Briana's Journal

I was scheduled to be induced yesterday, and was supposed to be at the hospital about 7am. I got up to use the bathroom at 2:45am... pee *pop* gush. I looked at my stomach and went "You little stinker!" I called the doctor's after hours to let them know my water broke, and went to the hospital about 4:20am after eating a small bowl of cereal. At 7am, I got my epidural and went from "I don't like this" to "Ooooh, I like this!" I started pushigna bout 1pm, and he was born at 2:43pm. 12 hours of labor, whee! He's 10 pounds (!), 21.5 inches long, and has a head circumference of 15 inches. He gets the height and head from his daddy, but we have no idea how he got to be 10 pounds. I did hit 41 weeks, but I didn't have gestational diabetes, which is the usual cause of big babies. He's got red hair, which he gets from both my grandma and Sean's mom, Sean's chin and my cheeks. He's got really dark blue eyes that he won't show off. Since he's such a big boy and I'm a little me, he broke his left clavicle coming out. It's a clean break, so it'll heal on its own in about 3 weeks. We just have to keep him in long-sleeved onesies and pin his left sleeve to his shirt to keep it mostly immobile.

He's been sleeping most of the time, but it's about time to wake him up and see if he'll eat. The first time we tried, he would NOT wake up. He finally ate a few hours later, thank goodness. The nurse said if we couldn't get him to breast feed, they'd try formula, because his blood sugar was dropping. But the food itself wasn't the issue, it was trying to wake him up! It's about time to wake him up again and see if he'll eat. He was fussy last night... we gave him a paci. He'd suck on it for about 5 minutes, spit it out, then get fussy. We popped it back in, and he'd be fine for another 5 minutes until he spit it back out. He wasn't hungry, because I tried that. I finally let him sleep on my chest, and he was fine for the rest of the night, even after a diaper change.

Time to wake up the little one!

Pictures are here.

I had my appointment this morning. The bad news is that there's no real progress. I'm still about 2cm dilated, but not as effaced as they'd like. The good news is that it'll all be over one way or another by Wednesday. I have an appointment on Monday for a non-stress test (lying on a bed for 20 minutes with monitors hooked up to listen to Kelen) and an ultrasound to check the fluid levels. (Hey, more internal baby pictures!) Wednesday, I'm scheduled to be induced. This, of course, all hinges on if I haven't given birth by then. A c-section is still a possibility, but we'll have to see how the induction goes first. But in the meantime, I just have to kick my butt up onto the treadmill to see if that helps at all. And yes, I've heard of all of the other methods, which may or may not be tried. But I'm tellin' ya now, spicy food and castor oil are out!

Today is the big day, according to the calendar. It's Kelen's due date. However, he's waaaay too comfy and stubborn to come out and play. Or that's the way it seems, even though he sometimes stretches so much that it's like he's looking for another way out. I can't really complain, though. Most of this pregnancy has gone fairly well. I really haven't been uncomfortable until the last few weeks. Well, except for my leg joints. I swear, every once in awhile he'll hit a leg nerve, making it hard to walk for a few minutes. There haven't been any symptoms of labor, though, just the occasional braxton hicks.

I have an appointment with the midwife tomorrow morning, so we'll see how things are progressing, if I make it that far. They won't induce until 41 weeks, so I may have to make one more appointment.

In the meantime, I've got a nice to-do list on my desk that I need to get through today in case I don't make it in to work tomorrow.

Xander Nicholas was born this morning at 5:20am. 8 lbs 1 oz, 21 1/2 inches long. While I'm happy for Jim and Sarah, I'm pouting. I was supposed to be first!!! Too bad Kelen is too stubborn and comfy warm where he is.

Chore day comes at a price. I said that once the Christmas decorations were down, we'd clean the carpets. We've lived in this house for 7 years, and with my clumsiness, it was definitely time. At the same time, our garbage disposal died, so it needed replaced. We rented a Rug Doctor this morning and bought a new disposal. Sean started off with the carpet, but then I took over while he started on the disposal. No worries, all I did was push the machine around. Every time it needed a water change, I called Sean over to do it. Ben came over towards the end of it to help with the disposal (we couldn't get the new one back onto the flange), and to help move the couches so I could go over the bad areas again and get under the futon. The carpet looks a hell of a lot cleaner now, yay! And we once again have a disposal that works.

The price? My leg joint hurts again, and my back isn't too happy. And Sean scraped his hand getting the old disposal out. But we're going over to Ben & Angela's for dinner, so I'll be taking my heating pad with me.

Today was another appointment. I only have 2 more scheduled after this. I saw the OB doc instead of the midwife this week (I bounce between the two). He did another internal check, and I'm now at 2cm dilated. He agreed with the midwife that I'm probably not going to make it to my due date. I'm almost at 37 weeks, which is considered full term. Once I cross that mark, they won't stop labor if it starts. The doc also said that once I hit 39 weeks, I can elect to be induced if I want. (I'm currently mocking my mom, who is whining that the birth isn't scheduled, so she doesn't know when she needs to come visit.) He said I'm doing great, and my weight looks really good. I've only gained a total of 15 pounds or so the whole pregnancy. I asked about my insanely dry skin (it's the weather... Sean actually has dry skin, too), and my bad leg pains. I'll get random pains in the ball joint of my hip/leg, which makes it really hard to walk. He said that's normal, because of my adjusted weight and posture.

My next appointment is Monday, so we'll see how things are then.

We had a very good Christmas. Sean mostly got clothes (it's a UNC Christmas!) with a few other things, including his Daddy diaper bag. Sean gave me a few books (the 2 newest Xanth novels and the Doctor Who DisContinuity Guide), Farscape season 4, and the very first Doctor Who episodes - the William Hartnell years. Dad and Shannon sent us a bunch of baby stuff, including a swing. YAY! Grandma even sent us a puzzle toy for Kelen. He can't use it for a few years, but it'll wait patiently in the closet for him.

Yesterday we went shopping for some of the more immediate stuff for Kelen that we didn't have yet. We had a bunch of gift cards for Target, so we went there and Babies R Us, and got a bath tub, 2nd carseat base, a boppy pillow, a fire extinguisher (in case Mom cooks.. sorry, Mom! ;-D ), cradle sheets, another rug, diaper bag, and a baby monitor. Today we put everything away, and washed the 3 bags of Hayden's old clothes that Sean's mom gave us. The dresser is FULL of 0-3mo clothes!

Pictures of the nursery

The cradle is going to be in the living room for those afternoon naps. Once we take the Christmas tree down, we're going to re-arrange the living room a bit so I can put it where I want it.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! May you all have a safe and joyous holiday.

I took a lovely 4 day weekend to use up the last of my vacation days. I still have a few floating holidays left, but my boss says he'll make sure they'll keep until I start my maternity leave, but I didn't want to chance my 2 vacation days. Saturday, I did some Christmas shopping, shipping, and some other errands that needed to be done. Sunday, we went for wings at DD Peckers, since we're not sure if we'll be able to make it back there before I pop. One of the waitresses there has been keeping an eye on my belly. She was disappointed when she first saw me, because I was sitting down and she couldn't see my belly very well, and thought it was flat. I assured her the belly is still there. :-D Monday was my birthday. Sean took me for donuts for breakfast (a shock since he's not much of a donut person), we did a few chores (ah, the life of an adult), and then we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse with his family, and Ben & Angela. I did get the birthday embarrassment, which you have to live through to get the free dessert, but Angela saved me from the saddle-on-a-sawhorse they use by pointing out that I was pregnant. I got some clothes from the MIL (bathrobe and nightgown that I'm going to need soon), gift cards from Ben & Angela, and the BIL, and Sean got me a puzzle-a-day calendar. Those will be fun to do, as long as I can keep it from my coworkers when I come back to work. Yesterday was more shopping (blech) and more chores (blech). By the time I got home from my shopping, I was wiped, but lunch and watching Waters of Mars helped.

Now it's back to work for 2 days, off Christmas, then work Saturday before my usual weekend. I couldn't get Saturday off because I have to cover for a coworker while he's out of town. My after-Christmas-sales shopping will just have to be delayed a day.

I came into work this morning, and Jack said he was told I was gone. I pointed out that the boss most likely hadn't been panicking about no one being here (I'm covering for Jack while he's out next week) so it was obvious I wasn't out on leave yet!

Geez, I'm getting really bad at updating this. I guess I'm going more for the short/quick updates (twitter/facebook) rather than the long updates here. But let's see if I can remember what I've missed.

I had my big shower on the 6th! We got a new stroller and car seat, some lovely lovely blankets (2 crocheted blankets and a homemade quilt), lots of clothes and diapers, Sean's old rocking horse, and a LOT of Pooh stuff. Sean saw it all and said "Don't they know there are other characters, too? Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore?" We got so much bath stuff that we won't need to buy any for a few months, so many diapers that it'll last a month (heh), and sheets so that I finally made up the crib. I had a great time. :-D

Pictures of the shower

You can see how big my belly is in the shower pictures, but for the real belly pictures, check here. I'm HUGE and starting to drop. I got a little slack on the belly pictures, but I'm hoping to do them every 2 weeks until I pop. And that date is probably closer than we think! At my appointment on Monday, I was already 1cm dilated and 30% effaced. Now, a woman can be dilated for weeks and nothing happen, but my midwife doesn't think I'm quite going to make it to the 20th. We're probably looking at the week of Jan 13th. It's scarily creeping closer!

We're trying to get everything ready, since it's getting later and later. We've had the crib and dresser set up for months, but it now has clothes in the drawers and a sheet on the mattress. We bought a changing table, which was a PITA to put together. I had to re-drill one of the holes because it didn't line up properly, and buy a new screw/cam combo because one of them had gone cockeyed. We bought an unfinished bookcase, because I didn't want some flimsy thing, which I stained and have been putting polyeurothane on to finish it. I think it's finally done, and Sean's going to bring it in tomorrow night so I can start setting things up on it on Tuesday. I think I'm stalled with the room because of that, since I'm waiting to put other stuff away. And I have a HUGE bin of plush Poohs that I have to figure out what to do with. I've bought Sean so many over the years, and he said they were going to be for the baby. So I have one toy net to put them in, but there's too many for that. Maybe I'll spread them around the room once we get more settled. Pictures of the room to come when it's not quite so messy. :-D

I had another checkup today. I'm about 32.5 weeks but measuring about a week ahead, which I have the whole time. Kelen is definitely sitting angled in my stomach, with his head down and his feet off towards my right side. I'm not sure why he likes it over there, but he does. He was a little stinker, though, when listening for the heartbeat. Jan (the midwife I've been seeing) tried to hold him down while putting the mic on my belly, and he kept trying to squirm away. Everything looks good, though, and I'll be back in 2 weeks.

Sean went for his followup appointment at the same time. He's had a few complications the past 2 weeks, with 2 bouts of spitting up a *lot* of blood (which we got stopped with lots of ice water both times), and just a general thick feeling in the back of his throat. He's written out for another week because his throat isn't 100% (which with no more sick or vacation time means he's not getting paid, either), but he can return to normal activities. Which means there's no more excuse for him to not do chores or get his own food. ;-)

Christopher Eccleston (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, "Doctor Who") will play John Lennon in BBC Four's upcoming "Naked Lennon," reports Variety.

The film highlights the years from 1967 to 1971 when the Beatle was ending his first marriage to Cynthia as Yoko Ono entered his life, coping with the death of manager Brian Epstein and the group's own messy and acrimonious disintegration.

Naoko Mori ("Torchwood") will play Ono and Rory Kinnear has been cast as Epstein. Other cast members include Claudie Blakley as Cynthia Lennon and Andrew Scott as Paul McCartney.


Nooo, Tosh, don't do it! Don't play the most hated woman in Rock n Roll history!

I'm a bit behind again on updates. Let's see... weekend before last, we went to the ren faire with Sean's mom and nephew. Hayden had a good time this year, and wasn't scared of Ded Bob (the puppet, not the chicken) like he was last time. I about died laughing during the Ded Bob Show. There's a song that he sings "for the kids" that ends up with the line "Some of us were accidents." We were right in the front row and leaned in at Hayden when he sang it. (Yes, Hayden was an accident. Not a mistake, though. ;-) ) Sean and Hayden rode Davinci's Flying Machines, which Sean wasn't too thrilled over (fast spinny things bad), and Hayden actually got on the bungie trampoline jump, though he didn't go very high. Surprisingly, both Hayden and I lasted the whole day, though I was getting tired by about lunch time. A sit-down during lunch and the afternoon joust helped.

Tuesday, Sean had his tonsils out. Every time he gets a cold, it tends to knock him out harder and longer than it does me or anyone else, and usually prompts a visit to the doctor. The last cold, I told him to ask the doctor about the tonsils, who said it could be a 50/50 chance that removing them would help, and referred him to an ENT. The ENT agreed. I took the day off, and we got to the hospital about 7:30am. 8:30 or so they took him back for prep, and they let me back at 9 to sit with him. They didn't take him into surgery until about 9:45am, and after that it was the waiting game. The doctor came to talk to me once it was done, and everything went fine. He described the tonsils, and it sounded like they really did need to come out. Sean had a few problems with nausea after the anesthesia, but we finally got to go home about 4pm. Sean's doing well so far, with just a little bit of a sore throat and hadn't taken any pain meds yet. He's loving the orange sherbert, though. He's marked out of work for 2 weeks, so he'll have a nice rest with lots of liquids and video games. We'll have to wait until the next time he gets sick to see how much the surgery really helped, but I have high hopes.

Sean and I started going to childbirth prep class last week. It's no longer Lamaze, since they just tell you to breathe, not how to breathe. Last week's class was funny. The teacher had a guy put a backpack on his front, the filled it with sandbags for all of the baby weight gained during pregnancy: placenta, extra blood, fluid, and of course baby. She made all of the guys wear it, and had them do different things like pick up a dropped pencil, try to sit down and stand back up. She made Sean walk fast around the room. The one issue I really have wouldn't have been an issue for him: it's getting harder and harder to reach over counters and top shelves. But with his height, it doesn't make a difference.

Last night's class, we were practicing the different coping methods during labor, like talking to each other, focal points, and imagery, while holding ice cubes in our bare hands. We got to the imagery, and I'm trying to imagine walking the mountains in West Virginia with the sun shining through the trees, when I get kicked from the inside. Hard. He just didn't want to cooperate. I think I found my distraction, though. At one point another couple was whispering to each other, and I couldn't stop giggling. So now I may have to pack some comedy routines to distract me. :-D

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Yesterday I had a baby shower at work. It wasn't a big gathering, since that's hard to organize in a call center. But people brought me stuff at my desk, and I had fun opening it. And there was cake! Good cake, too, with whipped topping. It was mostly baby care stuff, like soap and lotion, and two packs of diapers. We also got 2 blankets, a Pooh hat/booties, a bottle cooler bag, some onesies and bibs, and a travel bouncy chair. Yay stuff!

I'm apparently in my 7th month now. Eek! Still not a lot of weight gain, but it depends on if you start from pre-pregnancy or my lowest point in my first trimester. I had my gestational diabetes test on Monday, so I'm waiting on the results for that. (Most likely negative, considering) And doctors appointments are now once every two weeks. Fun fun. So far my biggest problem is that one spot in my back, which usually clears up after I start walking a bit. And it's getting harder and harder to get from a lying position to sitting up, but that goes with the territory. :-D

A Goddess of Fertility!

http://album.veraliya.com/v/2009/goddess1.jpg.html
http://album.veraliya.com/v/2009/goddess2.jpg.html

I finished the costume about 10pm last night, then had to run out to Wal-Mart to get the drape and bracelets. I'm a tired girl today! I really like my new sewing machine. I had very few issues with it. The thread broke a few times when I went too fast, but I mostly got it figured out. And it's got cool w-style stitches.

Wow, have I been remiss lately. Let's see if I can catch up.

( daycares )

Work is moving offices, 5 minutes down the road. Friday I was helping take down cubicles (holding walls and screws, crawling on the floor to remove electrical and ethernet cabling). Friday night I started getting the sniffles, I'm hoping from the hella-amount of dust on the floor. Half of the cubicles are set up in the new building, but the other half, my desk included, aren't coming over until this Friday. Yesterday was the official move-and-cut-over day, and I stayed at the old building to pack up my desk and keep an eye on the techs still left. Today I was bouncing around the new building since I didn't have any place for my station. I finally got it set up for about 2 hours, but then they swapped out the electric outlet from a 2-plug to the one for the cubicles, which won't have actual outlets until the cubicles are installed. But at least my phone works now! Moving sucks.

Sunday night we went to the Metallica concert. We got seats on the first level all the way back against the wall, which would have been better had I been able to stand all night. Every time I sat I tried to peer through the people ahead of me. I almost reached forward two rows to bop the guy who kept swaying. I can see, I can't see, I can see, I can't see. I really wanted to see Lars drum, especially after playing Rock Band. They played some songs from Death Magnetic, along with some older stuff. I did have to stand for One (which reminded me of high school dances where a bunch of guys would head-bang to the middle of the song), Turn the Page, and Enter Sandman. I went to the bathroom at one point, and there was another pregnant woman there. She was glad there was another pregnant woman at the concert, since she thought she was the only one. :-D I did get to watch a small mosh pit, and winced a few times as guys were pushed into the railing. Kelen moved around a bit during the concert, but mostly I just felt the hardness of his back/butt/head. I hope he enjoyed it.

Stolen from several people:

The problem with LJ: We all think we are so close, but really we know nothing about one another. So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.

Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you.

I'm still thinking of questions for everyone else who posted this. Probably tomorrow.

I had another checkup today. Still haven't gained much weight, just hovering right over my pre-pregnancy weight. Though that's about 2 pounds in the past week or so, so I'm not worried. The doc/midwife didnt make any comments about it. She measured my belly (but didn't tell me, so I dunno what it is), and we heard the heartbeat again. Kelen was so squirmy and active that she had to hold down my belly to get him to stay still long enough to hear it. And he hit/kicked the mic twice. Next month is the sugar test for gestational diabetes. Blech. I have to figure out when to eat. I have a "breakfast menu", but the appointment is at 3pm. So I don't know when I'm supposed to eat, and if I can have both breakfast and lunch. Have to look this up.

On the downside, I'm coming down with a cold. I've had about 6-7 mugs of tea since the appointment, and I'm about to go make another.

The weekend visit went well. The bigger dogs, Joe and Bob, were completely scared shitless of Sammy, who would watch them, then occasionally attack. At one point, I was playing with them, tossing a small plastic ball, and Sammy was sitting at the near end of the hall. I tossed the ball towards the other end of the hall, and the dogs would NOT go after it. Quite amusing. :-D We didn't do much while the family was here, since it was an icky rainy weekend, but we did get the crib and dresser set up. They also brought down a bunch of clothes, so I got to go through those today, dividing it up by size. It was good having them visit, even if it was a bit of a madhouse. :-)

This is kinda fun. Not that I'll upload a lot of youtube videos, but at least I can if I want to, now.

Joe, one of my dad's dogs, apparently thought the logo on our treadmill was taunting him.

My cat is a nut. I actually recorded it, and Sean told me to throw it up on youtube. So here it is: