Only ONE more day!

Tomorrow's the big day!

We report to the hospital around 10 am. The c-section is scheduled for noon. I don't know how long it will be before baby and I are settled in our room.

The plan is for my mom to pick up Jared from school, then bring everyone over to meet the baby. That'll be about 4 pm. I'm commandeering Ryan's laptop, so I'll be sure to upload photos when I can!

Wish me luck!

A bit more...

I forgot to mention that we got to see the Space Shuttle and International Space Station flying above us this evening! They weren't very far apart, as the Space Shuttle had been docked to the Station earlier in the day. Two bright "stars" chased each other across the sky as the sun was going down. It was so cool!

Also, Zach discovered a tiny magnifying glass in an eyeglass repair kit. He went around all evening looking at things through it. He said he was "investigating. That means looking for clues." He's got quite the vocabulary! Then he said, "Mom, I sure wish I could see mine own eyeball." I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before!

Good day

We've had a pretty good day today, getting lots done to prepare for the baby!

Jared had a half-day of kindergarten, meaning it was about an hour and a half long. I almost wondered why we bothered! But they had a "Thanksgiving Feast" so it was a fun day for him. Except he said there really wasn't very much food.

I scrubbed bathrooms and vacuumed, did laundry, washed sheets, and put the last bits of stain on the baby's dresser. I moved the bassinet into our bedroom and we hung curtains in the baby's room. And a new friend of mine very generously offered us their infant car seat! I picked it up today and we cleaned it up. It's all starting to feel more real, now!

Jared had fun putting a real newborn baby outfit from Spartacus' stash of clothes on Baby Jesus. Talk about a realistic doll, the clothes fit perfectly! Last week, more people did double-takes when Zach was pushing Baby Jesus in a stroller through the grocery store. Everyone thinks he's a real baby in real danger!

I also had my last doctor's appointment. My doctor is having a wonderfully long Thanksgiving vacation (which is why I don't get to have the baby this weekend), so I saw a different one. I've seen him 3 times now. He thankfully caught a potential problem when he called the hospital to check on my c-section appointment and discovered that "doctor's orders" had not been filed. I guess we would have shown up on Monday and the nurses wouldn't know what to do with me, and wouldn't be allowed to do anything for me to get me prepped. That would have been bad! But he fixed it. Phew!

Just for kicks, I asked him to guess how big the baby is. He said that unless I hide my babies well, this one will be about 8 lbs. 7 oz. We'll have to see! Ryan says that we'll have to name him "Runt" now. Of course, that counts as a big baby for a lot of people, but compared to our two previous ~9 pounders, 8 lbs. 7 oz. sounds small!

ONE WEEK!

Wow, the countdown is getting really short now!

A week from this moment, I'll probably be walking into an OR, nervous as all get out. I thought Zach's c-section was going to be a breeze. I did my hair and makeup, thinking that I'd look awesome in Zach's first pictures. After all, I wasn't going to have to go through horrible incessant labor and then have an emotional roller coaster ride with an emergency c-section like I did with Jared! It was going to be easy!

But it was kind of horrible. I was sooo sleepy! I couldn't remember why I was there without a great mental effort, which I then forgot again seconds later. I kept thinking, "I'm so tired. I wonder if they'd let me fall asleep. Hmmm...let me think about it. Why am I here again? Uh...uh...oh yeah, to have the baby! I should stay awake for that. I'm so tired. I wonder if they'd let me fall asleep?" and so on, over and over again.

And afterward, I still just wanted to sleep, but when I started to relax, all sorts of monitors started beeping because I wasn't breathing fast enough and who knows what else. The nurse kept coming over to make sure I was alive and chastised me for trying to sleep.

Then I got so cold that I had to have a special hot-air blanket on me. Then I was burning hot for hours afterward. I couldn't hold Zach for a while because I cranked up the a/c in my room to combat my inability to regulate my body temperature, and it was too cold for him to come out from under his heat lamp thingy.

See? It was no picnic.

And in pictures, it still looks like I got run over by a bus.

(May 5, 2006)

I talked to my current doctor about my experience, and he said that it was probably caused by the anti-nausea medication they used on me. At least the sleepy part. And he assured me that they don't use that particular medication in Idaho.

So keep your fingers crossed that this time it will go smoothly and that I will look good in pictures! (okay, so fat chance on the pictures, but I'd sure like a happier c-section experience!)

Lucky, Lucky Us!

I just found out that the age restriction for hospital visitors was lifted THIS MORNING! That means Jared and Zach will be able to meet their baby brother and come visit me!

The age restriction was to prevent the Swine Flu from spreading, so I really didn't think that they'd lift it until March or so. I'm so excited!

I just told the boys. Jared said, "Wow!" But Zach's reaction was a surprise. He started rubbing my belly and said, "I love this baby."

One Week!

Just one more week until my parents come! They're flying in on Thanksgiving. We're so excited to see them again!

I had my second-to-last doctor's appointment today. It was supposed to be Tuesday, but my doctor went home sick. I couldn't see him today, but I saw the same doctor who kept an eye on me when I had the reaction to the H1N1 vaccine a few weeks ago.

My blood pressure is up 20 points on the bottom number, which concerned him. He said he'd be more worried if I'd had blood pressure problems with Jared or Zach, though. The nurse suggested that it was stress that raised my bp, but the doctor says that only really affects the top number. And my bp is actually normal, but I usually have low bp. He told me to lie down on my side any chance I had. That just makes me laugh! I've got so much to do!

Preparation

I have a few things left to do that were really starting to bother me.

1. I'm pretty sure we had a shower curtain rod, but didn't bother putting it up because a shower curtain just gets in the way during the boys' baths. But now we're having guests come who probably want to take a shower instead. So where's the shower curtain rod now?
   
2. The crib is piled high with baby stuff: toys, blankets, pacifiers, a pack of diapers, etc. That's because the baby's would-be dresser is in the garage where my van is supposed to be parked, with most of the ugly "pickled avacado" finish removed. I need that dresser done so I can get the nursery organized! It will also double as the changing table (with a changing pad placed on top). It seems kind of necessary.
3. Despite valiant searching, I could NOT find the Newborn-sized baby clothes! In fact, the I found every size from 6 Months up, just no NB or even 0-3. Not good.
   

So I was starting to panic. I prioritized that clothes were probably most necessary, so I literally looked in every single box in the garage. The good news is that I eliminated soooo many boxes that we can get around in the third bay of the garage pretty well, and it won't be real tight to park the van in there again (as soon as the dresser is out of there, that is). We also found some fun stuff and stuff we've been missing for the past 2 1/2 years.

But still no baby clothes! What was I going to do?

I'm not sure why, but I decided to take one last look in the crib and found a diaper box that was buried under the bouncer and blankets. It said 0-3 months. Well, that was better than nothing, right? But inside was NB and 0-3 month sizes.

Phew!

And then Jared and I had fun looking through the cute tiny clothes. I showed him the outfit he came home in and the one that Zach wore first (see pictures below)


So now those tiny clothes are getting washed, and now I have a GREAT BIG X on my checklist!

School Photo

We got back a tiny little image of Jared's first school photo. It's one an order form so you can pay an arm and a leg to get prints of it. While I'm proud of Jared for cooperating with the photographer and of course think he's pretty darn cute, I'm happy with our decision to skip buying prints of it. But he'll look super cute in his kindergarten yearbook!

(It's fuzzy because the little thumbnail on the order form is only 1" x 1 1/2")