Welcome Henry!

Later on I will get around to typing up his birth story. But the short version is that contractions started about 8pm, we went into the hospital around 10:30pm and he was born at 2:47am without the use of any drugs at all.

Isabel came to visit Henry twice today. She is very excited and loves his very much, but she also misses having her mommy & daddy with her.

Getting his feet printed. That ink will take a few washings to get off. He has long feet.

Daddy & Henry hanging out watching hockey. Isabel was never one to just sleep on daddy's chest while he watched a sports game. Even if this is the only time it ever happens (which hopefully it isn't), daddy finally has a baby to sleep on his chest & watch sports with him.

Timing Contractions

We are timing contractions using this website. It's quite handy and much easier to use that putting everything in an Excel spreadsheet which is what I was doing before.

They have been pretty consistent at 4-5 minute apart for a minute a piece for about 45 minutes, then they went to 6 minutes apart for about 1-1.5 minutes for the last half hour, but those ones kicked up the intensity a notch.

We have my in-laws on the way and put my neighbor on high alert, in case we have to leave before the in-laws can get here. And we called the hospital to give them a heads up as well.

I have been updating on Facebook and not on here like I did with Isabel. We will probably go in to the hospital soon.

40 Weeks - TODAY IS THE DUE DATE

Well, we are at the due date & I am still pregnant. I have an ob appt this afternoon, so I will update this at that point to let you know where I am at.

Dialation: 3.5, maybe 4 cm (improved from 3)
Effacement: 75% (still!)
Head/Pelvic Position: -1 (still)
Heartrate: 145/150bpm
She said he is definitly under 8 pounds at this point.

Next appt is made for next Tuesday. I am so bummed to make this appt. Actually, even after a nap, I am still annoyed by the lack of improvement and just want to cry. She said she won't push induction, but at 42 weeks she will have to induce, just FYI for me.

I'm annoyed my crotch feels like it is going to fall out. I'm annoyed I have to go pee every hour. I am annoyed I can't eat garlic yet. I am annoyed that I waddle when I walk. I am annoyed that everything takes so much energy when it should be easy. I am annoyed I keep getting up at 4/5/6 am. I am annoyed I need to keep my house cleaned in case it happens at any moment and the kid can make it a disaster in 10 seconds. I'm annoyed I can'thave a bloody mary or glass of wine. I'm annoyed.

H1N1 Vaccine for Pregnant Women

Wow! It is such a controversial subject. It seems like it is split into 2 very opinionated groups of yes, you need to get it and no, don't get it. Everyone else falls into the "I don't know enough about it to decide."

I didn't actually think I would have to decide if I wanted to get it as a pregnant woman because it didn't seem like it would even be available to pregnant women until after I delivered. But today my doctor's nurse called and said they got a shipment in that was only going to pregnant women and to get in right away to get one (before I deliver & they run out.)

Honestly, I still don't know how I really feel about it. I am torn between both sides. The media has scared me enough to think that I need to get it, but on the flip side I don't feel enough testing has been done to know enough about the effects (long-term & short-term) of the vaccine.

Of course, I get this same message on the same day we were supposed to go to a Halloween party at which 2 kids would be there that got their diagnosis' of H1N1 4 & 5 days ago. The CDC recommends them staying away from other kids 7 days, up to 10 days for young kids. Well, we had not been around them in a couple of weeks, so we were not exposed to them during their incubation period and the mom said that the clinic told them as long as they were fever free for 24 hours they could go out, this is the same clinic that requires their workers to stay home for 7 days if they get the diagnosis. I am not about to chance it seeing we are healthy so far and have not been exposed to them.

I am sure we have been exposed to other people with it, but not in the type of setting (yet) where the kids are sharing toys, toys that some kids might stick in their mouths. And even if Isabel doesn't put toys in her mouth she could touch it and then stick her hands in her mouth when feeding herself a snack. Not worth it to me to go to a costume party (see the costume I made this morning below).

Anyways, I guess pregnant women have a weakened immune system as it is (even if I am healthy and have been this pregnancy) so that they don't reject the fetus and remains weakened for a couple weeks afterwards as their body recovers from the birth.

They do have thermisol-free vaccines and the round our clinic has is that kind. And while I could give birth this afternoon and he would not receive any of the benefits, my body still produces antibodies in response that he will recieve in the breastmilk.

They also say that healthy adults older than 60 probably are already immune to it because they were exposed to it as children and developed anitbodies against it. Although, my MIL got it and she should fall into this age group. Maybe she wasn't exposed to it as a child.

I don't want to be trying to recover from delivery and have an infant and a preschooler and deal with the flu in our house. And while I think there needs to be more testing done on the long term effects, the reality is that if people do die from H1N1, it has been those with weakened immune systems and not all of them have underlying health conditions. I understand that more people die from the seasonsal flu each year (so far), but we have only had the swine flu around during the spring, this is really the first big season of H1N1 and we don't know how many people may die from it or not.

I decided to get the vaccine. Daddy was a big supporter of me getting it to provide a level of protection to baby boy & myself. I did get the seasonal flu vaccine about 3.5 weeks ago. And to be honest, it could be that I have a strong immune system but I have not had the seasonal flu (only stomach flu which is not what the vaccine is for) since I started recieving yearly flu shots. The last time I had the seasonal flu it was almost 12 years ago and I am not sure how much longer before that.

Pregnant Nun

We have a costume party for MOMS Club to go to this afternoon and I needed to be creative with my maternity clothes. So, a pregnant nun it is. This morning I raided my sewing & craft boxes and came up with some black fabric, white fabric, white ribbon, white cord, velcro, heat-n-bond, gold pipe cleaners, gold paint & popsicle sticks.

I think it would be funny if I went into labor and had to wear this costume to the hospital.

Comparison Photo

So, this was the very first photo I took of my pregnant belly. At the time I could totally see the bump and thought I was showing so much.

Well, now I look at it and I don't think so much.

I thought it would be fun to compare with a picture from today wearing the same outfit.

Hopefully this is the last pregnant belly shot I take.

Annoyances - Things People Say

You know there are a couple things that annoy me right now, the first is people telling me to get some rest. I want to scream at them in my tired-state "Don't you think I want to get some rest? Do you think I enjoy being up at 4am with contractions and pains in my hips & back?" Of course, I have cleaned up what the thoughts running through my head are because when I think it to myself, I drop the F-bomb a few times to emphasize my annoyance. I probably would not be typing up a list of annoyances at 5am if I could rest.

Another thing that annoys me is when people say, "It's better having him inside longer than outside." Seriously, who says that shit? Do they say it because their kids are really that bad that they would rather shove them back in. I know things weren't rainbows and bunnies with Isabel and there were times I wanted to shove her back in. But really, like keeping him in there for 1 or 2 or 7 more days is going to change much. It does not prolong the inevitable. He will eventually come out and we will go through all the same ages & stages, just one or two or five days earlier. And that's those many more days I am not irritable and annoyed by this same crap. I will still have to go through all those first days, weeks, months even if he comes a little early or on time (late is seriously not an option at this point - and you don't joke with a woman in her last two weeks of pregnancy about going late - it's really not funny and you may find yourself getting injured if she can conjure up the energy & speed to do something about it, at the very least you are in for a severe tongue lashing.

Another thing people say that I find annoying is "He'll come when he's ready" or "Don't rush things". Either these people have never been pregnant before or they have severe amnesia. If you google natural ways to induce labor you will find pages & pages upon recommendations and suggestions and even more pages of women asking "How can I induce labor at home?" All those things wouldn't be there if thousands (maybe millions of women) were not ready to make him come when they were ready. It's not like any of us are trying to induce pre-term labor. We're just done in those last couple weeks.

Want another one? How about people refusing to provide you with a little bit of entertainment by trying to correctly guess youe due date by saying the same thing as above "He'll come when he is ready?" Well, no shit sherlock! But what day do you guess he will be ready? And don't say anything late unless you want me to curse you. It's just fun & games people and it makes me fantasize that maybe the friend/family member who picked that day has some kind of mystical
power that can predict such things.

This next one doesn't bother me so much anymore because when you are in the last month of pregnancy, you can't help look huge & pregnant. But I really find it annoying when people tell me I don't look pregnant or I don't look that big. In my head I am screaming "What?!?!?! Have I always looked like a fat cow with a beer belly?" Maybe it was because I was cursed/blessed with a long torso, but it seems to take much longer for people to say I looked pregnant because the baby has a lot of vertical room inside me to grow and doesn't need to protrude out too early. And even when I thought I was showing (& had to move into maternity clothes) so much earlier with the second one I still got the "You don't look (very) pregnant." Not sure if that is just a comment or supposed to be a compliment, but it feels like a slap in the face, like you are really saying "You always looked thick to me."

Ok -time to go make some tea and take a bath (should be interesting to see how I can or can't recline in there) and see if either provides some soothing relief so I can go back to bed for a couple hours, because I do want that rest (you just don't have to tell me about it!)