She's here!

Ahhh, to no longer be pregnant is the greatest feeling. I can bend over, sit up normally, pee a reasonable number of times in a day, all of the things you just can't do when you're 463 months pregnant.

I figure I need to get this down now before I forget! It's a pretty good story, but my mom says it was boring. Sorry, Mom.

I planned to start my maternity leave from work a week before my due date. I (incorrectly) assumed that I would go early again, since Harlowe was 5 days early and usually the second kid comes sooner than the first. So my week off was spent watching TV and running errands with my only child. We had fun, and our house was actually very tidy and clean before Avery's arrival, which was great!

I spent Friday afternoon walking around the outlet mall hoping to spark something. Nada. Saturday I woke up decided that would be the day. I could feel it. Based on...current happenings, I wondered if my water had ruptured. It definitely hadn't broken, but maybe I'd peed myself. Hey, it could happen. Harlowe and I went to Costco with my mom, went back to my parents' house for lunch, again, I wondered what I was leaking. Harlowe went down for a nap around 3 when the contractions started. After calling the doctor and Chris (who was at work still), my dad drove me to the hospital. Contractions were getting serious at that point, just a few minutes apart. I was super excited when the triage nurse checking me in was the labor and delivery nurse that I'd had with Harlowe! She was amazing and I could finally tell her in person how much I appreciated her. Her shift was ending though, and the L&D nurse I had was equally good, so all's well that ends well.

At this point I thought I was dying. My contractions were 1-2 minutes apart and crazy strong. I spent about an hour in triage before they moved me to my own room and the anesthetist showed up shortly after that. I didn't think I'd want an epidural so soon, but I was damn happy to see him when he arrived in the room! Here's why: my body had been very hard at work. I started at 2cm dilated when I started the day, and was now at 7 just 3-ish hours after my labor had started. Once the epidural kicked in, I was so happy. Like, really happy. I couldn't feel any pain, but I could still move my legs and wiggle my toes. I didn't think it would be like that. I napped, I had a bite of Jello, we watched some Pirates of the Caribbean.

My water finally broke around 9 or 10, but I "wasn't allowed" to have the baby until 11:45, due to the antibiotics I was being administered. There was meconium in my amniotic fluid, so NICU and the doctor arrived around that time to do a test push to see where I was at. My test push was very effective. Notable quotes:

Me: "I can feel something there, but it doesn't hurt."
Doctor: " I should think so, there's a frickin' head right there."

Chris and I liked 8/30 as a birthday better than 8/29, so we waited until after midnight to get cracking. Push 1, head is out. Push 2, body is out. Time of birth: 12:02. I know. The doctor said I should have 12 more kids if this is how I deliver them. And that's it! Avery is beautiful and perfect and a rock star sleeper, unless she's in her bed.

YES, I'm still here.

Still trucking, still waddling, still uncomfortable, still pregnant. 38w4d, to be exact. So maybe my doctor lied to me, or maybe Avery is very tricksy! Either way, every time I sit up in the middle night for the last week (2-3 times) I expect to feel the little POP of my water breaking. BUT NOTHING! All of the action I was feeling 1.5 weeks ago has ceased.

Which was actually a good thing, because it allowed us to finally complete the nursery! I still have things I want to do in there, but that can be done later, just like we did in Harlowe's room. I don't have the energy to worry about it now.

Harlowe loves playing in Avery's crib. She gives it 2 thumbs up.

I realize that I no longer fit in our little bathroom mirror; Avery is edging me out. Yesterday she was estimated to be 8.5-9 pounds already, and I was barely more dilated than I was 2 weeks ago. Bummer, dude. Remember when I was waffling over an epidural or not? I no longer waffle. It's happening. I think, I mean I'm pretty sure...

I have 2 theories for Avery's birthday. One - just like with Harlowe, I will pack up my desk on a Friday afternoon and peace out, and my water will break that night. Two - also just like Harlowe, Avery will want to share a birthday with her auntie. Well, it just so happens that Auntie Laura's birthday is on Sunday! Whatever she has planned, we're basically ready for her. I can't wait to meet my second little princess (and also to not have her clawing at or resting on my cervix)!

Booyah, full term!

37 weeks today, woohoo! I swear there is some magic happening in there, but nothing with enough significance to worry. First things first, my non-pregnant family needs to return from Montreal, then my sister needs to have her baby, then Avery. Everything in the right order, please!

Avery keeps moving from her normal butt-in-my-upper-right-quadrant angle to the ready-for-birthin' head down position. As I've said, my torso is not as long as a folded baby, so she just doesn't FIT that way. There's still lots of shifting and rolling and random bumps everywhere. Sorry, kid!

She's dropping, that's for sure. My heartburn has all but disappeared, and I can still fit a shocking amount of food in my stomach. I'm also not as out of breath, which is awesome! My doctor thinks I'll go into labor in my 38th week, so start making your wagers! I hope my water breaks again, because as scary as it is to realize that OH SH&@, we're having a baby today or tomorrow, I like that idea more than laboring for days.

Nesting hardcore this week and last, did a few loads of tiny laundry, some major registry finishing shopping trips, and finished the last of the freezer meals I had planned to make. Whew! Her room will have some furniture in it tomorrow, finally. Then maybe some of my nighttime nervous energy will subside, which would be nice...until then, maybe I'll get one more post in before D-Day, we'll see!

Tick tock, little one

This will be a quick update, because I really need to put my feet up...as I sit at the computer, my right foot is threatening to cramp up at any moment!

I'm now halfway through the 35th week, which means I'm one day closer to being full term. This point of pregnancy really sucks, because you're huge and uncomfortable and want this kid OUT, but also want her to be fully baked and not have any issues after birth. Also we're SO not ready for her yet!

The construction in her room is 98% done and it's going to be amazing once we finally get some things in there. Both of our families threw or are throwing showers for their knocked up children, which is wonderful! The things on our list are much more specific this time around, since we have most of the important stuff already. And we know what we need/want for the do-over. If there's one advantage to having a second kid, that is it - experience!

I started having actual contractions last week, which is so much fun...I didn't have any with Harlowe until my water broke, so this has been a real treat. Nothing to get too excited about, and my doctor will check out the, uh, internal progress next week. Until then, my body will just keep practicing!

For comparison, here I am in my usual bathroom and PJ pic with Avery, and the classier backyard shot at 35w5d with Harlowe. Um, yikes. Avery is a big freakin' bowling ball.

The birthing game

Getting closer! Now that there is only 7 weeks left on the countdown, I suppose I should start thinking about the super bad nasty part of being pregnant - the actual giving birth part. When it's your first kid, you don't know what to expect going in. You can listen to your friends' horror stories, read all of the books to prepare yourself, and it doesn't matter. You will have a different experience than all of them. Even when it's not your first time, every birth is unique. Things will not happen the same way as before.

This is where my head is at...Harlowe's birth was easy. I went in with no real expectations. I wanted to see how far I could go naturally, and it turned out I could go all the way. My body seemed to know all about this birthing business and did its thing like a champ! Water broke, labored without me doing much work (walking around or standing was more painful, so I stayed in bed like a lazy ass and my cervix kept going anyway), pushed for a while and out she came a short 10 hours later!

Now I know how painful it is to do without meds. Do I want to put myself through that again? I also know how nice it was to get up shortly after (could have been 15 minutes or 2 hours, I couldn't tell you, I don't remember anything!) and pee by myself. I also know that feeling the urge to push was super helpful. But Harlowe's pregnancy was easy compared to Avery's, is that an indication of how her birth will be?! In conclusion, I still have no real expectations for Avery's birth and will adjust my needs on the fly in the delivery room...

So I'm definitely bigger than 2 weeks ago. I looked at the side by side, just trust me. She's starting to move up into my stomach space, because I'm getting more heartburn these days. At the same time it feels like she's riding low and that she might tear out of my body like someone sliced off the beach ball. Whoa, that was a gruesome image, apologies.

The underside of my belly has become the dark side of the moon. I have no idea what's going on down there. I barely have any nerve endings in my super stretched out skin and sometimes don't even realize that it's hanging out the bottom of my shirts, which are shrinking. I swear they are!!

Braxton Hicks contractions continue to drive me bonkers, so I'm trying to take it easy when I can.





Room progress! She has a door! It needs to be painted, but at least it exists in our house. The mobile I got on Etsy arrived and it's crazy adorbs and I'm starting to get really anxious to get everything in there and hung up and organized because tick tock...I also need to freeze some meals, wash clothes, get the car seat out of the attic and probably wash that too, because ew, baby voms from Harlowe, etc etc etc!

I can't see my feet!

It's too hot to pregnant.*

*to pregnant = to carry a fetus in your belly, a mostly uncomfortable and unpleasant experience, especially when it's 90 degrees IN YOUR HOUSE.

It was definitely not this hot of a summer when I was pregnant with Harlowe. What a dream that was! It's 9pm and literally 84 in our living room. I'm thinking of taking up residence in the bathtub with cold water for the next few weeks. I'll see you all when it's fall, okay bye.

Today marks 31 weeks, 3 days. Avery is the size of a coconut? Weird, but whatever, that's what my app says. She still is sitting diagonally across me with her head in my left hip, just like Harlowe did (aw, sisters!). With only a 8-9 weeks left, I find myself trying to figure out which body part is sticking out while I still can. Sometimes when I sit a certain way, her head goes straight down and it feels like she might burst out of my skin.

Speaking of skin, I'm starting to feel like I want to tear mine off. The hormones that loosen your joints in preparation for birth are starting to kick in and I simultaneously want to run laps and take naps. It's hard to concentrate on things these days...

 Her room! Is still empty. But it IS painted with window trim and baseboard! Next, probably a door? Maybe some furniture after that. I have a lamp and a mobile. And that box of diapers on the floor. This is not good preparation, kids. We'll get there some day. Maybe.

3/4 of the way there

Well. Here we are at 30 weeks! Officially tomorrow, but whatever. Heading into the home stretch, it's safe to say that I need to slow down. Braxton Hicks contractions are the story of my life the last few days. They don't hurt, they're just annoying. It is a good reminder that maybe I shouldn't have gone to Costco today after taking (a kicking, screaming) Harlowe to the dentist and then spending hours on my feet at my company picnic...

Baby Avery is a mover and she faces out, so all of her feet and elbows and shoulders (seems like there's at least 47 of them) are constantly jabbing my belly. I feel like I might have internal bleeding. At least her head is currently in the right place! I already know she's longer than Harlowe was at only 18" because I feel her feet under my rib when she stretches out. Then when I laugh or cough it pops back into place. That can't be normal, right?

As far as her room goes, sigh...I decided what crib and dresser to go in it? It's time to get babysitters for Harlowe so that thing can be finished!


And here's me. I'm definitely larger than I was 3 weeks ago, Now my belly holds the door open for me! I'm still trying to figure out if I'm bigger than I was with Harlowe (below). Avery is such a different shape that I can't really tell. Maybe it's obvious to the rest of you, help me!!