional 30 lbs or so! Don't get me wrong, I still have a baby belly, but I just feel so much more like myself than I have in months! Still about 15 lbs to go to pre-Roddie weight and another 10 to pre-Norah, but one day at a time - I'm just happy to see my toes! Here are what I promise are the last belly comparison shots... first here I am on his actual due date - I hope to NEVER wear these shirts again!

Now, here I am just before we went to the hospital - my facial expression really doesn't convey how HAPPY I was to be getting on with things! Bye, Bye Bellay!

In case you had't heard... Brudder is here!

Here is the bottom line:

And here's the background on how it all went down... I went for my weekly scans at 38.5 weeks, and my fluid levels were now off the charts at a staggering 56! The ultrasound pictures showed a little baby head with all kinds of space/fluid surrounding it - not the cozy cocoon we'd expect to see at this late date. I was initially scheduled to go to the hospital to be induced on Monday (week 39) with strict orders to get to the hospital ASAP if my water were to break, but after my doctor consulted with a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist I was ordered over on Friday.

We got to the hospital around 2pm to find out that I was already 4cm dilated (from 2 on Monday) but Brudder was still quite high in the birth canal, but we were optimistic things would move along nicely. (and very happy we were at the hospital and not waiting around at home!!) They gave me a low dose of pitocin and the epidural right away (pitocin to keep things moving, epidural as a precaution since we were anticipating complications) So for 6 or so hours Matt and I just hung out, I didn't feel much of my contractions but we could see that they were getting closer together.

Around 10:30, Brudder's heartrate spiked to around 200 and wasn't coming down. Then, while the doc was in my room, my water started to 'leak' I felt the pop and a gush of fluid, but nothing huge - so she checked me again, the amniotic sac was still intact, so it was likely a puncture somewhere and also Brudder was still high and I hadn't dilated any more. So basically at this point I had the polyhydroamnios of unknown cause, baby high heartrate of unknown cause and now leaky water. It took her about 15 seconds to conclude the baby had to come out ASAP and about 15 minutes later he arrived via C-section.

It turns out his cord was wrapped around his head several times, so if my water had broken it surely would have been a really bad situation. In addition, because of the epidural and the way everything went down, I didn't push once (vs 20+ hours labor with Norah) and it all happened very fast! Honestly after the summer with so many false alarms and everything else, I don't know how much strength I would have had to push anyway! The doctor said she has never seen anywhere near the amount of fluid I had, and my uterus was stretched to the same point as if I had triplets, so as you can imagine, one 8lb 2oz little boy had a lot of room to spare in there.

Anyway, the great news is that other than a floppy belly, neither he nor I seem to have suffered any ill effects from the high fluid. He is a champion nurser, and had latched on within a couple of hours and my milk came in over the weekend. He eats like crazy and twice now has granted my 4 hours sleep.

I am feeling very blessed that everything happened the way it did - there is so much that could have gone wrong that didn't! Overall feeling well and much more 'normal' than we did at this point with Norah. A C-section is certainly different from the vaginal birth, and I'm thankful that I didn't essentially end up doing the work (and having to recover) from both experiences.

So, that's the scoop! Matt's home with for two weeks and then my parents for a couple of weeks so hopefully I will be mostly healed by that time. Norah is doing really great, has decided she likes him (her words) and has continued with the potty like a champ! I put a bunch of pics on facebook and updated the baby pool. More later, a really cute little guy needs me :)

Missed Blog-iversary!

I can't believe I missed my 2-year Blog-iversary! August 6, 2008 I began sharing my thoughts on working motherhood, Norah's progress and a variety of other topics. Sometimes it was therapeutic for me, sometimes it was an easy way to share news with my family, sometimes it was a way to document a milestone of some sort for future posterity. 379 posts later, we're anxiously awaiting Brudder's arrival!

Ironically, one of my very first posts was about my grandparents, whose 69th wedding anniversary would be tomorrow, August 11th. August 11th always had some good memories - we often got together with extended family to celebrate the love Nanny and Papa shared, as well as the many summer birthdays among my 20 paternal cousins (one in particular, of course - you know who you are!) We never went back to school until after Labor Day, so there still seemed to be plenty of summer left. Often the ocean, that had been warming all summer, got kicked up by some off-shore storm as hurricane season began, resulting in great surf and a lot of fun for us at the beach where we spent so much time.

So Brudder, having missed the Blog-iversary, Nanny's birthday, and the somewhat auspicious 8-9-10, how about doing your Mom a favor and showing up on the 11th? It's a good day, and my family has a history of sharing dates - anniversaries on Halloween, birthdays on Valentines Day, weddings on Birthdays and birthdays on anniversaries

Besides, I think everyone is getting tired of my blog posts about waiting and now that your sister seems to be on the brink of mastering the potty, I need some new material!

Norah News: Potty Prowess!

Check this out:
For those of you who don't have kids in daycare, you may not recognize this as the official record that our little girl managed the entire day at school with her underwear on! The one mishap was her BM, mid morning, but other than that, she kept her panties dry and peed on the toilet the entire day! Yay Norah!

Nothing to Report

Well, with 13 days to go until Brudder's due date, he's not looking like he's going to be arriving really early! Heck, Norah was 8 or 9 days early, and I wasn't even expecting her until well after her due date! I thought 8-9-10 might be a cool birthday, but at this point, I'm having only weak contractions and there are only 10 hours left of today, so I'm not optimistic. Matt's 'daddy radar' is telling him tomorrow and my sister Susan is optimistic that he will arrive on her birthday, coming up soon. The bottom line is, nothing to report at this hour!

Norah gave my "Belly Ball" a big hug and told Brudder she loved him yesterday. I also pushed her to have a few words with him about showing up soon to play with her (I'll have to deal with her disappointment later when she realizes he really can't play yet!) She continues to make great strides with the potty training and I sent her off to daycare this morning with regular underwear on (as well as a dress for ease of potty use, several extra pairs of underwear, a spare dress and a few back up outfits - we'll see how it goes) Anyway, continued progress, but definitely not a fait accompli quite yet.

So, in lieu of news, I snapped a couple of quick pictures of the kids room (getting used to saying that now, instead of Norah's room) and the change we've made. If given the opportunity, Norah would gladly walk you through each new item herself. I think it looks a bit more like a kids room now, and less like an office where we swapped the desk for a crib, like it did when Norah arrived :)

It all started with the was the new dresser/changing table. The one we were using was becoming a bit of a hazard as Norah was getting the hang of opening the big drawers (that were filled with our stuff, and not hers anyway) or trying to get up in cabinet where we had her stuff. This baby has enough room for her stuff, Brudder's stuff, the changing pad/diapers yet the drawers aren't going to squash her.

Then, the oriental-style rug that I inherited from my parents living/dining rooms about 15 years ago looked really dark and un kid-like, so we went in search of a new rug. I thought a round rug would be cool, but didn't imagine we'd find one, but voila! In a slightly jungle theme to match the decorations we do have in the room!

Then, it was on to the clutter. Clutter everywhere! We had really let the toy situation get out of control this spring we we planned the (now deferred) renovation. Many of Norah's things actually have a home (or got one, in the basement) but her books did not. There were little stacks of books all over the house, and since she really loves books (and I love her to have them) they needed a place of their own. We have one of these in the living room, known as the toy box and it seemed to be a good fit. The smaller cubbies limit the chaos one two year old can cause and the bins may or may not end up useful at some point. Norah especially likes having it near her bed and on many mornings leans over and gets a book or two for us to read before we start our day - I love the few minutes of quiet time alone with her, especially since we've been sharing our morning routine with Matt

Well, how's that for a blog entry about nothing? Waiting, waiting and more waiting... stay tuned, I'm still having contractions, though that's hardly news either any more!

Virtual Work

It may be hard for some people to get a handle on, but there are many people I work with on a daily or weekly basis whom I've never met in person. It's been this way for most of my career, but even moreso the past couple of years. I'm actually the only one on my team in my location, everyone else is around the world - from the 'locals' in Texas, Illinois, New Jersey and North Carolina, to those farther afield in Belgium, France, Germany and Singapore. Occasionally this means a road trip for me, or a meeting later in the evening, but mostly we're able to manage with email and calls at the beginning or end or our regular day.

The team I currently work on is a little different than some... it really does feel more like an actual "team". It may be that we're led by a woman, or that there are a lot more women on the team than ever before in my professional career, but it really does seem to extend to everyone. When I was so sick last month I got many Instant Messages, emails, and phone calls to see how I was doing - not just about the work!

Anyway, once a month we have a team meeting - via video conference. It's a way to at least get a feel for what people look like when it may be months or a year before you get to meet them in person. I was planning to skip the video portion of this month's meeting and just attend by phone, but it was highly suggested that I attend in person. Well, it seems the team had something up their sleeves! In addition to me presenting a nice side view of my "belly ball" as Norah has taken to calling it, a surprise package arrived in the conference room! It seems they got together and sent us a diaper cake for Brudder! What's a diaper cake, you may ask? Well take a look below - I removed the overwrap for a better photo.
The other cool thing was that the gang all contributed bibs from around the globe! There are a few more yet to arrive, but here's a small sampling. Pretty cool eh?

Puddle Jumping!

So what do you do when you come home to a giant puddle in the driveway? You put on your rubber boots and play in it of course!

In fairness I noticed one of Norah's neighbour-friends doing exactly this on my way over to pick her up and knew she would enjoy it as well, especially given the huge puddle that was left by a passing thunderstorm just a half hour before. We went redneck all the way with this one and pulled up a couple of lawn chairs to watch the fun!

Potty Progress

With Brudder expected any time now, Norah seems to have turned a corner on the Potty training front. I'm not sure what's driving the change... she's become a fan of informing me "Mom, I'm a big kid now", though only when it suits her, as she'll also tell me "I want to be a baby" on occasion as well. Maybe her Oma asking her on the phone last weekend had something to do with it, or maybe Brudder's pending arrival, I'm not sure. Maybe she just decided she's ready.

Anyway on Saturday night we had been talking about it with her, and on Sunday when she got up I asked her if she had to use the potty - to which she replied yes! So off we went, and as a 'reward' she got to wear her underwear, which seemed to go over well. Every morning since, it's been the same routine, although we're using pull-ups as the 'reward' as she's on her way to daycare, but we got the go ahead yesterday to send her over with underwear on, so we'll likely give that a try next week. She's also been going at school 3-4 times per day, up from 1-2 over the previous weeks.

Also this past weekend we got a new toilet seat for the big toilet. Ours was broken and we needed a new one, and Matt had seen this one with a built in kid seat at a friends place, so we thought we'd give it a try. We installed it Monday night, and needless to say, it's been a hit with Norah. (not bad in my opinion either, by the way!)

There were two other incidents in the past couple of days that make me think we've turned a corner. Last night she was sitting on the potty and was getting ready to wipe and wrap things up, when she stopped, handed Matt the TP and said, "Hold this, I'm not done" and hopped back on to do her business! This morning, she was off to a bit of a rough start, and wanted a diaper on the changing table, and no part of the potty. I was disappointed, and thought we had taken a step backwards, but what could I do? As the morning progressed, she started to perk up a little. When we went into the bathroom to brush our teeth she said "Mom, I pee" and proceeded to hop up on the toilet and do just that! Hooray!

Yay Norah!

Norah's Ready

To be a Big Sister!

Norah and Dad were practicing feeding her babies this weekend. She got her little mini Boppy out and spent quite a bit of time making sure "Kylie" was full of applesauce and tea!

She's a very good helper with most things, so it's no surprise that she also gave Matt a hand with his latest construction project - a trash shed! Our old friend Rhonda the raccoon has been showing up again a lot lately, and tossing the trash barrels... apparently Matt is getting sick of picking up the trash every morning before he heads to work - go figure!

In other news...

We do still manage to have a little fun around here. We swim in the lake often, and Norah's really coming along. We made a short, but very sweet trip to the big beach at the ocean last weekend, and Norah and Matt went to a neighbour's party with a bouncey house! We were also treated to a visit from my friend Molly, who recently moved to far-off Chicago, as well as Baby Claire and her mom Sue. Norah was really sweet with Baby Claire, first she was fascinated, then she gave her very gentle hugs and kisses and even sang her a song when she started to cry! Somehow I only ended up with a couple of pictures of Molly and Claire, so here you go!

Turns out Norah is not only a Super Hero, but somewhat of a Diva as well. Here she is getting ready to "go shopppin' " Thanks to Oma, who happened to be on the phone at this time and provided a few pointers for her accessories! Yes, she is wearing sparkly high heels (the play variety, I don't own such a thing for her to raid my closet!)

Last but not least (nor so fun) no update would be complete with out a picture of me and all my amniotic fluid, er, I mean big bellay. Yes, that's the same shirt you keep seeing, but at this point I have only a couple that still fit and am not about to go out and buy any more! Rest assured, they do make it to the wash on a frequent basis, thanks to Matt!

3 weeks to go!

Well, the ticker says 21 days to go, which means that Brudder has reached that magical 37 week point when babies are considered full term. I expect we'll see him sooner than that however...

It's been a challenging month, first I was knocked off my feet for a good week with some random bug. Then, we had a false alarm with contractions and a night time trip to the hospital. More recently, the cause of my giant bellay has been identified - and it's not a giant Brudder! I have Polyhydramnios, or high amniotic fluid. So basically Brudder has a giant swimming pool to himself in there. Being 37 weeks pregnant and carrying around this swimming pool, it's been a physically exhausting couple of weeks, but it's been mentally challenging as well. I'm not quite happy with the level of information I'm getting from my doctors about this condition, and it's been hard to know whether or not to be concerned. My general lack of patience in all things doesn't help of course, nor the hormones or long days waiting for testing to occur.

We discovered my high fluid levels (not to be confused with the very common pregnancy symptom of retaining fluid when your hands or feet get poofy) when we had an ultrasound of Brudder at 35 weeks. At the time, I was relieved I wasn't carrying a 12 lb baby but didn't really understand how much fluid I had, or what the complications could be. At this time they told me he was about 7lb 11 oz, but did not give me a measure for my fluid. When I went in for my next appointment, the Nurse Practitioner that I saw seemed much more concerned than when she ordered the previous ultrasound, and ordered another one for this past week. I poked and prodded but didn't get much in the way of specific answers.

I went in on Thursday for my Non Stress Test and Ultrasound. The Ultrasound Technician gave me every indication that Brudder was looking good, pointing out his 'practice breaths' and various other things. She did comment that I had a lot of fluid (no surprise, this is why I was there) but she would NOT tell me how much or any of Brudder's specs.

By this time, I had learned about something called the AFI or Amniotic Fluid Index, which is a measure of how much amniotic fluid is present. Normal range at this point in pregnancy is roughly from 6 to 18 or so, with polyhydramnios diagnosed around 25. I measured 32-35! This means I have 2-3 times the amount of amniotic fluid as is typical.

The thing about polyhydramnios is that it occurs in only 1% of pregnancies, and of that 1%, 2/3 are idiopathic, or of no known cause. (thanks to my sister Susan for not only teaching us 'idiopathic' but also doing some research and giving us a great summary before I was mentally up to the task!) My doctors have been very non specific about what my condition could mean, possible courses of treatment and so on, which I understand, but I'd have much preferred some more specifics to better understand my condition and generally just be more informed. I'm at a point now where I don't get freaked out about everything I read on the Internet, and I understand that the human body is much more art than science at times, but it was a nurse who told me I "had poly" and what my AFI was. Now that I'm rested and informed, I intend to express my dissatisfaction at my next appointment on Monday.

So where does that leave us? As far as I understand, Brudder looks good. We did a blood draw last week for something called a TORCH screen which can identify the possibility of a number of viruses that MAY be causing the polyhydramnios. While some of the possible effects of a positive are scary (various congenital defects, etc) I am reasonably confident that Brudder's not affected by any of these as his ultrasounds are look good in these areas (his heart for instance) and I believe this is common protocol for as-yet-unidentified causes of polyhydramnios. Other probable outcomes include early induction of labor, since we don't want my water to break in an uncontrolled manner - there are concerns about the placenta and umbilical cord rupturing. All of this we'll talk about at my Monday appointment.

As for the mental toll, well, I have my up days and down days. It's been like being physically 9 months pregnant for 4-6 weeks already. A couple of long days at the hospital waiting for tests and doctors also take their toll. I've been on 'light duty' for a few weeks already, and can't really handle Norah on my own, except on the best of days, so Matt's been looking after her in the morning. This is usually our time together, and I've been missing it, so it's been a challenge to try to connect with her in other ways. As for her, I think she's enjoying the extra time with Dad, even though I'm not sure she quite understands why Mom is in bed so much. I know she'll be fine in the end, but it just adds to my feelings of angst and frustration! Matt has been wonderful, not only picking up pretty much all the work around here, including nesting, but also recognizing when I need some family time and trying his best to make it happen.

So, in an attempt to keep looking on the bright side of things, I DO get to take a peek at the little guy every week these days. The ultrasound pictures aren't like the early ones, when you can see his whole body, and most aren't that cool to see. However, we did get this nice snapshot of his face this week! The quality isn't great, since I took a picture of it with my Blackberry, but it will have to do, since everyone else is still asleep and I can't reach the scanner :) Please keep us and Brudder in your prayers, odds are still in our favor that all is fine, but a few
words to the big guy upstairs can't hurt.