Welcome to the World Baby Girl

Here she is- I haven't figured out a nickname for her yet and if you haven't received an email on her name and we know you, you'll be getting one soon. She was born on Wednesday morning, weighing in at 9lbs 9ozs at 21 inches long.

Yeah- and the doctor guessed about 8lbs. When I said 9lbs 8ozs was my guess about a month ago he looked at me like I was crazy. This from the same man that told me at the 36 week appointment that he wasn't measuring my uterine height because I was 'way big enough'- jerk. Really I love my doctor, even though he forgot about my c-section on Wednesday morning and had to be called over from his office to perform the surgery. He raced into my labor and delivery room about 15 minutes prior to the surgery. I looked at him and said "you forgot about me?" He responded with "SO, I'm hey, I'm here, and we're not scheduled for another 15 minutes, so technically I'm on time." He's lucky I really like him and I'm lucky he caters to my various states of neurosis. Anyway- and here she is with the proudest big brother ever.

Real Quick

The other day the three and 2/3 of us were in the car on our way home from I have no idea where. Baldy and I were in a deep discussion (about what I have no idea), but I had looked at him and said; "you're such a hypocrite."

From the back seat, the B launched- "yeah Dad, you're a big cricket."

The B and I could barely control ourselves; Baldy, not so amused.

More later- gotta make dinner.

Bonus

The baby finally let Baldy feel her kick. She's been running marathons in there but anytime Baldy comes near me she stops in her tracks. Tonight she was active when I came home from work and she kicked pretty hard when he was waiting for her to. He was thrilled but kind of weirded out. He was gone all but five weeks of the B's pregnancy so he never had the opportunity to feel kicks before.

I told him to imagine how I feel during a meeting when I'm trying to get a point across and she's doing backflips. It's really hard not to ask the people around me "Did you see that?" as I see my shirt move out of the corner of my eye.

I love feeling her kick and move, but I'm still amazed that there's a person in there.

Zits and Mosquito Bites

One of the joys of this pregnancy has been the flare up factor that my face, back and shoulders have had to endure. I never broke out like this with the B and I wonder if for me it's a girl carrying thing? Really as long as we get a baby out of this I would endure just about anything, so although not the most fun or most attractive parts of pregnancy; it's been sucked up and dealt with.

The B asked in the past why I had 'owies' that would come and go. I told him sometimes when you have a baby in your tummy these chemicals called hormones are in your body and they make zits pop up. He understood and carried on with his day. Some may think this response is too technical for a kid his age, but he handles this stuff pretty well.

Well this July brought the Monsoons into town, and with it mosquitoes. Generally we don't get too buggy around here since it's pretty dry. But the past few weeks we've had a decent amount of rain, so we have a bunch of mosquitoes. We didn't realize how many mosquitoes were hanging out in our yard til last Sunday.

The B and I were out in the yard around sunset and he wanted his little pool filled. I occasionally add some baby bath to the pool outside to spice things up. He likes it, the water is warm from the hose and he smells really good after; a perfect combination. So I pulled up a chair and we talked as he bathed. I noticed I was getting bit up something fierce, and swatted a few away from him and realized it was time to go in. I rinsed the B and went inside for bed.

The next morning as he was washing his hands he looked in the mirror and yelled for me, kind of panicky like. I came into the bathroom and this was what was said:

B: Mom, look at all these zits on my face and neck, and my arms, look at my legs!

Me: Babe- those aren't zits they're mosquito bites from being in the yard last night.

B: Whoa- for a minute there I thought I might have a baby in my tummy!

His mind is like a steel trap.

Time is Flying

This picture was taken in March when we were at the zoo. I want to eat his cheeks.

I can't believe we only have three months left. At this time with the B I was on bedrest due to placenta previa. I had bled on July 8th and ended up in the hospital. This pregnancy and the B's are only a few weeks off; his real due date was October 12. Her real due date is Halloween. So as I watch t.v. commercials for the summer Olympics I'm having flashbacks. The Olympics was really the only thing to watch while on bedrest in a German hospital. That was of course during my third stint in the hospital.

During my first 10 day 'vacation' in the klinikum I met my friend Christy. I was 26 weeks and she was at 33 weeks. Once I stayed 10 days without complications and she made it to 35 weeks complete, we would be sprung from our confines. It was great to have a roomate who could relate to my own situation; husband deployed, surrounded with good friends, first baby and we were both having boys. We talked about our deployed husbands, and answered each other's phones when the other was being fetal heart monitored. When I was allowed to walk I'd push Christy in a wheelchair (she wasn't allowed to walk) down to the hospital garden and we got some air and sun. When we were hungry or in need of cold milk I'd raid the fridge across the hall, until the nurses figured it out and started locking the fridge. We watched movies on the laptop, I think we got through every season of "Friends" between naps. We both had a bunch of vistors who took care of us and spent time with us which helped move time along. I don't where I would have been without my great friends in Germany, and I am really thinking about all of them right now. You know who you are the ones that took care of me at home and the one's at the hospital, you all really made a difficult situation not really all that bad.

My second stint was frightening. My next roomate was German and married to an American Soldier, so we had stuff to talk about and could communicate. Her English was perfect, but she never stopped talking. She had a really hairy tush and wore those little net panites the hospital gives you with the hospital gown, so her hairy tush was hanging out all the time. She ended up having her baby the day I got there. He roomed with us which was fine, but the poor kid wanted to eat and be held; and she talked to him. I'm really not kidding, the girl's answer to everything was talking. I didn't want to tell her what to do- but all I wanted to do was hold the poor kid and shove a bottle in his mouth. Within three days my doctor released me and forewarned me that the next time I bled, I was in the hospital until the B's birthday. I had Beth pick me up so quick. I couldn't wait to get home to my puppy, who appropriatly so would also have his hairy tush hanging out.

My third stint was supposed to be the final one, but I was so not ready to stay in the hospital. I pulled a real life German roomy this time. It was fun to try and communicate with my broken German and her broken English. We got along great, but we cried a lot together. I was all hormonal and worried about delivering too early, and of course my husband was in Iraq and I worried about him all the time. She thought she was loosing her baby, and having been through it I knew how horrible that was. Although the company was great, I still pleaded with the doctor to go home. I just was not ready to be in there for the long haul. I was admitted on a Saturday and my doctor was not working, if she had been I would have definitely been confined. The doctor on duty felt I was putting too much stress on myself and I would do better at home. So Sunday morning he set me free. By 6pm that night I was back at the hospital bleeding again and about to begin the fourth and final stint. I had admitted defeat. I had also received a phone call from my real doctor that evening. Besides saying hello and asking me how I felt overall I knew I was done when she said "now you stay." For him and for me I knew I was better off in the hospital, just incase. That was it, and the c-section was set for September 12th. The B had other plans...

Thinking back on where I was four years ago makes me miss so many people. I was fortunate to have such a tough experience go well, and to have such great people support me through it.

I just can't believe we're here. She's kicking and punching. Yesterday it was like she was preparing for the Olympics. She was everywhere, I think I even saw an elbow. It looked like the dorsal fin of a shark on the top of my tummy. It seemed like an elbow. She can be jumping all over and the minute Baldy comes over to feel her kick- she is completely still. I wish she'd let him feel a kick. There is definitely no hiding the fact that she's in there- I'm 50 inches around! I was about the same size at this point with the B. Here's the pic Jenn asked for... just keep in mind, my son was about two months early and still weighed close to 7lbs. Based on the notes regarding circumference, etc that I took while pregnant with the B; it seems as though she's on track to be a big kid too. I only got to 55 inches with the B, but I delivered at 32+ with him. I can't wait to see how big this one gets! Hey, although it seems pretty sick, this is the jist of excitement for the time being.

I still have a bunch to blog about- so much to catch up on, but I have to go get some rest now... I still have to blog about this, I'm so freaking proud of him.

Benefit for a Friend

I only have a little bit of time before I think the B will wake up from his nap and I have about a million things I want to get done before then...but I wanted to get this on the blog before it was too late. This is the link to the benefit for my friend Diana: http://home.comcast.net/~cdrenth28/site/?/home/. I had written about her a while ago, her bone marrow transplant did't take and she will endure another one after more chemo. If you can leave a kind word on the site, great; if you can leave a donation, even better.

Thanks!

Bring on the Pink

O.k.- so on the 4th we found out we need to go shopping. It's a girl. On our way into the ultrasound I looked at Baldy and said, "You know it's a girl, right?" He immediately replied, "No, it's a boy, all of our kids will be boys." So once we got into the ultrasound room and the tech began to work her magic, she immediately said, "Do we want to know what it is?" We both said yes, and she congratulated us on our ability to agree on something, apparently we never agree on anything in her midst (she was also our tech during our NT testing). Anyway, our little girl was not a bit modest. I was shocked that I was right, and thought- what the hell am I going to do with a girl? Baldy's immediate reaction looked something more like, oh hell, I'm so in trouble and there isn't nearly a large enough shotgun to keep menacing boys away from my porch. So then I said to Baldy, "Well, the B got what he wanted," since the B has been telling me endlessly that we needed a girl. And to this my husband responded, "So did I, I got a baby." At which point you could already see him preparing to be wrapped around the pinky finger of his unborn daughter. By the time we left the ultrasound he was mush. This kid has so got him trained already and she hasn't even winked at him yet. I on the other hand, although thrilled to have a baby regardless of gender, was a little spooked.

See, I understand that I am a girl. But I never was a girly girl. I wear make-up, do my hair, whatever. But when I was a little girl, I had ONE Barbie, and I didn't even ask for her; it was a gift from my aunt. I liked her (liked the Barbie- I love my aunt), but I think I eventually blew her up with an M-80 in the gangway one day. The Barbie, not my aunt.

I have been part of many nieces lives. They are wonderful, but I was around a lot when they were little and still liked bugs and mud. Once the oldest niece was around 15-ish I was blowing stuff up in basic training, and from there on out I've been everywhere but home. I just worry about the 11 to 17 year age range. I was a good kid, but that's basically because I was good at not getting caught doing most of the stuff I would have been in a whole heep of trouble for otherwise.

When I told my mom it was a girl she was thrilled. But then I told her I was in a whole bunch of trouble since she had cursed all of us kids by saying "what goes around comes around." To which poetry rang from my mother's lips, "You were no where near as bad as you sister Kelly was." Hee hee. I then told her that she didn't know half of the stuff I shouldn't have done. Her reply: "Well, ignorance is bliss. But, since you know what she can get into, you'll be ready for it." That didn't comfort me too much, may have made me panic a little more. But then I thought, my little girl could be sitting in my shoes in about thirty years, talking to me like this telling me about how excited she was to have her baby. And thinking of that made me so ready for her.

I'll have to blog later about the B's response since it's getting late. At least the constant bickering between he and his father has stopped. Baldy and the B would pass in the hall and as they did Baldy would say, "It's a boy," which would make the B snipe back "You're wrong, it's a girl," and then cage fighting without the cage would ensue.

Ha, I'm having a girl, hee hee.

Looking Forward, Wishing for Better Now and Thinking Back

Tomorrow we go to see what color the parasite will wear. We thought with our second we'd like to be surprised. With the 'B' I had wanted to be surprised, but Baldy wanted to know the gender. Since he was in Iraq at the time I figured I could give him at least that. And there was no way I was going to let him know and not find out myself. Now with this one, we feel we've tried hard enough to get this far that we deserve a little look see.
On a much cruddier note I got some awful news today. A friend of mine that I met in college is not doing too well. She's been fighting leukemia for quite a few months now; has gone through a bunch of chemo, enough radiation to make four people light up in the dark and a bone marrow transplant. All this while her little girl turned one. Please pray for her and her family. If you read this, I'm thinking of you and miss you, and your pain in the ass sister too.
Besides my friend, right now there are way too many people that I know first hand who are gettting treated for, in remission of or who think they might have some form of cancer. Hell, Baldy's mom is on chemo and my dad is going in for surgery tomorrow. Fortunately I have a friend that beat it last year, for good hopefully, and I hope the other stories have that kind of ending too.
To end my ramble on a more positve note; my parents are celebrating their 52nd Wedding Anniversary today. In their 52 years they've had eight kids, welcomed 16 grandkids (with one on the way) and one great-grand baby. Way to go guys.