Seven Months Old

Dear Zobot,

Please forgive my tardiness on this post. You are keeping me very busy these days!

Look how big you are! From your seven month picture you look like a chubby baby, but in real life you still look and feel like a little peanut. You're actually wearing age-appropriate sizes now, which makes shopping easier. With all the solids we've been feeding you lately I wouldn't be surprised if you weighed 20 pounds already. In the last month you've significantly increased your mealtime repertoire. You've now tasted squash (zucchini, butternut, and spaghetti varieties), green beans, broccoli, carrots, apples, pears, sweet potatoes (regular and Japanese), turkey, chicken and a variety of cereals. I mean wow. You eat solids three times a day, plus at least 30 ounces of formula, and you're still waking up almost every night. What's the deal? You just miss your ma and want to see her at all hours of the night. I knew it.

I still haven't heard you say 'mama', but dad and Aunt Rachel have. Boo.

Your two bottom teeth have come through and it's sooooo incredibly cute when you smile really big so we can see them. You're so happy all the time so we get to see those teeth a lot. Some things you enjoy right now are your jumper (you jump so hard in it sometimes I think you might flip it over!), blocks, books, and the wooden Brio toys that Grandma C. got you. Pretty much anything you can fit in your mouth is awesome to you.

Christmas is in two days and I cannot wait to watch you open your presents. I know this year is more for me than it is for you, and that's okay. You met Santa this year, and even though you have no idea why it made for a great photo op for your scrapbook (which I still haven't started). Another photo op that will be great - your first crawling! Two days ago you made one crawling movement and dad and I were so proud of you! We can see that you really really want to crawl, you're just not sure how to make it all come together. You do, however, think you can walk already, as you're always reaching for our hands to pull you up and take you around the room. I think we're going to have a lot of back pains in our near future since this is your number one favorite activity. It makes you so happy I can never say no.

I've missed you so much while I'm at work lately. I always do, but lately it's been a lot harder to get through the work day. I mean who wouldn't want to hang out with you all day! Aunt Rachel is so lucky! We had pictures taken to commemorate you turning six months old, and they turned out amazing. I look at these when I miss you and I can't help but smile.

Merry Christmas Zoers!

Six Months Old

Zobotski - so much has happened in the past month. Where to begin...

First of all, you said your first "word" - dada. It's the cutest thing I've ever ever heard. You also said mama a couple times, but not when I was around so I'm pretty sure that doesn't count.

Secondly, you got your first tooth! There are actually two coming through your bottom gums, which has made for some miserable days for you. You've been a little fussy here and there, though it's nothing ma and pa can't handle. I tried to get a picture of them but this was the best I could do:
In the past couple weeks you've been sitting up so well! You've done a couple face plants but mostly you're doing awesome, learning to balance yourself and leaning forward on your legs. Yesterday you sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time and today you mastered a shopping cart. You are officially big time! You're incredibly curious lately too. You like different textures and reach out to grab anything that looks interesting. Anything in your line of sight is reached for and then shaken vigorously. The look on your face when you discover something new is priceless.

You absolutely LOVE "walking" with mom and dad holding your hands. Since you love standing up so much we got you a ridiculously large and garish Baby Einstein jumper, which keeps you pretty happy with all the gadgets and dangly things that hang from it. One day you played so hard you crashed out mid-jump:

You're still sleeping about 10-12 hours a night and you're on a good two nap schedule, though lately you've been waking up several times in the middle of the night. The doctor said this means we need to up your solid food intake, so you've been enjoying a variety of veggies: squash, zucchini and carrots, plus oatmeal and barley cereal. We held off on the fruits until a couple days ago, when you tried apples for the first time. We thought you would love them but you made the worst face and even gagged a bit!

We think you're going to start crawling very soon. If you only had the upper body strength to get up on your hands you would surely take off. For now I really like that I can lay you on the floor and you don't go anywhere, so no rush on being mobile.

A very exciting time is just ahead of us, little lamb. Next week is your first Thanksgiving, and then your first Christmas is just around the corner. Your silly parents are so excited we can barely stand it. I can't believe you're already halfway to your first birthday. We're having so much fun watching you learn and change every day.
Long story short - you. are. the. coolest. ever. That is all.

Jealous?

It's Friday.

9:00pm:
Jimmy goes to put Zoey to bed, and I head to the kitchen to clean up after dinner and wash bottles.

9:40pm:
I get done with the kitchen and go into the living room. Jimmy and the dogs are asleep on the couch. At first I think "Lame! I thought we would watch a movie together!" But then I think "Awesome, I get the computer and the T.V."

And then I died a little inside.

Ah, parenthood.

First Word

Zoey said "dada" tonight! Jimmy was putting her to bed, and while I was getting him a refill on her bottle he was talking to Zoey to keep her awake. He kept saying "dada" to her, like he does many times a day, and eventually she repeated it. And it was sooooo cute. She was staring right at him, and you can tell she was trying and thinking really hard, and when it came out it was the cutest thing ever. I don't even mind that it wasn't "mama". You could practically see Jimmy melt right there. He's done for. That girl is getting anything she wants from him for at least the next 15 years of her life.

Five Months Old

Zobot the Robot, you are one awesome little lady. Now that you're five months old you've mastered rolling from your back to your stomach, you've added vegetables to your daily eating repertoire (butternut squash, made by mom), and you laugh with ease. You absolutely love to stand up, and every time you pull yourself up on our hands you open your mouth up really big, like this, because you're just so proud of yourself:

You are such a happy baby, and you're constantly babbling, smiling and laughing. Some things that make you crack up: when Aunt Rae fake sneezes, doing "earthquake tests" in your highchair, when mom and dad blow raspberries on your belly and cheeks, and doing the airplane. You do a strange spitting/raspberry thing when you're mad now, so we definitely know when your mood changes! You really like taking walks now that you've traded in your old carseat frame stroller for some new wheels, so you can sit up now when we go out. We think you might be teething because anything that gets within an inch of your mouth gets slobbered and chewed on.

At night you're still sleeping 10-13 hours, and it seems you've mastered nap time! For the past week you've taken two nice long naps a day, which makes mom and dad very happy. Last weekend we saw another first - your first road trip, to Dallas - and you got to meet lots of mom's family. And you were a champ {almost} the whole time.

Zoey, you're so much fun, and I can't believe you're almost half a year old. You make me feel young and old, silly and responsible, all at once. I can't believe it gets any better than this.

Our Life: Then and Now

So you know everything there is to know about Zoey, but how are mama and papa bear these days?...

Ashley & Jimmy, Before Child










This was taken on our last minute trip to Chicago to see the Cubs in the playoffs in 2008. We were far from spontaneous pre-parenthood but we had our fun. Most weeknights were spent making dinner together, enjoying some T.V., going for a walk, hanging out with the dogs. On the weekends we would sleep til noon if we wanted. If I got up early enough I might meet a friend for coffee and go to the farmer's market. Ah, just thinking about sleeping in makes my heart happy.

Jimmy never went out much but I enjoy a nice night on the town. I loved to sit on the porch at Vintage, savoring a nice glass of wine and the always entertaining company of Sarah, Chase and Natalie. Or hanging out at McNellie's enjoying some sweet potato fries and Guinness with Kayci and Jake. After shutting the bar down we would stop off for Taco Bell and then stay up a couple more hours watching old comedies and listening to Jimmy and Jake make fun of each other. Those were the good ol' days.

Jimmy and I really enjoyed trying new restaurants and going out to eat regularly. If we didn't feel like making dinner we just got in the car off we went (this is a luxury I so took for granted). It's the little things you miss.

The McIntosh Family, After Birth










A typical weekday: I get up around 6:00am, get ready and hope Zoey will wake up before I have to go to work (she usually doesn't). Thank GOD for my sister, who watches Zoey at our house, so we don't have to worry about waking her up and getting her ready every morning. After work I rush home to hang out with the little lady. Jimmy and I trade off playing with Zoey while the other makes dinner. Zoey's bed time routine starts around 8:00, so while one of us is giving her a bath, feeding her and putting her to bed, the other washes bottles and cleans up the house. If she doesn't fight going to sleep (she usually doesn't if we get started before she gets too tired), then Jimmy and I get to spend a little time together watching our latest Netflix selection before we have to go to sleep.

On the weekends we rotate who gets up with Zoey, so we each get to sleep in one day. She's been sleeping until 8:00 or 9:00am so we've been getting some decent sleep on the weekends. I love it when it's my day to get up with her, because she's so happy and smiley in the morning. Even when it's my day to sleep in I usually end up getting up because I can hear Jimmy and Zoey blowing raspberries and cracking up in the living room, and I hate to miss the fun. Since I only get a few hours with Zoey on weekdays I like to spend as much time with her as possible on the weekends. Needless to say I'm not spending all night at the bar anymore. I'm fortunate to have a husband who is a very involved and confident father, so I can go out of the house as I please; however I find that even when I have the freedom to go and do whatever I want, all I want to do is rush home to hang out with my little Zo-bot.

Jimmy and I have been out together without the baby a total of four times. The first time was at the end of July, for my company picnic. I know it's important that we spend time together, just the two of us, but it's almost impossible to completely relax and enjoy it. It's so liberating at first to be able to leave the house without a baby, car seat and giant diaper bag in tow. But not long after we drive away I start to feel the guilt of leaving the baby with someone else. Even if I can get over that I still rush around, whether it's at the grocery store or on a date with Jimmy, because I miss Zoey so much and I can't wait to just look at her little face again. It's pathetic, really.

Jimmy and I are so happy to have started our little family, even though that means life is more challenging. We have to remember to make those little moments we have alone together really count, and sometimes the exhaustion takes its toll and we bicker a bit. Not to sound too cliche, but all in all we're very happy and I know everyday I feel so grateful for everything we have. And I think we make a pretty kick-ass parenting team. On a regular basis we find ourselves just staring at Zoey in amazement and saying "Wow. We did that?" She's just the coolest ever. The end.

Zoey will be five months old on Monday. Where has the time gone...

Hilarious.

Need something to brighten your day? Watch this.



The end.

Four Months Old

Oh, Zobot. You're four months old now, which means you do all kinds of cool stuff, like rolling from your stomach to your back, laughing, smiling, babbling, and chewing on whatever you can get your hands on. Just the other day you discovered a new sound - screeching at the top of your lungs - and you like to do it often to display a range of emotions: happy, sad, tired, irritated. You're still sleeping through the night and you're getting better at napping. When you were first born you looked a lot like your dad, but little by little you're starting look more like ma. You seemed to have discovered your feet over the weekend, so those are providing lots of entertainment to you these days. Most of your time is spent hanging out with Aunt Rachel, since she watches you while ma and pa go to work (though we would much rather be kickin' it with you), and she keeps you on a steady rotation of tummy time, play mat fun, swing time and bouncer excitement, which is your favorite. You're getting more hair and growing so fast! It's hard to believe that at the beginning of the summer you weighed less than six pounds, and now here we are at the start of fall and you're a chubby little baby. A ridiculously adorable and amazing chubby baby.


Every day I feel like the luckiest person alive because of this beautiful little lady and my amazing husband. It's crazy how our life has changed since Zoey arrived but we've managed to adapt pretty well and I feel so fortunate to have all this going on. I can't wait to see what new and exciting milestones the next month brings!

Adventures in Semi-Solids

Zoey had her four month check up last Thursday and came out with a perfect report! The doctor said she looks great and is developing right on track. She again mentioned how lucky we are that Zoey is sleeping so much at night, which really makes me nervous for future child[ren]. I don't know how many times I've heard, "You'll never be this lucky again!" Zoey doesn't need siblings, right?

The stats:

• Weight: 13 pounds (45th percentile)
• Length: 24 3/4 inches (77th percentile)
• Head: 41 1/2 cm (72nd percentile)

The doctor gave us the okay to start rice cereal if we think she's showing the signs that she's ready - good head/neck control (check), drooling (for sure), increased appetite (oh yeah). So we gave it a go yesterday, which resulted in this face -
Zoey did pretty well for a first timer. At this point we just want her to get used to eating a different way than how she's used to (bottles), so we're just happy that she's opening her mouth when the spoon comes towards it. I don't think she cares for the taste so much but surely she'll get used to it.

Zoey turns four months old this weekend. Wow. We will celebrate by visiting no less than three - count 'em, three - festivals: Greek, Scottish, Rock 'n Rib. It is sure to be a tasty weekend.

What's Up With Zoey: Week 15

I have this amazingly cute video of Zoey chatting at me that I really wanted to post here but it won't load. Boo. I hate technology. Basically she "talks" to us a lot now and it's so adorable you want to stab yourself in the eye. Yeah, it's THAT adorable.

So what's new with the little lamb... Zoey is still sleeping through the night, about 11-13 hours straight. I'm still so amazed by this. Her napping is not so good though, so by the time we get home from work she has about 45 minutes of good mood left and then the rest of the night she's fussy. As mentioned already she's babbling a lot. She said "ma" last weekend, though I'm sure she wasn't referring to me. I think it's a little early for her to be making that connection, but it still made my heart melt when she said it. Zoey is now reaching for and grasping things, especially her frog blanket given to us by one of my coworkers. She still really loves it when we sit her up and stand her up, and will only lay flat for a short period of time before she's had enough. This may sound silly, but she's like a 'real' baby now!

Zoey still can't sit up on her own or play on her own for long, so we spend a lot of time just looking at her, making faces at her, making farting sounds on her belly, that sort of thing. Well we noticed this past week that she's trying to imitate all of our weird faces and sounds. Jimmy will make "razzing" sounds at her and when he's done she'll stick her tongue out and kind of spit back at him. It's so awesome to see her trying to mimic him! As I mentioned before, it's the little things that make being a parent fun. To any onlookers I'm sure we look nuts, but we're having a blast.

I can't believe I almost forgot the most important part - she LAUGHED last Saturday! And I'm the one who made her laugh! It was so so great. I spent the rest of the night trying to get her to laugh again and she just kept giving me this look like come on, mom, I'm not your monkey. Hey, I had to try.

Lookin' good, Zobot!

EDIT: Third try is the charm! Here is the video, courtesy of Photobucket.

Family Outing Failure

Since Zoey arrived Jimmy and I have been cooped up in the house quite a bit. Any time we need to go out into the world for food, supplies, or that "sunlight" stuff, one of us will stay at home with Zoey and the other will hurriedly run the errands. It's so much easier this way, since we don't have to pack up the little lady and her suitcase of necessaries or plan our outings around her eating and sleeping schedule. Well the hermit life was dragging on us so we decided to plan a family outing for last weekend. Jimmy wanted to do something outdoors but since it was going to be over 100 degrees again we decided against that. So we kept it simple and decided to go to Savastano's and watch the Cubs game. If you're not familiar, Savastano's is this pizza place that prides itself on being very "Chicago-style", so they play all the Cubs games and serve Old Style beer and deep dish pizza. Jimmy is a HUGE Cubs fan and Zoey needed an excuse to wear her Cubs onesie, so off we went.

Clue #1 that this was a bad plan: Zobot woke up after only a 45 minute nap and was not happy. I pretended like I didn't notice because I really wanted to take her out.

Clue #2 that this was a bad plan: When we walked into the restaurant they were showing football, no Cubs game to be found. Bad sign.

It started off pretty well but, long story short, as soon as our food arrived (of course), Zoey started crying. And not just wimpering a little bit, I mean crying like she meant it. We couldn't get her to calm down so I quickly put her in the car seat and took her outside while Jimmy paid, boxed up my food and chugged the rest of my beer (can't let a good Blue Moon go to waste). We were slightly embarrassed. We might as well have had "NEW PARENT" stamped on our foreheads.

That kind of ruined my Saturday. Luckily I had friends over for game night later on so that made up for it. Next time if Zoey is not fully rested I will not - repeat, will NOT - take her out unless absolutely necessary. When this girl is tired she wants to sleep, period. When she is hungry she wants to eat. Don't mess with her schedule and nobody gets hurt!

Here's hoping the next outing goes better...

Three Months Old!

Wow. It's been three months since Zoey made her grand entrance (or exit, rather). She's smiling, babbling and trying really hard to laugh. She loves it when we hold her up so she can sit and stand up - lying down is simply not tolerated for longer than a couple minutes at a time. She's very close to rolling from her back to her stomach and she holds her head up like a champ. We think she's starting to get teeth too, but that's a post for another day.

As for those parents of hers - Jimmy and I have learned so much these past three months. The new, terrified parents of mid-May have nothing on the seasoned mom and dad of late summer. I wish I could go back and visit myself that first week and give some reassurance - it was so stressful and tiring, I didn't know how I would get through it. There were a few days were I got only an hour of sleep, and now Zoey sleeps about 12 hours at night. I used to be terrified to take Zoey out of the house (what if she cries in public?!), and now I look forward to taking her out on the town. What a difference a few months make!

Long story short, Zoey is the coolest baby ever and Jimmy and I are the luckiest people in the world. We love you, Zobot!

What's Up With Zoey: Week 11

Okay so the title of this post isn't completely accurate - Zoey is actually 12 weeks old today, but I didn't get to blog until now so let's pretend it's last week, shall we? After Zoey went to the doctor for her two month check up, about a week and a half ago, she stopped sleeping through the night. Ohhhh we were so bummed. We started putting her to bed earlier at the suggestion of her pediatrician (Zoey had been getting fussy during her nighttime feeding every night), and once we started doing that her sleeping became more erratic. That lasted about a week and a half and now she's starting to sleep better. From what I understand most babies aren't sleeping this well at this age, so we definitely feel very fortunate to have such a... well, sleepy, baby! Zoey is doing great all around. She's so cute and chubby and I could just stare at her all day long. :)

• Age: "11" weeks [*wink*]
  
• Weight: probably around 11 pounds
  
• Length: 22 1/2 inches
  
• Meals: 4-7 ounces at each feeding, about five to seven times a day.
  
• Bed time: 9:00-10:00pm
  
• Sleep: We had a rough week and a half where she would wake up a couple times a night but now we're back on track!
  
• Milestones: Zoey is reaching for things, supporting herself with her legs when held up, and we got a laugh two days ago! It totally melted my heart.
  
• Sounds: Lots of chatter coming from Zoey, and the aforementioned laugh.

She's perfect. :)

What's Up With Zoey: Week 10

This has been a week that started poorly and ended wonderfully. Zoey's first day at day care was Monday and her last day was Tuesday. Long story short, Aunt Rachel decided she couldn't live without seeing Zo-bot five days a week so she offered to nanny for us full time! You have no idea how relieved we are. I know she probably would have been okay in day care but for now while she's so young it's probably better that she's at home with family. Plus it's super awesome that we don't have to wake her up in the morning to feed her and get her ready. She can wake up when she's ready and Aunt Ray is there to take care of her. Hooray!

Zoey had her two month appointment yesterday, and this is when the immunizations begin. Jimmy and I are okay with giving vaccines, however we aren't sure we like the amount of vaccines they give at once so we decided to do an alternate schedule. So instead of the normal five to six shots she would have gotten on the usual schedule, yesterday Zoey got only one shot and one oral vaccine. Since we're doing fewer shots at each visit this of course means that we will have to go to the pediatrician twice as much, but the peace of mind is worth the inconvenience. Zoey was also weighed and measured (see below) and checked out in general by the doctor, who said Zoey looks great! She and the nurse were surprised at how long and how well she is sleeping. I guess Zoey's doing really well for a baby her age. She's quite advanced, I knew it.

• Age: 10 weeks
• Weight: 10 pounds 14 ounces, 35th percentile (she's almost doubled her birth weight!)
  
• Length: 22 1/2 inches, 31st percentile
  
• Meals: 4-6 ounces at each feeding, about six to eight times a day.
  
• Bed time: 9:00-10:00pm. The pediatrician recommended we put her to bed earlier than we had been since we reported some eating struggles before bed which could be a result of Zoey being overtired.
  
• Sleep: Zoey is still sleeping through the night, about 8-10 hours straight. Woohoo!
  
• Milestones: Nothing new this week but she is smiling more often.
  
• Sounds: Hear for yourself...
  

Day Care: Day One

This morning was not fun. I just had a bad feeling about leaving Zoey with someone I barely know all day. I teared up a few times but was able to hold it together pretty well once I got to work. Of course I kept thinking about her all day long. Needless to say this was not my most productive day on the job. I stopped in to check on her on my lunch break and she was doing just fine. She doesn't understand that she's away from mom and dad all day, all she cares about is eating when she's hungry and sleeping when she's tired. As long as her needs are met then I'm not sure she really cares yet who is watching after her. That makes the transition easier for her but I'm still a wreck! I know each day will get easier, but wow, I really missed her.

What's Up With Zoey: Week 9

We're nine weeks into life with Zoey and I've already forgotten what she was like just a few weeks ago. It seems like she's changing so fast now and I want to remember all the little things she's doing week to week. I thought I would try to do a weekly update with highlights of her activities and changes, kind of like I did to track my pregnancy. The topics may change as we go along but it will generally look something like this:

• Age: 9 weeks
• Weight: Not sure. Zoey has a doctor appointment next week so we will have an official number then. Let's just say she looks normal baby size now.
• Length: I'll measure her in the morning...
  
• Meals: 4-6 ounces at each feeding, about six to eight times a day.
  
• Bed time: 10:00pm
• Sleep: Great! She just started sleeping through the night this week. Mama is way stoked. She also takes about three naps a day.
  
• Clothing size: Some newborn outfits and mostly 0-3 month outfits.
• Favorite toys/activities: We do tummy time twice a day, and she always holds her head up really well and kicks around a lot. Zoey really likes her play gym and bats and kicks at all the dangling items - rattles, stuffed toys, and other noisy things. The bouncer is the favorite right now - it vibrates, plays music and has interesting lights and things to look at - lots of fun for a little one. Another "activity" she likes is to lay on her changing table and stare at the painting on the wall next to it. She really gets a kick out of it, I have no idea why, but it's so cute to watch her kick around and talk to the bird in the painting.
  
• Milestones: Zoey can roll from stomach to back now! She is also starting to smile with some regularity. I have only seen one smile, and today she smiled a lot at Rachel while I was at work (boo). She always seems so serious so I can't wait to see her little face light up more often! She can also grasp toys with her little hands.
  
• Sounds: She chats at us pretty regularly. It's the cutest thing you'll ever hear in your whole life, honest to god.

I started back at work last Thursday, and it's going much better than I thought it would. It's good for me to get out of the house regularly and have things to work on and interact with other adults (I love talking to Zoey but unfortunately she doesn't talk back yet). But I hate that I only have a few hours with Zoey each night, and she's been napping for part of that time lately so that makes our time together even shorter. Having to work makes me really appreciate the time that we do have together.

Zoey starts daycare on Monday. Not looking forward to it. I've been giving her pep talks every day, telling her she has to be brave when she goes to day care and to not cry too much. Maybe I'm giving myself a little pep talk at the same time, because I know this will be harder on me than it will be on her. Luckily she will only be in day care on Mondays and Tuesdays and Rachel will be watching her the rest of the week, but that first half of the week is going to kill me. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually but it's going to be rough for a while. *sad face*

Ask and ye shall receive!

Zoey slept ALL NIGHT last night! Holy cow! She went to bed at 10:00 and woke up at 6:45. I woke up so confused when it was 6:00 and I had yet to be disturbed by baby cries. My little girl is a champ! It's been so much easier to put her to bed lately too. Day by day it all gets a little easier. I love it. That's what helps me keep my sanity. I keep reminding myself that these many time consuming daily activities we have to do - eight to nine bottle feedings a day, pumping four times a day, hand washing bottles every night, the endless attempts at burping a nearly un-burpable baby, and the diapers (oh, the diapers!) - are all temporary. Eventually she will feed herself and will not require bottles, I will give up pumping, the gas will hopefully let up and then potty training will be just around the corner. Some of these milestones are a long way off but I tell myself what I have to in order to maintain my sanity. And this sleeping through the night thing sure is helping my cause!

Keep it up, Zoemeister!

Success!

Zoey slept seven hours straight last night! I just had to document this amazing occurrence. She's been sleeping about four to six hours at the first stretch lately, which hasn't been too bad. She will usually go to bed around 9:30-10:00, then wake up between 2:00am and 4:00am to eat, then back to bed for two to three hours. Last night she went to bed at 10:00 and woke up at 5:00. Score! Now if she can make it to 6:00 that would work great with my morning routine! Come on, Zoey, make mommy proud!

Parental lesson learned: It's the little things that count, and you learn to really appreciate these small wins.

Two Months Old

My little lady is two months old today. Wow. So much has happened in the last two months, it feels like it's been two years. What Zoey's up to now: she holds her head up really well, likes to kick and bat at the toys that dangle from her play gym, and makes the cutest little babbling sounds I've ever heard. She has us wrapped around her little finger.

My intention was to update the blog weekly, but in retrospect that was quite an ambitious goal with a newborn around. I'm going to do a look back at the past 8.5 weeks and try to document all the highlights in one post. Should be a doozy. Stay tuned.

My Birth Story

Zoey must be impatient like her mama because she decided to arrive two weeks early, on May 18. The past three weeks have been crazy and in retrospect have gone by way too fast. I think I'm sort of starting to get the hang of this mom/baby thing! But first thing's first - here's the birth story.

I was well into my 35th week and had not yet had one contraction. Not that I'm complaining at all. I think it was Saturday, May 15 when I first felt something similar to mild cramps in my back but that was it. On Monday the 17th Jimmy and I were relaxing on the couch, watching Friends, when I noticed a couple more back cramps. Jimmy said we should time them and I said that was ridiculous, there's no way these are contractions. They were hardly noticeable! He went ahead and timed them anyway and they were something like 27, 35, and 33 minutes apart. So I told him he was silly and to calm down, we still have two weeks to go! Sarah was returning that evening from a semester in Italy so Chase and I went to the airport around 9:30pm to welcome her home. Then I came home and went straight to bed because I was exhausted as usual.

For some reason I woke up at 3:15am. I decided to go ahead and go to the restroom, since I had been getting up two to three times a night for that anyway. I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure at this point I had my bloody show. Then as I'm sitting on the toilet I hear a 'pop' sound, which is a very unsettling thing to hear coming from your body. I sit there for a minute just in case, but nothing happened. So I went back in the room to see what What to Expect has to say about this. I had been to 12 weeks of child birth classes but I could not remember what to do when I saw the bloody show! The book didn't say to run to the hospital so I went back to bed and told Jimmy not to panic but I think I just had my bloody show. He sounded concerned but quickly fell back to sleep. Not 20 seconds later the flood gates opened - my water broke in our bed! I hurried to the bathroom where I continued to leak. I yelled to Jimmy that my water broke, at which time he sprang out of bed and started darting around the house, preparing for our dash to the hospital. It was like something out of a movie - pregnant lady is calm and collected and the father-to-be is panicky and anxious. I couldn't help but laugh at him a few times. Luckily I had my hospital bag packed and ready to go. Jimmy, however, had to scramble to get his stuff together, plus type up our birth plan (which we kept putting off). He also synced the iPod, which is another task we had delayed in completing because our iTunes was being finicky. While Jimmy tried to get things together I showered, made the bed, cleaned up the kitchen a little, packed the cooler and tidied up the living room. At around 4:30am we were ready to go. We were both so excited and in disbelief that this was actually happening!

I was definitely excited to be in labor, but not so happy that it had started with my water breaking. The plan all along had been to labor at home for a while, until my contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart, and then go to the hospital because the longer you're in labor at the hospital the more chance you have of the doctors wanting to intervene to move things along. Well when your water breaks you pretty much have no choice but to go to the hospital right away. Usually doctors won't let you go longer than 18-24 hours after your water breaks, plus since I'm group B strep positive I needed to have time to get two rounds of antibiotics before the baby was born. So it was off to the hospital we went.

Luckily we did our hospital preadmission two weeks earlier so check in went quickly. When the nurse examined me in triage I was 3cm dilated and they verified that my water had indeed broken. Jimmy called his parents and I called my mom to let them know they would soon have a new granddaughter. Jimmy and I were so excited that this was the day we were going to meet our daughter!

I was moved to a labor and delivery room and was instantly hooked up to the fetal monitor, IV and blood pressure cuff. My birth plan stated that I wanted intermittent fetal monitoring and a heplock, not an IV, but since I had to have the antibiotics I really didn't have a choice. My first nurse was really nice and explained everything that she was doing. She read over my birth plan and said it shouldn't be a problem to accomodate our requests, however my doctor may want to give me pitocin if I don't make any progress soon. I really didn't like that she felt the need to bring that up so early into labor but I just stayed positive and assured myself that I could do this completely naturally. At this point and for the next several hours my contractions were very irregular, very far apart and not very strong. After I had the first round of antibiotics I was allowed to walk around for a bit. I got a new nurse who was nice but not very interested in my birth plan. She too mentioned the possibility of pitocin, and at this point I began to get a little concerned. Then again they can't force me to have any medication. I just kept a good attitude and walked the halls to get things going. My doctor came in around 9:00am to check me and I had only dilated about 1 cm. Again, the "p" word was brought up and I asked if I could walk some more and they agreed to give me more time to let things progress naturally. Although they let me walk around I had to go back to the room frequently to hook up to the monitor so they could make sure the baby was okay. The nurse checked me about an hour or so later and I had not made any progress. The contractions weren't getting any closer together either. Then came the talk I was dreading.

I had been in labor for 7 hours and had only progressed 1 cm. Since I had group B strep and my water had broken my doctor was concerned because I wasn't dilating. She suggested pitocin to move things along, since my uterus "wasn't catching up" which can be the case when someone's water breaks prematurely. At this point I understood where she was coming from, but I wasn't totally on board with taking meds. This is not because I wanted to brag that I had a totally med-free birth, but more because I have heard that pitocin makes you have really really awful contractions which leads most women to take pain medication. I certainly wasn't going to have any pain meds so I was in for a guaranteed several hours of excrutiating pain. Jimmy and I discussed our options with the nurse, who didn't really seem to care about our preferences in this situation, and then talked alone for a while. We decided to do the pitocin, and then I cried for the next 30 minutes.

Let me stop the story for a minute to tell you how great Jimmy was this whole time. He really stepped it up as my labor coach, putting into practice all the techniques we learned in our Bradley classes. His job was to keep me relaxed every time I had a contraction - this involved finding any areas I was tensing up and basically giving me a full body massage the whole time I was in labor. Not only that, but he somehow managed to stay so positive throughout the whole experience, even when I was crying like a little baby because the contractions hurt so bad. Jimmy was amazing and there's no way I would have been able to do this without him.

So now it's 11:15am and the pitocin fun has begun. The contractions definitely became more regular and more painful. Plus they wouldn't let me off the fetal monitor because the baby's heart rate was dropping during contractions. Super. So I'm stuck in this very uncomfortable bed with wires and tubes all over the place and I cannot get into a comfortable position. My mood had changed from optimistic to pissed off in a matter of minutes. The nurse checked me around 1:00pm and I had dilated 1 more cm, so now I was up to 5. If I was going to dilate 1 cm every hour like they say should happen, I was going to lose my mind! These contractions were so painful - it felt like my pelvis was going to explode. That was definitely the worst pain I have ever experienced, and now I completely understand why people get epidurals. At this point I am not the Bradley 'A' student I thought I would be - I'm flexing my feet, tensing my shoulders, wrinkling my forehead, holding the bed rails for dear life. And there's good ol' Jimmy, telling me how great I'm doing and massaging my feet (Jimmy hates feet more than anything in the world) and being totally awesome. I just really wanted to go to sleep and put this labor thing on hold for a while. Things were getting really intense and my contractions were really close together. Then around 1:50pm I'm having a contraction and I feel the urge to push. Of course I think this can't be right, I was just 5cm less than an hour ago. Jimmy paged the nurse and she checked me, only to discover that I'm 9 1/2 cm! Holy crap! No wonder the contractions hurt so bad, my uterus was making real progress that last hour!

The nurse paged my doctor and called for the room to be set up for delivery and I am in disbelief that this is really happening. I am of course relieved that the hard labor only lasted a few hours, but now I'm freaked out about pushing this baby out. The nurse instructed me that I can push with the first few contractions but I may have to hold off on a few until my doctor arrives. I push a few times and it's not so bad. There was more of a break between contractions and pushing gave me some control, which I liked. Now about that holding off on pushing thing - are you KIDDING me?? That was one of the hardest parts of labor! I was trying not to push which made my breathing really weird and I almost hyperventilated. Thank god my doctor arrived fairly quickly and then things really got going. Pushing got harder and more painful. Once I felt the "ring of fire" I wanted to quit, but obviously at this point there was no turning back. I just went for it and pushed through the [excruciating] pain. I pushed for a total of 30 minutes and then Zoey Claire was here! The doctor placed her on my chest and that was the most amazing moment. I couldn't believe it happened so quickly and our daughter was here! She weighed 5 pounds 15 ounces, was 18 3/4 inches long and had a full head of dark hair. Other than the hair (and weird ears) she looked just like her papa.


The nurses took Zoey across the room to do the APGARs (on which she scored a 9, by the way) and Jimmy stood by her and took lots of pictures. I was so relieved that labor was over and I could finally relax. Little did I know I was far from relaxing. My two tears had to be stitched up, I had to be cleaned up, and a bunch of people got to push really hard on my stomach repeatedly to get all the blood clots out of my uterus (did not know about this part!). I screamed the first few times they did it - Jimmy said that was the most noise I made throughtout the entire process. Finally about 30 minutes later everyone was done routing around in my business and I got to see my daughter again. And she was perfect.

We had a whole waiting room full of visitors standing by: my mom, Pam and Jim had been at the hospital since about 7:00am, plus my dad, Rachel, Sarah, Jennifer, Austin, and Addison were all there to welcome Zoey. It was such a surreal day. I thought I would want to crash right after Zoey was born but I was so excited there was no way I could sleep.

In the end I think I had a pretty easy pregnancy and labor. Here are some of the highlights from the past nine months:

• I had awful morning sickness until about the 20th week of my pregnancy which caused me to drop 10 pounds and not even look pregnant until about week 24
• I gained 20 pounds
• I never really had any wacky food cravings, just really enjoyed sweets more than usual
• My belly button never became an "outie"
• My only "complications" were that I have group B strep and my and Zoey's Rh factor didn't match up
• Jimmy and I completed the Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth training one week before Zoey was born. This helped us focus on a goal of a totally natural birth experience.
  
• I had maybe only one or two mood swings the entire time (this is straight from Jimmy's mouth, people)
• I could wear my wedding/engagement rings throughout my entire pregnancy
• I developed a mild case of "cankles" in the last week or two
  
• I wanted a completely natural birth experience and I feel like I achieved that
• Labor lasted 11 hours, but only about three hours were hard labor
• I had dropped all the baby weight by 8 days postpartum (but I sure have a lot of tightening and toning to do!)
  

So there's my [very long] birth story! I hope if you're reading this and you have yet to have children that I haven't scared you off. The labor and delivery was a bitch, but of course the end result was well worth the work. Now stay tuned for Zoey updates and pictures!

Ash

This is how it's going down. 36 weeks 6 days.

Friday, May 28, 2010.

I get off work at 5:00, right after I set my Out of Office Assistant to read: "Thank you for your email. I am currently out on maternity leave. Please contact Ann in my absence." I just have a feeling that today is the day.

Throughout the day I noticed my belly tightening up pretty regularly, so when I get home I start timing the sensations and lo and behold they are contractions that are 10 minutes apart! So I go about my business, making cookies for the nurses who will be taking care of me at the hospital (have to butter them up so they don't tear up my birth plan!), making sure my bag is packed, tidying up the house. Contractions continue but aren't bad, so I go to bed to rest up. I wake up around 6:00am, and wow! The contractions are now four minutes apart! Off to the hospital we go!

Then I labor for about 2 hours, and suddenly it's time to push! My doctor is there to deliver the baby because I went into labor before she did - hooray! Zoey comes out after four pushes and she's perfect. Labor was a breeze - let's do this again next weekend! Then everyone comes to visit on this lovely Saturday afternoon.

I can dream, can't I? :)

Is that a hand poking out? 36 weeks 4 days

On Tuesday I had my first weekly doctor appointment and thus my first exam. I've been advised not to have exams done until absolutely necessary (39-40 weeks) because they can cause infections and because if any progress has been made then you tend to get overly excited for no reason. I agreed to the exam because, well, I'm impatient and excited and was really curious to see if I had made any progress. And good news! I'm 1cm dilated and 60% effaced! And now I'm really overly excited, and Jimmy even more so. I ask him at least once a week to go on a walk with me and he usually turns me down, but now he wants to go for walks every day to help move things along. Of course we both know it will happen when it's supposed to happen, but we're just so darn excited!

I've been having more of those stabbing cervical pains lately. I'm thinking the more pain, the more progress. The last couple days I've had quite a bit of these sensations so who knows maybe I'm 3cm by now! Sheeyeah, right. I can dream, can't I. I'm still feeling pretty well most of the time. It's getting harder to get comfortable when I sleep and I need help sitting up and tying my shoes sometimes. And today I noticed that my cankles are coming in. My legs and feet feel tight and a bit swollen, but I'm not waddling quite yet. I still haven't felt any contractions but apparently I could still be having them. My stomach does tighten up regularly so I guess this could be pre-labor contractions, they're just undetectable. Pain-free contractions - love it.


I cannot believe I only have three and a half weeks until my due date. It's so weird that Zoey can arrive pretty much any day now. Jimmy and I are so excited we can barely stand it.

• How far along?: 36 weeks
  
• Weight gain: 18 pounds
  
• Maternity clothes: blah. I miss real pants.
  
• Sleep: Lots of tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable and getting up to pee a lot.
  
• Stretch marks: I don't want to talk about it.
  
• Movement: Lots of big, weird movements and the stabbing pains down low and in my legs.
  
• Gender: Girl!!!
  
• Best moment of this week: Hearing I was 1cm dilated on Tuesday!
  
• Food cravings: Nothing notable really. I've actually had some nausea lately and haven't felt very hungry most of the time.
  
• Belly button in or out: In!
  
• What I miss most: Booze and real pants.
  
• What I'm looking forward to: My appointment next Tuesday. Anyone think I can get to 2cm by then? :)

Nighty night!
Ash

Now all I need is a baby. 35 weeks 6 days.

The nursery is all put together. Everything has been washed, sanitized, and organized. All the gear that blinks, shakes, or sings has batteries. We've attended a breastfeeding class and next week we learn about Infant Care for the First Six Weeks of Life. We have two weeks of Bradley classes left. I'm running out of reasons to go to Target. We are so ready for this baby, which means I'm super bored.

I use the term "ready" loosely, because of course you can always use more time in these situations. However I do feel like if I went into labor right now I would feel totally confident in our preparedness. We've been practicing the labor techniques we learned in class, so I feel like we have that down pretty well. The only reason why going into labor now would not be good is because I still have some projects to wrap up at work. My temporary replacement started this past week so I've been working on training her which is taking time away from my being productive in the final weeks. She's really nice and she's been in HR for something like 30 years. I really hope she doesn't do a better job than I do, otherwise they may not want me to come back! Must.. find a way.. to sabotage her...

I've been having those annoying stabbing pains more often. I asked my doctor about them a couple weeks ago and she said it's just the baby moving around, and since space is limited as she gets bigger that's why it's becoming painful. It feels like Zoey is headbutting my cervix, trying to break free! I don't think I've had any more contractions, and if I have then they aren't painful. My stomach does feel awfully tight sometimes so perhaps those are very mild Braxton Hicks contractions. Other than that I'm feeling really good lately. I'm not giant and swollen yet and I still have a good amount of energy. I do get tired pretty early - in fact last night (Friday) I started nodding off at 9:30. How lame am I! I used to be quite the night owl. Now I can't even make it through the local news.

I have a feeling Zoey is going to arrive early. Not really sure why, just a premonition I have. :)

• How far along?: 35 weeks
  
• Weight gain: 17 pounds
  
• Maternity clothes: So tired of the elastic waist bands that go up to my arm pits. I miss my old clothes.
  
• Sleep: I love to sleep, any time of day. I still have to get up two to three times a night to go to the bathroom.
  
• Stretch marks: Oh my god they are coming on fast and furious now. Every time I feel an itch on my belly I know another one is popping up. So very sad. :(
  
• Movement: I get kicked in the ribs pretty often, hiccups are pretty regular, and she likes to stretch and swim around a lot.
  
• Gender: Girl!!!
  
• Best moment of this week: 5:00pm on Friday when I could finally relax! It has been a long week.
  
• Food cravings: I have to have sweets almost daily, other than that nothing notable.
  
• Belly button in or out: In, and doesn't look like it's going anywhere.
  
• What I miss most: Booze. And a stomach free of blemishes.
  
• What I'm looking forward to: My appointment on Tuesday. I think I may have my first internal this week, so here's hoping for some progress!
• Words of wisdom: "There's no hope without dope." -Jake's dad, after I told him I'm having a natural birth
  

It just got real. 33 weeks 6 days

I thought I was above it, invincible even. I went through my days confident and unguarded. I thought hey, I'm different, it will never happen to me.

Well, I was wrong. Way wrong. I got my first stretch mark two days ago and I almost cried.

I expected I would get stretch marks from day one but since I'm in the home stretch and haven't seen one little blemish yet I thought I was exempt from this very common pregnancy occurrence. I certainly didn't think when it happened that I would get upset about, but I guess that's what happens when you've got all kinds of hormones flying around. It's going to be okay, I'll just stock up on belly balm and apply every hour on the hour. Looks like my dreams of making the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue are over.

I think I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions this past week. I say "I think" because if that's what it is then they feel nothing like I thought they would. I've heard contractions feel like a tightening sensation in your belly, and what I started feeling was a sharp, stabby pain a bit lower... It's very sudden, this stabby sensation, and then I feel a sudden urge to pee. Needless to say I've been running off to the bathroom a lot lately. Now every time this happens I feel my belly to see if there is any "tightening", and a couple times there has been. I know these are just "practice" contractions but it's still pretty exciting!

Apparently I still don't look as pregnant as I am. I got an "I hate you" from a coworker the other day when she overheard me telling another person how far along I am. I don't even know this person! I asked my doctor last week if she thought the baby's growth was on track and she said I was measuring just fine and everyone carries differently in pregnancy. So I guess everything is okay with Zoey, she's just going to be a little lady. :) I can tell she is getting bigger because I often have to lean back to give her more room when she starts swimming around. I just recently started feeling her feet/hands in my ribs, which is really weird. She can really get up in there with those little appendages! I love watching my belly morph when she gets really active. It's like that freaky scene from Alien right before the creature pops out of that guy's stomach.

My mom and sister threw me a fabulous baby shower for all the family a couple weeks ago. I think I'm just now recovering from that weekend! All the ladies came into town and we had a lovely family weekend. Mom and Rachel made these amazing floral arrangements and decorated in a yellow, black and white bee theme and it was all so pretty! And the guests were so generous - I think we have everything we need to bring this baby home, and then some. Of course I'm sure I'll go shopping a few times between now and then, but as far as all the gear and necessities we are all set. I'm shocked at how many of our big items we got at our various baby showers. I felt really bad registering for them, because a lot of this baby stuff is so expensive, but thought why not, maybe we'll get one or two larger items. In the end I think the only big item we had to buy ourselves was the crib. We have the most thoughtful and generous friends and family! I'm so SO thankful for all of them.

Other updates: I'm really tired all the time, I can't stay awake past 11:00pm, I go to the bathroom about 47 times a day, and I'm really tired of wearing maternity clothes. I can't wait until I can wear pants with a button and a zipper again! I dread getting dressed every morning because I'm tired of my limited wardrobe and I really don't want to buy more maternity clothes that I will only be wearing for the next 6-8 weeks. Grr.

• How far along?: 33 weeks
  
• Weight gain: 12 pounds (net)
  
• Maternity clothes: All the way. I hate them.
  
• Sleep: I get up twice every night to go to the bathroom, toss and turn a lot, and wake up at the slightest sounds. Then I have terrible hip pain for the next three hours.
  
• Stretch marks: I don't want to talk about it.
  
• Movement: LOTS. I can feel her hiccups, too.
  
• Gender: Girl!!!
  
• Best moment of this week: Not peeing myself at the store when I thought I was going to.
  
• Food cravings: Nothing significant, aside from my daily sugar fix. Jimmy mentioned that he's surprised he hasn't had to run out to get me food in the middle of the night when a sudden craving strikes, so I realized I should really be milking this pregnancy thing a little more... stay tuned.
  
• Belly button in or out: In, and doesn't look like it's going anywhere.
  
• What I miss most: My energy and my clothes.
  
• What I'm looking forward to: Having a baby! Well, not "having" the baby, per se, but having her on the outside.
• Milestones: Zoey weighs about 4 pounds and is 17 inches long.

TTFN,
Ash

You gonna eat that? 30 weeks 6 days

As part of my Bradley Method training I have to keep track of what I eat every day. The idea is to make sure I'm getting enough protein, not to count calories or carbs. One reason I like this program is that they basically encourage you to be a fatty. Well, okay, they don't so much encourage it as they don't discourage it. Most doctors and websites out there will say a gain of 25-35 pounds is healthy for most people during pregnancy. The Bradley Method says to eat 80 to 100 grams of protein, plus a quart - that's right, QUART - of milk, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and two eggs every day, and if in doing so you gain 75 pounds then that's okay. Unless you're eating really unhealthy food all the time then there's no need to worry about gaining weight during pregnancy. I mean what are you supposed to do, go on a diet? It's probably never a good idea to purposefully restrict nutrients at any point in pregnancy. Plus everyone gains weight differently, so it's not really fair to expect everyone to gain 25-35 pounds. I've gained about 12 so far (after I lost 10 and then gained that back), and from what I can tell it's all in my belly area. Since about week 20 when the nausea went away I've been doing surprisingly well with eating healthy. Keeping track of what I eat really helps that. When you have to write down everything you consume and then turn it in for someone else to examine it really makes you think twice before pigging out. I never have a problem getting enough protein, but eating five times a day helps that. I don't always eat two eggs a day but I am eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, peanut butter, Greek yogurt (my favorite new food discovery), yogurt, cheese, whole grains and milk. I love that we now always have a big bowl of fruit on the counter, spinach is always on hand and there are no less than six varieties of cheese in the fridge at all times. I love cheese.

Okay, so don't let me fool you into thinking I'm eating perfect all the time. My sweet tooth owns me at this point. I can't resist cookies! And chocolate milk. And brownies. So I usually have a little something sweet almost every day, with some milk of course so I can get my protein quota. I also love fries, always have, so I may have some of those once a week. But hey, fries and cookies have protein and other good things...I guess. I have to give up sashimi, all the good cheeses, real steak and wine for 40 weeks, so if I want a cookie here and there I'm going to have one!

I decided that the first thing I want to eat after I give birth is a medium rare filet marsala from Carrabba's and an Id roll from In the Raw, which I will wash down with a REGULAR triple grande nonfat caramel macchiato from Starbucks. [I would wash it all down with a bottle of Seven Deadly Zins but I will have to breastfeed so the booze will have to wait] The first person to bring me these items gets to hold the baby first (after Jimmy and I, of course). You have your assignment. Now make me proud.

Crunch Time. 30 weeks 4 days

I'm really bad at updating this blog thing. Not much has been going on lately I guess, at least nothing too exciting. Jimmy and I have completed five weeks of Bradley childbirth classes so we're almost halfway done and we've already learned so much. Going to the classes and practicing the relaxation methods and doing the daily exercises has significantly boosted my confidence about going into labor. However I still get pretty nervous if I start to think about actually pushing a baby out of my body. Even though I feel like I will be very prepared to go into labor and I'm reading and learning a lot, there are still a lot of unknowns. How will contractions really feel? How will I react to the pain? Will I be able to have a sense of humor about it and try to enjoy labor and delivery (this is what I'm aiming for but L&D can make a bitch crazy!). What if something goes wrong? Will I have the focus and patience to weigh all the options if I have to make a quick decision during all the pain? Of course Jimmy will be with me the whole time as my "coach" and he's learning all the same things I am so we can both make educated decisions throughout the process. I'm not spending too much time worrying about all this, but it does pop into my mind a few times a week. This labor thing will be no walk in the park, but I'm going to try to make the most of it with a positive, relaxed attitude.

I'm now in that stage of pregnancy where I have to go to the doctor every two weeks. Two weeks ago, on my birthday, I had an appointment which included an ultrasound. My doctor wanted to check out what she called "veinous lakes" on the placenta - I guess sometimes there can be too many of these, and my previous ultrasound had indicated this might be the case. Well it turns out everything looked fine, and we got to see Zoey for a few minutes after the ultrasound tech checked out the placenta. We got some really good pictures of her profile and face. She was again being modest, keeping her little legs crossed, so the tech couldn't confirm that she is in fact a girl. She said she could kind of see the three lines that indicate "female" so that was good enough for us. Zoey weighed about 2 pounds 11 ounces at 28 weeks, which my doctor said put her in the 32nd percentile for her size. If she stays on this pace then she'll be on the small side at birth, which is good news for me. I also had to do the glucose test to find out if I had developed gestational diabetes. This only affects about 4% of pregnant women so I wasn't too worried about it. They make you drink this very sweet, syrupy orange bevearge, then you have to wait an hour and have blood drawn. I chugged the stuff like a champ and then felt like I was going to fall asleep or pass out or hurl for the next hour. I thought for sure this was a bad sign. Turns out everything is fine! No diabetes for me. And thank goodness, I don't think I could give up cookies for the next 9 weeks.

I finally look undisputably pregnant. Well, at least I think so. Any time someone asks me how far along I am I get really baffled looks. I say "30 weeks," and then they stare off for a minute while they do the math (yes, that is seven and a half months, technically), then they stare at my belly for an uncomfortably long amount of time, and then I feel awkward because people are staring at me, and then they say, "Wow! Where is the baby?" This is good and bad. Good: I am not a big fat pregnant whale. Bad: I must just look fat to most people, and, considering I don't suck in or wear clothes that would hide my belly, those people must think I just like to let it all hang out. I mean they're just people, who obviously don't know me well, but I still don't like the stares.

My energy has been really good lately. I've been going on a lot of walks after work since the weather has been amazing. I still get tired early in the evening but other than that I've been feeling really well and as "normal" as can be expected. I haven't had any swelling, no jowls yet, just a belly that grows a little rounder every day!

What else has been going on..... did I mention I'm having a baby in or around nine weeks from now? So much to do, so little time.

• How far along?: 30 weeks
  
• Weight gain: 10 pounds (net)
  
• Maternity clothes: All the way. My regular shirts are too short to cover my belly, for the most part. Even some of my maternity pants that have the partial stretch band are getting to be uncomfortable, and I'm only going to get bigger!
  
• Sleep: My hips hurt throughout the night and for a good part of the morning. I've started wedging pillows around me to cushion my sides and belly, which makes turning over tricky. I get up once or twice a night to go to the bathroom now.
  
• Stretch marks: Nope! Thank you Burt's Bees Belly Balm. Woohoo!
  
• Movement: Zoey is doing acrobatics in there all the time. I think I felt her hiccuping the other day.
  
• Gender: Girl!!!
  
• Best moment of this week: The whole week has been pretty good - I've had a productive week at work and the weather has been lovely!
  
• Food cravings: Cookies, milk, anything sweet, and carbs (I can eat pasta every day). I'm back to hating chicken again.
  
• Belly button in or out: Still in! Told you so, Jimmy :)
  
• What I miss most: Booze. I could really go for a nice wheat beer on the patio after work.
  
• What I'm looking forward to: Baby shower next weekend!
  
• Milestones: Zoey's brain is getting wrinkly and is growing rapidly.
  

Hello, third trimester! 27 weeks 3 days

Well, I've made it to the final stretch! I'm officially in the last stage of this odd and exciting journey, and I have to say I'm getting a bit freaked out. Jimmy and I took a tour of the hospital's labor and delivery wing last night. I was really excited to see where it's all going to go down, but it also kind of scared me! I think because that made it more real. I got to see where my daughter is going to be born. I'm going to have a baby. A girl baby. A girl baby that I have to take care of for the rest of my life. Oh man.

We started our Bradley classes two weeks ago and so far so good. I'm really glad we decided to do this; maybe I could have done it med-free if I simply put my mind to it, but I feel like the Bradley classes are really preparing me mentally and physically for this undertaking. Plus we have a great support group in our instructor and the other couples in our class. I think most of labor is going to be mental. I have to have the right attitude and I have to be relaxed and focused and I can deal with the pain. The pain is only temporary, right?... Right. And Jimmy is going to be there to distract me and make sure I'm relaxing. If he passes out I don't know what I'll do!

We had two baby showers last week, and they were a blast! Chase and Natalie threw one for my friends on February 21. We got so many lovely gifts from our wonderful friends; I feel so blessed and fortunate to know all of them. Jimmy's coworkers threw us a shower the next day, and they hooked us up too! At this point we have all the necessities, lots of adorable clothes and some fun stuff too. And we still have our family baby shower in April, which I'm so excited for. My mom and sister have been working hard on getting it all together and I know they're going to do a great job. Plus I'll get to spend a nice weekend with my family!

Belly Watch 2010: I think I'm finally starting to look preggo! I still haven't gained much weight but the belly is starting to round out. I got my first thoughtless comments from coworkers last week. Both were to the effect of, "Are you pregnant? Oh, I thought you were just gaining weight." Um, really? I know they weren't necessarily calling me fat, because I am pregnant after all so I have an excuse to have a belly, but they weren't exactly congratulating me either. It was more like, "Oh yeah, I noticed you have looked like a schlub lately and I would like to point this out to you in a very tactless manner. Not that I am in any way fit or attractive myself; however, I do like to make people feel as miserable as I do." Jerks. I have a feeling I'll be hearing more of these thoughtless comments over the next 13 weeks so I'm not going to let it get to me. I just find it kind of amazing that people think they can say whatever they want to a pregnant lady.

• How far along?: 27 weeks
• Weight gain: 3 pounds (net)
  
• Maternity clothes: All pants are now of the maternity variety. I had to make a weekday trip to Motherhood Maternity last week because my pre-preg pants with the Bella Band were getting sooo uncomfortable. Now I'm living large in these glorious maternity pants where the stretchy belly area goes practically up to my arm pits. They are heaven.
  
• Sleep: I have to get up at least once per night to go to the bathroom, and I always wake up before my alarm goes off. My hips had been hurting for the last few weeks so I had the genius idea of spooning a body pillow while I sleep - it's so comfortable! Now if I could only sleep in I would be so happy.
  
• Stretch marks: Nope! Thank you Burt's Bees Belly Balm.
  
• Movement: Frequent, and getting stronger. I can see it when she kicks now!
  
• Gender: Girl!!!
  
• Best moment of this week: My great body pillow idea :)
  
• Food cravings: I'm not having any weird pregnant lady cravings, but some things I really enjoy right now are Greek yogurt (yum!), milk, and cookies.
  
• Belly button in or out: In, but getting smaller...
  
• What I miss most: Again, my energy. I'm so tired all the time! And I'm usually happy to stay at home and relax. Not like me at all.
  
• What I'm looking forward to: Doctor appointment on my birthday next week - I get another ultrasound so I'm hoping everything looks perfect and they can tell us how big she is.
• Milestones: Zoey's eyes are open, and she weighs over two pounds.

I'm sleepy...
Smash

Just keepin' it real... 24 weeks 2 days

Since we found out we're having our little Zoey Claire we've been working on the little diva's room. Jimmy painted it a lovely muted purple. It's very soothing and pretty but not too make-you-wanna-puke girly. We found a lovely stretched canvas painting that fit the room perfectly so of course we had to pick that up too. We also purchased a couple outfits - a pretty dress from Baby Gap and a pink and white Cubs onesie with matching bib and booties (an early birthday gift from me to Jimmy). I mean she has to have something to wear when she and her papa watch the games together this fall. We installed a shelf and extra hang bar in the closet and I've been busy washing and folding all the hand-me-downs we've been given so far. And now we wait for the baby showers...

Everything is going well so far! I was just thinking the other day that I've really lucked out with this pregnancy. Other than the AWFUL morning sickness for the first 4 months, I haven't had any complications. I've barely gained any weight so far, my feet aren't swollen, I can still wear a lot of my pre-preg clothes and my doctor always says things are looking great. I feel really lucky. Almost on a daily basis I have someone tell me I don't even look pregnant; however I think that will change in the next couple weeks. Zoey weighs about a pound a half now and she is growing more rapidly. It used to be that she would gain only a half an ounce to an ounce each week but now we're talking about eight ounces a week. Jimmy read somewhere that I could gain 10 pounds in the next 3 weeks. Good lord I really hope that doesn't happen. The belly is getting quite round though! It's very exciting to see it grow. The belly can get as big as it wants as long as I don't get the jowls and cankles.

My doctor told me at my appointment today that she is also pregnant! AND she is due TWO DAYS before me. Talk about bad timing. I'm not going to switch doctors because I really like mine but I will get to know another another doctor in the practice so I can have a back up just in case. Hopefully Zoey will be anxious to get out here and arrive early!

After scaring myself into thinking that delivering a baby will split me in two and I can't do it on my own, I have once again decided that I CAN have this baby naturally. Women do it every day and so can I. I mean it's not going to feel great, I know that, but it's nothing I can't handle. In order to prepare for this undertaking Jimmy and I decided to take Bradley Method classes. The classes are once a week for 12 weeks and they start next Wednesday. I'm excited, I think this will be very beneficial for us in reaching our goal of a natural birth. Of course I know things don't always go the way you want in childbirth so I'm going to be flexible on my birth plan. Ideally, though, I would like to go med-free. My mom did it three times, so surely I can do it. Right?....

• How far along?: 24 weeks
• Weight gain: -1 pound
• Maternity clothes: I'm still wearing pre-preg clothes (pants require the Bella Band) but prefer maternity pants. They are soooo comfy. Plus if I wear regular pants I just look chubby.
  
• Sleep: I still can't sleep in and I wake up frequently throughout the night. My hips start to hurt after sleeping on one side for too long.
  
• Stretch marks: Nope!
  
• Movement: Lots! She's swimming around all the time and kicking a lot.
  
• Gender: Girl!!!
  
• Best moment of this week: Hearing her heartbeat today (150 bpm).
  
• Food cravings: I'm still not having cravings really. I enjoy drinking milk a lot more than I used to.
  
• Belly button in or out: In, but getting smaller...
  
• What I miss most: My energy and drive to stay up late and go out. Most of my friends work nights so that makes it difficult to see them because I get tired at 9:00 every night.
  
• What I'm looking forward to: I get another ultrasound in four weeks, yay!!
• Words of Wisdom: "Contractions are just like cramps, only worse." - Mom
  
• Milestones: Zoey isn't translucent anymore and she has passed the one pound mark!

Just waiting for that belly button to pop out,
Mama Bear

Hooray! 20 weeks 6 days

IT'S A GIRL!!!

I had my 20 week ultrasound on Tuesday, January 12. There was a lot of build up to this day - Jimmy and I were so anxious to find out if we were having a boy or girl and our friends and family were excited to hear the news as well. I felt like it was a girl all along; Jimmy was hoping for a girl but really thought it was a boy because of his family's reproductive history. [Note: the last female McIntosh was born around 1885] They baby was being modest, so it took some patience and poking with the ultrasound wand to get her to show us the money shot, but eventually we got it! You have no idea how shocked and surprised we were when the ultrasound tech told us our baby is a girl! We had to ask if she was totally sure a couple times; we just couldn't believe it. Of course after that we had to call and text everyone we know, and they were all so excited for us. Jimmy's dad was especially happy and proud. It was such a great moment, getting to see our little lady swimming around and doing the robot and whatever else babies do in the womb. My doctor looked over the ultrasound images and said everything looks great! Her heartbeat was 149 bpm and she's perfect. Just perfect.

After we left the doctor's office we went to start the registry. We spent about 4 hours between Target and Babies 'R' Us and registered for most of the gear we will need. Then we decided to tackle baby names. I was sure this would be a very stressful experience since both Jimmy and I are very opinionated people and choosing the baby's name is a huge undertaking. We decided to each make a list of our favorite names, trade lists, mark it down to four names, trade back and pick our two favorite on our own lists. Here's what we came up with:

Jimmy's List: Elizabeth, Abigail, Zoey, Helen, Emma, Brianna, Leah
My list: Lydia, Abigail, Zoey, Sloane, Quinn, Charlotte, Monica, Jillian, Caroline, Elliot, Gwen

Obviously we narrowed it down to Abigail and Zoey pretty quickly since those were the common names between our lists. Jimmy was leaning towards Abigail May and I towards Zoey Claire. We both liked both names - they are both super cute for a little girl or a classy lady - so we decided to sleep on it and think about it. Well, today out of nowhere Jimmy says, "The name can be Zoey". I can't believe we agreed on a name so fast, and without any bickering! It's so nice to be able to refer to the baby as Zoey. I think it's just the cutest name ever. It makes me smile every time I say it.

We got our crib today! It's already set up and looks so great in the room. Tomorrow we're going to look at paint and fabric so we can DIY our crib bedding. It's all starting to come together!

• How far along?: 20 weeks
• Weight gain: -3 pounds
• Maternity clothes: All my non-maternity pants are virtually un-buttonable. People still tell me I don't even look pregnant though. Very strange.
  
• Sleep: Pretty good except I can't sleep in any more. Why??!
  
• Stretch marks: Nope!
  
• Movement: Yep! I love all the little kicks. Jimmy felt her kick for the first time on Wednesday!
  
• Gender: Girl!!!
  
• Best moment of this week: The ultrasound, hands down.
  
• Food cravings: I still haven't had any cravings yet. More nausea this week though :(
  
• Belly button in or out: In
• What I miss most: My energy. I get tired and cranky way too early.
  
• What I'm looking forward to: Getting the room set up, picking out bedding, seeing it all come together.
• Words of Wisdom: "You're going to poo during labor!!!" -Jimmy
  
• Milestones: The baby is growing hair! And what a furry baby she will be. :)

So so so happy right now,
Ash