Welcome, Baby!

On Thursday, November 30, I was out driving with Corky just before noon and started noticing contractions.  Painful ones.  Up to this point, I'd had a few Braxton Hicks contractions that I could feel, but they weren't exactly what I'd call painful.  I wondered if I'd even recognize real labor contractions if and when they did come.  I didn't say anything to Corky at that moment because baby had been regularly faking me out for over a week and I didn't want to say something and have it turn out to be nothing.. again!

I opened the Notes app on my phone and started timing them.  This is what it looked like over the course of the next few hours.

We went and picked up Mara at school at 12:30pm and I texted my mom, asking her to be on call for Mara duty.  After we got home, I noticed some blood-tinged watery stuff in my underwear.  I called the advice nurse because the contractions were pretty irregular but fairly strong.  She urged me to go in and get checked.  We went in around 1:45pm and the nurses discovered that my water had partially broken.  We were admitted and an IV was placed.

Because I was Group B Strep positive, I had to have 2 doses of penicillin before baby was born to protect him from it.  My IV wasn't placed well so it already hurt, and then penicillin stings going in.  I was not pleased.

I went on this way until about 8:00 or 8:30pm.  My dad came to keep me company while Corky got some dinner and tidied up the house and fed the dogs.  After he returned, I got an epidural.  It hurt more than I remembered.  Once I was nice and numbed, the doctor came in and broke my water the rest of the way and administered a tiny bit of pitocin.  I was adamant about getting my epidural BEFORE I got the pitocin this time.  I learned my lesson after Mara's birth.

I started shaking almost right away after the epidural was in.  The doctor asked me if I was scared or if I just had the shakes.  I told her I had the shakes.  I couldn't stop!  It was awful.  The hours ticked by and I had the most awful heartburn but couldn't sit up very well since I was numb from the middle of my back down.  Finally, the nurse (Erin) propped the bed up and let me sit up for a while, as well as giving me anti-heartburn medication in my IV.  It seemed to help.  

Eventually, she laid me back down and told me to try pushing.  I was on my side with this weird peanut-shaped yoga ball between my knees to help with dilation.  Prior to the epidural I had been at 4cm but I was now at a full 10cm in just the space of a few hours.  Thank GOD for epidurals!! I tried pushing but baby was so far out front and had dropped on the wrong side of my pubic bone, so I had to lie back down and flip from side to side every 20 minutes to get him "down" into position.  During this time, Corky slept.

Around 12:30am, I woke him up to come hold my hand.  I felt pressure and some pain.  I told the nurse it felt like I was pooping without giving my body permission.  She checked me and said that baby was in the right position.  At about 1:00am I started pushing.

Orion Alexander was born at 1:09am on December 1st, 2017.

He weighed 9 lb 14 oz and was 21 inches long.

Happy birthday, Orion!

He looks so much like Mara

in this picture! Omg.

Liquid gold for my little bear.

Mara meets her baby brother

for the first time.  LOVE!

Heading home (hello, mini Corky!)

My mom and her first grandson.

First postpartum pump.  Looks

like melted butter! Lol.

My milk monster.

Tummy time!

Daddy, Big Sister and Baby Brother.

Another Week and Still Pregnant!

I am a mere 3 days away from my due date (not including today since it's already 8:30pm) and I cannot believe that I'm still pregnant. 

39 week belly photo, taken in the bathroom

at my parents' house.  Note the heinous 1980s

style floral wallpaper and tiled backsplash.

November 25, 2017.

I am so far beyond uncomfortable that it really isn't even in the same realm.  

On November 20th, I had my 38-week OB appointment.  The doctor and I discussed scheduling an elective induction for 39 weeks.  I was all for that, given that I was already dilated to 2 centimeters and baby was low the previous week at my 37-week appointment.  The doctor told me that scheduling an elective induction would be contingent on something called my "Bishop Score" (obviously named after someone with the last name Bishop).  There are several things that factor into the Bishop Score, things like dilation, position of cervix, effacement (thinning) of cervix, baby's head in relation to cervix, etc.  In order to even qualify for an elective induction, my Bishop Score had to be a 6.

After checking my cervix, he did the calculation and my Bishop Score was only a 3... the previous week it would have been closer to a 6! I was SO frustrated.

This past Monday, the 27th, I had my 39-week appointment.  I had done a bunch of walking all week hoping to get baby down lower and get my cervix dilating more.  The doctor checked me and I was dilated to 3 centimeters, but baby and cervix were both still high up.  My Bishop Score was a 4.  Closer, but not close enough.

I asked the doctor to do what's called a membrane sweep.  (Due to the semi-graphic nature of this topic, I'll not go into detail on what a membrane sweep entails.  If you want to know about it, click HERE to learn about membrane sweeps from BabyCentre UK.)  I was worried it would be really painful, as I've heard some stories about it.  It turned out not to be too bad.  It wasn't fun, but it wasn't excruciating either.  More like highly uncomfortable.  Anyway, the doctor told me to expect some cramping and contractions, but that membrane sweeps only have about a 30% success rate, so I didn't get my hopes up.

Well, now it's 8:40pm the next day, and I think it's pretty safe to say that the membrane sweep didn't work.  It's supposed to increase the chance of labor starting within 48 hours, so I guess I still have another 12 hours to go into labor, but I'm seeing NO signs.  I had cramping and some bleeding (all normal and expected) yesterday but haven't had any contractions.  I've had my normal Braxton Hicks contractions that I've been having since, like, 18-20 weeks, and they are a bit more intense than before, but not painful.  

My next appointment is Monday, December 4th.  I'm still really hoping I don't make it that long.  I'm measuring between 41 and 42 weeks.. how is that even possible?? How much farther can I even go?

It's weird to be hoping for painful contractions.  Every time I get a Braxton Hicks I start hoping for pain.  Waiting to go into labor is kind of like waiting to be punched but you don't know where, how hard, or when it's going to happen.  The unknown is the hardest part.

38.5 Weeks... Still Pregnant!

I will be 39 weeks this Saturday... if I make it that long!  I'm kind of hoping baby comes before then.  Just not on Mara's actual birthday (which is Thanksgiving)!  Watch, that'll be the day he decides to come. Lol.

38 week bump photo - 11/18/17

We had Mara's family birthday party on Saturday the 18th. She

requested a pink princess cake, and this is what I came

up with.  She loved it!  It tasted good too.

Mara and Frank making their list for Santa. 

(More like Frank was hoping for some of that 

half-eaten PB&J Uncrustable on the table).

Speaking of Frank... here's Mr. LongLegs all

flaked out on the couch.  Love him! He's so

gangly and silly and clumsy.  My love.

Almost There

I'll be 37 weeks on Saturday and I am SO READY to have this baby.  I'm measuring 2 weeks ahead and the doctor thinks he's around 6.5-7 lb already. (Probably closer to 7, he said).

I get stared at everywhere I go... I guess I look a little weird or something.  Especially from the side.

Front view............ Side view.

Ridiculous.

35 Weeks, All Is Well.

I've made the font blue for this entry in honor of my baby boy, due 5 weeks from today!  

I'm achy.
I'm tired.
I'm crabby.
I'm anxious.
I'm hormonal.
I'm eager.

I've been dealing with a lot of panic and anxiety lately, mostly about Mara.  Not for any real reason, but every little bump or fever I automatically think she has some terrible disease.  It's making me crazy.. I find myself LOOKING for symptoms and making mountains out of molehills.  Not sure if this is hormone related or if I'm just going off my rocker.  I guess either is possible!

Apparently, I grow giant children and apparently I carry them straight out in front of me.  As you'll see by the 35 week picture (taken this morning) I look pretty similar to when I was pregnant with Mara.  

Yes, baby boy does have a name.  No, it's not exactly secret, per se, but I'm not openly broadcasting it until he's born.  It starts with an O.  You're welcome to guess ;)

Aside from the general aches and pains of pregnancy, I'm ready for it to be December now because I'm getting really tired of people staring at me everywhere I go!  I always want to turn and say, "what? Haven't you ever seen a pregnant lady before??"  Drives me nuts.

Follow Your Gut

"Gut" is kind of a gross word, isn't it?  Lol, sorry.  I think of gross intestines or like someone's beer gut when I use that word, but it's the word that people use when talking about instincts.  I guess I could say "follow your instinct," couldn't I?  But I didn't think of that.  Oh well, you all get the idea.

Yesterday, Mara seemed just a little bit off.  Nothing obvious, just... I don't know.  I can't even really put my finger on it.  She complained a few times of her tummy hurting, but just as soon would say that it was fine.  She wasn't coughing, had no fever, wasn't pale or flushed.    Her appetite was a little slow to pick up in the morning, but she eventually came around and ate two whole yogurts for breakfast.

Corky said, "she's fine!"  My mom said, "she's fine!"  All the evidence said, "she's fine!" 

But I just knew.

This morning, she woke up coughing and with a clear runny nose.  Still no fever.  I thought she should stay home from school, but Corky insisted she was fine and could go to school.  Thinking I was probably just paranoid and overreacting, I sent her to school.

All morning, while I did chores around the house, I expected my phone to ring and to have her school on the other end, telling me that she was sick and to come pick her up.  But that never happened.  Still, I just felt uneasy.  I figured maybe it was the shift in the weather.

12:30 came and I went to pick her up.  She was running around like usual, but she just seemed to lack all her usual zip.  When we got home, she wanted a peanut butter and honey sandwich, which I was happy to make for her.  While she ate it, I got our thermometer, pointed it at her forehead, and hit the button.  BEEEEEEEEP BEEP BEEP.  99.7F.

After she ate some of her sandwich, I got her upstairs to take a nap.  She fell asleep quickly but soon coughed herself awake.

I just KNEW it.  

Would she still have developed a fever even if I'd kept her home from school?  Maybe.  But I doubt running around with a bunch of other kids and going outside in the rain at school did anything to help the situation!  

The moral of the story: follow your instinct.  Lesson learned.

Mara eating string cheese on the floor

on Saturday.  Silly kid!

Belly Pics

I haven't blogged in a little while.  I've just been busy, which is great.  It helps the time pass by quickly.  

Last pregnancy I was a lot better about doing weekly belly photos.  I've done it this time too but I've missed a few and I haven't really been putting them on the blog.  So, here's a few from the past month and some..

23 weeks 1 day - August 6, 2017

25 weeks - August 19, 2017

27 weeks - September 2, 2017

Our beautiful state has been suffering lately.  A fire was started in the Columbia Gorge (apparently we need to be teaching our teenagers not to light fireworks in the forest when the fire danger is high) and made the air toxic all over the Portland Metropolitan area in addition to other parts of the state and Washington as well.  Between fires, hurricanes and earthquakes it appears that Mother Earth is very displeased with us.  Can't say that I blame her!

Trip of a Lifetime Part 5 - New York City, USA

FINALLY!  We made it to the fifth and final part of this trip! NYC.  The Big Apple.

August 5-6, 2017

Originally, this part of the trip was supposed to last a day longer than it did.  We were supposed to fly out of JFK on August 7th (my dad's birthday) but we ended up leaving on the 6th instead.  More on that later.

We fought the crazy lines, as I mentioned, in the Amsterdam airport and flew, uneventfully, to JFK.  The flight was a lot longer coming back than it was going over.  On the way to Amsterdam we had a tailwind the entire way.  Coming back, we had a headwind.  So it took us 7 1/2 hours to get back.  Mara was a trooper, as always, watching movies, coloring, eating and sleeping on the flight.  We landed at JFK around 1:00pm or something.  

I should take this moment to mention that by this time I was so travel-weary that I wasn't nearly as good about taking photos or committing things to memory.  My memories of NYC are a little bit blurred and occur in snippets.  So for that, I apologize.

We arrived and after a very unpleasant taxi ride to the hotel (I was unbelievably carsick), we checked in and relaxed in our rooms for a while.  We were on the 30th floor!  Definitely the highest hotel room I've ever stayed in in my life.  Mara was full of energy so we didn't stay put for long.  My mom and dad wanted to rest, so Corky, Mara and I packed up the stroller and headed out to explore Central Park (which we were literally across the street from).

We found Victorian Gardens, a small amusement park located within 

Central Park.  Mara was elated to discover that she was, indeed, tall

enough to ride many (almost all) of the rides.  She had been such a

great traveller that we wanted to spoil her.  Admission was kind of

expensive but we did it anyway, and MAN did she have a ball!

Pregnant mommy couldn't go on many of the rides, so Daddy

picked up the slack.  They spun those teacups so dang fast! Mara

loved every second of it and didn't want to leave when it was

dinner time.  Now she's a ride junkie. LOL! 

As we were leaving Central Park, we walked past this big expanse of grass and saw two French bulldogs playing!  One was brindle, just like Abby, and I missed my dogs so much that I begged Corky to let us go over there and ask if we could pet them.  I can't remember the other one's name, but the brindle one was named Rita and she was ADORABLE.  Frenchie owners understand what it's like to miss your BatPig when you're on vacation, and they were more than happy to let us love on their little piglets for a while.  Mara loved it and kept trying to pick Rita up.  Rita was a pretty good sport about it.  Finally, after lots of snorting (from the Frenchies) and kisses (from us), we thanked them and went on our way.

We ended up meeting my parents (my sister was off visiting a friend who goes to NYU)  and walking to a restaurant called Rue 57 for dinner.  It was kind of a French/American place.  Mara got a grilled cheese, if I remember correctly, and I had a caesar salad.  Mara was exhausted by this time and was starting to crash and burn, so we quickly ate and ran.  She went to bed on her cot without much fuss, and we both crashed soon after.

The following morning, Mara got up around 5:30am.  Not too bad considering our sense of time and space was totally obliterated.  I had been suffering from some pretty severe sciatic nerve pain since about midnight and, to my horror, could barely even walk.  When the nearest Starbucks opened at 6:00am, Corky and Mara set off to get coffee and breakfast.  

Thankfully, once I got up and started moving around, the pain lessened and we decided to go out.  Around 7:30am, we left the hotel and walked to the end of the block where we found...... this fountain?? I have no idea what this was, but Mara loved running around while we studied the subway map and tried to figure out how to get to Chinatown (Corky's request).

We then figured out where we were going, bought a metro ticket, and down underground we went!

Mara in the station, reading the map.

Mara on the train.  She liked it!

We walked around Chinatown for a while.  Some of the little markets were just opening up, but most everything was closed still.  We went to a Chinese bakery and got some moon cakes (a tradition) and Corky bought a piece of chocolate cake for later.  

We continued walking until we stumbled upon Little Italy.  Everything was closed.  It made for a nice quiet walk down that street.  Mara looked like she was about to fall asleep, so we decided to walk a while.  Corky saw the Empire State Building in the distance so we walked in that direction.

As we walked through SoHo, Mara fell asleep.  

Little Mara, asleep in the big city.

We saw this huge old church in SoHo, and it had these black metal

doors next to it.  The doors had these little tiny window flaps in them.

We opened one and peered in, and this is what we saw! Kind of creepy.

We walked past NYU and found a Fresh & Co., a restaurant that serves healthy food.  We were kind of hungry so we went in.  Corky had a breakfast quesadilla and french toast, and I had a bowl of oatmeal.  Mara slept through it, but woke up right after we left.  She was not happy.  She'd been such a great traveller all this time that I really couldn't blame her for just being done.

My dad called as we were about to get on the subway, so I told him I'd call him right back because we had a train to catch.  When we surfaced by our hotel again, I called him.  He informed me that there was a weather advisory for the New York/JFK area for the following day - the day we were scheduled to fly home - and that it would likely cause our flight to be delayed by quite a bit or cancelled altogether.  He asked if, provided my mom could switch our flight, we could be ready to leave that afternoon instead of the next.  I had wanted to give Mara an extra day to get back toward our own time zone but I also really wanted to get home.  So, of course, we said, "sure!"

My mom was able to successfully switch our flight to the same flight only a day earlier.  The trouble was that none of us were sitting together except Mara and me!  This wouldn't have been such an issue except that a) this was an almost-six-hour flight on a smaller plane, b) Mara was in an awful mood and c) I couldn't get an aisle seat (which sucks when you're pregnant and have to pee every twenty minutes).  We ended up trapped by this lady with a sleeping baby.  Mara was freaking out over everything.  Thank god the plane was new enough to still have screens in the backs of the seats.  Had it not been for that, the whole flight would have sucked ten times worse than it did.

We arrived back in Portland at 9:30pm exhausted, disheveled, achy and so ready to be done with airplanes.  

The greeting we received from the dogs upon our arrival home was one of the best things ever.

The trip was amazing, challenging, overwhelming, fun, tiring and definitely crazy, but I am so glad we went.  I was so happy to be able to finally experience Norway after hearing stories about it my whole life.  Amsterdam was fun and I wish we had more time there - oh well, maybe another time!  I'm so proud of Mara and how well she did with all the travel and transitions and I'm so grateful to my parents for making this trip happen.  The memories are things we'll have forever.

Trip of a Lifetime Part 4 - Amsterdam, Netherlands (2nd Edition)

August 3-4, 2017

So the main reason we returned to Amsterdam was money.  It was cheaper to fly into and out of Amsterdam as a round trip (even though we flew into JFK instead of back to BOS afterward) than to fly to Oslo and back.  The other big reason was to keep Mara from having to sit on too many ridiculously long flights.  As it turned out, she did great on the long flights for the most part, so she probably could've handled it.  

We discovered that this really was too long of a trip and that it had too many transitions.  Mara didn't struggle with the transitions necessarily, but it was just hard to be bouncing around from place to place with so many people and with me being pregnant.  We were all pretty good sports about it, though.  Especially Mara.

So our second time in Amsterdam I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I did the first time.  Partially because I was just so weary from traveling but also because we did a lot of the same stuff as we did the first time (like playgrounds and canal rides).  

Also, I should note that I have no idea what day we did what.  We were only there for a day and a half, so I can't even remember when things happened.  I do remember that my parents, my sister and I went to a laundromat that first afternoon while Corky and Mara went for a walk.  

So I'm just going to dump the pics here and caption.

We bought "Hop on/Hop off" tickets for the day, which allowed us to

use either the canals or the bus to get around the city.  The passes were good

for all day, so we could go wherever we wanted at any time.  Mara wanted to 

wear her sailor outfit that I'd bought her in Norway, and she looked SO CUTE.  So

we went to the flea market.  We had no cash so we just looked, and Corky used his 

last few euros to let Mara ride that little carousel which she loved.  It was pretty fun!

This is later that same day, we were on the canals, heading for

Vondelpark again to let Mara play at a playground.  As we were going

along, Mara saw a playground along the canal side, and asked to go play

there.  So we hopped off at the next stop and took her to that park.  It had

a zip line!! I didn't get any picture of it but that's because I took a video which

I unfortunately can't put here easily.  But she loved it!  We all tried it, even me! :)

The BEST creamy tomato soup I've ever had!!

This swan family was swimming around in the canal when Corky

and I walked to the Red Light District in the afternoon.  They were 

super cute! I'd never seen baby swans before and they were adorable.

Funny story about dinner that night.  So my mom and sister were somewhere else, and it was just Corky, Mara, my dad and me.  Mara remembered having that giant pancake the first time we were in Amsterdam and had been asking for one for days.  So we set out to find a pancake for her for dinner.  Well, that proved very difficult!  So we ended up in the fanciest restaurant in the Rembrandt Square area... and she had dessert crepes with ice cream and chocolate sauce for dinner!  Absolutely no regrets.  Haha.

It was the week of Pride festival in Amsterdam, and that night (Friday night), Rembrandt Square was alive!  After Mara was bathed and put to bed, my mom came to sit with her so Corky and I could go out and explore the nightlife.  I didn't want to stay out too long because a) I was really tired and b) I didn't want my mom to have to sit with Mara for ages.  So I walked with him to the edge of the Red Light District and then went back.  Corky went all the way to Dam Square to check the party out and then came back.  

The next day we fought our way through the millions of ridiculous lines at Schiphol Airport.  Like, really, THREE different passport checks?  Crazy.  Anyway, we made it in plenty of time for our flight to JFK.

This was a nice and short post! Whew! Coming soon, the 5th and final part of this trip.. NYC!  See ya soon.

Trip of a Lifetime Part 3 - Oslo, Norway (Vol. 4)

Will this be the post where I finally finish documenting Oslo??? Let's find out, shall we?

I'm like 99.9% sure this was our last day in Oslo.  At least, I don't have any more pictures from Oslo after this, so unless I managed to take no pictures on our actual last day, then this would have been it.  So this would have been August 2nd.  

After our usual breakfast in the "water restaurant" as Mara refers to it still...

...Corky, Mara and I met up with my mom and went to visit the Oslo cathedral.  This was a place Corky had wanted to visit.  I wasn't really sure why at the time, as I've never known him to express an interest in churches.  However, when we arrived there, I could see why he wanted to come!  

First, we were greeted by this sight:

I had to laugh, as I've never seen pigeons stand

on a slanted ledge like this before.  They looked funny

standing all crookedly.  Silly birds.

And then we walked in (past a sign that said "Silence please," which made me sweat a little, knowing that my 2 year old is not terribly adept at being quiet.  To be fair, though, she did great for the most part).

That balcony looking thing up there on the left is where

the Royal family sits when they attend church here.

There were tons of these stained glass windows.  I

would've taken pictures of more, but it's hard to focus 

on that when you have a kid to chase around.

At one point, Mara was sitting on one of the pews looking cute.  I took this photo:

And then right after I took it, this woman approached Mara.  I'm not sure where the woman was from because she wasn't speaking English but because we had to be so quiet in the cathedral, I couldn't really hear what language she was speaking (I think she may have been German or Swiss).  She beckoned Mara over and handed her a coin to put in the box attached to the candelabra where you can light a candle for a loved one who has passed away.  Mara dropped the coin in, the woman helped her choose a candle and showed her how to light it.  I stood nervously by as my 2 year old lit a candle and placed it in the candle holder.

Photo credit: My mom.

After we left the cathedral, we went and got some souvenirs.  I bought baby boy a little stuffed animal moose and Mara an I *heart* Norway purse, which she loved and carried around for the rest of the day.  

My mom returned to the hotel to rest or something, but Corky and I were good to keep going.  So we walked over to the opera house, which Corky and Mara had summited once but I never had.  It is steep!  So up we went, with Mara in the stroller.  The sun was coming out and the views were great from up there!

Funny little side note: that thing in the water is this sculpture/statue

made of glass.  I'm not sure what it's supposed to be, but Mara

decided that it's Elsa's Ice Palace. Lol!

(Oh, while finding the pics from this day I just found another one that I forgot to share from the previous day.  I'll insert it here: 

This pic was taken while I was at a bakery with my dad the day before.  My parents and my sister had come to this bakery on some previous day and my sister had been raving about their kanebolle, basically a cinnamon roll, and I really wanted to try one.  So I had one for lunch.  Anyone who has been reading my blog for long knows that this was insane and monumental.  And yes, it was delicious.)

Anyway, back to the day of the opera house.  Later that afternoon, we met up with my dad while my mom and sister were off at some museum.  Down by the train station there was a ferris wheel and a carousel.  My parents and sister had taken Mara there on the evening that they hung out with her so that Corky and I could go to dinner, and Mara had been asking to go back.  It was windy and COLD, not that that seemed to bother Mara at all....

Perhaps one of the funniest memories from this part of the trip was this tiger statue.  Mara was smitten with it and climbed on its tail, and then Corky decided he was going to climb onto its back.  So he did, and asked me to take a photo.  As I was walking to the front of the tiger, these people started posing for a picture in front of the tiger... with Corky on top of it!  I laughed so hard about the idea of him inadvertently photobombing these people.  Imagine, years from now, them going through their photo album and their great-great-grandkids or whoever being like, "Who the heck is that??"  Hilarious!!

That evening, despite my sister not feeling the greatest, we went to an Asian restaurant on the pier.  Mara played on the playground one last time and we got ice cream (without chocolate dust) from the kiosk.  Even though it wasn't exactly warm out (maybe 60F), the ice cream melted fast and by the time we reached the place where the pier meets the land, it had melted all over Mara.  Again, not that she minded.

The sun finally came out as we were walking back to the hotel, just in time to show us the beauty of Oslo in the summertime on our last night.

These last three photos were taken as we walked

through the Akershus Fortress on our way back to 

the hotel.  It was a beautiful (albeit chilly) evening to walk.

This one is from the overlook point.

Whew!!!!! We made it through Oslo!!!! Coming soon, Part 4 - Amsterdam (take 2).