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)

Birth 101

This weekend was our "Express Labor & Delivery" course. I can't believe that it was as bad as C expected, but I'll say that she wasn't too impressed and that I know she wouldn't do it again. Honestly, it was a lot of fluff; stuff we've read about a lot of times, in books and on the internet. But it was nice to see examples of how women deal with pain and stress relief, and I do well with multiple, supplemental modes of learning. I even took notes. Altogether, I figure, some of that information has got to stick in my head.

I was pretty glad to be done with it, and couldn't imagine going to that class drawn out over 5 weeks. The most useful 2 things I think we walked away with is (1) the email of the instructor who seems to be the nicest, kindest nurse ever and (2) a tour of the maternity pavilion. I was also pretty impressed with how useful a fitness ball can be during labor. I've already developed an idea of what a perfect labor would be, but, as we keep reading, we can't go in with very many expectations.
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That said, I have big hopes that we can get in one of the three rooms with a jacuzzi tub in it. Cause I'm bringin my swim trunks.

Baby School + Baby School of Rock

Yesterday, after a long time of procrastinating on making a decision, I called the "Moms" hotline at our hospital to reserve our spot in an upcoming "labor and birth class." I'm pretty pumped about it--I do well with instruction; C isn't so pumped. For that reason we chose the 2-day Express option for next week. I told her it's my Valentine's Day gift to her. I keed. But I am excited, and I think it will be a good milestone to add to this journey. I was a little weird-ed out when the telephone operator (nurse?) suggested that we were scheduling our class a bit early relative to our due-date and that we could forget stuff... WTF? I'll make sure to write my notes down.

Also, last night I finally busted out some big ol' headphones and grabbed my iPod and, while C was engaged with Cougar Town on the couch, I pumped some jams into her belly. C got first pick: Passion Pit's Little Secrets (one of her recent favorites); for sentimental reasons I opted for Come Away With Me by Norah Jones (the first dance at our wedding); C got impatient at this point and allowed one more song--my choice again: Sizzla's Praise Ye Jah which I'm sure really got Baby inspired...

I hope to keep this as a pretty regular occurrence. I have lots of music that I'd love Baby to hear...