Seriously, she's here.

Meet Ellise "Ellie" Clementine Love Strong. Born on April 8, 2010, at 12:29 am after an unexpected induction the morning before. A perfect 7 pounds 11 ounces; 19.5 inches long.

On Wednesday, C and I showed up to what we hoped might be our last OB-GYN check up. C's blood pressure had measured high at the beginning of the previous three appointments and we weren't surprised that this visit was the same. Oddly, this time around her blood pressure stayed up. Our doctor sent us down the hall for a non-stress test. Thirty minutes later C's only thought was how late she would be for a meeting she had scheduled at work. After a third high blood pressure measurement our doctor came in to point out that our baby's heart rate dropped slightly after a mild contraction. This was enough to convince her to order us to labor and delivery. She realized how panicked we looked and asked if we were packed. Nope! She told us to go home, pack, eat something, and check into the hospital as quickly as possible...
(to be continued)

She's here!

Our baby has arrived! April Fool's, I keed, I keed.

But April has arrived; the month of the birth of Ms. Baby. C is getting anxious and I don't blame her. Sleep has become hard to keep straight for her. The doctor keeps saying she's not yet dilated. What the d? But things are great though. Slowly but surely the nursery is getting finished up. On this beautiful, sunny, 79-degree day I unwrapped our crib mattress and have it propped up outside to air-out per the recommendations of others. Just need to finish up some art projects for the room and we'll be rollin.

Lots of love

All good + Census?

All is well according to our doctor who was super nice and reassuring today and complemented C on her "perfect baby bump." In fact, the news was great. Even C's blood pressure measured high at first, but at the end of the appointment it was back down to normal--she was stressed about nothing! In the cervical exam, still no dilation but the doctor felt Ms. Baby's head! Say wha?!
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Anyway, the 2010 Census form has been sitting on our desk at home, waiting to be filled out. The question remains: how many people will be living in our home on April 1st? Problem is, we don't know yet! I'm pretty sure it will still be 2, but can't know exactly. So, I want to get that mailed back--and let me just say, I was pretty disappointed with the Census; I thought it was going to ask cool questions like How many times do you bike each week? Do you smoke drugs? What's the craziest thing you've ever done? or What do you want your government to do for you?--but I feel like I should wait until next week.
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Still no name...

36 week ultrasound + Nursery + Daycare

We went for our last ultrasound this morning and were relieved to once again hear all is well. Baby Girl is only measuring slightly ahead--an estimated 6 pounds 6 ounces--which will put her at about 8 pounds at term.  The best news is that she's low and head-down, and shouldn't be able to sneak her way into a breech position between now and whenever.

We have also been setting up some of our gear. This week, in the mail, we received two gifts from our registries: a bouncer and a travel system. I figure this has two benefits: 1) our dog Alden can get used to a new family member crowding into our space and start learning what he's not allowed to chew on; and 2) that stuff will be together and usable when we have better things to worry about.

A dresser (which will double as a changing table) is on its way, and I've decided we should get a rug and some sort of book shelf too. With that, the nursery will be nearly complete. I've been getting frustrated as people have asked increasingly if we're done with the nursery. They ask it almost rhetorically, expecting my answer to be an exasperated "Yessss! Months ago!" and give me a disgusted look when I huff out a "Nope." Plus, all the pregnant women C works with are proud to announce the completion of the nurseries in month 3. Well Eff that.

Oh yeah, and I've started into searching for infant daycare, and that sucks. Lots of responses, which is encouraging. I just wish it was more straightforward. And cheaper. I wish we could figure out some sort of trade-off system with three of four other people, to rotate stay-home days. Probably not going to happen. I never thought it would be so smart to live nearby our parents for this reason.

Tummy Tales

At her appointment this morning the doctor told C that the mysterious stomach aches she has been feeling frequently could be Braxton Hicks contractions! Not so fun for her as they've been a source of discomfort--but a relief for me to think they could be a sign that her body is working the way it should!

Doctor Visit: Week 31

Joined C on a doctor visit this morning. All is well. C's baby bump is measuring 33 weeks when we are really at 31 weeks, which might only mean a big bambino. Baby's heart rate is good and normal. I asked about the somersault the baby did this morning, and apparently that's still okay at this point.

These appointments go really fast. The doctor is only in the room for about 5 minutes or so. I'm not sure what else to expect from her, but I just wish she would offer up more details about what we should be looking forward to. I suppose the problem is we never ask good questions. I bet that would spur her to talk.
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I haven't been to every doctor appointment. Not because I don't want to be there, but C has insisted that they aren't very important and that she doesn't care if I'm there. When she says "I don't care" I hear "I don't want you to be there." Because if she did want me to be there, she would care. I'm okay with not being there if it's easier for her to be there alone with the doctor. But that's not it. She admitted yesterday that it's about making a (big) deal about going to the doctor when it shouldn't be that way. I think it's important, and I feel like an unsupportive jerk when I don't tag along.

Last night, realizing that my work schedule has changed quite a bit, I didn't even have something I needed to do (i.e. my job), so I made the decision to join her. If nothing else I got her to laugh a bit and it was nice to hang out a little while longer before trudging to the office.

Heart Rate

Had a crazy shake-up this morning. I don't have a lot of details because I wasn't at the doctor check-up today, but apparently the baby had an unusually high heart rate, up around 180 bpm. The doctor was freaked out enough to send C to get more extensive monitoring (Non Stress Test, or NST) over 30 minutes. The heart rate fluctuated between 140 and 210 bpm throughout that time, and apparently it would rise when the baby was moving. The doctor took this as a good sign of relatively normal conditions.

Of course, C told me this over the phone while crying--she was rightfully shaken and stressed out about the surprise experience--so I felt super helpless and confused. What can we do? Is there a way we can monitor in case this condition gets bad? Apparently not.

I met C at a McDonald's and though while I wasn't perhaps as comforting as I should have been, at least felt like I was able to be a little bit comforting. It was just nice to control something (i.e. travel the 1 mile down the road to see C and give her a kiss) instead of just sitting behind my desk and failing at finding answers on Google...

After calling my mom with the update I came to the conclusion I should probably go buy one of those at-home doppler heart-rate monitoring devices... and maybe calling the doctor's office to find out more about at-home monitoring we can do... Fortunately we've started our 2-week visits, so monitoring will happen more frequently.

Fat beats, great presents

Text message from C this morning, after her doctor appointment: "Heartaeat 150 but our baby is fat!"

Translation: "The baby's heartbeat is 150 bpm; according to the measurements from our last ultra-sound, the baby appears to be larger (and heavier) than expected! Yikes!"

The good news is the doctor said C's belly... and uterus?... appear to be the right size and in the right place, respectively...

More good news, we keep getting amazing presents from people and the feeling is just so awesome. Pictures to come!

proof

everything is good in the hood

Heartbeat

Doctor appointment today. Not sure what went down while I was sipping coffee over Fit Pregnancy magazine, but I got called back to hear the baby's heartbeat. 140 bpm, I think, plus a few "kicks."

Next step, trying to get the H1N1 vaccine.

Doctor Visit 2

This morning C went to the doctor. I wasn't there, but a part of me feels like I should have been. More than that, I wish I would have been there. She got to hear the baby's heart beat via sonogram. 160 beats per minute. According to Wikipedia, during strenuous exercise, an adult's pulse ranges from 150-200 bpm. I think this means it's running a marathon inside C's belly.

I've made chocolate chip (Fiber One, just-add-water) pancakes after dinner for the past two nights which I agree is a good dessert option.

During last week, C seemed to be a little more emotional than usual; asking me nearly every waking hour if I loved her.

C: "Do you love me?"
Me: "Mos def" or "No doubt."

It was a pretty nice exercise and I haven't gotten annoyed like I would if it were anything else. I started trying to beat her to the punch once in a while to ask if she loved me. She would jokingly pause to think about it.

The numerous weeks of constant nausea have really been getting C down. Hopefully that subsides soon and we can really get into enjoying this pregnancy (as much as one couple can).

First doctor visit!

Today I was supposed to travel to Cincinnati for work with Mark and two colleagues from the company that contracted us. Last Friday was the day I realized that this work trip and C's first big appointment with the doctor were going to conflict. My stomach hit the floor at that staff meeting. Not knowing how to broach the subject--as we've decided to keep the news a secret--I kept my mouth shut. As the weekend went on I started questioning whether I should mention everything to Mark in an effort to stay in town and go to the appointment. Sunday night I decided I would approach Mark and try to avoid Cincy. Yesterday afternoon, when I got back to the office from the field, I went into Mark's office and asked if he had a moment to talk as I shut the door behind me. I could tell he was instantly panicked as I never appear so serious. I knew he thought I was preparing to tell him I was quitting. I teared up as I started with "I didn't want to tell you like this..." and broke the news that C was pregnant. What I meant was that I wanted to tell him later on down the road, when the pregnancy was more certain, and we could be enjoying a beer at the bar. I was really emotional--which made me quite embarrassed--but to let the flood of excitement about the baby and stress about work pour out got to me. Long story short, Mark was super supportive and at one point said, "There are definitely things more important than work." I could barely believe how supportive he was--but then again, I know Mark is a big family man and while he appears to be a workaholic, he definitely does everything he can for his family and so would understand why this first visit to the doctor would be so important.

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So, today we were able to wake up slower than usual to prepare for our first exam. The doctor seems really cool and I was thrilled to witness the first ultrasound that showed a little bean with a heartbeat. C seemed pretty annoyed that I made such a deal about being there, but hopefully, deep down, she was relieved that I was nearby and so excited. Everything is still so early, but today's visit calmed the biggest fears we've faced so far, to let room for a whole new round of concerns to settle in.

We left the office with a couple photos of our blueberry sized embryo and treated ourselves to second-breakfast at Panera. Awesome.

Good life go!