It's Been One Week...

...and I think she's a keeper. Zara has been adjusting well (I think, since I really have very little frame of reference) and we are sure enjoying our first week as parents. Zara is an "energetic" eater and we think her weight should be back up above the birth weight when we go to the pedi for the second appointment Monday. She is also starting to have a couple active periods during the day, meaning just awake and not needing to be fed, and has enjoyed her last couple soaks in the bath.

I probably still have the biggest adjustment to get used to and that is the sleeping in only 2-3hr shifts. It's going ok and I'm getting better at falling asleep fast which was never something I have done naturally. But since I don't have to be up for work being on maternity leave, I eventually get enough sleep one way or another. But one week down and no major crises.

Also they are FINALLY finishing the kitchen remodel work today, I'll throw a picture up (really, a non-Zara picture) when they clear out later. The days they work (since it hasn't been continuous) we have retreated to the study to stay out of the way and close off from the noise.

Mini-Me

Zara is doing well and John and I are adjusting to having another little person around that depends on us. Mona has also been a great help to have here, as I'm not allowed to lift anything heavier than Zara for a bit and am supposed to be generally resting. Zara eats, sleeps, and poops and my schedule isn't a whole lot different except interchange "eat" with "feed" and delete that whole sleep part. But she is a wonderful baby and we are both extremely happy to have her.

Zara is a cute, cute baby (yes we are biased) but has some distinctly mini-Nujoud characteristics. First, the full head of dark brown hair, definitely not John's. Second, she has already inherited the monkey from me with her feet. Second toe longer than the big toe and a gap between the two, monkey feet.

Because I can't resist and you should expect nothing less, gratuitous baby pictures will also now be all over this blog... ready, go.

Zara Louise Merancy

It appears in this family we are an on-time, on-schedule kind of group. Friday morning we headed into the birthing center and the labor encouragement began. Since it really doesn't seem like a sure thing, it was actually quite funny since the midwife insisted we'd have a baby and before supper time at that. The encouragement included a lot of walking, a walk to Wal-mart to get some fruit to eat during labor and a trip to the park where we did laps on the walking trail in between me pausing with serious back pain/contractions. Note, I also apparently have had contractions for more than a week without knowing it since mine only manifested as minor lower back pain until I was deep in labor. Really, the first several hours were no worse than a minor common back ache.

Around noon we headed back to the center for a check-up and another round of tea and this time, things really got moving. About 1pm, I started having serious contractions and the dilation went from 5 to 7cm. Once I got to 7cm and it was really starting to go, I was able to get in the pool which was fantastic. Being in the water really, really was awesome. Even though the contractions were getting extremely intense the water at least allowed me to relax in between them. With the pushing about to start John got in to support me and we had a baby. Of course, it did not feel easy in the moment (at all, all you moms out there know what I mean), but Zara was clearly happy to make her entrance into the world yesterday and we only pushed 15min.

After nursing, getting all our checkups, and getting cleaned up, we got all the going home instructions. Thank goodness they write them down, I was pretty beat and so were John and Mona after such an intense day. But we headed home a little before 6pm. So here she is, Zara Louise is a healthy 6lb 4oz, 18 1/4in baby with blue eyes and long, skinny fingers and toes just like her momma and poppa. Right now I am especially glad we already get to enjoy her at home. Midwife will be making a house call tomorrow to checkup on us but I think it is going well so far.

You and Me and ????

We are headed off to the birthing center in just a few minutes, so this is just a quick post. Baby M will be getting some "encouragement" this morning, but since we aren't doing this au natural, that doesn't guarantee anything. Status to come later either way.

Stay on Target

John and I have been going in for weekly checkups on baby ops and things are looking likely to happen before the due date of next Tuesday. The short status is that Mona, who will be acting as my doula, will be on a flight to Houston bright and early Thursday morning. We will go to the center Friday morning to "encourage" labor, e.g. stir the pot without the use of drugs. This doesn't guarantee you go into labor and wouldn't if baby wasn't ready, but since I am so close it has a high probability of doing so. Either way, we will most likely be "and three" shortly.

My current neurosis is worrying about the baby coming sometime in the next 36hrs instead of just waiting for Friday. At least, I've gotten through the last 36hrs since the appointment and we are halfway there, but still, now every little bump and Braxton-Hicks contraction has me thinking "is this it? Nope, doesn't seem painful enough yet." Seeing how I haven't done this before, I am still "assuming" this is going to hurt when it starts and that is how I'll know its labor. Seriously, I may be an engineer and prefer facts and data but it is still a very strange thing to just "not know" what to expect.

Wishes for the Woods

Tonight our very close friends Brent and Alicia got married! I know by this point in the evening the wedding must have happened and everyone should be partying it up at a beautiful reception to celebrate. We were unable to travel to Philadelphia for the wedding given the circumstances, but are no less happy for the new couple and wish them all the best. Congrats Brent and Alicia! We Love You Guys!

The puppies haven't made an appearance on the blog in awhile but they want to wish their favorite dog sitters all the best too. Woof Woof!

Waiting for the World

Today was another baby-centric day as if we have many that aren't anymore. First was my work baby shower at Tommy's for lunch and cake, a purple and gold cake at that from my fellow Husky and boss-man Howard! It was a nice outing with the coworkers and John was able to come too. Good to see people out of the office for once and not talking work stuff, at least not much work talk. ;) We got some great presents and everyone had to write out some parenting advice for us, so we'll see how well that pans out.

This afternoon was our weekly checkup. Things are moving along but not much change since last week. I was at least hoping for a possible birth this week, but that looks unlikely unless things progress very rapidly. Baby wants to bake a little longer, we'll see where we are next week. Now that we are down to the end, it's just weird not knowing when the big day will be. Hurry up and wait...

Also, work started on the kitchen today. They got the new cabinet in above the range and took out all the old boxes that had to come out where the new oven and cabinets are going in. So maybe by the weekend we'll have an oven and John might finally get some apple crisp with the fresh fall apples.

Baby-zillion Decal

This last week (and weekend) John and I really buckled down and finished a bunch of house projects pre-baby arrival. In particular I got some help from Alicia, Erin, and Jen and their crafty hands getting the tree decal on the wall in the baby's room. I then spent another 3 nights sticking the 8 gazillion leaves on the wall. I love the way it came out but I think I'll check how many pieces there are before the next time I choose a decal. In any case the tree is up and the baby's room is DONE! Still need to get some things like a mattress for the crib obviously, but the baby won't be in the room for a couple months so no rush on that really.


John also got the surround sound speaker run in the living room, and added some much needed outlets and lighting to the garage (2 fluorescent light ballasts, 5 outlets, and a new circuit breaker), we put some built in book shelves into the study and generally finished un-packing. So the house is for the most part done as well. We have the contractors starting work Tuesday in the kitchen and that should be complete (please, please, please) by the end of the week. Here are some snaps of the house and the decal process.

Barefoot and Pregnant

Since I am getting towards the end of the pregnancy, 2.5 weeks to the due date and probably won't make it that long, things are starting to change quickly. First, my feet are swollen and retaining water so I am wearing flip flops at work today as none of my shoes fit all of a sudden. The baby has dropped and that at least means less heartburn and an easier time breathing.

I would have to say the thing I like least is how much my hands hurt. Several hormones make your joints relax and, for me, that means all the knuckles in the my hands are swollen and retaining water as well. It is just really uncomfortable and is at its worst in the mornings after I wake up.

But I think the best thing is cuddling up to John while the baby is kicking so he can feel it wiggle around. And we have an active little dude or dudette in there so even John has gotten a few kicks from the baby. Only fair that baby gets a shot at him too.

So stay tuned over the next couple weeks as things are starting to happen and we'll keep posting news here.

Term Limits

I'm sort of one day early, but I'm calling it since going into labor in the next 12hrs really isn't going to happen. But we are now full-term on the baby at 37 weeks! I wasn't terribly worried about going into pre-term labor even with with the onsie, twosie contractions, but I am still relieved to hit this milestone. Since we were not planning to birth in a hospital and have instead chosen to use a birthing center with Nurse Midwives, this makes it possible. Only normal pregnancies are allowed to use the birth centers, so any high-risk complications like pre-term or multiples are by default sent to the hospital and for good reason, so I'm not knocking it. One big hurdle crossed for us this week.

In anticipation of this milestone too, John and I spent Saturday in the house prep mode for "if the baby comes today what do we need" which included a shopping trip for some random items. But this weekend we now have the diaper changing box together, the pack n play (where the baby will sleep in our room to start), clothes washed and folded, and everything else all setup and ready to go. The last major item is putting the car seat in the cars and getting the diaper bag in the mail (at least for the what needs to be done now catagory).

Otherwise the weekend was busy with me giving a Monopoly whopping to John, Brent, and Alicia Saturday night who were all simultaneously trying not to go bankrupt to me. They all went into don't lose mode and it didn't work out so well for Brent which ended the game. Sunday was Texans tailgating and game with my work this time and then Jen M's baby non-shower for the twins. Busy weekend but a good one.