multi tasking always seems like such a good idea

too bad chad loves science so much, as he'd really make a good house husband.

i, on the other hand, am not turning out to be such a good housewife. on the two days of the week i'm home alone with will, i'm always primed to get all kinds of things done. instead...chad gets home and i have food prepped all over the kitchen, laundry piles all over, a half of an email written on the computer screen, half the floor swept, piles to sort ....you get the picture (maybe i'm exaggerating a little bit...but still).
i'm beginning to wonder if i haven't had a brain injury at some point in my life. my patients who have brain injury commonly complain that they can't get anything completed...they start tasks, and then get side tracked, and then don't end up finishing much at all...i'm always biting my tongue from saying..."hey, me too!!!"--though i guess that's not what they want to hear from their therapist.
...i typically write it off to just being a new parent, trying to juggle a baby all day... then today i get home from work after chad and will have spent the day together. laundry is folded, work articles were read, they hiked, went to rei, went to radio shack, had lunch in the park, and took the dog for a walk. what the heck!? then come to find out will slept...not one...not two...not even three...but OVER three hours. what the heck?! no wonder so much was done.

i not only married a great house husband, but also a baby whisperer.

bye bye red truck

chad's done it. he's said farewell to his toyota truck. the truck that he bought back in college (15 some years ago)...the truck that took him cross country many times...the truck he'd strap his surf boards to and drive up and down the coast at the break of dawn, to find the perfect wave. the toyota that he could take all apart, and actually put back together (though it sometimes took days and we ended up with extra parts on our kitchen table...parts that came out, but somehow didn't get back in). the truck that symbolized freedom and Independence, is now gone. poor chad.

...sorry honey.

at least we didn't trade it in for a mini-van. (not yet at least)

for now, we'll enjoy the suburu...as long as we can find it in the parking lot...with the tens of other subaru's. we are officially boulderites.

"ohhbama"

im convinced...william has said his first word...and it's a good one!
for about a month he's been working on 'bababababa' and then he'll switch it up and work on 'mamamama' ...just recently he'd say 'ohhh'...and im convinced i heard him last nite...sequence it all together...
last nite...a great nite...little town louisville co...and there were people screaming in the streets...fireworks going off...and i'm convinced our son sequenced his first three syllables into one great word...
ohhh....ba....ma...
at least i'm pretty sure that's what he said...
he must be as excited as we are.

i won't quit my day job

in the age of digital photography...there are many of us that aspire toward professional photography. we can snap picture after picture, don't have to adjust for varying iso or shutter speeds, and then can crop, adjust color, and fix red eye with the click of the mouse. simple as can be. but getting the perfect photo is still an effort to behold.

this weekend, chad is in germany and will and i have been having lots of good bonding time. we've been shopping, hiking, playing, and of course doing several photo shoots.

the most memorable one of the weekend was this afternoon.

after a cloud filled day, the sun came out and thus we headed out for a photo shoot with the black eyed susans. i plunked will down in the grass and sprawled out in front of him.

point and shoot. point and shoot.

adjust position.

point and shoot.

roll on the ground in front of him trying for the artistic shot.

point and shoot.

lay out on my back, again trying for another artistic shot.

point and shoot.

will was more interested in pulling up grass than in looking toward me as i made funny faces, preformed my infamous horse lip impersonation, and rolled around on the ground trying to get just the right angle.

...i noticed my back side was damp, and figured all that rain we got was still keeping the ground cover moist. i picked up will, expecting his backside to be moist as well, but it was dry as could be. as we walked inside the moistness carried a stink. i looked over one shoulder to see some mud...no wait...not mud...moist, sticky, smooshed poop....dog poop. all over the ground, and now all over me. we used to get mad at jed for rolling in poop...and now i'm the one who rolled in it. if only the neighbors were watching...me making horse sounds and rolling around the back yard in poop. all in the name of art.

out growing your cranky pants

those first few months were some cranky ones. there were days when we all wore our cranky pants. the days themselves were wonderful in many regards, but there were those damn cranky pants. some people call it 'reflux' some 'colic' some call it 'sleep deprivation' some say 'post partum blues'...but me--- damn those cranky pants.

thank heavens you've grown out of them...we've all grown out of them.

we are now all sleeping at nite---which is really actually what nite is made for. in college, i thought differently, and these past few months, you've thought differently, but sleep---beautiful, wonderful, glorious sleep. ahh. so nice. it is pretty strange to think that sleeping through the nite, sometimes means we're up at 4 or 5 am, but heck, the sun is on the horizon---and we've slept for several continuous hours.

there were some rough sleep spots along the way. i actually kept a sleep log (for all of 2 nites). nite 1 included 13!? night wakings. you should see the actual notes. i was not only tired the next morning, but unbelievably depressed to realized how bad it really was (that is the one good thing about sleep deprivation...not remembering how bad it was). night number 2 looked wonderful when you only woke up 5 times that nite. things become relative.

have i complained enough yet?

now for the good part. you are wonderful, and amazing, and so much fun. i find myself waving at you all day long...and you wave back. you wave to the cute baby that looks just like you in the mirror, and get so excited that he waves back. you drink from a straw, and then blow bubbles in the water, and at times shoot water out of the straw. you say mamamama all day long. you giggle, and i giggle. you are so present in the moment, and are reminding me to be the same.

you may have a sibling after all.

6 mos and counting

i once thought that i'd use this blog to supplement for the baby book i have yet to create...now i realize just how hard it is to get two hands free long enough to type an entry or two.
so, in lieu of blog entries...what have my two hands been doing all these mos you ask?!

they've been holding you and changing you and feeding you. they've been playing the role of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and also the role of "Thumpkin" and any other hand song i can think of...as these truly are your favorite to date. they have been covering both sets of our eyes to the tune of "peek-a-boo" ...another big hit. they have also been tickling your giggle button (currently located in your sternum just above your xiphoid process...see my brain is still working on occasion). Right now, the are tapping the little bottle of lavender essential oil (that you are currently playing with and throwing on the ground...that is between typing). and now they have just switched to nursing you...leaving me here to practice, again, the art of one-hand typing.
so 6 mos have passed ...some of the longest days but the fastest mos. your personality continues to evolve...you're chill at times (taking after your mama :) or maybe your pops), especially when you're in a baby carrier (which we now have 7 of...jeeze)...you're very persistent and if we don't hear you one way, you'll say it louder and louder yet (i think maybe you get this from your dad...or maybe from jed). you are so curious about the world, and thus have given up on sleeping (both at day and at night) with your pursuits of kicking, pulling, babbling, and now sitting up. you have been on three trips out of co, and seemed to dig the plane rides (i have a feeling this is a direct correlate with being in the baby carrier...you sure do like to be held). you now have two teeth (which made their appearance at about 5 mos), and have started to eat food (rice cereal at 5 1/2 mos). your favorite so far seems to be sweet potatos or maybe cooked peaches. we've been trying to make all of your own food so far...to get you used to our cooking at a young age (maybe you won't complain this way :)). we just recently got back from a trip to nc. you got to meet your aunt sue and uncle tim and your cousins savannah and ben, see your grammy and grandpa and meet lots of other friends/ aunties and uncles. you also got to enjoy many other firsts on our trip...first slip and slide, first time at the lake, and first time on karaoke. here are some pictures of our trip.

happy mothers day

what a beautiful day to celebrate being a mom...and to all the other moms i now 'get it'...the joys of being a mom...im only 3 mos in, but i 'get it'...happy mother's day to all of us!

top 10

top 10 wonderful things about being a mom...

10. falling madly in love with another man...and my husband being in support of it
9. waking up to a sweet stretch and smile
8. cooing---one of the sweetest sounds to a new mom's ears
7. letting go of everything else
6. watching development
5. nurturing development
4. discovering the world all over again and in such a new light
3. such excitement over just being there
2. holding such a sweet boy that just melts into my arms
1. william gregory pearson

pump up the volume

there were a lot of things that i though would be 'hard' in terms of being a new mom...lack of sleep, exhaustion, soreness, frustration with a crying baby, and such. these things seemed to come with the territory, but one i never really realized has to do with pumping.
today in particular...i switched cars with chad and so i had his truck. i unfortunately have to pump either on the way to or the way home from work. yes...you read right...pumpin' and driving'---if i were a hip hop fan, maybe i could write some poetry about this, but for now, i'll just fill you in on the dilemma.
so driving my car while pumping, makes it hard to pull up next to a big truck, that can look down and see everything from above. there's not really much to see except for tubes and wires, but i f i could turn up the volume...and someone had no familiarity with pumping...it would really sound like some funky torture machine...or something. so to keep the commentary at bay...i strategically have to pull up so that im right next to someones trunk so i don't have to get a look in from the passenger window wondering what in the world?!?!
so now to chad's truck. who would have known that his stick shift comes so close to the power adapter that you can't shift into first and/or third while the pump is plugged in. it's hard to drive without using those critical gears. so me...on the way home...
pump...pump...
unplug...shift...re plug...
pump...pump...
unplug...shift...re plug
pump...pump...
thank goodness for fourth and fifth gear and green lights

the power of the "SHUSSSSHHHH"

when i was registering for baby items and looking through 'baby bargains' books and trying to figure out what i really NEEDED and what was just a gimmick, there were plenty of things i figure i could do without. i thought for sure that a crib would be a high need item. in fact, when i was first pregnant and mentioned to chad that we'd need to do a "nursery" and buy a crib, he was convinced we didn't need a nursery or a crib. "he can sleep in our drawer...we can change will on our bed...why do we need so much stuff...it'll be fine." now a few months into this, chad's favorite baby thing (besides the yoga ball---which is really more of a love/ hate relationship) is the changing table. the yoga ball kills our back, and the changing table saves it. or so he says. and we still have yet to use the crib...much less the nursery (though my sewing machine lives there...so it's getting a little workout)

well for me...i must say, one of my favorite items that i would have thought would never have been needed includes our white noise machines. we have 2 (one at the bed, one that's portable) and then the MOST important--- a digital voice recorder (that i used to use as a verbal to do list back when i had things 'to do' other than being a mom). the digital voice recorder has a 2 minute recording of our vacuum cleaner---that i recorded one nite out of pure exasperation... now, three mos later, im guessing that i've probably listened to that for 10+ hrs of our vacuum cleaner recording (no wonder my brain is mush). we take it most everywhere, and it has a volume control so that it can get pretty intense (chat HATES it---which is funny as vacuuming is chad's job in our relationship). anyway...who would have thought that the kiddo would love the vacuum cleaner so much...or rather it would calm him so much (is he destined for a life in the service industry?!).

there was a day a few weeks ago that our friend carlee was visiting. we were out downtown boulder and left the 'vacuum' in the car. sure enough william melted down. i tried nursing him as we walked down the street as there was nowhere to sit, so he was in the sling, crying, nursing, sputtering milk, as i smiled at the passerby's. then in harmony, carlee and i both started to "shhhh" (trying to sound as much like the vacuum cleaner as possible), and i even added it a bounce that tried to mimic the yoga ball....sure enough a few minutes later he was soundly sleeping, and comforted.

mother's day (i owe a whole blog entry to the day...more to come) was another time the vacuum cleaner came in handy. we went on a breakfast hike/ picnic to one of our favorite hiking spots. despite taking us 30 min to get out the door, and having to turn back around once b/c we forgot the baby carrier, we got there...we hiked...we ate...enjoyed the view...and even cooed a bit (will's fun new trick). on the way back, poor will, tired as could be, gave chad quite a workout...that is until we pulled out the 'vacuum.' there we were hiking this beautiful hike, and listening to the damn vacuum. we smiled at the passerby's, and no one even wondered who in the world was vacuuming the trail....or at least they didn't let on to us that they wondered. maybe they were parents too, with children who liked the sound of their vacuum.

the sling...how we love the sling.

the sling has been one of the most wonderful things i've used in the past 2 mos. will loves being snug as a bug in it, and i love that i can have a hand or two free. we do most everything with the sling...go for walks, take naps, make lunch, write emails...heck, even type blogs.

yesterday...we did some self portraits with the sling allowing for a free hand to hold the camera.

not so bad ehe?!

p.s. thanks to my bff for her sling tutorial. it was wonderful. i have never been so stumped by a piece of material (okay...maybe with sewing i have, but i'll save that for another blog)...and then been so appreciative for the freedom a piece of material can give....especially with a baby who loves to be held...and held...and bounced...and held some more.

slip, slip, slippery

i had never heard of astroglide...that is until my most recent dr.'s appt. it was a 6week post-partum follow up, with my dr. that i adore. the one that delivered will...waited patiently with me as i pushed for 4 hrs., checked me for dilation by candlelight in the birthing tub.
anyway...at my 6 week f/u she further discussed a topic i hadn't researched much on during my reading about birth and babies...that is
sex after childbirth.
for whatever reason, it never even crossed my mind that it could be different. thus she explained the healing process down there....and it inspired this poem (in honor of nat'l poetry month).

Slip, Slip, Slippery
(what can i say but...sorry Shel Silverstein) :)

"It's sore down there," so my Dr said,
"You'll notice both in and out of bed..."

"...Your boy was big, the space stretched out,
you complained quite a bit, but did not shout..."

"Now listen up, I'll tell you just what
It takes time to heal, despite no cut."

She said, "The kicker, it is just this,
you'll need some slip to feel the bliss."

Then she said, "For the best slip n' slide,
the one I'd choose is called Astroglide."

"Ok" i said... "that sounds okay
I'll stop at the drug store on my way."

"It's not there" she said, while exiting the door,
"You'll find what you need at the SEX store."

"The SEX store?!" I asked. "Why heavens sure,
they'll know what it is, and it'll be the cure."

Well now the dilemma, comes to mind right away.
Do i bring Will in, or in the car seat should he stay?


thank goodness for mail ordering, for i saved will from his first sex shop experience. i feel like maybe i could have been arrested....i guess i could have brought a dr's note. heck at least i could have nursed in public without any concern whatsoever of any other patrons complaining of indecent exposure.

william's growing up...

here's a link to our picasa web album to see william in his various stages. we'll keep updating it over time with new pictures and videos. enjoy...we sure are enjoying this little guy.

william "Green" pearson

so william is named william gregory pearson, but with the latest trend for "green" living, we should have considered "green" as his middle name. chad and i strive to live a green lifestyle in the ways that we can, and we've always hoped that we can bring will up to have the same types of values that we share. come to find out, he's the one teaching us, or rather making us implement some "green" living...

1. walk places, don't drive. (william HATES his car seat...thus we walk everywhere that we can---darn that green living)

2. limit water use by cutting down on showers (william keeps me busy all day long, wanting to be held, bounced, fed, changed, burped, etc...there's no time for frequent showers, thus---i'm becoming greener in more ways than one)

3. hang clothes to dry (so in our quest to use cloth diapers, it turns out the best way to get rid of the stains...and william makes sure to stain them...is to hang them on the line)---works better than any other chemicals and it cuts back on our dryer use (and we do a lot of laundry these days). (my bff actually turned me on to this tip---but william keeps us doing it)

4. get lots of exercise. (william forces us to use the yoga ball for over an hr. each day---dang that boy loves to bounce)

5. drink lots of herbal tea. (come to find out mother's milk organic tea with fennel seed and fenugreek are good at helping keep up the milk supply...that boy loves the milk supply)

so in our quest to be raising will with our values, it turns out he's already part of this green generation. william 'green' pearson.

will's driving me to drink...

...coffee that is. never have i been a coffee drinker before, but alas, i had my first cup 2 weeks ago, and haven't turned back.
we've been going to vic's on most sat. mornings for almost three years, and each time i order a raspberry italian soda and a scone. chad has his coffee and scone. now we have included william in our ritual. he rides in the sling or baby carrier and we all walk downtown. two weeks ago, chad was dumbfounded when i ordered a coffee...a latte to be exact (espresso). i just craved it. kind of like the way i craved fried egg sandwiches for dessert during my first trimester (crazy i know). ...i craved it, and it was delicious...now there's no turning back.

the biggest news...especially for those of you who have spent the night at our house, we even got a new coffee maker. for years chad has been surviving with our old coffee maker that has no pot (i broke it years ago). we've (rather he's) been using our pyrex measuring cup as a replacement. it's been a bit ghetto...the coffee brews into it, but doesn't stay warm, so then needs to be reheated in the microwave. i always feel like a silly host when we have people stay over and they want some coffee. i serve them out of our glass measuring cup.

then again, i've never made a pot of coffee in my life...other than that pot i tried to make at will and jess's house...chad walked in on me, pouring the water through the actual ground coffee beans...beans and water spilling over---weak coffee, full of grounds, cold.

no wonder i never liked coffee...

until now.

on the blog again...just can't wait to be on the blog again

so it's been a month and a half since i've written. i've been composing in my mind, but just haven't gotten around to doing anything more than that, and in the midst of sleep deprivation and new mom brain mush, i've forgotten most everything. well there's still a little left in there....a very little :)
i figured since i'm not good at baby book types of things, the blog can be will's baby book of sorts. who knows, but for now, this is it.

happy babyhood little will.

and since one of your namesakes is willie nelson (don't worry we won't call you willie), and the title of this blog is such, here's a youtube little treat ...from willie nelson "on the road again" ...here's to some good living.

a few first's

will's first out-of-town visitors came last sat and leave tomorrow. we are all so loved.

thanks mom and dad...

..................................................

will's first walk with jed (further than just down the street that is, we went down the street and around the block :))

........................................................

will's first trip to the southern sun--our favorite brewery in town (too bad that they don't sell onesies that say "my mama loves stout" as it is a well known fact (ok...i dont have data, but it's published in the books i've referenced) that "stout" helps milk supply.

hey...i know you...

will at 1 day old...

labor of love...

will has been in our lives for a while, but he officially arrived at 11.57pm on jan 31.

Jan 30th (that nite was the nite it all started)
5pm …chad got on the bus to come home from boulder. typically a 20 min bus ride, but because of a snow storm traffic was backed up and at 6.00 he wasn’t even ½ way here. contractions were starting with me at home.
7pm…contractions getting stronger, chad…still on the bus.
8pm…chad walked home (4 miles, up hill, in the snow, on a sprained ankle… no joke)
9pm…we started calling dog sitters, knowing that tonite would in fact be the nite we’d go into the hospital. we couldn’t get a definite confirmation on morning dog walkers, so later we found out jed got not one, not two, but three morning visitors…lucky dog.
2am…contractions about 1 min long…5 min apart (they say to come in at 4-1-1 …4 min apart, 1 min long, for 1 hr)…we knew I had been 3cm dilated and 75% effaced the day before, so we were thinking things would go quick...chad wanted to be the coach not the deliverer)

Jan 31st

3.45 am…starting to leave for the hospital
4.15am…actual leave time…it looked like we were going on vacation for a week.
(times are estimates after this point J)
5am arrived at the hospital (after having to stop on the side of the road 3 times for me to walk around and contract on the side of the road…early morning commuters thought I was crazy)…met our doula jennieve there.
8am…still only 3 cm dilated (10 is complete)…what the heck!?
8-10 am…walked stairs, told jennieve stories (in between contractions) about how chad and I met, started to date, got married, and ended up in this wonderful predicament…used some of our breathing techniques, visualizations, and birthing ball.

10am…asked chad to remove the clock from our room. good riddens…I thought the sun over the mountains, would be plenty clock enough. Surely by sun set our little guy would be here.
~11am…contractions more and more intense…got in the birthing tub. candles lit. jets on. It felt like the most peaceful, yet most intense location in boulder…one of the nurses made that comment when she came in.

Noon…got checked in the tub (what a great dr.) by candle light (what a really great dr.)…and hoped for ‘birth by candle light’ 5-6cm dilated (getting closer)
4pm…out of the tub…that was the longest I’d ever been in a tub. things were getting more and more intense. (time was really standing still…I had no concept…just floating between contractions)…

~5-6pm…the sun set over the mountains…still no baby.
tried the birth bar and other contraptions to try to get comfortable (comfort was really relative…I kept imagining women birthing in all kinds of positions and locations, as had been shown in some of my books …chad was letting me hang on him, had sat by me in the tub coaching me, talking to me, breathing with me (which was great except for the onions on his sandwich…not a good choice for birth coaches)…and not complaining either.
Somewhere between 6 and 7 …10 cm dilated, 100% effaced (in our birth class this was what we learned of as ‘transition labor’ being over and ‘push labor’ (the quickest, but most intense) as starting. the nurse and doula were telling us, ‘you’re almost there!’
~7 pm…our dr. came back in and they brought in the bassinet for the baby. i started feeling as if i couldn’t go on…that I needed to leave, and that I couldn’t do it. our nurse said this is what all women have been saying for years in every language possible and what women will continue to say for years…..she said that when women start to say “I can’t” this means the baby is almost here.
11.56pm …after many hrs of ‘pushing’ and so many great coaches, leg holders and the sort...my dr. offered an episiotomy… our ‘birth intention’ was clear that this wasn’t what i wanted, but our little guy had been stuck for a while. his heart rate remained good, so they were all patient. the threat of the episiotomy was evidently what I needed…
11.57…will was born.

(the after effects included a bit of blood loss (ok...a liter and a half) since my uterus didn’t want to contract after pushing for so long, and my back being thrown out ….it’s amazing how much memory can fade in two weeks…william may not be an only child after all :)

happy valentines day

will is 2 weeks old...new pics have been added.


valentines day...chad got us tickets to see john prine and emmy lou harris at red rocks in june. can't wait. not sure yet if will will join us for his first show...but he does like music so far.


john prine is a favorite of ours and at one point we wanted him to be a namesake. prine pearson wouldn't really work as the initials "pp" would certainly be a bad thing...especially in second grade or so. low and behold john prines dad was named william, so that works. other namesakes include willie nelson- another country great

william strong (chad's great grandfather). mimi (chad's grandmother) was very dear to us. she passed away back in march. if we would have had a girl, mimi would have been somehow tied into our little guys name, but since he's a boy, her fathers name fit well.

william is also a good friend of ours from nc...who when he gets in trouble his name sounds like "weeum"...which im sure our little guy will get a little of.

good will. strong willed. happy valentines day dad.

motherly wisedom top 10 list

top 10 magical things i've learned in 11 days (it really does take a village...)

10. cabbage leaves applied to the breasts are magical for helping with engorgement (will my husband EVER look at me the same?!)

9. tank tops with holes in them are amazing for ease of breast feeding (my dr. likened them 'stripper bras' ...not only did she sit with me through 4 hrs of pushing, then she can make connections like that too :))

8. floridix (iron supplement) is as good as a blood transfusion...but just takes a week to work

7. the yoga ball...magic for a bouncing baby boy...chad is really the master of this...let me add the bathroom fan as well...magic last nite so chad discovered.

6. the miracle blanket is truely a miracle

5. karma does exist. we had such a hard time getting home from the hospital and arrived home to our neighbor randomly bringing us dinner (not knowing we'd just had the baby) another neighbor shoveling the drive, and a huge package from my bff's friend (we don't even know her) full of cloth diapers and clothes. (like 100--or something close). i've never seen chad gitty about clothes, let alone diapers. he'd get frustrated when will would poop in one b/c he'd say 'that was my favorite' (no laundry for 3 days :))

4. clogged tear ducts are normal (this isn't really magical, but we were worried newbie parents)

3. meals. pure magic. friends from work spoiled us rotten. it's amazing how that helps. since my blood was so low, i've even gotten steak dinners out of it. magic.

2. trameel. arnica. magic for healing the back.

1. motherhood/ parenthood and trusting ones instincts. magic.

will is 8 days old!

all is going well and we’re enjoying lil’ will’s first week of life. it's been the most amazing yet hardest week of my life for sure. since the labor and pushing took such a long time, my uterus had a hard time contracting and i lost 1 ½ liters of blood, and threw my back out to boot. it’s made the recovery feel long, but all-in-all one week later i’m doing so much better (there've been lots of good stories over the last week, but no energy to write about them...more to come). chad has been amazing. because i haven’t been able to be up and moving around much, chad has figured out diaper changing, swaddling, and even breast feeding (not with himself, :) but how to best position and adjust for me). not to mention he’s been at my beck and call for food, meds, and anything else I need day or nite. other than being so appreciative of his help, it's been amazing to watch him become a dad. the other morning i sat nursing and just cried tears of joy thinking of it all. chad woke up to me sobbing, and jumped up ready to help. all i could say was i was so happy and proud of us...and so in love.
anyway...all of his caretaking has ended up in some crazy dreams and midnite actions...from taking care of 10 babies crawling everywhere, to swaddling and shushing the cat (the cat was in disbelief).
we feel so spoiled by thoughts and calls, and yummy meals and lots of warmth from friends and family. this boy is already so well loved. we sure are in love with him. it really does take a village...

new pictures have been added!

is tonite the nite?

i went to the dr. yesterday.

the bad news: they had me start another 24 hr. urine collection
the good news: they cancelled it after only one collection---phew!

the bad news: my blood pressure was back up when i was in the office
the good news: once i went to the hospital for a non-stress test and blood pressure monitoring while laying down for an hr, my blood pressure was perfect!

the bad news: they are starting to want to induce me (i'm trying to avoid pitocin if i can)
the good news: the non-stress test said that the lil' guy is happy and healthy, one nurse guessed he was under 7lbs. (i don't know that i believe her, but i'm glad she didn't guess 10 1/2 lbs)

the bad news: i've been having constant cramping, but not real consistent 'contractions' per say
the good news: i'm 3cm dilated and 75% effaced
the other good news: it's snowing here (snow storms often lead to babies being born b/c of pressure changes)

...maybe tonite will be the night....

enjoying the last few days

what an amazing feeling it is to grow a baby. i get to feel all of his movements...his startles and stretches, and hiccups. some days it feels like he's running in a race in there. i can feel where his little limbs are, and his back and his head. he goes absolutely everywhere with me. we share meals, we share emotions, we even share breaths. when i'm really busy he's relaxed, and when i relax, he becomes really busy. i keep saying that i can't wait to meet the little guy, but in fact, i actually already know him quite well.

bedrest is driving me to new extremes...

...so i wasn't going to do a post on this subject, mostly b/c it's pretty darn gross. but against my better judgement, i sit here and write. so as that is said, read at your own caution.
we (well mostly my husband) he's been reading quite a bit of shel silverstein to the baby to be. so i do owe some inspiration to him (shel that is); certainly not for the content, but for the inspiration to write poetry about a topic a bit absurd (sorry shel).
they say pregnant ladies "loose" their mucous plug within a few days of giving birth. in my case, i laughed so hard, it shot right out. and so the poem goes...

Ode to a Mucous Plug

O mucous plug, o mucous plug,

You shiny slippery strange looking slug

When will I loose you, and where will you be

We are just here a waiting, as soon we'll be three

To pee in a bottle, was quite an event

Hovering in the bathtub, right there I went

When my husband walked in, on a sight not quite right

The laughter erupted, and You made Your flight

You shot to the tub, and down to the drain,

Our sanity again, will we ever regain?

O mucous plug, o mucous plug,

You shiny, slippery strange looking slug

"Oh honey...right here, right here don't you see,

This here, it's the proof that soon we'll be three"

My poor husband, my friend, shook his head in disgust,

"Honey I love you, but this here exam, is just NOT a must

O mucous plug, o mucous plug,

You shiny, slippery strange looking slug.

I turned on the shower, and You slid down the spout,

Now here we sit waiting, for this baby to come out.

Jan 26, 2008

hey little man...didn't anyone tell you that TODAY was your due date?!?!

evening primrose oil

i had never really heard of the stuff before a few weeks ago. thanks to jeannie for discovering it & giving me hers after she had her baby last month. it's supposed to be taken a few times a day to help gradually thin the cervix, to help induce labor and make the process a bit easier. i started taking it a few weeks ago, after reading up on it a bit more. some of my pregnancy books talk about "taking it" and some talk about "inserting it to the cervix"---i haven't been able to deal with the latter as it comes in a gel cap and i just can't figure out how you'd get the gel cap to the right place, and then make sure it dissolves onto the cervix. if i had tried this method, i'm sure there's be plenty more blog material on it. low and behold, there's just this one lone entry.

so as i've been reading about it in my non-pregnancy alternative medicine books, it mentions it's used to treat sexual dysfunction in males. i hadn't thought much about that until, after i asked chad to pick me up a bottle at the store when he was out. after i said it, i chuckled a little bit, and he wanted to know why. i thought a bit about my 'honesty is the best policy' theory and whether or not this applied. i thought i could hold out, but the more i thought of setting chad up to go to the herbal pharmacy (where they usually know what things are for when you are checking out) to buy a bottle of this stuff that he knew he was getting for his pregnant wife, and the check-out clerk knew was for sexual dysfunction....i couldn't stop giggling.
yes i told him...and yes begrudgingly he still picked it up (though likely blushed a little)...though he thought maybe this was yet another case i could have held back on too much information.

honesty is the best policy?

ever since i was a kid, i can remember my mom saying "honesty is the best policy"...it's a lesson i hope to teach as a soon-to-be mom as well. but then again, there are exceptions to the rule--i learn more exceptions every day.
yesterday one of those exceptions came up...chad knew, my dr. knew, but i just went along with my theory on honesty, and jeez did it bite me in the butt (or somewhere nearby).

we went to drop off my 24 hr. urine sample. i must say, i had a little pride in dropping it off. it was quite an adventure figuring it all out, and i felt like, all in all, i had done a good job. a job well done. i had missed only 3 'catches' (out of 20, that's about 80% accuracy) all of which for very valid reasons:
-one of which, mentioned in a previous blog (there are some things i just won't do in the shower), -one of which, i was at the acupuncturist (away from home for an hr, of course i had to pee---the lab didn't want me to use a separate jar b/c of contamination, so i just left the jug at home--i was not toting that big jug with me, let alone answering questions about it)
...one (and may i say final) of which...well lets just say was due to strict dr.s orders., to induce labor, regardless of how awkward and somewhat commical it is at 40 wks pregnant. they say chad's body contents contain prostaglandins which are very good at helping thin the cervix. the same substance that contains prosaglandins also contains protein which is what we want to avoid in the urine in the first place. so i figure, i need to avoid the immediate sample that is likely tainted with this foreign protein (i thought the lab would this have thought this was with good forthought on my part, if they had known).

anyway...i felt the need to be honest with the lab tech as we dropped off the sample, so i told her (somewhat proudly) "i only missed 3 catches"...she wasn't quite as impressed as i expected. she looked a bit concerned, and said that she'd let them know and see if it was a problem. i figured, certainly it would not be a problem, & if it were, i would certainly be able to pead my case and win their approval. after all there were about 15 other catches that i had gotten.

chad couldn't believe i actually told them i missed some, & couldn't understand why i needed to be so honest with them, when it didn't matter and could actually screw it up. i said that honesty was the best policy, and it wouldn't screw it up. he then reminded me of other cases (which i won't get into here) about my honesty being a little too much.

anyway...i received a phone call yesterday from my dr.s office saying 'bad news, they wouldn't run the urine sample b/c they allegedly didn't receive 100% of the urine, and that they really need 100% of the urine...rules were rules, and i'd need to repeat the 24hr. sample. i felt like i was being disciplined
'you're in trouble/ urine trouble' they both sound suspiciously the same.
i called my dr. to plead my case---"i really did my very best" and went on to explain the 3 missed catches.. she chuckled a little with me, and said she unfortunately had no bargaining room with the lab & that the lab protocol really doesn't understand 'life' and it's best that they just not know about the 'missed catches'...she they disregarded my sample and didn't run it b/c i had told them it wasn't complete. my only choice is to repeat the 24 hrs, and this time not tell them about any 'missed' catches. all that hard work, right down the toilet.
i just wonder if any of those lab techs has toted their 24 hr urine sample jug to an appointment with them or tried to make a catch when they are relieving both bowel and bladder at the same time. and would they try to make sure their urine is free of any foreign protein. jeeze.
i complained to chad about yet another 24 hrs of this, and especially the middle of the night shanagins. he did feel the need to tell me again about the whole, 'honesty may not always be the best policy' thing, but he redeemed his slight 'i told you so' theory, with his ingeniousness. (have i said how great he is lately). he found a cooler just the right size for the pee jug, and filled it with just enough snow to keep the sample cold enough, though allowing the top of the plastic rim to not get cold, all while having the convenience of having the jug next to the shower and out of the fridge. he is putting that phd to good use in more than one part of his life.

now i've just got to figure out what to do about my 3pm acupuncture appt. i'm certainly not good at 'holding it' if i've really got to go (see previous blog), but really don't want to tote the cooler with me either.

did my water break?!?

i keep hearing and reading about women who have said that when their water broke it felt like they peed their pants. it make sense, after all, what other experience do you have when water is running down your legs. not that many of us have had this experience in many many years, but it's still a familiar correlation.

so we went to the dr. yesterday, and then went to the hospital for a "non" stress test (monitoring the baby for 30 min or so to make sure the heart rate is good). i wasn't feeling great in the morning, and thus was eating bread as we walked into the labor and delivery deck. they walked us into an actual birthing room for the test and as we walked in, i was overcome with emotion. something about seeing the bassinet holder for the baby, the birthing bed, and hearing the little lullaby over the loudspeaker (indicating another mom was literally having her baby at that moment). i got choked up (literally and figuratively)...tears came out, and at the same time bread got lodged in my throat. as i was tearing up and choking on the bread, i felt the well described "water is running down my legs"....i quickly gained some composure thinking "is this really it?!?!"....and ran (aka wobbled) for the rest room. chad was a bit stunned, trying to figure out his crying, choking, wobbling wife, speaking to him through a mouthful of bread in slight hysterics.

by time i swallowed the bread, i called him in to check out my undies with me (we've really taken our marital vows to a new level) with the TACO test (Texture, Amount, Color and Odor) our doula taught us (i don't know if i'll ever think of tacos the same). once we were done smelling my undies (chad is really a good husband, have i mentioned that yet?), i redressed and came out to the nurse who was waiting, and told her i thought maybe my water broke, explaining the choking up episode followed by the stream of water. she then asked to examine my undies, and gave me some replacement disposable undies that were fishnet in design, but really the least attractive things i'd ever seen. she also gave me this super pad (that seemed as big as a neck pillow). she proceeded to examine my undies and then use the pH paper. it was negative, but she wanted the dr. on call to come check it out. after a full speculum exam by the dr. and nurse and more pH testing, and some other poking around down there it was confirmed...my water hadn't broke at all...i had just plain peed my pants. i wonder how my bill will read for that somewhat emergent exam? Dx: pants pee'er
to top matters off, i had to go to the bathroom one last time before we left. after i peed and went to flush, i noticed the super pad, the size of a neck pillow, had fallen into the toilet and was rapidly absorbing the toilet contents and gaining size (think back pillow). thank heavens chad came to the rescue (have i said what a great husband he is) and dug it out. i couldn't be known as the girl who got choked up (literally and figuratively), peed her pants, and then clogged the toiled with the super pad. enough is enough already.

24 hr urine sampling...

at the dr. yesterday...i was given 2 jugs (one is pictured above) and told i needed to collect 24 hrs. of urine...100% of my urine...yes, even in the middle of the nite (which is about 4 samplings worth). i initially thought, "huh...this will be a little convenient"...now the reality set in.

so i realized soon after i got home that the toilet water is pretty high and the jug won't just hover in the toilet as i collect the sample. so i've had to de robe, and de sock and instead hover peeing in the shower. the first sample went okay, but then i remembered that i have to store the jug in the refrigerator after each sample. sick. it's not really what i want to see when i'm going for a snack. second sample came to be when i realized the urgency to pee didn't give me much prep time. i had to go get the jug, de-robe, de-sock, and then the worst part was the plastic jug (the rim in particular) had gotten cold from being in the fridge. i therefore didn't hold it quite as close and thus pee went everywhere. the clean up process was a bit more intensive, but at least i was in the shower. i broke open our pack of baby wipes for the clean up, used a couple and threw them in the toilet (are they allowed to be flushed?...something tells me maybe the answer is 'no'---dang it). trial 3...sometimes i don't have to pee, rather it's the other one (#2), but then the pee comes out anyway...i just skipped this sampling all together. there are some things i'm not willing to do in the shower.

trial #4 (it's not even noon yet)...i've finally got the process down...quick de-robe, de-sock, and press the cold plastic rim...firmly...for a good sampling. phew, done. thought we were out of toilet paper and i had put the baby wipes away. dang it. ...and to think i have to do this tonite...half asleep...multiple times. i may start boycotting water.

come on out lil' guy...