First Smile

I was right -- it goes a long way! He first smiled last night... and I caught this smirk during a Michael Jackson dance fest this afternoon.

I couldn't be more excited. My face hurts from giving him big goofy smiles all day trying to elicit a big toothless smile from him!

Jack is here!

He's 5 weeks old tomorrow! It's been quite a month. I'll write out my birth story soon, but it went really well. He was born on his due date! The pain was unreal -- imagine the most unbearable menstrual cramps. The pain during contractions was that -- but worse. The epidural was w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l. I'm not sure how women make it through childbirth without drugs. More power to them!

We've battled a bit of jaundice and some breastfeeding struggles. I'm now exclusively pumping after running into a painful latch at about 2 weeks. I can nurse if need be, but I prefer to pump and bottle feed.  Jack does well with either, but bottle feeding makes it easier for us to gauge how much he's eating, gives me flexibility in my schedule, and it gives hubby the chance to take over a night feeding (or two). Jack spits up a fair amount (I know, most babies do)... so now I'm going dairy-free. We'll see if that improves the spitting up and how he's able to digest his food.

Last night Jack gave us 4-hour stretches of sleep. That was great! Hopefully that will continue until it gets better. Ha! We'll see.

Overall, I'd say we're out of survival mode and entering more enjoyment mode. Jack is awake more, is content to chill by himself and we're learning his cues. He's a great baby -- he only cries when he's hungry, he wants to be changed, or he's gassy. And he's adorable. :)

39 Weeks, 6 Days

Sitting here at the hospital -- not in labor. After a crazy October snow storm, we're without electricity at the house. CL&P doesn't even have an estimate for when West Hartford will get power restored. That's not comforting. We had our weekly checkup today (never thought we'd make it this far!) and all is basically as we left it. After contracting every 5 minutes for several hours on Friday night... but not progressing... we're still in waiting mode. I'm contracting as I type, so maybe today will be the day! Who knows. But hubby has gone to work and my dad and I are sitting in the hospital cafeteria enjoying internet and electricity as he gets some work done for the day. I'm catching up and random internet blogs and googling "what causes labor to start."

39 Weeks, 2 Days

Oh boy. More strong contractions that are inconsistent. Not helped by the snow storm that's suddenly forecast for our neck of the woods tomorrow! 12 inches! That's certainly not helping my stress level.

Dad arrives in an hour! He'll be here for 3 weeks or so to be a helping hand with our little one. Doctor thinks our little guy might come this weekend! We can't wait. :)

38 Weeks

Full term! And with no sign of labor happening any time soon. We had our weekly checkup today and baby is looking good. Strong heartbeat, and measurements make it look like he's moving lower. Also that he isn't a giant baby. I'm happy to hear that, although I suppose we won't know that for sure until he comes out.

With the thought of "a watched pot never boils"... I'm trying not to be impatient. Key word there being "trying." I'm also trying to keep my emotions in check and not succumb to random feelings like I'm going to cry. Craziness!

I just have to cross the last few things off my pre-baby list, enjoy one-on-one time with my husband and relax!

37 Weeks, 1 Day

Baby will be here soon! Just what "soon" means is anyone's guess though. I have to remember that even if the baby waits until our due date (or if the doctors have to get their induction on at one week after the due date), he's less than 4 weeks away! The last 4 weeks have blow by, and while I think the next 4 will take f-o-r-e-v-e-r, I know they won't.

Baby feels a lot heavier lately. We had our 37 week checkup yesterday and all is well with our little guy. He gave our doctor a big smile by poking out of my belly at all angles, showing off his mad elbows and heels and maybe trying to give her a high five. He is quite the flirt already! My cervix, on the other hand, isn't playing nice. Ha! I'm still shut. Thinning but basically shut. I'm a "Cheerio"... so we have a long way to go dilation-wise.

I'm trying to bask in our family-of-two status and enjoy quiet time. I'll enjoy it more when I can get more solid sleep (even if it's in short bursts). And when my hips don't ache so much.

Only getting more excited every day. :)

36 Weeks, 3 Days

Hello early labor! This is only enjoyable if it means that labor is imminent. Unfortunately it doesn't. We were at the hospital for a few hours yesterday, but no cervical change so hope we went. (We'd also gone in because little one was sluggish and not moving around as much as normal. His movements picked up late in the afternoon so we were cleared to head home.) I'm still contracting regularly, but nothing of stronger intensity than I was feeling yesterday. When the resident said early labor, I asked the nurse what that meant. She said it means my body is practicing for active labor, but real labor could start in 2 hours, 2 days or 2 weeks. Let's hope it isn't 2 weeks, as long as baby is ready. I'm not due for 3.5 weeks. If we're not close, I hope the contractions ease/cease. Only time will tell!